King Finn Valeria

Laiz Valeria - Eldest Son;

Rai-El Valeria - Youngest Son;

Aria Valeria - Eldest Daughter;

Sarika Valeria Nee Surtova - Youngest Daughter

## Damned from Birth

Finn Valeria was born into what would soon be the ruling family of Brevoy. He was an honest and eager young man, looking to bring his family glory and honor. He joined the church of Sarenrae as an inquisitor, hoping to seek out the lies and deceit that plagued the Brevoy nobility and to transform Brevoy into a land of prosperity and peace. His hopes were dashed however after the events of Silverhall.

His father, Richard Valeria, became the king of Brevoy two years later with the death of King Garess and with his death Brevoy changed forever. The Order of the True Flame was created and Finn was appointed a bishop of the order. It seemed tame at first, a simple joining of the churches of Sarenrae and Iomedae that focused on the their twin light helping to scour away the evil and darkness of the world. It was not till his father brought him into his confidence that Finn learned the truth.

The Valeria family was damned to hell, and it had been ever since Baron Matthew Valeria had made a pledge to a lord of Hell that he would give the souls of his entire family line if he could receive the tools necessary to create an orderly and peaceful Brevoy. The devil had accepted, and the power granted to Baron Valeria led to the eventual rise of his son to becoming King of Brevoy. Chaos still ruled the land though, and it would now be the Order of the True Flame's job to hunt down and exterminate any chaotic presences within Brevoy, starting with the rival noble families.

## Crushing any Resistance

Devastated that his family was damned to hell and knowing he was powerless to steal their souls back from Kai'Thikul, Finn accepted his new task with a vow in his heart that his family would not be damned for nothing. He began to hunt down everyone deemed an enemy by his father and put them to the sword. Working with his brother Tyrus Valeria, they eliminated House Medvyed, House Orlovsky, and House Lodovka as well as the numerous rebellions spawned in the wake of seeing that King Richard Valeria was a tyrant looking to strengthen his grip on Brevoy. The remaining four Houses were united under King Richard's demands and became House Dragon.

Finn's torment continued in the years to come. He became the archbishop of Order of the True Flame and the face of all the death and despair that they brought across the country. An order of elite inquisitors and assassins, The Flame Spurned, was created to help increase the influence and power of the Order. An all woman organization, the Flame Spurned were molded into heartless killers and spies whose only emotion was unending loyalty to the Order of the True Flame. Their flesh was burned away and scarred for days at a time with the pain only ending if they renounced their faith in the twin goddesses. If they refused, they would join the ranks of the Flame Spurned and receive training in every method interrogation, assassination, and infiltration that the Order could conceive of.

On Finn's command, his former comrades and friends who worshiped the twin goddesses were brought in to follow the Order's twisted doctrines. If they were to refuse, the Flame Spurned would assassinate them in their homes or carry them into the streets and mount them on pyres. Paladins and clerics that learned of the Order's connections to Hell were burnt alive for speaking out, and any citizen that did not renounce their faiths and followed the Order of the True Flame were killed or exiled. Finn's brother was executed seven years after he became the archbishop. Tyrus had spoken out against their father and the order, and it was the saddest day in Finn's life when his father ordered him to burn Tyrus alive. He obeyed, burning his brother while he looked him in the eye. Finn could not turn his back on everything his family had sacrificed in bringing Brevoy order and the fruits of their labor were finally showing. The entire kingdom followed the tenets of the twin goddesses under the direction of the Order of the True Flame, crime was nearly extinct as anyone who committed a crime underwent punishments so severe that they either died from their wounds or fled the country. Brevoy was finally united and with a united Brevoy they could finally look to outside their borders to begin bringing that same peace to their neighbors.

