Valkyries, often called the angels of fire, soared through the skies of the multiverse and embodied the glory of the Dwarven Empire. Their awesome ability to produce and manipulate fire, as well as their fighting prowess, made them well respected. The Valkyries were uniquely bound to the power of the dwarven king, who granted them most of their powers.

The name "valkyrie", likely coined by Dain Fireforge, was undoubtedly drawn from Moradiet mythology in which the valkyries were the servants and warriors of Thom Faldur.

History

The Valkyries were founded in 17 OW, when the Dwarven High King - a mage of awesome power trying to save a crumbling empire - made a deal with Silurite elven spellcasters. They were dwarven and elven women who were uniquely Connected by the Flamelink to the king's gemstone to his great elemental power, allowing them to produce magic far beyond what comparable sorcerers would be able to. Very quickly, the King's elite Valkyries became the heroes of the Dwarven forces, and were key players in the Orc Wars.

However, as the Valkyrie Order grew larger and more powerful, the toll it had on the King also increased. Seeing his health and strength decline rapidly, the Order was disbanded in 64 OW. Most Valkyries died at this moment, though some elves - known as the Severed - managed to maintain a strong link to the Weave and survived, hunted by those they had protected and loved.

The Queens of the Holy Dwarven Empire, with the vast magical resources at their disposal, decided to re-found the Valkyrie Order in 322 OW^[3], though this time using a fugue-construct based on large caged gems, primordials, gods, and the Queens themselves to supply the Order's power. This new fugue was called Queens' Fire. Despite the great ability and strength of the Queens and their allies, they were barely able to produce power comparable to what the King had been able to supply on his own. The new Valkyrie Order was constituted solely out of elven women - some voluntary, some captured warriors and mages - because of their greater affinity to the fodselnyr. They were about thrice as numerous as their predecessors, though were in general less powerful, and featured a greater variation in abilities.

Birth

Up to 22 OW, the High King and his elven allies produced Valkyries directly out of dwarven or elven individuals. However, this process was imperfect and had a fifty-fifty success rate, and produced overwhelmingly weak warriors - though most Valkyries of legendary power were crafted at this early stage by the King's own hand. However, afterward, the fodselnyr process was developed and perfected, which would be used thereafter.

Fodselnyr

A Valkyrie and a mortal humanoid would perform a complex mating ritual, including the "letting of blood". It is a common belief that the mortal died in the process because of blood loss, but this is unconfirmed.

After the long ritual was complete, the still mortal would sit in a foetal shape, soon glowing red. A thick plant with enveloping red and purple petals would grow around the body, forming a cocoon that remained still for several days up to a month. Eventually, the petals would burst open, blood would spill out of the bulb, and a fully-formed Valkyrie in all her physical and magical strength would step out. She would then require training to cast spells and fight effectively.

Individuals who underwent the fodselnyr process often retained some memories, mannerisms, and abilities from their previous lives, but they were distinctly different people and were unwaveringly loyal to their creators - both to their masters, either the King or the Queens, and in second place to their predecessor Valkyrie, their moddhe.

The fodselnyr ritual worked reliability, though it often yielded better results when the moddhe and subject were of the same race, and dwarven Valkyries created in this way were always weaker than elves.

Appearance and Abilities

Known Valkyrie Names: Amelia, Cussta, Brynhildr, Eir, Eygurd, Geirdriful, Göll, Göndul, Hildr, Hrist, Kara, Liliana, Mal Darin, Mist, Ölrun, Prima, Roanna, Rota, Sigrun, Skögul, Skuld, Volmyrdia

King's Valkyries

The Valkyries of the first Order drew all their power directly from the King, many were created by his own hand, and all had regular contact with him. They were notably able to communicate with the King through his gemstone at any moment, wherever they were. This, coupled with their relatively small number and the rudimentary process that formed and trained them, meant the Valkyries were all very similar to each other. At rest, they looked like typical elven or dwarven women, though they were of excellent health and physique, and were said to have a fiery temper. Many had an unquenchable flame in their eyes, and were extremely determined and devoted to their cause.

Valkyries often used light but effective armor - plate or chainmail, or both - with stylized golden helmets representing birds of prey's faces or wings. They wielded melee weapons like swords and spears, though often one-handed. They could draw upon all kinds of fire magic, including bolts of flame, fireballs, seething tornadoes of fire, or fiery wings to fly. Most could cast simple spells without requiring the King's strength. However, most of their military value relied on their strategic deployment as morale tools, being placed exactly where their power would have the most effect, their raw martial ability, and key bursts of near-unlimited power drawing from the King. These bursts could bathe whole bays in flames, or bring down thick-walled fortresses.

The Severed

When the Valkyrie Order was disbanded, the majority of Valkyries died, though some survived and hid in the corners of the multiverse. Some, having lost their connection to the King, lost all their magical ability and became unable to fight with equal skill, mingling into the mortal populace and living commoners' lives. Others, who were powerful sorceresses in their own right, continued to their weakened powers as freelance warriors. Most of these were hunted down. Some were able to weakly draw from the Flamelink, and gradually restored their connection to the King, becoming his elite warriors around 200 OW and his avatars after he ascended to godhood.

The abilities of the Severed varied wildly between individuals, though most had disheveled appearances and felt lost, as if a piece of them was missing. Some turned partly or fully mad. All those who maintained a connection, as weak as it were, to the Flamelink, and most of those who mimicked their old powers on their own, grew what they called smertvinge, Wings of Pain. Those Severed who kept believing in the King, and persevered in their noble ideals, had a spectral skeleton of large angelic wings - usually no more than a faint shimmer in the air- protruding from their backs. When they activated their powers fully, these afterimages turned into tangible, radiant wings of pure gold. The Wings of Pain of those who had forfeited their former lives instead were ghastly dead wings of bone, grey-black feathers, and dripping bone.

Queens' Valkyries

Under the Queens, the Valkyrie Order was far larger, and constituted out of many different individuals transformed at different times and to different extents. Though all Valkyries' main asset was their control of fire magic, most also had secondary abilities, often from their former lives, including different spells. The vast majority were unable to produce bursts of power like their predecessors could. Just like their abilities were less uniform, their appearances varied more: the physique of their mortal selves shone through much more clearly, many Valkyries chose their own styles of casual wear and battle-gear, and some Valkyries gave themselves magical augmentations that altered their appearance.

It was rare for a Queens' Valkyrie to wear full armor. Most liked to go to war with only light clothing, demonstrating their supreme arcane ability and deadly martial skill.