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"A cleansing fire always burns little Mandus, but it purifies and it makes anew."
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I was the first to solve the mysteries of the gatebuilders. I was the first human to breach the boundaries between worlds. I, Professor Thurston Aloysius Herbert, of Cambridge, England, was the first.

Herbert, in his final note

Professor Thurston Aloysius Herbert was a professor at the University of Cambridge and the leader of an ill-fated British expedition to the Algerian desert. Daniel was his research assistant. He is voiced by American actor Eric Newsome.[4]

Biography[]

Early life[]

Not much of Professor Herbert's past is known. Despite this, it is shown that he was a long-time friend of the Faraj, which suggests that Herbert was well-traveled in North Africa.[5] He was also an old friend of the French psychologist and aristocrat Monsieur Florbelle and was familiar with his daughter, Justine.[2][3] Herbert once offered his friend to help place Justine in a prestigious British academy, but the French aristocrat politely refused his offer.[6]

Expedition to Algeria[]

In the early months of 1839, Herbert organized an expedition, that was "signed and paid for by the British Museum," to the tomb of Tin Hinan in the Algerian desert.[5] On the 12th of January, he wrote a letter Monsieur Florbelle, requesting help, as he was certain that the nobleman could use his standing in French society to speed up the process of acquiring the necessary permits to enter and dig in French-claimed territory.[2]

Monsieur Florbelle contacted the French consulate to send the permits to Herbert.[3] Monsieur Florbelle never got the chance to inform his friend personally, as his mentally ill daughter secretly murdered him before he could even finish the letter.[3] It is unknown how Herbert responded to news of his friend's death.

Trouble in Algiers[]

He took Daniel, his colleague from the university, to Algiers for the final expedition preparations.[5] For the length of their stay, Herbert and Daniel resided in a luxurious hotel and hired numerous Arab workers for the expedition.[5] Herbert then arranged to meet up with his old friend Faraj at a mosque in Algiers’ casbah; However, Herbert ran into some difficulty trying to find Faraj, due to both the unpredictability of the old and narrow casbah streets, and overbearing French soldiers constantly asking for identification papers; additionally, those soldiers also gave Herbert friendly advice to be careful about fraternisation with the locals.[5] Despite these troubles, Herbert eventually found Faraj.[5] After catching up, the two men went to the latter’s home for more serious discussion.[5] After indulging in some rose-flavored Turkish delights, Herbert revealed that he hoped to acquire a map to the tomb, originally made by Johann Weyer, from Faraj. Faraj then voiced some doubts about Herbert’s seriousness, to which the Professor reassured him him that he remembered what Faraj told him about Weyer’s research.[5] With Faraj fully brought onside, the two men worked out the exact route to the tomb.

Suddenly, fleeing anti-French rebels led by Faraj’s nephew, Baki, burst into the house.[5] Upon seeing Herbert, Baki admonished his uncle for fraternizing with a European and seized him at knifepoint to use as a hostage against the pursuing French soldiers.[5] The French soldiers, led by Captain Ambroise, had already surrounded the house. Baki and his compatriots left the house with a captive Herbert and tried to bargain. Despite this, Captain Ambroise ordered his men to shoot, killing Baki and his compatriots.[5] Faraj was caught in the crossfire as he tried to stop the potential bloodshed, and died in an unharmed Herbert’s arms.[5] An enraged Herbert shouted at the soldiers, but was forced to flee without the map after they threatened shoot him.[5]

After making his way back to the safety of the hotel, a sorrowful Herbert had dinner with Daniel.[5] Daniel noticed his quietness, but thought little of it and turned in shortly after.[5] Captain Ambroise then unexpectedly accosted Herbert in the hotel restaurant.[5] The captain had seized Faraj’s map and saw the crest of a star-shaped soapstone, one of which just happened to be a family heirloom.[5] He asked Herbert to explain the connection, to which the professor could only offer limited knowledge.[5] He then informed Herbert that his family acquired it during the Siege of Calais in 1558, revealing his familial connection to Sokal, and left the stunned Englishman both the map and the stone.[5]

In the Desert Proper[]

A letter to Hazel

An unfinished letter by Daniel

Ever curious, Daniel enquired what the Professor hoped to find there.[7] As Herbert gave an account on the exact whereabouts of the tomb and legends of "Tin Hinan / The Mother of Us All," Daniel started to suspect there was an ulterior motive to this entire African expedition and the Professor knew far more than he was letting on, as if he was intentionally hiding information from him.[7] On the 16th May 1839, he and his expedition took shelter at Al-Mamaru Fort, and in the evening discovered the tomb’s sand covered entrance.[7]

Daniel's relationship with Herbert was unclear but it seems he subjected him to mockery on at least one occasion during their expedition to Algeria, telling him to use a parasol to protect himself from the desert's harsh sun.[8] It became clear from the cold factual statements in Herbert's recovered journal that he did not care all that much for Daniel's welfare should his presence ever endanger or hinder their journey's success.[9]

