Jou'nar Killed! Lord Blackthorn Kidnapped!

Run for your lives!

A Lord is Taken from us...
From the UO Town Cryer, April 9th, 1998

Blackthorn Disappears Mysteriously
Caitlin Elopidat

UP:Atlantic

Trinsic--Twas a grim day indeed in Britannia. Lord Blackthorn himself rode forth from his stronghold to rally the citizens against the forces of Juo'nar. His trek through Britain and subsequent arrival near the gates of Trinsic brought forces from far and near to battle the hordes of evil creatures who plagued that fair city.

The forces were defeated handily. The amulet that Juo'nar used to marshall his forces of inhuman warriors was returned to Finth Desryn in Trinsic, blood from Juo'nar still fresh and dripping from the beauty of the item. Juo'nar himself, his body cold, lay dead near his boyhood home of Ocllo. Twas a great victory for all the land.

But alas, twas also a dark day for Britannia. For Lord Blackthorn vanished in the woods north of Trinsic leaving behind a bloody battle that had yet to be decided. Witnesses close by say a moongate the color of blood appeared from nowhere and Blackthorn was ushered into it by two mysterious shapes. Some say twas Lathiari and Kyrnia, the liches which have plagued the land for so long and earned the full attention of Sage Humbolt.

Where could he be? What could the liches want with his Lordship? Will they ransom him? Or torture him? Or kill him in cold blood? As of this time they have made no demands, and no word has been heard of either their or Blackthorn's whereabouts.

All citizens should be on the look out. If you have any information regarding Blackthorn or his assailants it should be taken immediately to the town guard in whatever city you can reach. Also, all citizens should take caution when leaving the cities in the future. If one so mighty as Blackthorn can be taken then no one is safe.
He was a good man while he was with us....
It's certainly too early to consider Blackthorn out for the count. (although I'd imagine this would put a hold on any more rematches with Hulkster) I suspect he's being used for information. He always mentions how he's spending lots of time experimenting in his lab. Its difficult to say for sure just yet, but the idea of him being used merely for ransom seems a crude use of his talents. There must be purpose in the abduction, or the smart bad guy just wouldn't do it. That is to say nothing of the fact that there aren't many people who're able and willing to pay his ransom. Perhaps Lord British would do so, but he doesn't sound like the kind of person who deals with terrorists.

Now, this abduction came while attacking the forces of Jou'nar in attempt to reclaim his amulet and bring him to justice. That fact in itself is interesting. It displays Jou'nar as a mere pawn in some greater struggle. If Jou'nar's possession of the amulet was only important for the value of luring a ranking lord into the open, then there is indeed a much darker force at work. Jou'nar's purpose, while it lasted, seemed only to be to steal weapons from caravans, and raise his own army for global chaos/domination. It seems now, with Blackthorn's abduction, that the purpose behind it was much, much deeper, and probably more sinister.

This amulet search was a week AFTER a previous search for an amulet that Finth Desryn led adventurers on. I am looking for accounts of that previous search. If you were on it, you'd probably remember. Its the one that took you from Yew (Empath Abbey), to Vesper Jewelers, to Covetous. I wasn't able to finish that quest, and I never saw anything on the TC about it. If you finished that quest, or know what happened, please e-mail me.