Thorn

 is a half-elf miner, formerly from Jorenn Village. He is the leader of the group of miners that reside in the abandoned silver mines.

Appearance
Thorn is a half-elven man with wavy black hair, brown skin, gentle dark eyes, pointed ears, and soft hands, with "long, slender fingers." He has a silver ring in his left ear and "rough scars on one side of his face, like multiple claw marks." He is close in age to Vax'ildan, "in his mid-twenties at most" when they met around 807 PD. During the miners' battle against the full force of the Shadewatch, Thorn sustained a new cut on his jawline.

When Vax'ildan first met Thorn, he was wearing a coat over a tunic with patched-up sleeves and his leather serpent belt. Several days later, when Vex'ahlia visited the mines for the first time, Thorn wore his hair tied back and "a long coat that came down to his knees, full of pockets and mended tears." His clothing was torn and his hair matted by the next morning, when he was held by the Shadewatch.

Following his arrest by the Shadewatch, Thorn lost a considerable amount of mobility in one arm, possibly permanently.

Personality
Thorn has noticeably intense emotions and can shift between extremes. For example, there was a notable contrast between Thorn's gentle, playful side when he was caring for the injured Vax'ildan, versus his intense anger at the Shadewatch when he returned to the mines that same day. Vax'ildan noted that, among the grieving miners, "Thorn carried the weight of all the ghosts." He seemed to enjoy fighting the Shadewatch, even when outnumbered.

Thorn is attracted to men and women. He flirted with both Vex'ahlia and Vax'ildan, and kissed Vax'ildan multiple times.

Background
Thorn grew up in Jorenn Village with his sister, Anissa. The first day Thorn went into the mines, he carved his name on a particular boulder, as was tradition for the local miners; he chose a spot on top. As an apprentice miner, his master gave him a serpent belt, "to keep [him] company in mines so deep the light won't reach."

Several years prior to 807 PD, when Thorn was still an apprentice, Anissa and Tinyn discovered a profitable new deposit of silver. The town boomed, and Anissa became the leader and representative of the miners. She had a "tenuous friendship with Derowen," Jorenn Village's Shademaster. Anissa pushed the miners to dig deeper, and Thorn was among them as they discovered an ancient drift and a miners' grave, where they excavated raw silver and "gems the color of thunderstorms." When the miners removed the gems, the corpses in the mass grave began to rise and became ash walkers. They attempted to block off the tunnels and return the gems, but it didn't stop the dead from rising and attacking Jorenn Village at night. Many died during the better part of a year that followed, and those that died would also rise as ash walkers. The attacks were only slowed when Derowen obtained the magical ring Fracture, which allowed her to control the ash walkers. Rather than just turn them away, she used the ring to also take control of the mines, and blamed the miners for the death and destruction the ash walkers caused. In about 805 PD, the miners retreated into their mines, with nowhere else to go to escape Derowen's ire. They spent some time in the hills but chose the mines as their base, because Faril was afraid of ghosts.

After being chased from their homes, the miners continued to mine silver, hoping to be able to pay their way out of the situation. Derowen and the Shadewatch continued to hunt them down. At some point, Anissa was killed by Derowen; Thorn witnessed her death.

Kith & Kin
Around 807 PD, during an ash walker attack on Jorenn Village, Emryn and other miners led by Thorn rescued Vax'ildan and brought him to their hideout. Thorn was cleaning Vax'ildan's face with a damp cloth when he first woke. Thorn explained that they had rescued him and that Sencha had been the one to heal him. When Vax'ildan fell asleep, Thorn went back to the camp to search for Vex'ahlia, and for evidence about the Shadewatch that was supposed to be in the camp. He returned unsuccessful, with ash, blood, and mud on his skin and clothing, and reported that he had found neither Vex'ahlia nor the package, which had been burnt. He told Vax'ildan that Vex'ahlia was most likely in Jorenn Village under Shademaster Derowen's care. He showed anger and pain when asked about the Shademaster, and alluded to the fact that Derowen had killed Anissa. Later that day, as the miners went further into the mines to avoid the Shadewatch, Thorn physically threatened Vax'ildan for wanting to go to Jorenn Village or let the Shadewatch find him; Thorn believed that would endanger all of them. Thorn and some other members of the group split off, returning in the evening, while the rest settled into the cavern that would house them for several days.

