<em>Valerian withdrew from the city after determining it was not his time.</em><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Inactive</div><div class="spoiler_body"><div class="floatleft">(https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf6.myportfolio.com/acfc487f628999a8d795fd4e0bac95b4/7144f155-86a7-460e-be3c-29249aa92920_rw_1920.jpg?h=751cf9fdab3ea959a3579c38026e854e)</div><strong>Name:</strong> Valerian Izyumov<br/><br/><strong>Player:</strong> Ontan<br/><br/><strong>Motivation:</strong> Harmony / Power<br/>Haunted by his travels, Valerian believes that the continued use of magic will result in a literal doomsday, and that its practice must be outlawed entirely.  <br/><br/><strong>NPC Allies:</strong> None<br/><br/><strong>Brief Description:</strong> Standing at 6’1” (186 cm) and weighing 16 lbs (80 kg), Valerian’s build is compounded by long limbs and lean muscle to give him a gangling appearance, rather than an imposing one. His pale skin and auburn curls are typical of his motherland, as is his choice of apparel: stout boots, furs, amazing hats, and a mishmash of battered but beautiful religious charms strewn about his person. His piercing blue eyes mostly alternate between morbid rumination and dark humour, and he speaks in heavily accented Hexian Common. For all of Hexville’s cosmopolitan virtues and exotic races, it’s still fairly easily to pick that Valerian is a full-blooded human, and that he was born in Duskmoor – the grim, dark lands on the edge of civilisation that serve as a cultural counterpoint to Hexville. Now in his early thirties, he's accrued a series of faded scars along his limbs, neck, and torso. <br/><br/><strong>Background:</strong> Hexville has always been welcoming to immigrants, and King Fred’s military officers were a particularly shrewd lot. They held the progressive view that foreign recruits might be good for something other than arrow fodder, and decided to found the King’s Irregulars: a foreign regiment that specialised in unorthodox tactics and delicate assignments. Valerian had the good fortune of being among the first wave of recruits, and was able to quickly rise through the ranks due to his quick wits and superb marksmanship. Over the ensuing decades, he has been involved in all manner of sieges, expeditions, and monster hunts, having clawed his way up from humble scout to seasoned sniper; he and his comrades are now wide seen as the ‘poster team’ for the King’s Irregulars, and are widely heralded as a success story for both Hexville’s military, and its cosmopolitan culture moreover. Granted, there were a few missteps along the way – his shaky start when he first moved to Hexville, the time his scouting party were eaten by scorpions, the Rouge Rogue debacle – but none of this has interfered with his celebratory adventurer status. <br/><br/>The same can’t be said for his most recent controversy, though. When the King’s Irregulars announced that they had discovered the mythical flying city of Pinnacle, expectations were high. <em>Very </em>high. After all, it was the legendary birthplace of magic itself. The expedition was supposed to come back with whimsical tales of wonder and spectacle; alas, their homecoming announcement instead comprised of Valerian bluntly recalling accounts of unimaginable horror, followed by his matter-of-fact statement that all magical must be outlawed before reality collapses in on itself. Needless to say, it was considered a faux pas of the highest order; Hexville’s upper crust has a strict “no bad news” policy, and worst still the grim-dark tone of his announcement was entirely out of fashion. They quickly tried to bury his distasteful reports, and under different circumstances they would’ve easily succeeded… but the recent political turmoil has provided a second chance for Valerian. He now hopes to leverage his celebratory status – tarnished though it is – to gain power and progress his radical reforms to outlaw magic.<br/><br/><br/><strong>Secret Lair:</strong> <em>(Manor District)</em> Located in the Manor District, Greythorn Estate is an exemplar of gothic clichés. Abandoned for generations, its once grand halls have atrophied into a labyrinth of rotting floorboards, shattered ceilings and choking mold… but, hidden beneath this decaying maze, its new owner has already started renovations. Accessed via trapdoor, a study has been built into the exposed cliff side, overlooking the sea below. Its contents are a mixture of brass instruments, sturdy antique furniture, and specimens preserved in brine. The attached bedroom would be large, if it wasn’t dominated by the four poster bed and monolithic, oddly sinister wardrobe crammed in there. Last but certainly not least, a compact washroom offers a touch of luxury, complete with a plunge path fed by gently hissing copper pipes. <br/><br/><strong>Starting Minions:</strong> Valerian is accompanied by his cadre of officers and fellow adventures. Cunning veterans each, they help where they can, but there’s only so much the four of them can do in a sprawling city… especially when one of the quartet is a hound. And even that assumes they’re not getting distracted by their own agendas… <br/><br/><br class="clear_left"/><hr/><br/><em>Notes:</em> <br/><br/><em>Influence</em>:<br/>- Nobody in the Palace<br/>- Established in the Manor District<br/>- Nobody in the University<br/>- Established in the Guild District<br/>- Nobody in the Slums<br/>- Nobody in the Docks<br/>- Nobody in the Marketplace<br/><br/><br/><em>Minions:</em> 3/3<br/>Group 1 (Starting Minions): <strong>Innovative</strong> roll again and ad to the result on a six. <strong>Myopic</strong> - on a 1 will go the Palace instead of the assigned zone. Fellow Adventurers. <br/>Group 2 (Recruited from Guild District Turn 4): <strong>Cowardly</strong> -2 to their roll if another aspirant's minions are present in that district this turn. Gargoyles that have fled the palace!<br/>Group 3 (Recruited from the Manor District Turn 7): Flavor TBD</div></div>