Buckman

Lord Ludwig Buckman is a character encountered in Fear & Hunger. The Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Rondon, he led a party to the Dungeons of Fear & Hunger to find out what had happened to it and to the man called Rudimer.

Lore
The leader of a party composed by Ser Seymor, Jeanne, and Ser Seril. The party was sent by the King of Rondon to investigate the Dungeons of Fear and Hunger due to boredom and to rescue the lost Captain Rudimer. When they found that Rudimer was no longer the man he was and that he was now the terrifying Crow Mauler, they were ambushed and scattered and tried to escape from his wrath. Buckman soon found himself without his allies, struggling to survive in the dungeons.

Location
Buckman can be encountered on the first floor, within the Inner Hall past the Courtyard. Running in a panic, he is shocked to find that you are both alive and not a monster. He claims to have lost his sense of time and is unsure if he has been trapped in the dungeon for weeks, months, or possibly years.

After hiding in a nearby cell, Buckman advises that the only way to survive in the dungeon is stealth.

Choices
If the player defeats the torturer and then returns to tell Buckman about it, they can later find him on the 2nd basement floor with the heavy knight. If the player does not inform Buckman and instead simply leaves the floor, he will not return to his companion.

Further, if Buckman is reunited with the heavy knight in the basement, a unique dialog option will appears where Buckman admits to fearing the rest of their party is most likely still dead and award the player 40 silvers. The heavy knight will suggest they only worry about their own well being now and to continue going deeper in the dungeon. Talking to them will result in them forming a marriage in Level 7 Catacombs after visiting the ancient city and losing a valuable accessory given by Buckman, the Ring of Wraiths.

However, if the player chose not to talk to them after they are reunited in the basement, both of them will not proceed to fuse into a marriage. After Jeanne is rescued and brought safely back to them in the basement, Buckman will inform the player that they never thought to delve deep enough into the ancient city, thus preventing them from forming a marriage. Talking to Jeanne will now inform the player about Buckman's other companion, Ser Seril.

To bring back Ser Seril from ancient city, the player must have a potion of mind in their inventory, which could be bought from bug-eyed figurine in the same area of as Ser Seril but in the past version. Initiating the battle with Ser Seril, the player must choose to talk to him and choose "use potion of mind" option in the first round. Doing so prevents Ser Seril from attacking for the first round. Talking to him the second time will end the combat as he is now returned with a sane mind. Informing him about the other three members in the basement will make him reunite with them shortly after. Going back to the basement now the player will discover all four members are gone and there will be a Buckman's Letter on the floor informing the player that all of them have left as proclaim the mission a failure. Along with the letter is also the Buckman's Heirlom, the Ring of Wraiths.

Also within the letter, Buckman says that should the player run into Captain Rudimer, or whatever is left of him, put him out of his misery and spare him whatever honor he has left. The player can do this if they want to or not. It does not matter as killing the Captain has no benefit to the story other than stopping him continually chasing the party and to gain access to a very powerful endgame weapon.

Trivia

 * In the game's database, it can be seen that Buckman was going to be a potential party member, but it seems it was discarded.