Knights of the Eternal Dragon

The Knights of the Eternal Dragon, or the Knights of the Undying Dragon, were a knightly order dedicated to Myrkul, god of the dead.

Organization
The Knights consisted of twelve death knight commanders, each in charge of twelve night riders. For reasons unknown, their numbers never deviated from this, even in those rare cases where they suffered a defeat. Each death knight rode a nightmare in battle, while each night rider rode a gaunt.

Activities
One of the original objectives of the Knights was said to have been to guard against incursions from Zakhara.

Once each century, the dracolich Xavarathimius, the Everlasting Wyrm, would reform itself in the Sharawood and begin amassing riches and followers. Every time this occurred, the Knights of the Eternal Dragon would emerge and utterly destroy the dragon and its followers and steal its hoard for themselves. This cycle seemed doomed to repeat itself until the end of time.

Base of Operations
The Knights of the Eternal Dragon were based out of Castle Al'hanar in the Beastlands, atop the Toadsquat Mountains.

Possessions
Scholars believed Castle Al'hanar contained an enormous hoard of riches&mdash;ten times the size of a dragon's hoard &mdash;as well as magic that had been lost since the time of ancient Imaskar. The Knights were also said to possess a library of obscure Myrkulite lore.

Relationships
As their activity waned over the centuries, the Knights of the Eternal Dragon were largely forgotten by the rest of the world.

History
On one of their earliest hunts for the Everlasting Wyrm, in the, the Knights of the Eternal Dragon discovered the dracolich had been bound to guard the imprisoned demon lord Eltab. After disposing of the undying dragon, the crusaders of Myrkul freed Eltab, setting him loose on Toril in exchange for the demon's promise of ninety-nine years service to the Church of Myrkul. Aided by their newfound demonic ally, Myrkul's faithful conquered the city of Shandaular in the Eastern Shaar and established the Myrkulite theocracy of Eltabranar. The Knights of the Eternal Dragon were granted eternal undeath after freeing Eltab; some said they learned the secret from the demon lord, while the Church of Myrkul maintained it was a boon from their deity given in exchange for their eternal servitude.

Following the Time of Troubles and the resulting death of Myrkul, the Knights of the Eternal Dragon were conflicted as to which new god to swear fealty to: Cyric or Kelemvor. Going on a murderous rampage across Toril until they all perished&mdash;a final act of veneration to Myrkul&mdash;was also an option they seriously considered.

Nevertheless, as of the, a group of Knights of the Eternal Dragon, commanded by the death knight Sarduris, guarded the corpse of Myrkul as it drifted through the Astral Plane.

In the Realms-shaking disasters that followed the Spellplague of, Castle Al'hanar was partially destroyed, much of it falling into the newly-formed Gulf of Luiren. The servants of the Everlasting Wyrm capitalized on this weakness, storming the castle and defeating the Knights of the Eternal Dragon. As of the forces commanded by Xavarathimius still controlled Castle Al'hanar and all its riches.

Members

 * Sarduris, a death knight commander who stood vigil over Myrkul's corpse in the Astral Plane.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer