Vallerin Hortimont
Under Construction
| Vallerin Hortimont | |
 A portrait of Vallerin Hortimont (Image edited by Arrelaine Fashonti) | |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Elezen |
| Clan | Wildwood |
| Citizenship | Ishgardian Exile |
| Occupation | Martial Branch Lieutenant - Harbingers of Dawn |
| Guardian | Halone, The Fury |
| Nameday | 1st Sun of the 4th Umbral Moon |
Character
General
Vallerin Hortimont was born and raised in Ishgard. His family was well respected, and had a long record of military service within the Holy See. Vallerin himself eventually received combat training, along with his two brothers, and joined the Ishgardian military at a young age. He was deployed away from his siblings, and never had much contact with them during his service. The identity of his siblings are a mystery, and it is not something that Vallerin shares openly.
Upon returning from his tour of duty, a cold welcome was awaiting him. His family had gone missing, their manor was empty, no trace of them anywhere. Upon entering his home to investigate further, a company of Temple Knights descended on him before the ice could even melt from his boots. He was hauled away to the gaol without a single explanation, not even given a chance to change out of his armor. Stripped of his weapons, he sat shivering in a cell in full plate for what seemed like days. Eventually he was released, on the condition that he report immediately to his superior. Trudging up the iron steps that lead from the gaol, he eventually exited into the light of the courtyard. Met with an unnaturally fierce blizzard, he made his way to the keep before him. He felt the eyes of every guard upon him as he entered, taking the familiar route to the Commander's office, leaving a trail of melting snow behind him. Below is a record of the events that took place at the keep that fateful day.
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Vallerin rapped firmly on the metal door to the Commander's chambers, his plate mail gauntlets causing a much louder bang than he intended. The young Elezen then reached up and lifted his helmet's visor, attempting to wipe the sweat from his brow with the dirt stained leather glove he wore beneath the dented hand plating. He waited for what seemed like days, until the gruff voice of the Commander could finally be heard. "Come!" the voice said, signaling that entry was approved.
Vallerin pushed the large door inward, the creaking of the rusted hinges filling his ears. Once through the threshold he took a few short strides before stopping in front of the Commander's desk, quickly performing the Ishgardian salute he had done so many times before during his service. "You sent for me Sir?" Vallerin asked in a nervous tone. The large Elezen seated at the desk barely looked Vallerin's way as he slid a rolled up piece of fresh parchment towards him. The commander spoke in a firm, uncaring tone "You are hereby discharged. Turn in your arms and armor at the armory. You may pack one satchel of belongings, then report to the south gate for extradition." For some reason the words did not hit Vallerin as hard as they should have, and he stood there holding his salute for quite some time, letting them sink in.
Snapping him out of his trance was the heavy slam of a plated glove belonging to one of the Commander's first guard, Vallerin turned to look at the man, then reached down and grabbed the parchment from the desk, finally dropping his salute. The guardsman spoke "Come on, let's get on with it!" Vallerin had one last question for the Commander. "My family, have they left already?" The gruff man responded with flick of his wrist, obviously signaling the guards to expedite Vallerin's departure. With a less than gentle shove, a new chapter in his life was about to begin, heading out into the snow before the guards took more than his birthright and career.
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Vallerin would later learn that his oldest brother had been convicted of providing military intelligence to heretics, but was able to escape his captivity. As a precaution, his entire family was stripped of their titles, land, and were summarily exiled from Ishgard while Vallerin was deployed on his 6 month patrol in Coerthas. Fearing that Vallerin may have been in league with his sibling, no word was ever sent to his unit by the Holy See, hoping to capture and question him upon his return. Vallerin has heard no word from his parents, nor his siblings, a fact that secretly haunts him to this day.
The exile provided Vallerin with an opportunity to visit many places in Eorzea that he would have never seen behind the walls of The Holy See. With no resources of any kind, he was forced into a life of freelance adventuring. He took many jobs as he wandered, learning about new and interesting cultures, meeting all sorts of people. His travels eventually took him to the city state of Gridania. It was there that he met an order of adventurers known as 'The Harbingers of Dawn'. He was accepted into their ranks, and has been working for them ever since.
