Val

Information

Player: Rini

Character Full Name: Val Wahden

Character In-Game Name: Val

Nickname(s): Jack Larkstern, Jack

Association(s): The Alliance, Gilneas

Race: Worgen

Class: Warrior

Age: 26

Sex: Male

Hair: Black

Eyes: Blue

Weight: 273 lbs.

Height: 6'10"

Appearance

Usual Garments/Armor: Val typically wears thick wool or linen shirts with a leather apron covering him when he blacksmiths. A large leather belt hangs around his waist with multiple square bags attached to it to hold his various tools of the trade. Leather gloves with worn holes on the tips from his claws protect his hands from any severe burns. On any occasion outside of work he dresses formal, neat, and clean. He prefers darker colours for his clothing, ranging from black to deep blue.

Personality

Quite the gentleman, Val is polite and mannerly almost as if by impulse. Doors are opened for women and the elderly, his hat is removed when indoors or greeting people, and he addresses anyone he meets formally until told otherwise. He is shy to the extent of being reclusive. When given the choice, he would rather sit in a silent library and read a book than attend a celebration with more than five people. He is modest of his work and often shows a bashful side when complimented.

Introverted yet always eager to listen, his role in a conversation is generally minimal due to his quiet nature. His lack of experience with the world outside of Gilneas is limited to what he has heard from other Gilneans or what he has read in books, resulting in an almost child-like wonder as he discovers just how large the world is outside of Gilneas.

History

The Gilnean lifestyle was a comfortable one to Val as he lived his days in comfort, born into a noble house of rich Gilneans. At the age of five and shortly before the Greymane Wall was built his mother passed away after the failed deliverance of a younger sibling. His father followed after in death when Val turned twenty three from the same sickness that took his uncle a few days later. The only remaining members of the Wahden family were Val himself and his two years younger bastard cousin. Val was the only Wahden by blood that remained alive which resulted in the entire Wahden fortune falling into his hands.

In Val’s two years of solitude and depression that followed he spent countless hours hidden away in his mansion finding ways to pass the time. It wasn't until a soft-spoken house staff had casually made mention of his childhood friend, Jack Larkstern, that Val had finally gathered the courage to step outside again. The two boys played together for most of Val’s childhood. Val’s parents were the lord and lady who owned the house and Jack’s parents were the butler and maid that worked diligently for years under his family.

The desire to live was suddenly renewed in his heart as he set out to discover what became of his childhood playmate and the only remnant of his happier life. In only a short matter of time Val had discovered his friend Jack had been the farrier for the family’s horses for the past five years unbeknownst to him. Jack had made a living as a blacksmith and farrier, apprenticing under the local blacksmith since he was thirteen years old. The two friends soon reunited and visited frequently.

At the age of twenty six Val was struck with a terrible sickness that left him bed ridden for two months. The doctor’s verdict was grim; Val was going to die in less than a month if he continued to show no signs of improvement. Jack visited his bed side at least twice a week to wish Val better. One evening during his visit Jack spoke of a plot he overheard when he stopped over at the local pub one just the night before. Courtesy of Val’s terrible state of health his cousin had quietly requested a subtle murder from one of the patrons at the pub. The patron accepted the money offered and promised to murder Val within sixteen days. Val demanded that his house staff spread a rumour that Val had died and his funeral was being prepared. Meanwhile, arrangements were being made to relocate Val to assure his safety.

Not even two days afterwards and as soon as the rumour had begun to circulate the worgen curse arrived. Jack Larkstern had been visiting his recovering friend when mysterious screams were heard outside the window beside Val’s bed. As Jack looked to see what had caused the wailing he spotted a woman witnessing a man being torn to ribbons by a worgen. Without a moment’s hesitation, Jack roused Val from his bed and urged him to move to a safer room. Val was terribly confused and opened the window to see what was happening when a worgen had scaled a tree beside the house and reached the roof, raking Val’s face with its talons. Jack’s hands clamped down upon Val’s shoulders as he pulled his friend back from the window and threw him into an open wardrobe. The door slammed shut after Val was fit inside. Despite his best efforts in his weakened state Val could not open the door again while sounds of conflict filled the room around him.

When the manor fell silent six hours later, Val had finally summoned the strength to move the wardrobe’s door. He silently stepped outside and surveyed the damage of the room, turning to see that his friend had propped furniture against the door of the wardrobe to keep Val in. Jack’s broken body lay on the floor beside the open doorway of Val’s room, the only recognizable trait on the torn corpse being his unique riding boots. For the first hour outside of the wardrobe Val stumbled around in a daze as he went from room to room of the Wahden manor. As though lost in his house, he slept on the kitchen floor until discovered by a group of survivors and was returned to the nearest survivors’ outpost for safety. Val’s mutilated face made him unrecognizable to his saviours. His wounded face had begun to show the beginning signs of the worgen curse.

Val traveled with this group of survivors before melding into a larger group. One of his cousins close friends was spotted almost immediately in the group of survivors. When the man approached Val and demanded his name, Val answered, “Jack Larkstern,” the words falling out of his mouth much by his own surprise. His face remained unrecognizable allowing for the lie to be unnoticed and Val was promptly introduced to the other survivors by his cousin’s friend as Jack.

At last the curse overcame him and he was constrained with the others who had become worgen. A temporary solution was passed around to cure the feral disposition of the worgen. As more time passed the large group was free from the feral aspects of the curse completely with the aide of night elves. Val resided in Darnassus for a while, never leaving what was now his true form to compromise his lie. He did odd tasks for anyone who asked with his fortune now either lost or destroyed. When he finally obtained enough money to support himself for a small window of time and take the next ship to Stormwind City he left.

Upon his arrival in Stormwind he was greeted with a familiar face; his cousin’s friend and a man who possibly at one point in time knew of his cousin’s schemes. The man introduced Val to another Gilnean who recognized the name Jack Larkstern as previously being one of the best blacksmiths in the area. The Gilnean took Val to the Dwarven District all the while boasting of Jack’s superb skills. A dwarven blacksmith they passed grew infuriated by the talk and challenged Val’s skill. By now, Val was caught in his own web of lies and was in danger of being discovered as falsifying his identity.

After a long day filled with failure, Val’s obvious lack of skill was beyond obvious to the dwarf. Laughing loudly the dwarf claimed that Gilnean blacksmithing was a joke, to which the bragging Gilnean took offense and blamed Val’s large worgen hands, demanding that Val change to his human form. The dwarf scoffed and informed the Gilnean that his clumsy and soft hands were the result of inexperience, not his claws. Turning to look up into Val’s eyes, he promised to teach Val how to “blacksmith properly; like a dwarf”.