Lady Amato

The Valkyrie of Secundus during the Norland War

### Notable Details

Second child of Palatine Bedras, Lady Marshall of the Bedran Marches, heir apparent to the Throne, demigod

**Amato** (better known by her moniker, the **Valkyrie of Secundus**, or simply **The Valkyrie**) is the most famed of the children of Palatine Bedras. She is the second of the Honored Scions, the seven offspring who inherited a portion of their father's godly power. A legendary war hero, Amato disappeared after the conclusion of the Bedro-Norland War. The Bedran world of Amato is named after her.

## Biography

Amato was born to Ales, the second of Bedragare's seven mortal wives. As the firstborn of her parents' union, Amato was a Scion: an inheritor of her father's abilities, essentially making her a demigod. Ales mothered other children, all revered as royalty. But they were mortal, like their mother, and in time, succumbed to the decay of time. Amato had inherited her father's immortality, like her half-sibling, the First Scion. The five Scions who followed her, however, did not. Famed heroes of the Marches, they nonetheless aged as mortals and died.

Amato grew up in the halls of her father. In those early years, Bedras paid more attention to her mother and siblings than to her. Amato would later realize it was because her father sensed her agelessness, and knew he would have centuries with her. He simply wished to spend as much time as possible with his mortal wife and children before death inevitably took them. She came to accept this, and for the first decades of her life devoted her time to being a daughter and eldest sister. When Ales and her mortal children finally passed, Bedras and Amato both mourned.

But anguish is finite to a being of eternity. When at last the pain subsided from both their hearts, father and daughter began Amato's training in earnest. Amato was tutored by Duncan, Garud and Fenris in the ways of leadership, diplomacy, subtlety and war. Every lesson the three could teach was passed onto her, and she excelled in every aspect. While lacking the raw power of her father, Amato's own abilities were still mighty and would continue to develop over the years. Additionally, Amato inherited her father's cunning and bravery.

Amato joined the Bedran military as part of her training, starting as an enlisted woman and disguising herself as a normal bedraloda. From there, Amato rose in the ranks and joined the Bedran in their campaigns. She gained a perspective of Bedran society that not even her father had known. By her own virtue, Amato ascended to become the Lady Marshall of the Marches. Only then did Bedras himself reveal her to be his Scion.

When the Norland War erupted, Amato led from the fore. The first major battle of the war was on Secundus, a Bedran world on the frontier between the Marches and the Norland Imperium. The superior Norland vessels had driven back the Bedran fleet, and a ground invasion assaulted the Bedran defenders. While superior warriors pound-for-pound, the sheer number of Norlanders threatened to overwhelm the Bedran. For seventy-six hours, Amato helped defend Secundus's largest remaining city. Her combat prowess and strategic mind was largely credited for holding back the Norlanders. The siege finally broke with the arrival of the World Eater and the A222 fleet, who drove back the Norland fleet. Those who witnessed her deeds began calling her "the Valkyrie of Secundus". The moniker stuck, even after the Imperium attacked Secundus a second time later in the war and successfully razed the planet to a smoking ruin. For the remainder of the war, Amato fought on many fronts. The Battles of Ryn, Forlorn and Atreides are still spoken of to this day.

After the Subjugation of Moorland and the end of he war, Amato maintained her post as Lady Marshall for centuries to come. The expansion of the Bedran Protectorate Sphere and