Valeria

Clan Role: Hunter (but only if her prey is bigger than herself)
Personality: Wild, Barbaric, Tenacious, Independent
Relatives: Unknown
Progeny: None

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After she left her birth clan to find her own home in the Starfall Isles, her friends encouraged her to pursue knowledge and magic like any stereotypical Arcane dragon. Literacy was never her strong suit, but she felt like her only option was to force herself to endure it.

Then, everything changed when she met an old, rugged guardian. Said guardian proudly shared her victorious tales of near-death experiences in the wild, and Valeria fell in love with the idea of freedom, action, and excitement. The world of reading quickly lost her interest.

The guardian took the young Valeria as her pupil and stayed by her side for 15 years before she passed away. In that time, Valeria was taught how to survive on her own without technology, how to fight opponents twice as strong as her, how to predict the weather, and so much more. She also picked up the guardian's speech habits.

After losing her mentor, she wandered the untamed side of Sornieth for years, slaying savage beasts and becoming stronger each day. It reached the point where she wouldn't bother with weak vermin anymore. She only wanted to fight the things that would make her genuinely fear for her life. And one day, on the Zephyr Steppes, she got the deadly encounter she was looking for.

A mirror with four different-colored eyes attacked her out of the blue, on a feral rampage. They nearly killed each other until a magical aroma stopped them, and another mirror, Ydrih, stepped in. He apologized and led the aggressive female mirror away, not realizing how furious Valeria was. How dare he interrupt! She tried to follow them to demand a rematch, but when Ydrih noticed she was tailing them, he shook her off.

It's been 6 years, but she has finally found them again. Now she's always lurking in the wilds outside of Winterhearth. With her tenacity, she won't leave until she gets the fight she wants.




"For the last time, please stop harassing Deniere. I don't have the energy for this." Ydrih sighed. This was the 10th time within one week. Valeria kept coming into the village just to ruin his day like this.

"Ah, stuff a rock down ya gullet already. So long as I don't kill 'er, shouldn't be a problem, yeah?"

The mirror shut his eyes and inhaled deeply. This was the most annoying dragon he had ever met. He couldn't believe she had actually found them on the Icefield.

"Yes, it is a problem, but I won't explain that again because it clearly goes over your head every time. Why do you keep trying to fight her anyway?" he groaned in exasperation.

While scratching her side with her hind leg, the skydancer replied plainly, "Ain't no big beasties 'round here after I pummeled the lot of 'em. But ya little girlyfriend is tough enough to count as one. She makes me think I'mma die for real."

"I'm sure she does. But there's plenty of tough fighters in this clan. Go find one of them and get off Deniere's tail about this fighting stuff." With that final word, Ydrih left her there, praying that she would take his advice.

".........."



Valeria hadn't come knocking down the door to Ydrih's shared house with Deniere lately, and he was intrigued by this development. He simply had to know which poor soul she was pestering now. First, he asked around the village to learn if anyone had seen her over the past few days. Turns out, they had, and she seemed to be searching for Whiss almost every time.

Luckily, he spotted her in the village as soon as he thought to track her down. He approached her while she sniffed at one of Skyfall's mechanical pets. "So... You've started playing with Whiss? I never took him for much of a fighter."

"Cuz he ain't."

Okay, that was baffling. Ydrih couldn't understand why she would waste her time on the fae, then. "You said you wanted to fight. So if he can't give you that, then why--"

A quiet growl rose in Valeria's throat, and her eyes remained fixed on the little robot. "Whatever he does, it ain't fightin'. All he does is skip right to the win. It's those dang eyes of his! They just ain't right!"

She crouched down to get eye level with Ydrih, staring into his soul as she continued. "One look at 'em and I can't move, or talk, or nothin'. Like death itself is chewin' on my tail, and there ain't no escapin' it this time. Makes me freeze up like nothin' else. Then he smiles and I'm out cold, soon as I blink. Like he's a... a mega beastie! A monster! Yeah. I can sniff out that kinda stuff real good, y'know."

This new information made Ydrih quite wary of the bubbly little fae, but he tucked that into the back of his mind for now. "Well... If you don't want to challenge him anymore, maybe Xerxes would be willin--"

"Nah, I gotta keep at 'im 'til I figure out his dirty tricks and win! S'posed ta be a physical fight, so if that dusk rat's been usin' magic tricks, I gotta kill 'im. That's the rules."

"..........."

"That all you wanted? I gotta find some grub now." Without another word, Valeria returned to the open tundra.

"...Yeah, okay..." 'Whiss will be fine, right?'

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Finely Crafted Lute

Apparel

A simple wooden lute, perfect for entertaining your den mates on a rainy day. Just... go outside to practice, will ya?

0

Untamed Shoulder Guard

Apparel

A painted leather shoulder guard, lined with fur.

1300