Valok Grimmrot

### Clothes Description:

Dresses almost exclusively in black, coats, shirts, pants, boots, ect, as dark clothing allows him to better blend into the shadows.

## Psychology

### **Likes**

It would be difficult for Val to explain what exactly he does like about the world for he knows so little of it. His life has been one devoted to training to become a loyal soldier and nothing more. There is what he knows; training, hard work, and combat. To ask him if these are things that he likes would be difficult for him to say, he knows almost nothing else. There is, the occasional quiet moments alone where he gazes up into the night sky, at the moon and the stars and thinks about other worlds and other lives. If humans can be brought from another world, then what are other worlds like, what are the lives of those people like. He finds these moments peaceful and they almost make him smile, but these are not thoughts he would share with others. Dreams and curiosity are not things that should occupy a soldier’s mind, they have no use in battle, and Val fears these moments make him weak.

### **Dislikes**

With so little experience of anything outside his home and of Daka, Val dislikes all that he has been taught to hate. Light Elves who banished his people, the other, more celebrated races, lifted no hand to aid them. The humans and rebel scum who fight against Aklenroth, the Great King, for they betray Avalia, and so these are the creatures he hates above all else. The rebellion is one to destroy all that Dark Elves have built for themselves, to cruelly force them back into the shadows and into poverty. Cowards, deserters, and traitors, for they shame Aklenroth with their despicable actions and weaken the Dark Elf forces. When it comes to simpler things Val lacks the diversity of experience to really have an opinion or the desire to form one. He eats what is provided for him and is thankful to have food at all. The weather makes no difference to him other than ways it might influence combat. He has no vices and partakes in no activity that will hinder his ability to serve the king. When it comes to relationships with others, there are allies or enemies, as that is the extent of his experience with others.

Above all things, there is one thing he cannot stomach, and that is cruelty for the sake of it. He can understand the need for bloodshed, that terrible thing must sometimes be done in the name of keeping the peace, but to torture someone simply for enjoyment or for vengeance is a line he has deemed uncrossable.

### **Fears**

Weakness in himself, his occasional quiet moments when he looks up at the stars and wonders, times his thoughts are questioning or curious, these are times he finds himself weak. He is a soldier of The Great King and his thoughts should always be of combat and of service.

His life as a soldier of Aklenroth is one that he knows will extend past his inevitable death, and becoming undead is both a fate he accepts and fears. Although taught that this is a great honor the empty eyes of the dead haunt him. He often wonders what that existence is like, if they feel anything,or if it’s a constant state of torment, and the question of which is worse; feeling nothing but agony or nothing at all.

The feeling of being afraid, something he is supposed to have grown out of, it was a huge part of his training to learn not to be afraid, but it still creeps in. He doesn’t know if others like him feel it too but he would never admit to it. The fact that he still feels fear, when it was supposed to be trained out of him, bothers him, for it reminds him that he has failed at living up to his expectations.

**Sexuality:** Undetermined and of no consequence to him, he is of too low a class to be good breeding stock and romantic entanglements are a distraction to a good soldier.

**Personality:** Valok is a quiet elf by nature, he takes things in, watches with intense curiosity and tries to learn. He speaks when necessary but in general keeps to himself. He does not wish to stand out amongst his fellow soldiers, to ask questions or show concern. He does like having others around, finding comfort in knowing he’s not alone while still enjoying the peace of the occasional quiet moment when he is alone. Val does not know what it means to be selfish. He was raised with the absolute belief and acceptance that his life belongs to The Great King; he is nothing more than his soldier and that his life does not even truly belong to him. He has never truly owned anything, everything he has was issued to him and his life is one of servitude for the debt that all Dark Elves owe to Aklenroth. While there are many who would see him as cruel, he sees himself as a faithful soldier. He follows his orders, trusts his commanders and his king, and what he is asked to do is for the betterment of Avalia. He does not kill for the enjoyment of it, he will end his enemy quickly so that they do not suffer and what he does, he does because it must be done. As far as protecting others that is something he does when commanded but those like him, his fellow soldiers, they are all disposable, just as he is, and his orders and his mission always come before any single life. That was how he was raised, how he was trained, and he knows no other way.

