Valten Scholz

Inquisitor of the Temple of Light

A man who was once driven by the absolute rightness of the the gods. Siguard of the Storm, a childhood friend, was taken by a spirit and possessed by the winter storm. His goal for many years was to save him from what was done to him as a child. He refused to believe that Siguard did not consider himself lost, but in fact formed a bond with the storm spirit.

After his reconciliation with Siguard, Valten was a changed man. He still saw honor and duty in his work as a Witch-Hunter, but now saw the evil that he must undertake to shield the others. He would look for a better way. Just a year later his faith would been shaken again, this time by Amer Terrante. He had created holy papers of confession which Amer was able to write an known lie upon. This should have been impossible. Maybe his friend was right and the gods were all frauds pushed by other men.

• Occupation: Inquisitor of the Temple of the Light
• Nationality: Kingdom of Dakar
• Spouse: Patricia Scholz (F, 411-428) deceased
• Issue: none
• Father: Müeller Scholz (M, 370 - 450)
• Mother: Carlotta Scholz (F, 377 - 457)
• Lifespan: Winter 408 -
• Religion: temple_of_light
• Ethnicity: Human, dakarians

Valten spent most of his free time with Siguard, his best friend. They were trouble makers to the core - often challenging each other to new and higher risks. Most people assumed that one or both would get themselves killed on day. They would push their luck too far. That day came where they were eleven (11) years old. It was a unusually cold winter and the boys dared each other to run to the old split tree and back again. First one back to the village was the champion.

Siguard was the faster of the boys, but Valten was stronger and did not tire as easily. Siguard was quickly ahead and within minutes Valten could no longer see him through the heavy snowfall. The snowfall picked up and soon Valten was not running through the snow, but trudging. He was getting tired and was not sure he was on the right path. He was near the tree when wind spirits attacked him.

Said to be the children of the “Ice Man,” wind spirits were only seen on the darkest nights during a heavy storm. They killed those who dared to challenge their power. Valten tried to run - any direction - but the snow blew about the spirits until he could barely see anything around him. He stumbled against a tree and that is when they attacked. The pain was agonizing and he remembers little else of the night.

The next morning he awoke while being carried back to the village. In the days that followed everyone except his family avoided him. Nobody would tell him what happened or if Siguard survived. Later he discovered the truth, but by then there was nothing he could do to help his friend. He once sneaked out to the site where the body was supposed to lay and found it missing. Likely predators, but he never had a chance to say goodbye.

Seven years later (425 AH) the village a fierce winter again pummeled the village. Snowfall collapsed houses and the winds tore off shutters. For seven days Valten helped the other people of the village carrying supplies and clearing roofs. On the eighth day the wind and snow suddenly stopped. Valten came out of his house and saw his childhood friend standing in the center of the village. He was completely naked except for a tattered gray cloak that whipped in the wind that only it felt.

Many of the others were fearful that Siguard had returned as a Revenant to exact his revenge upon them for abandoning him in the woods. Valten was not afraid of his friend, but was fearful for him. He wrapped his arms around Siguard in a warm embrace welcoming him home. Siguard was nearly skeletal so he took his returned friend to his home and fed him.

Siguard stayed with him for three years; although his wife complained about him at least once a week. In the spring of 428 the two men returned to the spot where they were boys. Valten remembered the fear and the smell of his impending death, while Siguard claimed to remember nothing of the incident. They were walking home chewing on the dried beef Patricia had made for him when the sounds of screams could be heard.

They rushed to the village to find pillagers dragging away anything they could carry and burning the rest. Valten rushed to his house and saw the scorched corpse of his wife hanging out of the window. His house was burning hotter than imaginable, such was the power of the wizard that lead the raiders.

