Berden Goldguard

Art by Dire

**Berden Goldguard** is a member of the Skagzag Extravaganza festival staff. Well known for his fabulous looks and attitude, Berden is also a capable craftsman. As part of the festival, he pits one of his own creations, Punchbot, against competitors trying to win Skagbucks.

## Description

### Appearance

Berden Goldguard has several typical features of dwarves, including a stocky build and thick facial hair. However, Berden deviates from traditional dwarven style to express his own uniquely glamourous style. He has long, voluminous platinum blond hair with asymmetrical parted bangs. His eyebrows and beard are light brown and finely groomed. Berden also usually wears makeup, with multicolored eyeshadow and brown lipstick being most noticeable. In terms of clothing, Berden wears a low-cut frilly white shirt under a navy open jacket with a high collar as well as a variety of silver necklaces.

### Personality

Berden presents himself in a flamboyant and flirtatious manner. For the most part, he acts coy and playful, often bandying jokes and offering complements freely. He always has a wry smile and sassy quip at the ready when conversing with others, a trait that endeared him to Pandora Amberoise and her friends. Berden doesn't outwardly appear to take things seriously, taking time to enjoy himself with his new friends at the local tavern and toast their supposed "immortality" with aplomb. However, Berden does demonstrate a great deal of shrewdness, able to identify the potential in the voyagers and being impressed with the same group's negotiations with the village elder. Berden also admits to enjoying "people-watching" and finds other people fascinating, especially those he deems to be talented in any way.

## History

### Background

Not much is known of Berden Goldguard's history. He appears to have be trained in the art of masonry and golem making, as exhibited by his creation Punchbot. At some point, Berden met Fervan Wanderlin, the ringmaster of the Skagzag Extravaganza. He was offered a job at the travelling circus, which he accepted. He and his golem became one of the Extravaganza's main attractions, designed to test seasoned and foolhardy adventurers alike. Berden travelled with the Extravagaza all across Io for several years before arriving in Northern Ishtar to do a number of shows.

## Phase 3 Story

### Livening up Lindow

The Skagzag Extravaganza eventually arrived in the village of Lindow in the very northern part of Northern Isthar. Berden set up his stall along with the other circus folk and took a collection of Skagbucks, the festival's inhouse currency, in order to give out as prizes. The challenge Berden set his customers was to defeat his personal stone golem Punchbot in combat. However, throughout the first day of the festival, Berden found himself to be disappointed, as none of the challengers were able to overcome his creation.

That changed when an eclectic group of voyagers arrived at his stall, asking for a round with the construct. Berden was intrigued by the group, sensing a great deal of promise from each of them. Wanting to see the party in action, Berden made a proposition; if the party was able to defeat his golem, he would hand over his entire collection of Skagbucks. The party accepted, and Berden signaled for Punchbot to take the field. He engaged the golem's combat protocols for five combatants and then stood back to watch the fight. Midway through the fight, the skeleton Ribeye granted Berden a portion of his mystical energy, which Berden sassily stated would not help them but was appreciated. After a tense battle, Punchbot was finally defeated. Applauding the group's efforts, Berden upheld his end of the bargain and gave the party the 125 Skagbucks he had promised. Before they parted, one of the group, Pandora, requested Berden come with them to enjoy the rest of the festivities, to which he politely declined. Berden then dragged Punchbot away from the battlefield to be repaired, using an in-built pulley rope to haul it away.

### The Talent Show

With Punchbot secured in his tent, Berden halted his repair effort to attend the talent show that evening. His employer Fervan was the host and he called up one of the voyagers Berden met earlier to the stage. Pandora introduced herself and informed Fervan she would be playing the violin, dedicating the song to her friends. She then began to play up a storm with her violin. Berden cheered and applauded along with the rest of the rapturous crowd at the performance.

