Val

This article may need some touch ups after World Ember, the goal is to draft out some of the ideas surrounding Val The Stillborn and eventually add in new elements as time goes by.

The Stillborn God shall rise again. Rise and raze the world from its current opressors

— Callmaster Kallus Moraith

Val, also known as The Stillborn, is believed to be a godling among the people of Xhen-dra and the Hallowed Call. However, they are truly an abberant hybrid from the Outer Reaches that has resided on this plane and gained their fragment of divinity from the belief of the people around them.

History

Arrival to Xhen-dra

Upon their arrival in 586 AR, some fantatics in the city of Xhen-dra believed that Val was the next creature who will bear the power of a deity, as such they praised the creature who was stillborn and without life. This led to a surge of divine energy entering their form and giving them power beyond what was though capable before. After this surge of divine energy, his form started floating around and they were capable of utilising what seemed like divine magic to make up for his malformed visage. Val is in fact an aberrant hybrid whose powers originate in the Outer Reaches, with several experiments taken place to bring them back to life after their stillbirth by creatures from their original home. As such though their powers are more ingrained in the psionic realm than divine, however the beliefs of the people of Xhen-dra have granted him further powers.

Hallowed Call

For several decades, The Stillborn was praised as one of the main deities by a group of fanatic cult leaders known as the Hallowed Call. These members were each devout followers of Val and while their form was still "living" they swore an oath to defend and protect it. They were successful in this pursuit for many years with their defense of their deity being their core tenet. In return, Val would grant them powers, both Divine and Eldritch, some chose to take up weapons, others to become clerics under his guidance.

Trapped

In 649AR, Val and the Hallowed Call were attacked by several powerful adventurers who infiltrated Xhen-dra with the express purpose of investigating the rumours of a new godling controlling a powerful cult. These adventurers were successful in their attack and trapped Val's body within an amulet. Because of this trap, Val's physical form was completely cut off from the mortal plane, however their mind and sentience was so powerful that it bleeds through the magic of the amulet. This has helped Val as they have been able to influence and compell the right people to his will. The combination of these events have allowed the amulet to be returned to the Hallowed Call, though it did take over a century of work and manipulation.

Current Actions

Currently, Val is trying to gather together more members to their cult to continue towards their release, some are bestowrd with Divine abilties, others with Eldritch pacts. Meanwhile, the conciousness and mind of Val is maturing, from the infant godling to a more mature divine being. This has allowed them to mature in their methods and capabilities, which has also drastically increased their power. Should they be released, who knows what form they may now take.

Depiction

When they last had a physical form, Val was said to look similar to an overgrown human baby. However in some depictions several limbs have been altered by the experimentation, with large growths appearing all over his body and making them look somewhat cancerous. The largest difference is that his head has bloated and expanded, with his brain almost pulsing through the greatly extended forehead. In the middle of this large forhead is a pure white eye that is shown to glow purple when they are utilising any form of magic.
Often they are shown siting in some sort of chair that they are using to help them float around. This would also explain how they are able to move around and why the people of Xhen-dra immediately thought that they were some kind of deity, because they were already on a throne. In addition, this seat is commonly reported to exist and can be sat in by a Small or Tiny creature who would be able to communicate directly with Val.

Val, the Stillborn

Deity Information

Type	Believed Being, Lesser Totems
Titles	The Stillborn
Domains	Psionics Falsehoods
Common Symbol	Grey triangle with three eyes, two black at the bottom, one purple at the top
Gender	Presents Male
Pronouns	He/They/It
Creature Type	Aberration
Alignment	Chaotic Evil
Home Plane	Outer Reaches

Worship Information

Associated Domain	Knowledge Death War
Associated Patronage	Celestial Great Old One Hexblade Undead Undying
Divine Artifact	Amulet of The Stillborn

Notable Followers

This section contains a number of followers of Val who exist throughout Nonvyrox, each providing a different perspective on life as a cleric, warlock, or follower (reluctant or willing). Some may expand to become more fleshed out characters and recieve their own article. However, this description is intended to provide the basis for a character that can be developed further later on.

