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- "Tevinter myths tell about the Blademasters, an ancient order of magic-wielding warriors said to have protected the empire during its golden age. Even among them, Lady Aeliana of the South-East Tower is legendary for single-handedly defending the empire against a combined surprise attack from the Kossith, ancestors of the Qunari, for which she became known by them as Queen of Ashes, and the Chasind Wilders, who as a result would nickname her as the White Crowned Princess."
Aeliana Victoria Decima Hersilia Salacia Minerva Vita Laelia Faustina Trevelia Valentus, B.M.O. (Legatus), Keep. of S.East., L. Valentus, Imp. Leg. (b. 01 Matrinalis, TE 774 – d. 26 Pluitanis, TE 800) was a Tevinter noblewoman born in the Valentus noble house, one of the most famous Tevinterian heroes of ancient times. She was the only child and daughter of Lord Mattheo and Lady Victoria Valentus (née Pavus), both members of the Tevinter high mage nobility known as Altus. Aeliana's birth was overshadowed by an old elven prophecy, naming either herself or a descendant of her as the one who in the future would bear the power to either save or destroy the Tevinter Imperium. Fearing what the prophecy could mean, the Magisterium and the Publicanium of Tevinter both kept a watchful eye on her actions. After some of the prophecy was reported to him by the High Priest of Dumat, Magister Sidereal Sethius Amladaris, the Archon at the time chose to have her executed, though the Magisterium disagreed and therefore such decision was not carried on. Aeliana was believed to be the one mentioned in the prophecy due to her many similarities with the person described in the legend, from her absolute lack of pigmentation to the sheer amount of potential she'd display from the day she was born. This caused House Valentus to quickly grow in power and influence within the Empire and with the Magisterium, earning powerful allies and enemies alike. The Archon made many vain attempts to stop the prophecy throughout Aeliana's early years, and was ultimately overthrown by the Magisterium due to a plan gone wrong. While her somewhat controversial status as the chosen one of an old elven tale was matter of concern to some, others saw it as something that should be studied. As a result, many scholars attempted to figure out the reason for the lack of pigmentation in her skin, though none of them managed to find out any conclusive answer to their many questions. In her youth, Aeliana was highly expected by many to ascend to become a Magister or even the Archon in the future, which led her parents to seek giving her the best possible education they could find within the borders of the Empire.
One consequence of her parents' lack of presence in her early life was that their daughter had to be mostly raised by her tutors and magical trainers, as her Magister uncle Aurelius Valentus. While in his care she was by no means mistreated and actually grew to develop a very close relationship with him, the absence of her parents was something that would heavily impact many of her choices in the future. As a mage apprentice, she was taught by her uncle the basics of casting spells and alchemy and grew to be a quite powerful mage despite lacking interest on the subject. Aeliana's relationship with her tutors varied, but it was mostly good and they got along well. She was noted by them to be a natural in many different areas, particularly war strategies and sword fighting. At first her parents were not pleased by her growing interest in physical combat, but due to her insistence they would eventually give up and agree with finding her a tutor for that.
On her tenth birthday, Aeliana learned from her father that she was believed to be the hero of an old elven prophecy, the reason for her extensive education throughout her early years. The pressure brought by such knowledge quickly managed to reach her as she began attending to the University of Minrathous in TE 786 and was exposed to a lot more of it. Knowing her parents expected her to get the better education she could in order to become a Magister herself in the future, it also led her to start looking for ways to escape that, which got her interested in the Blademaster Order. She later became the youngest member ever accepted into the Order as a squire at the age of fifteen, but for the two years she remained in the University of Minrathous, Aeliana did her best to learn as much as she could from the books and scholars. She was noted for her research work on The Veil, The Fade, development of new potions and some extensive work on magical substances such as lyrium. During that time, some people in Tevinter started the rumor that she had been sent by Dumat himself to help, which in spite of her attempts to stop it from spreading quickly became known to most people across the Empire, earning her the nickname the Emissary of Dumat by many in Tevinter. This led the High Priest of Dumat to quickly grow annoyed at Aeliana's reputation. In her fourteenth year, Aeliana won a magical tournament held in the university among the students, but not much after that she decided it was about time to go home and tell her parents about her plans to join the Blademaster Order. During her last year in the university, Aeliana angered many people in the Tevinter nobility due to a note she wrote on the benefits that putting an end to slavery would bring.
