Brance
Brance
Source Record
Campaign: Under the Bus
Folder: Characters / NPCs
Status: Established NPC
Source Base: Campaign correspondence and recaps
Overview
Brance was a member of The Chosen who first encountered the party while they were new students at the Tower of Plinth. At that time, he was a senior student within the Chosen's training hierarchy and was openly hostile toward the newcomers, particularly Tashiro Sunshine Eastforest, because he was a half-elf. Brance also antagonized the other members of the party, most memorably by dumping a bowl of yogurt over Smah Tepants's head in the cafeteria.
The conflict was ultimately settled through Battle Chess. Brance played aggressively but lost, and afterward grudgingly respected the party. The party's relationship with him remained antagonistic for some time, however, and he became a recurring figure during their later missions.
Over the course of the campaign, Brance's role changed substantially. He went from an arrogant and antagonistic senior student to a trusted member of the Chosen's field operations, eventually taking responsibility for crews and expeditions and developing a significant diplomatic role in the Chosen's alliance with the elves.
By the end of the recorded campaign, Brance had become the primary liaison between the Chosen/party and the elves and had been made an honorary member of the elven council as the Human Ambassador to the True Elven Race.
1. Brance at the Tower of Plinth
When the party first arrived at the Tower of Plinth, they quickly discovered that the Chosen operated much like a boarding school. There was an established pecking order among the students, and the newly arrived party disrupted that order because of their rapid advancement and the apparent favoritism they received from Master Effron.
Brance was one of the students who reacted particularly negatively.
The source describes him as a senior student who was particularly aggressive toward the newcomers. He repeatedly put down Noel and people associated with him. The hostility toward Noel was especially notable because Noel was a half-elf, while the Chosen generally had difficulty accepting the new party members.
The hostility eventually escalated in the cafeteria. Brance walked past Smah and dumped a bowl of yogurt over her head, then threw his fists into the air and declared:
"Brance rules!"
Other Chosen intervened before the confrontation became a full fight.
2. The Battle Chess Match
Rather than allowing the conflict to become a physical fight, another Chosen student suggested that the dispute be settled through Battle Chess. The student Tegrid subsequently encouraged the party to challenge Brance, explaining that Brance tended to over-bet and played too aggressively.
The match was arranged with the party's magic items as their wager against Brance's Battle Chess board.
The actual recap records that each member of the party put up one magic item while Brance put up his Battle Chess board. Brance played extremely aggressively, using most of his pieces' special abilities early in an attempt to gain advantages, but the party ultimately defeated him.
After losing, Brance grudgingly gave the party some respect. The party also found that their standing among the other Chosen improved afterward.
The planning document identifies Brance as a Fighter 5 for combat purposes at this point. This is campaign-source information from the preparation notes; no later character level for Brance is established in the surviving correspondence.
3. The Attack on the Tower
Soon afterward, Tower of Plinth was attacked by the forces that would become associated with the werewolf threat.
The attack killed Master Effron, dozens of Chosen, and many laborers. The surviving Chosen pursued the attackers and began investigating the source of the assault.
Brance survived the attack. The later campaign material explicitly refers back to him as a surviving member of the Chosen.
4. Return to the Party's Story
When the party was eventually rescued after their imprisonment in Toreon, Brance was among the familiar Chosen who welcomed them aboard the Sunchaser.
The recap specifically identifies him as the party's old pseudo-nemesis from their days at the Tower of Plinth, and notes that the party greeted him somewhat disdainfully.
By this point, their relationship had clearly progressed beyond the original cafeteria confrontation, but Brance's history with them remained part of how they regarded him.
5. Expedition to Aegea
Brance volunteered to accompany the party aboard the Sunchaser when they returned to the underwater ruins of Aegea in search of The Quest for the Cure.
The expedition included:
The planning document explicitly lists Brance among those who volunteered for the expedition.
The surviving correspondence does not give Brance a major individual role during the exploration of Aegea itself.
6. The Suspected Traitor
During the later voyage of the Sunchaser, the party became convinced that there was a traitor aboard the ship.
