Valen Stalhart

Valen Stalhart
Gender	Male
Race	Hyur
Clan	Midlander
Citizenship	Claims Coerthas (defected Garlean)
Age	36
Height	6 flums
Weight	185 ponze
Occupation	Maelstrom Agent
Free Company	Arcadeus
Server	Balmung

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Character

General

A former Garlean soldier, Valen Stalhart defected from the powerful empire shortly before The Calamity. Afterwards, he wandered Eorzia for many years before finally finding his way to La Nosca, where he joined the Free Company Arcadeus. To this day though, he still keeps his former affiliation with Garlemald a secret, and has only disclosed the information with a small handful of people.

Early Life

Born into a family of fisherman in the Garlean Empire, Valen was raised with a very humble upbringing. Not being a full-blooded Garlean, he spent most of his childhood living hand-to-mouth, but always managed to get by. He had no brothers nor sisters, but did share a very close relationship with his mother and father. However, the life of a fisherman wasn’t for him. Once he came of age, he traded in his gaff for a spear, and through vigorous training managed to join the ranks of the Garlean Empire’s Military.

Before The Calamity

For three years he served as a lancer for The Empire, scratching and clawing his way through the ranks. Despite his combat prowess, he never managed to become anything more than a lowly Legionarius in the Garlean Empire due to his superiors’ nepotism towards full-blooded Garleans. However, his skills did not go unnoticed. Realizing that his abilities could be utilized, Valen’s commanding officer had him inducted into Garlemald’s experimental battalion, the Magitek Knights.

As a part of his induction, Valen was implanted with a Magitek chip directly into his brain, as well as various other Magitek augmentations throughout his body. The implants enhanced both his physical and mental capabilities, allowing him to emulate similar abilities to that of a Dragoon, all the while without needing to wield the soul of a dragon.

These augmentations did not come without their hindrances, though. After serving on multiple missions for Garlemald, Valen slowly came to realize that the chip in his brain disallowed him from having any true sense of free will. Though he was unable to resist fulfilling the commands handed down to him, his mind remained completely aware of the atrocities he was forced to commit on the behalf of the Garlean Empire.

After eight grueling years of serving as a Magitek Knight, through either his own sheer will or faulty programming on the part of the implant, or perhaps both, Valen managed to overcome the chip’s grasp while on assignment, and fled shortly thereafter. Valen was declared a traitor to his nation and his people, and the Garlean Military was given the order to kill him on sight.

However, due to the fall of Dalamud, the Garlean Empire was unable to spare the manpower to hunt him down. By the time the Empire had regained footing after The Calamity, the tracker built into Valen’s Magitek chip had long since shorted out after going so long without proper maintenance. With no trace of him to follow, Valen vanished from the Garlean Empire entirely, but to this day still remains an enemy to the nation.

After The Calamity

Valen spent the following years after the Calamity wandering Eorzia until he ultimately found his way to Limsa Lominsa. Looking for a place to stay, he stumbled upon Anelia Sadowyn’s residence, which also acted as a base of operations for her Free Company, Arcadeus.

After a little convincing, he talked Anelia into letting him stay so long as he pulled his weight. However, when Anelia inquired about where he came from, he privately disclosed his former affiliation with Garlemald, only to learn that Anelia had just as much a vendetta against the Garlean Empire as he did. However, she insisted that Valen keep his origins a secret from the others living at the residence, as not to cause any unnecessary tension between them.

However, the ever clever Seldi Witt managed to pry the information out of him upon sensing that he was hiding something from her. She seemed to take a keen interest in his Magitek implants, but appeared to be unfazed by his Garlean background. She offered to help him figure out a way to either remove the implant in his brain, or at least find a way to repair it. However that is currently something that is not likely to happen for quite some time.

On the side he sometimes does freelance work for the Maelstrom. Typically it is little more than simple reconnaissance or patrolling. Though he does occasionally receive missions that are of higher importance, they are far and few between. Most recently they requested him to watch over the young Miqo'te, Rihxo Matoi. He wasn't told the reason why other than that someone paid the Maelstrom a substantial amount of gil to ensure that no harm came to her.

