Valani

Valani of the House Khandra, Imperial Princess of the Holy Lands of Ishvar is the only daughter of the Emperor Zahreb and the current heir to the throne of Ishvar. Born and raised in the Ruby Palace, Valani lived a sheltered and luxurious, if lonely, existence, and was trained in magic, history and statecraft by her tutor, Arkand. Her best friend was Karnan, who was two years her senior and trained to be her bodyguard from childhood. When she was ten years old, her mother the Empress Anesha died of illness, a death that many thought to actually be poison. The young Valani took her mother’s death very hard, and relied heavily on Karnan for emotional support in the following years. Some time before the campaign began [session 4, Karnan interlude], Karnan saved Valani from three allegedly Keironian assassins at a diplomatic dinner - his first kills.

When Valani was eighteen, Jaina, then a common servant, caught her attention with the stories she told. Jaina gradually gained her favour over the following months with beautiful objects and pieces of forbidden knowledge [session 4, Jaina interlude], and six months before the beginning of the campaign, Valani made her her chief lady-in-waiting. Unbeknownst to Jaina, the young princess fell in love with her new servant, despite knowing that Jaina was using her for her own ends, and resolving to do the same.

One night, Valani attempted to escape the Ruby Palace and was kidnapped by a group of mysterious attackers led by Khion, among which was Jamal, one of her bodyguards. She was kept in their headquarters, a series of trapped underground chambers. The attackers rendered her unconscious and were implied to have interfered with her blood using blood sorcery (she lost her ability to trance after her rescue). During her disappearance, the Emperor ordered a small reward for her rescue, choosing to focus his attention on shifting suspicion towards the East Side for her kidnapping.

At the beginning of the campaign [session 1], Sarin received a vision of the party rescuing an unconscious Valani. The party did so [session 3], and Valani woke to her remaining attackers tied up or unconscious. Upon learning of the situation, Valani coldly had Reaver behead Khion and his lieutenant, and killed the unconscious two herself using Magic Missile, so that the secret of the underground chambers would be safe.

After reviewing the materials gathered during the rescue, Valani employed the party to travel to the Sekhtis Islands and gather information regarding the uses of blood magic, a long-held mystery outside the Islands [session 5]. To do so, she provided them with a boat, which was later christened Pissmaster Supreme, somewhat to her distaste. Upon the party’s successful return [session 8], she paid them their fee, but acted coldly towards Jaina. Valani soon revealed that, in their absence, she had discovered the true source of Jaina’s magical powers - her pact with an otherworldly creature. Saddened by the lie, and the idea that Jaina might be controlled by a greater force instead of the woman she had come to know, Valani dismissed her from her service.

That night [session 8], Valani said her farewells to Karnan before the party embarked on their voyage to Zarion. In doing so, she confessed to him about her feelings for Jaina, and then expressed her wish to stay in the Ruby Palace and face the consequences of her actions, including the Beckoner’s potential threat on her life. She then asked him to let her go, and to find a purpose other than her. Having now cut all ties with the party, her intentions are unknown.