Long before the Shattering, Ranni, then an Empyrean candidate to succeed Marika, committed an act of cosmic theft. With the help of her Numen kin and Marika's own complicity, she stole a fragment of the Rune of Death from Maliketh, the Black Blade who guarded it.

From that fragment a smith of the Eternal Cities forged the godslaying Black Knives: thin, sickle-shaped blades inscribed with shadowy runes. Wielded only by Ranni's chosen assassins, they were the only weapons in creation capable of killing a demigod's soul. The forging itself took the smith's life, and the knives were hidden in the nightless depths of the Eternal Cities until the appointed night.

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WeaponBlack Knife

Dagger once belonging to one of the assassins who murdered Godwyn the Golden on the Night of the Black Knives. A ritual performed on the oddly misshapen blade imbued it with the power of the stolen Rune of Death.

Key ItemBlack Knifeprint

On the Night of the Black Knives, someone stole a fragment of Death from Maliketh, the Black Blade, and imbued its power into the assassins' daggers. This mark is evidence of the ritual, and hides the truth of the conspiracy.