Aurelian Binder

Start-class article · First seen: s20 · Last seen: s20
Aurelian Binder
The binder · Aurelian heretic-hunter
Aurelian Binder — portrait.
Character
StatusAlive
First seens20
Last seens20
FactionAurelian forces

The Aurelian Binder is the unnamed elite heretic-hunter who led a night patrol to the party’s camp on the farmland approach to the Eldwythe bridge in session 20. A binder, in the DM’s definition, is an Aurelian elite fighter and magic-detector, a tracker of heretics, and one of “the Inquisitors’ general attack dogs” [1], L277, L285). He arrived with a horse-sized mastiff and two archers [1] and outranks a cleric like Father Thomas “by quite a lot” [3]. He interrogated the camp and pressed Father Thomas’s bluff, then broke off to chase a flash in the sky, leaving an explicit unfinished threat, “I’ll deal with you later” [7].

Overview

The Aurelian Binder is an unnamed elite heretic-hunter of Aurelia who led a lantern-lit night patrol up to the party’s camp during their failed rest on the open farmland south of the Eldwythe bridge [1]. He is a hostile, suspicious figure and the most dangerous Aurelian the party has faced at close range, defused not by any dice but by an outside event. He remains at large and left the party with an open threat.

The binder role

The DM defines the role through Father Thomas’s eyes. A binder would be immediately familiar to an Aurelian cleric as “a elite fighter and magic detector of Aurelia” [1]. He is not a paladin: when Terry asks, the DM clarifies “He’s a fighter? He’s a binder. He’s basically a tracker of heretics” [2]. In the hierarchy he outranks Father Thomas “by quite a lot,” which strips the cleric of any ability to pull rank [3]. Summed up, binders are the Inquisition’s hunting arm.

“a hound a mastiff the size of a horse basically. One of Aurelia’s binders would be very familiar to Father Thomas as a elite fighter and magic detector of Aurelia and two archers.” — Nick (DM), [1]

“So basically, these are the Inquisitors’ general attack dogs.” — Nick (DM), [4]

He did not travel alone. The patrol comprised the binder himself, a mastiff “the size of a horse,” and two archers [1].

At the camp

With the party’s casters keeping still and casting nothing, Father Thomas, in his Pure Light vestments, did the talking as “one of their own.” He claimed the other three had already been given their leave by an inquisitor and backed it with a Deception roll [5]. The binder was not convinced: his eyes tightened around his mask and he pressed, “Are you lying to me, cleric?” [6]. The standoff never resolved on its own terms. A light flared on the distant horizon, and the patrol turned to investigate it, the binder promising to return.

“I’ll deal with you later.” — the Aurelian Binder (Nick, DM), [7]

The DM tied the flash to the session 18 event, gauged three to four hours off and “oddly reminiscent” of the dragon that lit up the sky over the ocean [10]. Father Thomas afterward warned the party that if they thought the lone paladin who had beheaded their companion was formidable, this binder was far worse, and that they should not let his kind find them again inside Aurelian territory [8], L300).

Disambiguation

This binder is a distinct individual from the earlier “lone paladin that beheaded your companion,” whom Father Thomas explicitly rates as the lesser threat [8]; he should not be confused with the session 18 knight Glenn or the session 18 confessor, who belong to separate encounters.

Out-of-character note

After the binder left, the table riffed a running gag of “naming” him, Nick joking “His name is Bob” and Caelumn adding “Jim the Binder” and “Bab” [9]. These are out-of-character jokes only. They are not canonical names, they are not this figure’s aliases, and they carry no standing in the fiction.

Status as of session 20

Alive, hostile, and unresolved. He broke off the encounter of his own accord to chase the sky-flash rather than being driven off, and his parting line is an explicit promise to return. Father Thomas believes a binder would not pursue heretics beyond Aurelia’s borders, but a History check on that point failed, so it remains rumour rather than fact [11].

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 20, line 267 — The binder defined as an elite Aurelian fighter and magic detector; arrives with a horse-sized mastiff and two archers.
  2. ^ Session 20, line 277 — Not a paladin: he is a binder, a tracker of heretics.
  3. ^ Session 20, line 280 — Outranks Father Thomas "by quite a lot".
  4. ^ Session 20, line 285 — "So basically, these are the Inquisitors general attack dogs".
  5. ^ Session 20, line 286 — Father Thomas rolls Deception, claiming an inquisitor already gave the three their leave.
  6. ^ Session 20, line 291 — The binder presses the bluff, eyes tightening around his mask, "Are you lying to me, cleric?".
  7. ^ Session 20, line 295 — Breaks off to investigate a flash in the sky, "I'll deal with you later".
  8. ^ Session 20, line 298 — Father Thomas frames him as far more formidable than the lone paladin who beheaded the party's companion.
  9. ^ Session 20, line 305-306 — Out-of-character joke names (Bob, Jim, Bab), explicitly non-canonical table banter.
  10. ^ Session 20, line 327 — Inline citation.
  11. ^ Session 20, line 314-316 — Inline citation.