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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 Wellmet, 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 Wellmet 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 Wellmet, 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…