GLRP:EMs:Event Bios:Lord Blackthorn
Lord Blackthorn
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Location: Britain, Felucca
Alignment: Good
Status: Alive
The career of Lord Blackthorn has had many twists and turns, some comical, some tragic, some triumphant, and some a combination of all of the above. He first was known as a kind of counterweight to Lord British, presenting a vision of goodness that differed from British's but was no less good for the difference. Then, for years, he appeared to be a great, tragic villain of our world. Of late, however, he has emerged as a hero, and was eventually crowned King.
His name is very often misspelled to "Blackthorne," but "Blackthorn" is the proper spelling.
- Background
Blackthorn was a nobleman, noble-born, noble-bred, with a nobleman's refined tastes, a good friend and chess partner/opponent of Lord British's
- Politics
Originally, Blackthorn was a friend and ally of Lord British. He founded a philosophy called "Chaos" that was designed to counteract Lord British's philosophy of the Virtues. Sherry the Mouse claimed in a written work that Blackthorn formed Chaos after overhearing a conversation between British and the Time Lord, to the effect that if everyone in all shards followed Virtue, the shards would re-integrate. While this eventuality would help heal the wounds caused by Mondain to time itself, which would surely be a "good" thing in objective terms, it would effectively end the existences of everyone on the shards. Blackthorn thus reasoned that a competing philosophy would prevent this eventuality, and thus invented Chaos.
Broadly speaking, Chaos held that there was value in all lives, even the lives of evil creatures and evil people, and that it was difficult to define "Virtues" in terms of objective morality in the manner contemplated by British's Virtue systems. More details can be found in Blackthorn's various written works, which continue to be printed, sell well, and be read.
Some, unfortunately, considered Chaos to be synonymous with evil, which even the most-ardent but literate followers of Order had to concede it was not.
- Blackthorn and British
Blackthorn and British maintained their friendship despite their competing philosophies, and while their more fanatical followers slaughtered one another in the streets.
- Blackthorn's Damnation
At this point, a strange reversal of our view of events has recently taken place.
For a long time, what we thought had happened was thus:
Former View As stated above, Blackthorn was a nobleman, and aristocrat, with an aristocrat's tastes, education, and expectations.
When he did not immediately ascend to the throne upon British's first absence, Blackthorn became bitter and resentful. Despite the tolerance and egalitarian sentiments of Chaos, at heart Blackthorn was an aristocrat, and thought, simply by right of noble birth, that he should have the throne until British returned. He thus succumbed with remarkable ease to the temptations of the villain Exodus, and became true evil. He also became a half-human, half-machine monstrosity, and converted many other humans, followers of Chaos no doubt, to follow him in his evil. We know these as the "Betrayers," and they continue to pose a threat to us, showing up as foot soldiers in a variety of evil armies, allying with anyone they can to strike out against Britannia.
During this period, he took up residence in a new castle in Central Ilshenar.
Blackthorn and his forces participated in the attacks on Britannia launched by the Juka and Exodus.
After the fading of Exodus's power, Blackthorn grew impatient, gathered up some apparently random evil forces, and launched an all-out attack on the City of Yew. During the fight, he was slain by Dawn.
Current View We now know that Blackthorn, in a noble but horrendously foolish attempt to take on Exodus by himself, entered Exodus's dungeon and confronted the demonic machine himself. Blackthorn's ploy failed and instead of killing Exodus was imprisoned by him. Exodus then created a rather convincing doppelganger of Exodus and used that doppelganger to commit the evils that were, rather understandably, attributed to Blackthorn.
These events have been confirmed through several sources, including but not limited to an analysis of the corpse inside Blackthorn's Grave in Britain, Felucca, which revealed that it was not Blackthorn who was killed and buried.
- Blackthorn's Memorial
Upon his return to the realm, Lord British heard of the seeming-fate of his own friend, and mourned him despite the evils attributed to Blackthorn. It was, British stated, Blackthorn's death that had caused him to return to Britannia.
"My friend Lord Blackthorn is dead," stated the King, "and I am sorrowful at his passing. He became corrupted by great Evils, and now is no more. Though we were often at odds, the truth of his downfall wears upon my soul." Words of praise for Blackthorn's slayer, Dawn, sadly did not come.
British also stated that, as a monument to Blackthorn's ideas, he was abandoning his goal of uniting the Shards, under the Virtues. Thus, in death, Blackthorn effectively won the Chaos/Order wars.
- Blackthorn's Awakening and Return
For reasons that are unclear, the imprisoned Blackthorn awakened. He somehow managed to find his way back to the world, though he first surfaced in Ter Mur, not Britannia. In Ter Mur he managed to cure the Gargish Blight, a disease that had been brought back to Ter Mur by refugees among the Gargoyles of Ver Lor Reg, the Gargoyle city in Ilshenar. Dupre became aware of his friend's return, and was informed of the events involving the doppelganger, and word of Blackthorn's return spread. Still more or less in disguise, Blackthorn took measures to ease the troubles in Britannia.
In recognition of his efforts, moderately successful thus far but better than anyone else had done or likely could have done, Blackthorn was crowned King.
During Blackthorn's imprisonment, his once-jester, Heckles, used hidden moneys to build a shining castle for his master on the site of Blackthorn's previous castle in Britain, Trammel. The Felucca version of the castle remains the same as it was, complete with the doppelganger's grave.
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