Valera

**Valera of the Immortal Legion** is an undead royal vampire and the first Chosen Undead of Aldrich. She is a tank-type combatant who predominantly uses a shield, but becomes a berserker when she throws it away in favor of her fists. Her class is Death Knight, and she has taken the Oath of Blood and Bone.

## Appearance

Valera is described as a hauntingly beautiful woman standing at 6'3" or 1.9 metres tall. She has a toned, muscular physique with wide hips and a large chest, a deathly pale complexion, dark hair, and red eyes with black sclera. In battle, she wears a full suit of black armor including a helmet that obscures her face.

## Personality

Valera is a fearsome warrior who is absolutely loyal to her master, Aldrich. Whilst highly bloodthirsty and with an almost perverted love of violence and slaughter, she often becomes like an embarrassed young girl when around Aldrich and it is implied that she is in love with him. As such, she also gets jealous and wary of Stella as she is afraid that, as the only other pretty girl in Aldrich's army, Stella will try to seduce him away from her.

## Story

Valera described her own past to Aldrich thus: "I was of noble birth. Child to the vampire count Vandel and Dullahan warrior Lera. It was an union that felt like it was torn from the pages of a romantic tale. My father met my mother on the battlefield as enemies, but in clashing with each other, grew to admire each other, then, when the battle was fought and done, love each other. In the pages of a book or in the song of a bard, that union might have been beautiful, full of love, but in reality, it was unholy. Vampires hold the purity of blood to high standard. The Dullahan clans never take kindly to outsiders. I was an abomination to both sides, and my father and mother suffered from it. My mother was captured from my father's fort and executed by her own peoples for bearing an outsider's blood. My father took up renewed arms against the Dullahan clans once more, rejecting the peace treaties that the other vampire counts proposed. For that, he was assassinated.

In my early years, when I was still with my father, I remember being happy. All around me, I felt cold eyes from my vampire brethren for my mixed blood. But my father, I dearly cherished. From him, I learned everything a royal lady should. Etiquette, the arts, the sciences, magic, and fighting, yes, fighting, though so very unlady-like, I fell into so deeply. I remember when I trained to ght, it was not because I wanted to harm. It was because I wanted to protect. I knew my father warred often, and I wanted to protect him. Whenever my little self told him that, he would laugh so very heartily and tell me he needed no others to guard him. On the battlefield, he may have been right. But when my father was assassinated and his kin risen to take his place, I no longer held any allies.

There was no longer any warmth in my father's own fort, only those eyes that stared at me as if I was nothing but a monster. In respect for my half noble blood, I was not executed but sent to the Midnight Order to take the oath of a Guardian Knight. To take that oath is to vow not only lifelong service to a chosen, to become another's shield, but also to take a vow of celibacy. A convenient and bloodless way to end my unclean bloodline.

"When I completed my training in the Midnight Order, I was to be the sworn shield of a lady. Nalia. A daughter of a matriarch in one of the Nokol clans." "She was spoiled. Diffcult to work with. She complained about this and that little thing, and there were many times when I wanted to smack some sense into her." Valera shook her head and then smiled sadly. "But she was a kind girl, she was. When her mother was assassinated by rivals, she was cast out, forced to run as an exile. Everybody abandoned her aside from myself, perhaps because I saw some of myself in her. Another princess exiled due to a world that rejected them, how could I not pity her? And also because I wanted to keep my vow to protect my chosen. Always, I have wanted to protect someone worthy to me. Ever since my father's death, when I could not protect him - that was my dream. So I stuck with her.

The years after were long and difficult. She had to learn how to survive without the pampering touch of attendants that would dress her in warm flaneries and make sure food was upon her plate every day. But I taught her, and together, we survived. She grew so very attached to me. I was her mentor. Her shield to support herself on when times were tough. Her shoulder to lean on when she needed to cry. And in spite of myself, I found myself appreciating her. She was like a dear little sister to me. And for her happiness, I would have given everything. But that night, that awful, awful night-,"

"One night, when I was away from camp to find a cure for a sickness she had contracted on the road, she was slaughtered by rival clans that still sought her out, wanting to eliminate any trace of her royal blood to make sure she never laid claim to the throne. Slaughter is too light a word. She had been tortured to within an inch of her life, healed, then tortured again. Nails torn back, wings ripped apart, eyes gouged out, body defiled, skin flayed - over and over again. I cannot imagine the amount of pain she must have felt. How much she must have yearned for me, for my shield, for my strength. And that-seeing her corpse-that made me understand: I was a failure. My shield had never once protected anyone it was vowed to.

