Braxton Thorn, the Duke of Thorns

Born amidst the long winding districts of the ancient Ravennian city, Christoforus, Braxton Thorn was the youngest son of a disgraced noble house. A boy of sharp wit and icy resolve, Braxton learned early that power was not inherited—it was seized. His family, long stripped of titles and influence, raised him with bitter tales of betrayal and vengeance. Fueled by their whispers, Braxton's heart grew cold, and led him to a life that would mark him as one of the kingdom's most ruthless generals in one of its darkest ages.  

Disgraced Noble

Braxton Thorn's childhood was forged in the crumbling halls of Blackthorn Manor, a once-grand estate that stood as a monument to his family's faded glory. The Thorn lineage, once esteemed knights and advisors to Ravenna's throne throughout its monarchs, had fallen from favor decades before Braxton's birth, cast aside by whispers of treason, misfortune, and bad omens.   Braxton's father, Lord Kaelen Thorn, was a bitter and broken man, obsessed with reclaiming the family's lost honor. His lessons to Braxton were not of kindness or compassion but of legacy, revenge, and the ruthless nature of power. “The world does not care for your suffering, boy,” Kaelen would sneer, forcing Braxton to train, study, and recite all manners of physical strength, noble and military etiquette, and even finance. His mother, Lady Selene Thorn, was a much quieter shadow to his dad's commanding presence; an elf who had lived long enough to see here House's fall, she lived every day haunted by the fragment it had become.   When Braxton was fifteen years old, bandits raided the manor, killing the last of the Thorn retainers and setting fire to the west wing. It was Braxton who saved his mother, dragging her from the smoke-filled halls. As for his father, seeing the last of hope for House Thorn literally burned away, he took his own life, leaving only Braxton, his mother, and a few of its maids.   But, while Selene and the others broke apart in sadness and grief, Braxton's disciplined past under his father drove him to seek to carry on and restore what Kaelen could not. From that day on, Braxton vowed that weakness, whether of body or spirit, would never claim him.  

Joining the Ravenna Academy of Warfare

Two years later, an emissary arrived at Blackthorn Manor bearing the royal seal of the newly enthroned King Joseph Lamonia III, who wished to work to restore the House to the glory it had once had. During this visit, Braxton was offered a place at the Ravenna Academy of Warfare; as the House's last son, it would test whether House Thorn was worthy to return to its former noble standing, or if the House would be discarded all-together.   On the day Braxton left for the Academy, his mother placed a small, ornate dagger in his hand and whispered, “Your name is your curse and your gift. Wield it wisely.”   As Braxton rode away from Blackthorn Manor, he never looked back. In his heart, he carried nothing but the echoes of his father’s bitterness, his mother’s quiet warnings and her dagger, and a steel resolve.  

Years at the Academy

The Ravenna Academy of Warfare was no place for the weak. Built on the cliffsides overlooking the capital city, Lamonia, as its predecessors House Concord had intended, the Academy stood as both school, fortress, and crucible.   Braxton’s arrival at the Academy was unremarkable at first. Skinny and pale, with sharp features and silver eyes that unsettled others, he was mocked as the “ghost boy.” The sons of dukes and lords—the true-born heirs of Ravenna’s noble houses—looked upon him as an outcast, a remnant of a forgotten bloodline. But while other boys wasted their nights in bravado and petty squabbles, Braxton studied. One particularly cruel mentor, General Arvoss, once scoffed, “Books win no wars, boy. Only blood and fire.” To this, Braxton replied coolly, “A wise mind sets the fire, General. Fools burn in it.”  

The Shadow Scholar

From the moment he set foot in the Academy’s Great Archives, Braxton devoured everything: military treatises, political history, and siege tactics were but only a few. Some looked at him like a boy chasing the wind, but by his first year, he had already achieved higher academic success than even those above him, and there were many from both the courts and the military who kept a close eye on Braxton's growing talents.   He began to form relationships with the Academy’s lesser-known figures: archivists, scribes, and visiting scholars. One such figure was Magister Lyris, an enigmatic tutor, high-ranking court official, and experienced weaver. Lyris saw such potential in Braxton that one day, he introduced him to the Academy’s restricted vaults. It was there that Braxton discovered tomes infused with all manners of sorcery, and accounts of generals who had dabbled in both shadow and blood magic. Braxton studied it all thoroughly, quickly becoming a prodigy under Lyris; it was here Braxton learned to wield the arcane for the first time.   His fascination with these dark arts grew, but under Lyris' strict warnings, Braxton kept these studies hidden and disguised this magic behind the other formal schools.  

