Ian Blackthorn is the half-elven Captain of the BlackGuard in the Kingdom of Camelot. Born the bastard son of the Marcher Baron Blackthorn and the only daughter of the Sithi House of the SilverRose, Ian was brought up by his father believing his elven relatives were persecuting humans. Baron Blackthorn trained his son to be a battle mage, but in a final confrontation on the boy's 16th birthday, a tragic mistake resulted not only in the deaths of his mother and elven half-brother, but in the Baron's as well.

Outcast by both elven and human kin alike, Ian spent a winter alone hunting orcs through the woods bordering both kingdoms. A failed attempt to steal some food from a human traveler resulted in his meeting Ferret, a veteran mercenary who took the half-elven boy under his wing and taught him the art of warfare. Together they founded the Twisted Otters, a feared mercenary company, it's reputation founded in part on the legendary guile of Firnadan. The elven word means "Dead Man" and was the name Ian took as his own that dreadful winter alone.

Eventually Ian tired of mercenary life. He spent several years working various jobs: caravan guard in the Firelands and a stint working first as a bodyguard and then as an assassin of sorts when he discovered those he had been protecting were not the honorable people he believed them to be. Then one night he wandered into the Firehall at Camelot and his life was never the same.

Ian found love with Huney and a job as Captain of the Black Guard in service to his new liege lord, BlackHawke. He found a friend in Lord Corwin,to whom he owes his life, and when Corwin adopted him into the House of Amber, the brother he never had. But tragedy once more struck as Huney and their three daughters disappeared. Now widowed, Ian mourned for his wife and was on the verge of leaving forever when chance and a lady in distress led him to the love of his life,the beautiful Lady Skye. With his new wife and brother, Ian Blackthorn is once more ready to uphold the code of chivalry and pursue the ideals of he aspires to as a knight of Camelot.