In the world of VALOR, the woman known as Valeria, Daughter of the Sun, does battle in a world of myth and monsters, kingdoms and empires. While today the Aelia Empire dominates the world, it was not always so. These are short accounts from the worl...
Following the Arbellum that nearly robbed the world of life, Selene, Queen of the Moon, tore the Tree of Life from its place and hid it away, in the Divine Land. Unable to protect it, she prayed for help, to her consort Sol and his Master, Valence.
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Valence, the primordial Star Dragon, heard her plea and sent as a guard a fraction of the Dragon Flight. At their head, he sent his emissary, Artifex. Their simple command was to hide themselves from the world, unless its very foundation was in danger. Valence desired for the people of the world to govern themselves.
The dragons settled in the Divine Land and though a few retained their ancient form, most took on human forms, and built the great paradise of the world. This humanoid race, the Ardenians, built great cities from which to maintain their watch.
Untold time passed as the world repeated its wars and its people endlessly destroyed themselves for power. And while most of the Ardenians still waited for the day they would be called to aid Calestia, Artifex himself turned away from the world.
During the Age of Eternity and the Sundering, when the Continent was split into three, the gods went to war. The sinking of the central portion of the Continent nearly destroyed the world, but Artifex did not move to save it or its people.
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Yet Artifex also did not stop the Ardenians who set out from the Far Harbor, on the ships of light that sailed into the east. They were led by one of no story, the Unknown Hero, who championed the mortal world and rallied a great fleet to their aid.
The Ardenians landed at the ancient port of Nox Salutem, of the dead Imperium of Night. They brought not only their martial arms but their connection to the spirit world, and knowledge of the true path - of the Order of Fire, and the Star Dragon.
The Ardenians also encountered a powerful sorceress at this time - The Veiled Demoiselle. A pact between her and the Unknown Hero brought a powerful ally to the Ardenians, who began assembling the Alliance of Nations to drive back the mad goddesses.
The Battle of the Scar is where the War of Eternity was ended - but not through the work of Artifex, as is believed. Instead, the Veiled Demoiselle drew out the inner nature of the Unknown Hero, so that he was able to assume the form of a full dragon.
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In his full form, the Unknown Hero was able to end the threat of the goddesses. And afterward, the Ardenians took up a permanent place among the people of the three continents. Yet these were not a virile people, and they dwindled through the ages.
Yet the contributions of the Ardenians were immense. Faith in the tree and belief In Valence became widespread. Fire magic to imitate the dragons was created. And great engineering and technological feats were accomplished.
The greatest gift of a dragon, though, is not knowledge or power. Instead, the greatest gift is creation. The Fire of Creation was the first flame breathed by Valence. All dragons are capable of using it, at the cost of their own lives.
Over centuries, the Ardenians dwindled until they were only members of a small village. At this same time, the August Goddess, Lhatara, began her ascent to power. As part of her campaign to establish the August Season, she brutally oppressed the dragon clan.
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Lhatara sought to reforge the Aruat, the old connection to the divine, but also perfect it into what would later be known as the Highway of Stars. She wished for the power of a true god. For that, she needed two things - The Fire of Creation, and the sacrifices of thousands of lives.
Lhatara repeated the mad crimes of Lhatil and Lhara. The Ardenians were hunted and their people tortured to provoke the Fire of Creation. Lhatara's war, to spread her August Season, also brought her many captives.
The great sin was therefore one of massacre and blasphemous rite. Tens of thousands were sacrificed in a single night, when the Fire of Creation was released. This merged thousands into one, a blasphemous half-Princep that could communicate with the heavens.
Lhatara joined the spiritual Aruat to a physical bond in the half-Princep, creating a living vessel for communicating with the cosmos. The Highway of Stars. And using that connection, Lhatara joined herself to a divine Princep, Pollux, to grant her powers greater than her sisters had ever imagined.
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Lhatara became the god of the new world, while the Ardenians were left almost entirely eradicated. It was into this world, during the early era of the August Season, when the Unknown Hero awoke from his slumber to find what had become of his people.
What happened then is lost to time. What is known is that, from the August Season through the Age of Valor, anyone born with the red hair of the Ardenians was looked upon with suspicion. In the capital city, legends speak of Valeria, daughter of the sun, resplendent with golden hair. But those who fight alongside her know her hair to burn red.