The Fourth Branch of House Valgon in Eltabbar, 1300s Dr
from the archives of House Delizan
Disclaimer: This page discusses one view of Thay, an infamously evil, slave-keeping, magocratic country in the Forgotten Realms. This vision is offered for entertainment purposes for adults only. I do not condone anything described; quite the opposite. Please read with discretion, and feel free to stop anytime. Before you use any ideas herein, please gain your group's full consent to engage the material.
The family tree below shows the five most recent generations of House Valgon in the capital city of Eltabbar, in birth order. Portraits reflect the most recent (or last known) family portraits commissioned for each person. Members who originated in other branches of the family but live in Eltabbar now are not included here but in their branches of origin.
Player character names are marked with an asterisk.
Members who currently live in the household and are counted in the Eltabbar census are named in bold print below; the deceased are in italics.
All of the character portraits on this page were created with the PortraitWorks app (beta version)
Vadalma Valgon
CN Expert, 1308-1368
Vadalma was a beauty in her day and trained courtesans for all of her adult life. She seemed to have an understanding with Boris in that they lived in separate spheres; she helped provide cash for the family and didn't want anything to do with being head of house. As an old woman, she was raspy-voiced and jaded, but she was able to train her granddaughters to take her place before she died.
Arkod Volkos
LN Aristocrat, 1307-1344
Arkhod willed his heirs to House Valgon but never stopped working for House Volkos, which resulted in his death during a diplomatic mission.
Othilla Valgon
CN Bard, 1329-present
Othilla married and produced children fairly young, if only to fulfill her obligations to her house. She learned bardcraft from Gulyas and became a rising star in the theaters of Eltabbar. For a number of years, she took Roniran Gallegos as a lover, but when the time for elopement came, Roniran backed out of taking her with him. Othilla blamed her husband and children and withdrew into a resentful haze of drugs and parties for years. Upon Roniran's return many years later, Othilla sobered up enough to make him miserable - only to discover he was courting her grown daughter, Azonia. Othilla schemed to send him away but failed miserably, and in the wake of her daughter's marriage, she removed herself to another house, but not to another city. The birth of her grandchildren and Othilla's move to the faith of Samora have made her easier to deal with in recent years, however.
E'luaz Eremal
LN Aristocrat, 1330-present
E'luaz eagerly married up and became a cheerleader for House Valgon. Foppish and pretentious, he nonetheless did his duty to wife and house despite Othilla's disregard for him. E'luaz all but ignored Nauthira, who was raised as his daughter but he knew was not his. He openly favored his child Azonia, whom he spoiled rotten in an attempt to make up for her perpetually stoned mother. When Azonia married against his wishes and Othilla fully turned against him, E'luaz brokered his divorce and removed himself from the house. Though he still loves his daughter and is a doting grandfather, he is not as close to Azonia and has nothing but open disgust for his ex-wife.
Azonia Valgon*
NE Cleric of Samora, 1348-present
Azonia grew up rich and adored by her father. She was trained by her grandmother in the family business and then imbued with power by a new goddess, from whom she received personal attention. This gave Azonia confidence that was nigh unshakeable - until she went abroad, that is, and discovered she was a small fish in a big pond. She returned home only to find the full explanation for her mother's condition upon meeting her mother's former lover, Roniran, and learning his tale. The man impressed Azonia so much that she risked everything to make him her own, and once she did, children were not far behind. She started with an underground temple but has recently been granted a public temple in Eltabbar's famed religious district, "The Zoo." There is so much more for her to gain now, and so much more she might lose.
Roniran Valgon (né Gallegos)
TN Bard, 1331-present
As a young man, Roniran's passion was for the stage and Othilla. Together, they became noted in Eltabbar's renown theater district, but he yearned to see the world freely, without being shackled to house obligations. When he realized he couldn't bear to part Othilla from her house (and their secretly shared child, Nauthira), Roniran left Thay alone and cut off all contact. He journeyed to the far western coast of Faerun, where he lived until deciding he wanted a Thayan wife. He returned to meet Othilla's daughter by chance and heard of what became of his former lover. Azonia had the youth Roniran remembered in Othilla but more heart, and the two worked carefully to arrange their marriage. Now that they've succeeded, Roniran is officially a member of House Valgon and fulfilling his vision of having a family. He performs in the theaters of his youth and at family functions, rebuilding his considerable reputation. He even gets to travel abroad when he goes on the hunt for slaves for the house.
