Kau Val'Sharen

*Appeared in chapters*                     19             32   35 36 37 38 39 40   43 44 45 46 47   50 51 52  54  56

## Golem Pilot

### Trivia

* Golem engineering
* Nether sealing (assistant)

* Craves chocolate

## Family

* Diva'ratrika - Grandmother
* Sang - Grandmother
* Sil'lice - Mother
* Kor'maril - Father
* Shala - Twin Sister
* Kadara - Sister
* Sae'ryne - Sister
* Sil'nua - Brother
* Cal'idan - Brother
* Kismel - Brother

Kau Val'Sharen is a son of Sil'lice Val'Sharen. He has an affinity for working with golems and is currently working for the Val'Sarghress clan.

## Appearance and Personality

Kau is an easygoing drow who likes a good joke. Like his sister Shala, he is often playful, even with his superior officers. Though very similar to his twin in many ways, he is the more level-headed of the two. He is often portrayed as the jokester of his squad.

He was very close with his sister, Shala. Kau is also good friends with the other members of his sqaud: Ariel Val'Sarghress, Faen'arae Val'Sullisin'rune, and their leader Sar'nel Tions Sarghress. Even after his twin's death, Kau still carries on their shared legacy. However, he still bears feelings of inadequacy compared to his friends' amazing mana abilities. Despite this, Kau has become an excellent golem pilot.

Kau has white hair pulled back in a ponytail. His eyes were bright blue, before bring forcibly tainted.

## Biography - Arc I

### Early Life

Kau was born in the Sarghress fortress to Sil'lice Val'Sharen and Kor'maril Niz'zre Sarghress. He and his twin sister Shala were raised by Sil'lice while hiding within the Sarghress ranks from the general population of Chel'el'Sussoloth. Their bedtime stories consisted of their mother's war conquests from the Nidra'chaal uprising, and their playground was Sil'lice's torture chamber. Despite this, they grew up happy and eager to help their small group of exiled family by learning to treat the sick and injured.

Kau and Shala once met Chrys'tel Vel'Sharen and her brother Nau'kheol when they revisited the fortress to ask questions of Sil'lice. Nau's foot was injured by Kadara's rough handling of a perceived threat, and the twins helped bandage him up.

## Biography - Arc II

15 years after Chrys and Nau's visit, it became clear that Kau and Shala both inherited their mother's feelings on tainted drow and the traitorous Vel'Sharen empire. They joined the Sarghress homeguard and began climbing the ranks alongside the Val'Sarghress heir, Ariel. Kau in particular excels with the use of golems. When Sarnel Tions Sarghress was promoted to squad leader, Kau's current squad was formed.

The squad's first mission was to patrol the North Cliff territory. They first stopped at the Val'Sullisin'rune fortress and at a benefit concert held by one of Ariel's old allies, Kyo'nne Val'Illhar'dro. While meeting with Kyo'nne backstage, Kau stole and ate a box of chocolates, becoming intoxicated by the drug. He became sluggish and tired, but still made a point of telling Kyo'nne how much he disagreed with the fact that her concert was sponsored by Snadhya'rune Vel'Sharen.

The squad ultimately parted on good terms with Kyo'nne before moving on to the North Cliff.

### Attack on the North Cliff

Main article: Attack on North Cliff

Soon after arriving in the North Cliff, Kau was approached by a merchant peddling some kind of "juice." He unwittingly took a whiff before reporting that it's "strong stuff."

This interaction was interrupted by the arrival of a badly injured man with a nether gate installed in his chest. Kau quickly chased the mobile gate with Ariel and Shala to assist in sealing the gate as best he could. They managed to shut the gate, but not before many demons escaped into the city. The three then set off to find Faen and Sarnel, who were left behind in the chase. They found Faen alone, who could only say that Sarnel was taken by the Vloz'ress scourges that were invading the area.

Ariel, Kau and Faen searched for Sarnel while Shala fetched her extra sealing stones. They instead found a small group that had taken refuge in the "juice" merchant's house. Among this group was Ini'riia Val'Nal'sarkoth and Serena, a Kal'yantra engineer. Ariel took charge of the remaining squad members, taking Kau, Faen, and Serena to the district office to alert the sector.

