Book II Challenge V Final Prelude: Beggar's Inn

[ZCerberus]

In the Avalonian Grasslands at Beggar’s Inn.

Beggar’s Inn lies south of the capital city of Albion in the Grasslands in the county of Mesodraconem, Avalonia.  The proprietor was an elderly blind man who had been found on the street by Avalonia’s ruler, Artorious Rex.  The blind man, simply known now as ‘Keep’, was sleeping on the street of Albion with no worldly possessions.  While the people of Albion were generous, they seemed uneasy around the blind man, giving the beggar food scraps, but never more.  Appalled by the thought of a beggar living in the Pearl City, Artorious asked Albion’s warden, Trian Burress to give the beggar a chance to prove his worth in a trade.  After discovering the man had a talent for hospitality, likely from years of showing gratitude for those who offered to help him, Burress put the man in charge of an Inn in his home county of Mesodraconem.  The Inn quickly became known as the finest quarters for travelers passing through Albion. 

How times had changed.  Since the Drow incursion and rumors of plague abound, Albion had become flooded with the sick, blind, and destitute.  Buildings which had once gleamed bright now lie in disrepair as crime and illness over took the Pearl City.  The absence of Sir Burress had only compounded the problems.  Whispers in the street suggested the new warden, Morgan Windspear, was a Spire agent, and with Artorious’s mysterious absence, no man was able to cleanse the Pearl City.

Dugal had arrived first with Anzar, followed closely by Breggan, Erissa and finally Sir Burress.  Dugal gave his report first.  He told this motley crew about the Desert King’s struggles to unite Kaliphlin against the Spire and his doubts anything short of the Heir to Cedrica could even hope to do so.  Erissa’s face appeared pale, almost as if her news of the Algus chilled her blood and turned her face as white as theirs.  Anzar huddled over the table listening intently to every word. 

Erissa: “Breggan’s words were true.  The white monsters have allied with the Black Spire, the Druid Gyrin confirms it.  The Algus have lit a beacon, surely you have seen the blue beam in the North sky.  I have spoken with my uncle and he has vowed his support to the cause.  He has the loyalty of many clans in Mitgardia, but he fears the Algus incursion has left many weary of war.”

Breggan: “Would the King unite them?”

Erissa: “Elon believes so, but he believes they will require proof of the High King to take up arms.”

Anzar looked back at his uncle hoping another revelation would come, but Breggan remained silent.  “Does the heir even exist?” thought Anzar.

Sir Burress unfolded his arms to speak his piece next.  How different the killer of Anzar’s father looked now.  His skin no longer appeared plagued and pestilent, his eyes shined with life and he had again donned his golden armor.  While Anzar believed in their cause, he couldn’t help but feel regret for allowing his father’s killer to slip from his custody.  Feeling the regret and anger surge through him, Anzar tightened the grip on his blade.  Burress turned his gaze to Anzar.

Sir Burress: “Another time Dragon Master.”

Anzar kept the grip on his blade as Dugal attempted to break the tension.

Dugal: “Back from the dead Sir Burress?  It appears priestess Greenclove does fabulous work.  I will have to check her out the next time I need to be reincarnated!”

Sir Burress smirked briefly as a pang of sadness also entered his face.

Sir Burress: “The cost for such actions is great, but Greenclove felt the fate of Historica was worth the price.  If I had known…”

The restored Avalonian General was overtaken with grief and sadness.  Anzar felt little sadness for his father’s killer, but his suffering, whatever it was, gave Anzar great satisfaction.  He released the grip on his blade and spoke.

Anzar: “Another time Burress.”   

The Avalonian regained his tongue.

Sir Burress: “You have seen Albion, and I assure you the rest of country is in a similar state.  Drow raiding parties terrorize the peaceful towns in the Grasslands and plains- another plague has broken out in the Enchanted Forest and Varlyrian refugees flood into the Mystic Isles.  I have no doubts the Spire are using these tactics to distract and keep Avalonia from joining the fray.  With the absence of Artorious, only the High King’s heir could hope to unite them.”

Anzar again looked to Breggan who stood stoically.

Anzar: “So it is confirmed, the Spire has disabled us all and allied with our enemies.  We all believe only the High King could unite us. “

This time the entire company looked to Breggan.  Anzar’s uncle pushed his back from the wall and leaned in to the table.

