Valarie Halifax

**Valarie Halifax**, also known as the *"Silver Bird"* is a magus of the Grand Order of Magi's Covenant of Stonehenge, and the heir to the prestigious Halifax Family, one of the oldest continuous lineages that predate the founding of the Grand Order. A highly skilled artificer and a free-spirited soul with a hunger for discovery and adventure, Valarie earned her alias as a high-flying mage utilizing family magic and her own handiwork in magecrafting, soaring high with her Silver Wings and deadly Old Guard rifle. And unlike those who have similar origins as her, she is one of the more open-minded aristocrats, believing that anyone with potential can become a great magus, and it is up to those with noble blood like her to ensure that the path is lit by those with privileged positions.

## Background

Valarie was born as part of the prestigious Halifax family, a mage family that predates the Arcane Order and holds titles of nobility. As such she was raised as an aristocratic member of both the mage and sleeper elite.

She grew up with two sisters and a brother as the third child of the Halifax. Her father the Archmagister and her mother a Peritum, she was immersed in elite circles from the very beginning. When she was a child she wasn’t an ideal student, she often sneaked off to explore the countryside and she was an excitable easily distracted young girl. Largely spending her time enjoying her privileges to the whole.

During one such moment, she was in the basement seeing what kind of things she could find stored away when she saw the door to the Halifax estate Border Realm. This was the first time she had seen it even if she had heard of it before, so when she entered and saw endless sky, clouds close enough to touch, and floating earth she was awestruck. So awestruck in fact that she wandered a little too close to the edge and ended up slipping. Fortunately a juvenile griffin was also enjoying itself nearby and when it saw her falling it decided to help her, diving under her and catching the human child. Since then she has developed a particularly strong bond with that griffin, taking to calling her Stella for a rather unique mark on its body.

As she entered adolescence she began to shape up into a proper magus. She found herself more interested in her lessons as well as they began to have more tangible effects and progress, letting her do all sorts of things with her magic. It was much easier to focus when her lessons were less theory and more “here’s how to make a metal bird fly”. This is around when her parents began to notice her talent for the craft as she began to actually apply herself to her lessons and develop a more practical mindset. As such they began seriously considering her as heir if she could continue her current trend and began giving her more tutors and overall ensuring her education was top quality as is fitting of a potential Halifax heir.

She continued to progress quickly through her lessons as she became more interested in learning everything she could and was given all the tools she needed to do so. She also took better to her non-magical lessons as she matured a bit. Before she could even drink she had made Adeptus and at this point she was also the most capable of her siblings. This lead to her being declared heir to the Halifax. Last year she was made a Peritum at a pretty young age, although she doesn’t often use her ability to teach classes, stating that her passions lie elsewhere. An interest in seeing and learning more about magic and the world which has led to her visiting many different places.

## Personality

Unlike many of the upper-class magi, Valarie doesn't really engage in bullying or mocking lower class mages. She believes that anyone with the capacity for magic has the right to learn it and is polite even to associates. However this doesn't necessarily mean she sees them as her equal. Valarie still holds an elitist attitude that values the old and prestigious lineages more than the young and insignificant. It's just that rather than pushing down those already below her she has a somewhat patronizing attitude. Less "you dare speak to me peasant?" More "Ah where would they be without us." Although she is not spiritual, her beliefs can be compared to things like the divine right to rule and the mandate of heaven.

Valarie loves the natural world and the animals that live in it. This extends to border realms with their wondrous realms that often have different ‘rules’ and sometimes even house magical beings. She regularly visits the creatures in her family’s realm and enjoys engaging in falconry, finding winged creatures particularly fascinating. Birds and griffins are often the subject of sketches and paintings made by her.

Something else she’s highly interested in is history and unknown or unusual magic. As such she enjoys going on magical expeditions into border realms, ruins, dig sites, etc. She also enjoys reading about recent discoveries made by other mages. Seeing unusual border realms or examining unknown artifacts is like solving a puzzle to her. It’s a fun activity and the end result is often more interesting than any jigsaw. Even if she has learned to focus on her duties and role as a magus more than before, Val never lost her sense of adventure.

Valarie has a lot of pride in her lineage, something she was raised to have. *“You are a Halifax, the latest member of a line that predates the very organization that controls most of the magical world.” “We must always conduct ourselves as a proper Halifax, as the elite mages we are”*. These are the kinds of things she was told since childhood and took to heart. She will accept no insult to the honor of her family name and has even helped the family engage in Ludicium Per Bellum in the past.