There they found a hostile scourge that sealed a golem pilot into his suit before infesting the area with demons. Ariel followed the scourge down into the sewers just as Shala arrived. Kau and Serena deftly freed the poor golem pilot only to find that the pilot had already turned into a full-fledged demon.

After the attack, Kau was one of the soldiers that agreed to move on to Darya Lake at Commander Koil'dorath's request.

### Battle of Darya Lake

Kau followed Ariel's lead to the Darya Lake districts, where he was assigned a golem to pilot in the fight against the Vel'Sharen.

Kau followed Ariel's lead to the Darya Lake districts, where he was assigned a golem to pilot in the fight against the Vel'Sharen. During the battle, he was able to come to the aid of Relon'tar, who had come under fire from a Black Sun artillery encampment. Their participation was soon cut off, however, as nether demons appeared on the scene and began to consume the pilots' auras. Luckily for the golem pilots, the squad sealers were nearby, and were able to keep the nether demons from spreading too far.

### A New Assignment

Kau and Shala reported with Ariel, Faen and Sar'nel to First Landing. Upon arrival at the main gate, the twins quipped about Quain'tana and her towering height. Kau envied Ariel, as she got to meet the Ill'haress, unaware of her temper. When Faen surprised Ariel with a kiss, Kau and Shala looked on in shock, and immediately began snickering to each other. Kau asked if Sar'nel had reacted the same, and she admitted that his reaction had been worse.

The squad was soon reassigned to the Highland Raiders, with orders from Quain'tana that they not return until they were fully trained Raiders in their own right. As they left First Landing, the twins began to excitedly cheer, voicing their confidence in a Sarghress victory.When they were joined by Chirinide and Shan'naal from the Val'Kyorlsolenurn, they began to tease each other, with Kau claiming that after they had left previously, they were stuck with Shala to seal demons for them. Shala retaliated, telling him that he would have been a "brainless corpse muncher" without her.

### Arrival at Ys

After a brief stop in Dari'yako for their initial briefing, the squad continued on their trek to the overworld. Kau noticed the tension between the squad leader, Tur'geis, and Ariel. They arrived at the colony of Ys, stopping for a rest at the house lent to the Sarghress by the colony's leaders. Their rest was interrupted, however, when an alarm rang out that hermionne infiltrators had begun setting the colony on fire.

The twins quickly dressed and raced out to join the rest of the squad in chasing down the arsonist. Upon finding that one group of infiltrators had been taken down by Faen, Chirinide and Ariel, they continued their jokes, offering to bury Chirinide despite the fact that she was very much alive. As dawn approached, their attention was drawn to an airship passing overhead, on its way to an unknown destination.

After daybreak, the Sarghress raiders gathered in the common area, where Chirinide made a disastrous attempt to cook a bird for Shan'naal. Kau tried to cheer up the forlorn Kyorl, offering to help her salvage what they could of it. A short while later, the squad received news from the colony's councilor Kane'ohe that they were being evicted from the colony, and would only be allowed to stay if they chose to renounce their loyalty to the Sarghress clan. With no choice but to leave, the Sarghress split their numbers, with some returning to the clan to report the turn of events, and the rest would follow the airship to find out where it had gone. Shala quickly volunteered the twins to remain with Ariel as she went after the airship.

### Arrival At Felde

The squad followed the airship's trail to Felde, where they quickly investigated the city's leadership. Upon finding out that their ruler was Snadhya'rune Vel'Sharen, the team became divided on whether or not to return to the clan, or to continue their attempts to investigate the airship. Faen revealed that she had brought the invitation given to Ariel by Lulianne, settling the argument once and for all. They ran into Kyo'nne soon after, who assisted them with acquiring entry into the tower. As they entered, they also found that Ariel's former schoolmate Nau'kheol Vel'Sharen was in attendance. After the Sharen let slip a comment about Ariel's butt, the twins began making comments as well about the size of her rear end until they were admonished by Sar'nel.

Kyo'nne escorted the raiders into the tower, and assisted them with finding guest quarters. Shala then pulled Sar'nel into the room, locking her brother out.

### Escape From Felde

After Chirinide received a vision of Ariel's death and an impending attack by Kalki Nidraa'chal, the squad decided it was time to leave Felde, setting their rooms on fire in order to cover their escape. They reached the large elevator platform leading to the bottom, with Syrak and Shala voicing their disbelief that the Little Wolf was dead. Realizing that the elevator wasn't moving fast enough, the team used their mana to help accelerate the platform's descent. While the platform dropped quickly, they were not fast enough to escape Kalki and Sasi, who used their wind magic to jump down to them quickly.

