Eva Valerian

Eva Valerian
name (rp world)	Eva Valerian (Gaera Main)
birthdate (birthplace)	1294 (Borders of Doma)
current residence	Base of the Shuman Mountains
occupation	Nomad with an inheritance.
family	Dawn Valerian
race	Human
physical description	Looks very much like her sister, as they both take after their father. Short glossy black hair. Is actually a bit more toned than one might expect, as her need to travel has led her to pick up climbing and swimming as hobbies.
typical clothing	When she's cave-crawling she wears a halter top and the smallest black shorts known to man. Otherwise she prefers to dress in more masculine suits tailored to fit her.
personality	Untrusting and often a bit petty as a result. Due to a long-standing codependent relationship with her sister, Eve is inclined to distrust people's motives, instead going where she feels needed, even if it means disregarding her own wellbeing.
religious beliefs	As long as the gods leave her alone, she won't bother them by asking for anything.
drunk type	Wretched tease.
other	Her birth name is Eva, but she goes by Eve.

Background

In descending order, the legitimate members of the Valerian family are Donna, Daniel and Dmitri (the twins), Donny and Dawn. The youngest is named Eva, daughter of Paul and the housekeeper. Dawn was the only member of the Valerian household who acknowledged Eva, but could never seem to decide whether Eva was her only friend or the lowest possible form of life. Once, when Dawn was eight and Eva was six, Dawn nearly drowned her younger sister. She used her powers on her, and could have forced her to drown herself. At the last instant, Dawn backpedaled and saved Eva.

Eva ran away from home at the age of twelve. Shortly thereafter Paul and Catherine Valerian killed each other in what was termed a marital dispute. When the matter of inheritance was raised, all of Paul and Catherine's children except their youngest fought one another for the money. Some said the pressure on the family was too much, others speculated that a strain of insanity ran through Catherine's side. Very few people knew why the children committed suicide one by one, leaving behind a suitably grief-stricken Dawn. Eva knew, but shen she heard that Dawn had the money she knew she was safe enough.

So, Eva Valerian gave up her name and travelled as Eve, hoping to escape her half-sister. Dawn didn't generally harm her, but now and again would contact her little sister telepathically just to stay caught up with family.

She spent the next several years on the run, and developed a peculiar anxiety about staying in one place for too long. Teleporting from one region to another, she struggled to have her own life away from her sister's machinations.

Her efforts were not entirely successful. Eve frequently made choices of which her sister disapproved, and Dawn's displeasure was always made evident. Eve's taste in men is the best example. Eve, due to issues with commitment and an inability to trust anyone, was given to flings and one-night stands. Dawn didn't like her sister hanging around with the sort of men who find such activities appealing.

From what may be a twisted desire to protect Eve, Dawn would warn Eve against these men. If warnings didn't work, Dawn would "show her" what these men were capable of by mentally-dominating them and driving them to all sorts of abuses, both verbal and physical. Paradoxically, Dawn never allowed Eve to be harmed. If Eve was truly in danger, it was often because her taste in men really had gotten her into trouble. In these cases, the man in question would generally be found dead, having sadly committed suicide.

This combination of Dawn's self-fulfilling prophecy and genuine concern for Eve gave little comfort to the young woman. It seemed that while she was by no means safe from her sister, Dawn would allow no one else to harm her.

As a result of all this, Eve has a lot of confusing feelings toward her sister. She also spent many years unable to tell with certainty whether a person she's speaking with is under Dawn's influence. To counteract this problem, Eve isn't generally friendly with people she doesn't know until they've at least had a drink and a cigarette with her. Dawn doesn't drink, so most of her followers don't either. Eve calls her a teetotaling bitch on some days, and misses her childhood friend on others. Very confused.

From the Ashes

The party picked up Eve and a new friend of hers by the name of Lyminali Eddress. She and Lym had gotten themselves imprisoned by a group of Yuan'ti while investigating their caves, and as a token of gratitude, Eve used her powers to offer them free transportation wherever they wanted to go.

