| “ | The Blood Queen. The GoreQueen. The Consort. Valkia The Bloody. A name that sent thrills of terror and desperate yearning for battle down the spine in equal measure. | „ |
| ~ A description of Valkia, The Bloody |
| “ | All who oppose the Bloodfather shall die! | „ |
| ~ Valkia the Bloody |
Valkia The Bloody, also known as Valkia of the Schwarzvolf, Hetwoman, Queen of Skulls and most popularly: the GoreQueen, was a Norscan woman who was born to and ruled the Schwarzvolf, a large tribe of norscans who worshipped the Chaos Gods. Chiefly, they worshipped the Blood God, Kharneth, the daemon deity to whom Valkia swore her alliegance. Khorne would also be the god to ascend Valkia to daemonhood and the Gorequeen herself would be the sole being to capture the black, hateful heart of the Brass Lord.
Khorne cares nothing for his followers, nor does he care whether it is their blood who flows or the enemies. However, the Blood God rages at the defeat of his consort and readily breathes life back into her in the rare event she falls in battle.
General[]
Characteristics[]
| “ | When she had walked amongst mortal men, legend had told that her cold beauty and lithe, athletic body were much coveted amongst the warrior tribes of the north. In her immortal life she was a vision of rapture, he consort's desire made flesh. | „ |
| ~ Valkia the Bloody[1] |
Severe and Ruthless, Valkia is a woman of strong will and her spirit is indomitable indeed. She is cruel but fair, however after reaching apotheosis there is an emphasis on her cruelty. She has a curiously sensual quality about her that is more at home among Slaanesh's legions, but instead of using her wiles to seduce warriors into debauchery, Valkia uses them to drive those marauders, cultists and the like around her into a furious fever pitch of battle. Extremely prideful, to cross or offend the Gorequeen was to invite a swift, brutal death. Even powerful daemons, such as Locephax, were not spared the Skull Queen's wrath. When not raging, however, Valkia has a icy quality to her that tends to intimidate. Her step-mother, Kata, sensed the odd darkness about her step daughter early on, though she had not the knowledge to know what it was.
Valkia is Six and a Half Feet Tall.[2]
History[]
Princess of the Schwarzvolf[]
Valkia was the daughter of Eris and Chieftain Merroc of the Schwarzvolf and the only child of the pair to survive into childhood. Her siblings -- three brothers and a sister -- would perish before their first year of life was out. Merroc's wife, Eris, would die soon after and for many years the chieftain did not take another, content to train his daughter to lead in his place. This was met with some concern by the patriarchal Schwarzvolf warriors, who preferred a male leader over a female. While female chieftains were known to exist, they were often murdered within days or even hours after ascending to their places by male challengers; such a fate was feared for young Valkia. However, Merroc was assured that his daughter was as fearsome as any son.[3]
The Schwarzvolf fought a great and bloody battle against an enemy tribe when Valkia was just a girl. Valkia herself participated in this battle as a shield-maiden, meeting her step-mother to be Kata and more importantly, slaying her first man: The rival chieftain of the tribe, thus beginning the tale of her legend. However, despite his belief in his daughter and her feats on the battlefield, Merroc would take another woman to wife: shield-maiden Kata, a young girl not much older than Valkia herself, in search of a son. Valkia would be joined by three more siblings in time, these being her two half-sisters and finally her half-brother, Edan. Valkia herself would be pushed to find a suitable partner; this while her father began to slowly take ill, wasting away due to some suspected disease wrought by the Plague God Nurgle. All of this would drive a wedge between father and daughter, with Valkia seeking the company of the tribe's Pathfinder and Warspeaker Radek instead of her family. To Radek she entertained a future in which her infant brother was not around, standing in her place in the line of succession. She was also able to obtain his loyalty in that moment.[4]
Things come to a head when Merroc and Valkia discover a displaced band of farmers whilst hunting for the tribe. They are not warriors, but have the potential to be so and so the Schwarzvolf adopt them into their numbers. However, Valkia is not interested in their leader and desires his death. Merroc sees this and disapproves of his daughter's thirst for slaughter. Before the argument can become a battle, Radek steals up behind the chieftain and runs him through with a blade, killing him and sparing Valkia the task and the consequences of slaying her own father. These fall squarely on the Warspeaker, who is killed for his transgressions, robbing Valkia of the first man she fancied. But, she gains the role of Chieftain, as she'd always desired, ascending over Edan who was only a babe.[5]