Marianne Lavore

Human Cleric (Knowledge)
One of the first to seek out Val, Marianne Lavore is considered by many to be the last living acolyte who directly conversed with Val. She was known to be a propoent, if not spokesperson for the Stillborn, being the first to acclaim that they were to be the next true deity of the world. During the conflict which led to the entrapment of Val, Marianne was found inside a blue crystal-like structure. She was moved, inside of the blue crystal-like structure, from Xhen-dra to Sovmora where she remains under watch by Highbearers.

Vile Kor-Yamas

Mistborn Warlock
Some Mistborn have claimed that they are descended from the same origins as Val. One such creature decided to take a pilgramage to see Val and ask for help in their mission of furthering the Mistborn people beyond the valley and caves that they were based in at that point. Vile takes after their name, particuarly in the later forms of their life. After seeking out Val, Vile was vastly different to the individual they once were. It is rumoured that they have killed and sacrificed many individuals to the might of Val.

Qi Kranstoff

Half-Elf Fighter
A soldier in Xhen-dra, Qi Kranstoff has been designated as one of the primary protectors of the region that once contained Val's physical form. Upon searching this area Qi discovered a latent psychic connection to The Stillborn God which slowly twisted and warped their mind. After several years of this, they have set up a shrine among the wilds beyond Xhen-dra and use this place to indoctronate members into Val's following continually.

Carolyne Martal

Human Ranger
Living far from the regions once controlled by The Stillborn, Carolyne has set up her primary residence in the Ossalimarian Empire. While her faith is based in the natural world and the concept of hunters, she was fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to find the Unbeating Heart which formed a link between the conciousness of Val and the Ranger. Upon the development of this link, Carolyne seemingly lost her mind and as such has spent much of her life since within the Marisfield Sanitorium as one of their central patients. While she has been placed within the sanitorium for many years, there are very few records that indicate her commitment to the sanitorium. As of 755 AR, though there are somewhere near a hundred patients and many staff, there are some rumours that she has been controlling the sanitorium from the inside. These rumours claim that she has used her blossoming psionic abilities to charm many of the staff and only keeps up the charade of normalcy to plot her escape and the return of Val's conciouness to Xhen-dra.

Xiandu

Drakin Rogue
Xiandu has always had an innate link with Val, though even they aren't sure if the "voice in the back of their head" truly exists. From a young age, Xiandu seemingly had an intense desire to complete evil acts, attributing it to the "voice in their head". To those few who are aware, Xiandu's mother was infected by a creature of immense psionic power. However, while she was infected psionic powers didn't manifest in her but instead latched onto an unborn Xiandu and fed on and absorbed into the manifesting intellect of the child. This infectious and psionic power left Xiandu's mind open to Val as their divine domain includes the idea of psionic powers. While Val isn't a gatekeeper over nor the sole source of such powers, it is important to recognize that it has a powerful, nearly overwhelming, connection to people who have access to psionic powers. Xiandu is still unaware that they're connected to Val but instead label it as a "voice in the back of their head" who keeps telling and helping them to do bad things, leading to Xiandu's life as a criminal rogue.

Mary Lyseer

Human Follower
The tale of Mary Lyseer is a tragic one that is intrinsically linked with the capture of Val's phsyical form in 649 AR. At just 7 years old, her parents were some of the last line of defense for the physical form of Val. In the final moments of the conflict, Val decided to place the attunement of their prison, The Amulet of the Stillborn, onto the young girl. In doing so, Mary Lyseer was trapped into requiring the amulet to remain living. For the next one hundred years, the young girl barely aged beyond her child-like form and any attempts to remove or destroy the amulet nearly killed her. Her mind is still that of a 7 year old child but the mind of Val is buried deep within her subconcious. In these one hundred years, Mary Lyseer was kept within a vault along with the amulet. That was until Hallowed Call broke her out and have kept her, bound by magic, in another prison cell in the outskirts of Xhen-dra.

Artifacts & Magic Items

This section contains a list of different artifacts that are related to Val and his organisation Hallowed Call. Each item will contain a rarity and power level below its name, these are linked to fifth edition statistics, however they can also be manipulated to other RPG systems, or even into novel ideas. For items that have further information there will be a seperate article for them.