When Thorn returned, he and Vax'ildan spoke more about the Shadewatch and what had happened to the miners. Thorn brought over spiced ale for the two of them and declared his wish to kill the Shademaster. He listened to Vax'ildan's suggestion of an alternative plan, to infiltrate the town and steal incriminating evidence, but wasn't willing to try it, as he didn't yet trust the other man. He also informed Vax'ildan of Emryn's recent death. He again threatened Vax'ildan when he expressed survivor's guilt, since Emryn had been the one to save him. Thorn then turned away and toasted to Emryn's life, instead.

Several days later, Thorn and two of the young halfling men went into the mines. Later that day, he wandered in and out of the cavern and spent some time watching Vax'ildan run dagger practices.

The following evening, Thorn and Davok encountered a group of four Shadewatch guards who had stumbled into the mines. They fought them alone while a dwarven miner went to the main cavern to get reinforcements, among them half a dozen miners and Vax'ildan. One of the Shadewatch escaped; Thorn ordered two of the miners to follow her and close the entrance, Vax'ildan to come with him, and the rest to clean up and tell Tinyn what had happened. Thorn led Vax'ildan through the tunnels, towards the surface, to an illusory wall. He told Vax'ildan to leave, believing the rest of them to be doomed, but Vax'ildan refused to go. Back in the caverns, Thorn avoided speaking to anyone and wandered off on his own. Vax'ildan followed him after a while, and found Thorn speaking to his serpent belt, trying to formulate a plan. Thorn was upset at having been followed and threatened Vax'ildan again, but quickly relaxed and told him about his desperation. He insisted that Vax'ildan didn't owe him anything, after having protected him in the fight against the Shadewatch. The two kissed after Vax'ildan insisted that he would help the miners find evidence.

The miners waited for three days for the Shadewatch to return. During that time, Thorn sang some of the miners' songs, and introduced Vax'ildan to his serpent belt and explained how he obtained it. On the third day, he mapped the area for Vax'ildan.

The following morning, Thorn learned that the Shadewatch had come. He woke Vax'ildan before dawn and gave him his old clothes. He sent two young dwarves into the mines to secretly unleash some of the ask walkers, in the hopes that they might overpower the Shadewatch. Thorn was convinced he would go down fighting to let the others flee, and only hoped to bring down the Shademaster with him. He and Vax'ildan shook hands before Thorn adressed the group: those able to fight would follow him, the others would follow Junel. Before they reached the battle, Thorn quipped to Vax'ildan that he should spread stories about them, but not to Westruun, because the Shademaster dealt with the Clasp. When he saw the Shademaster, Thorn rushed at her, but Vax'ildan pulled him out of the way. Later in the battle, Vax'ildan was still holding on to Thorn when Vex'ahlia found them; Thorn was trying to break free from his grasp to attack the Shademaster. When Derowen entered the room, Vax'ildan pushed Thorn towards another passage, telling him to run rather than be captured. After a moment, he ran.

Two days later, Vax'ildan returned to the mines to give Thorn a notebook he stole from Derowen's office, containing evidence of her smuggling and a list of targets she wished to eliminate, or who were already dead, including Anissa. When Vex'ahlia and Trinket followed Vax'ildan, Thorn emerged with him; after a brief standoff, he invited them to come into the tunnels. He led them to a room with cots and shared the contents of the notebook with Vex'ahlia. He shared the full story with the twins, of how the miners had accidentally unleashed the ash walkers and been forced out of their homes by the Shadewatch. He then introduced Vex'ahlia to the rest of the group, and passed the notebook on to Faril, hoping he might be able to further decipher it. Later that day, Thorn joined in the song that Faril began. As the song ended, Crispin warned of the Shadewatch approaching. Thorn decided to surrender himself to the Shadewatch to let the others flee. He gave the notebook back to Vax'ildan, urged the twins to get out before the Shadewatch arrived, and gave Vax a kiss before they parted ways. Despite his surrender and lack of struggle, the Shadewatch treated him roughly and broke one of his arms. The other miners also surrendered, and the twins ran through a hidden exit.