Dealings with The Bloody Hand[]
| “ | Now tell me more about this god of yours. Tell me more of Kharneth. | „ |
| ~ Valkia, learning of Khorne |
After Merroc and Radek's passing, Valkia ascends to the role of Chieftain and rules the tribe with an iron but fair fist. One of her first concerns is the health of her people, as the virility and vitality of her tribe is in question following a difficult season of births and a higher incidence of god-touched (or mutated) children. To solve this problem, Valkia seeks out the tribe that had attacked the farmers her father invited into the Schwarzvolf once upon a time. This tribe is the Bloody Hand, led by Chieftain Kalir and his son, Deron, who Valkia is immediately attracted to upon seeing. While smaller in number, the Bloody Hand are feircer and more insane. There is chemistry between Deron and Valkia and it is Deron who first tells Valkia of the true name of the Blood God, Kharneth. After a battle to first blood, which Valkia wins, Deron returns the Chieftainess' interest and the two are married to increase the power and reach of the tribe. However, they prove poor at sharing leadership and whatever intiial attraction there was bleeds away shortly after they are joined.[6]
Valkia the Bloody charging into battle.
Valkia falls pregnant very shortly after her wedding night and gives birth to two girls: Eris and Bellona. Deron is dissatisfied with both the girls and the manner in which they were conceived, as his wife had inebriated and then threatened him at knife point to sire them upon her. The birthing itself had been rough, as Valkia's shape did not lend itself well to childbirth. According to the midwife, there would be no further children and thus Deron's dreams of siring a son to lead their joint tribe was dashed. Valkia was enraged at this; that her husband could only see the gender of their children and not the fact they were strong and healthy as many of the tribe's babes had not been. She swears to kill Deron for this slight, which she does a few days later as her daughters are introduced in ritual to the Ruinous Powers. Deron disrespects this ritual, claiming himself equal to the Dark Gods, and so Valkia sends him to meet them by driving her spear through his head. She later murders Kalir, father of Deron, and thus cements herself as the sole power over the joint tribe. The Schwarzvolf subsume the Bloody Hand into it's own numbers.[7]
Journey to the Chaos Wastes[]
| “ | I must present this trophy to my lord and master. Imagine the reward. | „ |
| ~ Valkia, stating her intentions to gift Khorne Locephax's head |
The Gorequeen.
The years pass and as they do, Valkia's power only grows. Eventually, the Schwarzvolf become one of the most powerful tribes in the North and to deny their will was to invite the wrath of the Gorequeen, as she had come to be called. Years of bloody conquest had stripped Valkia of most of her humanity, however her twin daughters Eris and Bellona proved to be shackles to her mortal life. Valkia was gentle with them as she was no one else and it was declared that when she passed, both her daughters would rise in her place. However, Khorne is not the only god who has their eye on Valkia. Slaanesh, too, desires her among his ranks and sends his daemon prince Locephax to tempt her into the sinful pleasures of the Perfect Prince. While the alluring aura of the daemon affects even the Gorequeen, Valkia cannot abide the insult of the Daemon Prince suggesting she would be more suited as a harem-slave than a proud Queen of the Schwarzvolf. Rage immediately burns away any attraction she has to the daemon and she challenges him to a duel in the Circle of Blood. If she wins, Locephax will leave and bother them no more and if the daemon wins, Valkia's soul will be forfeit to the Dark Prince and his whims and wiles.[8]
Valkia brings her spear, Slaupnir to battle with the Daemon and it is a contest of arms that lasts days. In the midst of it, Locephax transforms into his true state and the full weight of his sensual aura crashes down upon the surrounding Schwarzvolf. Along with her enemy, Valkia finds herself faced with the beguiled members of her own tribe and she begans to slay them in a berserker rage. One such member was Hepsus' son and his death would ripple with consequences for both the Gorequeen and her daughters. Valkia does defeated Locephax, lopping off the retches head and nailing it to her sheild. It was this act that first brought her to the attention of Khorne.[9] To complete her dominance over her enemy and honor Kharneth, she declares she will leave the skull at the foot of his throne. Valkia takes a contigent of her people into the Chaos Wastes to do this, forbidding her daughters from participating.[10]