Val was raised from birth to be a soldier, he has never had family or personal connections, this is the only life he has ever known. While he shows no fear in battle to call him brave would be incorrect, for he has nothing to lose, even his life is not his. After death he will still serve Aklenroth as an undead, this he also accepts. Though he does still feel fear it has never held him back from action. There are two things that matter; following his orders and continuing Dark Elf prosperity. The blood in his veins runs almost as cold as the air of Daka, he rarely loses his temper, and violence is saved for when it must be done. His patience, his calmness, his seemingly complete apathy all come from his hollowness. A faint notion that something in his life is wrong but a lack of understanding for what exactly it is, he can only chalk it up to his own imperfections, that there is some failing in him preventing him from being a better soldier. Because serving his people and Aklenroth should be enough for him, this has always been his purpose, and his hope is that once he has lived up to his full potential the hollowness will leave him.

As a member of the lowest class of Dark Elves, Val is trained as just a basic soldier. He was taught no battle tactics or strategy, he knows he will never be some great commander. He was raised to be on the front lines, the cannon fodder, the disposable, and his death and the deaths of those like him only fuel the army of undead. There was no time wasted in educating him, he learned the basics of his history; hatred of Light Elves, Faires, and Demihumans, and the stories of Aklenroth, The Great King, celebrated hero of the Dark Elves. He learned to do as he was told and to not ask questions. He is, however, observant and intensely curious. Valok has seen so little of the world and often wonders about all the places he’s never been and of other worlds that must surely exist. He lacks charisma, his tone is often soft and emotionless, echoing his own hollowness. Manipulating people is not a skill for a weapon, but the skill of leaders and so it is not something that would ever occur to him. Jokes are quickly lost on him, and rarely makes any attempts at humor. Some may find his loyalty and dedication to a Lich insane; he kills his enemies with no hesitation, fights with no thought or hope for himself, and even accepts that one day his corpse will be used in an undead army. But Valok was never given a choice in his life, he has simply accepted his circumstances and lived with them.

## Background

### **Occupation:**

Soldier, or at least he was, now he is less than nothing, a deserter, the most vile of traitors.

### **History**

As an infant Valok was sold to the army to be trained as a soldier, he never knew his parents or of any family. He is without attachments raised solely to fight and die for The Great King. He was never told why he was sold off; could’ve been his parents owed a great debt or it could have been that he was simply unwanted, but Val does not waste time dwelling on such matters. He was not raised to think, but to fight. His life has always been one of strict order and discipline. All moments of his young life were scheduled down to the second, when he woke up, when he ate, when he trained, and when he rested. His schedule was grueling, keeping him exhausted, far too exhausted to think about his circumstances even if he had any interest in them to begin with. All his life he has been taught that he does not matter; he is but one of many soldiers who fight not for their own glory but for that of Aklenroth and to continue the age of prosperity for Dark Elves.

Even his surname is not his own, but the name of one of many schools that exists for the sole purpose of turning out disposable soldiers for the king. He has no name to pass on, no family ties to bind him down, no legacy to protect or further. Instead he has just a single shared goal with every other graduate of Grimmrots; to serve the king. For Aklenroth is the great savior of the Dark Elves, it was he who unshackled them from the oppression of Light Elves, he who brought them power and prosperity, and he who was the only ruler in all of Avalia’s dark history who ever cared about the plight of the Dark Elves. Like any Dark Elf loyalist, Val sees his king as both a hero and a fair and just leader. It is the rebels who wish to turn back time and return the Dark Elves to poverty and mistreatment, and thus they can only be seen by him as villains.

Grimmrots was his home for the majority of his life, he grew up there, trained there, learned there. From the second he was able he was trained to fight, both with weapons and with magic. His dark abilities have always been a part of him, his people take pride in being gifted by the night. There was no goofing around, no days off, no time to make friends as a soldier needed none of those things. He worked hard, he learned discipline, and any failure in this was punished harshly. Wake up, train, eat, chores, train, eat, rest. The schedule repeated endlessly. Val took comfort in the schedule, he knew what he was supposed to do and where he had to be, he didn’t have time or energy left to worry about anything else. Those who did not take to this kind of life were made an example of; weakness was not tolerated. He learned how to face fear, how to bear pain, and how to kill. Once he was old enough, he was shipped off to The Pits, just as every other graduate of Grimmrots, to experience true combat.