By the next morning, all the miners had been captured and brought to Jorenn Village. While the other adults were held in the town jail, Thorn was held in an antechamber within the Shade Hall, shackled to a ring on the wall, severely injured. His wounds (which included a broken nose, arm, and fingers, and cuts on his forehead and right clavicle) were only treated with a makeshift bandage. When she brought Vex'ahlia to see him, Derowen said she was willing to bargain for the freedom of the other miners, but insisted on keeping Thorn in her custody; she planned to kill him, because he knew too much about her smuggling operations. Thorn, barely able to speak, asked Vex'ahlia if the other miners were safe, and encouraged her to take Derowen's deal. When Vex'ahlia refused and informed Derowen that Culwen already knew about the notebook, she responded by stabbing Thorn in the stomach, inflicting "a cruel wound [...] because it would take Thorn a long time to die." A moment later, Aswin entered the room; she asked about Thorn, and her mother told him he was sick and she was trying to help him. Thorn was in the room, not quite conscious, as Vex'ahlia and Derowen fought, ash walkers entered the town, Culwen killed his sister, and Vax'ildan fought Culwen. Vax'ildan used Thorn's serpent belt to distract Culwen, gaining him an opportunity to kill the spireling.

Thorn survived, despite his severe injuries, and spent the days that followed recovering in Shade Hall with Sencha's aid, while the other miners returned to the cavern. By the time he left the Shadewatch healers' care, he had not regained full mobility in his arm, and they doubted he ever would. While in Jorenn Village, he spoke with Wick, the de facto leader of Jorenn Village after Derowen's death, about what had happened on both sides of the conflict. Thorn invited Vax'ildan, Vex'ahlia, and Wick to walk with him to a boulder, where all of the miners, including Thorn and Anissa, had carved their names. He declined Wick's invitation to return to Jorenn Village but said he would tell the others about it. He was confident in Wick's ability to lead the town, but was eager to return to the mines; Wick advised the miners to continue the tradition of carving their names. Thorn and the twins parted ways with Wick and travelled to the mine entrance, stopping to collect the hidden notebook. He was cheerful and flirted with both of the twins. He was unsure of what he would do next, but expected he and the remaining miners might move to a new town. Vax'ildan attempted to return the serpent belt to him, but Thorn told him to keep it. Thorn gave Vax a goodbye kiss, and thanked both of the twins earnestly before heading back into the hills.

Anissa
Anissa was Thorn's sister. Thorn witnessed her death at the hands of Shademaster Derowen. Years after her death, he was still angry and vengeful towards the Shademaster. He named Anissa's greed as the main reason the miners dug too deep, but did not hold her solely responsible.

Tinyn
Tinyn was Thorn's second-in-command. She had been Anissa's best friend. She was slower than Thorn to trust Vax'ildan. Thorn was quite upset about her death.

Vax'ildan
Vax'ildan was rescued by the miners, and he and Thorn first met while Vax'ildan was recovering from his injuries. Their relationship was at first antagonistic, but it could also be friendly and flirtatious. The two shared a kiss the night that the Shadewatch discovered the miners' hideout, and again when they parted ways as the Shadewatch returned to capture him. Vax'ildan had a part in saving Thorn's life when he intervened in the fight between Derowen and Culwen, preventing any further harm from coming to Thorn and ensuring peace between the two factions. He used Thorn's serpent belt in the fight to distract Culwen, and Thorn later told him to keep it. They parted on good terms with a kiss, with Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia returning to Westruun and Thorn returning to the mines.

Abilities
Thorn was a competent and eager fighter, wielding a pair of shortswords.

Notable items

 * Short swords (pair)

Former items

 * Serpent belt (gift from his master; given to Vax'ildan)