What good is life without pain?
Personality: Vale is not, perhaps, always the most pleasant person to be around, but no one would guess it from a brief meeting in a tavern. He is cordial and peaceable, willing to talk and to listen and happy to learn whatever he can about absolutely anything. Addicted to knowledge, nothing is out of his range – from powerful magics to great sword techniques to new songs and gardening tips. He is brilliantly intelligent, and it is a simple matter for him to wrap most people around his long, nimble fingers. He is difficult to mistrust, because he seems so friendly, and would without a doubt buy a stranger a drink if they offer up a conversation.
Underneath this comfortable exterior, however, there is a creature of darkness more than worthy of the dark magics he is studying. He is a deeply sadistic person, who revels in the screams of the people he kills, and the wails of hatred of the creatures he summons when he works deeper, stronger magics. He revels in blood, in watching others suffer at his own hands. He even, to a certain degree, enjoys pain in himself. There is no doubt at all, in the minds of those who truly know him, that he is a cruel man, and there is much speculation that he may be entirely insane. This has yet to be proven.
Diety: He does not truly observe any one diety over another – he believes they all exist, but he also refuses to worship any of them.
Likes: Pain, suffering, screams, darkness, the night, hot tea, fire, books, sitting by the fireplace with a good book, knowledge, having “friends”, being alone, being among other people, listening to gossip, learning, magic, power, animals, the sword, forests, thunder storms (they give him a sort of power-high)
Dislikes: Places that are too cold, places that are too hot, being thirsty, food (he only eats because he has to), brainless warriors, most clerics, those who would harm animals, pointless brutality, illogical conclusions, people who stick to every word of the law, people who break all laws just for the hell of it, fighting for no reason, noisiness, nosiness, chains, being held captive, being unable to see (very hard to cast spells or swing a sword that way)
Life Goals: To know all that there is to know.
Fears: Blindness or visual impairment – if you blindfold him he might panic. Forgetting.
Quirks: He carries a once-wild mouse in his pocket, and keeps it as a pet. He calls everyone “brother” or “sister”, and in fact thinks of his friends as family. He is actually quite loyal and attached to his friends. He’s just also insane.
Weapons:
- Silver Longsword
- Silver Dagger
Armor:
- Full Leather
Gear:
- Various Spell Components
- Extra pouches
- Extra vials
- Spellbook
- Empty tome
Animals:
- None
Magic Items:
- Enchanted pen
- Personal Seal
Spells:
- Frost Touch
- Flame-Hand
- Message
History: Since he was barely four years old, Valence Arroway has known that there was something different about him. It was not until he was eight years old, and he burnt his own house to the ground by mistake, that he realized that difference was magic. He could make the impossible happen, purely by willing it. He could not control it, and could never tell exactly what would happen when he used it, but he had the power. He had to learn to use it.
At first, his parents did their best to suppress it. They could not shake the memory of the accident that destroyed their livelihoods, and could not help but blame their child for it. Their attempts to place guilt in his heart did not escape Valence, even if they were subtle and unintentional. Rather than sharing the blame they aimed at him, Valence took it as a signal that his family did not love him.
He felt little to no pain when his power – suppressed for too long – exploded and killed both his parents.
Suddenly an orphan, rather than finding himself in danger of starving to death, he found himself free. Free to be himself, to study magic and find out more about this innate talent of his. Desperate to learn as much as he possibly could, Valence journeyed alone to the nearest school of magic – a full ten miles away from the town where he had grown up – and sat down on their doorstep. He waited there for two days, refusing to leave, or even to eat the food they gave to him. He only wanted to study with them. If he could not do that, he would simply die.
Needless to say, the school had no choice but to take him on. They could not have his death on their record.
Valence was a hungry learner, and he did little in his years at the school of magic but study magic. The other students knew his name and his face, but nothing else about him. He had no need of friends – magic was his dearest companion. By the time he graduated from the school of magic, and was accepted by Lunitari, he already knew a great deal more than even the school’s most devoted students. Had he decided to, he could easily have overcome his own teacher.
His learning might have stopped there, with no master available to him, but Valence was not about to let his growth stop. He began to travel, fighting for money, lending his magic out where it would earn him gold. Hunting for new and powerful magics to add to his book of spells. Searching for ways to become more powerful. He was seventeen when he struck out on his own.
Now, soon to turn twenty-one, Valence’s awareness of the world has grown strong enough that he can feel the enemy stirring. Darkness is growing – around him and inside him – and Valence knows that his peaceful travels will soon come to an end.