Beldin

Type: Character / NPC
Campaign: Under the Bus
Status: CANON — established through actual play
Race: Half-elf
Class: Paladin
Deity: Magerris
Origin: Darktree
Status: Dead
Cause of Death: Executed by Bishop Ward in the Toreon gladiatorial arena

Overview

Beldin was a half-elf paladin of Magerris from the eastern province of Darktree. He entered Toreon illegally while seeking a healer for his dying elven mother, Ienda, knowing that his status as both a half-elf and a worshipper of a forbidden god could result in his own death.

Beldin was captured and imprisoned by the Church of Demmazon. While imprisoned, he was tortured in an attempt to force him to renounce Magerris and worship the Church's True God. He refused.

Beldin subsequently became a gladiator in the Toreon arena. He fought alongside the adventuring party and demonstrated a strong commitment to honor, refusing to participate in the execution of surrendered slaves.

After the second gladiatorial battle, Bishop Ward offered Beldin a chance to save himself by renouncing his beliefs and submitting to the Church. Beldin refused. Ward ordered his execution, and Beldin was killed in front of the party.

His final words to the party were:

"Always with honor."

Background

Beldin was born to Warun, a human man, and Ienda, an elf.

His father died several years before the events in Toreon. His mother subsequently raised him, leaving Beldin an outcast from both human and elven communities.

Ienda herself had been exiled from the elves after falling in love with a human and was disowned by her family.

His Mother's Illness

Ienda was attacked by a creature resembling a dragon. Beldin survived the attack's immediate consequences, but she suffered from the lingering effects of the creature's poison and eventually became terminally ill. Beldin determined that there was no one in Darktree capable of, or willing to, heal his mother because she was an elf.

Rather than watch his mother die, Beldin traveled to Toreon in search of a healer. He understood the danger involved. As a half-elf and a worshipper of Magerris, he knew that entering Toreon could result in his own execution. He nevertheless went.

Beldin successfully entered Toreon without initially being detected. While searching for a healer willing to treat an elf, however, someone betrayed him and turned him over to the authorities.

Imprisonment in Toreon

Beldin was imprisoned by the Church of Demmazon and tortured in an attempt to force him to renounce Magerris and worship the Church's True God. He resisted the torture and remained faithful to Magerris.

Beldin was eventually placed in the same prison section as the adventuring party. Initially, he kept to himself and was reluctant to speak with the other prisoners.

The party eventually gained his trust and learned his story.

Relationship with the Party

Beldin's religious beliefs caused some disagreement within the party.

• Malachi considered Beldin a blasphemer because he worshipped Magerris.
• Tim supported Beldin's right to follow his chosen god.
• Bo Duke eventually developed a significant bond with Beldin through their experiences in the gladiatorial arena.

Despite the religious disagreement, Beldin became a trusted ally of the party.

First Gladiatorial Battle

Beldin fought alongside the party in the first gladiatorial battle, against a group of Feral Yowlers.

During the battle, Beldin and Bo Duke became separated from most of the group while fighting three of the creatures.

Bo Duke was knocked unconscious. Beldin used Lay on Hands to bring him back into the fight. Bo Duke later went down again while fighting another yowler. Beldin bull-rushed the creature away from him.

On the following round, Beldin was reduced to 0 hit points and became disabled. With his final action, he cast a cure spell on Bo Duke, bringing him back into the fight while pushing himself into negative hit points.

Bo Duke made sure Beldin did not die, declaring that he would not allow Beldin to become a martyr. Beldin survived the battle. The party and Beldin were among the survivors of the match, with most of the other prisoners killed or dying.

Leadership in the Arena

During the second gladiatorial battle, Beldin demonstrated leadership among the prisoners.

The match was a fight to the death between the prisoners classified as heretics and a group of slaves. Beldin called for the prisoners fighting alongside him to stay together, protect each other's flanks, and hold the center.