The Siege Simulation

At seventeen, Braxton was tasked with leading his peers in a siege simulation, a final test for the Academy’s most promising cadets. The exercise, meant to last three days, required Braxton’s team to “defend” a makeshift fortress against an opposing force led by other cadets and other official officers, General Arvoss being among them. While others relied on textbook strategies, Braxton broke every rule.   By the first night, Braxton had learned Arvoss planned to attack at that time, hoping to catch the silver-eyed leader off guard, and devised his scheme to secure his victory. When Arvoss' forces arrived, armed with nonlethal training weapons, they found the gate to fortress ajar and the sound of silence hung in the air. The general assumed the boy to be as careless as he thought and stormed his men into the stronghold without hesitation.   What awaited them all was terror unlike any simulation the Academy had seen before.   Braxton had filled the halls with his shadow-magic illusions — echoing screams, whispers of their own names spoken from the dark, and flickering visions of their fallen comrades pleading for release. His cadets, hidden within the shadows, struck silently and without warning, dragging men into the darkness. Many of Arvoss' men fled without even putting up a fight, for they thought they were actually about to die.   When Arvoss finally reached the inner keep, he was the only one left, and Braxton was there awaiting him. Defeated, disoriented, and convinced he was surrounded by supernatural forces, Arvoss dropped his sword and fell to his knees, his surrender marking the end of the siege before the second day had even started.   When the instructors inspected the battlefield, they were met with unsettling silence. The fortress stood untouched, Braxton’s forces unharmed, while Taron’s men were broken in body and spirit. Braxton had won the siege without suffering a single casualty. His peers, even those who had mocked him, could barely meet his gaze.   The instructors were wary, unsure of what they had witnessed. Though they couldn’t prove the use of forbidden magic, as only the formal schools of magic were detected, whispers of the “Siege of Shadows” spread throughout the Academy. Braxton's graduation came not too long after, a procession the King himself attended.  

Honored General

Immediately after leaving the Academy, Braxton was graced with the rank of General within the King's own courts, and House Thorn was reelevated to its former stature. He quickly earned a place among the inner circles of the King, which was necessary, as by this point the court had become a den of divided serpents and snakes, a place the King needed allies in. Magister Lyris also in this circle, it wasn't long until the King learned of Braxton's dark source to his magic, a secret tool the King was very willing to utilize.   However, there was only so much the King could do in the public eye to deal with the court due to an excess of different laws and privileges these nobles were protected by. He wished to cull the court in his favor, but in order to do so, he would need a way to do so in the shadows, but also without dishonoring Ravennian law. It took time, but he came up with an idea he thought might work.  

Duke of Thorns

Beneath the capital’s polished façade, Ravenna still faced enemies—rebels, spies, and unseen horrors that conventional armies could not fight and public law did nothing to inhibit. So by decree, the King had Braxton summoned, where he was given full command over a new clandestine unit, one that could operate in the shadows, beyond morality and scrutiny. It was named the Talons, and was to be a force meant to help keep peace from behind the curtains. In reality, it was a special operations force tasked with assassinations, sabotage, and missions that would demand extremes.   Braxton accepted the role without question. The Talons answered only to him, operating outside the laws of kingdom and conscience. From the depths of Ravenna’s dungeons, he recruited outcasts, disgraced knights, assassins, and sorcerers willing to serve these more cutthroat purposes.   After this, nobles within the court began to mysteriously die off, change their stances on certain issues, or even abdicate from their positions altogether. Each circumstance was explained away by a fabricated crime or an unfortunate coincidence. But, the truth was, Braxton and his operatives within the first year were already fast growing in their network throughout the kingdom, and he was the eyes  

The Select Five

So, when preparations were made for Thorn to journey to the islands, he selected a choice group of his best operatives to join him, leaving the rest to continue working autonomously while he was gone. There were five that joined him. The first was an elven assassin named Liora Nightshade, the second a brusque dwarf named Garrick Stonefist. The third was an emotionless human named Kal Ethengard, the fourth a black dragonborn named Unjidas Setun. The fifth was a harengon archer named Retep Liatnottoc.   Sailing to the islands, Braxton would make sure this rebellion was put down, and that his network — as well his power — would continue to grow.