Valael

Background

Valael was a Krynnish Elf, the male half of a pair of fraternal twins. Born in the nation of Qualinesti to a Ranger mother, who basically abandoned her family as soon as the twins were weened, and a minor Wizard of the White Robes with an overinflated opinion of himself, Valael was closest to his sister Arcael while growing up.

Valael started suffering from asthma, various allergies and a recurring lung disease during his childhood. Several healers suspected that Valael's lungs might be malformed somehow, but recommended a program of physical exercise to improve his health and ensure he would be able to lead a full life. Unfortunately his Wizard father had different ideas. Insisting that Valael should overcome the frailties of the flesh through pure willpower alone, he confined his son to the house and his library, ordering him to start studying arcane magic so he might one day take the Test of High Sorcery. When Valael's sister asked to be taught as well, their father rebuffed her and did his best to keep the twins separated.

Valael suffered under his father's tutelage. Cooped up in the house, forced to breathe in dust and try to meet his father's unreasonable demands, Valael only felt happy when his sister managed to sneak him out so they could go rambling through the forest. In return, he taught her what he knew of magic, and the two of them grew in power at roughly the same pace.

Separation

The War of the Lance came to Qualinesti, and the twins and their father had to join a band of refugees fleeing the nation. (Their mother had already deserted her post and run off with a new lover; one of her fellow Rangers.) When the group came under attack from Dragonarmy forces, Valael was laid low by an asthma attack and unable to help. He watched with admiration as Arcael tricked their enemies into attacking each other, skillfully wielding Enchantment and Illusion. Next, he watched in horror as his father disowned Arcael for defying him, and denounced her as a Dark Elf for using magic that was the terrain of the Orders of the Red and Black Robes. He tried to speak up for his sister, but could barely wheeze out the words and was ignored by the other refugees.

Wizard of High Sorcery

Arcael was gone, and Valael was stuck with his father for the rest of the War of the Lance, studying magic and preparing for his Test at the Tower of Wayreth, even as his health steadily declined. All he looked forward to anymore was the chance to become independent and to rid himself of his father, so he might seek out Arcael. To his surprise, he was spared the effort of looking; after he - barely - passed his Test, he met Arcael at the Conclave of Wizards.

Death

Though Arcael now wore the Black Robes where Valael had donned the White Robes, the two of them were overjoyed to meet again and spend time together when they could. Arcael, it seemed, was busy with high-level research with her new mentor, a human named Traven who wore the Red Robes. Valael was simply happy for his sister, erroneously assuming that she and her 'mentor' were romantically linked and hoping that she was living the best life she could, far away from their worthless parents.

As he was now recognized as an adult in Qualinesti society, Valael moved out of his father's house over the old fool's objections, and found himself a cottage. Despite the best efforts of a healer he hired to watch over him, Valael succumbed to his recurring lung disease within six years of passing the Test of High Sorcery. His last thought was a happy one, in spite of the fact that he had not even seen the Elven equivalent of middle age: he was free, and so was his sister.

Statistics

Neutral Good male Qualinesti Elf Abjurer 5 / Wizard of High Sorcery (White Robes) 1 (Opposition schools: Enchantment (3rd), Necromancy, Transmutation)