The Black Friar

The Black Friar is a character in the Stoneheart Trilogy. He is a spit that George and Edie meet with on their adventures. He resides at the Black Friar's pub.

Appearance
The Black Friar is described as the statue of a large and bulky monk colored similarly to coal. His stomach is large and his cassock is held up by a long tassled belt. He has double chins, fat cheeks that cover up most of his eyes, a jutting nose, and a beaming smile that is usually present. He looks "friendly and cheery" to George and Edie.

Personality
The Black Friar appears to have an upbeat and friendly personality. He acts very hospitable towards George and Edie when they arrive; he invites them into his pub, he warms them with a heater he found in the pub's basement, and he gives them dry clothes, food and drinks. He laughs often, sometimes at his own jokes or idioms. When they first meet him, George wonders if the Friar is a little crazy, and Edie finds him to be annoying. The humor that the Friar expresses continues to frustrate both George and Edie as they try to talk to him.

When he discovers that George is a maker, the Black Friar instantly turns serious and loses his smile. He goes out to look at the underground tunnel that George and Edie passed through on the way to the pub, and he tells them what he can about their situation. Despite his somewhat confusing sentences, his willingness to aid the two children is an example of his caring and charitable nature, and it is evidence that he can be serious when a situation requires it.

Stoneheart
The Black Friar is found at the Black Friar's pub. He is the one who the Sphinxes' riddle led George to, after having the word "shaveling" identified as a synonym of "monk" and "friar" by Dictionary Johnson. After escaping the Temple Bar Dragon and getting out of the underground tunnel, George and Edie make their way to the Black Friar's Pub to meet with the spit. He takes them into the pub and cares for them, as they were cold, hungry and tired after their journey.

It is the Black Friar who first reveals to George that he is a maker, after he sees George's scar from the fight with the Temple Bar Dragon. He also briefly leaves the pub to investigate the tunnel.

When he returns, he learns that Little Tragedy spoke with the two children, and he becomes angry with the imp. He then hears George's story, and tells George that he is a maker. After telling the children the path that they need to take (the instructions being cryptic, as the advice of many spits tend to be) he asks to see the stone dragon head that George broke at the Natural History Museum. The Friar seemed very anxious to see the object for himself. George, not trusting the Friar enough to show him the head, lies and says that he left it back at his apartment. He and Edie then leave the pub, with the Friar telling them that he will be able to help them if they return with the dragon head.

Ironhand
(Awaiting completion)