Samira Valgon
1376-present
Conceived on one of the first altars consecrated to Samora, goddess of tainted love and forbidden pleasure, Samira was imbued with some of the deity's attention from the start. In the womb, she urged her mother Azonia* to feast on strange, exotic, and disturbing things - cravings that got too strong to be ignored. Samira was born on Shieldmeet amidst an outbreak of sabotage and explosions during celebrations in Eltabbar, and none of that felt like a coincidence. Exceptionally lovely from the moment of her birth, Samira otherwise seemed like a normal child, at least at first. She was baptized in her mother's hidden temple, named in honor of her parents' patron goddess, and lavished with gifts on her birthdays, which became reasons to throw huge parties.
When she was nearly two years old, the family discovered that Samira was putting slaves to sleep or compelling them to act out in ways they shouldn't. They couldn't tell if she's a natural sorcerer or has simply been gifted with a few magical abilities, but opted to believe the latter. (If she is a sorcerer, they're going to have to carefully hide that fact, as sorcerers are hunted in Thay. But it makes sense that she is because it's the most forbidden option.) When Samira finally turned her abilities on family members, Azonia performed a ritual to beg Samora to keep her child from using her powers on members of the house. It seems that the goddess granted her request - at least for now.
Samira gets along well with the other children being raised alongside her in the family's estate, including her half-demon (or devil) cousin Thurisa and her younger sibling, Rayvistryn. She's a charming child who soaks up the attention she's given from everyone, from house slaves to her parents to Lorna, who lavishes her with affection when her parents are busy with their duties. Samira is known to have a mischievous streak, but doesn't tend to be harmful or malicious. Given that her mother has just started building the first above-ground, official temple of Samora in the Realms, no one in the family doubts that Samira will be important to the new faith, whether she follows in her mother's footsteps as a high cleric or finds another way to act out Samora's will in Faerun.
Rayvistryn Valgon
1378-present
Azonia and Roniran found joy in parenting Samira together and decided to have a second child late in 1377. The decision wasn't without some risk because they were nobles in Eltabbar, which has strict limits on how many nobles can stay in the city at once. Although Rayek Valgon had petitioned the Crimson Courts to expand the Census not long before they made their choice, nothing had been decided yet. But conceiving secretly, despite the possible consequences, seemed like the kind of thrill that would please Samora.
And it seemed that Samora approved. The Census was expanded quickly after Azonia confirmed she'd conceived, making plenty of room for new children, and Azonia's pregnancy with Rayvistryn was much more mild. The next surprise happened at Rayvistryn's birth, when the child were born intersex, the first in a few generations. Azonia revised her naming plans so as not to force one gender or another on the child. "Ray" was in honor of Rayek, Azonia's ally and the acting Head of House. "Vist" was in honor of Ivistra Gallegos Valgon, a dear cousin who Azonia had loved and lost. To keep the name gender-neutral, Azonia ended the constructed name with "ryn."
Rayvistryn is treasured and being raised with the other children of the house - and may soon become a middle child, if Azonia and Roniran have anything to say about it.
Nauthira Valgon
NE Rogue, 1351-present
Nauthira spent her childhood in the shadows, so she embraced them as the best defense against the dangers of her family. When she wore yellow to Gulyas' funeral, it became apparent she had received unwanted attentions from her elder. For years, she was expected to train courtesans alongside her "perfect" sister, Azonia, who she hated. Only when Nauthira was sent by land to fetch slaves did she feel any peace. She longed to have adventures far away and never return to Thay. She unexpectedly got her wish when her mother revealed that Nauthira was born out of wedlock, a serious matter to Thayan nobles and approved bloodlines. It didn't seem to matter to Azonia that her fiance was Nauthira's father. But it mattered to Nauthira when she suddenly had no claim to the family fortune and no obligation to stay. She left at the first opportunity and has not been heard from since.
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