Burlen

Burlen is a city in the Antaran Empire in Betrayal in Antara. It is first visited in Chapter 4.

History and Geography
''Tales spoke of gold-lined streets. Though no coins dressed the cobblestones, the marble buildings and dapper people bespoke the city's legendary wealth.''

Burlen is an ancient city of legendary wealth whose gold-stamped coins, "burlas," had become the continental standard currency. At the end of the anti-magic period following the creation of the Waste, mages who had been granted amnesty in Antara secretly infiltrated and caused civil and political havoc for twenty-five years. After this period, then-Lord Valorian, the king of Antara, invaded and conquered the tired city without shedding a drop of blood, finding the citizens relieved to regain political stability from the mages he had sent to disrupt their lives. The successful invasion, a takeover that did not devalue Burlen's currency, was the beginning of the period of conquest during which Valorian declared himself Emperor and founded the Antaran Empire.

After the discovery of Vell artifacts in the Aliero Mines, Pernath Academy sent a team of scholars to investigate the ancient trove. However, the artifacts carried the Feeblepox, which infected anyone who handled them and spread throughout the Empire. Without acknowledging the source of the Pox, the Pernath team paid the Aliero miners to close the cavern after a week and left the site behind.

Lately, according to a worried resident of Elona, Mehrat spies and agents have been seen as far east as Burlen.

The city is walled, with entrances to the north and east. It lies on the road between Elona to the west and Grandeur to the east. The fork leading south past Burlen's east gate passes between a Temple of Kor and a canyon system which eventually leads back the northern road or further west to Teal; the road continues southwest to Everton.

Inn: Bailey's

 * Description: Discretion was the watchword at Baileys, where secluded booths and secure rooms provided merchants and politicians a measure of privacy.
 * Amenities: Ale, Meat Pies; rooms are available.
 * Eavesdropping: The party can learn about Lord Caverton's current troubles.

Shop: Defenders of the Empire

 * Description: An imposing emporium with a generations-old reputation for trafficking only in the finest protective equipment.
 * Sells: Chain Mail; Montari Chain Mail; Leather Armor; Breastplate; Banded Shield; Tortoise Shield.
 * Buys: all Armor and Shields

Pernath Academy
Description: The oldest and largest repository of knowledge in the Empire, the Academy played host to scholars from across Ramar.

Academy Pass
A Pass is required to go further than the lobby of the Academy. After showing one there once, all playable characters can explore the Academy for the rest of the game. The game's two Academy Passes can be found in and in the Empty House in Elona. Description: ''The heavy parchment read, in precise, elegant calligraphy, "The bearer of this document, a seeker of truth and wisdom, shall be alloewd full privileges and access to the Academy's vaults that he may partake in and contribute to the Empire's greatest treasure: knowledge." It was signed "Varta Grelorian, First Rector."''

Academy Lobby
The Academy Matron checks for the party's Pass. If they don't have one, she coolly forbids them to go further into the Academy. After the first time they enter with a Pass, she lets all playable characters in whether they show one or not. The Academy Library is through the marble or wooden doors; the Academy Offices are up the stairs.

Academy Office
Walston Moore, the new Director of Vell Studies since the passing of "old Burns," discusses Vell technology and advancements and the mystery of the ancient race's third language.

Academy Library
Several works pertaining to Antara's history and politics can be read in the Library:
 * Antaran Political Structure by Academy Staff: describes the politial roles of the Emperor, the Jaegers, the Shira, and the guilds in the Antaran Empire.
 * Humanity's Homecoming, Vol. 1-2: describes consolidation of power by mages in the Age of Magic; the appearance of the Triune to the original Shepherds; the prevailing theory on the creation of the Waste; and a diatribe against dangerous, powerful mages.
 * Luerdan's Essays on Ancient History, Vol 1-3: a vicious screed against scholars who refuse to accept the author's argument that the anguish of the Grrrlf War and subsequent Exile directly caused magic to erupt among humanity, a blessing in disguise worth far more than the "few thousand lives" lost in trade for this "racial advance."
 * The Founding of Antara, pt. 1-, by Lar Teredal, Imperial Scribe: describes the insight of Valorian I, who used mages as spies to destabilize and absorb Burlen and allow a bloodless takeover that preserved the city's wealth and prestige, and went on to conquer the rest of the Empire with the support of loyal mages and the Church of the Triune.

Trivia

 * Antoni Octomont is from Burlen.
 * The miner of Quigley Castle in Aliero recounts several digs in the region, including finding gold in Burlen.