Our Canon
Abiding by the existing lore is something we take pride in as a guild. However, there are empty spaces that are not filled in by any official sources. These small details are insignificant to the major story of the Scourge, the Lich King, and His death knights, but raise questions during roleplay. Can a death knight eat, and if so, what can it eat? Can they sleep? Does it pain them to be in the vicinity of the Stormwind Cathedral? And so forth.
This section defines the conclusions we have generally chosen to follow as a guild, for the sake of consistency.
Unless a source is explicitly cited, these are all 'plausible assumptions', not truths found in lore. Guild members are not required to agree with these conclusions or use them in RP, they are just the results of discussions we have had in guild chat, etc.
Our Scourgestones
According to Darion Mograine, a Scourgestone is "an item given to all Scourge upon birth or creation. It provides certain benefits to the holder, but more importantly it allows Scourge leaders visibility into the location and movement of all of their units." During this quest 'The Scourgestone' [1], Mograine also mentions that "with enough scourgestones, [he] might be able to track the movement of other Scourge units across Icecrown."
However, the precise manner in which Scourgestones function, what 'benefits' they provide to the holder, and the methods by which they can be repurposed is never precisely defined. All we know for certain is that:
(1) they provide 'benefits' to the wielder,
(2) they can be used to track the movement of the wielder somehow,
(3) there are various types [2][3][4], and
(4) paladins can transform them into 'mightstones', which, when shattered, provide temporary benefits [5].
In <The Shadow Vault>, Scourgestones are small, rounded, runed stones which can be re-purposed by certain skilled death knights, attuning them in groups to make networked stones. Wielders can sense the presence and general direction of other wielders of scourgestones with the same attunement. Also, scourgestones can be broken by blunt force, acting as a distress signal to wielders of similarly-attuned scourgestones. Scrying orbs (such as the ones outside of the Shadow Vault used for monitoring and commanding Shades) can also be used to determine the precise location of all similarly-attuned scourgestones.
On their own, Scourgestones are typically incapable of allowing for any more sophisticated means of communication than that. It was simply not their purpose. However, they can be enchanted by an external source in order to allow for this. Many of our stones have been enhanced this way by a certain subjugated mindbender. Wielders can communicate with one another directly through a sort of telepathy that uses the stone as a conduit. It is uncommon, but possible, for thoughts and speech to be transmitted inadvertently if the user is in distress.
Attributes of our scourgestones
1) Active stones can be sensed by undead within 10 feet of the holder. They can sense whether a stone's attunement is familiar or foreign.
2) Holder locations can only be seen through Eyes of Dominion - the same used to command shades. There are eyes at Acherus and the Shadow Vault. Only field commanders and above have access to these.
3) Destroying the stones sets off a distress signal. Holders of a stone of the same attunement will feel the direction and distance of a destroyed stone from a distance about the span of the continent of Northrend (like hearing a noise). Stones can be shattered by strong impacts such as by a weapon or by a forceful throw at a hard surface.
4) Transmissions are done through deliberate thoughts ('telepathy') and can be heard by all units carrying a scourgestone with the same attunement. Accidental transmissions are possible and not uncommon, such that wielders have grown accustomed to hearing fractions of conversations they are not present for.
5) They are not considered to be secure means of communication since any undead holding a scourgestone will be able to hear messages.
6) All members of the guild are considered to carry the same attunement by default. They are a subset of knights (ICly about 25 death knights) so our messages are not presumed to be heard by the larger Ebon Blade or anyone important.
http://www.wowhead.com/quest=13122/the-scourgestone[1]
http://www.wowhead.com/quest=5510/minions-scourgestones[2]
http://www.wowhead.com/quest=5509/invaders-scourgestones[3]
http://www.wowhead.com/quest=5404/corruptors-scourgestones[4]
http://www.wowhead.com/quest=8418/forging-the-mightstone[5]
Sleeping
In "The Death Knights of Acherus", it is revealed that death knights are capable of sleep, but that it is unnecessary for them to survive.[1] Sleep is also mentioned in "Guide to the Side Effects of Reanimation", described as bothersome and time-consuming.[2]
We speculate that the nature of the 'sleep' that death knights are capable of is not like the sleep which the living need regularly, due to the biological changes that come with undeath. We have come to play it as a kind of 'dormant state', described by some as 'shutting down', 'turning off', etc. They do not dream, and they can remain in this state for much, much longer than real sleep -- indefinitely, perhaps. Whether they actually do feel mentally or physically rested after this, or whether they only think they feel rested due to mortal coil and habit, is honestly up to the roleplayer (and the death knight). Some may just do it to allow the passage of time.
In spite of all this, we also speculated that most death knights still do not sleep at all anyhow, widely viewing it as laziness, cowardice, or escapism. In the wonderful world of character development, this is another aspect for your character to develop an opinion about.
http://www.wowwiki.com/The_Death_Knights_of_Acherus[1]
http://www.wowwiki.com/Guide_to_the_Side_Effects_of_Reanimation[2]
The Language of Death
"The Language of Death" (also referred to as "the tongue of the Scourge") is speculatively assumed by our guild to be a spoken and written language used universally by the Scourge (including the Cult of the Damned). There is official evidence that a "secret language" exists that is spoken by the Cult of the Damned [1], and there is official evidence that the "language of Death" exists in at least a written form ("strange symbols") that can be read, understood, and viably translated by Koltira [2] and a ghoul [3]. However, there is no official evidence that these two are the same language, or that the former has a written version, or that the latter has a spoken version.
We've choosen to go with the conclusion that they are indeed the same language, and that Death Knights were imbued with proficiency in both speaking and writing upon their conversion into Scourge. We assume it to be a guttural, brutish tongue, and limited in vocabulary due to its purpose (precise military communication, not poetry.) For example, there would be no word for something like "love", although such words can simply be assumed to have been said in Common when using Tongues.
We use the Tongues 'Gutterspeak' setting as a substitute for Death.
Blizzard may not have wanted yet another unexplained exception for inter-faction communication, but the Scourge certainly required such a language in order to unite risen members from so many different backgrounds.
http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest:The_Hunt_is_On[1]
http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest:Koltira_and_t...nguage_of_Death[2]
http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest:A_Righteous_Sermon[3]
We've choosen to go with the conclusion that they are indeed the same language, and that Death Knights were imbued with proficiency in both speaking and writing upon their conversion into Scourge. We assume it to be a guttural, brutish tongue, and limited in vocabulary due to its purpose (precise military communication, not poetry.) For example, there would be no word for something like "love", although such words can simply be assumed to have been said in Common when using Tongues.
We use the Tongues 'Gutterspeak' setting as a substitute for Death.
Blizzard may not have wanted yet another unexplained exception for inter-faction communication, but the Scourge certainly required such a language in order to unite risen members from so many different backgrounds.
http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest:The_Hunt_is_On[1]
http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest:Koltira_and_t...nguage_of_Death[2]
http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest:A_Righteous_Sermon[3]
Professions and Specializations
Now for something completely fan-created! The following image details professions and specializations for death knights. The true purpose of this system is to give our normally asocial death knights more reasons to interact, as well as to give them special roles during RP events. Choosing a specialization or profession is NOT required for any death knight. If necessary open the image in a new tab to read about them.