Shala immediately challenged Sasi, who had pinned down Syrak and was about to attack her twin. The fight was soon interrupted by the arrival of the Kavahini clan, who had flown ahead of Sil'lice's vanguard to try to take Felde. In the chaotic moments afterwards, the squad was split again, with Shala, Kau and Sar'nel becoming separated from the rest and pursued by the Nidraa'chal.

Shala and Sar'nel soon found themselves herded into Snadhya'rune's tainting chamber. Ynda, a "pet" of Kalki's, joined them, separating Kau from Shala and Sar'nel. The remaining pair moved quickly to engage Kalki, with Shala sealing the small nether demons that Kalki brought forth and Sar'nel being intercepted by Sasi. Before the fight could progress, however, Shala's lance began to overflow from the sealed nether energy and exploded, blasting them into seperate areas again.

Kau soon found himself fighting Ynda, but managed to come through victorious. Realizing he was alone, he quickly attempted to find his sister and Sar'nel, who had been trapped in the sealing chamber, where Shala was sitting against a wall, stunned. Kau attempted to call for help from Sar'nel as he charged to Shala's aid, but he was intercepted by a nether demon seed thrown by Kalki, striking him in the core. The act stopped Kau in his tracks, while Kalki gloated about the move, telling him that the same trick had been used to kill a "near-goddess."

Shala, having come back to her senses, attempted to threaten the Nidraa'chal, claiming that Sil'lice wouldn't let her get away with attacking them. Kalki laughed off the threat, however, and asked how Sasi was doing in her own fight with Sar'nel. As she did so, Ariel arrived, albeit missing her left arm and with Ynda's hair in her right hand. Ariel demanded a trade - she would release Kalki's wounded pet in exchange for Kalki releasing her friends.

Kalki called Ariel's bluff, claiming the new turn of events was a game. When Ariel insisted that it wasn't a game, the Nidraa'chal dared her to kill Ynda. Shala attempted at that time to check on her brother and Sar'nel, hoping to find that they were still alive while Ariel parlayed with Kalki. As Shala made one last attempt to resist the demon nurses, Kalki moved faster, cutting Shala's throat with Kau's dropped sword before getting the better of Ariel and Kau again. She was quickly tended to by the demon nurses, who attempted to stop the bleeding.

Sar'nel soon came to the rescue, charging Kalki while she continued to celebrate her seeming victory. Tossing a defeated Sasi into the chamber, he urged the twins to get back on their feet. The distraction was all that Ariel needed, and the Little Wolf charged Kalki, pinning her to the wall. Shala watched in satisfaction as Ariel absorbed Kalki's arm and then let the Nidraa'chal fall to the floor in a bleeding mess.

With the way now clear, Sar'nel and Kau helped Shala up, and they joined Ariel in escaping the tower. After setting Shala down in the cabin of Kiel'ndia Vel'Vlozz'ress' giant turtle summon, Kau noticed that his sister had stopped breathing. Shala passed away quietly, just as she and her team had reached safety.

### Returning to Chel...and Rejection

Ariel and her squadmates returned to Val'Sarghress territory, where they attempted to recuperate after their harsh trip. Later that night, Kau was joined by Ariel, Sar'nel, Chiri'nide, Shan'naal and Faen as they cremated Shala's body, with most of the attendees sharing memories and kind words for their departed friend and squadmate. When asked by Chirinide if she followed a path, he told her that Shala followed her own way.

After Sil'lice returned from her failed mission to Mimanied and Felde, she attempted to locate her two youngest children. Instead, she found Kau tainted and Shala missing; to everyone but Kau's surprise, Sil'lice immediately shunned her son, and asked for her daughter. Sar'nel spoke up, unable to look her in the eye, and informed her of Shala's death in Felde. True to her word that she considered no tainted to be family, she declared that she had no son, disowning Kau and leaving him in the hands of Diva for comfort.

