The Grey Man

A shadowy figure. Considered to be a boogey man to couriers and intellegence agents.

His stated goal is simply the preservation of the Empire and he claims to be thousands of years old.

Whatever his motivations or history he is a master manipulator and gamesman with seemingly unlimited resources.

His first appearance was in Palace of Doom in which he posed as  Lord Blackstone 's overzealous personal guard in a plot to trick him into murdering Baron Knaff. Blackstone discovered the machinations and put a stop to the Grey Man's plan.

The Grey Man has on several occasions put Blackstone into situations that called for him to take direct action. Most of these actions turned out to be adventageous to his career. It is because of this that the Grey Man claimed Blackstone was one of his finest agents.

The Grey Man's plans seem to work on the scale of decades if not centuries. And often when Blackstone thinks he's defeated the Grey Man he finds that he has only furthered the agenda of his mysterious adversary.

In the latest book the Endless Labyrinth the Grey Man sets a series of tasks for the newly knighted Sir Blackstone, threatening the life of Blackstone's sister. After all the tasks are complete the Grey Man reveals that it was all a test. A test that several previous knights had failed. He then placed himself and his vast criminal empire at Blackstone's disposal with the understanding that it would be used to protect and preserve the empire. And, if he ever felt Desmond strayed from that path he would kill him and take it back.

"Call me a monster. Call me a villain. I have been all that and more. But all that I have done has been for the good of the Empire."