5-24-2009: Whoops! I'd totally forgotten he still has that eyepatch from where Vix tried to claw his eye out during chapter 3 of TKaN. Added to description now. --LZ
5-1-2009: Changed adv/dis to better suit his character now that I've developed it more. Also clarified his personality section and added a bit to the bio.
3-27-2007: Added some details near the end, and modified the outfit slightly.
3-1-2007: Changed the adv a bit.
2-25-2007: Edited and completely changed some things.

Name: Valedec Logan Capella
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Race: Nezumi

Height: 5'10"
Eye Color:Blue. He has an eyepatch over his left eye, and recent scars are visible running vertically above and below the patch. He says the eye is still there, but will take awhile to heal. He really isn't sure it will, though.
Hair Color & Style: His fur is white, but his hair is a very dark blue. It was originally white, but after a minor prank played on him by his younger siblings involving permanent blue hair dye being mixed with the shampoo . . . only part of his hair had been colored by the time he realized something was up, but he decided to go ahead and color the rest of it so he wouldn't look quite as silly. He does tend to keep his shirt on, though, because some of the dye dripped on his back and shoulders, leaving him with a handful of small blue spots on his fur. They've faded somewhat over time – the dye was made for hair, not fur – but they're still there. Also, like all Rune Knights, Valedec has a rune tattooed on him via arcane means . . . two, in fact (both red): a "peace" rune on his right cheek, and a "healing" rune on his left cheek. (the reason for the other two in that picture will be told later in this sheet)
Clothing: Valedec loves his pockets, as evidenced by the way most of his clothes are covered with them. He took a pair of olive green pants and a dark blue shirt, and had black pockets sewn onto them. The reason the pockets were black was because the fabric for them was taken from the lower hem of his black cloak (which is in turn secured by a broach bearing the symbol of the order of rune knights he belongs to), shortening the garment so that it hung only almost to his knees when he was through. When he's not using it, his targe is slung over his back, covering his pack rather neatly.

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Class: Rune Knight
Alignment: Neutral Good, "Benefactor" (according to a D&D handbook) does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. It means doing what is good without bias for or against order.
Weapons: Though he primarily uses hammers, Valedec always carries a dagger as well, for its uses as a weapon and a tool. On both sides of the blade of whatever dagger he uses, he engraves the "end strife" rune, and on both sides of his hammer's head he engraves the "lock breaker" rune, for reasons he doesn't typically talk about.
Skills: Originally apprenticed to his father, a smith, Valedec retains some basic metalworking skill which has generally served him well when his armor is dented. He can't repair it as well as a proper smith, but he gets by. He also sometimes lugs home pieces of armor worn by opponents, melts them down, and makes small metal sculptures or trinkets out of them; some he sells, and some he keeps. And, too, he has the widely varied skillset of a near-constant traveler: he has some experience with small airships, can handle a sloop, is a decent hunter (as long as he can get close enough to crush his prey's skull with his hammer), and various other things useful to someone who can't necessarily depend on the goodwill of others while escorting a vampire or refugee to a safe haven.

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Advantages:
-Hardened 2pts: Scrawny as a child, Val had to work hard when he first began his apprenticeship. Working with his blacksmith father bulked him up surprisingly quickly, though, and all the practicing he did on his own time didn't hurt, either.
-SigWep(Mace) 3pts: A lot of being a blacksmith's apprentice involves smacking things with a hammer. As an apprentice to his father, Valedec tended to enjoy using his smithing hammer as a weapon more than he enjoyed actual smithing. Eventually, he managed to acquire a one-handed warhammer, which sits nicely in a loop on his belt, much as a sword would in its sheathe. Over the years, he's actually become quite skilled in its use. (uses Mace-class stats)
-SigWep(Sword) 3pts: Though he prefers his hammer, having a blacksmith as a father ensured that Valedec had ample exposure to pointier weapons and the finer aspects of their use.


Disadvantages:
-Vuln(Time) 4pts: Often something of an introverted fellow, Valedec sometimes loses track of time, off in his own little world. Or at least, that's what he tells his comrades after he's been Stopped for the third time in a fight. A more likely truth is that he developed the weakness somehow while experimenting with runes before he knew how powerful they could be, but it's anybody's guess.
-Vuln(Poison) 2pts: Maybe he just spent too much time indoors reading and practicing runes as a child, and wasn't as hardy as some of the other children; but whatever the reason, as an adult Valedec has discovered an unfortunate weakness to poison. For some reason, it seems to take less of the stuff to get him than it does most other people.
-Gold Sink 2pt: A lover of books and rare or odd trinkets, Valedec is prone to collecting such items on his travels, which puts a constant small drain on his money. That, and his regular donations to the monastery.

