Harris Hawthorne

Lord Harris Hawthorne, often known by his nickname "Bad-Hat Harry," was the Patriarch of House Hawthorne from 609AE until his death in 622AE. He was a significant figure in Western politics of the era, often seen as an advisor to Lord Edwin Blackthorne and later his daughter the Lady Jayne Blackthorne. A childhood friend of the former's father Edward "Blackshanks," Harris was considered a divisive figure, respected for his veteran status (he was in his 90s by the time of the invasion of Brecilidia) but also reviled for his troublemaking antics as a youth; he was regarded as more of a follower than a leader, and Edward's brother Sir Balin was known to actively dislike him with the two often quarelling at council meets.
Harris was survived by a baseborn son, Edward West, or "Ned" as he was often nicknamed. By his marriage to Beatrice Holdenhome he had a trueborn daughter named Aster born in 610AE. After his death of natural causes while in his war-tent in Brecilidia, there was a succession crisis within the still-young Hawthorne line, Aster eventually won out by rule of Jayne, and 
== Appearance and Character ==
The Bad-Hat was never considered to be a handsome or charismatic figure, inheriting the small and squinty look of his mother's House Haskell. As a young man he had an unruly thatch of auburn hair, a "pointy" countenance and large ears. His hair thinned away to baldness when he was old, and he had a grey mustache at the time of his death. Harris' most distinguishing feature was his omipresent "Bad Hat," a saggy tartan bonnet with a great cockatrice feather pointing lopsidedly upwards. It gave him a comical appearance, but as Lady Astoria Blackthorne once remarked, without it you might not have even noticed he was in the room.
Harris was regarded as a weaselly runtish hanger-on as a squire, following the larger older Boys around, laughing along at their jokes and assisting in their various crimes in the hope they might accept him. He was also something of a craven, abandoning the group at the first sign that things were turning against them. As an older man he was somewhat pompous and self-important, regarding himself as a great veteran in the war agaisnt the High Elves, an opinion not all his contemporaries shared.
== Skills and Abilities ==
Harris was the least martially talented of Blackshank's Boys, but did possess a noble's training in arms. He owned a suit of fine silver plate-armor and preferred to fight with a longaxe.
== History ==
Harris was the great-grandson of the Hawthorne founder, Hawley Blackthorne. He had three elder brothers, named in order of brith as Arthur, Hawley and Horace. As a squire he was apprenticed to Sir Vortigern Thormund, and here he met his fellow squire, the older Edward Blackthorne. Along with their fellow squire Hans Rookwood the three became notorious for their antics, which spiralled into increasingly dark crimes as they got older. Harris recieved a nickname when the older boys put a challenge to him; if he could down a full cask of Wyvern-mead in one go without throwing up, he would not be forced to wear a ridiculous hat the three had found, for a month, without stopping, and without being allowed to take it off. Harris failed the challenge and capitulated to wearing the hat; he ended up becoming fond of it and thereafter was known as "Bad-Hat Harry."
The Bad-Hat was involved in the abortive campaign by the Boys to attack Brecilidia, though his heart was not in it and he was merely following the rest of the group as they were stronger personalities. When the battle turned, Harry was the first to drop his axe and flee the battlefield, leaving his so-called friends to die. Craven it might have been, but he lived on for a long time, getting to advise Edward's sons and granddaughter for over half a century to follow. He had brief stints on the regency council of Edward's son Henry, though both Edward's brother and widow often pushed back against his advice. He was later better recieved as a councillor for Henry's brother Edwin. and even suggested to Edwin that he draw his eighth wife from where the Bad-Hat had drawn his own--House Holdenhome. 
All three of the elder brothers would eventually die, heirless, involved in fruitless campaigns against King Argiliac and Brecilidia; Sir Harris unexpectedly became Lord Harris in 609AE after Arthur's death, by which time he was nearly 80 years old. With no other heirs in the line of succession after him, the pressure was suddenly on. He hastily managed to arrange a match with the 19 year old Beatrice Holdenhome. While advanced in age, Harry managed to perform against all odds one final time, siring a daughter named Aster off his buxom bee-bride, though he was never able to consummate again in the following years (to his wife's relief). 
When Jayne geared up to issue a full-scale attack on the High Elves, Harris was one of her lead commanders, though his troops were commanded in the field by his bastard son Ned West--The Bad-Hat had a relationship in the 570s with a wood elven concubine from the House of Blossoms in Everglow City, and named the resultant child after his old friend Blackshanks. One night towards the end of the conflict, the 91-year-old Bad-Hat complained of a chill, even though he was in the warmest part of the camp. He retired early to his tent and was found dead the next morning, having passed away peacefully in his sleep. His signature Hat was considered to be returned to his Widow, but Beatrice wanted none of it and claimed she was "sick of looking at that ridiculous thing." It was buried along with him when his bones were returned to the Whiteoak Keep. He was the last of the Blackshank's Boys to pass.
== Legacy ==
House Hawthorne was a burgeoning institution but an extremely valuable one, uniting the rolling Whiteoak Plains under one singular banner whereas before it had been divided under many. There was a great eagerness to see the cadet branch persist as they represented a huge financial/military power. Jayne Blackthorne, Lady-Paramount of the Thunderlands at the time of the Bad-Hat's death, supported Harris' daughter Aster to succeed him--she was determined that females be considered more often in the main lines of succession, and supported the child in order to make an example of such. The Bad-hat's Bastard, Ned West, strongly disagreed and challenged his father's widow for the right to the land. Beatrice called on her brother, Basil Holdenhome, called "The Hornet" and known as one of the fiercest lances in the realm, to serve as her champion. The date was agreed for a dual to the death. 
The two met in Everglow's Whirlpool Arena on the first day of New Moon, 623AE. Basil unhorsed the bastard as suspected, but when they continued the duel on foot, things took a turn. Basil bludgoned at the younger man with his mace, but Ned wielded the Bad-Hat's own longaxe with patience and precision, and the Hornet soon looked to be losing ground--he was in middle-age at that stage and past his fighting prime. Eventually both were exhausted, each bleeding from a dozen wounds. Neither seemed capable of continuing, and many rushed the field to pull them apart. Sir Deidrach Blackthorne, called the Darkhand, was one of those present and was observed to speak closely to Basil, pressing something into the Hornet's grasp. Deidrach then taunted the Bad-Hat's bastard, enraging Ned into calling for a second round. When the two joined again, Ned successfully cleaved into Basil with his axe, but himself fell down dead before he could proclaim his victory; Basil had got him with Deidrach's poisoned dagger, the bee's final death-sting.
Aster inherited the family according to Jayne's wishes. Under her mother's watch she married a knight of lesser name when she came of age in 625AE, and by 628AE had birthed an heir allowed to take the family name--Basil Hawthorne.
The modern branch of House Blackthorne in 1014AE, including Jaster and Talia, are direct descendants of the Bad-Hat through his many-times great-granddaughter, Lady Joanna Hawthorne.
== Trivia ==
"Bad Hat Harry" is a reference to a line & production company from the 1975 Steven Spielberg movie Jaws.