The world around me had cast me out because I was an abomination. A monster. My entire life, I had dedicated myself to protecting, for deep down, I did not wish to be called a monster. But if it was a monster they wanted, it was a monster that I would give them. I killed every single being responsible for my lady's death. I started with the assassins they hired and any affiliated with them. Humans, elves, dwarves, young or old, it did not matter. I killed them. Then I attacked the Nokol royal clans. I killed countless of their winged soldiers. I snapped the necks of dozens of their royalty. I was feared. I was reviled. I became known as the 'Exile', the disgraced princess turned wandering monster of vengeance. To gain the power to destroy the royal clans, I sacrfiiced my soul to the Nether. In exchange for this power, upon my death, I would enter into the Nether for all eternity. I would no longer enter the cycle of reincarnation. Instead, my soul would be chained to serve summoners of the dark for all eternity. The path of vengeance was sweet. I reveled in it, in the bloody carnage that I wrought with my own fists. But that is the thing with vengeance. It must always end.

Either you reach the end of that path with no more left to kill, or you are killed while walking its brutal roads. For me, it was the latter. Despite the power and levels I received from the Nether, it was not enough. Eventually, the entire Midnight Alliance, not just the Nokols, saw me as a force of nature - a monster for adventurers to put down. I did kill any that got in my way, after all, and that included vampires as well. The Alliance enlisted the aid of a mighty hero, and he slew me. Since then, my soul rested in the Nether. Whenever a dark summoner wished for my shield, I had to serve them. That went on for centuries. I did not care. It was my just punishment for failing to protect everyone I wanted to protect - that was what I thought. I gave up on ever protecting someone close to me. To serve someone worthy. Because I was a failure." Valera squeezed Aldrich's hand gently. "Then you came along. You called me to your service. At first, I felt nothing. Just another mage of the dark arts desiring a shield to protect his frail body until the corrupting influence of the dark arts eventually rotted your brain and rendered you insane. Just another victim to the Nether.

But you overcame the Nether. You stayed with me. You believed in me. You tried to understand me. You accepted who I was. You accepted what I had become. I was not a monster to you, I was a valued companion. I was truly your shield. I...I liked that so much. It was the first time I had felt warmth in my heart for centuries. It was not just that you believed in me, but I could also believe in you with all my heart. You had grand visions. You wanted to save the world. Deep down, in your heart, you were one I could admire and devote myself to. I felt like finally, I had found someone worthy. And that was when I made a promise to myself: I would never, ever, ever let you go. I would never fail in my duties as a Guardian Knight ever again. I would wield my shield proudly for you til the end of time - til beyond the ends of time.

## Stats

### Chapter 28

* Name: Valeria of the Immortal Legion
* Height: 190cm
* Level: 12
* Class: Death Knight (Oath of Blood and Bone)
* HP: 186/186
* Mana: 21/21
* Stats-
* Strength: 42
* Agility: 24
* Vitality: 62
* Magic: 7
* Attunement: 10
* Perception: 10

## **Skills**

**Shieldmanship**

* Valera proficiently uses a shield for both defensive and offensive purposes.

**Martial Arts**

* Valera is highly proficient in hand-to-hand brawling.

## Quotes

Valera remembered a specific hunt. From before her time with Aldrich when she was a young trainee within the Nightshield Order that trained knights from the Midnight-Alliance consisting of vampires, certain demon tribes, and some night-dwelling demihumans. There had been a time when Valera and her class had been sent into dark mountains to hunt an enormous rampaging boar. There, her instructor had drilled into her the fundamentals for taking down a beast with enough size and strength that no single knight could reliably deal with. First, isolate the beast. The larger a monster was, the harder it was to deal with lesser enemies distracting you. Then, if possible, disable the beast. Limit its mobility. Its sheer size would prevent it from easily dealing with attacks from multiple angles once it lost its movement. Finally, execute. Once disabled, attempt to dispatch the beast as quickly as possible, for the longer a battle went with larger monsters, the easier it was for an accident to occur and for a team member to perish under trampling hooves.