Her parents were reluctant and even forbade her from becoming a Blademaster since joining the Order meant she could never get into politics within the Empire, also meaning she would never become a Magister. Despite her father's forbidding, Aeliana ran away and joined them, which caused Lord Mattheo to disinherit her as his heir. Though this had some significant emotional impact on her, she went on to join them nonetheless. In the years to come as a squire under the Order, Aeliana's prowess was once again quickly noted as she helped her mentor, the Lord Keeper of the South-Eastern Tower, to protect the southeastern borders of the Imperium against the Chasind Wilders and the Kossith invaders coming from the southern Korcari Wilds. During that time a few unusual things were noticed about her, one of them being that she was seemingly very resistant to the addictive effects of lyrium. Unlike most, when in absence of it she was not affected at all. Becoming an actual member of the Order took three years of her life, and even then it was noted as to be a surprisingly short amount of time. With the death of her mentor, she took his place as the thirteenth seat in their inner circle at the age of eighteen, and from then on became herself the Keeper of the South-Eastern Tower. During her time there, she fought many battles against the Kossith and was nicknamed Queen of Ashes by them in a reference to her elegant fighting style and the powerful fire spells she used against them, a title which is still widely known among their modern-times relatives, the Qunari.
Aeliana was also notable for being the youngest known person to be made Legatus of the Blademaster Order, becoming the leader of the Order at the mere age of twenty two after its previous master, Lord Vindictus, died fighting a Great dragon.
Just as she was made Legatus, Aeliana received a letter from her father asking forgiveness and giving back her titles and possessions as heir of House Valentus. Although she was aware that it had mostly to do with political interests, with her father merely seeking the benefits of having the leader of the Blademasters as heir of his family, Aeliana accepted it both due to regretting to some extent the way she had broke with her family and also looking to expand her and the Order's political influence within the Empire. At some point she started dating the Lord Keeper of the Northern Tower, her former apprentice Aegin Pavus, with whom she would never be able to marry due to her death not much later. During her four years as Legatus, Aeliana hunted down and managed to slay the Great dragon that killed her antecessor and made a deal with the Archon on the Tevinter military to share with them some special techniques from the members of the Order in exchange for a gain in political influence within the Magisterium. In TE 800 the seven Magisters Sidereal, High Priests of the Old Gods, angered her as they sacrificed the lives of many slaves to open a portal into The Fade in an attempt to physically enter the Golden City with blood magic. As a gate through the Veil was opened and threatened to destroy the entire city of Minrathous, Aeliana and the other Blademasters sacrificed themselves in a collective effort to close it, thus abruptly putting an end to the Order and becoming heroes within the Empire. This event is said to have kick-started the First Blight.
Background[]
Aeliana Victoria Valentus was born on Matrinalis 01, TE 800, to Lord Mattheo Valentus, the Head of House Valentus at the time, and Victoria Valentus, an Altus member of the Pavus noble house and a powerful mage whose fame as battlemage was well known across the Empire. She was raised mostly by her tutors and was not close to her parents for most of her life. Aeliana was named after a famous High Priest of Dumat of same name by her mother due to her date of birth and an old elven prophecy which supposingly overshadowed her birth. When Aeliana was a baby, her father, Lord Valentus, would often get requests of scholars from all across the Empire to examine her in attempts to figure out the reason for her highly unique condition. However, Mattheo would never let them get too deep into the matter, which at first was thought to be just him protecting his daughter, though in the future Aeliana would figure out eventually that it was actually her father trying to protect himself: as she came to know, the lack of pigmentation in her body was actually the result of she being conceived while her father was under a self-induced demonic possession after a deal struck with a spirit. While her father's intentions at the time was simply to get a powerful heir to save the reputation of his house, the reason for the demon's acceptance of the deal was only figured out by Aeliana many years after she entered The Fade alongside others of her Order. By the time she sacrificed herself, Aeliana's name was well known across the Tevinter Imperium and as time went on it reached legendary status, to the point of becoming one of its most widely spread tales both within and out of the Empire.
While Tevinter legends say she sacrificed herself in order to close the gate, she and other Blademasters did not really die immediately as they entered it. Rather than that, they were all struck by the taint and put into a dormant state as with Corypheus and would only wake up in the last decades of the First Blight. At the time under the power of the Old God Dumat, who'd been corrupted by the Taint into the first Archdemon, she and the rest of her Order were made into thirteen exceptionally powerful darkspawn known collectively as Spectres. Unlike the others, however, Aeliana's notable resistance to the side effects of lyrium also granted her a degree of resistance to the Taint, which in time would develop into full immunity against its negative effects. Also different from other darkspawn, she suffered much less severe physical changes, most of which were reversed as her resistance to the Taint grew. Currently the only noticeable remaining changes are light red eyes, though it also seems to be wearing off as time goes on.