Appearance

Valen is a somewhat tall man with long, dark hair and blue eyes. While he does have very youthful features, he is notably older than he appears. Though he is uncertain, he believes his graceful aging may be due in part to his Magitek implants. Often times he can be found in his elaborate glowing armor, with his face shielded by his Magitek visor. However, on occasion he'll forgo the armor and simply don regular clothes when he's not expecting the possibility of combat. Even then, he still ensures that his armor, or at the very least his spear is kept nearby.

Mental Health

Despite the lack of maintenance, the implants’ physical and mental augmentations still continue to work to some degree. However they have a tendency to be unreliable and somewhat sporadic. This has led to Valen suffering many mental and physical side effects that vary from slight headaches to short bursts of psychosis. Fortunately, the more extreme side effects only rarely occur. However, as the chip continues to deteriorate, so too does Valen’s mental stability.

Personality

On the surface, Valen seems kindhearted, if a little ill mannered. He’s more than willing to help those in need, and rarely asks for anything in return. Beneath his kind demeanor though, lies a very cynical and jaded man. His outlook is bleak and though he hates to admit it, he secretly relishes the heat of combat due to the conditioning he received from the Garleans. During his psychotic breaks, he becomes even worse. He often loses control of himself, becoming paranoid and viewing everyone as a potential enemy. He’ll normally go into seclusion during these episodes and will wait until they come to an end before returning to his companions.

Combat

Though Valen will try to avoid combat if at all possible, he is absolutely ruthless when it comes to fighting. His style of is a blend between flurries of vicious brutality and precisely landed devastating blows. The advanced alloy that his Magitek spear is composed of allows for him to rip through even the toughest of armors, but still remains light enough to allow him swift movement. Though he is by no means the mightiest of all spearmen, he is still a force to be reckoned with when he is fueled by the heat of combat.

Hobbies

Sometimes if he’s feeling a little on edge, or if perhaps he’s just wanting to relax, he’ll go fishing. Being something that he’s done since he was a child, he finds fishing to be incredibly enjoyable and calming.

Likes

• Fishing
• The heat of combat
• Just being a generally helpful person

Dislikes

• The Garlean Empire
• Overt Optimism

Hobbies/Talents

• Is quite savvy with Magitek equipment
• Adept Spearman
• Decent Fisherman

Relationships

Family

As far as Valen knows, his mother and father are still alive, and still live in the Garlean Empire. However, he has not seen them since he defected, and often fears for their safety considering his current standing with Garlemald.

Rumors

Common Rumors

• “That man is quite odd. He seems nice enough, but something about him just seems off. Maybe it's the visor?” -Storm Soldier
• “He really knows a lot about all that fancy, hi-tech stuff. I mean, have you seen that spear on his back? It has so many buttons and switches on it, I’d probably lose an eye just trying to hold the damn thing.” -Sailor in La Nosca

• "I don't like him. No honest man always keeps his face hidden like that." -Storm Officer

Moderate Rumors

• “He comes to me about once a week for headace remidies. I can't imagine what would give him such a chronic illness.” -Apothecary in Limsa Lominsa
• "He's quite familiar with Magitek, I'd dare say he's an expert on it." -Engineer at Cid's workshop
• “The man has no history, no past… He’s like a phantom that just showed up from the aether. However, he gets results, and that makes him quite an asset to the Maelstrom” -Merlwyb

Rare Rumors

• “Stalhart is not a man, he is a weapon; a weapon that now wields a mind of its own.” - Vitus Mal Luro, the creator of the Magitek Knights

• “Truthfully, there isn’t even a point to chasing him down anymore. His Magitek is outdated, and he’ll be a hapless lunatic before long.” -Mitis Quo Nal, Valen's former commanding officer

• I got word that a squad of Garleans were patrolling through La Nosca, looking for a man with long hair and a Magitek spear… Sound like someone we know?” -Eynzahr Slafyrsyn

PC Rumors

Do feel free to add your own rumors

Annotations

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Gallery

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