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 Terrente. 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 touble 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 the 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.

Nearly twenty years pass (446). Siguard was living in the Iron Mountains, protecting the local mining camps from storms and bandits in exchange for food. The people still feared him, but they understood they were better off because he lived nearby - as long as he did not come into the village too often. Siguard still only wore that tattered gray cloak and he still looked too thin.

That was the year that he had to leave those mountains. His childhood friend, Valten, had tracked him down. This time he was not a husband, but an Inquisitor for the Temple of Light. Accompanied by four holy nights he arrived to save his friend from the evil spirit that possessed him. Instead Siguard saved him from the wyvern that lived nearby.

Siguard had befriended the creatures years before - or at least came to some kind of understanding. Each respected the territory of the other. Unfortunately the knights that accompanied Valten were heedless to the signs of the predator. The wyvern attacked, killing two of the knights before the even knew what stuck them. Inquisitor Valten called upon the foreknowledge of Rath to read the creature's intentions and rally the surviving knights to his defense.

The winds whispered to Siguard of the battle and so carried him to see who would attack the wyvern. Seeing his friend down there brought up memories that overruled his own mind. As much as he tried to shut people out he could not let his friend die. The late harvest day turned was gripped by winter's cold as Siguard descended to do battle with the wyvern.

It was a fierce battle as both man and beast were evenly matched. The creature was hunting in its territory, but Siguard was fighting to defend the only person that meant anything to him. Like the day in the village he was once again part of a community and that gave him strength to match the power of the north wind. The wyvern died and Siguard mourned its passing.

Valten tried to speak with his friend - to save his soul from the darkness and evil that gripped him. But Siguard argued back that if the spirit was evil then he was evil as they were now one. That small moment change the lives of both men. Siguard knew what drove the “Ice Man” all those years ago. He needed another - he could not live in isolation from others or risk losing himself. Valten's armor of absolute belief in the gods as the shield and sword against the darkness cracked. Ulrichstein

After years of searching Siguard settled into a stone laccolith that rose up in the woods bordering the Elfenwald. Avoided by both elves and men, it was the perfect place to commune with the winds. Nearby was the town of Ulrichstein, where he could visit and connect with a community. He hated wearing clothes as they damped the feeling of the wind, but he did so for the townsfolk. He tried to fit in, but the sharp tongue and sarcastic tone made him no friends.

In the year 461 something changed. The storms and winds spoke to him as they had to the “Ice Man” decades earlier. The spirits of the winds knew when another was near an awakening for the winds touched all things. More mercurial than patient, he was not willing to wait for this child to stumble away from the town into a storm. Instead he went into town and took Isabella from her home.

The townsfolk sent a group of mercenaries to return Isabella to her home, but Siguard was not willing to give her up. The sight of his friend Inquisitor Valten among them reminds him that he cannot just ignore his own hummanity. Siguard grants their leader, Sofiya, access to his home so that she can speak with Isabella. Siguard has stripped her naked and tied her to a gnarled tree - her body under constant assault by creatures of the storm.

Sofiya is enraged for Siguard treating a child like this, but Isabella stops her. She can hear the storm, has always heard the storm. She knows this is right although it looks so cruel and wrong. Her storm is coming but she must be worthy of its strength. Sofiya leaves with an agreement that Siguard will bring Isabella to the town and speak with Father Balder in the morning.

In the morning an agreement is reached. Isabella will return to her home and live with her parents, but Siguard will be allowed to train her. Her storm is coming and if she is not prepared the entire town will be destroyed.

Siguard and Valten speak for several hours. Not just loudly debating the merits of the gods or magic, but actually speak to one another as friends. 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.