Balin Blackthorne

Balin as an old man, circa 600AE

Allison Blackthorne (sister)

Edward Blackthorne (brother)

Henry Blackthorne (nephew)

Edwin Blackthorne (nephew)

7 sons

4 daughters

Sir **Balin Blackthorne** was the youngest child of Lord Allister Blackthorne, and the uncle of Lord Henry Blackthorne. He served as Hand and Regent of the House from 558AE til 589AE, and thereafter as Castellan of the Eyrie Peak until his death of winter fever in 607AE. Balin was a cantankerous figure who scorned the systems of nobility even as he dealt with them constantly for his work. His contrarian instrincts led to him marrying a commoner for love, outraging the nobles around him. He sired nearly eleven children on his wife, many of whom would go on to be famous figures on their own terms. His son Sir Deidrach Blackthorne was a canny political figure who was a key figure in the Century Spat and the ensuing Blackthorne tensions with House Knox. And his sixthborn son Sir Warren Blackthorne was the progenitor of the cadet branch, House Warthorne. His many sons inspired furious jealousy from his heirless nephew, Lord Edwin Blackthorne.

## Appearance & Character

Balin resembled his brother Edward in looks; he had a tall, rangy build and a long sharp nose, with typical scarlet Stormborn hair and grey eyes. He wore a thick reddish beard as a young man and wore his hair slicked-back and at collar-length; as he got older his hair thinned away, a feature common to the male line of his mother's household. and he eventually shaved it off in middle-age. His beard went grey and grew to almost chest-length in old age, and at this stage he became quite thin and frail-looking, with a stooped posture than gave him an avian look. His thick, angular eyebrows seemed to convey a fierce, serious disapproval of all he saw. He dressed simply in midnight-blue fabrics with a mantel or a hood while in public, eschewing the extravagant jewellery favoured by most of the nobility.

Balin had a stubborn, cantakerous and contrarion disposition in his dealings with other Houses. Most nobles found him to be "difficult," a man who drove hard bargains and doggedly pursued his negotiating goals with single-minded determination. He had a sharp wit and was known to turn it on those who irritated him. Despite his apparently thorny exterior, he was known to be a doting husband and father, a man who pursued a quiet and modest life, who often defended the weak & less fortunate with compassion.

## History

The youngest son and youngest child of the "Golden Griffin" Allister Blackthorne, Balin was born in the waning months of 531AE. He spent a great deal of his youth fostered by relatives of his paternal grandmother Callista on the mining operations situated on the Gilded Isle, and arrangement that allowed his father to dodge a large amount of senate taxation based upon rules concerning payment based on a Lord's family's legal residence, splitting his sons between two isles. Allister paid more attention to Balin's two siblings, Allison and Edward, both of whom grew up firmly wedded to his ideologies; Balin, during his fostering and subsequent squiring for a lowborn knight, spent a great deal of time among the peasantry and developed a liking for them as well as a disdain for their treatment at the hands of his elder brother. Nonetheless he remained co-operative with the Blackthorne family's overall goals; he was knighted in 548AE at 17 years of age.

Allister died in 556AE and Edward had gone a short time before him; that left 7-year-old Henry Blackthorne as heir to the Lordship. Balin, as the boy's uncle, installed himself as Hand of the House and arranged a regency council consisting of experienced Western allies to run the Thunderlands until his nephew came of age. One of his fellow councillors was the Widow Blackthorne, Henry's mother Astoria. Balin sympathized with the former Umbridge's failing mental health greatly and went out of his way to be kind to her; at the same time, Astoria often made advances on him that he rebuffed, much to her anger.

