The first of the Order of the Shadow Guard rose from the dead on Gril 29th, 1324 -- five years after the War of the Undead. Virtually overnight, an elite order of protectors and guardians had sprung up from their graves. Secrecy and mystique surrounded the members of the order, and few among the various churches could penetrate its veil of silence. One thing was clear, however -- nothing would ever be the same. With skin the color of death, red-eyed men and women of various races began to appear. They shadowed high ranking priests within the churches, as well as people important to the causes of various deities. Within a week, the old guard had been replaced, by a new, more elite guard. A new, more secretive guard, that seemed to answer to no mortal.

Shadow Guardians tend to be of warrior or clerical backgrounds, and so rangers, paladins, clerics, and druids are all eligible.  Fighters, barbarians, and monks sometimes join the Order of the Shadow Guardians, but only after extensive studies as clerics or other divine prayercasters.  More rarely, bards or rogues attempt to become members of the order. No practitioner of arcane magic has even been found within the order. NPC guardians tend to simply stay in the background, and protect bishops or high-ranking priests -- of all faiths. More rarely, a Shadow Guardian can be found protecting a holy item or relic, or some lower member of the echelons of the churches.

A Shadow Guardian whose charge is living is known as a Shah'Reer, and one whose charge is an item or relic is known as a Shah'Dureth. Within the ranks of the churches, a Shah'Reer or a Shah'Dureth has as much influence as a bishop. The elite of the Shadow Guardians are known as the Shah'Vicdur, and have as much influence as a cardinal. The Order of the Shadow Guardian transcends all faiths, leading a great many outside the order to speculate that Brigain or Curiss may have had a hand in its origins.  Shadow Guardians know one another, and do not interfere in one another's duties; those duties never come into conflict, through divine will.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements
To qualify to become Shadow Guardian, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 1st-level divine spells.
Base Attack Bonus: +3
Concentration: 8 ranks.
Feats: Diehard.
Special: The Shadow Guardian must have died in battle, in defense of some one or some thing.

Class Skills
The Shadow Guard's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge - religion (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), and Spot (Wis).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 +Int modifier.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Shadow Guard prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Shadow Guardian is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, small and medium armor, and shields. Note the penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Hide and Move Silently.
Sense Charge: They can sense the distance and direction to their charge, no matter how far away, as though the Shadow Guardian had cast the 4th-level cleric spell status on his charge.  (For non-living charges, assume sense charge still functions appropriately.)  Unlike the spell status, sense charge functions across planes.
Transferrance: At 2nd level, if his charge is a living being, then the Shadow Guardian can transfer his own health to his charge. The amount is equal to his Wisdom bonus times his level. This can only be done for his charge, and but once per day. The Shadow Guardian's Hit Points heal as normal, as though he had taken actual damage, and can be restored by spells such as cure light wounds. If the transferrance takes the Shadow Guardian below 0 Hit Points, then he falls unconscious, and can die of energy bleeding.  The range for transferrance is 'sight' -- so long as the Shadow Guardian can see their charge, they can transfer their hit points.
Spell Immunity: Shadow Guardians are immune to all necromatic and death domain spells, such as slay living, and magic jar. This immunity is not transferrable to his charge until later levels, and he is well aware of this. This ability comes with 4th level. At 10th level, this ability becomes so powerful, that the charge finally becomes immune, as well.
Limited Invisibility: Beginning at 2nd-level, so long as the Shadow Guardian is within twenty feet of his charge, he gains a +5 bonus to his Hide and Move Silently scores. Every third level there-after, this ability increases by +5. A successful Hide check for a Shadow Guadian within twenty feet of his charge indicates limited invisibility (as per the spell) -- he cannot be seen by normal means, even if in plain sight.  This is a supernatural ability, and allows them to Hide while being observed.
Danger Sense: Members of the Order of the Shadow Guard are instantly aware of eminent danger to the person or item they are to protect. The nature of the awareness varies from member to member of the order, from a buzzing in the back of the skull, to seeing signs such as burning orbs, or even bleeding from long-healed scars. Exact details are left to the discretion of the Dungeon Master, and the danger sense can be overcome by spells and spell-like abilities such as obscure object and the like.
Savage Defense: Whenever his charge is reduced to half Hit Points, the Shadow Guardian becomes a more savage fighter in melee. So long as a charge is at half Hit Points or less in combat, the guardian gains a +1 Attack Bonus, and his Wisdom gains a temporary increase of +4. The moment combat ends, these modifiers are lost. At 3rd level, and every 3rd level thereafter, the Attack Bonus from savage defense increases by +1.
Charge Defense: Because a Shadow Guardian can so effectively guard his charge, the charge gains benefits from his Armor Class. Every other level, beginning at second level, an item or person protected by a Shadow Guardian gains a +1 deflection bonus to his Armor Class. These bonuses to Armor Class are cumulative with other magical or material deflection bonuses, though they only apply if the guardian is within twenty feet of his charge.

Class Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells
1st	+1	+1	+0	+1	Sense charge, +1 savage attack, +1 charge AC.	+1 Caster Level
2nd	+2	+2	+1	+2	Transferrance. +5 to Hide checks.
3rd	+3	+2	+1	+2	+2 savage attack, +2 charge AC.	+1 Caster Level
4th	+4	+3	+2	+3	Immunity to death domain and necromatic spells.
5th	+5	+3	+2	+3	+3 charge AC. +10 to Hide checks.	+1 Caster Level
6th	+6	+4	+3	+4	+3 savage attack.
7th	+7	+4	+3	+4	+4 charge AC.	+1 Caster Level
8th	+8	+5	+4	+5	+15 to Hide checks (limited invisibility).
9th	+9	+5	+4	+5	+4 savage attack, +5 charge AC.	+1 Caster Level
10th	+10	+6	+5	+6	Charge gains death immunity.

Should the Shadow Guardian's charge be destroyed, or die, then the Shadow Guardian passes on into the afterlife -- their mission a failure.  For example, a Shadow Guardian could be assigned to guard an elderly mage.  When the mage dies of old age, the Shadow Guardian's business on the mortal plane is done -- unless the gods have another mission for them, in which case, they are brought back from the dead, once again.  Shadow Guardians that are brought back for additional divine missions do not lose any levels.  Shadow Guardians can only class over as necessary, but will never lose their identity as Shadow Guardians.