Pavara Valoro, “PV” (The Lovecraft Rogue)
BackstoryPavara was born to Father Valoro, an middle-ranking Orzhov Clergy and an unnamed Dimir Information Broker, an illegitimate and secret union. She is not a true Valoro, as her father denies her existence, but claims the name all the same, mostly in spite. Her mother took her under the crest of the Dimir, teaching her eldritch secrets at a young age, and, more importantly, taught her the means to discover her own secrets. Her mother was killed when she was a teenager, in a summoning accident. The resulting horror is the most perfect and complex horror (Hunted Horror) Pavara has ever interacted with. It vanished, and to this day, Pavara keeps an eye out for it, feeling more of a connection with the horror her mother became than the human she once was.
She was taken under the wing of a Secret Stealer/Assassin, accompanying him on his jobs sometimes, learning as she went. She eventually became skilled enough herself to surpass his achievements, and became his partner, rather than his apprentice. She felt herself drawing further and further away from her life’s work, infatuated with this new counterpart. But before anything of consequence could begin, he was arrested in his home by Azorius lawmages. He was executed under Ravnican law for the murder of over thirty political, military, and civilian individuals. She escaped charges, due to the fact that no one could easily identify her as being who they said she was, and vows to someday have her vengeance, preferably with a Horror-God in tow.
Signature spells3 Recoil
2 Dimir Charm
3 Psychic Strike
3 Pilfered Plans
2 Far
3 Away
2 Breaking
8 Reap Intellect
4 Call of the Night Wing
Creatures2-Baleful Strix
6-Dinrova Horror
5-Consuming Aberration
5-Horror of the Dim
6-Cosmic Horror
Personal AppearanceHuman Rogue, Blonde, blue eyes, Female, petite, 22 years old, 5’4”, 140 lbs. Athletic, low body fat, high muscle density. Attractive yet diminutive features, seems fragile at first glance. Wiry, small bust/hips.
Tends to wear thin blue plates over black leather, with a thick black wooly cloak over all of it. She keeps her Dimir Charm close at all times, drawing off of its power in times of emergency.
Kind of a blend of:
and
and
with this figure,
and this style of armor:
Combat PreferencesTends to go straight for enemy morale, summoning horrors to terrify them into surrender, before marching in, countering everything they have to throw at her, and taking what she came for.
Uses Consuming Aberration to overwhelm large forces, the Dinrova Horror to beat down larger enemies, the Horror of the Dim for subterfuge, and the Baleful Strix for both aerial assault and assasination.
Psych ProfileShe is interested in all things secret, particularly things that others take great care to hide. She loves all things metaphysical, and believes the universe to be held together by an insane god, the greatest of horrors. And so, she summons horrors, pushing herself that much closer to godhood. More than anything, she wants to venture into the sky, to explore among the stars, to learn truths that no one else ever even dreamed existed. This curiosity is extremely dangerous.
This curiosity has led her to craft new horrors from old ones, using a very Simic-like way of dealing with things, but with a more Golgari mindset. None of her horrors survived, being both biologically as well as cosmic-dimensionally unstable, and each imploded and destroyed itself before much study could be attained. She continues, certain that she could someday create the next God.
She is extremely powerful, but squanders this potential in jobs and activities that are beneath her skill level.
She is slow to anger, and is careful, methodical in her planning. She has been a Dimir Silencer for several years, and has proven herself almost prodigious.
Her duties include silencing the guildless and despondent, and learning as many things as possible that Orzhov and Azorius want to hide. At the same time, some secrets must be maintained, and though it pained her to silence deep truths, she served with honor.
Note: She is almost Simic in her experimentation, Izzet in her motives, and Golgari in her methods, but the Dimir understand this asset very well. After all, it’s the next best thing to having double agents from those guilds.
She tends to respond to ignorance with derision, and has a nasty habit of "running her mouth" that often gets her into trouble, but never so much that she can't get out.
Gear and ArmamentsShe wears a full suit of black leather, not skintight, but close, layered in thin plates of blue steel, each plate engraved with words of arcane origin, and some now unknown heiroglyphics. She wears a Dimir Charm around her neck, and a cutlass with special White mana-manipulating properties, allowing it serve as a spell counter on its own for a number of weaker spells, curses, and summons. Her cutlass is also used in her experiments, similar to how a surgeon might use a scalpel.
Her armor is ordinary, her cloak unspecial. What is special, however, are the engravings in her armor. They give her great strength of faith, the resulting arrogance pushing her more and more to make a better and better horror, certain that one day, she will craft God.
