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Heeroh Troughberry
Heeroh Troughberry, misplaced war refugee, is the barer of the fantastical Dark Doomblade of Magical Overarching Darkness. He rarely unsheaths this great weapon because when wielding it, the bearer is completely blinded by magical darkness.*
Interestingly, Heeroh bares the same name as an amateur Gladiatingor of some note also named Heeroh Troughberry. This causes several confusing and alternatingly humorous and tragic mixups throughout his tale.
It was during the (mis)adventures of Book 2 of the Elemenstor Saga that Heeroh and his daughter Orphenna Troughberry journeyed through the FaeriWrathe Lands in search of the log cabin fortress of Zenethir Foulblade.
Through much of this book we see a reluctant and cowardly Heeroh. The yellow troll incident, the confrontation with the twisted and dark Furniliar Bannister the Stationary, and the meeting with the Carpentabulational Council, his revelation that he is desperately afraid of Pixlies due to a run-in with a Tooth Pixlie as a child - all of these clearly illustrate Heeroh as an unworthy man, though his daughter is anything but. It is only during the final spat between Zenethir Foulblade and Heeroh that we see his true colors:
"Father," Orphenna pleaded. "Toss me the blade! With it I will sunder the
Omni Scarf and render this Foulblade vulnerable to the hot chills!"
Heeroh was attempting to scramble under the cabin's bed, which was also doing its best to avoid any part of this fight. Zenethir, being extremely comfortable, struck Heeroh with a terrible blow. Heeroh turned unsheathed his sword, immediately drenched in the familiar inky blackness, and slid his dark blade across the floor in the general direction of his effervescent progeny. As his vision returned, he had a moment of complete clarity. He looked down at the terrible wound in his chest, and realized this wound would kill him. It was as though his eyes had opened for the first time! He could see Orphenna, in all her homeliness, pick up the blade and begin to swing about at random.
"Daughter!" Heeroh called out as he stood, mortally wounded, to defy Zenethir's aggression, "You are now in possession of the my ancient blade! You have a proud lineage, defy the dark shadows!" Orphenna nodded grave assent and swung the sword, now visionless, nicking cupboards and furniture and generally making a mess of the place.
Zenethir was unimpressed at this display and laughed. He began to direct the young girl: "Warmer... warmer! Ooh, colder," until, enraged and chagrinned, she charged, impaling the Omni Scarf around his neck and slamming Zenethir against the dresser, which shook with the impact.
Using his last ounce of energy, Heeroh dove for what seemed to be a fairly valuable container that had tumbled off the edge of the dresser, he being always conscious and mindful of others' things. The container crashed to the ground, just out of reach, and as his breath left him and all went to darkness, he could read the label that said: "Xoxor Xxar"...
* In some early printings of the book, the Dark Doomblade of Magical Overarching Darkness is an artifact that had been in the Troughberry family for generations, an unfortunate family heirloom if there ever was one. In later printings Heeroh aquired the sword as an anonymous valentine (unbeknownst to him, it was from the Weird Thing.)
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