Blackthorne Character History

The man that would come to be known as "Blackthorne" was born in Greyspire, the capitol city of Gesnor, in the year 465. Sigmund and Una Draith (whose ancestry traces back to Vengaard) named their first child Torrin. Years later they would have two more boys (Gustave and Simon) and a girl (Dahlia).
Sigmund owned a tavern called “The Fallen Rock.” Both 
he and Una spent every day and night working the Tavern. He tended bar 
while she was the head serving girl, or tavern wench. The "The Fallen 
Rock" was among the last of the taverns any noble or official would 
choose to visit. The clientele were a handful of Greyspire's less than 
desirable men and women.
This was the environment that Torrin and his siblings grew up in. As 
soon as they could walk, talk, and perform the mundane tasks, they were 
put to work.
Several years of his life passed this way; drudgery sprinkled with the 
occasional fight or interesting tale. This life and the tales he heard 
taught Torrin that one should always be looking out for one's self, 
first and foremost. That philosophy would remain with him long into his 
life.
When he reached the age he thought he could strike out on his own, 
Torrin abandoned his family, taking a portion of the family savings to 
survive. He did not consider nor did he care how severely this affected 
his family. Though he has never bothered to check, his family survived 
the loss and eventually struggled back to stability.
Seeking out his fortune, Torrin signed on with a group of adventurers as
 one of their porters. The group was leaving on a quest to find an 
ancient magikal talisman called The Eye of Creer. They headed out for Gallura. Their progress was good until the day they were overtaken in the Orange Duchy of Quivera by a large group of Orcs
 under the employ of Duke Kagrug. The Orc troops fell on the adventurers
 making quick work of them. Seeing the futility of fighting back, Torrin
 dirked the nearest adventurer to him. Olaf Larsson 
died with a shocked expression, staring into Torrin's eyes. Torrin took 
Olaf's mace and shield and dispatched the rest of the porters in an 
attempt to depart. The Orcs were not successful in killing the entire 
party, but they did overtake Torrin.
After they captured him, the only Orc who could speak Xarian questioned 
Torrin. Expecting to die, Torrin was tense and shouted adversarial 
threats to the Orcs. Knowing they would smash him later, the Orcs wanted
 to toy with him. They held back in a circle around Torrin while 
questioning him. They could not understand why he turned against his 
fellow humans. His reasoning took some time to translate to the Orcs. 
When they began to grasp his theory of being concerned only for one’s 
self, the Orc patrol began laughing in amusement. The leader barked out 
an Orcish command to the others and they all turned and marched away.
And once again, looking out for himself served Torrin best.
From Quivera, Torrin traveled to DeMekrium
 with a caravan, hired on as a guard. In DeMekrium there was little work
 to be had for a foreigner. Shortly after his arrival, Torrin was 
involved in a minor skirmish outside a DeMekrian tavern. It seemed the 
local authority was not satisfied with Torrin's flippant remark when 
asked for the traveling papers that he did not possess. The skirmish was
 short. Taking no chances, Torrin dirked the guard through his ribs, in 
front of a small crowd of DeMekrians that proceeded to raise the alarm.
Torrin fled from the scene, and later that evening encountered some of 
the local thieves. It seemed that they were anti-establishment and would
 help Torrin depart DeMekrium for a small service. In an effort to 
remain anonymous, they wished to hire him to murder some upper class 
noble. They would pay him and provide transport from DeMekrium. Torrin 
took the job, murdered the noble (whose name he never bothered to learn) and indeed was given transportation out of DeMekrium.
The next several months were spent performing mercenary tasks. Sometimes
 alone, sometimes with a group, they consisted of kidnapping, sacking 
villages, defending towns, theft, and murder to name a few.
Eventually Torrin ended up Icara,
 where he spent five years working as a mercenary for the Icaran Army. 
This small mercenary troop allowed Icara to perform several incursions 
into neighboring countries of Karandia and Chalter Medrium
 to enact truly diabolical schemes that neither could prove were Icara's
 doing. Over these five years, Torrin became the leader of the small 
mercenary group. His mission successes helped build his reputation as a 
mercenary.