## Coronation

In 4781, a vicious plague broke out in Brevoy known as the Demon Blight. It swept across the land for nearly a year before finally being beaten and contained by Order of the True Flame. King Richard Valeria had fallen ill to the plague and when he finally passed, the Dragonscale throne passed to Finn. He was now King Finn Valeria and archbishop of the Order of the True Flame. He held unchecked power over the kingdom, and he began to raise rhetoric against the neighboring kingdoms. For too long had the unbridled villainy and anarchy of their neighbors been allowed to affect Brevoy. It was time to enlighten those nations with the word of the Twin Goddesses. He also began preparations for the creation of a second Worldwound. His small nation could not hope to hold all this land and maintain order, for that they would need the powers of Hell. Bastions of law and tyranny the devils of Hell would be brought to Golarion to assist in controlling the neighboring lands and hopefully, destroying the first Worldwound. His old faith to Sarenrae had long since been buried by his duty to family and country to provide a land of peace of prosperity. All that was left was to bring the world to its knees.

His rule would not be without its trials of faith. His daughter Aria had emerged as beacon amongst the people against the tyranny of her father. She regularly gathered folk with the plazas of every city as she traveled the country and decried her father's work. To add insult to injury, she had renounced her faith in the twin goddesses stating that no supposed gods of redemption and justice would have allowed Brevoy to come to this. With the hints of a revolt beginning to rise, he ordered the execution of his daughter with a heavy heart. Rounding his daughter and the leaders of the rebel chapters springing up in cities across Brevoy, he burned them at the stake and disowned his daughter's family from any line of inheritance to the throne. Three years later, he attended the week long Flame Spurned initiation ceremony in which his granddaughter Diascira was burnt and tortured. She screamed as they applied the burning oils, shrieked as they carved the names of twin goddesses into her chest, passed out from shock as her skin was flayed off, healed then flayed off again. Diascira endured however, and when she gave her oath of eternal allegiance to the Flame Spurned it filled him with pride.

## First Crusade of the Flame

In 4801, Philosopher's End was carried out by the forces of House Chimera. Hundreds of diplomats from nations across Golarion were executed and their research stolen. Enraged by the treachery of the Numerian faction, King Finn declared an embargo of all trade into Numeria and began to build an army to wipe out the barbarous nation. Now was his chance to show the world the peace that reigned in Brevoy, to bring order to their anarchy. Three years later after numerous skirmishes with raiding parties sent to take the food denied to Numeria, King Finn declared a war on the River Kingdoms, Numeria, and Ustalav. Each of these countries represented a blight on the world, one that only the Order of the True Flame could wipe away through purifying fire.

The war began well, with early victories against Numeria and the northern holdings of the River Kingdoms providing a stable front and large sources of conscripts. The trouble began when a mercenary party hired by House Chimera began to target those closest to him. One by one his family members, close and far began to die in the line of duty. Spellbane Garess killed by a stone giant just south of Hajoth Hakados, Lorian Lebeda skewered by a Half-Orc in a besieged town, Diascira Lebeda impaled then skinned and hung in Winterbreak. For the first time in years, Finn wondered if it was truly worth continuing his family's quest to bring peace, for all it seemed to bring was death. He shook off these feelings for the time and continued his charge into the blasphemous lands of his neighbors. The Order of the True Flame increased their brutality to compensate for the hope being gathered by those who had learned of the mercenary party thwarting Brevoy.

The war came to it's climax when the mercenary party broke Brevoy's main army at the siege of Hajoth Hakados and began to lead a counter army directly to his capital. Sending out Phyrus to handle them, he was startled and alarmed to learn of the dragon's death at Nova. His remaining forces gathered at New Stetven for the inevitable showdown, and he steeled himself to deal with this threat once and for all. The mercenary party breached the capital and charged the palace, killing his bodyguard Wandaris Garess before descending on the throne room. He had gathered as many of the mightiest warriors in his land as possible in preparation for this fight, but he could not have anticipated what would happen. His son Rai-El betrayed him, shouting out a cry to free Brevoy from his treachery before striking down his other son Laiz. The mercenary party had stolen his son from him, forced him to betray his country.

As the final blow fell that would take his life, Finn realized he was wrong. He had turned his son against him. He had sent his family members to their deaths in the pursuit of an impossible peace. He renounced the powers of hell as he died, stealing back the souls of his living family from Kai'Thikul. He died damned to hell, but with a smile on his face as he knew his family could live without fear from now on.