Amulet of the Stillborn

Legendary Artifact, High DIvine Power
The Amulet of the Stillborn is a sentient arifact as it contains the living conciousness of Val the Stillborn. For more than a century the amulet has been forcibly attuned to Mary Lyseer. During this time, the young Mary has barely aged, aging about 1 year for every 10 years that pass. Additionally, her mind seems to be locked in the state that it was when she was first forced to wear the Amulet. It is said that if she wished she could invoke the direct powers of Val and possess some fraction of deity-like power. Most importantly the ability to wield the power to instill wishes, a power that could shake the pillars of reality, Mary has been careful not to accept any of the power that the amulet could provide as she fears that in doing so she would release Val into her mind and let him take over. The unfortunate truth of the amulet and especially its current state is that should the amulet be attempted to be destroyed or removed too far from Mary's person it is highly likely that she will perish as a result.

Unbeating Heart

Very Rare Artifact, High DIvine Power
The Unbeating Heart of Val is an artifact that is currently possessed by Carolyne Martal. The object gives a direct connection to Val and grants the wielder several boons related to their psychic and psionic energies. These boons are very specfic to the wielder as the Unbeating Heart expands the energy of the indvidual into a more diverse and expansive force. For example, with Carolyne Martal, a ranger, it heightend her natural senses and allowed her to exert control over more beasts and most humanoids, also considered beasts. While these energies are a huge boon to any individual who gains the Unbeating Heart, the individual is at risk from finding their soul and thoughts more drawn into the heart. In doing so, this leads the wielder to become less and less human in their actions and more risky, let alone risking some form of direct madness. After some time the Unbeating Heart removes the entire personality of the individual.

Call's Shield

Uncommon Magic Item, Low DIvine Power
Most commonly carried by members of the Hallowed Call, the Call's Shield seems to grant some form of protective ward for those who wield it beyond the usual protective nature of a shield. When a wielder is attuned to the shield and have it activated, they find that most non-magical weapons can't hit them at all. Additionally, they find that anyone who makes an attack of any kind, magical, non-magical, or spell-based struggle to concentrate and hit them, almost as if something is psychically forcing them from being able to even target them with such attacks. While there are many members of the Hallowed Call, only approximately half of their members have access to such shields and several have started appearing across Nonvyrox being sold by many different types of merchants for a profit.

Varison Blade

Rare Magic Item, Low DIvine Power
Built to withstand the might of the material realm, the Varison Blade most commonly looks like the hilt of a blade that is a deep, dark purple colour that glows with a a dull light. However, when a command word is activated, the blade extends to a single small shaft of psychic energies. Any wielder who attacks with it notices that the blade is almost entirely weightless and seems to contain a strong connection to their will. Anyone who is unfortunate to get struck by the blade finds themselves trapped in their greatest failure, unless they are fortunate enough to avoid the psychic effects.

Yuranis Foci

Very Rare Magic Item, No DIvine Power
The Yuranis Foci resembles a broken orb that has been stained by a powerful magic that was a purple-ish shade. When obseverd by most people, the Yranis Foci seems to just be some form of broken arcane focus, however, upon touching the Foci, any caster immediately attunes to the item. While attuned to the item, the caster has a significant boost to their magical potential, with more frequent damages or effects inflicted onto an individual. Additionally, the caster is able to cast several spells that link or damage the minds of an individual from the orb itself. However, there is a cost to possessing the Foci, whenever the owner of the Foci falls asleep they feel their dreams toiled with turmoil. When they awake some aspect of their personality is either decreased or reduced entirely, resetting to another aspect after they next sleep.

Planar Jump

Legendary Magic Item, Minimal DIvine Power
This small ruby enlaid braclet seems to constantly hum with a mote of energy. While worn, the wearer can attune to the item and gain the ability to briefly jump to another plane of existence within the bounds of The World Tree. A wearer who is attuned can forgo the ability to jump into other planes to transport a group of up to eight individuals across to a singular plane, or by expelling the jump energy within the braclet to attempt to banish several targets to random planes.