Valen

Basic Information

Name: Valen
Current Age: 68 (Chapter 1: 61)
AKA: Runt; Vulture
Type: Dragon-Blooded Exalt
Player: NPC
Aspect: Earth
Concept: Member of the Hallowed Order of the Grass Spiders
Motivation: To prove to society, especially politicians, that assassination is more than just a tool for politics.
Political Affiliation: The Hallowed Order of the Grass Spiders
Anima: Valen's anima begins with a few white feathers falling from the sky around her, as her anima builds great wings burst out from her back with a massive wing span. When the anima becomes fully totemic the wings beat and a hulking white essence vulture lifts out of her body and begins to circle the surrounding area.
Likes: Meditation, Wood Working, Star Watching, String Instruments, Tradition, Death.
Dislikes: Politics, Speeches/Public Speaking, Formal Clothing, Large Gatherings of People, Not Taking Things Seriously.

Background

Valen was once an elite assassin within The All Seeing Eye, one of the finest among her portion of The Thousand Scales or even the Realm as a whole. Born as a lost egg and raised by the Monks of The Immaculate Order she was never claimed by one of The Great Houses and none within them knew her name. She carried out countless political assassinations for those within The Eye, serving as one of the most feared enforcers among the organization. Though Valen excelled at her job she was never particularly popular among the members, most of her superiors could never figure what motivated her, she often gave the impression that nothing did. The inability for her master's to understand her bred fear and eventually hostility over time. Though usefulness never outweighed her risks, at least to the highest levels of the organization who saw her continued value.

Those upper level members of The Eye decided that she would serve them best as their own private enforcer, rather than a typical member of the organization. Already a secret from the majority of Dragon Blooded society, they decided they would fake her death and remove her from what remained in those few members of The Eye that knew of her. The inner circle of The All Seeing Eye approached her and she accepted their offer. When the time came the plan went according to plan, except that instead of letting her mark seemingly kill her and returning to the inner circle of The Eye. She killed the mark, completing her final hit as perfectly as she had all the rest and disappeared from The Blessed Isle forever.

Valen did not seem to have any obvious reason for leaving The All Seeing Eye at the time of her departure, and she rarely speaks of her time in service there. It is typically assumed that she simply grew tired of the political assassinations she was forced to execute for The All Seeing Eye and she figured that working for the inner circle would only enhance the political nature of her missions. Occasionally members of the organization speculate that she left The All Seeing Eye as a result of her pregnancy with her only daughter, Sagacious Mantis. The exact timeline isn't know to most of the Grass Spiders which makes this theory relatively difficult to prove or disprove, though the timing would make it approximately possible.

Valen attempted to exist within The Threshold as an independent assassin, traveling wherever her hit took her and finding a new job from there. She was mildly successful, but struggled to gain the high profile jobs she left The Realm to acquire. Her general displeasure with performing assassinations for a political agenda and her unquestioned devotion and skill made her an obvious fit to join The Hallowed Order of the Grass Spiders. Tiamat and Leviticus tracked her down less than six months after he departure from The Realm and she quickly excepted their offer.

Valen is one of the most old school members of The Grass Spiders outside of The Harvestmen, and even among some of them she is considered to be almost overly serious about her work; as a result she is often assumed to be a longer tenured member than she actually is. Iron Shatters Oak affectionately calls her Runt, in reference to her small stature despite being an Earth Aspect. A substantial portion of the younger members of the group refer to her as Vulture, saying that her presence is a sure sign of eventual death and in reference to her not earth like anima. She maintains an extremely rigorous training regimen, takes on as many missions as any member of the order, and is a frequent star gazer and amateur fortune teller. She is considered a loner most of the time, though she works well with her circle, she maintains very few contacts outside The Grass Spiders and rarely works with associates.

What She's Been Up To

The Veil War

For every member of The Order that has had their role drastically change during The Veil War there is another who is almost entirely unaffected. Nothing has really changed for Valen over these last few years, a short time really in the span of a Dragon Blooded life. Valen trained, rigorously, and remained as busy as any member of The Order carrying out assassinations in the name of The Order. Constantly pushing the boundaries of the impossible. It is a rare thing when the convictions of an organization and a single person, especially and exalt, can so directly align, but for Valen it had always been that way here. Valen is a Grass Spider, who lived to be nothing more. As if all of this wasn't enough for some of them? When other members went to The Training Grounds distracting themselves with booze, drugs and sex, Valen was at the training grounds perfecting her craft. Wondering why the rest of them would want to be distracted from all of this? Perhaps that is why Valen has always been a loner, but she works well enough with her circle when called to. Valen is striving to be the youngest member of The Order to master Eight-Legged Harvest Promenade, and she is getting awfully close. Valen has always been close with some of the old school members of The Order like Anton, Ruk, and Tiamat who spend as much time as they can spare in the Dojo or at the training grounds; but these days even those Harvestmen are often pulled away into pressing duties. So Valen has made new training partners with the younger members who frequent the Dojo and training grounds, such as Zealot, Opal, and Ryn. As Oak begins to show his age, some Members have wondered if Valen is a natural Earth-Caste successor in The Harvestmen considering her kinship with many of the current members, old school attitude, and prowess in the arts of assassination. However, this would be a divergence from the path that Atlas set for the organization as Valen is hardly a socialite and is somewhat notorious for being standoffish to associates. Valen isn't one to discuss such matters and as expected the Three Fiends have been quite mum on the matter.