### Sarghress Civil War

Kau rarely left his room after his return from Felde. He wasn't given a choice later, however, after Quain'tana's failed healing session. The young Sharen was taken from his room by a group of people he hadn't seen before, and locked up in the Sarghress prison. To his surprise, Ariel and another soldier - Riviel - were brought in for brawling, and locked up next door. Kau quickly spoke up, asking if they knew anything about what was going on.

Ariel appeared to have no idea either, and asked how he had wound up in a cell as well. Kau told her of his arrest, adding that they had told him that he was lucky they needed him alive. He then asked if his mother had angered Quain'tana more than usual, but Ariel replied that they appeared to be arresting or capturing all of the clan vals. She then added that they might go for the Sharen next, to which Kau responded with a complaint that he had never had a chance to act like a noble, and lamented quietly about his forced tainting.

Ariel then attempted to get answers from Riviel, drawing her into a conversation with questions about why she hated vals - and in particular, Ariel - so much. When Riviel began to complain that vals were given preferential treatment such as powers and fancier armor, Kau scoffed, replying that the Sharen hadn't had it easy in the years they were with the Sarghress, and that he felt she just wanted someone to hate. After the two insulted each other, they both quieted down long enough for Ariel to tell her side of the story to Riviel.

A short time later, Da'xia entered the jail area, and after admonishing Riviel for getting herself caught up in a brawl, shot Ariel in the cheek with a small wrist crossbow bolt. The bolt was not large, but was coated in a poison that began to paralyze Ariel. To the surprise of everyone, however, Riviel came to the heir's rescue, knocking Da'xia out when she entered the cell to finish Ariel off. Riviel then let Kau out of his cell, and he helped her carry Ariel up the steps and out of the jail while commenting that Shala would have known what to do.

They were met on the front steps by Rosof Tions Sarghress, Sar'nel, and Nei'kalsa, who had been told that Ariel had been killed. When asked what he was doing in the jail, Kau again recounted his arrest. He asked Sar'nel if he was on the side of the anti-val faction. Sar'nel quickly denied it, telling Kau that he had never seen him as a val Sharen, and anyone who did was stupid - he was one of the Sarghress.

While Ariel left with Rosof, Sar'nel and Nei'kalsa, Kau slipped to the outskirts of the Fortress, meeting up with Faen temporarily. When asked what he planned to do, he told the empath that he intended to find his mother before joining them later.

### Forgiveness

Kau found Sil'lice sitting atop the Othorbbae roof, staring up at the ceiling. She finally turned to acknowledge his presence when he began to tell her of his plan to follow his squad to Machike. To his shock, her eyes appeared to be tainted red, just like his. The morose Sil'lice admitted her failures - to her clan, her daughter, and even to Kau. Instead of saying anything harsh, however, he knelt down, forgiving her.

### Interlude

Having brought Ariel, Octarya and Pelan safely to Machike, Sar'nel took some further downtime amidst duties at the colony. When Kau discovered an abandoned golem armor in the snow, Sar'nel assisted him with digging it out. He seemed skeptical, commenting that the golem would be stuck in place for the winter, but Kau was determined to get it working again. After Kau failed to gain access to the inner compartment, Sar'nel kicked it, which caused the access hatch to open. Kau complained that he could have broken it, but Sar'nel replied that if a kick could break it, then it was useless anyway.

As the pair continued to work on the golem, Sar'nel confided in Kau that there was a lot that he didn't understand, including why the clan had unraveled, and what Shala had initially seen in him. They discussed how much each of them missed her, and Sar'nel said that while there wasn't much he could do at the moment, the least he could do was help keep the clan together.

## Biography - Arc III

### The Invasion Of Machike

Kau has chosen to reside in the Sarghress colony Machike'Shikumo as a young golem engineer, much to Sar'nel's frustration. Three years later, in the year 1117 of the Moonless Age, he is one of the golem engineers attempting to hold off advancing Hermionne horse riders, along side Slyand'iss and one other.

During the Hermionne invasion, the golems moved out of the fortress to counter a cavalry charge that threatened the ground troops. They were eventually pulled down by Hermionne chains and immobilized, and Kau was almost stabbed in the face. Fortunately, Ariel arrived with several Sarghress warriors to drive back the cavalry charge and the warriors menacing the golems..

With his help driving the golem straight through enemy forces, Ariel was able to kill their leader Toland. Kau however became extremely tired from the mana exertion afterwards.

