Valena Celtigar

Corwyn Celtigar

Valena Celtigar is the Lady of Claw Isle, and the cousin and wife to its current Lord, Laenor Celtigar.

## Biography

### **Appearance and Character**

Born with blonde hair and a freckled complexion, Valena’s sky blue eyes cut like a knife. She wears breeches and tight-fitting clothing in her House colors when she’s not donning armor, and her hair is always braided and tied with a red ribbon.

As for her temper, it is famous across Claw Isle and beyond. Quick to anger, slow to forgive, and combative, she’s arrogant and proud, and that often gets her in trouble. However, she’s also deeply loyal and has a sense of honor which inspires the men that follow her.

Unlike many Celtigars, the sea is not her calling, but the battlefield is. Where there is a fight to be found, Valena can be sure to be there.

### **History**

Valena was born in 358 AC to Triston Celtigar and his wife, Elinda Sunglass.

From the beginning, the girl was a trial to raise. Combative, aggressive, and downright violent, her father would later say she learned to swear before she learned to speak. Instead of attending her lessons and minding her Septa, young Valena would step on her poor Septa’s foot, yell a curse at her, and run off in the direction of the courtyard, where she’d watch the men do their drills.

Surrounded by three older brothers and multiple cousins, she wanted to train in the yard as they did, to run and play and be free with no Septa trailing after her. So she’d escape her lessons and neglect her duties just to pick up a wooden sword and shield and practice in the yard, until finally her Septa declared her a heathen and a lost cause. Realizing they would not be making a lady out of her anytime soon, her parents relented and allowed her to train alongside her brothers and cousins.

It was an unconventional arrangement, as she was a little girl surrounded by men and boys bigger than her. The master-at-arms didn’t know how to handle her at first, but quickly learned she had a bigger tolerance for pain and more endurance than most of the boys he’d trained.

But although she learned fast, she was no match for her brothers or cousins, who wouldn’t pass on the opportunity to poke fun at her, knowing how easy she was to provoke. Valena decreed every one of these disputes would be settled with a duel, and so they were, and so it was that she found herself beaten by grown boys. This only made her angrier, and the anger gave her the strength she needed to defeat them.

Valena knew she had to be twice as good to be taken half as seriously as the men around her, and she resented this fact. Her only refuge from her bitterness was the knowledge that she was better than them: braver, more talented, more honorable, more loyal.

She grew to be a skilled warrior, and as the years passed, she’d continue to excel in both her footwork and her swordsmanship until she could beat men twice her size in the training yard. This only caused her pride to grow, and only one man could defeat her: her cousin Laenor Celtigar, whom she both resented and favored, and would eventually marry.

Her mastery of combat and her temper both earned her the admiration and the fear of men, as they found her quite intimidating. Her father did not fail to notice his daughter’s prowess, and although he could not turn her talents to the seas, soon she was studying the art of war by her father’s and brothers’ side, learning how to conduct skirmishes.

She’d test her skills on bandits and pirates raiding Claw Isle, proving her worth.

In 377 AC, she married Laenor Celtigar, her cousin, and a year later they had a daughter, Lyra. In 380 AC they welcomed a son, Ryon.