Valaran

Article written by Uziel & Darcwulf

Valaran (2432 PC - 2353 PC) an Ergothian noble who was the daughter of Lord Valdid and Lady Pernina. A beautiful woman and a scion of the esteemed Pakin family, she was born in the Palace of Daltigoth and grew up amongst the Ackal family, when her father went to serve the Emperor of Ergoth. Valaran was exceedingly intelligent and described as having lovely straight brown hair that wore down to her waist, she had striking green eyes and was pale of skin, due to being kept in the palace at most times. Lithe and beautiful, she was the paramour of the hero, Tol of Juramona, and her hand was sought by both sons of Pakin III, Emperor of Ergoth.

Valaran by Darcwulf.
Name	Valaran
Alias	Val
Birth	2432 PC
Death	2353 PC
Race	Human
Gender	Female
Nationality	Ergothian
Hair Color	Brown
Eye Color	Green
Height	Unknown
Weight	Unknown
Class	Noble
Occupation	Empress of Ergoth
Spouse	Amaltar Nazramin
Children	Dalar
Siblings	2 sisters

Early Life

The entire early life of Valaran was spent inside the palace walls of Daltigoth, where her protective father kept her locked away. It wasn't until she was eighteen that she happened to encounter Tol of Juramona inside the palace by absolute chance (because he was lost and stumbled into a chamber she was secretly reading in). The two initially became good friends, where Valaran snuck out of the palace to meet him and they saw the sights of Daltigoth together, since Tol was new to the city, and Valaran was never allowed outside the palace. It was only a short while, before Tol made his feelings plain to Valaran, and she responded in kind.

Consort of Amaltar

However, her father presented Valaran along with two of her unmarried sisters to Amaltar and the court shortly afterwards in 2414 PC. Amaltar noted Valaran and selected her to become his next wife. Whilst the young lady was pleased to be chosen and that her family's standing in court would improve, she also had to tell a heartbroken Tol. Although Valaran did point out that whilst they could never marry or court openly, they could still meet in secret, as her and Amaltar had no actual feelings for one another. Later in 2414 PC, Valaran was wed to Amaltar, and became his fifth wife. The young princess continued her dalliances with Tol, however Nazramin, Amaltar's brother, discovered their secret in 2412 PC. The prince forced Valaran to become his spy on Tol, in exchange for keeping their secret and allowing them to continue their affair. Valaran passed on any information she received from Tol about the Hylo Campaign in order to placate Nazramin.

In 2411 PC, she received a cold letter from Tol (which had actually been altered by Prince Nazramin and the wizard Mandes), and she decided to forget him altogether. Valaran dedicated her life to her studies, and compiled several books on the Ackal dynasty and the genealogy of the emperors. However when Tol returned to Daltigoth in 2401 PC, she learnt that he had never compiled the letter she received and their love was rekindled once more. Following the death of Pakin III, Amaltar ascended to the position of Emperor of Ergoth, choosing the regal name of Ackal IV. Valaran then become of the emperor's consorts, and was elevated further in the imperial court.

Empress of Ergoth

Near the end of 2401 PC, Emperor Ackal IV died through the use of image magic by his brother Nazramin. The dark-hearted prince had Valaran's father executed, and told her that if she did not become his wife and empress, he would have her entire family put to death. Under duress, Valaran complied and bid her lover Tolandruth to leave the empire.

By 2395 PC, Valaran hired the female ranger Zala Half-Elven, to locate Tolandruth and bring him back to Daltigoth. The empress did this in secret from her husband, planning to have her beloved return to the capital and kill the emperor. The empress continued to plot against her husband, using her agent Helbin to aid the bakali and nomadic barbarians, so that her husband would continue to discredit himself and show to the people that he was unfit to rule.

When Lady Winath, the leader of the White Robes, came to Empress Valaran with her concerns about Lord Tolandruth collaborating with the enemy as well as some suspicions about Helbin, Valaran decided to confide in the mage. Valaran told Winath that it was her that sent Helbin to aid the bakali and cast dispersions on her husband. When Winath declared it was treason, instead of sympathizing with the empress, Valaran pushed Winath off a balcony, sending the mage plummeting to her death, and telling palace servants that the mage had killed herself. She also had Helbin use the magical image of Ackal V that had been created years earlier by the mage Mandes, to cause her husband to sicken and grow weak. However when the image was destroyed, her husband was freed of his sickness and returned to a normal state, allowing him to take to the saddle and lead his armies against the bakali host.

Valaran was shocked to learn that her husband and his armies were victorious over the thousands of bakali warriors, however her spirits were lifted by the news that many imperial hordes had defected to the leadership of Lord Tolandruth who led his armies towards the city of Daltigoth. As the last few warlords joined Tolandruth, and even her husband's loyal Wolves were slain, Valaran drugged Ackal V. The emperor lay helpless before the throne when Lord Tolandruth arrived in Daltigoth, and the empress begged the great warrior to slay her husband and rule in his stead. However Tolandruth refused to kill a helpless man and instead asked Valaran to leave Daltigoth with him, taking her son Dalar along as well. Valaran refused to leave Daltigoth, and her beloved Tolandruth left the city a final time. Dalar killed his father, and Valaran issued a statement that the emperor had killed himself.

Dalar was technically the successor of the throne, and had four imperial regents serve in his stead. Valaran herself was no longer considered Empress of Ergoth, and after a brief period of peace was courted by Lord Vanz Hellman. However Valaran refused his advances and ended up being imprisoned in Kanira's Keep. Locked away, Valaran dedicated herself to writing a number of novels, the most famous of which was " The Life of Lord Tolandruth". She refused to cut her hair whilst in captivity, and shortly before she died, she requested that whilst her body would be buried in Daltigoth, she wanted her hair cut and buried separately in the city of Juramona, from which her love Tolandruth had once hailed. Valaran finally passed away of old age in 2353 PC.

Inconsistencies

In some tales, Valaran was Amaltar's eighth or even ninth wife. However she is most commonly referred to as his fifth wife.

References

A Warrior's Journey, p.196-200, 212-223, 242-246, 257-259, 263, 271-276, 370-371
The Wizard's Fate, p.58-60, 162-165, 181-188, 229-231, 259-266, 289-290, 295-297, 372-373
A Hero's Justice, p.12-15, 51-53, 76-83, 98-99, 129-133, 158-170, 272-273, 310-312, 347-348, 363-368, 373-374

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Categories | Ergothian | Nobles

This article has been viewed 1,050 times. It was added on March 29, 2006, and was last modified on February 16, 2008.

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