Noir Valaeis

## Baron Noir Valaeis

Rimaz Valaeis (brother)

Thanos Valaeis (nephew)

Zam'r

TaLash (in death)

**Baron Noir Valaeis** is the the ruler of the Void and commander of the Dreaded Army. He is the lone survivor of his immediate family. Originally a scholar alongside his longtime friend, Nafaq, Noir turned completely toward Tenebra after the Three Specters denied his request to resurrect his son, Vesperu.

## Biography

Not much is known about Noir's past beyond that he and his brother Rimaz were orphaned at a young age. There is evidence that leads some historians that Noir and Rimaz had a sister, but her whereabouts are unknown. Growing up, Noir was drawn to the academic life where he met his longtime friend Nafaq. While studying, Noir and Rimaz would go years without talking, and fell apart with each passing year.

### Interaction with Tenebra

Early into their studies, Nafaq and Noir stumbled upon the powers of Tenebra. The two discovered that just as with art, the blackness of Tenebra managed to consume all around it, making it greatly more powerful than an equivalent amount of Spectra.

When the Specters discovered that Nafaq and Noir had been experimenting with Tenebra, they sought to extinguish any possibility of it being used. By blanketing the lands of Luminous in light, they managed to purge Tenebra from the lands.

#### Order of the Carrion Crow

Nafaq and Noir knew of the possibilities that Tenebra could be used for. Together, they created the Order of the Carrion Crow, an organization dedicated to the study of Tenebra and controlling how it is used. Initially, in order to meet, the group had to travel out of the lands of Luminous to the city of El'Narath. Eventually, Nafaq and Noir had mastered enough Tenebra to create a pocket of darkness, deep within Luminous that not even the Specters could detect.

The Order of the Carrion Crow in its peak had several hundred members, each sworn to secrecy and dedicated to the mastery of Tenebra.

#### Death of Vesperu

As two Specters slumbered, the third Specter was busy maintaining light over Luminous. This caused darkness and crime to slowly spread across Tor'bel, and even creep into the outer limits of Luminous. It fell to the Republic of Luminous to protect the outer reaches and aid the Specters in preventing crime from entering the city. One evening, Noir and Valdis received news that their son Vesperu, a soldier for the Republic, had been killed by the fiends and sinners that sought to overthrow Luminous from the light.

At first, Noir sought the aid of Nafaq. During their studies Nafaq had managed to use a small quantity of Tenebra to resurrect primitive creatures. Nafaq refused to teach Noir how to raise the dead, for he feared of Noir's motives and drive. Nafaq had also never attempted to resurrect an Etera before, and felt that a much larger supply of Tenebra would be required. After failing to convince Nafaq to help him return his son, Noir and Valdis turned to the Specters.

Upon entry into the Hall of Specters, Noir and Valdis immediately had their request turned down. The Specters feared for what might occur should they undo death and the precedent that would be set.

### Into Darkness

Returning to their home, Noir and Valdis shifted their priorities to the extermination of the night and declared it would be their sole purpose until their son is given peace. Together they created the Twilight Transformation Movement which would pressure the Specters to provide longer days to all of Tor'bel and help eradicate the nighttime lifestyle.

The Twilight Transformation Movement proved to be widely accepted and successful, as Etera and Demetera from across Tor'bel banded together to fight back the darkness. Eventually the Specters used some of their already stretched powers to create moons and stars that would help spread the light across the sky. Although not everyone approved; many Etera that thrived in the corrupt nighttime way of life began to fear for their way of life and felt personally targeted. One of these individuals was Rimaz, who had grown accustomed to his nighttime lifestyle.

#### Death of Valdis

One evening Noir returned to his home to find it empty. It was ominously quiet and Valdis was nowhere to be seen. After visiting Luminous, Noir only discovered that she had left the Citadel, but was not seen again after. Using what he knew of Spectra, Noir began to focus on Valdis until he was able to envision her location. To his surprise, she was bound and being carried away by several figures towards the edged of Luminous. Gathering several nearby Republic soldiers, Noir and his team ran as fast as they could to catch up to Valdis. As they neared, they slowed down and prepared to drop down upon the kidnappers and use the element of surprise to their benefit.