His years of service to Icara came to an end in 485 when the mercenary group was once again sent in to Chalter Medrium. The group was en route to Nasus Glen,
 a northern city in the kingdom. Along the road, they encountered a 
small contingent of the Chalter Medrium Army. The soldiers attacked and 
defeated the mercenary group. Torrin and three others were captured. The
 soldiers were transporting the captives to Grath when Torrin managed to
 escape, leaving the other three to their own fate.
He fled from this last scene, realizing that once again, he had made his
 own fortune by looking out for himself. Torrin traveled southwest and 
unknowingly crossed the border into Doro Y'Edhel.
This area of Doro Y'Edhel was also close to the border of Uragoth. Torrin's path crossed that of an Ogre war party. Seeing the large number of Ogres,
 Torrin evaded them and hid. The Ogres seemed to take up a position in 
the nearby woods and wait for something. In order to depart from his 
concealment, Torrin would surely attract the Ogres attention. So he 
waited along with the Ogres.
A few hours later a group of Elves
 passed through the area. The Ogres ambushed the Elves. Something inside
 Torrin couldn't sit by and watch, so he jumped in to fight with the 
Elves against the Ogres. During the fight, an Ogre slashed Torrin across
 the face with a devastating sword blow. When he awoke, the Elves were 
tending to his wounds, including the left eye he lost as a result of the
 Ogre's attack. The Elves thanked him for his help and informed him that
 they were escorting the Elven “King.” The “King” asked him to accompany them for a short time. They traveled to Grath to meet with King Frederick II
 of Chalter Medrium. Begrudging, Torrin accepted, inwardly cursing 
himself. He felt he had betrayed himself, not following his philosophy: 
look out for yourself. This momentary lapse had cost him his eye and was
 taking him back into the country he had just fled.
After this meeting, Torrin journeyed with the Elves back to Doro 
Y'Edhel. The Elves related the story of the Ogre ambush to the Queen. On
 the recommendation of the “King,” Torrin was knighted by the Elven Queen, Thielora Regalia, into the Order of the Black Rose and since he was not an elf, he was given the name “Blackthorne” for his effort in saving the “King.”
Blackthorne spent several months in Doro Y'Edhel before returning to his homeland of Gesnor in November of 486.
Torrin established contacts with the questionable mercenaries of Greyspire.
 In December he learned of the immanent overthrow of the Pick Council 
when he was asked to participate in the coup. The ambitious Volek
 had been assembling troops that were loyal to him and his idea of 
revolution. He was, however, undermanned for such an ambitious process. 
Merely killing the Pick Council would be child's play; they were all old
 men. Keeping the power after the coup would be the difficult part. So 
Volek hired on mercenary troops sympathetic to the cause of coin in 
their purse. One such mercenary was Blackthorne.
The coup took place in January 487. Blackthorne was side by side with the Eagle Elite
 as they entered the Pick Council chamber and took an active hand in 
slaying the Council members present. Blackthorne killed Councilman Jürgen Karls.
During the month following the coup, Volek secretly ordered his Eagle 
Elite to kill all the participants of the coup who were not the hand 
picked members of his force. Blackthorne saw some of the other 
mercenaries killed one night in a tavern by poorly masked members of the
 Eagle Elite.
The Elite apparently did not realize that Blackthorne was there, seated 
at another table. After killing the three other mercenaries, the Elite 
quickly fled the scene.
Knowing that the situation would only get worse for him, Blackthorne left Gesnor.
The following months were spent bounty hunting, based out of the “Broken Oak” Inn in Palrim.
 Again, his reputation as a successful and effective mercenary kept 
Blackthorne employed. One of the jobs he took was to kidnap a lower rank Priest of the House Anar in Dakkor. This job was unsuccessful due to the fact that minutes before Blackthorne arrived, the priest was kidnapped by an elf
 [Kevin O’Hara] whose face he would never forget. Blackthorne saw him 
escaping the scene. This angered Torrin, who vowed revenge on the elf 
for costing him a job, money, and a mark on his reputation.
Several jobs later, he had happy clients and a sum of coins. Blackthorne
 became tired of this life in Palrim and left after hearing rumors of 
another revolution approaching.