Once the First Blight came to an end, Aeliana, who'd switched sides and started helping the Gray Wardens in their war against the darkspawn, asked the Wardens to kill her as a way to grant she would never be a threat to the living world again. The First Warden at the time, who'd developed romantic feelings for her, refused to do so and had her sealed through the use of powerful magic instead. However, with the awakening of Corypheus in the aftermath of the First Blight in -191 Ancient, his power raising again the Spectres to fight for him, Warden-Commander Farele asked the First Warden to undo the sealing. After Corypheus's defeat, Aeliana asked to be sealed again, but this time her sealing would break by itself if Corypheus ever managed to come back.
Biography and legend[]
Aeliana's birth[]
Early life[]
Magical education[]
Sword fighting[]
The Magisterium[]
Joining the Blademaster Order[]
Disinherited[]
Star squire[]
Rising through their ranks[]
Lady of Ostagar[]
Fighting off the Qun[]
Queen of Ashes[]
Legatus of the Blademaster Order[]
Sacrifice[]
In the Fade[]
As a darkspawn[]
Running away[]
Helping the Wardens[]
Sealing[]
Awakening[]
Temple of the Sacred Ashes[]
Involvement[]
Physical appearance[]
Early[]
As a Squire[]
As a Blademaster[]
Lady Blademaster[]
As a Spectre[]
Currently[]
Personality and traits[]
Likes[]
Dislikes[]
Fears[]
Arachnophobia[]
Flaws[]
Pride[]
Abilities and skills[]
Aeliana as the daughter of two powerful Tevinter mages and former Legatus of the Blademaster Order is a highly skilled individual who's been trained in both magic and sword fighting and educated by the best tutors within the Empire. Therefore, she possesses a high amount of physical and magical prowess, as well as deep knowledge in several different areas, such as history, politics, magic and other things.
- Battle Prowess: Usually wielding an one-handed sword and no shield, Aeliana is an agile combatant whose fighting style mostly relies on well-placed attacks with a lot of speed and footwork. While she'll usually rather dodge than block an incoming attack, she's capable of parrying and deflecting blows with ease to catch her opponents off their guard. As a Blademaster she usually chose a more defensive, gracious fighting style, relying on dodging, parrying and counterattacking. As a Spectre who lacked the fear of dying Aeliana adopted a much more aggressive fighting style, relying on high amounts of speed and strength to pierce through one's defenses rather than waiting for an opening. Currently she fights in a mix of both.
- Swordsmanship: Aeliana is a highly skilled swordsman trained by many mentors in several different fighting styles, which she's mixed to create one of her own. While she has trained a few modern days techniques, most of her swordplay relies on techniques which have been lost to the ages, giving her an edge over enemies who do not know them.
- Battle magic: Though she's not a master in any, Aeliana is capable of casting spell of different magical styles. Many of her arcane powers are passive effects such as quicker magical recovery, but she does know spirit spells such as raising barriers and dispelling magic, from cold magic she can freeze targets or cast a lightning chain to hit surrounding enemies. She's particularly proficient with fire and healing magic, knowing a considerable amount of spells from both areas.
- Dagger expert: As with a sword, Aeliana is highly proficient wielding daggers and dual-blades, though she does not like the latter. She always keeps a dagger hidden somewhere for safety. With a dagger in hand she becomes a much more defensive and precise fighter due to the lack of range.
- Spearmanship expert: Aeliana has been trained by her former Blademaster mentor in fighting with spears. Though lacking interest at first, her opinion quickly changed throughout her training. Whereas with a dagger she is a defensive fighter, with a spear Aeliana becomes much more aggressive and agile due to the long range of the weapon allowing her to fight with no fear of being easily targeted by a melee opponent.
- Physical capabilities:
- Enhanced strength:
- Enhanced speed:
- Enhanced durability:
- Acrobatics:
- Genius intellect:
- Tracking skills:
- Quick reflexes:
- Silver tongue:
- Knowledge:
- Underworld knowledge:
- Arcane knowledge:
- Nobility knowledge:
- History knowledge:
- Monsters knowledge:
- Enhanced senses:
- Enhanced hearing:
- Enhanced smell:
- Alchemy:
- Cooking:
- Music: