"They pose a monstrous threat to all living beings."
A Black Grail Knight[1]
The Black Grail Knights, formerly known as the Knights of the White Grail[4], were the resurrected corpses or Wights of twelve long-dead Grail Knights of Bretonnia. Greater and more infamous than even the Vampiric Blood Dragons of the time, they were among the mightiest Undead to have ever walked the Old World.
Grail Knights are considered the ultimate Human warriors, revered throughout Bretonnia and beyond for their purity and honour. If they fall in battle, they are given grand funerals and their souls belong to the Lady of the Lake. Interred within sacred Grail Chapels, their remains are protected by fearsome Hermit Knights, venerable Grail Knights who will slay any would-be defiler.[1][3]
This process means that, normally, Grail Knights are among the few beings who cannot be raised into Undeath. Some, however, particularly those whose corpses lie in Mousillon, are vulnerable.[1][3]
History[]
Legend of the Black Grail[]
"A Knight is sworn to valour,
His heart knows only virtue,
His mind knows only truth,
His blade defends the helpless,
His might upholds the weak."
"A Knight is sworn to death,
His heart knows only terror,
His mind knows only falsehood,
His blade has slaughtered the helpless,
His might has damned the weak!"
A Black Grail Knight (Golden Demon 1998)[4a]
Gaston, the Duke of Mortaine, knelt on the cold, stone floor of the castle chapel, praying to the Lady of the Lake for guidance. Light filtered through the stained glass window, illuminating the noble faces of the small retinue of Grail Knights, but it was a pale, cold light that offered little comfort.[4a]
Hours earlier, in the early dawn, he and his warriors had reached the outskirts of Mousillon. All appeared well, but as they approached the city walls they knew different. Nothing stirred on the ramparts as they neared the gate. Their trusted warhorses, that they had ridden many a time into the heart of battle, shied as they approached the gate. Upon entering the city, a sense of evil stirred within their souls.[4a]
The dead lay scattered like rag dolls across the city streets, marked by plague and disease. No sound was to be heard save for the slow beating of the wings of carrion beasts that floated almost effortlessly high above. Everywhere they turned they were met with the same grim landscape. Slowly making his way to the castle of Duke Maldred d'Mousillon, their hearts grew heavy. Inside the ducal mansion no trace of any nobility could be found, save the remnants of discarded arms and armour. The Red Pox had destroyed Mousillon.[4a]
As Gaston prayed, he realised he still held clenched in his mailed fist the message from King Gaston de Beau Geste, warning the Duke of Mousillon of the impeding doom that he and his city faced. The awareness of it threatened to rend his soul in two. He, Gaston, the Duke of Mortaine, standard bearer of the Knights of the White Grail, had failed. He had failed his king, his Knight's Code, and the thousands of people that lived in the city. Mousillon would forever be known as the "City of the Damned."[4a]
Gaston peered at his surroundings in the pale light and wondered if death could ever reach into this most holy of places. For the knights, the chapel was the only refuge that they could possibly have sought after the scenes they had witnessed. But for Gaston, all of the icons emblazoned there served only to remind him of his failure. He began to repeat the Knight's Code.[4a]
Then, a sudden chill enveloped all within the room. Each man heard a dark voice mocking them. Gaston rose to challenge the evil he could not see. Darkness began to envelop the small chapel. He felt a chilling touch from the grave take his heart in an unbearable death grip and he knew that as he had failed in life, so he would fail his king and his knights in death. His last conscious thought was of a white Grail, a Grail slowly changing to black...[4a]
Dark Omen[]
"Your souls will join our dark crusade!"
Even in the Dukedom of the Damned, only a being of immense power could hope to usurp the natural order of the Lady of the Lake. That being was the ancient Dread King. Upon his awakening, a great blast of necromantic energy erupted from his pyramid in Nehekhara. Spreading across the Old World, it caused the dead to lurch from their graves, plaguing the Empire, Kislev and beyond. In the tainted realm of Mousillon, the saintly remains of Bretonnia's Grail Knights rose from their tombs, deceived into leading the Liche's unholy crusade.[1]
Taking up their fortress in Castle Mousillon, the Black Grail Knights would become legendary. A blasphemous creation, warped into a dark mockery of their former selves, they were extremely powerful warriors who fought relentlessly. Mounted atop the animated remains of their once noble Bretonnian Warhorses, they could not be slowed by difficult terrain and would never retreat from combat.[1]
An aura of fear surrounded them at all times, causing enemies to panic and flee in their wake. So deadly were the warriors, that some did not even know they were knights, believing instead that the Black Grail was an artefact of immense power and destruction. Many tried to defeat the Undead knightly order, and all failed.[1]
Defeat[]
"The Black Grail Knights have risen, no doubt about it. Just look at them pouring out of Mousillon's gates. We're in for one hell of a battle Morgan..."
- —Klaus, second-in-command of the Grudgebringers[5]
Fortunately for the Old World, the Black Grail Knights were eventually destroyed by an army comprised of living Grail Knights led by Tristan de la Tour and the mercenary forces of the Grudgebringers. With the Black Grail destroyed, the noble heroes of Bretonnia could finally return to their deserved rest.[1]
One of the shields wielded by these mighty Undead knights was eventually reclaimed from the site of their final battle. Taken up as a powerful dark artefact, it became known as the Cursed Shield of Mousillon.[2]
End Times[]
"Blessed Sigmar. Someone's set the Black Grail loose in Bretonnia. I thought we'd put a stop to that."
- —Franz Lohner, former Grudgebringer[5]
During the onset of the End Times, rumours began to circulate that the "Black Grail" had risen once more to terrorise Bretonnia.[5]
Heraldry[]
The Black Grail Knights bore the heraldry of a dark chalice overflowing with blood, imposed upon a field of scarlet-crimson.[1]
Notes[]
The Black Grail Knights should not to be confused with the Knights of the Black Grail, a relatively unknown group of Blood Knights who served as Mallobaude's bodyguard.
See Also[]
Videos[]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer: Dark Omen (PC Game)
- 2: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (6th Edition)
- 2a: pg. 50
- 3: Warhammer Armies: Bretonnia (5th Edition), pg. 51
- 4: White Dwarf 231 (UK)
- 4a: pp. 22-23
- 5; Warhammer: Vermintide II (PC Game)
Gallery[]
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