Berden watched her competitors perform with varying levels of success until the close of the show. Fervan then announced that Pandora had won the competition, earning herself a sizable portion of Skagbucks. Pandora, returning to the stage, made a short victor speech, dedicating it to her ex-girlfriend who left her for a vampire. Caught up in the moment, Berden yelled out in support of Pandora, prompting the bard to curse out her ex in front of everyone. As he joined her, a punching glove from his construct jutted out of his tent, causing Berden to promptly hurry back inside to hastily finish his repairs.

### Havoc from Faewunder

Later that night, Berden went out on the town as the residents of Lindow were getting merry and enjoying the night. However, the merriment soon turned to panic, as strange blue energy began to manifest all across Lindow. From the blue energy, several floating luminous goblins emerged and began to cause chaos all over town. The goblins fired bolts of energy, harassed festival-goers and caused damage to buildings and property as they went. Berden was caught up in the chaos, but managed to avoid any serious harm. Nearby, Berden got a good view of the voyagers who defeated his golem fending off a large ogre quite capably. After some time, a loud horn echoed out to the west, drawing the attention of all the creatures. As one, the creatures transformed into blue energy and began to shoot off towards the sound, where a large blue light could be seen in the distance.

After the commotion settled down, Berden came across the voyagers once again, in conversation with the village elder, River Shoon. River Shoon had announced that the festival was to be shut down and a relief effort was to be put in place to aid the wounded and restore order. Berden overheard the elder examining each member of the group individually, before proposing that the group might investigate the phenomena to the west. When the subject of payment arose, Berden listened as the voyagers negotiated, establishing a daily rate for the group as well as securing supplies in the deal. When River Shoon expressed some reservations about their rates, Pandora stepped up to convince the elder of their worth and persuaded her to give them the payment in installments, including one upfront. River eventually agreed and the group parted ways with the elder.

### Drinking with Friends

After witnessing that, Berden made his way to a nearby tavern to get himself a drink and unwind after the stressful encounter. While drinking his ale, he was approached by Pandora, who requested to sit with him. She treated Berden to a pickleback shot and asked what was on his mind. Berden confessed to listening in on their conversation with River Shoon and commended Pandora for her negotiating skills. Pandora, curious, asked if Berden wanted to be involved, which he adamantly refused. Berden claimed he just liked watching interesting people and seeing their talents develop. Pandora misinterpreted Berden's compliments as flirting and admitted to not "swinging that way". Berden, amused, said he was doing no such thing, and simply liked Pandora as an individual. Pandora, embarrassed, hurried away to the bar to fetch more shots, during which her companions entered the tavern.

As the voyagers took another table, Berden continued to observe them, chuckling in amusement as the group ordered more and more alcohol. Berden finally wandered past, whistling coyly at the stacks of empty glasses. A thoroughly drunk Pandora attempted an inelegant invitation for him to join them, apologizing for supposedly getting off on the wrong foot. Berden informed her she had done no such thing and it would take a lot to accomplish that. Berden agreed to stay and help finish off all their remaining drinks, on the condition the nervous Gloria would also do the same. After a shot or two, Berden realized that the group had essentially ordered every drink on offer, including some of dubious quality. Horrified, Berden announced that this would be awful, before fully committing himself to the task with gusto. Eventually, Berden decided he had had enough and was heading to bed. He wished the party the best in their adventures, promising to meet up for drink again if they made it back. His piece said, Berden then left the tavern, though not before taking a drink from Gloria to ensure she might not have as bad of a hangover the next morning.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Experienced Engineer:** Berden is a skilled engineer, having created a modified stone golem that he was able to program multiple different combat protocols into.

## Etymology

"Berden" appears to be a variation of the surname Burdon, which is believed to be either derived from the Norman personal name *Burdo,* or from the French word for a pilgrim's staff, "*bourdon"*.

"Goldguard" is a combination of the words "*gold*", a naturally occurring precious metal used extensively in coinage and jewelry, and "*guard*", meaning to watch over or protect something.

## Trivia

* According to Brett in March on Faewunder Episode 1, Berden was one of the first Ioverse NPCs designed by Dire.