Buildar - Episode 1

Settling in Buildar (Mike GM - 10/21/08)

The road that leads to The Three Points never ends. The walls that once protected that city have been torn down… and all that remains is a pissed off halfling and an indifferent dwarf. EDGAR LIGHTHAMMER's hand goes instinctively to his weapon, expecting ensuing violence at any moment, but instead finds his presence practically ignored. Then the halfling spits at him and he has been welcomed to the town of Buildar.

"We don't got a wall now so you're going to have to deal with me!" The halfling barks as way of introduction.

This strikes Edgar as an odd situation because he actually had come to town to talk to the dwarf, who appears to be in the middle of a dressing down by what has to be the world's ugliest halfling, and he doesn't quite know the correct social etiquette.

The dwarf gives Edgar a look and the stranger to Buildar decides he best take his leave of the angry halfling and press on into the city. His associate RAKE "MOUNTAINBEARD" LIGHTHAMMER will find him he assumes at their usual meeting spot. Probably just as well that their business be postponed for a bit, as Edgar has traveled from the WEST, a path that comes perilously close to the NEW EYES and their plotting. To come to Buildar to deal with a hideous and cantankerous halfling was a warm respite from the disturbing eyes of those elves and what they had wrought. Edgar would cherish what THE ORDER gave him this time…

RETURNING TO his rundown OBSERVATORY from another night of pointless stargazing, DARETH takes in the sight of another official-of-sorts who has come to town to try and solve some petty crime. Not many things are beyond Dareth's understanding, but the fact that the locals can't see what is right ABOVE THEM is concerning. Throughout his travels and studies Dareth has pinpointed this town to be the central spot of study for ARCANE LIGHTS that can be seen from villages and towns as far as Daylan… but not from Buildar itself. The wizard decides that he'll let whatever this crime pass… as long as it doesn't interfere with his work.

THE ANGRY HALFLING WERRIC, momentarily stops with his spitting rage towards his Dwarf underling and meets the gaze of The Great, The Holy, The Utter Prick that is RANDOLF PERCIUS as he passes by on horseback.

"It may just be my elderly mind, and lord knows with the things I've seen one tends to forget a few things but was there not a gate here at one point?"

"Why yes, Percius, though from your high castle, I didn't think you would have noticed," Werric spits back.

"I notice a lot of things Werric. I notice that this town, a place I deemed worthy enough to settle in has gone to the cur of the underworld as soon as I retired from public service. I notice that your right-hand man is seemingly drunk, and I also noticed two Tiefling thieves scampering about my premises last night. I did you the favor of showing you how to do your job by showing them the better quarters of a cell."

"That's a little beyond your jurisdiction as a citizen Percius, but my thanks nonetheless."

With that Percius gives a click of aknowledgment towards Werric and makes off by horseback to his mansion.

"Let's go Mountainman, let's go see if the Tieflings did their job."

Recently the town of Buildar fell victim to a heinous attack in the middle of the night that left the town's gate, and a portion of it's city walls, nowhere to be found. The guard on duty, Mountainbeard, doesn't remember seeing anything, though he swears he didn't have enough to drink in the course of the night to cause him to black out and the town wiseman Dareth, much to his chagrin upon being interrupted with his work to discover the secret of the Arcane Lights above Buildar, backs his assistant Tomleey who says he swears he saw in Dareth's seeing mirror Mountainbeard asleep at the gate while two Tieflings brought down the gate.

The memory loss seems most troublesome, as it has not only affected him, both others that ingested from the local tavern, and seems to only effect certain portions of their memory. Upon inspecting the kegs of the particular ale that all with memory loss drank from, Edgar Lighthammer finds a lock red hair. In his haste Mountainbeard smashes the infected keg and perhaps contaminates Edgar as well. The lock of hair reminds Batsa of The Woman with Fire Red Hair that he saw talking to Percius the night he and his brother were caught snooping around. Percius paid Batsa to cover up the fact that he saw such a woman and instead the Tiefling reports back some vague notion of a talking portal. Unfortunately his brother swears that Percius is dangerous and Werric uses this as evidence enough to go question Percius.

Edgar, arriving at the behest his Order to investigate the rumors of a criminal organization that is making their base around the area of Buildar takes it upon himself to investigate as well, and finds an imposing band of various adventurers taking council with Percius in his back lawn. The group seems to be very capable and spots Edgar right off, though Percius does not use this as a chance to exert physical revenge against the intruder, but instead explains his reasonings for settling in Buildar… and they match up with Edgar's in that they both want to find out what these criminals goals are here in Buildar.

Werric however is hearing none of it and believes that Percius is hiding something. He provokes an attack and in doing so, one of the adventurers has his throat slit by the bloodthirsty Sheriff, and the old wiseman Dareth finds himself embroiled in said combat when his staff is broken. Upon investigating Percius' premises the group finds a painting of lights above Buildar, many odd weapons and magical possessions that appear to be in mint condition and have seen little battle use, evidence of another party being in the house that has disappeared, and a lock of red hair in a bedroom upstairs. Batsa also points out to Dareth that the female coat that they find in the bedroom has a pad of notes that are personal research that only could have come from Dareth's observatory.

When they look to be alone, Percius begs Batsa to find the Lady of Red, who he reveals to be his daughter, and the reason that he has had to constantly move and "adventure" around. He describes her in fearful tones as a woman of "unspeakable power" and gives Batsa her middle name of "Merte" so that she will know that the Tiefling speaks for Percius. Unfortunately Werric has been listening the whole time and promptly decides to expel Percius from the town of Buildar and burns his mansion to the ground.

Upon his return from the mansion, as Werric points out that each of the individuals in this plot have some reason to fear the Lady of Red:

Mountainbeard obviously was the target of her poison.
The Tieflings were framed for crimes that they didn't commit in an attempt to distract from her presence.
Dareth has had his research stolen by the Lady of Red.
Werric also looks to Edgar and says that it is dangerous to have such powerful criminals running around, one's whose own father fear them, but Edgar doesn't even seem to acknowledge such a woman and attacks Werric but finds his stomach on the end of Werric's knife.

The episode ends with Werric dragging the dying paladin off his streets and the other party members fearing a mysterious Lady of Red… along with also perhaps being on the end of Werric's knife at some point.

Experience

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