Name: Valmeros “Val” Ness (he/him)
- Age: 28
- Appearance: Tiefling with brick red/orange skin, one broken horn, messy ash hair, 5 o'clock shadow. Dressed in his former plate uniform, with parts stripped down and sold off to make room for his broad raven’s wings (and also to pay off some debts). Scruffy and disorganized, though his axe is shockingly immaculately kept.
Valmeros “Val” Ness is a former Paladin of Selûne, who currently operates as an adventurer out of Welmet (and abroad, when the mood strikes or he needs to flee from a debt for a while). During his time as a paladin, Val was far from the Moonmaiden’s finest warrior - while he was a perfectly average paladin, his only gift was his silver tongue (which got him out of a few spots of trouble with the Mother Superior of his order). However, Val’s fortunes changed while searching the priory’s vaults for a hiding spot for whiskey - in one of the most central vaults, he found the shards of a sentient weapon, still whispering to the shadows. The weapon called to Val, promising him the power to rise above his station and become a truly powerful warrior, if he’d only accept the bargain of the whispering shards.
Val was quickly and easily tempted by the offer - while he knew and accepted he was no real hero, and destined to become a guard of some forgotten keep, he wished for a chance to do real good, and be seen by his comrades as worthwhile and useful. Placing his standard issue battleaxe upon the shards, Val soon found himself imbued with an ancient power that twisted and mingled with his already tenuous connection to the Moonmaiden’s light. Unfortunately, Val’s heretical bargain was swiftly discovered by the fellows of his order, who stripped him of his low rank and exiled him. Val’s only saving grace was his friendship with some of the other conscripts of the order, who were able to provide him with his armor and axe, and a small amount of provisions.
Finding his way to Welmet, Val discovered the horrible price of his bargain - while he prefers violence as a back-up plan if talking doesn’t get the job done, his newly awakened axe had other ideas. The whispers have progressively turned more violent, only being temporarily quieted after a lethal battle. Val swiftly turned to his old ways of gambling and carousing the nights in Welmet away, as his vices tend to make it easier to ignore the lethal pleas of the ancient energy speaking from his axe. His habits have turned into somewhat of a reputation in Welmet, as Val is known to be an adventurer who can be counted on to get the job done in the easiest way possible, get paid, and spend all the coin and be back in debt in a week.
While Val never shares this with his fellow adventurers, Val does feel guilt and regret for his pact and exile, though he feels Selûne has abandoned him as much as he’s abandoned her. While he is typically crass and manipulative, Val does have lines he will not cross, and refuses to hurt innocents or those whom he respects. Whether his path forward lies in redemption and rediscovery, debauchery and decline, or even worse, down a path of darkness he’s not yet tread will be a question of the future.
After running up a significant bar tab on Trivia Night in Welmet and earning the ire of his patron for the evening, Val decided it was best to make himself scarce in Welmet for a time. He hopped on a boat to Kognombia, acing the entry combat test, and making a few new friends along the way (as well as a new enemy in the diminutive form of Winkle Corpseskrew, a local necromancer).
During his time running odd jobs in Kognombia, Val was forced to contend with his own selfishness in the face of Kognombia's social structure. Val saw Kognombia as a reflection of all his selfish tendencies, and truly began to reckon with the fact that he'd always taken the easy path to power and payday. In this time, Val began to do something he'd not done in a decade: pray. Not to Selûne, but to any god who might listen and be able to offer guidance in his moment of doubt. For the first time since making his warlock pact, Val began to hear another set of whispers, ones that began to drown out the violent whispers of the spirit in his axe.
Val's call to a new faith came during his final job in Kognombia. Once again tangling with Winkle Corpseskrew and his band of undead, Val found himself enveloped inside a large, fleshy golem with far too many limbs. Centering himself as the form began to suffocate him, Val prayed once more to the nameless god whispering in his head. In centering himself and feeling peace, he heard one word echo in his head - “Kick.” Val followed the instructions, kicking in just the right space to force the limbs away. Roaring, Val flew away from the golem, filled with a holy light that drowned out the blight inside him. Val and his friends put a final end to Winkle Corpseskrew, and Val, feeling a sense of finality with the city, left on a boat back to his home in Welmet.
Val stepped off the boat a new(ish) man - after focusing on the guidance of the deity in his mind, Val decided to claim a new oath - not an Oath of Devotion to his new, nameless deity, but an Oath of Redemption, as he resolved to never take “the easy path” again. Upon his return, Val and his friends quickly uncovered a sinister plot by Keymistress Markessa and the Moonlit Mafia to usher in an apocalyptic event. Motivated not by coin anymore, but the desire to save the city he called home, Val assisted his teammates with vanquishing the cultists and securing the ancient artifacts that would have been used to wreak untold havoc on the world.
With a new flat and new purpose, Val privately sought to understand the whispers of his new god, feeling a kindred purpose in his redemptive oath. His studies in the Temple District eventually lead him to the Temple of Eldath and an old comrade: Kliff Rimeclaw, who he'd not seen since his newfound purpose. The two had both gone through so much in the short time since they'd fought together, and they commiserated as kindred friends who had new purposes in life.
Kliff shared his new appreciation for Eldath, the god of peace. Val, motivated by his friend, began to volunteer at the Temple of Eldath as a gentle, but imposing guard. Val knew from the moment he started his service that the goddess was the one that was guiding him home to Welmet, and that she was calling him to set aside his selfish ways. As Val began his service to the temple, he found the violent calls of his axe that had plagued him since his pact had become a mere echo. The whisper, it seemed, had become merely one voice in a choir that sung for peace and serenity.
While Val still enjoys a good quip and the occasional drink at The Purple Padlock, his focus has turned to the defense of the temple, and will not raise his axe against any who he feels are not a direct threat to his friends or the city.