Appearance
Vallerin is about 6'10. He is light skinned, with bright green eyes. His build is slender yet strong, though he has little muscle definition. He has all the typical Wildwood features, an elongated neck accompanied by a very upright posture. His gait matched his posture, moving with a certain elegance, every soft step seems to be calculated before hand, making no wasteful movements or fidgeting. His brow is set slightly inward, creating a stern but calm expression, jawline sculpted in a traditional Elezen fashion, leading to a slightly pointed chin. He has a long and straight nose, and his face was free from scars, giving him a youthful appearance. His ears are long and thin, tapering towards the end and curving upward slightly.
His chosen outfit varies from day to day, but his clothing is always well pressed and tailored. If he has boots or shoes on they will be polished to a mirror shine. Any medals or insignia will be properly cared for and look brand new. If he is wearing armor it will also be polished and well maintained. The same goes for his weapons and other equipment. Subject to change if he has just taken a ceruleum fireball to the face.
Behavior
He is very calm and reserved. Slow to anger, and not easily frustrated by setbacks. When leading others, he is firm but fair, not berating or belittling those below him in rank. The chain of command is important to him, but he always strives to meet his allies on equal terms, and does not view himself as above anyone due to his rank or station. He tends to be very humble, sometimes to the point of frustration for others. He will gracefully accept a compliment, but is always more concerned about the well being of those around him than his own image. Despite this, he does try to keep his appearance tidy, wanting to project a positive example. He is very polite in social situations, and eats and drinks as though he has had proper etiquette drilled into him from a young age.
In battle he maintains most of the above qualities. While he is not immune to fear, he has learned to channel those feelings into useful tactical advantages. If leading a group into battle, he would do his best to hide his fear from his comrades, to keep moral as high as possible. He works well in groups, and does his best to use his comrades strengths equally, glory has no meaning to him, and he will gladly fill less exciting roles if it leads to a successful mission.
Vallerin also has an immense fear of bees, it is difficult to get him to talk about it.
Combat
General
Vallerin is very skilled with the long sword, and prefers to fight with a shield. He is able to improvise however, should his shield be destroyed or be impractical for the fighting environment. He prefers to wear heavier more protective plate armor in most situations, limiting his mobility and speed, though he has learned to carry the weight of the armor quite well, and is constantly improving his ability to react to faster opponents who pose a large problem for him. He is also quite a fearsome opponent when riding on his war chocobo 'Faust'. Faust is a large white feathered chocobo, bred for combat, and is often seen almost as heavily armored as Vallerin. The bird's kick is just as deadly as Vallerin's sword strikes. Opponents would be wise to try and dismount him if ever caught out in the open against him and his feathery friend.
Along with his martial skill, he also has been developing defensive aetheric abilities, manifesting in the form of barriers or bursts of light. He can use these techniques to deflect other aetheric attacks, blind his opponents, or even burn them severely if the situation calls for it. He very rarely uses these extreme techniques however, only resorting to them if normal martial actions have failed, or his opponent employs the use of magic heavily.
He received officer training during his time in Ishgard, and was shown to have a strong knack for defensive tactics. He is very good at organizing small groups of soldiers to effectively defend key locations, and escort important personnel. His style of fighting is very reserved, and he will usually let his opponent make the first move to get them to show their hand.
Despite all his martial and tactical abilities, he still prefers diplomacy and peaceful resolutions above all else. To him open combat is a last resort, and he believes that words can be just as effective as the sword. This philosophy can sometimes bring him into conflict with more offensively minded colleagues.
Vallerin's main weakness is his speed. If his opponent is lightning quick, and difficult to track, he can find himself overwhelmed very easily without assistance, or using aetheric trickery. Relying heavily on his shield is also a downfall, he is not helpless without it, but losing it is like losing an arm, leaving many gaps for his opponent to exploit. He also has an immense fear of bees of all types, though this is a closely guarded secret.
Tendencies
Likes
- He has a great fondness for music. He has a collection of music boxes in his office that play tunes from all over Eorzea.
- While he does not drink often, he enjoys many types of wine. Preferring to taste rather than drink most times.
- Learning new martial techniques never ceases to excite him. He believes a diverse warrior lives longer.
- Open tavern night at the Harbingers of Dawn estate gives him a great opportunity to gather information about his colleagues.