First filling up the area with a smoke bomb, Noir's team dropped down upon the kidnappers amongst the confusion. As the smoke cleared, the kidnappers were revealed, amongst them was Rimaz with a knife in his hand and Valdis, who was kneeling on the ground with a blade to her throat. As one of the kidnappers looked at Rimaz and said "Do it", Noir leapt to action. In all one movement, Rimaz turned upon the figure behind him and the two exchanged blade slashes. Noir, distracted by his brother's movement, turned to save him, but was too late. Rimaz fell to the ground, his face turning pale. After a moment's hesitation, Noir turned toward Valdis' captors, but she too fell upon the ground.

As the soldiers detained the kidnappers, Noir just stood there over the lifeless bodies of his distant brother and his beloved wife. Rimaz lay with a crooked smile upon his face while Valdis lay, expressionless and her beautiful skin scarred.

### Master of Tenebra

With the death of the remaining members of the Valaeis family, Noir had nowhere left to turn. In his prior moments of darkness when both his friend, Nafaq, and his mentors, the Specters, turned their backs upon him he had Valdis to confide in. The only remaining entity in his life that had not abandoned him was the essence of Tenebra.

#### Rise of the Dusks

While sitting in his candle lit home, Noir's mind wandered back to his previous experiments with Tenebra, Noir had felt a presence, one that felt more powerful than the Specters but had difficulty materializing. As the flames flickered, he saw the shadows form into the shapes of Rimaz, Valdis, and Vesperu. It was in this moment, he realized why the Specters feared Tenebra; for it was more powerful than them.

Later that day Noir decided he must sneak into Nafaq's study and steal his notes on *primitive* resurrection. The entire walk to Nafaq's Noir felt himself being followed but the only visible being was his own shadow, following his exact footsteps.

After sneaking into the house and to the study, Noir found Nafaq's journal, unguarded upon the desk. As he flipped through the pages, they slowly began to fade to gray and disintegrate. Quickening his search, Noir utilized Spectra to search for the section on resurrection. As his eyes lay upon the page, the surrounding area around him flashed with darkness, knocking him onto his feet. As the darkness faded, Noir found himself surrounded by several shapeless creatures looking upon him with their dark red eyes. Initially, Noir panicked but soon realized that they weren't there to hurt him, but to serve him. Standing up, Noir read the page again, and noticed one major section titled "Self-Sacrifice".

Noir flipped the journal closed and noticed that the shards of Spectore set in the cover had become dulled and cracked. Additionally, many of the pages had become scorched by a black fire or all out disintegrated. The journal appeared to have a darker aura attached to it now. Before he could examine it further, a noise was heard at the door of the study. Immediately, the Dusks leapt to Noir, overwhelming him in an sphere of darkness. As it cleared, Noir found himself back in his own candlelit home, this time surrounded by more of the creatures of night.

#### Construction of Zam'r

After weeks of remaining locked within his basement laboratory, Noir had begun to understand the foundation of the creatures of night, which he had begun to call Shades. It appeared that in order for any creature of Tenebra, or Dusk as he began to call them, to solidify they required a connection to the real world. Noir found that each creature had been tapped onto his own essence, using his own fear, anger, hatred, and soul to solidify. This conclusion was solidified by Noir because of the Dusks' red eyes, the same as the Valaeis family.

Eventually Noir felt that he needed something better, and felt that he was ready to attempt a resurrection of a more powerful creature, an Etera. His desire made him want to attempt with Valdis or Vesperu, but he feared for mangling the remains of their bodies. This left him with his traitorous brother Rimaz. After Rimaz's death his corpse had been vandalized had been dismembered. Traveling around Tor'bel, Noir collected what remains he could of Rimaz and sewed them back together using the very fibers of Tenebra.

To his surprise, the combination worked. The fibers of Tenebra flowed throughout the corpse as blood and manipulated the physical components into something horrifying. As the creature awoke, Noir named it Zam'r, for in death, Rimaz was removed from the Valaeis family line and by removing his full name, forced him into servitude to Noir.

