John Valentinus

Abbot John Valentinus is the leader of the Order of Arcadia, a group dedicated to preserving Old World literature in post apocalyptic California. A ghoul and former scribe of the Brotherhood of Steel, his order share their pre-War knowledge with local settlements and assist them where they can.
==Background==
Born John Theuda in Lost Hills during 2142, he was entranced by the Brotherhood’s mission of preserving Old World learnings. He saw the Brotherhood as the “torch that keeps the flame of knowledge burning” so that it might bring humanity back from ruin, and eagerly worked toward becoming a scribe. Theuda read as many pre-War books as possible, from military handbooks and schematics to poetry. After becoming a Journeyman Scribe he quickly came to see the Brotherhood’s many flaws. They had storerooms full of literature on practical topics like irrigation, crop rotation, and construction, yet had minimal interactions with the outside and often refused to share these teachings. They traded with settlements like the Hub in exchange for supplies but cared little for helping humanity truly rebuild after the apocalypse, and made no effort to protect their wasteland neighbours from raiders.
Some time after voicing his complaints, perhaps coincidentally or in quiet retaliation, Theuda was assigned to a dangerous data retrieval mission at an abandoned Poseidon Energy nuclear waste disposal facility. Separated from his paladin protection, Theuda was trapped in the facility after tripping an alarm. He emerged weeks later in the middle stages of ghoulification. Unsure of if the Brotherhood would welcome him back as a ghoul and having grown disillusioned with their neglecting of wastelanders, he instead chose to abandon the Brotherhood entirely.
===Founding the Order===
With knowledge from his time as a Brotherhood scribe, Theuda trekked to the ruins of a pre-War Cistercian monastery in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Here he took up the new name John Valentinus and began preserving knowledge the way he wished to, focusing not only on weapons and feats of engineering but also poems, novels, plays, and other literature. While they were initially hesitant of him and Valentinus kept his past allegiance to the Brotherhood a secret, local settlements slowly warmed up to the reclusive ghoul of the monastery. He occasionally came down from his home to assist nearby communities where he could, from teaching them ways to improve the yields of their crops to repairing mechanical equipment.
Over the decades he gained a following of those who sought shelter in his monastery. Some were ghouls who wished to find a home away from their persecution under humans, while others sought to join his mission of providing aid and gathering knowledge. A series of rules, duties, beliefs, and daily lessons were created for those who wished to live in the abbey, all could find shelter as long as they followed its tenets. Eventually this group became known as the Order of Arcadia, a monastic abbey of monks with Valentinus as its abbot. Their abbey is hidden in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and the order’s existence is not widely known in California outside of settlements near the abbey.
===Present Day===
By 2281 Valentinus has built up a sizable abbey of nearly two dozen monks. His followers scour eastern California and Nevada for pre-War books and documentation, and have the largest library on the West Coast outside of the Brotherhood or NCR. They often share their knowledge with nearby communities and repair equipment in exchange for supplies. Valentinus worries about the growing NCR asserting its authority over the area and fears that they or the Brotherhood will learn of his past identity. For now he looks with uncertainty toward the future, but is steadfast in keeping his abbey safe.
===Tell-Me-Abouts===
Valentinus' Tell-Me-Abouts 	Valentinus' Tell-Me-Abouts
Tell Me About 	Response
Abbey, Arcadia's Abbey 	"You're standing in it. We're mostly self-sufficient with our orchards, but we come down to trade with nearby towns every once and a while. If you're looking to take a look at any of the books in our collection, see Sister Rose."
Brotherhood, Brotherhood of Steel	"O-oh, I don't know much about them. Some techno-religious nuts... their goals are similar to ours, but without sharing collected knowledge like we do."
Clyde, Clyde Wilson 	"Where did you hear that name? I haven't heard it in a long while... he was my first follower. When Clyde was just a wee kid he followed me back to the abbey from a local settlement after I helped them out a bit. Begged me to join what I was doing here, and years later convinced me to make the Order. He was a good man, and I miss 'em dearly."
NCR, New California Republic 	"They seem like a fine bunch, clearing out raiders and all, but I've never been a fan of how they always seem to stick their noses in other people's business."
Power armor, T-45, T-45d 	"Oh, you must've noticed the suits of power armor in the workshop. We've only got two working, but we're working on repairing a third. Very hard to maintain and find replacement parts for, but they've helped us to drive those raider and Yakuza bastards off a few times."
==Inventory==
==Notes==
* Abbot John Valentinus was created for the Fallout Fanfiction Writing Competition 9 hosted by Arcaneous.
==References==
Category:Characters
Category:Competitions