He also used a special ability that granted an ally in an adjacent square a +1 armor class bonus while engaged in melee.

The ability is described in the campaign recap as one of Beldin's special abilities. Its precise mechanical source or name has not been established and should not be reconstructed without further evidence.

The Second Gladiatorial Battle

The second battle was deliberately designed to be particularly lethal.

The prisoners faced numerous monstrous creatures in an arena containing rotating pillars that sprayed fire, alchemist's fire around the arena walls, and other hazards. The surviving prisoners were eventually forced into a battle against groups of slaves.

When the battle reached its conclusion, only a handful of slaves remained.

The slaves surrendered. The crowd demanded their deaths, and Bishop Ward gave the signal to kill them.

The party's response varied:

• Tashiro Sunshine Eastforest intimidated the slaves rather than killing them.
• Bo Duke chose to knock them unconscious with nonlethal attacks rather than kill them.
• Beldin was disgusted by the treatment of the surrendered slaves.
• Beldin threw down his weapon and shield.
• Tim followed Beldin's example and also dropped his weapons.
• Smah Tepants went further and began tending to wounded slaves.

This act of defiance brought Bishop Ward directly into the arena.

Execution

Once the surviving gladiators had been disarmed, Bishop Ward offered them a chance at pardon. He demanded that they kneel, beg forgiveness before God, and kiss his ring. Ward specifically directed Beldin to go first.

Beldin refused. He walked directly toward Ward and spat in his face. When Ward challenged him over his refusal to renounce his beliefs, Beldin declared:

"I will not betray my principals, or my god."

A guard struck him. Beldin stood back up and declared:

"I am a man of honor. You cannot break me."

Ward questioned whether Beldin would really die for his devotion to a "false god." Beldin responded:

"A man without principals is not a man at all."

Ward then ordered the guard to execute him. The guard ran Beldin through. As Beldin fell to his knees, he turned toward the party and gasped:

"Always with honor."

The guard then swept off Beldin's head. Beldin died in the arena in front of the party.

Death and Legacy

Beldin's death became an important event for the party during their imprisonment in Toreon.

Demetrius, who was secretly operating in Toreon as a Chosen agent, witnessed Bishop Ward's execution of Beldin.

The execution was a major factor in Demetrius deciding to break his cover and contact The Chosen for assistance. He ultimately helped arrange the rescue of the party.

Beldin's refusal to renounce Magerris also reinforced the conflict between the party and the Church of Demmazon.

Ienda and Rilina

After escaping Toreon, the party eventually traveled to Darktree aboard the Sunchaser. They wanted to visit Beldin's home and learn what had happened to his mother. They discovered that Ienda had died approximately one month earlier.

The villagers told the party that people had attempted to loot her house but had been injured. They assumed that Beldin had left traps behind before departing for Toreon, although the party considered this unlikely given his nature as a paladin.

At the house, the party encountered an elf named Rilina. Rilina was Ienda's daughter from before Ienda met Beldin's father, Warun. She was therefore Beldin's half-sister, although Beldin had never known that she existed.

Ienda's relationship with Warun had resulted in her exile from the elves, but Rilina had secretly continued watching over her mother. After Ienda's death, Rilina had remained at the house to protect it from looters while waiting for Beldin to return.

The party eventually told Rilina that Beldin was dead. Rilina was saddened by the news, although she had not known Beldin personally.

The Wyvern

Rilina told the party that the creature responsible for attacking her mother was still alive. The party had already determined from Beldin's description that the creature was a wyvern.

Rilina asked the party to hunt it down because she was not capable of fighting it herself. She had expected Beldin to kill it when he returned. The party agreed.

They subsequently encountered the creature and discovered that it was not an ordinary wyvern, but a Huge wyvern. The party defeated it.

Beldin's Equipment

Beldin appears to have anticipated the danger of entering Toreon and left his personal equipment behind rather than risk having it confiscated by the Church.