Breggan: “You all see the peril on the horizon, and yet you are all too paralyzed with fear to unite the guilds against the coming storm.  I do not know if Raavage has found an artifact which will plunge Historica into chaos, but you all know what he has already done.  Civil war- hardly.  And you all believed it.  Now here you sit, so embroiled within that you cannot move against the next great threat.  War weary- cowering.  Here you sit while they sharpen their spears, axes and daggers.  Here you sit in fear of defeat- have they already won?  You look to be saved from the High King while you should look within yourselves!”

The group each exchanged looks.  A rousing speech, but it couldn’t change the truth, none of them had what they needed to unite the guilds again.  Dugal looked to Breggan and spoke.

Dugal: “So the heir to Cedrica- it was-“

Suddenly the door to the Inn swung open and a cloaked figured entered.  Breggan smirked and stood tall for a moment than dipped his head and bowed.

Breggan: “M’lord.”

The entire company fixed their eyes on the figure and each rose to their feet.  Suddenly the group could feel the entire Inn had fixed their eyes on the figure at the door.  Burress knew exactly what to say.

Sir Burress: “Send riders to every guild and tell them what you have witnessed here today.  Avalonia, Mitgardia, Nocturnus and Kaliphlin are united against the Spire.  Today we go to war.  Tell every friend you cross that the King has returned!”

 

Bonus shot of Beggar's Inn opened up for your viewing pleasure.  A few Easter Eggs hidden in there for long time guildies.

[Jacob Nion]

All hail the king! Whoever it may be.

Now that is the sort of inn I'm into. I love how high towering you constructed the building. It looks like something that started small and was expanded over the time. Not just a blocky tudor cube with roof on it. 

And now I need the challenges to be revealed. I literally have armed myself to the teeth with slings and catapults and siege engines of all sort, I hope there's a task where I can use them. Like "build a catapult to hit Raavage in his restroom in the obsidian spike. This is the only chance to engage him in a weak position".

Edited December 30, 2016 by Jacob Nion

[TitusV]

Waw. Just, waw. This story came together so beautifully, like the build fits so amazingly!  The tudor-work is great, and like JN said, not just a cube with a roof but seemingly naturrally growed. That just the outside, the fact that it can open itself was a very cool surprise. And now I want to challenge

[Slegengr]

Well-played story, Z!

The cloaked heir is ingenious to keep up the excitement!  The inn is lovely in your classic Avalonian style!  The hinges to allow for open access are a perfect inclusion to really make this an amazing build.  The half-timber is beautiful!  The interior details are nice as well, such as the chairs and furniture, rugs, doors, beds in different rooms, items in storage, and the minifigure activity.  I like the angled cellar door quite a lot!

This story is really shaping up beautifully for the next challenge, and you are moving it along nicely with your amazing builds!

[Garmadon]

Lovely Tudor work as usual, ZC, the sand green looks excellent, and the shaping and opening feature are awesome as well!   Great to see Trian Burress back from the (sort of) dead too!   Looking forward to that challenge! 

[Lord Vladivus]

Excellent work as ever Z! Looking forward to the heirs reveal!

[MaasEffekt]

Nice inn, and story!

[Blufiji]

There is hope yet! Nice work on the inn with your tudor style as usual.

[Kai NRG]

Great inn ZC, looks very Avalonian and the slanted door is really neat!  And of course the opening function is awesome!  

[Merc4Hire]

Incredible inn indeed! Very nicely designed with many layers and each impressively well detailed. And the preludes tied up together excellently and were really fun to read. Can't wait for the challenges to start and the heirs reveal. 

[Gideon]

Lovely build and excellent story! Intriguing with that unknown pretender to the throne, I did not expect that development!

Can't wait for the challenge to be announced

[soccerkid6]

Quite an impressive building! The detail inside and out is top-notch  The hinging mechanism you used looks interesting, was it pretty sturdy for you?

Very smooth roofing over some difficult sections too

[en_zoo]

awesome build! just love it. literally inspiring tudor - gonna need to be looking at the whole thing for a while..

nice conclusion of preludes as well - good to see Sir Burress in gold armour again!

[Exetrius]

Epic conclusion to the superbly written Preludes, congratulations to you all! 

The unusual opening feature in this build is crazy cool, the hinged-back door/wall leading towards the storage basement is done very well!