Ethan Blackthorne

Brother Lazarus as a new recruit to his order, circa 1077AE

Gwenavere Blackthorne (sister)

Astrid Blackthorne (half-sister)

Iris Storm (niece)

Valoria Blackthorne (aunt)

Edmund Blackthorne (cousin)

Prince **Ethan Blackthorne**, currently known under the alias of **Brother Lazarus**, is a priest of the Clockwork Order of Kahrnak and a former heir to the Aradian crown from the year of his birth 1053AE to his formal exile in 1068AE. Formerly considered a strong candidate to ascend to the throne as King, Ethan's involvement in the fledgling War for Brecilidia and the death of his mentor Talia Rookwood caused him to be stripped of his titles and shunned from the royal family. This eventually drove him into the arms of the cultlike Clockwork Order and their leader, The Grandfather; he currently serves as a militant zealot for the powers of industry. He is known for his intellect, including superior detective abilities and mechanical knowledge; but he is more often spoken of for his lethal ability with firearms, in particular his custom revolver Vigilance.

Ethan is the eldest and only living son of King Gordon I by his first wife Victoria Knox. He has a living younger sister Gwenavere Blackthorne, and through her a niece, Iris Storm. He also has a living older half-brother, the industrialist Odysseus Knox. On his paternal side, he has an aunt Valoria Blackthorne and an uncle Theodor Blackthorne. Since his youth, Ethan has had a strong rivalry with his cousin, Valoria's son Edmund, who was known as "The Dark Prince" in contrast to Ethan's nomenclature of "The Young Prince" or "Red Prince."

In 1086AE, Lazarus is called upon by his Order to investigate a string of violent murders in his place of birth, Bastion City.

## Appearance and Character

In 1086AE, the man the Order has called Lazarus cuts a highly intimidating figure. He is unusually physically large and imposing in terms of his stature, six feet and seven inches tall, a size more commonly seen in Orcs than in Humans. He has very broad shoulders and often has to physically "hunch" his stature in order to fit indoor spaces. He has bright, vivid green eyes like "emeralds;" with the stripe of black petroleum paint he wears for his order, his gaze gives the impression of a "predator animal gazing out of the shadows." They are often bloodshot, adding to their crazed intensity. His face is long, lantern-jawed, and grim. He has bushy black eyebrows that, paired with a long aquiline nose, give his head an almost avian look. These sit beside gaunt cheeks, harsh cheekbones, and a shaved head. He has a long overgrown beard that juts over an inch from his jawline, lengthening his face and giving him a "dolorous" look. It is auburn in color with a streak of grey. Lazarus wears a distinctive outfit comprised of a red hooded trenchcoat, the hood of which had a pointed brim that adds to his "bird-of-prey" appearance; beneath this he was a plain blue cotton workshirt, dark denim trousers, and worn hobnailed boots. The sleeves of his coat have been cut off and replaced with leather bandages that cover his forearms and arms. He wears an elaborate combination bandoiler-gunbelt across his torso, starting from a brown leather pauldron from his left shoulder and crossing into a heavy belt at the waist, upon which hangs many of his tools and gadgets. He can occasionally be seen wearing an old scarf and a pair of goggles about his face in adverse environmental conditions. And finally he is never seen without his "badge of office," the colossal revolver Vigilance, holstered at his left hip.

Brother Lazarus displays a stoic, grim temperament. He speaks very little, his words clipped, abrupt, and mostly in the form of interrogations or threats of force. He considers himself to be emotionally deadened and cut off from his past self; in actuality, he is highly motivated and almost entirely governed by his past traumas, reacting in unexplained bursts of high emotion to certain stimuli and often using his extreme capacity for physical violence in order to "ground" himself away from these feelings. He displays a chilling and disconcerting apathy towards the suffering of others, but also appears to take no real pleasure from his supposedly cathartic acts of violence. He is both highly perceptive and highly intelligent, displaying considerable levels of planning and forethought in dangerous situations, & a surprisingly broad array of general knowledge to aid in his detective activities.

## Equipment

In his service of Karhnak, Lazarus carries an arsenal's worth of weaponry and gadgets.

Vigilance

Jagged Blade

Dancing Star

Small Surgical Kit

Flashlight

Ordnance

## History

-Early Life

-Squiredom

-Exile

-Clockwork Priest

## Trivia

-Ethan's clockwork priest alias, Lazarus, is taken from a biblical character who is described as being raised from the dead, similar to Ethan's own "resurrection" as a new identity and life.

-Aspects of Ethan's character are based on Roland Deschain from the Dark Tower book series by Stephen King, Alester Sarwyck from the Game of Thrones CRPG, and the protagonist of the film You Were Never Really Here.

-As Ethan was developed further as a fantastical take on a "neo-noir detective," his influences expanded to include Rorshach, Robert Pattinson's version of The Batman, and Rustin Cohle.