It seemed that the locals in Hartwig were dissatisfied 
with their governing body. In March of 488, Blackthorne signed on to the
 revolution's side for a fee and participated in his second coup. This 
time, Blackthorne had little concern of being killed by the new 
government, but, rather than take any unnecessary chances, he moved on.
After having decided to travel east, Blackthorne signed on to a mercenary troop fighting with Rynith against Akkoria.
 It was during this skirmish that Blackthorne encountered the elf for 
the second time. It seemed that the elf had joined the cause of Akkoria.
 Blackthorne fought his way through the lines to reach the elf. The two 
engaged in swordplay and words. Blackthorne introduced himself as 
“Torrin Draith, also called Blackthorne.” The elf seemed eager to fight 
and treated the whole scene as if it were a fun game. Laughing, he 
introduced himself as “Danvic, a half-elf” [Kevin 
O’Hara]. They fought for a long time. Blackthorne realized that although
 the half-elf seemed to make a jest or game out of everything, he was a 
skilled swordsman and the fight would not be easy. Even so, Blackthorne 
was certain he was a better swordsman. The two ignored direct orders 
from their superiors so they could continue their fight. As the fight 
grew more intense, a wave of men in battle crashed through where they 
were fighting, cutting them off from each other.
Torrin promised himself and swore that he would one day find the half-elf and kill him.
In April of 489, Blackthorne took a bounty, hunting down a mute girl for a Karandian Duke.
 The girl was simple to track down. Every town had a merchant or two 
that was happy to tell Blackthorne exactly when they had seen the “cute 
girl what could not speak. Poor thing. And yes, I believe she was headed
 to the next town.”
When he was close to regaining the girl, his travel was interrupted by his third encounter with Danvic.
 He immediately set upon Danvic, intending to see him dead in moments. 
To his credit, Danvic had greatly improved his sword skills since last 
they met and the fight ended in a draw. Danvic and Blackthorne called a 
truce for the time being and parted ways, both having more pressing 
business to attend.
With little effort, Blackthorne found the mute girl. Acquiring her was 
slightly more difficult. It seemed that she had befriended a large 
contingent of travelers who were determined to see that this bounty 
hunter (whom they had heard nothing good about) would not harm her cute 
features. The task seemed daunting until he met Pex 
[Jason Ryan], a thief and assassin of considerable skill. The two set to
 the task of apprehending the mute girl. In time they had convinced the 
gathering of protective travelers that they had no intention of harming 
the girl, only escorting her home. Since she could not speak, she could 
not tell her protectors otherwise, and they begrudgingly allowed 
Blackthorne and Pex to leave with the girl.
For his troubles, Blackthorne split the bounty with Pex, who left to travel a different path.
In the spring of 491 Torrin was hired again by Icara. This time his job was to travel with delegates to a peace treaty over the Hagar Hills with Karandia. The peace talks were proceeding relatively well until the Mage-Delegate
 [Dale Hawley] from Icara went mad, attacking all the members present. 
Blackthorne joined forces with others, including a young mage named Tarrik [Dale Brodt], to kill the mad Icaran Delegate.
After this, Blackthorne grew weary of western Xaria and began to look 
for work that took him east. He spent a few years participating in 
mercenary skirmishes and odd jobs.
Torrin was training a group of mercenaries in a western Halgudar town when he was approached by a messenger. The man handed Torrin a letter drafted by his old ally, Pex. It seemed that the Rynith Guard was in sad shape, comprised of thieves, criminals and degenerates that had no skill or discipline. Rynith
 was looking for a man to command their elite guard and “whip them into 
shape.” Blackthorne was not able to say no to offer, or the pay. He bid 
the group he was training farewell and departed with the messenger, only
 minutes after reading the letter.
It seemed that Pex had acquired himself a lofty 
position in Rynith politics and put in the good word for his old friend 
Blackthorne. After speaking to Lord Kyrrath, and explaining how things were to be run, Blackthorne was given the job as Commander of the Rynith Guard.
Due to the duplicitous nature of underlings and higher-ups in Rynith 
Court, Torrin was uncertain how long would remain in his position. 
However, his stern philosophies towards training men for combat in the 
military (no doubt instilled from tales of former Icaran soldiers now in
 the Guard) were working. The Rynith Guard was shaping up to be a better force. And Blackthorne kept his job by being feared.
