Vallen

Vallen is a solidly built man with broad hands and a watchful gaze, a former shrike who clawed his way up from the slums of Erishum to join the kingdom's ranks of enforcers.

His sturdy frame and sharp instincts made him well-suited for the work, though his lowborn origins marked him as an outsider among his peers—men like Mardan who sneered at him as "the Gutter Shrike," never missing an opportunity to remind him where he came from. He carries himself with the quiet tension of someone used to being underestimated and scrutinized, always aware of the eyes on his back.

Despite the corruption around him, he held onto his own moral compass, ultimately choosing Nyssa's freedom over his own when forced to decide between duty and conscience. He's fiercely protective, sometimes to a fault—prone to shouldering burdens alone rather than letting those he loves share the weight.

Guilt gnaws at him for those still suffering under King Jorek's rule, driving him to take secretive risks like mapping the Dying Wilds and collecting its magical wellspring water, even when he can't fully articulate why. He's not one for grand speeches or easy charm, but his loyalty runs bone-deep, and once he's committed to someone, he'll walk into death itself before abandoning them.

Shaped by poverty and betrayal but not broken by either, the Gutter Shrike is a man still learning that strength doesn't mean standing alone.