Ready your shields, sharpen your blades, and greetings from the ruins of history! Nina here, your blogging capybara and official Kakele Online correspondent!
If you thought the great wars of our continent began over territory or treasure, get ready! Today, we’re diving into the darkest archives of our past to find out how the greed of the human nobility itself gave rise to the fearsome Dark Knights and unleashed a conflict that changed the world’s geography forever.
From High Society to Forbidden Magic#
Before they became figures shrouded in a dark aura, the Dark Knights were not monsters native to the underworld. They were humans belonging to the high nobility, the aristocracy, and even the royal guard of the ancient capital, Kebelessa.
Driven by an insatiable thirst for absolute power, longevity, and control over forces beyond nature, these nobles secretly joined forces with the Mage Guild. Together, they performed forbidden rituals using the dark energy of the god Mos. As the ancient tomes record, they were nothing more than humans who ventured too far into the shadows.
When Queen Clara realized the danger these experiments posed to the kingdom and her own throne, she acted quickly: she ordered the corrupted nobles arrested and locked away in the underground dungeons of the royal castle.
The Spark of the Great Seven Years’ War#
The nobles’ imprisonment was the spark that set the rebellion ablaze. For seven long years of fighting, the continent was divided into two great factions:
- The Shadow Faction: Made up of the Dark Knights and the rebel Mage Guild.
- The Allies: Led by Queen Clara, the loyal nobility, and the four great War Clans (Smarks, Egipdys, Mondols, and Targens).
During the conflict, the Shadow Faction resorted to cruel tactics to gain an advantage on the battlefield:
- Creatures from the Taverns: Recruiters lured desperate men from ports and taverns with false promises of wealth and immortality, turning them into the first vampire soldiers to defend Castlewania.
- The Tragedy of Liopos: The faction began kidnapping elves in Jarathorn to study the longevity carried in their blood. When they captured Leosys, Commander Elora’s son, they opened a portal to the Void that ended up pulling Elora, her son, and half the elven army into the dimension of nothingness.
- Betrayal on the Battlefield: Queen Clara fought on the front lines alongside her troops, but was betrayed and struck from behind by those she trusted: the very nobles who had once been part of her court.
- The Event in Gangan: In the final year of the war, realizing defeat was imminent, the Knights covered the kingdom of Gangan in an explosion of dark magic, forcing King Sung-Jin to make a pact with the Shinigami to save his people.
The Fall of Kebelessa and Dimensional Exile#
The war ended with the rebels’ surrender, but victory came at a terrible price. Kebelessa, the kingdom’s majestic original capital, was completely destroyed and reduced to ruins. The surviving royals were forced to migrate south and move the capital to the neighboring city of Muroria, while the remaining rebel mages fled to the volcanic island of Norde.
Because the sheer power of the dark energy made the Dark Knights impossible to destroy for good, the Masters of Energy banished them to the Kingdom of Energies, an infinite dimension from which they were expected never to return.
The Threat of Mirror Jumps#
Even isolated in the Kingdom of Energies, the Dark Knights regrouped. Today, they are trying to invade Kakele’s physical world through mirror jumps, using the three Energy Nodes, corrupted creatures disguised in Kakele, as anchors on the surface.
Marks on History#
The story of the Dark Knights reminds us that a kingdom’s greatest threat often comes from within its own walls. What began as an aristocratic quest for immortality left a trail of destruction that still echoes in every corner of our map.
See you in Muroria, adventurers!
Read everything about the Multiverse here. Read the kingdom’s other gossip here.