Phantom Brigade

Valiant knights, once of flesh and blood, wander the land as undead monsters, continuing to perform their duties for an empire that no longer exists.
For the past nine decades, ghostly warriors have haunted Nerath’s forgotten places, from the ancient halls of Kalton Manor in the Nentir Vale to the ruined palace at the center of the partially destroyed city of Nera.
Collapse of an Empire: The empire of Nerath, a coalition of races led by humans, grew in the south and spread in all directions. For more than five hundred years, from the establishment of the capital of Nera to the rise of the despotic Magroth to the long period of peace and prosperity, Nerath unified the land. About a century ago, all that changed. The full story of how the empire fell remains a secret to this day, but some combination of natural disaster and attacking monsters left the royal family unaccounted for and the Nerathan armies leaderless and without direction. It didn’t take long for imperial communities to become isolated, and soon what was once a powerful empire shattered into separated points of light in a vast and dangerous darkness.
At the empire’s height, the rulers of Nerath anointed many knightly orders. One of the most revered was the Knights of the Empire. Consisting mostly of righteous paladins and noble rangers, the Imperial Knights served as guardians to the emperor and manifestations of the emperor’s will. The best of this order were often called to serve the emperor directly, becoming protectors of secrets and defenders of the royal family.
Unending Duties: Many of the knights of this order died during the chaotic time of the collapse of the empire. Some perished trying to defend the empire and prevent the onrushing disaster. Others met a more ignoble end. Of those who died in the pursuit of duty, a significant number found that death was not the end. Some mysterious magical effect or unknown curse turned the dead and dying Imperial Knights into undead guardians. They were suspended in an existence that tied them to the empire forever. The effect or curse was not instantaneous, however, and it was decades after the empire’s end before the first of these phantom guardians appeared across the land. The first recorded appearance was of a trio of ghostly Imperial Knights racing across the Gardbury Downs. It seems that the knights continue to try to fulfill the oaths they undertook in life, seeking honor in undeath even though they were unable to ultimately stop the empire’s collapse.
Members of the Imperial Knights’ Phantom Brigade appear as they did in life, though they are ethereal and translucent. They can be recognized by the archaic armor they wear and by the way the light of the moon passes through them.
Guardians of the Past: A knight’s code prevents Phantom Brigade members from accosting travelers without provocation. However, this prohibition doesn’t preclude a knight from coming into conflict with adventurers. Bound to an oath sworn centuries ago, a phantom knight might be forced into a confrontation with adventurers who are attempting to enter a protected sanctuary or to plunder the empire’s lost treasures. Sometimes, offering the phantom knight a pass phrase (or, more rarely, a voucher impressed with the royal signet) gains safe passage.
Soulbound Weapon: Each knight wields the weapon that he or she used in life. It is as much a part of the knight as the weapon carried by a death knight. The bond between knight and weapon is powerful, and each ghostly implement bears the symbol of the Threefold Crown of Nerath, marking each member of the Phantom Brigade as an Imperial Knight.