The party's investigation produced suspicion against several people. Brance became one of the principal suspects because several crew members reported that he had been on deck when the portal opened at Godsmount.
The source also notes that some members of the crew appeared to be actively putting suspicion on Brance. Smah was particularly inclined to believe them because of her earlier antagonistic experiences with him, although she did not consider the evidence sufficient to act against him.
Brance's Response
Brance eventually approached Tim and Noel privately.
He acknowledged that he knew he was being suspected and admitted that he had not made a good first impression. He also openly acknowledged having superiority issues and arrogance, and explained that he believed people were suspicious of him partly because he pushed the crew hard.
He denied being the traitor. More importantly, Brance proposed that Orinder might actually be responsible.
His argument was based on several observations:
- Orinder had been discovered in a Filtiarn temple as the apparent leader of a group of prisoners.
- Other prisoners reported being experimented upon, while Orinder appeared not to have been.
- The werewolves appeared to leave Orinder alone even when he defended other prisoners.
- Orinder had been present during multiple attacks involving portals.
- Orinder had been aboard the ship when the portal opened over Aegea and was one of the few survivors.
- He had also been aboard when the portal opened at Godsmount.
- When Orinder was left aboard the ship during the attack on the Tower of Plinth, the attackers seemed unprepared for the Tower's resistance, suggesting they might not have received a warning from their suspected informant.
Brance therefore said that, whether or not the party believed him, he intended to keep an eye on Orinder. Tim and Noel thought Brance had raised legitimate points, although they also recognized that accusing someone else could itself be a tactic used by a traitor.
Resolution
The surviving source does not establish Brance as the traitor. The later campaign material instead continues to depict him as an ally and trusted member of the Chosen.
7. Responsibility for the Sunchaser
During the expedition to Godsmount, the party decided to explore the mountain on foot because of the area's dangerous dead-magic and wild-magic zones.
They left Brance in charge of the Sunchaser while they were away, along with most of Tim's followers. Only Demetrius and Marcus accompanied the party into the mountain.
This is an important indication of the degree of trust Brance had gained by this stage of the campaign. He was no longer merely the antagonistic senior student from the Tower; he was trusted with responsibility for the expedition's ship while the main adventuring group was ashore.
8. The End-of-the-World Expedition
During the subsequent voyage toward the End of the World, Brance again occupied a position of responsibility.
When the party reached the strange land beyond the expected edge of the world, they divided the expedition into several groups to explore the newly discovered forest.
The groups included:
- the party itself;
- a crew team led by Brance;
- a crew team led by Orinder;
- a team remaining with the ship to establish a base camp, led by Demetrius.
Tim established a Rary's Telepathic Bond connecting himself with Brance, Orinder, and Demetrius so that the separate groups could remain in communication.
This again demonstrates that Brance had developed into a person the party trusted with leadership responsibilities.
9. Attempted Rescue of the Party
At one point the party became separated from the Sunchaser and was unable to return immediately.
While they were missing, Brance pushed for a second expedition through the portal to find them. The surviving Chosen leadership initially talked him out of doing so, primarily because they lacked the flying spells necessary to make such an expedition practical.
This is another indication that Brance had become personally invested in the party's survival despite their difficult history.
10. Relationship with the Elves
By the period covered by the final recorded campaign recap, Brance had undergone the most substantial change in his relationship with the party and the wider world.
He had taken a significant leadership role in the alliance with the elves.
The source describes him as having gained a new level of confidence while working with them. He spent increasing amounts of time away from the party conducting missions with the elves.
The elves, in turn, developed a strong affinity for him because of his apparent affection for them. They came to regard Brance as their primary liaison between the elves and the party.
The source jokingly notes that Brance occasionally remarked that not a single elf had muttered "Fuck Brance" in his hearing, an explicit callback to his earlier reputation.
Human Ambassador to the True Elven Race
Marstalbin eventually made Brance an honorary member of the elven council, recognizing him as the:
Human Ambassador to the True Elven Race.
This represents the clearest endpoint in Brance's recorded character development: the Chosen student who originally antagonized the party and particularly Noel ultimately became one of the principal human intermediaries between the Chosen and the elves.
