Valda Ashdale

Valda Ashdale
Gender	Female
Race	Hyur
Clan	Highlander
Citizenship	[Ul'dah
Occupation	Miner; Sellsword

Appearance

Garments | Salvaged and repurposed chain and plate mail; an ill-fitting helmet; a weathered tunic and slops

Weapons | A fine greataxe; an old and weathered fishing spear

Physique | Unusually tall; muscular; dark olive skin; ink blue eyes; four horns

Expression | Calm gaze; quick laugh; surprisingly gentle bearing for a marauder

Personality

Alignment | Chaotic Good

Guardian | Nald'thal, the Traders

Motivations | Honor of her tribesmen; acquisition of wealth; martial prowess among Limsan privateers; adventure

Demeanor | It doesn't take more than a glance to recognize something broiling in Valda. She takes a practical approach to her appearance: cropped hair swept back and every ilm of her body covered in armor. Wherever one encounters the girl, a skin of ale or her father's trusty pipe are unfailingly close at hand. No matter how light her flask becomes, her steely eyes shine under the street lamps—and they're usually looking for a fight.

History

Birthplace | A small coastal settlement in western Othard

Nameday | 6th Sun of the 6th Umbral Moon, 1544

Origins

Valda first stepped beyond the gates of Ul'dah when she was fifteen years old—scarcely a bell after hearing news of her father's death at the hands of the Amalj'aa. She grew up the daughter of one of Ul'dah's well-loved Flame Commanders: as a girl, she lived for his tales of distant lands, Amalj'aa blood and the shining armor of the Sultansworn. Though her father was little more than a glorified mercenary before the crises of the end of the Sixth Astral Era, he was greater than The Twelve could ever hope to be, in her eyes.

Shortly after The Calamity, as the Immortal Flames turned their attention back to rebuilding and protecting Ul'dah's borders from the Beast Tribes, Yvane's father was always away on the edges of Thanalan. Everything changed when he was led himself and his unit to their deaths during an Amalj'aa ambush in 1573, scarcely a year after the Flames' victories in Mor Dhona. Everything he owned in life went to the Priests of Thal in order to pay his funeral costs and find him an honorable grave after such a disgrace. Henceforth, Yvane took up the sword and began to live the adventurer's life she believed would restore honor (and coin) to her family name. There had to be a way to do that in Ul'dah without selling off the rest of her belongings in Thal's name.

Recent History

Valda Ashdale hires herself out as a sellsword and bodyguard, having suffered multiple rejections from both the Brass Blades and the Immortal Flames. Nonetheless, she is outfitted in an obviously deteriorating uniform of the the Flames' colors. Never far from The Quicksand with a corresponding bottle of ale—her good sword arm, steely glare and quick feet keep her tab under control—but something in her eyes longs for a more romantic fate. Once in a moon, as she drinks at a lonely table, one can overhear whispers of her family's fallen name. Fortunes in Ul'dah rise and fall as reliably as the waves crash on the shores of La Noscea, and it seems Valda's has done just so.

Rumors

• "Little Val. Wish the lizard men had taken her 'stead of her old man. Thal watch over him." — High Flame Commander Jakys Ryder
• "She's a fool, and worse, a coinless deviant. Just as her father was." — Quicksand Patron

Template adapted from Arianne Beaudonet and Miyu Tosho.