Vala Silverton was born in the spring of 1421 to Lander Silverton and Amafrey Silverton (née Everfall). Though her parents produced an heir, it was her grandmother, Edda Everfall, the High Oracle of Neverwinter, who truly claimed her. At the sight of the infant’s silver eyes, the shade of Edda’s long-dead husband Gathen, something feral and irrevocable took hold. The bond was immediate and absolute.
Though her home was Everfall Manor, Vala spent her childhood days in Castle Never learning alongside her betrothed Bann Alagondar II and the other children at court. She grew into a clever, charming aristocrat, furthering her education at home by learning to sing, sew, and play harp at her mother's behest as well as receiving training in alchemy and herb lore by the family's butler Tomlin Helder. When her first true vision surfaced at twelve, Edda recognized the awakening at once and began shaping her with unwavering devotion. By fourteen, The Sight had truly manifested, and Edda told King Bann Alagondar I that House Alagondar could have Vala as Oracle or Queen but not both. He chose The Sight, and Vala's betrothal was nullified, much to Lander's fury.
Her parents became increasingly distant figures. Her father Lander, furious he had not managed to make House Silverton a royal branch, pursued increasingly aggressive marriage schemes. Her mother Amafrey drifted in and out of sobriety, loving fiercely if inconsistently, and often aiding Edda and Tomlin in thwarting Lander’s worst designs.
When Edda Everfall died in 1449 Vala was forced fully into her destined role. Veiled by King Bann Alagondar II, she became the new High Oracle of Neverwinter, allowing herself to disappear into the rigid rhythm of Castle Never and her service to an increasingly feckless ruler. Within two years, Savras’s voice went silent and her visions ceased entirely, leaving her terrified and struggling to maintain the façade of her “gift” as Hugo Babris demanded.
Sensing her vulnerability, Lander sprang his trap, a lucrative marriage he had arranged in secret over the course of years. On the morning he revealed his triumph, giving Vala no name, no terms, Mount Hotenow erupted and buried his secrets with him. The wards Edda had paid for so dearly roared to life, enclosing Vala in an arcane cocoon as the city burned. She slipped into stasis, small, still, untouched, while all of Neverwinter fell to ruin around her.
For decades she slept.
Now awakened into a scarred and unfamiliar world, Vala struggles to reconcile the heroic myths she was raised on with the brutal truths before her. Beneath the silks, the manners, and the polished mask of a noblewoman lie deep and private terrors: the fear that without her Sight, she will fail the legacy of Edda and Gathen or be ensnared by the man Lander sold her to if he’s still out there.
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