Thomas Brightbrook

Thomas 'Tom' Brightbrook, is a citizen in the Kingdom of Savernia. He is the mayor of the small town named Goldenfields and owner of the savernian newspaper, the Hearthport Herald. In his free time, he likes to wander around Haven to find inspiration for his stories and poems.

History
Thomas Brightbrook was born as a small, vulnerable child. After his first breath of air, Tom’s mother died, leaving him all alone on this planet. As nobody cared for the baby without a father nor a mother, Thomas was dropped off at the Brightbrook orphanage. Here the baby grew up together with a bunch of other kids. At the age of seven the orphanage had to close and all kids were thrown out onto the street. Lost and abandoned for the second time, Tom slept under the dark skies, begging for food on the streets and occasionally resorted to stealing to keep him fed.

Dagger incident
Life as a homeless orphan was hard. There were the cold nights, the days without anything to eat and constant patronizing looks. These hardships made several people with the same fate flock together. It did not take long before Tom got recruited as well. Together with his new found family they scoured the streets. Though quickly after, Tom saw how his fellow gang members became more reckless and violent every day and he searched for a way out. Then came the inevitable day that one of his companions drew a knife and attacked a citizen he was trying to rob. While guards quickly rushed in to catch the thief, Tom was trying to assist the wounded person. Though to no avail, as the man died soon after. Thomas was caught and locked up in the dungeon. He was facing a heavy punishment and would probably never see the light of day anymore.

Guerardo Hassendor
Though before Thomas got sentenced, he was bailed out by someone. A person who had seen the incident and testified that Thomas was not to blame. That person was Guerardo Hassendor. In return for his freedom, Tom would become Guerardo assistent. Guerardo was a historian who had close contacts with the local rulers. If Tom would run away or ending up not the person that Guerardo thought he was, he would end up back in jail. Guerardo hoped to help the kid become a better person, so he started to teach Tom how to read and write. This opened up a whole new world for Thomas, and very fast he picked up a new set of skills. Thomas eagerly started to read the many books his master had collected. Stories about long forgotten days, about kings and queens, knights and princesses. But also, about dead and war, religion, politics and strange cultures. Beside the books, Thomas had to help keeping the house clean, do the many deliveries for Guerardo and make sure that everything in the house was always in perfect condition.

Lily Lockmoore
As Tom grew older and gained more knowledge, his master even let him write the many commissions that Guerardo had. Sometimes small letters from citizens who could not read or write themselves, trying to contact their family abroad, sometimes official letters from politicians or officers. It was this way that Thomas met Lily. To the normal eye, Lily Lockmoore was an average girl, like you meet in every town or city. But to Tom, Lily looked like an angel sent from above. The first time he laid his eyes upon her, he was so distracted, he made a big mess out of the letter he was working on. Guerardo noticed it and called him out. This made Thomas turn as red as a tomato. When he looked back towards Lily, so only smiled at him and then disappeared back into the crowd.

Stung from head to toe
Not long after they met again, now on the market as Thomas was getting new supplies for his master. Soon after they would meet up regularly and she would even be allowed to visit him at his master’s house. While both of them didn’t want to admit that they were completely in love with each other, Guerardo insisted on them going out of town for a couple of days. Tom and Lily hesitantly accepted the proposal and one morning they both rode off for a small excursion in the local area. Though Thomas had never rode a horse before, Lily was very insisting on learning Tom how to. In an empty field, she carefully helped him sit in the saddle and led the horse for a couple of circles around the field. As Thomas was getting more courageous, he told Lily to go faster, Lily laughed, but increased the pace slowly. After several rounds more, Thomas was sure it was going well. But suddenly the horse was startled and ran away with Thomas on his back. Lily, as surprised as Thomas, saw the young man desperately clinging onto the saddle, but unfortunately, he was thrown off in the end. With a loud bang he ended up in the with nettles overgrown ditch. Lily ran over shouting at him, to see if he was okay. Tom responded, “I’m stung from head to toe. Oh, and I think I broke my leg.” After lots of struggling, Lily helped Tom out of the ditch and together they went back to the city. It was on their way back that Thomas new that he loved Lily, and by just looking into her eyes, he knew she felt the same way.

Dark turn of events
Fast forward a year, Lily and Thomas were still seeing each other, still feeling like the first day they met. Guerardo, was slowly making sure that Thomas could take over his work whenever the need would be there. He was very happy with the choice he had made in the past, giving this young man a chance in life. But as well as everything was looking fine, the future would bring only pain and sorrow. One morning the terrible news of war in the south arrived in the city. Many people panicked and fled their houses. The enemy was marching straight to the city Thomas was living in. Guerardo decided that he would stay, as an old man, he would be able to travel that far and stay ahead of the incoming armies. Thomas wanted to stay with his master, but Guerardo ordered him to take Lily with him and flee to the north. Reluctantly they both left their homes and Guerardo behind, to never hear or see them again. Together they walked from town to town, through rain and through the darkness of the night. Desperately they tried to keep ahead of the scouting parties of the army. Everywhere they passed by, people had left their homes undefended, ready to be looted to whomever passed by. If they looked behind, there were only dark plumes of smoke, hiding the sun as it would never be daylight again. It was then that Lily quickly became sick. Every day on, they progressed slower and slower, and the oncoming predators were already looming over there next pray. Lily begged Thomas to hide her and leave her behind. But Thomas could never do that. He carried her on her back as far as he could, until his leg, once broken when he fell of the horse, started to give in.

A last farewell
That night, hiding in an abandoned shed, they could hear the scouting party’s approach. The light of their lanterns shining through the holes between the planks of the wall. The next day, Lily was feeling light as a feather, but hot as new melted steel. Thomas put her on his back, but she would not say a thing. Things were going worse. A couple of hours later, passing a lonely tree in the open fields, she suddenly lost her grip and fell down into the grass. Thomas kneeled beside her. “We are almost there, the lands in the north, the armies will not go there.” Lily smiled at him, looking at his face, she opened her mouth, but Thomas could not understand what she said. He leaned forward and listened. “My journey ends here Tom. But I will always travel further alongside you.” She gave him a kiss and closed her eyes. Thomas looked at her, while tears from his eyes fell down upon her dress. Lily was gone, forever. Thomas looked at the horizon, towards the world that he was born in, he had lived in, but was not part of anymore. Thomas laid down beside Lily, holding her hand and slowly he as well closed his eyes.

Much later Thomas stepped onto the road carefully looking at the sign in front of him. “Savernia” Would this be a new start? A new home? A place where he would be accepted? Tom put one foot before the other, and continued onwards. New hopes and second chances. He nodded and took a deep breath. He'll do this, for Guerardo, for Lily.