The Knights of the Word are men and women called by the Word to be its agent.
Task[]
The Knights are called by the Word to keep The Void from destroying the world. In order to accomplish this task, each were bestowed the Staff of the Word. They must travel from place to place, guided by prophetic dreams, and complete missions that restore the balance in the world. Most of the time, this puts them into conflict with Demons, whose task it is to bring the world towards destruction.
Powers and Abilities[]
The power of a Knight comes from the Staff that they carry, given to them by O'olish Amaneh. Only a chosen Knight can wield a staff and use its abilities. Channeling the magic from the staff allows its wielder to use magic in a variety of ways. John Ross, for example, used a magic he called Black Ice to cloak himself, causing bullets to slide off of him without any damage. The staff can also project green fire, make the user invisible and even fire concussive blasts hard enough to send men flying several meters away. The magic can also enhance one's physical abilities, making the wielder stronger and more durable in combat. However, the price of wielding the staff, at least in John Ross's time, is that it cripples the Knight's leg in order to make its wielder keep the staff with the Knight at all times. The magic is also finite. How much a Knight can use at one time isn't known but they can pass out if they use too much magic.
In John Ross's time, before the fall of civilization, Knights are given prophetic dreams. They are portents of a future in which they have failed to complete their objectives. In the dream, their dream selves can use magic freely instead of conserving it in the present. However, if they use magic in the present, they are unable to use it in the dream. Their future selves relate to the dreamer why they failed in hopes of changing the present and, thereby, the future. The dreams are not linear or in detail. They are piecemeal, causing the Knight to interpret what the dream meant. By acting or not acting in a certain way, the dream may change. Only by completely the objective does that particular dream stop.
Logan Tom and Angel Perez don't have many prophetic dreams. But at times, they may receive some guidance from the emissaries of the Word like O'olish Amaneh and tatterdemalions.
Known Knights[]
- John Ross - The male protagonist in the Word & Void series. He spent nearly twenty-five years over the course of the trilogy battling three demons. He is a weary and crippled man who joins forces with Nest Freemark in order to bring about the Word's ultimate plan to transcend the destruction of the world.
- Logan Tom - A Knight featured in the Genesis of Shannara trilogy. His family was killed by the demon armies lead by Findo Gask. He is tasked with finding Hawk, a boy with mysterious powers and protect him from the demons.
- Angel Perez - A female Knight in California featured in the Genesis of Shannara trilogy. She is tasked with going to the Elven kingdoms in order to warn them of the coming destruction and save them with the help Kirisin and the Elfstones
- Krilka Koos - A fallen Knight who is more interested in ruling the world rather than saving it. He tries to recruit Logan Tom to his side.
- Sider Ament - After Hawk, the Ghosts, and all the Elves, Humans, Lizards, and Spiders, accompanying them, reached the Valley, which was then closed off from the outside world, they lost contact to the Lady of the Word. As a consequence, she ceased to appoint new Knights of the Word. So, the remaining Knights (Logan Tom, and Angel Perez), decided to choose their respective successors themselves, passing their black staff (and the incorporated magic) to those successors. At the time of Bearers of the Black Staff, Sider Ament was the last of a long line of human predecessors, all of which had passed Angel Perez's black staff to the next. At the age of sixteen, Sider was chosen by his predecessor, who mentored him in the black staff's use.