Valten looked up and through the arid smoke saw Siguard walking towards the retreating raiders clad only in that tattered cloak. Several times over the years Patricia had thrown the garment away or even tried to repair it. Each time within the week it would again be clasped around Siguard's neck. As Siguard lifted his voice torrential rains fell, eventually turning into sleet and hail. Valten watched, hot vengeance in his heart, as Siguard encased the the raiders and magician in a block of ice.

Valten then watches his friend leave the village and even he cannot rise to stop him.

In search of answers for what evil has possessed his friend, Valten eventually finds himself among the worshipers of Rath. Those who worship the god of foreknowledge and magic are often treated as outsiders inside the temple_of_light. In addition those among its adherents tend towards scholars, something at which Valten struggled.

For fifteen years Valten struggled and worked to find those answers he was missing. Although he found the use of Witch-Hunters to be disgusting he forced himself to master one so he could become an Inquisitor. When he was finally allowed to join their ranks he left the temple in search of Siguard.

For six years he followed any rumors he could find. Along the way he converted or dispatched many magicians that threatened the land. In the year 446 he was following the rumor of a Storm Wizard that lived in the Iron Mountains near some mining camps. On the way there he was attacked by a wyvern. Two of his knights fell in the first few moments of the attack.

With his magic and the strength of his knights they drove back the creature, but it was the arrival of Siguard that truly won the day. His friend swooped out of the sky and try to drive the creature off. In the end Siguard was forced to kill the wyvern, something that Inquisitor Valten believes he did not wish to do. Without so much as a word Siguard flew off. He had done so much to save his friend from the darkness, but in the end he failed.

The rumors turned cold and Valten gave up ever saving his friend.

Fifteen (15) more years pass. Valten has gained the respect of his peers and opened his mind to the deeper secrets of the church. The self-absurdness of youth has given way to the world-weariness of an adult. No longer does he perceive magic a font of evil. Rather it is like a sword - a person can do great evil with it, but also protect others. It was in the hands of the holder, not the tool itself. Magic simply made evil men stronger and deadlier. He swore an oath to stand as the shield against such men.

Word of an attack by demonic or undead creatures brought him to Ulrichstein in the year 461. The wisdom of Rath is far beyond anyone's comprehension, but it was in that border town that he found Siguard lived. He had taken a village girl and Valten feared the darkness had finally overcome him. With representatives from the town he found Siguard atop a stone laccolith in a forest clearing.

Isabella was clearly not held against her will, in fact, if his friend was to be believed she possessed a magic much like his own. Should she not master it, the magic would overwhelm her and everyone would be in danger. Valten finally understood the isolation Siguard felt over those years - the accusation from his only friend had deeply cut the Storm Mage. It was Valten who apologized and reconciled for those years lost.

Valten left the girl in the hands of Siguard, but extracted from him his oath that she would live at home until she was an adult. He could train her as long as she wanted to study under him.

The two friends spoke for several hours. Not just loudly debating the merits of the gods or magic, but actually speak to one another as friends once more. Both men leave the conversation feeling better about the other. They may not like what has happened to the other, but they have made peace with the choices of their friend.

The following year Siguard brought him a message. The Witches who lived in the Fuldelf Ridge had been awakened. An early and deep winter would descend upon the valley and many would die. Dark magic had stirred the witches, the hand of Danshi was involved. Valten left the following morning, arriving in Bornheim by the summer before the winds could close the pass over the mountains.

He was called upon by the church to oversee the confessions of Amer Terrante, Brizanthimus, and Xarth - whom he knew from his time in Ulrichstein. He knew they had committed blasphemy against the teachings of the church, but the same could be said of Siguard. He offered to destroy the holy writs; guaranteeing their freedom, but costing him his position. Instead Amer lied before the gods and church with absolute conviction.

The ability of Amer to lie before the gods without punishment shook his faith to its core. He stepped away from his position as Inquisitor; although he was soon forced to preside over the trial of Amer as he was finally caught dealing with demons. The death of Amer for his previous duplicity did little to restore Valten's faith in the holy church.