Shadrack

Very little is known about Shadrack other than that he is a powerful wizard. He is the author of the note found in KQVI, but does not appear in any of the games himself. Shadrack may be the head of Society of the Black Cloak, or he may only be a high-ranking member. He is known to have played chess with Mordack. He apparently along with Mordack had plans for the destruction of the Land of the Green Isles, but first they needed Alhazred to take over the kingdom. After Mordack's death, he instructed to Alhalzred that he would get the crown if he married Cassima, and then got rid of her either through sending her away, or killing her. He also wanted Cassima dead or alive to fulfill his peculiar interests, if Mordack hadn't kidnapped her instead. However Alhazred had no plans to give Shadrack Cassima because the last time he tried to send Cassima away, Mordack ended up dead, and she ended up returning within a year of being sent away.

In the Companion's novelization of KQ6, and within the game, there are 2 notes one written to Shadrack by Alhazred, and one written by Shadrack. The companion had extended versions of both letters which shine more light on society's plans for the islands. According to those notes his nickname is "Shade". It is his hidden name for himself. Below is a reconstruction and paraphrase of the information presented in both versions of Shadrack's letter.

"To Alhazred brother of the Black Cloak, from the Wizard Shadrack, also of that company,

Greetings:

I was sorry to hear of great Mordack's death, though he was a bit of a ninny at chess.

But it seems the plans for that little kingdom of yours are coming along, you seem to have the destruction of the kingdom well in hand.

I must congratulate you on your handling of the king and queen. Isolating the Islands so that no protest could develop was another brilliant stroke.

Turning the Islands against one another, and eliminating the King and Queen is a stratagem worthy even of me.

It looks like there's not much left to stand in your way. Do as I advise and recommended with that girl, the meddling brat Cassima, and you shall have your crown.

Shade"

Shadrack in the Unofficial Games
Shadrack appears in The Silver Lining, but it is unknown how big of a role he will play.

If The Silver Lining' makes him the leader of the Society of the Black Cloak, then Shadrack and the Father of KQ2 (AGDI) could be one and the same, as the father is the leader of the Society, at least in KQ2 (AGDI) Timeline. If Shadrack and Father turn out to be the same character in a future AGDI game, then that means that Shadrack is just one more of Morgeilen's aliases, which also includes Gervain.

The Silver Lining team has said they are only following the original King's Quest continuity, and not KQ2 (AGDI), and because of that they will not be using the "Father". So even if Shadrack turned out to be the leader of the Black Cloaks, he wouldn't be the Father in the The Silver Lining storyline.

He was to appear in the game King's Quest IX: It Takes Two to Tangle as well, as the major villain. In Akril's adapted semi-interactive novelization of the game, though he is omnipresent throughout most of the story, he doesn't appear in the flesh until the very end. Even though he looks like nothing more than a young man with dark hair and eyes, it is best to keep in mind that "Nothing is as it appears"...

Real World
Shadrack was a character created by Jane Jensen. However Roberta Williams had no part in his creation, or the creation of the Black Cloak Society, nor does she remember much about those details. Its highly possible that he would have never shown up in any official King's Quest games after KQ6, as long as Jane Jensen wasn't on board.

"The 'Black Cloak Society' was never an actual term that I instigated or thought up. I'm not actually sure where that came from. The closest thought that I have on that subject is that: when I was working with Jane Jensen on King's Quest 6, and we thought up the evil vizier, we talked loosely about the possibility of putting Mannanan, Mordack, and the vizier together as group -- possibly -- in a future King's Quest. There was loose reference to the possibility in King's Quest 6, although nothing was set in stone at that time. I think that it's possible that Jane Jensen might have mentioned the possibility (perhaps) in subsequent interviews on the subject, although, I'm not sure about that. Later on, I heard about the Black Cloak Society and kind of wondered where that phrase came from, but, I never refuted it as I thought it was kind of cool and, probably, would have gone on with the idea in future King's Quests had I had the chance. And, one final thing: Hagatha was never part in any discussion of a Black Cloak Society." - Roberta Williams at SierraGamers (6-9-2003)

Much of the King's Quest fan community see Shadrack as being some kind of evil mastermind behind all the events of the King's Quest series, and ultimately interested in the Kingdom of Daventry. This idea can be found in the fanfiction, unofficial games, as well as in discussions on various forums. Even in some cases some fans for the sake of their stories have had witches such as Dahlia, be minions of Shadrack.