Clint Blackstone, the Champion of Crane

Clint Blackstone, as he appears during the events of Death Touch, artwork courtesy of Volt

Clint Blackstone was born on Blackstone Farm, a large estate located close to the Restan edge of Lake Whitetree. He is the oldest son to Alfred and Gloria Blackstone and was followed by his younger brother Richard Blackstone, who is known in the Third Age as Broger the Betrayer, and his younger sister Elvira, a noted Restan genealogist whose life goal is deciphering the convoluted links between Resta's largest families. Although his siblings were allowed to follow their academic pursuits thanks to the privilege that their family's wealth afforded them, Clint took great pride in the family farm, which has been Resta's largest farm for as long as anyone can remember. He worked in the fields alongside the farmhands for most of his youth, believing that the security of his family didn't go much further than the success of the farm.

But when new technological investments updated the family business, Clint found his responsibilities taking up less and less of his time. This led to him spending more and more time practicing with his new rifle. As the months went on, he began to find his aim rapidly improving until he realized that he understood the wind and other factors influencing his accuracy well enough to guarantee a hit with each shot he fired. Clint would put this newfound skill to the test one day as ridgewolves wandered into the farm in search of chickens. Even their speed and unpredictable movements were no match for his aim.

With nothing urgent tying him to the farm, Clint would take his gun on the road, continuing to hunt ridgewolves. He had no particular desire for their pelts since he didn't need money, but instead felt that the overpopulation of this particular species was enough of a threat to the rest of Resta's wildlife to warrant putting his skill with a gun to use. He began to invite employees of the farm and members of Seres' local community on his hunts, a frequent tradition that began to be associated with Blackstone Farm instead of himself. This indirectly led to the formation of The Greymont Institute, a wildlife protection service commissioned by the Restan Crown to promote a healthy Restan ecosystem through population control and fundraising for preservation efforts with trophy hunting.

But Clint had stopped hunting in these groups long before the Greymont Institute was chartered. While he believed that their work was an important solution to Resta's wildlife crisis, he felt that the cause had grown too big for him. Seeking a new challenge, he began to explore the Lightning Ridge mountains. While contending with a new threat in the form of the region's giant snakes, Clint would meet a spellwarrior in training named Seth Midas. The two of them would bond over the shared lesson of what comes of visiting Lightning Ridge alone and become fast friends.

From that day, the two of them would get together every time Seth stepped out of Hem Academy's ivory tower. Between forming a team for the RGT, a yearly tournament that is held in honor of Resta's Festival of Chaos and the brief, but passionate affair the two shared, it was clear to them both early on that they would be inseparable for the rest of their lives.

Clint views his role as Crane's champion with disbelief because he doesn't seem to exemplify knowledge compared to his siblings. But the reason for Crane's favor toward him is made evident in the way he solves every problem in front of him. He is a rational thinker with razor-sharp intuition, who is known to learn unusually quickly. While his aim with the rifle will always come in handy, his mind is his sharpest weapon.