The Pits held a similar schedule and he adjusted quickly. He then put his training to use, fighting for his life in gladiatorial combat while others watched and occasionally cheered. Some of his comrades in the Pits enjoyed the killing and the cheering of a crowd, Val did it because he was good at it. This was the experience he needed to become a true soldier, killing was how he would serve his people and his King, and he was raised for service. He fought monsters and killed other Dark Elves branded as cowards, deserters, or simply as weak. What or who he killed did not concern him, his orders were to win and he followed through. Once he was deemed worthy, just as many before him, he was sent to serve in Aklenroth’s army. He was loyal, obedient, and well trained.

After his time in The Pits he was moved to Malthemoor, where he continued training under the harshest of conditions. Like steel he was strengthened, taught how to serve in the army and what to do when the more detestable races of Avalia got ideas of uprisings. It would seem keeping Avalia in peace was even more work than war could be, the constancy in which a small uprising would occur made no sense to him. So many of Avalia’s subjects seemed to hunger for violence; had Aklenroth not brought them all peace, unified them, brought a new age of unparalleled prosperity? What was the reasoning behind these uprisings? Did the other creatures hate the Dark Elves so much that to see them in power and thriving, made them want to plunge the entire nation back into war? It seemed that way to Valok, what other reason could there be to incite such violence in a time of great peace.

The return of humans to Avalia marked a great change, surely a great battle was upon the horizon. Such an act of treason against The Great King could not be ignored. Shortly after their return was announced he was one of many sent out to help squash the notion of rebellion and see to it that the humans and the traitors were brought to justice. He marched with the legion he had been assigned to into the village of Chesm. Val had never left Daka before, he had never seen the great forests that existed to the south and found their beauty captivating. In comparison to the rest of Avalia, he now saw Daka as the near barren wasteland that it was, and felt more deeply the injustice against the Dark Elves at having to be banished to such a place. The beauty of Moon Elf Kingdom was marred by the horror he both witnessed and participated in once they arrived at Chesm. They did more than ransack the city looking for humans; they slaughtered and maimed all who got in their way.

Valok held no love for anyone, but certainly not for Demihumans and Light Elves who called Chesm home. Humans, while he held an indifference towards them in general, were a threat to The Great King, and had to be dealt with. This he could understand, killing had to be done, but the death delivered in Chesm was not a swift one. Torture was made a specitcle for both Dark Elves and Chesm residence alike. His people cheered while the rest cried out in utter horror. Those who harboured the human were tormented for days, as was anyone caught trying to help them, slow public executions that went on and on. It was cruelty for the sake of being cruel. It went on even after the human was tortured and found to have no knowledge of others like her in the area.

Was this why others so hated the Dark Elves? Did so many of his brethren allow themselves to become so absolutely monstrous when given the chance? Those who tortured did so with a sickening smile, they enjoyed it. Was this what the army sought to make of him? How did they manage to hide such wickedness from Aklenroth? Val was certain the Great King could not know of what his army had devolved into, as such actions would only ignite more resistance. Leaders within his king’s own army were actively making matters worse, and such things needed to be brought to the attention of his king. There was a problem with this, for who would believe the word of one of Daka’s unwanted sons against that of high ranking nobles? Valok would need evidence to back up his claims.

What would be worse; to become a foul deserter for the sake of achieving a greater good or to continue to follow the orders of commanders whose actions could threaten the peace The Great King so desires? This question haunted every quiet moment he had until he found his answer. He would not allow himself to become as cruel as those who he watched torture for their enjoyment of it, he would not allow a this threat to peace to continue. Valok deserted the army, he left behind the only identity he ever held, knowing that such an act even done with good intentions would be punished by death. At least in death his service would be only to the king, and not to those who pervert his wishes to fit their twisted inclinations. As terrifying as becoming undead is to him, becoming an agent of nothing but self service and cruelty would be even worse. Val cannot even imagine his king to be one who holds such a flawed character that he would wish his army to behave in such a manner. He can only hold on to the image of The Great King as the one presented to him as a child; a kind and just leader. He is now completely alone, without the only identity he ever held, and searching for a way to prove his claims to his king.

## Combat and Magic

### **Physical Strengths**

* Quick reflexes and lack of hesitation
* Stealth
* Magic use in combat

### **Physical Weaknesses**

* Light Magic/Fire Magic, both natural enemies of darkness
* Lacking in pure brute strength
* Young with very limited experience with beings outside of Daka

### **Best Abilities**

Blending into the shadows, something a well trained dark elf can do fairly easily on a dark night, and summoning his blade, a sword of concentrated dark magic, and even a single cut can cause terrible pain.

* Special ability is Erebokinesis
* Greatest strength is his combat magic