Valarius Paragon
Valarius Paragon (a.k.a. Greatest Acrobat in Golarian)
Human Male Zen Archer
Costian Petrescu was a human swashbuckler sellsword from Oppara. His skill with the rapier became quite well known in Taldor and surrounding regions. He also was quite charismatic, which made him a popular hire with the nobility of Oppara. Costian began to build quite the clientele with the nobles of Oppara. This exposure also allowed him to display his gambling skills, which some of the nobles he worked with took notice of. There was one trip where a noble hired him to participate in a major gambling event in Absolom. At this event, the nobleman would bet on Costian, and Costian could keep what he won. The plan was for Costian to make it to the finals, and then throw it. The nobleman had let some other questionable folks know the plan so they could also cash in on his scheme. At the event, there was a slave by the name Evalia Paragon. She was a half-elf slave that was the property of the person running the event. Costian did very well in the tournament, and made it the finals quite easily. His opponent was the slave owner of Evalia. The match went on for quite a while, and in the final round his opponent went all in, and threw in Evalia. Costian went against the noble (and his partners), and won the contest. The nobleman and his partners sent people immediately to kill Costian, but his skill with the rapier allowed him to escape. The nobleman was quite influential, and he knew that Oppara (and most likely Taldor) could no longer be his home. He also didn’t find out who the nobleman was working with, but they didn’t look like people to mess with. Costian fled Absolom (and Taldor) with Evalia and made his way to a small town in Andoran called Falcon’s Hollow.
It was here that they made a life for themselves. They got married and had a child named Valarius. Evalia was introduced to a following of Cayden Caileen, which really fit her ideals and hatred of slavery. The small town life suited Evalia, but Costian was struggling to keep a low profile. He was a big personality, and his craving for adventure and excitement led him to take some jobs that took him from town. There was one job that paid extremely well, but would take him to Cassomir. Despite Evalia begging him not to take it, Costian proceeded with the job. It was going to be simple enough. He was travelling with the head of the Lumber |Consortiium to negotiate some lumber trade deals with Cassomir, which is a major shipping hub. Should be an easy score. He’d only be gone for a couple weeks and when he got back, they would “be set”.
After a number of weeks, the head of the lumber consortium returned, but no Costian. He told Evalia that they split up after their dealings in Cassomir had finished, but there was something unnerving about the lumber consortium guy that Evalia didn’t trust. She feared that the nobles of Taldor might be involved and feared for her son’s safety. She took Valarius and fled further west to Korvosa. To stay hidden, she went back to her maiden name Paragon. She worked as a Fletcher and sent her son Valarius to the Bastion for archery training and discipline. She wanted Valarius to be ready in case the nobles somehow found them in Korvosa. Valarius knew little of his father and thought his father's last name was Paragon. His mother only told him that he was an adventurer from Taldor.
Valarius has stayed around Korvosa, mostly due to his mother’s insistence. He always thought it was just her being overprotective after losing her husband. Valarius took up archery at the Bastion, and was quite good at it. Probably some of his mother’s elven heritage. Valarius tried to pour his focus into his training, but he was feeling a stronger urge for adventure. To help with this, Valarius started gambling a bit. This little bit of thrill-seeking seemed to be enough for a while, and he found he was pretty good at it. However, he quickly realized that exploration was his true desire. He talked to his mother about it, and she very quickly told him how unsafe and cruel the world was.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
THE CODE of VALARIUS PARAGON
Respect Legitimate authority (unless they abuse their power or intentionally cause harm to those under them)
Act with Honor (not use poison, cheating and lying are discouraged, but sometimes necessary)
Help those in Need (provided they don’t use the help for evil ends)
Punish those who harm or threaten innocents
Oppose slavery, evil outsiders who seek to strip mortals of their freedom. There is no justice in a law that oppresses one man to benefit another.
Try to uphold the six sacred freedoms
1. Liberty (or freedom from restraint)
2. Individuality (freedom from coercion)
3. Conscience (freedom from corruption)
4. Love (freedom from loneliness)
5. Security (freedom from fear)
6. Autonomy (freedom from oppression)
Circumstances of Death
Slain by the drow wizard Urthadar in the Vault of Jel'va
Place of Death
Children
