King Gordon I

Gordon Blackthorne was the eldest son of Queen Talia I by her husband Prince-Consort Kavin Falmar. He was their third child, and his mother's eventual successor as the Fourth Monarch of the Blackthorne Royal Family as well as Patriarch of House Blackthorne from the years 1075 to 1077AE. For most of his life he kept the royal title of Gordon, Crown-Prince of Stormrise Isle. Upon ascension to the throne in 1075AE he gained the title His Royal Highness Gordon, First of His Name, King o'er All The Isles of Aradia, Lord of House Blackthorne, Lord-Paramount of the West, High Chancellor of the Everglow Senate, Defender of the Faith and Father of the Realm. He died in 1077AE following a revolution and state coup within his seat of Bastion City, where he and his family were taken captive and executed by guillotine. 
Gordon was never formally named as Talia's heir and was expected to rule jointly with Parliament in the event of his mother's death, though this was always in contention by the influence of his formidable elder sister Valoria, who bullied and belittled him greatly over the course of his life, with the two never being capable of effective co-rule. Gordon was considered a sour and introverted figure, little-loved by the court or the public; he kept very few close relationships, though he was married twice--first to the older Victoria Knox, and second to the much-younger Anarietta of the Gilded Isle. He had five children, with two living to adulthood by 1086AE, these being his eldest son Ethan and his eldest daughter Gwenavere both from his first marriage. He is also survived by Valoria as well as his younger brother, Theodor.
Very few people remember King Gordon I fondly, for his reign was marked by constant crises and chaos, and despite his adherance to the benevolent order established by his predecessor, he failed to govern the realm effectively and caused mass suffering as a result. His successor as Head of State (and killer), Fabian Moon, has aligned himself politically against everything Gordon stood for. 
== Appearance & Character ==
Men of House Blackthorne are generally considered to be beautiful by elven standards, tall and fair of complexion; this was not said to be true of the King. When shown to potential marriage prospects as a youing man, one aristocrat described the Elder Prince as "possess'd of all the features that made his forefathers handsome and fierce of countenance, yet somehow, on this whey-faced youngster, they seem not to be impressive at all." Gordon was of more or less average height, with narrow shoulders and long thin limbs. He had a long face with hollow cheeks and a narrow jawline. & thin lips in a mouth that seemed constantly "slanted with displeasure." He had sharp and bushy brows set over pale-irised and protuberant eyes that were usually red-rimmed when seen in public, either from stress or from tears. His complexion was the standard stormborn coloration, with pale skin and red hair. As a boy, he kept his hair cut short and brushed neatly to one side, but as an adult he grew it to collar-length with a middle-part. He kept completely clean-shaven as often as he could afford. Records note several times that he attempted to grow some form of facial hair, but was never able to keep it. One such occasion describes him entering a meeting with the Royal Council in the 1060s having grown a small chinbeard. Hearing one single snort of derision from Valoria upon seeing him, he immediately stormed out of the council meeting and came back several minutes later with the beard shaved off. He nearly always favoured plain black clothes throughout life, only adding the ornamentation of ermine cloaks & jewellery & his mother's crystal crown when he was coronated near the end of his life.
Gordon was ruled completely throughout his life by a profound lack of self-esteem, a trait that ultimately governed every path that he took in life. A large part of this was transferred from his relationship to his parents. His father Kavin was a quiet and unassuming man of little martial capability who did not fit the Aradian ideal of masculinity, and this perception was transferred to both of his sons. Queen Talia was one of the most important and busy people in the realm, and was extremely occupied in royal affairs constantly throughout Gordon's childhood. Gordon would insist in his own writings that his mother did not love him, which was debatable, but it cannot be denied that his status as the "middle child" of the royal family caused him to be last in the attention she gave her children--next to his siblings the beloved Alyssa, the temperamental Valoria and the "baby" Theodor, Talia spent most of Gordon's childhood with her attention elsewhere. This left him with a desperate craving for (particularly feminine) affection and attention that was strangulated early in life through his thwarted worship of his sister Valoria, who hated him and subjected him to a range of traumatizing physical, emotional and psychosexual abuses before he was even a teenager. 
This left the adult Gordon as a man who desperately craved validation and friendship from everyone around him, but experienced crippling self-doubt when attempting to earn it, and even when given love would treat it with wariness and suspicion. This made him turn inwards and isolate himself heavily from the company of others. He became known as a stern, asocial, unpleasable and bitter man who never smiled and never seemed to take joy from anything; even to his closest confidants such as his wives, he would mostly rant endlessly about how "they all hate me"--truly just a projection for how much he hated himself. This self-hatred coloured his politics, making him simultaneously indecisive, unimaginative and conservative. He had little political drive or ambition other than standing against his sister's reforms and preserving his mother's order. Gordon is regarded very differently by those closest to him who survived the revolution. His daughter Gwenavere and brother Theo remember him fondly as a mentor figure in their lives, while his son Ethan remembers him as a terrifying martinet in a constant state of contempt and disapproval for him.
== Skills & Abilities ==
Gordon was considered a mediocre figure in terms of his ability; he was a merely adequate swordsman and marksman, failing to excel at any martial pursuit. His magical ability was deemed acceptable but unremarkable by his tutors, and while his schooling gave him a high level of general knowledge, he had little interest in his studies and did not seek to train his mind outside of what was strictly necessary. While personally trained in statecraft by his parents, Gordon showed little aptitude for it in practice, and was prone to poor decision-making, behaving in a reactionary manner to protect his influence from his more decisive elder sister. 
== History ==
=== Early Life ===
=== The Elder Prince ===
=== Love & Marriage ===
=== Brecilidia & the Year of False Kings ===
=== Coronation ===
=== The Red Death ===
=== Revolution ===
=== Death ===
== Legacy ==
== Ancestry ==
A Blackthorne family tree is viewable here
== Trivia ==
-Gordon's status as an executed monarch at the head of a failed state bears resemblance to the real life historical figures Louis XVI and Charles I, with his death by guillotine specifically resembling the former, while his personality and style of governance are heavily based on the latter. His solemn, unlovable demeanour reflects George RR Martin's character Aegon III Targaryen. 
-The idea of the Sequel's setting was based on Gordon's reign and death resembling a television ad known by the writer