The day after the battle, Kau listens in to Kyo'nne's summary of political shifts in Chel over the last three years. Sharing similar sentiment with his friends, the Sharen was highly suspicious of her proposal to bring Ariel to Felde for a Gathering of current clan leaders. Kyo'nne's comment about Kalki's mental state generated fears of his own taint. The decision to cast Ariel's old friend out of Machike was met with disaster, as the Nidraa'chal controlled airship responded by firing their mana cannons on the already broken colony--forcing an immediate evacuation to the city below. Even then, Kau refused to abandon his golem suit.

While Kau and Slyand'iss attempted to repair their golem armor, the other defenders prepared a series of traps for the airship in the event it would return. This proved to be true, as the airship soon followed the colonists to the underground sector of Machike - the town of Fustin'darun. After being chased off by a series of strung trap wires, crossbow fire and the addition of the hermionne's giant bombard cannon to their ranks, the ship returned a second time - this time laden with giant boulders and rock chunks, which were dropped on the civilian population below. Kau and Slyand'iss were forced to abandon the armor that they had been working on in order to avoid being crushed by the gigantic rocks, which smashed the surrounding city. The two golem pilots then joined the rest of the defenders, who regrouped on the outskirts of the city after attempting to draw the airship away from the remains of Fustin'darun.

### Finding Sha'shi, And A Purpose

After being forced to finally leave his golem armor behind in the wake of the rock bombardment, Kau fell into a melancholy, refusing to eat or drink as the group headed further into the underground. Under Kel'noz's suggestion, the defenders made their way to Sha'shi, a research outpost that had been established to conduct magical research using the area's mana-rich environment. Kau's spirits were perked up slightly as he was introduced to Vual'raisa Jaal'darya, who offered to show him the outpost's golem project.

Kau was also introduced to Gau'hara Val'Jaal'darya, who explained their special golem research project, as well as the problems with finding a pilot who could sufficiently handle the massive mana requirements that the golem's modifications needed. Hoping to finally prove himself to his squadmates and the other defenders, Kau volunteered to test-pilot the golem, challenging Ariel to a race to the top of one of the main outpost buildings. He began to show signs of mana deprivation initially, but with a surge of determination, managed to recover enough to finish several high leaps with the experimental golem. While Ariel won their race, Kau felt accomplished at having overcome the severe mana drain, succeeding where other test pilots had failed before. He noted that he strangely enough didn't feel the strain as much as he had expected, now that he was at the top; Ariel also commented that the mana felt strangely concentrated in Sha'shi. The two squadmates' attention was then drawn upward by the arrival of the Nidraa'chal airship, which docked at the outpost to take on supplies and search for the Sarghress defenders.

### A Desperate Gamble

After forging a temporary alliance with the engineers of Sha'shi, the Machike defenders decided to make an attempt to board and capture the Nidraa'chal airship when it landed at the outpost to take on supplies. Kau and Slyand'iss both piloted new golem armors, and managed to make it aboard the ship under the pretense of lifting some of the heavier supplies during the stores onload. Da'xia spotted Ariel on the ground, and managed to raise the alarm, alerting the airship's crew to the attempted takeover. Kau and Slyand'iss moved quickly, dropping their items and grabbing hold of the gangplank in order to allow more of the Sarghress boarding party to gain access to the ship, while other golem pilots from the outpost assisted from below. The Nidraa'chal quickly retaliated, with Bargrez throwing a volley of bombs at them, which managed to injure Durlyn and Bal'diira despite being shielded by the golem armors in front of them. After the rest of the boarding party was pinned down by Bae'rali Val'Sullisin'rune, they were then released by Faen, who countered the powerful empath. The remaining defenders were then able to board the ship to continue the take-over attempt.

During the battle, the airship's engines began to overload after an attempt to fire on the defenders on the ground resulted in a power backlash, and the ship crashed to the ground. Still insisting on defending the ship, Sal'bara activated a massive war golem, which she used to fight off the Sarghress defenders. Refusing to give up despite being injured by the crash and previous bomb blasts, Kau joined the fight against the war golem, using the experimental armor to keep it occupied while Brorn, Koana, Sarnel and others tried to disable it. The tide of the battle was turned by Kyo'nne, who was shown to have a change of heart, choosing to now help her old friends as the result of years of work crashing down on her. Using her spellsong, she attacked Sal'bara, causing the Nidraa'chal's armor to malfunction and explode. Its controller now neutralized, the war golem was easily disabled by the rest of the defenders.

