Valryn

He doesn't even get close to enough credit for what he does. It might not seem like it, but just a couple years ago, I couldn't even have imagined playing in front of a handful of friends, and now I'm playing in front of thousands of strangers. He was the one who encouraged me to share my passion. He is the one who's always there for me, encouraging me. He is the most amazing and intelligent person I've ever met - and he probably hates me for pushing him into the foreground for once, but he deserves the spotlight more than anyone!

— Mica "Shadowbloom" Conan

Valryn is a Tinkerer and Illusionist currently living in Okodranous. Together with Shadowbloom, he is inspiring thousands of people, but not many know about that. He is the person behind Mica. The one who created her instrument, the one encouraging her to inspire people and the person responsible for making her concerts even more special with his illusion shows.

History

Living in Light and Glamour

Valryn was born in Prevena as the son of the Landino family - one of the wealthiest and most influential families of the city. While is two brothers and three sisters enjoyed the high society life, he always was the black sheep of the family - preferring tinkering with things over spending time at parties and galas. He never understood the sense of showing of your wealth, impressing equally wealthy people just for their appreciation of the things you own.
In his early teens, he made friends with many poorer people who shared his passion of tinkering and illusions. More and more, Valryn noticed how unfair life in the city can be. His family was living in a mansion with a garden, bigger than some districts, and eating from plates worth a year's salary of a simple worker - and his friends barely managed to scrape by day to day.
So he did the only thing sensible to him, and slowly siphoned of his family's worth to help out those less fortunate. Over the years, he probably distributed thousands of pieces of gold in the poorer districts of the city, not even making a dent in his families resources. But eventually, shortly before he turned 14, he got caught, disowned, and thrown out by his parents. Without a single copper piece to his name, he grabbed his tinkering tools, headed to Okodranous and never looked back.

The shadow fell

The next couple of years weren't easy, but he found a little shack in the Shadowcliff and work at a small repair shop. It wasn't a great job, and it didn't pay very well, but it was enough to pay for food and shelter, and gave him time to work on his real passions - tinkering and illusions.
Just a couple weeks after moving to Okodranous, he met a young plane-touched half-elven girl, working in her parents' bakery. They quickly became best friends, talking away entire nights, while Valryn worked on his tinkering and Mica on her music.

A story of encouragement

I don't know how often I had to tell her that her music is incredible. I felt like one of the luckiest persons in the world, sitting in my little shack, working on my projects, while listening to her beautiful voice and playing. She didn't believe me, and she didn't believe in herself, but eventually I could convince her to at least give it a try and play in our local pub.
I've never seen her that nervous! She could barely hold her guitar without shaking. But once she sat down and focused on her music, all that nervousness was just gone. She just sat down and played. I always believed she could do it, but at that moment I was certain.

Valryn

— Valryn

While Mica's career exploded, Valryn was there every step of the way in the background. He supported his best friend in every way he could, helping her land her next gig, and even enhancing her performances with his own illusions. Mica became a Beacon of Hope for many people, and Valryn became the person to keep Mica's passion burning.
Ultimately, he tried to find a way to combine his passion of tinkering with Mica's passion of music, and eventually find the perfect combination of the two. For Mica's 18th birthday, Valryn created a new original instrument. Combining his knowledge of technology, magic and illusions, he created the Arcane Guitar - an instrument that can amplify sound and voice, distort the tone and even create fully unique and unfamiliar sounds.

When you play with fire....

The Dragons of O'dranous, have money without end
While other folk are starving, their belies will extend.
They only seems to care, to grow in size and mass
The Dragons of O'dranous, can come and kiss my...

Mica always used social critique in her songs, and Valryn always encouraged her to do so. He might have come from a very wealthy family, but he has seen the inequality first hand and left his family's name behind. Every chance they got to help the simple folk while being a thorn in the side of the rich and powerful - they took it.
The duo made a lot of enemies over time, and eventually it came back to bite them. One evening in the Fallen Anchor, somebody tried to poison Mica before her concert, and only a tiny inaccuracy saved her life.

Even Darkness can Glow

Of course I was furious! Somebody tried to kill my best friend, and honestly, it was just pure luck she survived. I believed that this was the end of it all. Mica loves to give her concerts, but even today it takes her a lot of courage to step onto the stage. I thought this assassination attempt would finally kill that bit of courage for good. But I was wrong. So wrong. Instead of destroying her, it made her double down even more. She wasn't going to give up, but fight back with all she got, and I was right next to her.

Valryn

— Valryn

After the attempt on Mica's life, the duo didn't play it low. They always had a dream of playing a big concert in the harbour of Okodranous - the huge cliff side as a backdrop, with Tria's Light reflecting in the water's beneath.
So for the next couple weeks, Mica and Valryn planned this event - to just spit into the faces of the rich that attempted to silence them. While Mica prepared the music, Valryn took care of the rest. Of course, they didn't get permission from the city, so he convinced the dock-workers and sailors to help them in their endeavour. Together they prepared a floating stage, and when the time came, they just took over a small part of the harbour and the concert could begin.
As soon as the sun sat behind the cliff-side, Mica started playing. Her music echoed over the water and Valryn's illusions illuminated the area. People stopped what they were doing, listened and watched in awe. The harbour of Okodranous never sleeps, but during this night, it stood still. The news of this event spread throughout the city, and more and more people came to the harbour to listen to Mica's music. In the end, thousands of people came together that night.

Music and Lyrics by Satrium. Vocals by Diane Morrison

A hint of rebellion

And then we can all, whoever we are,
become the very best, what we're all meant to be,
Uniqueness is our strength, no matter what they say
And it will be the path, to a brighter day.

During the months following the concert, critical voices around the city became louder and louder.The duo inspired people, and they started something neither of them could have dreamed of.
Finally, the people of Okodranous had enough. Over centuries, the inequality in the city has grown, but without hope, people didn't believe they could change anything about it. 15 years ago, Valryn was disowned and thrown out for helping the poor, and now he might find himself in the middle of a rebellion brewing around him and his best friend.

Work in Progress

This article is still heavily WIP and can change at any moment

External Copyright

This article is covered by external copyright, and therefor not publicly visible.

Year of Birth

866 31 Years old

Birthplace

Protreni

Current Residence

Okodranous

Further Reading