Creation

Valorie was created by Kelly Thompson and Meredith McClaren in Black Cloak 1.

Major Story Arcs

Valorie is an Elf at the royal castle of Kiros. As a child, she is friends with Phaedra Essex. They play games like Snick, Snap, Snook around the castle.

Phaedra is eventually engaged to the heir to the throne, Freyal III of Sidra. She has to break it off because she discovers she is half-Dracona, which is not acceptable in the race-conscious regime. She doesn’t tell anyone why she ends the engagement and is exiled out of the palace.

Valorie grows up to work as a sorcerer in training. Masters Ividor and Lysanthir are her main teachers. She is a good magician.

Phaedra becomes a Black Cloak detective. When Freyal is killed, she investigates and comes to the castle to talk with the Queen. She is hit from behind by her brother Hadrian, who never forgave her for her exile.

Valorie is called in to help heal Phaedra. The two happily reunite. Valorie uses a special healing spell of her own devising to restore her health. When Phaedra is assaulted once again later in the day, she survives in part because of her durable Dracona heritage but also because of the very effective spell.

When Phaedra survives, Ividor and Lysanthir call her up to learn more about the spell Valorie used. They are impressed by the way she designed it.

As the investigation into Freyal’s death continues, Phaedra and her partner Pax discover that the Queen killed her son in order to cover up a scheme where she and Lysanthir were breeding Taka, beloved fuzzy creatures thought to be extinct, and then absorbing their magic in order to keep Kiros’s magical infrastructure afloat.

Over time, Phaedra collects several allies who agree to help stop this, including her powerful father, Phinneas II of Thane, his son and her half-brother, Devaki, and Master Ividor. Ividor then recruits Valorie for additional help. Phaedra’s mother also comes.

They all confront the Queen; a battle follows. Valorie effectively uses her magic to help fight the Queen’s forces, and is the first to rescue Pax and Phaedra from their bindings. After that she spends most of her time shielding the others. Ividor and Phaedra’s mother die. Phaedra destroys the machine. The queen and Lysanthir are taken into custody. Because of the destruction of the machine, fires and floods destroy portions of the Narrows and the Trees within Kiros. However, innumerable Taka are released and populate the city.

Five years later, Phaedra now works as an independent private investigator. Her father Phinneas is the new Prime Minister. Valorie opens a magic shop in the Narrows. She and Phaedra remain close friends, unlike Phaedra and most other people.

Valorie finds that the Taka love her and often surround her in small herds.

She and Phaedra’s brother Devaki have crushes on each other.

Pax and his new partner Alden ask Phaedra to help on a series of murders. They turn out to be committed by some Dragyern, giant creatures thought to be mythical. They are being controlled by someone from afar.

While Pax, Alden, and Phaedra are studying one of the crime scenes, a stranger shows up at Valorie’s house. She says she can help and tells Valorie where the Black Cloaks are. Valorie teleports them to the location and the stranger, Dagmar, uses a powerful spell to knock out a Dragyern that was attacking Phaedra and the rest. Then Dagmar passes out. Valorie is impressed with how powerful her magic is, given that Dagmar is a human.

Valorie mentions that she uses the Taka who surround her to recharge her own magic. They give off magic automatically, so she just uses what they’re already releasing. She says that if the Queen was less greedy, she could have done the same without hurting the Taka. Valorie teleports them all back to her place.

They discover that the mystery woman is the daughter of one of the Kiros Three, the most powerful humans in Kiros.

The Black Cloaks leave but have another Black Cloak and Devaki stay with Valorie, Dagmar, and some others for protection. Valorie and Devaki are happy to be together.

The Black Cloaks come back and move everyone to Pax’s house. Valorie does not like to be rushed but helps by levitating their now-army of Taka along with them. Valorie excitedly meets all of Pax’s kids.

They move once again, to another safe house.

Dagmar finally wakes up and Valorie uses her magic to help restore her memory. They discover that she has been used by Elea Veris, one of the other Kiros Three, to control the Dragyern and kill people.

Pax, Phaedra, and Alden go to confront Elea. She had been developing synthetic magic to replace the magic from the Taka and was killing people to keep it secret. They fight and Elea is killed by a Dragyern.

Valorie and the others show up to help at the end.

They give the synthetic magic to Phinneas. All the friends hang out in celebration, with Valorie and Devaki conspicuously acting as a very publicly-affectionate couple.