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Traits:

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Personality: Valedec is no jaded warrior, but he's seen things, met people, and been places . . . and occasionally set them on fire or cut them into pieces. And he likes to respond to it all with light-hearted banter, when he feels it's appropriate . . . which those that know him say is entirely too often. He prides himself on being a knowledgeable and generally polite fellow. His driving force is to protect; not in the stereotypical "Don't hurt my friends!" sort that any self-respecting individual has, but in that he considers the safety of his fellow party members to be his personal responsibility, regardless of whether or not he's leading said party. However, underneath his polite mannerisms there's a ruthlessly pragmatic streak...

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Bio:
Early Childhood
Born six years before the Eidolon War to a blacksmith father and a rune-engraving mother, Valedec was to be the eldest of three children in the family. That is, two and a half years later, he was joined by a brother and sister, non-identical twins. Named Eleanor and Gebhard, the pair made it their mission in life to torment their older brother, who in turn saw his mission in life as being to protect them from themselves. His resolve lasted about a year or so into the twins' campaign to annoy him, and then he turned to their own tactics, much to the dismay of their parents.

During his childhood, Valedec spent much of his time with his nose buried in a book, or doing something that engaged his mind but didn't force him to interact with other people. It was something of a rude shock when he started going with his father each morning to work, as he began his apprenticeship. Initially, he was tasked with interacting with the customers. While his knowledge of the weapons and other wares was excellent, his experience in their use – not to mention his people skills – was severely lacking.

And so it was that after work each day, before going home, Valedec's father would teach him swordplay, tactics, proper use of armor, even types of weapons and equipment he would almost certainly never have cause to use himself. The still somewhat scrawny young man loved his own smithing hammer more than any other weapon, and in spite of his father's recommendations to the contrary, he took to using it as such, practicing with it almost exclusively. When his father realized his son wouldn't be persuaded to take up a sword instead, he forged the youth a one-handed warhammer, so he could use his smithing hammer for smithing and his warhammer for smashing things.

But he'd also been nosing around in his mother's things, and a book on runes for use in battle had caught his attention. Though most of the techniques were far too advanced for him, he was able to master a few simple tricks, more flashy than useful. He kept at it, however, and stole looks at the book whenever his mother was away.

Teenage Years
His absence while at work, however, meant his siblings didn't have anyone to torment. The two took wildly different paths to alleviate their boredom: Gebhard took to intense physical training, and started visiting the local monastery with such regularity that some of the other teenagers jokingly called him "Monk-ey". Eleanor, however, took a darker path . . . she started sneaking off to meetings with an incompetent, wannabe death cult. These were not the same death cultists that Vix employed, with a goal and organization; no, these people called themselves a death cult, but all they really did was make up fake rituals, pretend to be dark and mysterious, and scare the heck out of children on Halloween.

By the time he was 17, Valedec had finally really begun to fill out his lanky frame with some proper muscle from long days of working with his father, and after-hours swordplay. He'd gone with his younger brother to the monastery a few times, and though it wasn't his thing, he respected his brother's decision to become a monk and generally liked the people there. He began to meditate, too, in fact.

But his sister was a different story. He hadn't gotten into any of their meetings – they were too "exclusive" and he wasn't "real" or "dark" enough – he had overheard Eleanor talking with one of her suspicious friends about some of the things they did. They really did talk bigger than their actions, but young Val didn't know that, and was dearly concerned for his sister's safety. She spoke casually of suicide and ritual sacrifice, and he found such things deeply disturbing. But what really got him worried was when she spoke of "becoming one with death". Around that time he started to get the crazy notion in his head that perhaps he should learn more than just swordsmanship, a way he could protect her from her dubious friends, if need be.

He'd worked with his mother before, learning more about how to use runes to turn an enemy's magic against them; but, more than that, about the various orders of rune knights. They were often private, and not well-known . . . but according to his mother, there was an order that met in a nearby village. He didn't tell her all of his concerns about his sister, but he told her enough, and she recommended seeking them out.

Though they'd initially been skeptical if letting such a young person join their order, they did nonetheless agree to at least take him on as a squire of sorts (since rune knights don't train their own in the way most other knights do). His parents and he talked, and they supported his decision to train with rune knights. His father even gave him two days out of the five-day work week to do so. All that time, Eleanor fell in and out of the death cult, much to the quiet dismay of the rest of her family. They reassured themselves that it was just a phase.

Adulthood
Every person has a time, often an event, that they feel defines their passage into adulthood. For Valedec, that time came when he was twenty years old, and his sister went missing for three days. The first day they thought it was odd, but otherwise not something to be concerned about. The second day, they started checking places they knew she frequented. By the fourth day, they were nearly mad with worry.

It was Gebhard that found her. He hadn't actually been searching for her at the time; rather, he and a few of his monk friends were going to a nearby cave, rumored to be full of dark and hidden things, thinking that perhaps if they meditated at the entrance to such a place they would gain some insight into Eleanor's fate. Ironically enough, they got insight, alright – she was in that cave, though it wasn't until an hour into their meditation that the monks heard her cry.

