Val Velar

Valaneth "Val" Velar is one of the seven members of the party, an abyssal sea elf from the underwater trench city of Nightreach. She is an Astral Inquisitor working for the Tursic Archive branch of the Academy of Arcane Sciences, and by class is a Way of the Astral Inquisitor Monk.

## Early life and family

Before starting the campaign, Val lived her entire life in the abyssal trench of Nightreach. She is a scholar by nature and quickly rose in the ranks of the Academy of Arcane Sciences. Her focus of study, much to the dismay of the Councill, is the Lost City of Brel.

She is one of 5 children, including a twin sister, Luralen Velar. She and Luralen are not only very close emotionally but also seemingly in terms of destiny. For at a young age, they developed complementary bioluminescent signs on their hands- Luralen bears the symbol of Mystra and Valaneth the symbol of Hecate.

Not long before meeting the party, Val overheard members of the Academy talking about increased aberration activity near the city, in the direction of the Mistmaw. After being denied joining the expedition to take care of the aberrations, Val decided to take matters into her own hands. Val stole away from the city to try and find the source of the disturbances. While she did not find where the aberrations were coming from, she was able to find what they were being drawn towards. With the help of her equipment (and her hand), Val discovered an ancient ship embedded in the walls of the Trench. There she found a mysterious box made of an unfamiliar metal, a strange green inscription encircling the lid.

When Val returned to the Academy and showed them her find, the box was quickly taken from her. The High Sage, Sentinel General and Lord Speaker convened and determined that Val was to be sent to Courlemar along with a shipment of research material. She would accompany the files and act as a liaison, answering any questions that the Navy had regarding the research. Just before leaving, Val wandered the Archive, eventually coming upon an old childrens book on Brel the border of which contained similar scrollwork to the box. Val brought her find to her friend and mentor, Exarch Talag. After telling him about the box and how it might be connected to Brel, Talag bid Val to stay put. He left and not long after returned with the box, telling her not to tell anyone that she had it.

## Meeting Effie

Effie Ingemar was the first party member Val met, in Nightreach Bay; she was a colleague of Val's sister. After a tense meeting, Effie entered Val quarters on the pretense that she needed to relieve herself. While waiting for Effie, Val checked to make sure that the box was safe. In doing so she became fixated by it, not realizing that Effie had exited the lavatory and was now also examining the box. The pair took some psychic damage and quickly hid the box away when they heard a knock at the door. Archon Silverhand, one of Val's guards, entered the room and began interrogating the two of them.

After a heated argument, Val and Effie left to investigate murders that had been occurring in NIghtreach Bay. Effie returned to her quarters to gather her equipment while Val began to wander the city, the pair agreeing to meet at the latest crime scene. Val found herself at the town hall, her hand leading her to a hidden shrine to Hecate. The statue of the dog came to life and directed Val through a mist-filled doorway. There, she interacted with The Dog in a space that appeared to be the Mistmaw. She asked them many questions but only ever got vague answers from it. Clearly The Dog has some connection to Hecate that had yet to be revealed. Before leaving the space, Val took rubbings of the signpost that was located in the space.

Upon returning to Nightreach Bay, Val found herself a few hours earlier than when she had entered the temple. She noticed Archon Silverhand tailing the past version of herself and began to tail him in turn. Eventually, she followed him to the temple where she has encountered The Dog. Upon reaching the temple, The Dog created a barrier, trapping the Archon inside. The Dog began suffocating the Archon so that he could not tell anyone what he had seen, but Val asked the Dog to spare him. Giving Val what she wanted, The Dog feebleminded the Archon instead (much to Val's dismay). Val escorted the Archon to the port and sent him back to Nightreach along with a letter, but not after taking his coded research journal and silver quarterstaff.

Val quickly left to meet up with Effie. After investigating the crime scene the pair followed a trail left behind by what was clear to be an aberration. During their chase, Val became blinded after a piece of the creature found its way into her mask on onto her eyes. The pair returned to Naval Headquarters where Val was healed. Effie reported on their findings and it was discovered that the aberrations were killing by entering into their victims bodies by way of their noses and mouths. Once healed, Val and Effie dispatched the creature that was still hiding in the body of its last victim.

After wrapping up their investigation, the pair board the Golden Swan to make their way to Courlemar, where they met the rest of the party.

## Meeting the party and the Mistmaw

Val and Effie became acquainted with some of the other passengers and crew of the ship when they chased a mimic together. Not long after this, the allip book caused a massive shipwreck, and the party was cast into the Mistmaw. Val proved to be instrumental in the group's escape from the Mistmaw. Her had with the symbol of Hecate guided them to the border, making this group of people the first people since the founding of the Coastal Concordat to escape the Mistmaw. Her spirit dog implied that this had to do with her status as the Borderwalker, a title Val herself still did not fully understand.

## Further adventures

The party ended up first in Courlemar, and was tasked by the Navy to travel to Senedosa's End to track down the allip book. However before leaving, Amisa Presquin discovered Val and joined herself to Val's hip, something that Val initially resented greatly as Amisa essentially presented herself as a babysitter secretary. On arrival to Beaconcroft, the alderperson told the party the story of the person who initially brought the book to Senedosa Island- Val recognized that this person was the previous borderwalker before Val. On retrieval of the book, conversations with Amisa Presquin gave the party the suspicion that Luralin might be in danger in Il Umbral at the Maelstrom House, so that is where the party went.