Valerius Utrecht is a barlet and paladin of the temples of justice of the Knights of the Scar of the Sun who deserted to the Seekers, was redeemed and knighted, and is undergoing a bestial transformation. A prophecy bears his name.
| Type | Character |
| Parents | Gerardo and Elena |
| Order | Knights of the Scar of the Sun (barlet) |
| Spanish entry | Valerius Utrecht |
History
Under interrogation, asked for his true name and his parents’ names, he declared himself Valerius Utrecht, son of Gerardo and Elena.
He trained as a barlet in the Knights of the Scar of the Sun and is a paladin of the temples of justice. Throughout his training he never abandoned the cult of the Sun God, praying to him with a phylactery.
He deserted the order to join the Seekers. He handed a destructive weapon to the enemies of humanity; it was used against humanity and destroyed innocent people. Afterward the knights “not only accepted his offer of redemption, they made him a knight”. The interrogation over his name and parents appears to have been the formal procedure of that identification or trial.
Appearance
- As knight: tonsure, shield, phylactery, cult of the Sun, title.
- As fugitive: a cloak with a very heavy hood; his shield left at the castle; a katana wrapped and carried on his shoulder “as if it were a proprietary object”; an axe as his only visible weapon.
- As beast: the tonsure is gone; long hair covers pointed, “animaloid” ears; he has grown a beard and has dark circles under his eyes. With the hood drawn back his eyes, now red, “glow in the dark” like a lion’s or a hyena’s. He is “a little more bestial”, transforming.
The prophecy of Valerius
The prophecy fixes a sequence of reincarnation in three forms, in order: hawk, then lynx, finally human. It was announced as fulfilled—“the prophecy of Valerius was fulfilled”—during a resurrection ritual before the pond. Whether it was fulfilled in him or in another resurrected subject is not stated.
Conflicting accounts
- One account holds that Valerius was a companion of the band in a gesta (campaign-cycle).
- Another holds that he is a figure of the order, a barlet outside the company.
Open questions
- Whether the bestial transformation is punishment for the weapon, an effect of the prophecy, or an independent lycanthropy (one record notes “possible lycanthropy”) is unresolved.
- What weapon he handed over, and what it destroyed beyond “innocent people”, is not recorded.
- Who interrogated him, and with what authority, is unknown.
- Who the Seekers are and why they justified a desertion is not recorded.
- The meaning of barlet, and where the order and the temples of justice lie, are not defined.
- Whether he still keeps the phylactery after the transformation is unknown.