Colonel Blood
@ Colonel Blood 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 26 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 4d6, Weapon 4d6 |
| Base level | 20 |
| Base experience | 761 |
| Speed | 10 |
| Base AC | 5 |
| Base MR | 10 |
| Alignment | -10 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | poison |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
Colonel Blood:
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| Reference | SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line5255 |
Colonel Blood, @, is the Yeoman quest nemesis in SLASH'EM, SlashTHEM, and Hack'EM. He guards the Bell of Opening and the Yeoman quest artifact, The Crown of Saint Edward.
Colonel Blood possesses two moderately powerful melee attacks, but curiously lacks both stoning resistance and a means to steal the quest artifact back if you obtain it without killing him.
Generation
Colonel Blood is always generated on the square left of the throne in the throne room of the Yeoman quest goal level, with The Crown of Saint Edward on his square.
Strategy
Overall, Blood is one of the weakest quest nemeses: He lacks any special abilities other than the typical covetous behavior of all quest nemeses, and his melee attacks are barely stronger than those of a captain. Blood's low AC, melee-only approach and low movement speed plays to Yeomen's strengths, as they are proficient in polearms and will usually enter the quest with significant armor, solid weapons and a source of speed (e.g. speed boots).
Origin
Colonel Thomas Blood (1618 – 24 August 1680) was an Anglo-Irish officer and self-styled colonel best known for his attempt to steal the Crown Jewels of England from the Tower of London in 1671, which the Yeoman quest is based on. Described in an American source as a "noted bravo and desperado", Blood is believed to be the son of a successful land-owning English blacksmith; when his family was brought to financial ruin as a result of the Act of Settlement 1662, Blood sought to unite his fellow Cromwellians in Ireland to cause insurrection, leading to his conspiracy in 1663 to storm Dublin Castle, usurp the government, and kidnap the 1st Duke of Ormond (also Lord Lieutenant of Ireland) for ransom.
The plot was foiled on the eve of the attempt, and Blood managed to evade the authorities and escape to the United Dutch Provinces. In 1670, Blood (still a wanted man) returned to England and made a second attempt, this time on the Duke's life: Blood followed Ormond's movements and, on 6 December 1670, attacked Ormond with his accomplices while the Duke travelled St James's Street. One of his servants had given chase on horseback, and succeeded in freeing Ormond and escaping with him. The plot's secrecy meant that Blood was not suspected of the crime; Blood did not lie low for long, and within six months he made his notorious attempt to steal the Crown Jewels.
In April or May of 1671, Blood scoped out the Tower of London with an accomplice, then became ingratiated with the family of Talbot Edwards, the newly appointed Master of the Jewel House, and eventually made an offer for a fictitious nephew of Blood's to marry the Edwardses' daughter, who would allegedly then be eligible to an income of several hundred pounds. On 9 May 1671, Blood convinced Talbot Edwards to show the Crown Jewels to him, his supposed nephew, and two of his friends while they waited for a dinner; once led inside the apartment by Edwards, Blood and his accomplices bound, gagged and stabbed Edwards to subdue him. Blood then hid St. Edward's Crown beneath his clerical coat, while his other conspirators stole the Sceptre with the Cross and the Sovereign's Orb. Edwards refused to stay subdued and fought against his bindings, with accounts varying as to whether he caused sufficient disturbance to raise the alarm.
As Blood and his gang fled to their horses waiting at St Catherine's Gate, they dropped the Sceptre and fired on the warders who attempted to stop them, wounding one. As they ran along the Tower wharf it is said they joined the calls for alarm to confuse the guards until they were chased down by Captain Beckman, brother-in-law of the younger Edwards. Blood was captured before reaching the Iron Gate, the Crown having fallen from his cloak; the globe and orb were recovered, although several stones were missing and others were loose.
Unusually, Blood was not only pardoned but also given land in Ireland worth £500 a year, in contrast to Edwards' family being awarded less than £300 (a sum which was never paid in full), and he returned to his duties at the Tower regaling visitors with his tales of the attempted theft. Following his pardon, Blood became a familiar figure around London and made frequent appearances at Court, where he was employed to advocate in the claims of suitors to the Crown. Blood died on 24 August 1674 at his home in Bowling Alley, Westminster, and his body was buried in the churchyard of St Margaret's Church (now Christchurch Gardens) near St. James's Park. His tomb rests in the chapel of St Peter's Ad Vincula, at the Tower of London; to this day, the reasons for the King's pardon are unknown.