Dislikes
- He does not like people who resort immediately to violence. Reckless and impulsive people can test his patience.
- Gossip. He believes cheap talk about others can lead to nothing positive.
- Bees.
Hobbies/Talents
- He is an amateur astronomer, and enjoys star gazing and studying constellations.
- He likes to collect maps of all kinds.
- Vallerin is quite the singer, though good luck hearing him do so in public.
- Enjoys riding and training his War chocobo 'Faust'.
Other
- Has very little interest in romantic entanglements, it would take a very special person to sway him from this.
- Has trouble making close friends, tends to keep most people at arms length. Though he will show deep respect for some people, it never goes much beyond that.
Relationships
Family
- Vallerin talks very little about his family. It is a sore subject for him. He has a mother and father who may yet still live, as well as two brothers.
Enemies
- Vallerin has no known enemies at this time.
Player Standing
- Taken from Siobhain Surtsthalwyn, whom took from Deirdre Ta'ea
- ♥ Romantic Interest ♥ Sexual Desire ♥ Platonic Love ● Good Standing ● Neutral Standing ● Poor Standing
- ● Flameson Hammersmith - Vallerin is very fond of the Roegadyn known as Flameson Hammersmith. The two seem to be forming a friendly rivalry, at least from his perspective. The fight against the leader of the Blue Vipers was the first time Vallerin saw Flameson in open combat, and was impressed by his power. Together with the help of other Harbingers, they struck a tandem blow against the Blue Viper leader, slaying him. While he normally has a disdain for people who are headstrong and aggressive, he senses an uncommon intellect lurks beneath the cloud of disgusting cigar smoke that seems to never cease orbiting the giant's head. An arm wrestling match between the two at the Harbinger's of Dawn branch fair resulted in a broken arm for Vallerin, and has sparked his desire for a rematch. He has high hopes that he will be able to test himself in battle against Flameson some day, if only to regain some of his honor from the branch fair incident. He enjoys working alongside the man, and personally feels they make a good team on the battlefield. Hammersmith and Hortimont has a certain ring to it does it not?
Rumors
Common Rumors
- "He is an exile from Ishgard, can the man even be trusted?"
- "I hear he runs away from common insects, not a good habit to have in The Shroud!"
- "He placed third in the Harbinger's of Dawn tournament, knocked out by some Ala Mhigan."
Moderate Rumors
- "I've heard him singing in his office, is he in there with someone?"
Rare Rumors
- "There is more to his exile than he lets on. I think he did something unspeakable!
- "I heard that he isn't afraid of bees, that he actually worships them, and that someone is teaching him to control their minds!"
- "Why do all the Martial Branch Lieutenants have Fat Cats? Something strange is going on..."
PC Rumors
- "Lotta polish on Shiney. Sommat's gotta pretend t'ae be respectable in this branch I reckon." - Flameson Hammersmith
- "If I had a scale of 1 to 10 on the size of sticks up people's asses I'd say he looks like someone who had about a size 8 stick which means some poor conjurer was healing the wrong way." - Blake Forester
- "He seems to be your typical Ishgardian, overly hard-working, fairly noble. Watched Tiny break his arm, alas boys will be boys I suppose." - Arrelaine Fashonti
- "Crazy Ishgard! Bees make crazy! All Ishgards crazy and mean, try not talk around. Scary!" - Akayuri Geijutsuka
- "I know better than to be close to any Elezen due to Miss Vi and her Ishgardian Heritage but he stated he was a guard and did as his job title stated; kept me safe. I believe he cannot be as bad as Vi makes her own people out to be if he put up with my presence. We all know how Ishgardians feel about Auri. Perhaps there is a bit of good in his people after all, or at least just with him." - Kaguya Nightsong
Artwork
Edda Vincents' Masterpiece of Vallerin Hortimont
Music
Theme Music (Combat): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca_mgn3C_Jg&list=RDfshEON1kdRE&index=8&ab_channel=MisterBlue
Theme Music (According to Gwannes Oskwell): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjLr1XhBKVQ&ab_channel=keramicar1
Annotations
This Template was created by Deirdre Ta'ea
Special thanks to Arrelaine Fashonti for the portrait and thumbnail photo manipulation.