Although she always maintains proper etiquette, Valarie is a relatively genuine person by magus standards. She can still engage in political maneuvering but she for example will only consider someone friend if she actually likes them. She also has friends across all ranks but does have more among the elite due to the inherent distance between the elite and everyone else, plus her sometimes patronizing demeanor towards lower ranks. She believes in the vision of nobility as gentlemen (or women) and knights in shining armor. They are superior yes, but that superiority comes with responsibilities and a code of conduct they must hold themselves to.

The one thing that gives her pause about the life of a magus aristocrat is family. Her oldest sister never entirely forgave her for the “crime” of being a better heir and while she has a better relationship with her other two siblings there’s still an unmistakable air of competition and envy. Though they may be friends and family, none of them would hesitate to take an opportunity to take her place. She wishes they could get along like normal siblings with no worry for hierarchy and sometimes wonders if her own future children will have this same dynamic with each other one day.

## Abilities

### Magic

As with all Halifax, Valarie pursues the craft of creating artifacts, potions, and such rather than directly casting spells. She is highly skilled and has created a multitude of artifacts already. She's almost always working on a couple projects like a potion of youth and a harness/exoskeleton that will be able to attach to her wings. Her primary project, and the one she's been working on longest, is an artifact meant to replicate the laws of border realms over certain areas. An artifact that will be able to turn the world's attention away from an area so that magic and technology can continue to coexist, her contribution to the struggle against decay.

### Aristocratic Pursuits

Valarie is well versed in etiquette, sports, skills, etc. that would be fitting of an aristocrat. Whether how to approach others, duel, dance, ride, or play an instrument, she has been educated in many of these kinds of things.

### Equipment

#### Old Guard

The custom rifle of Valarie's great-grandfather who fought in the world wars. It has been heavily modified by both John and Valarie and it has by far the most kick of anything she has modified or made. Firstly the rifle has been modified to apply a tracking effect to every shot unless the user decides not to apply it. Valarie could point the gun backwards and as long as she knows there they are and thinks “I want to hit that” the shot would come back around. It has also been enhanced with magic to launch projectiles at far greater speed and power than a normal rifle. Aside from these two enchantments the main power and versatility of the artifact comes from it specially made ammunition. She has cursed bullets that will spread and stop the heart as soon as the curse reaches it, bullets that will break apart for a shotgun-like effect but every pellet tracks the target, rounds that convert to magical energy when the trigger is pulled and fire out as a beam instead of a projectile, bullets that explode upon impact, bullets that paralyze the victim, etc. Even just the standard bullets have enough power behind them to leave a decent impact crater and break through walls

#### Silver Wing

One of the artifacts created from scratch by Valarie, the name speaks for itself. It normally appears as a circle made of silver with the family’s crest on it. Upon speaking the activation “spread” the object will automatically attach to Valarie’s back and then shift its shape into large wings. These wings allow Val to fly through the air, even in ways that wings alone should not be able to, they can also be used to shield herself or to deliver a powerful strike by slapping the target with one wing or crushing them with both. This is not the only feature however as the wings can also detach the individual feathers with these feathers being able to move around on their own. They can be used as projectiles or be used to manipulate objects, about four feathers are sufficient to pick up a human, although about ten are needed to move them with as much dexterity as Val herself can move around with. Thanks to elemental enchantments the wings can also generate much more wind than they should be able to in order to blow things away or to throw off certain projectiles. Her wings consist of ninety two feathers total.

#### Stymphs

An artifact/familiar that is common to the entire Halifax family, they are named after the Stymphalian bird of Greek legend. The birds are capable of flying at roughly twice the highest recorded speed of an actual living bird. Their wings and beaks are sharpened, their eyes have shared perception spells, and from their beak they can also fire magical bullets. Most family members like to add a unique twist to their Stymphs and in Valarie’s case this is the ability to generate protective barriers that they can either use to wrap around their own body or to protect her

#### Far Sight

A set of aviator goggles that look like something from a steampunk world. As the name implies they can massively enhance the vision of Valarie, allowing her to see things far away on the ground while flying like a bird of prey. They can switch between different types of vision as well such as making magical energy visible and thermal vision. They also automatically protect Valarie's eyes from anything like flashbangs or spells meant to blind the target.