Born a son to a poor merchant whose business relied on trade to and from
Glarn and the smaller villages that exist outside of the town,
Valenden was brought up to his father's profession until it ended when he was a teenager. His father was already old at that time and was lucky to become a clerk for the town while
Valenden got a job as a runner boy for Glarn's
Farmer's guild. Later in his life, he got the chance to buy his own plot of land to grow and harvest on. Doing this at the age of 29, he became an official part of the
Farmer's Guild of Glarn and would become a representative in the township's council in 2521 at the age of 31.
Disaster struck the following year when the disease struck the town and many of its inhabitants lost their lives, including Valenden's own son and daughter. Valenden himself got the disease of Yellowsnouth but survived, only getting scars from the disease around the upper part of his nose. While it was a devastating loss for him, he saw little he could do. He decided to appeal to the town's council for organizing a Physician's guild or some other way to organize healthcare for the town. Despite being a representative and a man known for the good he had done for the town, the appeal wasn't even brought up to the Glarn Council. As the Farmer's guild was weak in their leadership despite having most of the votes from people and the most representatives, Valenden tried and failed to rally them. Angered by this, Valenden terminated his period as a representative of the Farmer's Guild and he took up his father's former business practice once again and became a store owner in the city, selling both his own of the Glarnwheat but also tools and weaves made by his remaining family. He was urged to join the Brotherhood's Guild by associates and customers. He always told them that he could not consider it since the Brotherhood was openly hostile to the Demons that lives in the town and he had no problem's with them:
Why would I help someone who would do more damage in times like these where we need to help eachother? Just because Demons are of another race, does it mean that they are worth to hate? They are, in fact, more help then Humans, since they know the value of cooperation and the hatred from others.
Valenden was reelected in an emergency 2526 after the current mayor was killed in a building accident. This time however he had the opportunity to rally support again, this time from the Weaver's Guild, the second most powerful of the three main competitors in Glarn's council. This was due to the fact that Valenden had amassed a bit of wealth and a bit of fame since he was one of very few who were not aligned with any political group and owned both a plot of land outside the town and business inside the walls. Also, he had been a close friend to the late mayor and was among those who attended the funeral, having the position as a Follower, one who follows the casket up to the grave and aid's the priest.
During his new term as a representative without the official backing of any one party, Valenden swayed influence over the council with him mostly backing the Weaver's Guild's decisions. This was until a rumble was felt thought the town in 2529. An small earthquake had struck the town and razed several of the poor homes on both the outskirts of town and the poor home's closer to the walls. Wanting to focus efforts on rebuilding, he was shocked when the Weavers and the new mayor choose to support the Brotherhood's decision to move the Demons out of that part of town and outside the walls. This formed an uprising that was not only among Demons but also among the poor people that saw it as the council want to remove them. As Valenden was part of the town watch (like many others, since the Watch was the duty of every man in the township at least once a year) at the time he was forced into service against the uprising. This, once again, changed his views on Glarn and its system of politics that usually benefited not him and those who elected, but those in power at the top of the council.
As his term came to an end 2530, Valenden worked as a normal business owner for ten years, taking care of his family and becoming even more famous as he tried to create a form of common housing for those without homes. This, however, worked only for a year until he was forced to terminate the contract on the house due to business falling for him and his two sons. His only living daughter married during this time at the age of 17.
A new politics spark lit up for Valenden as a large outbreak of disease took place again in the town 2541 in which his mother and wife fell victim to. He too almost did but again lived due to a great Demon physician in town who was mostly self-thought and by the Demon's father and a human physician. This again wanted Valenden to make the council to see his idea of a Physician's Guild, but this time the council relied on the support of the Brotherhood who was fiercely against organizing a Physician's Guild and instead wanted Glarn to have the priests of Reliona and Nilari take care of the health department of the town. This made Valenden disappointed and he saw no other option than to run for becoming a representative again in the election 2542. Uncommon for other representatives, he made speeches and gatherings to tell the electors what he wanted to do rather than to put up signs and lists in taverns and other common gathering spots. With the help of friends and his family, he would gain much more support then he could ever imagine. His third son (his second died during the disease outbreak 2522) also ran to become a representative. When the election was over after a harsh summer of bickering and discussions about the election and both the first harvest and a king's visitation, both Valenden and his son were not only representatives but also on the Council of Glarn. Valenden was an independent winner, the first in many hundreds of years, and had won a landslide victory which denied any dispute of who was to become the Mayor of Glarn.
Dispite optimism and wanting change,
Valenden felt that something was in the air as times changed. Unfortunately, he was right, as
Nekuram attacked the following year and occupied
Glarn. He was not replaced but his power was suspended as
Arthon took over the town and made it his forward base of operations during the following months.
Now like many others, Valenden was in a town which had not seen war during his or any living being's lifetime. With Arthon's forces withdrawing and creating an iron defence, Valenden could do nothing but to look on and fear for his and the town's inhabitants life...
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