Venali Malthen

Venali Malthen is the eldest of the three Malthen children, with younger sisters Idril and Aerith.

## Biographical Information

### Relatives

Ruven Malthen, Arryn Malthen, Idril Malthen, Aerith Malthen

### Empoyment

Captain of the Personal Guard to the King of Parnos

## Description

### Appearance

Venali stands 6ft 1. He is golden skinned with bright blue eyes and silver hair. His build is powerful and muscular. He has a large birthmark between his shoulder blades that is very dark brown in colour and looks almost like a bird or animal but has no clear shape. He wears his hair plaited and keeps it long and usually covering his ears.

### Personality and Alignment

Venali is Lawful Good. He fights for honour and truth with a burning passion.

### Religion

He attends The Church of Light in Parnos but has little time for clerics, enforcing the Truth with his sword.

## Skills and Traits

He is a skilled fighter, particularly with Great and Long Sword. He rides with great skill and is a formidable opponent in a fight.

### Languages Spoken

Elvish
Common
Draconic

### Armour / Clothing

He wears silver plate with a shield emblazoned with the symbol of Huwl on the Parnos coat of arms.

### Weapons

His preferred weapon is a Greatsword, which he wields single handedly. He can fight well with most bladed weapons.

### Spells / Abilities

Venali can radiate power in battle. He emboldens his allies and increases their ferocity and damage. In addition his weapon attacks often seem to wield huge power, in excess of that which would be predicted by steel alone.

## Home

Venali resides at the Royal Court in Parnos

## Treasure / Prize Possessions

His most prized possession is his Shield, given to him on attaining his Paladin status.

## Relationships

### Family

Venali is the eldest child of Ruven and Arryn and has two younger sisters; Idril and Aerith. He has never married nor considered it. He sees close relationships to be a distraction to his work.

### Allies

Venali is a member of the Parnos Guard and the order of Paladins. He is allied with the Parnos army and leads the contingent of guards responsible for protecting the monarch.

### Animals and Familiars

Venali rides a huge black warhorse called Shadow. The horse is fearless in battle and Venali respects him greatly as an ally.

## History

He was born to Ruven and Arryn in the land of Parnos.
As the firstborn son of prominent parents Venali's place at court was secured from birth. This gave him both security and a deep sense of entitlement which often bordered on arrogance.

As a young elf Venali had the full attention of his parents for his first 100 years. Despite having access to the very best tutors Venali showed little aptitude for his books preferring instead to best his friends at fencing, archery and running. He developed into a powerful youth with skills as a fighter, often used in his group of friends to "enforce" their rank over lower noble and common children.

At the age of 100 his sister Idril was born and this served to focus Venali's mind on demonstrating his superiority to their father. In a way that the tutors had never managed Idril's appearance caused Venali to focus on his studies, particularly politics and history in order to impress Ruven.

At 150 years old his second sister Aerith was born. The arrival of the perfect baby girl temporarily unsteadied Venali as it was immediately clear that she was their parent's favourite. Even the sunburst mark on her arm was seen as a sign of being angel touched rather than as an imperfection as his mark had been.

Venali and Idril became closer through the following 50 years as they both felt slightly outcast by their younger sister. Venali enjoyed fighting with Idril and was secretly impressed at her skills with a mace, although she never beat him with a sword! They rode together and although Idril was better with a bow, Venali could stand in the path of an injured wild hog without flinching.

Venali started to accompany his father on visits to the royal court, where his father served as elven ambassador. Ruven worked with him on diplomacy and political manoeuvring and Venali came to understand that his father was both a powerful friend and enemy who played his cards very close to his chest and very few knew him well, despite often thinking otherwise.

Venali started to make his own contacts at court, particularly the head of the royal guards, with whom he began to train.

On the visit when Aerith disappeared Venali was sparring with the Paladin fighters of the court and had defeated several of the younger initiates. Ringald, the old Dragonborn captain of the guard was impressed and offered him a place for ongoing training and education.

Venali's moment of achievement was immediately overshadowed by the disappearance of the young Aerith. His father focussed only on the loss of the child and the search that ensued. Venali's success faded into insignificance against the loss and Venali harboured a deep resentment from this moment. Unfortunately the prime target of this resentment was Idril, who he blamed for losing the child and therefore distracting their father's attention from him.

Venali and Idril barely spoke after that day. Venali moved into the barracks of the Royal Guard and began training as a Paladin. He was driven by his sense of rejection and injustice to turn towards upholding what he saw as the most righteous virtues; honor and truth, the opposite of his father. He trained hard and was quickly recognised as a real talent with a deep, burning sense of justice.

Venali worked his way through the ranks of knights and became Captain of the personal guard to the King.

After around 130 years with virtually no contact with his family his mother came and told him that Idril was leaving to find Aerith. Venali felt shocked and chastened that he had achieved so much as a Paladin and yet had never considered trying to find his youngest sister. He had a suit of blue and purple plate crafted by the best armourer in Parnos, with each plate resembling a bird's feather and accompanied his mother to bid Idril good luck on her quest.

Venali was surprised to see the poised young woman Idril had become. She accepted the plate with a smile of relief and he watched as she walked, tall and proud, towards the caravan she was accompanying from the city. He was pleased to see her carrying both mace and bow and prays daily for her safety.