11. Character Development
Brance's documented progression is unusually clear:
| Period | Role / Characterization |
|---|---|
| Early Tower period | Senior Chosen student; arrogant and antagonistic |
| Conflict with party | Particularly hostile toward Noel and antagonistic toward the newcomers generally |
| Battle Chess | Loses to the party and grudgingly begins respecting them |
| Later Chosen operations | Participates alongside the party as a fellow Chosen |
| Aegea / Sunchaser | Trusted enough to accompany major expeditions |
| Godsmount | Entrusted with command of the Sunchaser while the party explores |
| End-of-the-World expedition | Leads one of the exploration teams |
| Missing-party incident | Pushes for a rescue expedition |
| Dark Times | Significant leader in the Chosen–elven alliance |
| Final recorded status | Primary liaison to the elves; honorary elven council member; Human Ambassador to the True Elven Race |
The source therefore supports a progression from antagonistic senior student → grudging ally → trusted field leader → diplomatic representative.
12. Relationships
The Party
Brance began as an antagonist to the party, but his relationship with them changed after the Battle Chess match. They continued to joke about and remember their antagonistic beginnings, but he subsequently became a trusted ally.
Noel
Noel was the primary target of Brance's early hostility. The source specifically connects Brance's antagonism toward Noel with Noel being a half-elf.
Their later relationship appears to have improved substantially, although the surviving correspondence does not provide a specific scene documenting when or how that reconciliation occurred.
Smah Tepants
Smah was another particular target of Brance's early antagonism. His cafeteria attack on her became one of the defining incidents of their early relationship.
Smah retained enough resentment toward him that she was more inclined than the others to believe the accusations against him during the later traitor investigation.
Orinder
Brance became suspicious of Orinder during the traitor investigation and privately presented the party with his theory that Orinder might be the infiltrator.
The source does not establish that Brance's suspicion was correct.
The Chosen
Brance remained a member of The Chosen throughout the surviving campaign record and progressed from senior student to a trusted member with meaningful leadership responsibilities.
The Elves
Brance ultimately developed a strong relationship with the elves and became their principal liaison with the party. His relationship with them became important enough that Marstalbin appointed him an honorary member of the elven council.
13. Established Facts vs. Unknowns
Established
- Brance was a member of The Chosen.
- He was a senior student when the party first encountered him at the Tower of Plinth.
- He was antagonistic toward the party, particularly Noel.
- He harassed Smah in the Tower cafeteria.
- He played Battle Chess against the party.
- He lost the match.
- He subsequently grudgingly respected the party.
- He survived the attack on the Tower of Plinth.
- He later accompanied the party on major expeditions.
- He was trusted with command of the Sunchaser while the party explored Godsmount.
- He later led one of the exploration groups during the End-of-the-World expedition.
- He suspected Orinder of being the traitor, but the source does not establish this as correct.
- He pushed for a second expedition to rescue the missing party.
- He eventually became a significant leader in the Chosen's alliance with the elves.
- He became the elves' primary liaison with the party.
- Marstalbin made him an honorary member of the elven council.
- He was designated the Human Ambassador to the True Elven Race.
Not Established by the Source
- Brance's full name.
- His age.
- His physical appearance.
- His complete class progression after the early Fighter 5 reference.
- His exact Chosen powers.
- His family or personal history.
- His eventual fate after the final recorded campaign material.
- The precise circumstances that transformed his relationship with Noel and the rest of the party from hostility to trust.
- Whether his suspicions about Orinder ever became known to Orinder himself.
14. Source Notes
The surviving correspondence contains both planning documents and actual session recaps. The planning material establishes intended possibilities, while the recaps establish what actually occurred.
The most important example for Brance is the Battle Chess sequence: the planning notes contain a conditional possibility in which Brance dies during the subsequent Tower attack if he defeats the party. The actual game recap establishes that he lost, and later recaps establish that he remained alive.
Accordingly, this entry treats the conditional death as discarded planning rather than campaign history.
No later source located in the complete correspondence establishes a death or disappearance for Brance. The latest recorded material instead has him actively serving as the human liaison to the elves and sitting as an honorary member of their council.
