![[Valshares.png]] # Val _Drow Operative | [[Bregan D'aerthe]] | [[Revel's End]]_ ## Summary Born Emelina "Lina" Waterskin, a human adventurer whose body was hijacked by an intellect devourer serving the [[Xanathar]]. [[Jarlaxle]] killed the creature and reincarnated her as a drow. Abandoned by her human family, she pledged herself to [[Bregan D'aerthe]], taking the name Valsharess—"Queen" in Drow. Betrayed the [[Heroes of Waterdeep]] at the Vault of Dragons, stealing the [[Dragonstaff of Ahghairon]] while they fought a dragon. Later helped [[Jarlaxle]] hijack the Devil's Fin and executed [[Jalester Silvermane]] as punishment for the party's defiance. %% ## At a Glance Lithe and elegant, with silver-white hair worn long and loose, obsidian skin, and eyes like pale amethysts that catch the light when she's amused. Moves with a dancer's grace that never quite hides the predator underneath. When she smiles, it reaches her eyes—that's how you know it's a performance. The guards see a captured Bregan D'aerthe operative. Dangerous, certainly, but contained. Model prisoner. Cooperative. Almost charming, in that unsettling drow way. They don't see the infiltration. She engineered her own arrest, endured the antimagic cells, and plays her role perfectly while she waits for the right moment to extract [[Artemis Entreri]]. [[Jarlaxle]] wants his weapon back. Val delivers. ## Personality The southern belle warmth is still there when she needs it—disarming, sympathetic, even kind. None of it is real. It's all performance in service of the only person whose opinion matters: [[Jarlaxle]]. He's the only one who ever valued her. Her family abandoned her, the party left her to die, her own body was stolen. Jarlaxle brought her back and gave her purpose. She'll do anything to keep mattering to him. Not cruel for cruelty's sake—cruel because cruelty is useful. She executed [[Jalester Silvermane]] because it sent a message. She'll manipulate, befriend, seduce, or murder as the mission requires. The transaction is simple: she proves her worth, she keeps her place. ## Quote _"Sugar, I've been dead twice and abandoned three times. You think a little cold and some iron bars are gonna break me?"_ ## Background **The Violation:** Lina Waterskin came to [[Waterdeep]] to restore her family's honor. Her brother Dustin sold her to the [[Xanathar]]. An intellect devourer killed her and wore her body, committing murders while the party thought she was their friend. When [[Jarlaxle]] offered to pay for her resurrection, her father said she was worth "nothing." **The Rebirth:** Jarlaxle reincarnated her anyway. She woke up drow—her human body gone, her human family confirmed as worthless. The only person who thought she deserved to exist was the mercenary who killed her parasite. She took a new name, pledged to [[Bregan D'aerthe]], and never looked back. **The Betrayal:** Embedded with the [[Heroes of Waterdeep]] as Jarlaxle's spy. At the Vault of Dragons—dragon fight, life or death—she went invisible, stole the [[Dragonstaff of Ahghairon]], and walked out. When Jarlaxle asked if they should help her former friends, she said "Yes" and left them to die. **The Enforcer:** Helped hijack the Devil's Fin, planted explosives for Jarlaxle's assassination plot against [[Dagult Neverember]], and personally executed [[Jalester Silvermane]] in front of [[Mya Haventree]] as punishment for non-cooperation. Showed strange tenderness to Mya afterward—took her to a safehouse to process the trauma Val had just inflicted. **The Mission:** Now Jarlaxle's lover and inner-circle operative. He needs [[Artemis Entreri]] back. Val got herself arrested, placed in Revel's End, and waits for her moment. She doesn't know Entreri surrendered voluntarily. She doesn't know he'll refuse to leave. She just knows Jarlaxle wants him, so Jarlaxle gets him. ## Stats **Base:** Assassin (MM 343) + Sorcerer (Shadow Magic) 5. CR 10. - **AC:** 16 | **HP:** 97 | **Speed:** 30 ft. - **Key Abilities:** Dex 18, Cha 16, Con 14 - **Sneak Attack:** 4d6 - **Sorcery Points:** 5 (Subtle Spell, Quickened Spell) - **Shadow Spells:** Darkness, Invisibility, Suggestion, Minor Illusion, Disguise Self - **Drow Magic:** Dancing Lights, Faerie Fire, Darkness (1/day each) - **Fighting Style:** Two-Weapon Fighting **Note:** In the antimagic cells, she's "merely" a highly skilled combatant. Her real danger is social—manipulation, performance, patience. %%