The Man in Black

"It don't matter how far, or how fas' you run. I'll always catch you. You cheated Fate. You gambled with destiny. I could go east, and you could go west, and I'd still fin' you, friend. When I draw this black revolver from its holster, men die, and I'm drawin' it on you. Now make your peace."

— The Man in Black

THE MAN IN BLACK is not a person. It is a title. It is an inevitable. A monicker for a power of vengeance whose very eccense seethes rage, destruction, and death against those who have cheated Fate, and escaped the actions of their evil deeds. THE MAN IN BLACK wields a mythic weapon known only as Lament. A weapon that has taken many forms over the ages, but which is known now in the Fifth Age as a black revolver filled with Hellfire bullets.

Spirit of Vengeance

There are many revanants in the world of Orr. Spirits whose ties to this world leave them incapable of passing on into the River of Crux and the outer planes where their souls should dwell in the fires of Hades or be washed clean in the waters of Atrium Sol, but to become a Spirit of Vengeance, to become THE MAN IN BLACK requires a soul forged in a fire of pain, and misery unlike any other. It requires a pain, and a hatred unlike the petty misgivings of a life lived on the world. It requires a loss, or betrayal so deep that the spirit seeks not just vengeance against those who did it harm, but against all of mortalkind. A hatred so inseeded within its heart that it will hunt men to the ends of the world to deliver them in a handbasket to hell.
THE MAN IN BLACK is believed to be totallty impervious to harm. It cannot be summoned. It cannot be banished from the world. It cannot be stricken with enchantments. It cannot be beguiled, or deceived by lies. It cannot be stalled, or its pursuit halted by any means. It can walk across air, and oceans. Its footsteps leave treads of flame, and fire where it walks. When it appears, evil men die. It has an uncanny way of arriving just when one least expects its precense.
The only known weapon that can harm THE MAN IN BLACK is the counterpart of Lament, the platinum revolver, Fortune.

"Vengeance": Rough Cinematic Compositions by Michael Lundin

Fortune and Lament

These two weapons were formed in the dawn of creation. They are titles, not objects, much like the THE MAN IN BLACK, they are powers bestowed upon the world, and also like THE MAN IN BLACK, they are inevitable in their conflict. He who wields Fortune, must duel the spirit of vengeance. Such is Fate. These weapons are partners whose deeds and legacy have shaped the greatest conflicts of the world of Orr. Those that wield them are drawn in a battle not just for their lives, but for the outcome of great, and terrible events to befall the age when they do battle.

Colt Frontier Six Shooter by Steve Radic

Where Lament represents the repercussions of an age of darkness, and a divine justice, Fortune is the chance for mortals to take control of their destiny. To steer away from the sway of Fate. The chance to write their own future, and reorder the universe by their will alone. This shining weapon is the cosmic fly in the ointment. The very reason that Divination fails, that prophesy must remain vague in its attempts to set the future. This is not a weapon, it is the opportunity of untold chaos.
And both were created by Fate Herself.
There are many tales and myths surrounding the mysterious figure of Fate, but she is either a greater spirit of vengeance than even the revanant she controls, a figure from the mysterious Black Lodge, or a powerful Endless in her own right given far to few dues for her role in the cosmic story of Orr.

Vengeance by Konstantinos Skenteridis

Becoming Vengeance

Becoming THE MAN IN BLACK requires a life of misfortune and misery. There have only been a handful of spirits who took the role who could be traced back to their origins. The most significant of them was Kharra Howlette, the wife of Zerces "Black Hound" Osborne, heir to the Black Hound Railroad in the Odegon Frontier.
Kharra was assaulted on a train ride to the Mithril Nox. She killed two of her attackers, but was overpowered, and thrown from the moving tracks where she was cut in half on the rails by the wheels of the same barge. Kharra haunted the Odegon as THE MAN IN BLACK for nearly two centuries, wielding Lament, and slicing down outlaws with the power of that terrible weapon when it was still a massive bastard sword. She killed over three hundred bandits, outlaws, and sellswords before she was finally confronted by a sherrif of Silversprings in the northern frontier and strucken down by the platinum bullets of Fortune.

Finding Fortune

As a title weapon, Fortune is not an object that can be sought, or discovered of its own accord. It finds its way, and becomes its true self in the hands of a mortal who truly seeks their own destiny, and is willing to stand against Fate Herself.

"BOUNTY HUNTER" by Denys Tsiperko

"THE MAN IN BLACK ain't no man. He's an idea. A punisher. Ain't no sword, axe, knife or bullet gonna' do much more to that specter than wishin' he ain't come for you, and if he 'as come for you, well... best you 'ave your affairs in order friend, because whatever you don' to spark 'is ire? Well, you're on a one-way trip to Hades lest you got that shining gun in your pocket, and hell, even then, all you really got is a chance of maybe not dyin' like a rat.