Her armor is designed for finesse and agility. It will turn a spear, deflect an arrow, bend a blade, but it has not the durability to resist a warhammer, axe, or similar onslaught. As such, she relies mostly on her speed, summoning, and stealth, resorting to magically-augmented melee combat with her cutlass if need be.
Her cutlass is relatively normal, aside from an unusual folded-steel/silver blade, infused with White mana, designed originally to be used to combat geists, and counter their curses and spells. What was once a slayer of evil now aids in crafting the most sophisticated and tenebrous of evils, refined to an art form.
Interests and GoalsHer primary motivation is the transcendence of humanity. She desires to not only create the God-Horror, but impart her essence into it, effectively becoming the God-Horror. It is not known whether or not this is possible, as it deals with ancient and eldritch branches of magic both forgotten and theoretical. That having been said, she’s trying anyway.
Fears and TriggersShe despises Orzhov for their focus on money and greed, believing the accumulation of wealth and knowledge without the intent to share is counterproductive. However, she is endlessly fascinated by their servant thralls.
Above all else, she fears Rakdos Demons, having accidentally summoned one once while trying to splice three horrors together, causing a massacre in the Undercity. Since then, she is wary of all Rakdos revels, circuses, even retail stands on the sidewalk. She does, however, harbor great respect for Murder Girl, the Rakdos thrill-kill assassin, for her tenacity.
Second only to Demons is her fear of failure. Failure to create the God-Horror, failure to worship the God-Horror, failure to produce a horror worthy of God, it is a circular fear without reason, for its subject is without reason.
Likes and DislikesShe prefers savory food over sweet, whiskey over beer, Golgari over Selesnya. She sees the white factions as being closed minded, the red factions as being too hasty and impatient, and Rakdos in particular as being completely and totally unproductive. In her mind, Golgari and Dimir are the only ones making scientific progress, with the Izzet, to a minor degree.
She enjoys noodles of any kind, particlarly if they are accompanied by a rich broth, or stew of some kind. She enjoys all types of breads, and all types of fish. She dislikes loud, fast music, preferring slow, cold, melodic pieces. Almost all of her free time is spent in an apartment in the undercity, drawing power from the Shadow when it passes, using the dark mana of the area to conjure up disgusting, revolting, otherworldly horrors of varying capability, then mix and match all the best/worst parts.
She hates sweets, particularly cake, regarding it as a nigh-heretical manifestation of bread, believing also, that certain sugars, oils, etc. In ones’ diet could lead to arcane blockage, stifling the flow of mana.
She also hates pyromancers, for their tendency for physical collateral damage. She is all for psychological collateral, but when it comes to the real destruction of villages, she sees it as dishonorable.
Guild Rank and AssociationShe would be considered rank 3 for her network, and rank two for her professional credentials.
She has associated with few high ranking individuals, save Jarad, the Golgari Lich, and a small number of inconsequential guildmages from the Simic and Izzet guilds. She sends them letters, pretending to be young nameless aspiring mages, just asking for summoning techniques. Typically, they comply, giving healthy tips and a window into their world of summoning.
Additional InformationKeeps a Childhood Horror as a pet, feeding it bits and pieces of her kills, and letting it roam through the streets of the undercity at night to hunt. It is faithful and loyal, and always returns to its putrid basement by morning. She and it both understand their potentially lethal relationship, and have made their peace with it.
She is terrified of the Phyrexians, seeing them as abominations, half horror-half machine beasts that have no business existing. At the same time, she hates them, and wishes them extinct.
She has a shrine to an entity she calls Tsthogga, supposedly an Eldrazi of epic propotion and influence. She worships this Eldrazi to an extent, believing them to be transcended horrors, and theorizing that a God-Horror could potentially be an Eldrazi, if, of course, the lore is true.
She is known to be one of Jarad’s only non-Golgari correspondents, the two conversing often on new breeding and splicing theories, being interested in very similar subjects.
She is regarded by her colleagues as eccentric, even among the Dimir, and is generally avoided, as a rule, due to so many of her associates dying “tragically” in “horrifying summoning accidents”.
Among the lower-ranking Bearers of Secrets, there is a phrase, “Valoro’s revenge”, that is used when describing any incident in which horrors ravage a civilian settlement for little to no reason.
She is well-known among House Dimir for her eccentricity, but her name rarely, if ever, reaches the ears of other guilds. Such is the nature of her trade.
She dreams in other worlds, catching tiny glimpses into Planes both past and future. Without further understanding of the Multiverse, she believes these to be ordinary dreams.
