John Dorian

John Dorian, a miss-transcription from the typical "John Doe" name given to unidentified individuals, is the name ascribed who in the early part of the New Day attempted to steal Echbaldam and was killed in the process. The most successful of several theft-attempts, John carried the sword for approximately six hours and did succeed in getting outside the exhibition hall, but did not escape the police cordon of the area.

Background

John Dorian was never identified. The theft attempt did leave behind a corpse, but his body was so badly immolated that no DNA or dental information could be recovered, with only estimates of height and weight derived from the attempted autopsy. From this combined with video and eye-witness accounts, he is known to have been a white male approximately six feet tall and 180lbs. Nothing is known about his life before the attempted theft.

Theft Attempt

The theft attempt was quite brazen and may even have been impulsive. John first performed a bold smash-and-grab on one of the ten museum-grade replicas, then began throwing out smoke bombs to cause a riot in the crowd. In the confusion he managed to reach the plinth where the real Echbaldam hung and swapped it for the fake. This was immediately noticed by an observing guard and, likely unbeknownst to John, triggered an immediate and total lock-down of the surrounding city blocks.

John's "plan", such as has been guessed from his actions, appears to have been to cause a general riot and stampede, and to escape in the confusion. Since he did bring at least a dozen smoke bombs with him, the theft is believed to have been pre-meditated. Some speculate that he only meant to steal one of the replicas, and only went after the real sword when an opportunity presented itself.

Death

John managed to get outside of the exhibition hall and entered an alley on a neighboring street where a police blockade waited for him. A second round of officers arrived behind him and cornered him in the alley. This is when he took and drew Echbaldham from its scabbard. Reportedly the sword made a sound like metal-on-metal as he drew it, and when he held it aloft his body began to glisten. John collapsed then and the sword clattered to the ground. By the time the officers moved in, his body had turned black.

The death was witnessed by some 20 members of law enforcement, some of whom gave different accounts. Most claimed the sword was "just a sword, indistinguishable from the many replicas" while others believed they say a brilliant flash of light when John died and that the blade continued to glow.

In any case, the sword remained on the ground in the alley under constant watch. One officer ventured near to confirm John Dorian had died(by which time his corpse had not only blackened but shrank considerably and dried out). The sword was not touched for over 24 hours while police, the Rangers, and the First File discussed what to do. The sword had been handled hundreds of times on the tour without incident so far, and had been thought to be completely normal outside of the hands of the Pendragon. Then-Light Bearer dame Ardrid Astrad volunteered to pick it up, but would not be able to reach the area for at least three days. Two other Slayer Dragons were closer, but the police decided to use a remotely-controlled machine designed for bomb disposal to return the sword to its scabbard. Once "Rendered safe", a member of the First File carried the sword back to Arindell, reportedly going without sleep the entire journey in order not to subject anyone else to the dangers.

Autopsy Results

The corpse of John Dorian was taken to the medical examiner's office and dissected by a team of three top-qualified pathologists. The body weighed just 35lbs at the initial examination, and rapidly began to mold as it absorbed moisture from the atmosphere. John's badly-seared flesh was excised from his bones, of which about 80% of his skeleton survived. There had been significant damage to his skull, including all 32 teeth "exploding" and fractures to the sinus and orbital bones that made a facial reconstruction impossible. In any case John had been captured on several security cameras and his likeness was not in doubt.

His internal organs could be identified only by position and consisted of badly-charred lumps. Pathologists likened John's flesh to a steak left in the oven for too long at too high a temperature. His muscles and fat crumbled when touched and after much handling were reduced to a fine powder.

Samples from the body were first examined for DNA but none could be located, even the marrow inside the long bones had been burnt too badly to extract anything. Some chemical analyses were performed, which found mostly carbon and trace elements, with no organic chemicals identified.

The remains of John Dorian and most of the associated samples were stolen shortly after the autopsy and never recovered.

Identification

John was never identified, although several suspects were hypothesized. A local thief and conman who roughly matched his description went missing around the same time and is the primary suspect, though off-worlders or someone un-known to law enforcement have not been ruled out. The identity of John Dorian remains one of the great mysteries of the Age.

Alchemical Compound

Some decades after the incident, a compound referred to as "Dorrium" began making appearances, mostly on the black market.