Matilda - Tilly - Blackthorn



Matilda – Tilly – Blackthorn


Name Meaning: Matilda was the name of Archibald Blackthorn’s favorite older sister. She died from pneumonia when he was in his twelfth summer. He always said he would name his first-born daughter in her memory, but his wife only bore sons. He gave the name Matilda to the girl-child he and his wife adopted as his way of securing her place in the family as surely as she secured a place in his heart the day he found her.



Age: Approximately 18



Date of Birth: Assumed to be sometime in February of 2992.


Race: Halfling



Residence: Edoras, Rohan. Fomerly of Combe, Bree-land. 



Profession: Apprentice Healer

Appearance: Outside of her birthplace of Bree-land, Tilly’s size often gets her mistaken for a child. Though tiny by the standards of men - especially those of the Riddermark - Tilly is just shy of average size for a hobbit, measuring in at an even 3 feet and four inches tall – in stockinged feet (being raised by men she wears shoes regularly). Though leaner and more athletic in build than most hobbits, a nod to years of hard work on her family’s farm back in Combe, Tilly has curves enough that it is obvious she has reached womanhood. Her thick mane of auburn curls drapes just past her waist, providing her with a constant source of alternating pride and consternation. Her peaches and cream complexion is sun-kissed by a dainty sprinkling of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Although some may envy the even, milky tone of Tilly’s skin, it easily betrays and puts on display her every change in emotion, a trait that causes her constant ire. Tilly’s eyes, according to her Pa, reflect the welcoming warmth of dew-kissed soil in the first light of a summer’s day…but mostly they’re just brown.


Personality: 

Cheerful, friendly, loving, and kindhearted with an easy-going demeanor that -- to those who do not know her well -- can sometimes be mistaken for meekness, Tilly’s gentle nature, generous smiles, and easy laughs mask an unexpected streak of stubbornness, determination, and resolve. When she sets her mind to doing something she often cannot be talked out of doing it, until she has either succeeded, or proven to herself that her plan was a fool’s errand. Growing up, her brothers often teased her that what she lacked in stature she made up for in heart.






Parents:
Archibald, father. Deceased. Farmer.
Eyildr, mother. 58. Innkeeper

Sibling(s):
Einarr, brother. 27. Blacksmith (Journeyman)
Brúnn, brother. 25. Guard.

Spouse:

 N/A
Children:

 N/A

History:
Little is known about Tilly’s birth family. Even she doesn't know the full details of what ultimately led to her parents’ deaths. All she knows is they drowned attempting to cross a river flooded by snow-melt in the early spring of 2993. What circumstances led them so deep into the Chetwood, why they were so desperate to cross that engorged river in the first place, well, some questions never get answered. What is known is that if Archibald Blackthorn and his sons hadn’t gone deeper into the forest than usual to chop wood that early spring morning, Tilly would never have made it out of the Chetwood alive.

Growing up as the unexpected daughter in a family with two much older brothers meant Tilly was the overly doted upon youngest child. To call her spoiled would be an over statement; certainly her family had no measure of wealth beyond what things they planted and grew, or made for themselves. No, she wasn’t pampered with material things, but rather she was given the simple, and perhaps more precious, gift of love and attention. Her parents and brothers were overly protective of her for a while, of course. They had no clue how to raise a hobbit-child, but once they learned that she required the same things any child of man would require, just perhaps on a smaller scale, they became less fearful of every little hiccup, scrape, and cough and allowed her a great deal of freedom, more than most girls her age.

Tilly was a precocious and cheerful child, a constant source of alternating joy and worry for her family. Her mother had a rather difficult time teaching her homemaking skills as she was constantly sneaking out of the house to shadow her Pa in the fields or to follow her brothers on one of their “grand adventures” as they went about their chores and errands to town. It was odd for the other inhabitants of Combe to come to terms with this strange family dynamic, at first, but as with most things, enough time and familiarity won them over and soon enough no one batted an eye at the tiny redheaded hobbit girl racing through the fields of Combe.

As Tilly grew she was able to help on the farm more and more. Her Pa taught her all about the land and passed his love of nature and growing things to her. Her mother, through sheer determination and force of will, taught her the ever-important homemaking skills every woman worth her salt ought to know. It was during these otherwise boring lessons that Tilly learned of her mother’s adventurous past and how her mother, daughter of a prosperous Innkeeper, left the bustling city of Edoras as a young woman seeking adventure and found herself in Bree-land falling head over heels in love with a farmer. Tilly often wondered if adventurous spirits were inherited or inspired.

When Tilly was 4, her eldest Brother, Einarr, left Combe to apprentice as a blacksmith in Rohan (the Blacksmiths in the nearby villages had no need of apprentices and Einarr had no interest in becoming a farmer, much to his father’s dismay. He had inherited his mother’s wandering spirit). Einarr, with the blessing of his mother and some minor misgivings on his father’s part, joined a small caravan passing through Bree and journeyed to Rohan where he began the life of an apprentice blacksmith. Einarr excelled at his chosen profession and remained in his master’s shop as a journeyman after his apprenticeship had ended.

Brúnn, on the other hand, was content to remain where he was. His heart was half set on farming for the rest of his life and half undecided. He loved Combe and the Chetwood as dearly as his father, but a small part of him, clearly inherited form his mother, often wondered what lie beyond the hills of Bree-land. Out of equal parts love and habit Brúnn remained to take over the farm from his father.

However, it was Archibald Blackthorn’s untimely death in the winter of 3002 that set the rest of the Blackthorn family to Rohan to live with Tilly’s Uncle Dagr. Eyildr knew her youngest son’s heart was undecided. She knew too, that without Archibald, Combe had little to keep her there. Wanting the best for her children, she made the decision to pack up their belongings and move to her brother, Dagr’s home in Edoras. They sold the farm to a newlywed couple and set off for Rohan when the snow began to melt. The journey was long and difficult, but relatively uneventful and the family of three made it to Edoras in the late fall of 3002.

The move to Edoras was jarring for Tilly. Life in Combe had been quiet and slow. While she had been around other people form time to time, the majority of her life she had spent with her family and a handful of close neighbors. She was unprepared for the dramatic change life in Edoras would mean for her quaint existence. The biggest difference was that no one really knew what a Hobbit was. In Combe people just shrugged and continued on their way, never stopping to stare. Everyone assumed she was a child half her age when they moved to Edoras. Trying to explain to people that she was already ten was more difficult than it was worth. It took several years for Tilly to slowly settle into city life. Even though she became familiar with Edoras and its people and slowly began to love her new home, as peculiar and different as it was from everything she knew, her heart still yearned for the peaceful, steadying serenity of Combe. Brúnn, on the other hand, found that Edoras suited him far better than Combe. While he loved the farm, he found Rohan much more to his liking. Living with their Uncle Dagr and helping him in his inn inspired Brúnn to become an apprentice to his uncle with the hope of one day continuing the family business of Inn-keeping (the Inn has been in the family for several generations, but Uncle Dagr is an old bachelor with no heir).

Eight years later, Tilly has adjusted to life in Edoras and her mother has decided it’s about time she finds herself an apprenticeship. Tilly is decidedly unsuited to the life of Inn-keeping, and though she’s cheerful enough with the customers her mother knows she’s dreadfully bored and unfulfilled. Tilly would rather be doing something she views as productive, something useful, rather than waiting on, and cleaning up after, people. Her mother encourages her to become an apprentice healer, and Tilly, remembering how helpless she felt when her Pa was sick, decides that maybe being a healer would be a useful skill and ventures to the healing hall to pursue the path of a healer.