Valen d'Velasco

Valen d'Velasco is a Corvite illusionist, a fulgamancer, and a major antagonist in the Unnamed Story.

Valen is always in the right place at the wrong time for anyone else involved, and will not hesitate to twist any situation to his advantage. His calm, intelligent demeanor belies a deeply sadistic nature. He is a ghost from Caspian's past.

History
Commanding unheard of respect from the Temple’s dogs, Valen is of the highborne house of Velasco, one of the rare magic families permitted to hold titles due to services rendered to local nobility. His work as an ambassador awards him immunity from most Temple laws, something he uses as a means to travel and research. There were rumors of his apparent death some years ago in his native Corva, a land rife with magic and magiborn alike, but clearly this was a simple political mistruth, intended to void his travel documents and interfere with his work. Or, so he’s been known to say. A blast from the past that Caspian did not want, Valen was once very close to him. Caspian despises him, though Valen hardly seems to feel the same.

Personality
At first blush, Valen appears every bit the gentleman, carrying himself with all the grace and wisdom of any person of his apparent rank. He is charming, courteous and infinitely patient. This, however, is as much an illusion as anything he can cast. Though outwardly benevolent, his true personality is deeply sadistic, utilizing every opportunity to gain from and manipulate others, to further his own agenda. He greatly enjoys the power his abilities give him over others, finding humor and amusement in the suffering and confusion of those unlucky enough to cross him. More amusing still is the act of manipulating through interaction, taking on roles and turning people against each other simply through association. Though he can appear quite cognizant, Valen has a megalomaniacal fixation on control, particularly of those he deems “his.” This delusion combined with his temper can lead to grievous injury for those he perceives as interlopers.

The Unnamed Story
Minus the odd inconvenience or disagreement, the quest goes smoothly—that is, until Valen appears on the scene. Presenting himself as an ally, he is quickly revealed for what he really is, by the one person who seems to get along with everyone: Caspian. For the first time, Caspian becomes genuinely hostile, revealing glimpses of his past and the charming mage’s part in it. Despite the firemage’s furious assurance that their dalliance ended long ago with some unspoken transgression, Valen insists on the permanence of their relationship, and his disapproval of Rainer as his clearly inferior successor. A licensed mage of some standing, armed with powerful illusionary talents and a superiority complex, Valen makes it clear to the Party that he is no friend of theirs, and will stop at nothing to assure his once-lover doesn’t replace him—even if the threat of that is imagined, at best.

Valen is manipulative, with his powers in deception far exceeding simple cast illusions. His motives are gray at best. His only clear priority is his own success, something he attains at will. And what he can't obtain easily, he has no problem taking through force. Though physically frail, his magical prowess far exceeds even other Corvite sorcerers. His involvement in the plot goes beyond his obsession with Caspian. The latter point just makes him an even greater threat.

Gifts and Powers
Valen is an illusionist, a form of mentalist skilled in manipulation of perception. This ability works on two levels: distortion of light, and distortion of thought. In the case of the former, his abilities allow him to slightly shift the appearance of things, changing their color or basic shape in the eyes of anyone in the area. These illusions are little more than three-dimensional images overlaying the world, and cannot be interacted with. In the latter case, the illusion is focused on a single viewer's mind, altering their perception of the world in some way. Most illusionists are limited to small variations--creating threats, or concealing things--but Valen is highly skilled in illusion-weaving, and can change the entire world around a subject at will. He can mind-target a handful of people at a time, something that is almost impossible for a regular illusionist. The flaw in this is that larger uses of his Gift leave him exposed, the amount of focus needed for large-scale thought-alteration placing him into trance that, once broken, breaks the illusion.

Despite his mastery of illusion, his main talent is actually fulgamancy, or the calling and manipulation of lightning. Where any other lightning-mage would require certain weather, summoning circles or grounding elements in order to manipulate electricity, Valen needs only the charge present in his own body, and in the air around him. A single focused gesture can twist latent charges in the air into a white-hot bolt that can cleave through wood and scar stone. When the sky is overcast, this power extends to summoning down the energy from the sky itself, using himself as a ground to draw and redirect natural lightning. Where a rainstorm normally hampers a fulgamancer, he presence of water in the air only makes Valen's casting more chaotic, with jags of electricity darting between raindrops to strike down targets from any angle. His body takes no damage from the extreme heat and power of even direct lightning-strike, something that only further sets him apart from other casters.

Trivia

 * Valen is manipulative, deceitful, superficially charming, impulsive and violent, and he lacks both empathy for others and regret for his actions. These are all features of antisocial personality disorder.
 * Valen is Elysian, part of the people native to Corva prior to its formation. His features are distinctly Asian, with Japanese-esque features attributable to northern Corvite provinces.