Balin had resisted an arranged match until his father's death. Disapproving of his brother Edward's treatment of women, he often refused to take even what pleasure was offered to him directly,; he did not visit brothels and did not court noblewomen. This caused some speculation and rumour at the time, until in 562AE it emerged that Balin was indeed married. His wife was a Darkharbour baker's daughter named Lara--a commoner. This provoked outrage among the nobility as they disapproved of marriage between classes. it was also pointed out that Balin's status as a Blackthorne could allow him the pick of any noblewoman's hand in the realm for an advantageous political match. When quizzed on this by his wannabe-suitor Astoria, Balins response was a typically surly *"I deal with nobility all day long for my work. Why would I want to bring that home with me?"*

Despite his public cantankerousness, Balin was known to be a kind and attentive husband. He often brought Lara to court with him and ensured extended luxury & protections for her, giving her rooms in the east parapets of the Eyrie Peak. A cheerful, matronly woman with a plain face and plump figure, Lara was frequently looked down on by highborn visitors to the Peak, though she showed them naught but courtesy. She gave Balin eleven children, all of whom lived to adulthood. Some such as Galahad "Elfsbane" and Caradoc "Kinslayer" became famous warriors; others such as Carolyn would go on to become a major part of some significant Aradian bloodlines; and arguably most significant of all was their youngest son, Sir Deidrach Blackthorne, who would be known to histories as the Darkhand.

Henry, who viewed Balin as a surrogate father, died in 566AE, and left his brother Edgar in charge of the house. Balin often clashed with the Pious Griffin about how to run the House's holdings; he recognized that Aradianism had no place in the West and despaired of Edgar's attempts to make it work, while simultaneously being overruled when trying to act militarily against the Brecilidian attacks on Western shores. In this time Balin oversaw his nephew Edwin's match to Vanya Vonostra in 568AE. A year later, Edgar died, and the Lordship passed to Edwin. It is often rumoured that Edwin and Balin conspired together to kill Edgar in order to ensure a more suitable ruler in the west, though this has never been proven for certain.

By 589AE, Edwin had become frustrated by the wife that Balion had matched him with-Vanya Vonostra, to whom he'd been wedded for twenty years. The couple had no children, and though he had once professed to love her, the Lord was becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of stability in his legacy, often taunted that his Uncle's sons would be the one to replace him. Edwin went to Balin to help to arrange a split, but as Vanya herself had not consented to this, there was nothing Balin could do to annul the union under Aradian law. Edwin became inexplicably furious during this exchange, breaking down in sudden tears and accusing his uncle of "always undermining" him. He ordered Balin's demotion from the office of hand, effective immediately and replaced him with the scheming Caecilius Cogworth who was only too happy to help his Lord replace his wife.

Balin instead was made the Castellan of the Eyrie Peak, effectively a caretaker for the castle. Despite his dismissal of his uncle, Edwin kept going to him for advice, though usually only when he knew Balin would agree with him. Balin was likewise mindful not to antagonize his increasingly unstable nephew. On one occasion, in 600AE, Edwin asked Balin to help arrange a sixth marriage for him, but when he was refused, flew into another rage. He had Balin's beloved thirdborn daughter Mara accused of witchcraft, trialled by opportunistic bannermen eager for a legup, and burned at the stake. This broke Balin's will and thereafter he refused to become involved in politics. He retreated to his rooms within the Peak with his wife and youngest daughter Searra, focusing exlusively on managing the castle's servants. It was there that he died; a flareup in winter fevers in the last moon of 607AE swept Darkharbour, taking Balin with it.

## Legacy

### Issue

Balin had 11 children with Lara, the most trueborn progeny of any known member of House Blackthorne in recorded history. His many-times-great-grandson Edmund Blackthorne has 13 offspring as of 1086AE, though the vast majority of those are baseborn. All of Balin's children survived to adulthood, and all of his sons became knights. They are listed in order of birth as follows;

### Political

Balin has received much credit by historians for curtailing the "worst whims" of his nephews. It is often said that they might have been even more dangerous to the realm if Balin had not been there to oversee them.

The modern male line of House Blackthorne, as of 1014 is descended directly from Balin thru his seventhborn son Deidrach. His brother Edward still has descendants in the male line of House Knox.

## Trivia

Balin (pronounced here as Bah-Lynn) is named after one of the dwarves from Tolkein's middle-earth mythology. His characterization bears resemblance to the ASOIAF character Viserys II. In terms of real-life history, his status as the less-loved brother to a dashing warrior who nonetheless goes on to found the future of his bloodline resembles the relationship of King John to his brother, Richard the Lionheart.