Title : Governor of Margracier
Gender : male
Race : Margrace
Heritage : Nameless
Birthplace : St-Aldène-sur-Mer
Residence : Margracier
Birthdate : 20 Nerulo 3925
Age : 77 years old
Height : 6'2
Weight : 160lbs
Hair : black
Eyes : black
Parents : Léonard de Valence (deceased) & Joséphine Lapierre (deceased)
Wife : Valérie Langevin (deceased), Victoria Meinand
Children : Valérianne Langevin, Justin de Valence, Énola Meinand, Richard Langevin
Valère Langevin was born Armand de Valence into a wealthy family of St. Aldène-sur-Mer.
At 20 years old, he married his childhood sweetheart, Valérie Langevin, also a member of the Margrace nobility. After 25 years of being happily married, they had their first child, Valérianne Langevin. Then, three years later, a second daughter, Justine Langevin. It is common in Margrace society to have children well past the age of 40. Their life expectancy being around 200 years old, it's not that late.
Just a few months after the birth of Justine, the family home was attacked during the night by Wurdulys. Valérie lost her life and the place burned down. With the help of his bodyguard, Claude Beauregard, Armand managed to save both his daughters and flee the bloodthirsty undead by covering themselves in mud and running down a river to mask their scent.
In just one night, Armand had lost his beloved and his residence. In an effort to not be pursued, and to protect his daughters, he gave up on his noble affiliations. His entire family, as well as himself, were declared dead in the fire.
Armand renamed himself Valère Langevin in honour of his wife and relocated to Margracier. He used what remained of his wealth to purchase a new home and make influential relationships in the capital.
Victoria Meinand, descendant of Mother Death Ménandu, goddess of the Danaki, became the youngest Mambo of Dan after the untimely passing of her mother, Marie-Victoire Meinand, bitten by a venomous snake. Upon her taking the power at the tender age of 14, she dissolved the council advising her mother and opted to rule alone, trusting her own judgment over that of old women.
Barely a year after becoming the new Mambo, Victoria met Valère during her numerous visits to Margracier. At the time, he was working as a dollmaker in the city. Victoria had a passion for Margrace dolls, so different from the Danaki ones used in voodoo rituals.
Young and impressionable, Victoria fell hopelessly in love with Valère, who saw in her an opportunity to better his position. Despite the protest of her people, despite still being a teenager, and despite Valère being 42 years older, Victoria accepted his marriage proposal. In just a few months, not only did she name Valère the new Governor of Margracier, but they also took their vows. Victoria was also pregnant with their first child, Énola Meinand. They had a son, Richard Langevin, two years later. Those children, Valère only wanted them to secure his union with Victoria at first. However, he grew very attached to his one and only son, Richard.
The wedding caused outrage amongst both Danaki and Margrace populations. Not only due to Victoria's age, but also due to the long animosity between the two races. So much so that even law forbade the marriage of both. Said law remained in place despite the new couple breaching it with such impunity.
Although Valère seldom took time for his young wife he had married and impregnated out of selfish interest, he still treated her well. Victoria saw their marriage as a happy one. The both of them being very busy, the few occasions they spent together, Valère would offer gifts to Victoria and parade her around like a trophy wife, something she quite enjoyed. Not realizing it should have been the other way around as Valère was leeching off her power to gain influence in Margracier as Governor. He took over the Knights of St-Frusquin, Margracier's police force, turning them into Wurdulys hunters and appointing his bodyguard, Claude, as their leader.
He tended to Victoria's happiness to remain in her good grace, but he cared much more about their son than her. Regardless, he disowned Justine when she became Justin, which drove Énola away, being very close to Justin. Valérianne and Richard were further dotted upon after the departure of two children from the household, making them even more spoiled than they already were. Richard, being the only son in Valère's eyes, was his father's favourite and was set to become a Knight of St-Frusquin.
Despite his best efforts, Valère's marriage to Victoria became a tired affair over the years. He knew something had to be done lest he'd lose his power.
He reconnected with Énola under false pretenses and forcefully married her off to the future Bantak Khaantor, Abhar Destra, in order to form an alliance between their people. Énola sternly refused, but under threat of exile, and with some convincing from Abhar, she finally agreed to remain in Delkhiin with her imposed husband. Their marriage began as a mere friendship, but blossomed into genuine love over the years.
Now that his position was secured, Valère divorced Victoria after 26 years of marriage. He claimed full power over Margracier, gaining independence after 300 years of Danaki rule.
Although the people were thrilled at first, they soon came to suffer as Valère imposed even stricter laws which forbade religious practices. A curfew was put in place and many areas of the city were barred off in order to facilitate the secret hunt of the Wurdulys. Valère's loyal knights became an organized militia patrolling Margracier, brutally enforcing the new rules. Markis and their family, which had been hiding illegally in the city, were tracked down and deported back to Markiviet in order to cleanse the streets of those deemed impure.
((AUTHOR'S NOTES))
Oh, Valère. Such a long-standing character. One of the relics of my early teens. He changed quite a lot over the years. His storyline has been the same for the past decade, however.
He started off as a character named Valdhemar in a video game I wanted to make when I was 14 or so. His nickname was Soporan, which I quite frankly cannot recall at all why and how it came to be. I suspect it was solely because I was a big fan of Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows (still am). Back then, he was Oswald's lover. Quite a bizarre pair after all the changes. They had a daughter named Valérianne, which is still there to this day. In the game, Valère was a mental patient which had to be broken out of a spooky asylum.
Years later, once I had dropped the video game idea, Valdhemar became Valère, and he was a brothel owner. His favourite prostitute was a femboy named Victoria. I had this aversion to including female characters, it seems. It was also from this point forward that Valère would be cemented as a bad guy.
I also briefly had this AU where Valère was a glam rockstar named ValXXX and he would go see a vaudouisante fortune teller named Victoire (the name which I kept for Victoria's mother later). Mmh, a rock star and a fortune teller, I wonder where I might have gotten that idea.
Once I began setting up the world of Eler, Valère quickly became an important figure. Farewell to the brothel business, even though he still frequents prostitutes, now he is in power. Of course, making him governor magnified his worse qualities. However, I think he's much more fun when he's evil.