While he expressed some concern for the young man who nearly suffocated when sealed in the ancient ante-chamber, from his annotations Herbert was primarily interested in recovering the Orb which he desperately sought from its tomb.[10] After freeing Daniel from the burial chamber where he was trapped, Herbert decided to send him to England to recover.[9] Daniel was sent back to Britain against his will with the shattered Orb in tow.[10] When Daniel later learned of the Professor's disappearance, however, he worried for his safety nevertheless.[10]

The expedition went on. Herbert continued pushing his unwilling men further forward to the brink of insanity.[11] According to his diary, he found another Orb.[11] His knowledge and intentions to misuse the second relic roused the Shadow's anger. Recovering the Orb drew the Shadow's wrath onto him and his men, some of which were brutally mangled by it.[11] Herbert believed that the murders were committed by his terrorized men to force the expedition to end so he took extreme measures to keep control of the situation.[11]

The men blamed the Orb for all of this, and knowing that they might try to dispose of the Orb the Professor shot one of the men to restore order, and ensured they wouldn't dare seize it from him, calling them all "animals."[12] Herbert sent one of the workers, Abdullah, out to contact the French authorities.[12] Just two days later (the 22nd of May 1839) the expedition is completely wiped out by the Shadow.[13] In his last diary entry he wrote:

That thing is after me. It has been hunting me for days. But I keep out of its trail, so I will persevere. I can see a settlement at the edge of the desert. I'm getting closer. I can see it. But it is not me, it is Abdullah. Through his eyes I see, his mind I hear. Confined to myself, I see only death dressed in the Orb's darkest shadow.


Abdullah, the man who was sent to Algiers, arrived maimed by the Shadow and delirious, but alive.[14] After the arrival of Abdullah, the French dispatched a search party to look for the expedition.[14] They found the camp abandoned with no sign of Herbert or his men.[14] Their bodies were never recovered.[14]

Herbert

His final fate in The Dark World.

Later[]

After his expedition team was wiped out, he found a way to escape from the Shadow and managed to travel to The Other World with a portal. However, because he didn't have a Traveler's Locket at that time he couldn't return back to Earth. While he was in the Other World he searched for ways to return without success. While he managed to find 2 weak spots for possible portals he died from starvation and dehydration in a cave as there were no viable food or water sources. In his last dairy entry he claimed that he was the first "human" to travel to Dark World.

Quotes[]

  • “There is no shame in using a parasol in the desert. As it happens, it’s imperative to your survival.”
    “The shame will hurt much less than dying, I assure you.”
  • “[T]hings don’t always turn out the way we plan.”
  • “I was the first to solve the mysteries of the gatebuilders. I was the first human to breach the boundaries between worlds. I, Professor Thurston Aloysius Herbert, of Cambridge, England, was the first.”

Speculation[]

  • Herbert’s exact age is unknown, but considering his long experience as a Professor of Archaeology, his long-established friendships with Faraj and Monsieur Florbelle, and his middle-aged physique, it can be presumed he was between 45 and 60 years of age.
  • Two of the contacts in Herbert's stolen address book were Monsieur Florbelle (Justine's father) and the other, Alexander of Brennenburg.[citation needed] Everyone mentioned in this book was among his most trusted friends and confidantes.[speculation] It is very possible that the Professor was well acquainted with the Prussian baron as well, and was even under his employ.[speculation][There is no reason to suppose that because a person keeps in contact with someone else, they must have been their employer, much less assert it.] He may have been sent to Algeria to retrieve an Orb for him after the baron had accidentally broken Agrippa's Orb in his hastiness to return "home."
  • Herbert refusing to disclose every detail about the tomb or the relics sought within seemed to indicate he was using Daniel as a tool, a means to an end.[speculation: This also simply may be part of his personality, or because he reasoned that a novice like Daniel didn't need to know everything.]

Trivia[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Note to Von Brennenburg (Rebirth)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Herbert’s Letter (Justine)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Florbelle’s Letter (Justine)
  4. 4.0 4.1 Amnesia: The Dark Descent – English credits: "Eric Newsome as Herbert"
  5. 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 Remember: "Old Friends"
  6. Note written by Monsieur Florbelle after her passing (ARG)
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Daniel's Diary: 16th of May 1839 (TDD)
  8. Flashback: "Parasol" (TDD)
  9. 9.0 9.1 Daniel’s Worth (Rebirth)
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Herbert’s Lost Diary: 17th of May 1839 (TDD)
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Daniel's Diary: 3rd of July 1839 (TDD)
  12. 12.0 12.1 Herbert’s Lost Diary: 20th of May 1839 (TDD)
  13. Herbert’s Lost Diary: 22nd of May 1839 (TDD)
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Daniel's Diary: 2nd of July 1839 (TDD)
  15. Youtube video
  16. Herbert’s Final Note (Rebirth)
  17. The orb (Rebirth)

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