Elim Ardor

==Who is Elim Ardor?==
Elim Ardor is a merchant of the Ardor family, or at least this is what he claims. Elim lived for over 9 months in Cari Town, and for much of that time was under suspicion. Despite this, he spent his days lounging and drinking Fireball Whiskey, often being found either in the tavern or resting on the edge of the Cari Fountain. 
== History ==
Unknown to most, Elim arrived in Cari Town only days after it's opening following renovations, going by a different name and claiming to be a fisherman. In truth, he had murdered the true fisherman, who was moving into a shack close to the waterfall at the time, dumping his body into the waters with the Drowners. Because of the Drowners, the true fisherman's death was blamed on them, and he went on without suspicion afterwards.
Soon after Elim's arrival, he began causing several fires in the local region, providing ample distraction to keep attention away from the Rat Knight and his business. After a short time however, Elim vanished from the region completely, called away to see to matters in Noria.
Much later, Elim returned once more, now openly claiming the name and identity of 'Elim Ardor', a plain cut fine cut coat and an outrageous feathered hat and all. He now claimed to be a merchant, and none were the wiser. He again began torching locations in and around town, most notably being responsible for the Slums Fire. It was at this time that the suspicions of Sigurd were aroused.
Despite Sigurd's efforts, Elim noticed he was being tailed often. Eventually, Sigurd's suspicions grew too strong, and Sigurd broke into his room in the hotel. Turned out drawers and overthrown furniture revealed no evidence of arson however, but Sigurd was forced to steal a large sum of gold hidden in a secret compartment in the bottom of one drawer, to maintain the ruse that a thief ransacked the room.
Elim appeared genuinely distraught at the loss of such a sum of gold, but still he remained in town rather than returning to wherever he was from to continue trade and earn back more coin, a fact which raised more suspicion.
Finally, after the Darkness Over Cari Town was resolved, and all other efforts had failed, Elim was called upon by his handlers and tasked with razing the city to the ground. Knowing now that he was under a close watch by the guards, Elim bid his time patiently. One evening, he noticed most of the guard, as well as a portion of the town, was occupied at the East Gate, with the gates wide open and many of them just outside it. He seized this opportunity and broke into the Adventurer's Guild, hiding behind the counter and picking several locks to gain access to the Guild's records. This included the registration information of every Cadet of Ascension Academy, as their registration earlier in the year was mandatory. Elim then smuggled this information, and several other documents related to Officer Finn from the Guildmaster's Office, over the South Wall and to his contacts in the woods.
With the documents secure, and the guard's suspicion at an all time high, it was time for Elim to strike. Pretending to be in a drunken stupor, drinking his miseries away, Elim returned to the Tavern time and time again one evening, amassing a collection of Fireball Whiskey. He stumbled across town with them, never drinking more than sips from each, and every time he found himself alone and unwatched he etched runes into the bottom of the bottles and carelessly left them tucked behind barrels, in abandoned market stalls, etc.
Late in the evening, when the results of the Mayoral Election were about to be read off, Elim struck. He activated the rune circles on the bottles, causing them to detonate in a small fireball. Each fireball shattered it's bottle, igniting the whiskey, and splashing it across a large area. In moments, half the town was engulfed. At the same time, Elim broke into the South Gate and opened it from the inside, allowing a force of Hobgoblins, Goblins, and Orcs into the city.
The battle at the South Gate raged for two hours, but eventually with the attacker's numbers dwindling, Elim joined the fight. He approached from the flank and attacked the Guildmaster from behind, engaging the man. With the Guildmaster occupied, the attackers were able to push the rest of the towns defenses back slowly, all the way to the Town Square. Here, however, Elim was finally felled, struck down by the Guildmaster once and for all. With their leader defeated, the remaining attackers broke. Most died in the retreat, but a number fled out into the woods, and vanished.
In the aftermath, as damaged were assessed under the dawn's light, it was discovered that fortune had graced the town that night. Due to light rains the morning before, and the fact that much of the town was constructed of stone, only a few buildings were significantly damaged before the flames could be extinguished, with most only suffering superficial damage to the exterior.
Not all findings were good, however, as on Elim's corpse Sigurd and Guildmaster discovered his sword. It still shimmered with the same sinnister energy that the Darkness Rune had earlier in the year, revealing to them that he had been no ordinary arsonist or bandit- he had been an agent of the Dark Order.
== Trivia ==
* The origins of his name is: Elim was, according to the Hebrew Bible, one of several locations the Israelites camped following the Exodus from Egypt. Ardor means passion, enthusiasm, fervor, or zeal. These were early hints to his devotion and zealotry towards some cause, later revealed to be the Dark Order.
* His speech to Guildmaster Holtby spoke of the Darkness tearing down the tyrannical Cross-Allied Forces and freeing them of their political domination, seeing the Darkness as a liberator and agent of true freedom.
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