After the party informed Rilina of his death and helped deal with the wyvern, she gave them a wrapped bundle that she believed Beldin would have wanted them to have.

The bundle contained:

• Shield of Mercy
• Adamantine Breastplate +1 of Spell Resistance 13
• Flame Tongue longsword

The party also took Beldin's holy symbols of Magerris and some healing kits from the house.

Rilina's understanding was that Beldin had deliberately left this equipment behind because he knew the danger he faced in Toreon and did not want it to fall into the hands of the Church.

Characterization

Beldin was defined by a strong personal code of honor and religious conviction.

He was willing to risk his life to save his mother despite knowing that the journey to Toreon could result in his own death. In prison, he endured torture rather than renounce Magerris. In the arena, he repeatedly endangered himself to protect others. His final act was consistent with the same principles: when surrendered slaves were ordered killed, Beldin refused to participate. When Bishop Ward offered him a chance to live in exchange for submitting to the Church, Beldin refused again.

His final declaration, "Always with honor," summarizes the principle that governed his actions throughout the campaign.

Known Family

Ienda

Ienda was Beldin's elven mother. She was exiled from the elves after falling in love with the human Warun. She raised Beldin after Warun's death. She died approximately one month before the party reached Darktree.

Warun

Warun was Beldin's human father. He died several years before the events in Toreon.

Rilina

Rilina was Beldin's previously unknown half-sister. She was Ienda's daughter from before Ienda's relationship with Warun. Rilina remained secretly connected to her mother despite Ienda's exile from the elves. Beldin never knew about Rilina.

Chronology

1. Beldin's father, Warun, dies.
2. Ienda raises Beldin in Darktree.
3. Ienda is attacked by a wyvern and suffers from its poison.
4. Beldin travels to Toreon seeking a healer for his dying mother.
5. Beldin is betrayed and arrested.
6. Beldin is imprisoned and tortured by the Church of Demmazon.
7. Beldin meets the adventuring party in prison.
8. Beldin fights alongside the party in the first gladiatorial battle against the Feral Yowlers.
9. Beldin saves Bo Duke twice during the battle and survives.
10. Beldin participates in the second gladiatorial battle.
11. The surviving slaves surrender.
12. Beldin refuses to participate in their execution and throws down his weapons.
13. Bishop Ward offers Beldin pardon in exchange for religious submission.
14. Beldin refuses to renounce Magerris.
15. Bishop Ward orders Beldin executed.
16. Beldin is killed and beheaded in the arena.
17. Demetrius witnesses Beldin's execution and subsequently breaks his cover to arrange the party's rescue.
18. The party later travels to Darktree aboard the Sunchaser.
19. The party learns that Ienda died approximately a month earlier.
20. The party meets Rilina, Beldin's previously unknown half-sister.
21. The party tells Rilina that Beldin is dead.
22. At Rilina's request, the party hunts down and kills the Huge wyvern responsible for attacking Ienda.
23. Rilina gives the party Beldin's equipment and holy symbols.

Source Notes

The following are established by campaign material:

• Beldin was a half-elf paladin of Magerris.
• He originated in Darktree.
• His mother was Ienda.
• His father was Warun.
• He entered Toreon seeking a healer for his dying mother.
• He was betrayed and imprisoned.
• He was tortured by the Church but refused to renounce Magerris.
• He fought beside the party in the gladiatorial arena.
• He saved Bo Duke during the Feral Yowler battle.
• He refused to participate in the execution of surrendered slaves.
• Bishop Ward personally offered him a chance to repent.
• Beldin refused.
• Bishop Ward ordered his execution.
• Beldin was killed and beheaded in the arena.
• His final words to the party were "Always with honor."
• Ienda died before the party reached Darktree.
• Rilina was Beldin's previously unknown half-sister.
• Rilina gave the party Beldin's remaining equipment.
• The party later killed the Huge wyvern that had attacked Ienda.

The exact mechanics and source of Beldin's special +1 adjacent-ally AC ability remain unverified.