Kau was pulled out of his armor by Sar'nel at the conclusion of the battle, having sustained grievous injuries - injures that appeared to include the loss of both his and the golem armor's left arms during the fight with the war golem. Later, after they returned to Machike, Kau worked again with Sar'nel, finding that his favorite golem armor had survived the rock bombardment intact.

### The Desperate Counter

Kau had accompanied Ariel on the journey to ransack Alliance-held colonies. Attacking Ys by forcibly removing the leadership sent a bloody message to the Nidraa'chal based there. Kau in particular used his golem to aid efforts with Slyand'iss and Vual'raisa, despite concerns that their own numbers were thinning with every take over. His fears are broguht to light when their visit to the Kyorl'solenurn colony Shikomei is attacked by the Legion, who had been tracking their movements since the coup in Ys. Headed by none other than Commander Sang, Kau and his friends fought desperately to hold off the wolves so Kyorl colonists could escape onto the airship. However, the sight of Faen being ravaged by the dogs and Ariel being forced to attack her own wolf caused Kau to consider turnung back. When enough of the survivors boarded the airship, Kel'noz called for a formal retreat, just as Sang and her Legion appeared on the horizon to fire upon the ship.

They were able to escape, though not without much tension with Ash'waren ordering the bombing of the colony. Kau had found himself bunked in a packed space, being questioned by Chakri about how many dogs he had killed--of course, Kau hadn't been able to keep tally during the heat of battle.

With the plan set to attack Felde directly, the ship crashed into the side of the private estate of Snadhya'rune, and the assault began. Kau took his modified golem to assist Ariel, Sar'nel, Chiri and Shan in ascending the tower. Upon mreting resistance with Nona'brail ordering demon nurses to attack the group, they instead offer assistance upon recognizing Ariel as a guest. Kau is eager to take advantage of the situation, and suggested turning the demons upon the Nidraa'chal defenders. While one leads the group to the tainting room where Shala lost her life, the rest are sent to deal with Nehleanee's enormous gate of her own.

The result was a success and the Feldian forces were stalled, but... Then the Legion arrived. To the group's horror, the Mimian forces were torn apart by artillery, and the Legion joined forces with the Nidraa'chal agents to assault the downed airship and climb the tower. Meanwhile, because Ariel had ordered all but three demons to attack, the remaining nurses were overwhelmed by the intensity of managing the gate. Soon, the group was on the run, with Kor'maril's troops hot on their trail. As the battle between the main forces raged in the tower's main halls, Kau and his friends were trapped. They engaged Kor'maril, with Ariel parroting Kyo'nne's question of why the Legion hunted them down. Meanwhile, Kau, Shan and Sar'nel desperately waited for the elevator to come--it wasn't until hearing Kor'maril confess that there was none left to lead the clan save his mother that Ariel dropped her weapon in surrender, to the surprise of everyone.

### Return to Chel

The resistance group soon surrenders, and found themselves leaving Felde bound in chains by the Legion. Kor'maril made an attempt to catch up on lost time with his son, though he had little idea of the trials Kau endured. The conversation did not end well, and left Kau in a sour mood.

Kau and his fellow resistance fighters are marched back to the Sarghress fortress, where they witnessed Ariel fight her way through challengers and would-be Val killers. As result of her defeating Mandroga, Ariel took control of the clan and organized a joint assault with Chrys'tel against the remnants of the Nidra'chaal-controlled Alliance. Kau himself regained possession of his custom golem

## Notable Quotes

*"She teased a lot. She didn't think things through. But she was a trustworthy person. Someone to rely on. A good sister..."* - Kau, speaking about his sister Shala during her funeral.

*"To her, I might as well be dead, even though I still breathe."* - To Diva, after being disowned by Sil'lice due to returning home tainted.

*"I'm so fucking anxious. I'm hurting all over. But I'm alive, and she's not. I've got to do something, anything. And this, this I can do something about."* - To Sar'nel while recovering a stranded golem, after being asked if he ever thinks about Shala after her death.

*"All of you and your damn powers. I'm always left behind, the third wheel...No more. I will build my own power!"* - To Ariel, while test piloting an experimental golem armor at Sha'shi.