She took them back to help them complete their mission, and found that they had encountered a woman named Dawn who was currently leading a cult full of brainwashed children. Eve was deeply shaken that her sister's schemes could still reach her even now. While she was still with the group, she was contacted telepathically by her sister. Dawn teased her for avoiding her all these years and then falling in with her enemies. She challenged Eve's notion that these people were any different from Dawn herself was, and Eve rebuffed her.

When they returned to Doma, they found the Jade Dragon in flames thanks to the efforts of Dawn and the children. When the party caught up with the kids in an alleyway, they found themselves face to face with Dawn, standing protectively between the party and her students.

What would the others do? If they knew who she was, that Dawn was her sister, she'd be lucky if they killed her. Judging the party by the same standards she used with her sister, Eve assumed that they would do whatever they needed to do once they realized she might have information about Dawn.

So, she did the only thing she could think to do. She panicked and ran.

The party persued her and when they finally caught her, they found they had to calm her down before she could even talk. Even then, what she had to offer was of dubious value. She told them that they didn't understand what Dawn could do, that she can make them see things, feel things, do things that have nothing to do with reality. Irritated by the combination of panic and condescension coming from the young woman, Stephan Hyral told her to snap out of it and slapped her across the face. She teleported away.

Lym contacted her to apologize for what Stephan had done, but Eve wouldn't hear it. Lym promised her that she didn't have to be involved in this, and Eve knew that it was already too late. She was already factored into Dawn's plans, and there was no way out.

She was met immediately afterward by her sister, who told her that this is what happens when she doesn't listen. That no one else understands how Eve feels except for her. If they really cared about her, if they really needed her, they would never have driven her off. Dawn needed her. Her family needed her.

She visited Dawn at her estate and met the cultists under her command. Dawn implored Eve to help with her plan. All she wanted was her master back. She couldn't live without being by his side, and she would not be kept from bringing him back. Eve knew that she was destined to be used as a means to an end by any side she chose. The only difference was that Dawn needed her, and the others plainly did not. She said she would consider it.

Dawn exacted her vengeance on the party for their treatment of Eve by forcing a commoner to serve as a mouthpiece and then commit suicide in front of them. She told them that she would pick up the pieces this time, but they had better learn some respect.

Distressed by that last statement, the party retrieved Eve. Torn between her loyalties, she stayed in contact with her sister even as she went along with the party's plan to meet with Dawn. They planned to ambush her after the discussion and kill her then and there.

She visited with Dawn once more, learning a great deal about Dawn's master. Dawn, interested in proving that she needed Eve more than the party and that her new friends would do anything to Eve just to get to Dawn, the two agreed that in their next battle Eve would allow herself to be affected by attacks against Dawn. If her friends really cared about her, Dawn told her with the aid of some mental coercion, then they would not continue to attack Dawn. Eve would be responsible for peace between opposing sides.

This plan was never tested, as when Eve returned Lyminali came to her with the knowledge of where she'd been. He promised not to tell the others, and Eve realized that Lyminali could return her feelings for him. Her loyalty swung back to the party once again.

The meeting with Dawn was interrupted by James Silvar, who informed her that Dawn's eventual plan for her was to use her and then sacrifice her to Reshtaha. It wasn't to be any ordinary sacrifice, either. First Dawn would wipe her sister's mind and replace it with her own, effectively erasing Eve from existence.

Betrayed by both sides, and used by everyone, Eve had nowhere to go except with the party. She had no direct evidence they would harm her, and at least that's better than being part of her sister's plan.

Eve continued to travel with the party. When they got to Dawn's base, Eve received another blow to her psyche. One of Dawn's lieutenants killed Lym in front of her, and the body was never retrieved. Loss number one. Then, she helped the "forces of good" defeat Dawn, and watched yet another loved one die. The fact that Dawn arguably deserved it... only made things worse, because there was no one to blame but Dawn herself. Eve helped her new friends kill her sister, and all because her sister fell for the wrong man for all the right reasons.

RPs

• Chat: From the Ashes
• Board: From the Ashes
• Chat: Becoming the Blackwells

Philsys Necessaries

Maybe later!