Sir Alfred Pennyworth's Journal Entry
The quill trembles, yet the ink must flow. As I tend the hearth of this crumbling manor, I am struck by the grim majesty of the Shadow-Bound Alliance my Master Lord Bruce Wayne has forged within the labyrinthine gutters of Gotham’s walled city.
They are more than mere mercenaries; they are a silent bulwark against the vultures of the nobility and the monsters of the mire. Bound not by blood, but by the shared salt of loss and a discipline forged in the iron heat of the Master’s own sorrow.
Batman: Our Master, the Dark Knight, stalks the battlements. To the peasants, he is a ghost; to the wicked, a divine judgment. He has traded his inheritance for a cowl of shadows.
The Squires: Young masters who have survived the slaughter of their own houses. Under the Master’s tutelage, they find purpose, transforming their grief into a weapon of justice that strikes from the rafters.
Lady Barbara Gordon: A daughter of the city's own guard Sir Gordon, she brings a brilliance that pierces even the endless night.
They operate by an unbreakable code—no steel shall take a life, for we must not become the demons we hunt. It is a heavy burden to carry a "family" into such a fray, yet in this Gotham, they are the only light that does not flicker. The candle flickers, yet I dare not leave this ledger unattended. Of all the tenets the Master enforces, none is more sacred than the Veil of Anonymity. In this era of superstitious dread and iron-fisted lords, the preservation of our secret identities is not merely a tactic; it is the very foundation of our survival.
The Shield of the Innocent
Should the names of our Shadow-Bound Alliance fall into the hands of the Inquisitors or the Court of Owls, the retribution would not stop at the blade's edge. Our secrecy serves as a shield for those we love—the common folk, the servants of Wayne Castle, and the fragile connections we maintain to the daylight world. If the man behind the cowl is known, his kin become the target of every cutthroat seeking a name for themselves.
The Power of the Myth
By remaining faceless, the Master transcends his own mortal flesh. A man can be broken, poisoned, or bribed; a myth is impervious to such earthly failings. In the taverns and gutters of Medieval Gotham, the criminals do not whisper of a mortal lord, but of an eternal spirit of the night. This psychological discipline ensures that the fear they strike into the hearts of the wicked remains absolute, regardless of who wears the mantle.
The Sacred Divide
To walk the streets of Gotham by day as a nobleman, and to haunt its battlements by night as a specter, requires a disciplined mind. The identity is the anchor that prevents the soul from being entirely consumed by the darkness. Once the mask becomes the true face, the man is lost forever to the crusade.
Bruce Wayne (Batman) leads the Bat family, with Dick Grayson (Nightwing), Jason Todd (Red Hood), Tim Drake (Red Robin), Damian Wayne (Robin), Barbara Gordon (Batgirl/Oracle), and Cassandra Cain (Orphan) as core members in this medieval Gotham vigilante bloodline. Dick Grayson (Nightwing), Jason Todd (Red Hood), Tim Drake (Red Robin), and Damian Wayne (Robin) are sons to him.