#### Return to Politics

Working together in secrecy, Noir and Zam'r quickly mastered any ideas they could come up with to use Tenebra. The citizens of Luminous began to worry that they hadn't seen Noir in a long time, only flickering lights and shadows were visible from his window. After being turned away time and time again, Nafaq decided that this had gone on long enough and went to see what was wrong with Noir. Summoning several Urg'ae, Nafaq marched with his small army to the front door of Noir's manor. After knocking, he began to give one final warning that he would be breaking the door down, but instead it opened. There, in the doorway stood Noir, but he was different. The once self-pampered and pride mannerism was gone. Here stood a pale twisted figure, with dark bags under his eyes, his face resembling that of a skull. His clothes were as dark as night and his hair a mess. Before Nafaq could respond, Noir announced that he would be returning to politics.

Riding in silence alongside Nafaq to the Citadel, Noir seemed to just be smirking the entire time, muttering occasionally to a being that, at least to Nafaq, didn't exist. As they reached the Citadel, Noir went to the Specters' Chamber. It was there that he revealed what he had been working on and demanded that Zam'r make himself visible. As the ghastly figure faded into view, the room grew quiet. The Specters immediately chained down Zam'r and threatened Noir to leave the lands of Tor'bel forever. To this Noir remarked that they no longer control the world. Turning his back to the Specters, Noir freed Zam'r and send him away for his appearance frightened the Etera and Demetera.

Outside the citadel, Noir declared that the age of the Specters has come to an end and that the future of the Etera was finally up to themselves. The Etera rallied behind this, and soon a force so large not even the Specters could oppose in their weakened state was formed. This massive push for radicalization caused a division to begin to form between the Spectra wielding Etera and the ingenious Demetera. As the Etera pushed the Demetera further and further into submission, the drums of war began to play louder and louder.

### The Eternal War

With each passing day, chaos became more and more apparent and with it, Noir's power grew. His followers expanded widely and nighttime began to set into the lands of Tor'bel once more. With each movement by the Specters to restore society, they were met by Noir, Zam'r and the Dusks of Noir. Over the years, Zam'r had remained hidden within the shadows of the growing night. Although his face was now covered by an old grain sack, he became a creature of legend and nightmares to both Etera and Demetera. Several Etera Noir began to tutor in the ways of combat and Tenebra, becoming the first members of what would become the Dreaded Army of Noir.

#### War for El'Narath

Noir knew that if he wanted full control of Tor'bel, he needed to claim the Demetera capital of El'Narath. The place was thought of as a safe haven for all creatures of Tor'bel, but under Noir's Tor'bel, he could not have a rogue city state. Sending in the Dreaded Army, they fought against Etera and Demetera for nearly five years before claiming the city of El'Narath for the new Etera society. During this time, Noir continued to push back against the Specters and grow the numbers of the Dreaded Army.

#### The Demetera Exodus

At last, victory for Noir was within reach. He had declared a war upon those that dared to defy him. As El'Narath lay conquered, Noir granted the Demetera of Tor'bel one final act of kindness, and allowed them to join the ranks of the Dreaded Army. The majority of the Demetera decided against joining Noir's Army and attempted to flee the nation.

### Rise of the Dark Baron

With Noir now the sole commander of all of Tor'bel, except for Luminous, he decided it was time for a change. He cleaned up his hair, had a new suit of armor designed, and commanded Zam'r to step out of the shadows. Those that followed Noir cheered for their freedom from the Spectra-less Demetera. They began to call Noir by the title of Baron. Little did most of them notice the deeper, darker changes within Noir though. Several of Noir's old comrades began to awaken to the civil war that had just befallen the nation. Nafaq, Adrian, and Hermielle began to worry for what might be on the horizon. As the days passed, Noir began to make less public appearances, but those that saw him claimed that the ground he stepped upon became desecrated and void of all color.

## Profile

### Appearance

Noir is a middle-aged man with raven black hair and vibrant red eyes. He maintains his facial hair as a slight stubbleHe dresses to display his political power over the Etera world, with a long, burgundy jacket that has white and gold trim, and matching trousers. He occasionally wears a black scarf and a gray mantle. Unlike the rest of the Etera politicans and nobles who dress traditionally in white, Noir's attire is red for the Valaeis bloodline.

After Noir's fall to Tenebra, his skin becomes paler and he gains several black markings across his arms and upper torso.

It is rumored that when angered or upset, Noir's humanoid form begins to lose its shape, as he blends the line between Etera and Dusk and become a creature of nightmare.