His parents told him to sneak into town and change his identity to hide from the evil people. Before Baladan left his father gave him his walking stick and his mother gave him a great ruby necklace. Packing his things, he fled under cover of darkness wearing a dark cloak and carrying a bag of belongings on his back. The next day, he watched as his parents were hanged in the square for the reason of treason against the ruler of the town. He knew the real reason was that his father was a very important man and they could not let him live. While the other townspeople cheered, he cried. Tears streaming down his face he ran back to the shed he was living in. The only family he had ever known was now hanging in the town square.
Later that night he heard crying outside his door. Opening it just a crack he saw a little girl crying while her mom was being taken away by the town's guards. She was too poor to pay her taxes and was sent to jail. In anger, he ran up to the guard and punched him across the face. The guard fell to the ground and the child rushed to his mother. Suddenly a bell rang and more guards rushed toward him.
He managed to overpower a dozen or so guards before being overwhelmed and beaten. He was cuffed and taken to the ruler of the town, the Necromancer.
He chuckled, "What do we have here?"
"This man was interfering with an arrest." said the head guard shoving him forward
"You can't arrest a child!" growled Baladan "It's not right to take it away from its mother."
"Oh but I think I can." The Necromancer said cheerfully.
"Should we execute him?" Questioned the head Guard.
"No," The Necromancer responded unexpectedly. "This one is different. Let him be satisfied with…" He thought for a moment. "Banishment." He said satisfied. "Until tomorrow you shall stay in the old jail and after that, we will begin the ceremony."
They took him to the old jail where he slept the night away on the cold hard metal cot that was provided. The next day, Baladan woke up to the sound of banging on the metal jail door.
"Come on, let's go!" Barked the guard as he unlocked the door. He cuffed Baladan and dragged him towards the town square, where a large crowd of villagers waited. He was taken to the town entrance in a little parade of guards and jeering people. Once they reached the gate he was whipped and beaten by guards as the crowd laughed and mocked him. Finally, the Necromancer came to finish the ceremonies.
"Thank you everyone for coming here!" He boomed. "Now it is finally time to see our friend off." He said as he unholstered his pistol. The Necromancer raised the pistol and whipped it across Baladan's face, causing him to fall to his knees. The crowd cheered for the Necromancer. Baladan wiped the blood from his face.
"I'll be back," He winced in pain. "And I will kill you." Upon making this promise they gave him the wooden cane from his father for walking and sent him on his way, uncuffing him in the process. As Baladan limped along the rocky path, all he could think of was vengeance. A fire had been born in him, and it was not going out anytime soon. This fire also fueled his journey. He walked day and night with no food or rest until he reached a small village on top of a hill. Climbing up the hill, he decided he needed to rest.
As he entered the village he heard songs being sung in a saloon.
"Maybe someone will buy me a drink." Thought Baladan. He pushed open the swinging doors of the saloon and was surprised to find that all the people in the tavern were decayed and skeletal looking. His insides filled with rage and his blood felt like it was heating up. Baladan walked up to the bartender, the only living person other than him.
"Can I have a drink?" He asked.
"If you can pay, then yes." Replied the bartender.
Baladan dug in his pockets before pulling out a few gold coins. "Whatever this can get me." He sighed as he handed the coins away. The bartender filled up a wooden mug and handed it to Baladan. Baladan took the drink to an unoccupied table in a dark corner and started sipping. As he drank, he overheard the undead soldiers talking.
"So who do you think is gonna stop us now that general Flay is dead?" Asked one soldier who was missing an eye.
"I don't know," Replied one with a long beard. "I hope no one does."
"I'm glad Flay is finally gone because now there's nobody to stop us." Added a third soldier who wore a hat. At this, the other soldiers began to laugh and mock Flay. Baladan bellowed with rage and charged at the soldiers. He used his empty mug to bash the skull of the one with the hat. The other two soldiers drew their weapons. The one without the eye had a gun and the one with the beard had a dagger. Baladan grabbed the hand of the one with the gun and aimed it upward toward the ceiling.
The soldier fired the gun but it was no use. Baladan snapped his wrist, took the gun, and shot him once right in the head. The soldier with the knife stabbed at Baladan, grazing his side, only enraging him further. Baladan used his wooden cane to sweep the soldier off his feet, then stomped his frail undead body into the ground. The soldier with the hat had woken up and tried to crawl away but Baladan threw the wooden mug at him and he stopped moving.
The bartender stared at him in awe, his mouth wide open. Baladan walked over to him and handed him a few more coins, before packing his things and leaving. Baladan, even though he was enraged, was still very aware that he needed a plan to take his revenge on the Necromancer. As he walked away from the hill town he decided he wanted to consult an oracle. He could not go to the popular one at the river Thrawn, for he would draw too much attention to himself. After thinking for a while he decided to head to Mount Gileon which was home to a lesser-known oracle.
The reason the oracle there was less popular was because of how difficult it is to reach it. The mountain is home to an angry mountain god Comfritz who likes to hunt travelers with his oversized mountain lions. Baladan traveled for a week before reaching the foot of the mountain. There, he found a small town where he bought a gun and some mountain climbing gear.
"You plannin' on goin' up there?" Exclaimed the old store clerk.
"Yes, indeed I am," Baladan responded politely.
"Well, then yer just as crazy as I am," The clerk said, grinning a grin that had more missing teeth than teeth that were there.
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