In November of 496, Blackthorne had sent his most trusted unit on an 
easy detail as a reward for their excellent service in Halgudar. They 
were given the job of guarding a mountain that the Court Wizards had 
interest in. Unfortunately, the coming of winter would delay the 
Wizards' arrival, so the Rynith Guard was to keep the area protected.
Two weeks into the detail, word reached Blackthorne that the unit was nearly all killed, and his best man, Captain Roche [Andrew Gaughen] had retrieved Court Wizard Vladimir Souska [Michael Parker] to assess the situation.
As it turned out, the emergency that occurred killed all but the last 
five of his best men. When Roche returned, Blackthorne began to hear the
 tale of what had happened. Upon hearing of the mage named Tarrik allied with members of the Order of the Black Rose,
 Blackthorne decided that an edited version of the report would be the 
only one to reach any higher officials. He asked Roche to cease the tale
 and gave him an unprecedented order; they would discuss the rest over a
 few drinks.
The two discussed the rest of the tale in a tavern, out of uniform, so 
they would be less likely to attract the attention of eavesdroppers. The
 events were certainly significant, and called for further information. 
In keeping with orders from the government of Rynith, Blackthorne had spies sent after the group, attempting to learn as much as possible.
As information came back to Torrin, he realized that more was afoot than
 a mere pillaging that upset some Court Wizards of Rynith.
In December 497, Torrin spoke to Zadroz Darkwyrd [Vern 
Kriske], the only Court Wizard he trusted. Zadroz also had the abilities
 of a seer. The Wizard told him of the significance of the quest that Tarrik's party
 was on, as well as other items that they would need. Torrin had a hard 
time believing all of this, but eventually took it to be true.
What he found out, weighed on Torrin's conscience. Eventually he acted, 
choosing what he thought to be not only in his best interests, but the 
best interests of everyone. Knowing that he would be met with adversity 
in every step, he felt he had to plan his moves very carefully.
Torrin asked the five remaining men he knew to be loyal
 to perform a mission for him. If they were to accept this mission, they
 would no longer be soldiers in the Rynith Guard, and would become 
wanted men in Rynith.
 They would be responsible for the lives of Tarrik and his quest party, 
and quite possibly the lives of most Xarians. They would protect those 
who could save the world. Each man agreed, preferring to be a soldier, 
to fight for their commander, and to fight for something they believed 
in, not some land that held little regard for anything but itself.
Over the next few months, they assembled gear from the armories and quartermasters of the Rynith Guard.
As he was the Commander of the Rynith Guard, it was simple enough to 
arrange for his trusted men to be placed on a duty he knew to be 
important. Zadroz had discovered through some form of augury, that Tarrik and the quest members would be coming through the Ancient magikal stone arch near the end of June.
Captain Roche and the rest of his trusted men were 
assigned to guard the Arch. As had been predicted, Tarrik and his 
companions magikally appeared in the Arch and were immediately captured 
by the men present. Shortly after their capture, Blackthorne arrived to 
take command of the post. He briefed his team, which also included 
Zadroz and his new apprentice Daemir Du Ghul [Kevin 
O’Hara], of the foretold events. This was the point that their lives 
would change. For the next day, they would perform their duties and act 
normally. To keep the prisoners in line and the other Rynith Guards unsuspecting, Blackthorne ordered the Veldron Knight named Cedric [Michael Parker] to be killed. His men leapt on Cedric at once, killed him and disposed of the body.
That night, Blackthorne, Zadroz and other guards tortured and 
interrogated the prisoners to learn what they could of the quest and the
 apocalypse that was coming. After learning all he could the next course
 of action was decided. He sent orders to the Halgudar front to move 
troops in such a way that would leave a small part of the border 
unprotected.
The following morning, after a short skirmish with a small group of Chaos Warriors
 [John Hames, Mark Mensch, Dave Murphy, and Dave Selvadurai], 
Blackthorne ordered his trusted men to turn on the rest and kill them. 
With no one left to report the truth of what happened, Blackthorne 
allowed Tarrik and the rest to escape, gather their belongings and 
retreat towards the weak point in the Rynith front lines at the Halgudar
 border. Zadroz, returned to Xain to carry on his duties and deliver and
 edited report the happenings to the rest of the Court.
