Brollo Goldpipe

Brollo Goldpipe was a male halfling fighter in the Emeron campaign.

Brollo during the Imyan Invasion

Brollo Goldpipe was a halfling warrior and militia leader. He organized and led the armies against the invasion of the Principality of Imyan in 1072. He later became the mayor of Home, but was captured and replaced by an impostor who worked to bring the Dragon Queen to Goric in 1129. He was later rescued by the Heroes of Prophecy and later was voted as mayor of Home again.

## Background

Brollo was born in Home and joined the local militia at a young age. He enjoyed helping out the people in town and keeping the bad element from hurting good, hardworking folks. Over the years he rose to the second in command of the local town watch.

## Invasion of the Shires

In 1072 the Principality of Imyan invaded the Halfling Shires, swiftly taking Roadshire and sweeping west, reaching home in a matter of days. Hasty preparations to fight the humans were made, but they were insufficient. Brollo fought in the battle, and when his commanding officer was killed and took command and led a fighting retreat to Rivershire, evacuating as many of his forces and civilians as he could across the Long River. Once across, Brollo ordered the all available boats to be destroyed and the docks at Rivershire to be torched to slow the humans down in pursuing.

Brollo began to train all available volunteers into an army to be able to try to repel the humans when they attempted to cross the river. During the training the famous adventurer Eddie Drezzen arrived to volunteer his services, along with his friend Taltharian.

Eddie and Taltharian helped Brollo rally and train the warriors while the Imyan forces spent their time consolidating their hold on the eastern shires. By midsummer the force was ready and Brollo launched an attack across the river to take back the halfling's land. Brollo assigned Eddie was one of the main officers of the army and made full use of Taltharian's fire magic in the campaign.

By Bear of 1072 the halfling forces had a solid foothold in the eastern shires and faced the bulk of the Imyan army in outside Townsville in the Battle of Townsville. During the battle Brollo attacked the Imyan forces with the main bulk of his army while Eddie and Taltharian led a troop of their best forces and slipped through enemy lines to directly engage General Goritz, commander of the Imyan armies, and their officer corps. The maneuver caught the humans totally by surprise and Eddie dueled Goritz, slaying him in personal combat while Taltharian and the squad of halflings slew the officer corps.

Leaderless, the Imyan army crumbled and broke. A force of a few hundred men withdrew to Home, but the halfling army pursued and swiftly retook the city. The invasion was completely broken. Brollo, along with Eddie and Taltharian, were hailed as heroes.

## As Mayor of Home

The previous mayor of Home had been killed in the war and since Eddie Drezzen had returned to Emeron City to continue his adventures with the Heroes of Unity, Brollo was the most famous war hero in the Shires and was swiftly elected as mayor. Much of his early reign was concerned with cleaning up the damage that had been caused in the war with Imyan.

Unfortunately around the late 1070's Brollo was secretly captured and replaced by the Spider Person Veskolexx. He and the Spider Person Dexxkuvtarr, who had replaced Eddie and become mayor of Drezzenville, slowly and quietly plotted the control of the Halfling Shires.

## Conspiracy of the Dragon Queen

Veskolexx continued to impersonate Brollo through the years, slowly, quietly and methodically increasing his wealth, power and influence along with that of Dexxkuvtarr, who was still impersonating Eddie Drezzen. They became associated with a number of powerful contacts and allies, among them the red dragon Starr.

In 1127 Starr approached the two Spider People, explaining that he had a means to bring a new God, known as the Dragon Queen, from another realm to Goric. Her presence would destabilize the other gods of Goric and leave her in a strong position to take over much of Pherosum, if not the world. The promise of reward was great and the two agreed to assist.

To that end, by 1129 Dexxkuvtarr had recruited an Emeronian knight, Sir Zadric Trield, to the cause and through him began to hunt for a number of divine artifacts that were needed to bring the Dragon Queen to Goric and make her more powerful than she would otherwise be.

The efforts met with some success, as Dexxkuvtarr was able to secure the *Club of Galmar* through Zadric, and Veskolexx was able to procure the *Shield of Yondolla* through his own contacts. The two Spider People had likewise secured the alliance of a liche in the Brokenback Swamps called Sedrina the Soulless.

Unfortunately things began to go wrong, as a group of heroes (the Heroes of Prophecy) had caught wind of the plan and were not only trying to secure the weapons themselves to deny them to the Conspiracy, but had begun to follow the trail closer towards the Shires. Worse, Eddie's old friend Dandy Lion had surfaced and was traveling with them and had roped Trista Ravenlark and Taltharian into assisting further.

By Sloth of 1129, the Heroes of Prophecy had slain slain Zadric and Sedrina and were heading south, presumably to Drezzenville. Veskolexx soon received word that they had confronted and slain Dexxkuvtarr, burning his manor house to the ground.

## Rescue

Veskolexx, still masquerading as Brollo, dispatched a patrol weest to keep an eye out for and arrest those who matched the description of the Heroes of Prophecy and their allies and beefed up his own security with men personally loyal to him, but the precautions proved to be unsuccessful. On the 16th of Yeti, 1130, the Heroes of Prophecy sneaked into the home of "Brollo Goldpipe," and slew Veskolexx. In a secret room of the mayor's manor house they found the cocoons that held the Real Eddie Drezzen and Brollo Goldpipe. The heroes freed the halflings, who were shocked to learn that nearly fifty years had passed since they were imprisoned.

## As Mayor of Home (again)

Eddie soon departed north to aid his friends (both new and old) in their quest to stop the Dragon Queen. Brollo, for his part, stayed behind to help clean up the mess of both his and Eddie's doubles. He publicly announced what had happened and agreed to turn over the reigns of power to the Church of Yondolla until a new election could be held. He won the special election handily, however, and continued to serve as Mayor of Home. In 1132 he was elected as the High Mayor of the Shires by the Council of Mayors.

Brollo continued to serve as High Mayor of the Confederation until his retirement in 1153. One of his lasting contributions to the Shires was authorizing and assisting with the creation of the only standing military force in the Halfling Shires: The Drezzen's Destroyers. Brollo died in 1157 of old age and sickness.