"Think of honor as a fire that can only be lit once. If the fire dies down to coals it can be stoked up a again. But if it is completely extinguished, it will remain extinguished forever. The same fire can never be relit."
-Trizan the Pure, instructor of the demon Saifir the Dark
For every thing good, there is something equally as evil. It has been this way from the beginning, as if it was planned. Even the most seemingly pure things have a taint to them, an exact opposite. It is this way with the Paladin as well. For at the ancient rituals to invoke the powers of the Paladin, there were two standing in for the powers received, one for good, one for evil. That was the start of the White Paladin, and the Black Paladin. The White Paladin were bound by honor, but the Black followed the power of Ronoh, the opposite of Honor. The Black's gain power by stealing Honor from Paladin's and normal folk alike, whereas the White's gain power by doing good and helping others. The Black's mostly hide in caves, for they are outcasts, and never trusted among people. But their power must never be underestimated.
As Saifir read these words from the book Trizan had given him to help with his lessons, he looked up, his eyes full of determination.
"I will never be seduced by the Black's. I will fight them until my last breath."
"In saying this, you have made the difficulty of your walk increase five fold," spoke Trizan, "for now the Black's will not stop until they have you, or you are dead."
Saifir took this news easily, not believing it. He was sure of his spirit. It was only a few months after this that Saifir had his first encounter with a Black. Trizan and he were returning from a hunt, well after dark, when a hole seemed to open up in the night. It was so dark it seemed to absorb the darkness. The two watched until they saw a figure stepped out of the portal. He looked normal, except there was an air of evil about him. That, and his eyes were as dark as the portal, seemingly drawing the dark into them. After a few moments of silence, the Black Paladin spoke:
"Hello old friend. How are you this night?"
"I am no friend of yours. Not anymore!" Trizan reiterated.
"That hurts, Trizan. After all of the memories and adnventures we've shared, it truly hurts." Spoke the Paladin, mockingly.
"You've betrayed me, and everything I stand for. You've betrayed yourself and everything you used to stand for. I no longer know you!" Trizan said.
"Hmm. No matter. I'm not here for you. I'm here for him!" The Black Paladin lifted an arm and pointed a finger at Saifir. It sent a down Saifir's back, and he could feel the back of his neck tighten, and he knew that the hairs there were standing on end. "Of course, you do know boy, that the man that has raised you, the man that you called 'father', has only done so because he is responsible for the death of your family and all they cared about!"
"LIAR!" Shouted Saifir. He unsheathed his sword, and ignited it, casting a brilliant glare over the land.
"Well, if you don't believe me, perhaps you'll believe him then. What of it Trizan? Honor forbids you to lie..."
"It is true, boy." Spoke Trizan, his eyes locked with this Black Paladin's, and his voice was as hard as steel.
"Trizan....how could....how could this be?" Asked Saifir, dazed. The flame of his sword died down to a flicker.
"I should know, I was there." Answered the Black Paladin. "Trizan was on the quest that would lead to his becoming a Paladin. But as he was staying in a villiage, he saw a band of brigands sneaking into the village, and instead of warning anyone, he quickly took his family to the forest and hid them, then returned to the village. Someone had awoken and screamed, and the brigands quickly began slaughtering the villagers. When he returned, only blazing huts remained. Until he heard the crying of a baby. You can guess who that was."
"It's...not....Trizan?" Saifir looked at Trizan in a new way now. This was no longer the man he had known. Unbeknownst to him, a seed of hate was planted in Saifir's heart. But rather than accept this, Saifir quickly lifted his sword again and the flame leaped back to life. But before anything else could happen, Trizan cast an Honor Freeze on the Black Paladin, and took Saifir by the arm and began running back to the town. When they were safely at the gates, Saifir asked Trizan why they had not fought the Black Paladin.
"I have known him for a very long time. His name is Radnor. We were once the best of friends, and a nearly unbeatable team. But he was weak. Now, to answer your question, we did not attack because Black Paladin's are much more powerful than Whites are. This is so because they do not have to work as hard to get their power as we do, and of course they can gain power more quickly than we. It would take three advanced White's to match one average Black Paladin."
"Trizan, how can this be? Why can the Black Paladin's not be converted back to their original state?"
"Think of honor as a fire that can only be lit once. If the fire dies down to coals it can be stoked up a again. But if it is completely extinguished, it will remain extinguished forever. The same fire can never be relit."