The men were left at the site near the Arch, while Blackthorne took it 
upon himself to perform the most treacherous act of the mission.
In early July 498, Blackthorne entered the private quarters of the Court Wizard Vladimir Souska, killed four guards and stole a piece of a magikal amulet. This piece was crucial to the success of the mission.
Shortly after this time, it became discovered that Blackthorne stole the
 amulet piece, and betrayed the government and Guard of Rynith from his 
lofty and trusted position. He had become one of the most wanted men in 
the country.
Blackthorne had months to prepare for this theft, so it was successful. 
The hard part was be keeping his men and himself safe from discovery 
while using the resources of Rynith to locate Tarrik.
Captain Roche and three others were sent back for reassignment before Blackthorne's treachery was discovered. He took two others (Tara [Cabernet Baugh] & [Mike Slusser]) with him on the road searching for Tarrik.
Still possessing a number of resources and contacts from before his time spent in Rynith, Blackthorne located Tarrik in Akkoria. He and his men traveled day and night to Kor Chercen to deliver the piece of the diamond amulet and information to Tarrik. After a brief rest, and a few tales, they parted ways.
Blackthorne and his men searched for allies for the quest to save the 
world from the apocalypse. Throughout this time forces were gathered and
 Blackthorne helped take the Arch in Chalter Medrium by having his remaining loyal members of the Rynith Guard travel through the Arch to Chalter Medrium and blindside the soldiers there.
On September 11th, after the Arch was secure, Roche, Tara, and Xan [Jen Groninger] left for Halgudar,
 where Torrin told them he would join them... if he survived the 
Judgment. Torrin watched as Tarrik and his allies magikally disappeared.
 Blackthorne and the remaining Rynith Troops
 guarded the Arch until late that night watching other groups of allies 
travel the same way Tarrik did. As dusk grew towards black, Mordekai [Ernie Burnett] came running toward the Arch followed by the main enemies of Tarrik and his quest.
 The battle was furious and Blackthorne's loyal troops defended the Arch
 while he and the remainder of the allies traveled through to Dominia.
The Judgment was surrounded by bizarre events. Torrin and a select group guarded the Arch and surrounding area while Tarrik and the others
 defended the fate of civilization. The efforts of the group were 
successful. The day after the Judgment was averted, all present traveled
 back through the Arch.
On September 13th Torrin and the others returned through Arch to Chalter Medrium. Once they all recovered from the magikal travel, Torrin made a deal with Manasseh [Devin Parker] for unmolested passage through Doro Y'Edhel and departed toward that border to meet his teammates.
The team was reunited en route to Chalter Medrium on the 24th, along with Shock [Mike Antos]. On the 29th they arrived at the Doro Y'Edhel Border. Utilizing the writ gained from Manasseh, the team passed thru Doro Y'Edhel into Quivera.
The team crossed the Doro Y'Edhel / Quivera border mid-October.
A few days later, they encountered a caravan that was attacked hours before their arrival. It is discovered that the Caravan Master's daughter
 was kidnapped and most of the guards were slain. The team was hired to 
retrieve the daughter. After two days, the team returned the daughter to
 Caravan Master. He was very pleased at the effectiveness of Torrin and 
the team he offered the job of Caravan Guard to them. After a brief 
discussion, they accepted, in order to facilitate their passage through 
the multiple Quiveran Duchies.
During the trip, discussion of team's future took place. Together, they 
concluded that they have become a cohesive fighting unit and should 
remain together.
On November 2nd the caravan reached Port Kurastan. While in the capital, they purchase black bladed weapons and adopt the name “the Ebon Blades.”
One week before December, the Ebon Blades left the employ of the caravan
 and headed further east. For the month of December, the Blades traveled
 through Hyrm-Chel. During this time, little occurred other than lizard-man attacks. Travel was slow through the swamps.
Three days before the New Year, the Ebon Blades entered Halgudar.
 On New Year’s Day, 500 the team did not travel. Together, they 
celebrate the New Year, and the success of their past adventures.