They found her not terribly deep within the cave, but deep enough that few would reach her, since not even a hint of sunlight reached where she was. They had to find her by the sound of her voice, hoarse though it was. Overcome with joy at having found her (and fear of what might have happened to leave her in such a place), Gebhard sent two of his friends to inform his parents and older brother.

When Valedec arrived – ahead of his parents – he was met outside the cave by one of Gebhard's friends that had remained behind. The monk told Val what had happened, and the fledgeling magic knight rushed inside, not quite willing to believe it, yet all too certain it could be so . . .

And so it was. It turned out that Eleanor's death cult had been much more serious about finding their end than anyone had realized. They had gone into the cave based on rumors that an ancient vampire lived within it, to offer their lives in return for immortality. The rumors were only half-right: a vampire did live there, but she was not ancient, and she didn't care about their offers of sacrifice.

The cultists hadn't come prepared for a fight, and still less for the mad bloodlust of a starved vampiress. She'd slaughtered the first two; four of the others had put up a fight when they saw that she wasn't going to turn them, but she overcame them as well. Eleanor herself had only managed to avoid dying outright thanks to the rune-engraved dagger she'd stolen from her older brother a few months earlier.

She'd taken it because she thought it looked cool, and that the rune would make it better to use for sacrifices (which they very rarely actually did, and for which she was never present. In spite of her talk, she couldn't actually stomach it). But when she held the blade in front of her as the blood-crazed vampire charged, the weapon and its rune saved her from death . . . but at the same time, inadvertently doomed her to a fate some consider worse than that.

Eleanor had been wounded in the fight, and though the vampiress' heart was stilled by the dagger, her momentum still bowled over the nezumi cultist, and their blood mixed. So she was left, alone in the cave, knowing that she would soon die and rise a vampire unless something were to kill her first. Suddenly, undeath didn't seem like such an attractive thing, but she simply could not force herself to commit suicide, either.

When Valedec reached her, she was a mess in so many ways that he hardly recognized her. She was gaunt and reeked of death, her mouth dripped with blood she'd had no choice but to drink from the dead vampiress and her fellow former cultists (though Val preferred not to think on that), and she was a rambling lunatic.

Her parents were torn between being relieved that their daughter wasn't completely lost, and grief that she would never again be more than a shadow of herself. They took her back home, and washed her, and nursed her back to as much health as she could regain. They all knew it wouldn't work well, that she couldn't live her whole life in there; but they also knew the world wasn't a safe place for her, either.

Salvation came in a most unexpected form: a dark knight that came to Valedec and his father, asking for a rune-engraved greatsword. While his father forged the weapon, and his mother worked on the runes that would be used, Val talked to the dark knight a little, asking a few probing questions, and relating in an offhand way the story of a young lady who'd been found as a vampire some time ago, and wasn't it sad that she didn't have anywhere to go?

As he'd suspected, the lady knew a thing or two about such matters, and directed him to ask the head of the local monastery about the Arcturus family and the Arrakis monastery. To make a very long story slightly less long, he asked, and found out what he needed to know. There was a better place for his sister; not only that, his brother was also very interested in the ancient monastery.

With the blessing of their parents - and the best equipment they could afford to spare – the three siblings journeyed to the monastery. Eleanor was a broken person, terrified and unsure of everything, and hating herself for having drunk the blood of her dead friends to survive. It turned out that the single biggest challenge of the whole journey was getting her up and moving every night, and convincing her that she could still make something of herself. After an experience such as hers, it was no easy thing - in fact, it was impossible. She never believed them . . . but they were able to get her to hope.

Upon reaching the monastery, the two of them mentioned the name of the dark knight who'd referred them to the place, and they were immediately taken in. Gebhard took up with a garden-tending vampire with a name similar to his own, learning how to take care of the delicate vegetation that could live there. Eleanor was taken in as a student of a vampiress who'd had to deal with such feelings as well: Scarlet, one of the top monks at the monastery. Valedec wound up staying there for more than a month, to help her adjust to her new life. Gebhard loved the place, and decided to stay awhile as well. And so it was that Valedec left alone, sending a letter to his parents to let them know how things had gone.

But he didn't return home right away. He wanted to help others like his sister, people who were all alone with none to hear or help them, people who felt like everyone had forgotten them. He chased down stories of newly-turned vampires, and led them to the monastery; he followed tales of bandit raids, and faced brigands alongside what comrades he could muster; and he hunted down cultists like the ones that had led his sister to her fate, in the process learning more than he really wanted to know about the lot of them . . . and, through it all, forging some highly unlikely alliances and friendships.

EDIT: Update: He also traveled with Vix whenever possible, in spite of the fearsome change to her personality that took place in recent years. Now that she's free of the Mist's corrupting influence, they've become free to act on mutual feelings that have built up over their years of association and travel together.

This post has been edited by Vix Arkelith on May 24 2009, 02:17 PM