After arriving at Camp Denali (once Fort Denali) in early February, the Ebon Blades had several problems with the local Halgudar forces. A few of the soldiers recognized Torrin, Roche, and the others. Commander Brighton
 [Paul Eppleston] quelled the problems between the Ebon Blades and the 
troops. The Ebon Blades set up camp outside the perimeter of Camp 
Denali.
The Commander realized both the assets and liabilities of having the 
Ebon Blades working with him. They were highly skilled (unlike many of 
his warriors), they knew the enemies tactic and could advise how best to
 fight them, and most importantly, they were expendable. If they were 
discovered, then Rynith would spare no forces to obtain them or see them
 dead.
From March of 500 to May 500, the Ebon Blades fought alongside Halgudar in the war against Rynith.
 During this time, they were sent on many missions that were considered 
suicidal or too risky for the under-trained troops of Halgudar. Each 
time they were successful and left no Rynith Soldiers alive to tell the 
tale.
Somehow, during their time at Camp Denali, word of their presence reached the current powers of Rynith.
Word was sent to Camp Denali that Fort Meras was 
experiencing terrible problems. It seemed the Bonewood was returning 
early in that area. The troops there were not equipped or able to handle
 the surge of undead and requested help. Commander Brighton sent the 
Ebon Blades.
As it turned out, the fort was abandoned until the Bonewood settled, but the Commander of the forces there believed the Sword of Cymfal was in the area. He charged the Ebon Blades with recovering the sword.
Court Wizard Vladimir Souska captured Torrin and Roche. An evil spirit of a former mage, named Morlekai,
 was infesting the area and affecting the Bonewood. Souska informed the 
two that Rynith feared the Bonewood could affect their homeland, even 
Xain itself. Souska then bespelled both Torrin and Roche to aid him in 
defeating the spirit of Morlekai. That evening, the assembled travelers 
fought off undead and interrupted the ceremony needed to revive 
Morlekai. Torrin uncovered the Sword of Cymfal and was later possessed 
by Morlekai in an attempt to kill Lord Errich Rubeus 
[Mike Kelly] (last in a long line of nobles from the area of Rynith). 
Torrin was rescued by the Ebon Blades and returned to health.
The following morning, Rynith troops arrived and informed Torrin and the
 Ebon Blades, that Morlekai had lifted his bounty on them.
During the experience with the Court Wizard Vladimir Souska and the 
creature known as Morlekai, the Ebon Blades met a woman named Talenin [Hilary Adams]. She was traveling to Nost’Kare
 for business and inquired about hiring their services. Realizing that 
their effectiveness in Halgudar was jeopardized by Rynith’s confirmation
 of their presence, it was time for the Ebon Blades to leave.
The only condition to accepting the job escorting Talenin was that they 
would return to camp Denali to officially end their “service.” The Ebon 
Blades and Talenin arrived there June 2nd. They met with Commander 
Brighton, returned the recently recovered Sword of Cymfal, and made 
their explanations to him regarding their reasons for leaving. Commander
 Brighton understood and thanked them for their services.
The road to Nost’Kare was mostly uneventful. Traveling through southern 
Rynith was difficult and risky. With knowledge of the Rynith Guard and 
how they operated, the trip was long, and only few encounters were had. 
The Ebon Blades escorted Talenin and delivered her to her destination in
 Draambar on August 5th, 500. With the job completed, 
the Blades enjoyed a little relaxation in the city of Draambar that 
lasted for two months. The time spent was interspersed with occasional 
jobs that kept them in Nost’Kare. With winter close, the Ebon Blades 
decided to winter in Draambar.
Plans for an easy winter changed when Talenin walked into the Gilded Peacock
 tavern. The Blades had recently made arrangements to winter there and 
were enjoying a robust evening meal. Talenin wanted the Ebon Blades to 
act as her escort once again for more trade arrangements for her family.
Knowing that she paid well and the job would be an easy one, they gave up their winter arrangements to head with her to Sha’Thraem.
November 500: Left w/Xan on other mission? Roche and Tara go to Requiem.
October 501: Nightfall
May 502: Sign of the Flask. Hired by Lord Errich Rubeus as guards for his diplomatic travels.
June 502: Rubeus and the Blades travel to Palrim. Inn of the Two Cats
November 502: Akkorian Archery Contest