Within the Wastes, the men brave many horrors and overcome the monsters that lurk about that land. Locephax, still alive and conscious, taunts her the entire journey, warning that only death lies at the end of it. Valkia perserveres however and reaches the steps of Khorne. The rest of the tribe abandon her at the end of the Journey at the behest of Hepsus, still vengeful at his son's murder, and Valkia's brother Edan, ever scheming to wrest power away from his sister. Only a young warrior named Kormak has to mettle and loyalty to follow her to the steps. Both warriors and set upon by Slaaneshi daemons and killed by them at the very end of their journey, but their stories stretch beyond death. Khorne, angered by Valkia's passing, rages upon his throne and his anger obliterates the Pleasure Daemons cavorting about the corpses of the twin warriors. It further shakes the land so that even the retreating, traitorous Schwarzvolf feel Kharneth's fury. From the topmost step, a Herald of Khorne and a small company of Bloodletters appear to collect Valkia's corpse. The Herald takes the shield, sliding it onto her arm and returning to Kharneth's realm.[11]
It is here, before the Blood God, that Valkia meets Khorne for the first time and becomes his champion. However, she never forgets the Hepsus, her brother, the Schwarzvolf, or their treachery against her. [12]
Destruction of the Schwarzvolf[]
For a time, Valkia fought in the endless and war-torn lands of Khorne's realm and the Realms of Chaos. However, she would eventually return to the world of mortals, reborn and reformed as a Daemon Princess. Her first act was to ressurect Kormak, the loyal young warrior who had followed her to his death in her mortal life. Kormak becomes her champion, a Golem of Khorne, and the pair of them march south with a host of daemons. This host growls, absorbing or razing whoever it passed by on it's way to the Schwarzvolf territory. Without her leadership, the Schwarzvolf falls in much of it's power and glory. Eris and Bellona are not as competent as their mother together and, after Bellona's murder, Eris proves a terrible leader. She is further advised by her scheming uncle Edan, who is still bent on dominating the tribe. However, Valkia slays them both when she and her forces finally fall upon the Schwarzvolf tribe, wiping them out to the last man.[13]
The End Times[]
| “ | Everything you know will be ashes. Blood and ashes. | „ |
| ~ Valkia to Kouran Darkhand |
Alongside Skarbrand Ragefeaster, the legendary Bloodthirster of Khorne, Valkia seiges upon Naggarond, the oldest and largest of the Dark Elf cities. With her, she brings an army of daemons, cultists, chaos ogres, and northmen and the pair of Lords wreak havoc in Khorne's name upon the Dark Tower. Valkia herself does battle with Kouran Darkhand, while Skarbrand chews through the rank-and-file soldiers garrisoning the city. However, The Witch King himself arrives on the back of his great Black Dragon Seraphon, slaying Skarbrand and then the Gorequeen herself in short order, thereby delivering the city from the seige.[14]
Relationships[]
Eris & Bellona[]
| “ | For all her single minded savagery and prowess in battle, Valkia's love for the little girls was the one thing that kept her humanity chained to her. | „ |
| ~ Valkia and her love for her daughters |
| “ | You fought well, daughter. And your skull will be added to our lord's throne by me personally. There is no greater reward. | „ |
| ~ A Daemonic Valkia to her Eris', her daughter, corpse |
Eris and Bellona are the twin daughters of Valkia, sired upon her by Deron of the Bloody Hand when the GoreQueen was but a mortal. Throughout her life, Valkia feels affection for vanishingly few people and her daughters are two such people. Aside from their olive skin and sharper features, they are the spitting image of their mother; Eris even has her mother's raging temper. Valkia loved her daughters and it was this love that chained her humanity to her. However, even as she did love them, this did not preclude her being harsh and forceful with them, namely her daughter Eris. Eris was all the fire and defiance of her own youth and Valkia often found herself clouting the girl back in line. Despite this, Valkia trusted her daughters to lead in her place should she fall, and fall she did to the machinations of Edan.
As a Daemon Princess of Khorne, however, most of Valkia's humanity is all but stripped away and her devotion is to her lord Kharneth, not her family any longer. She meets and duels Eris when she returns to the world of mortals to claim her vengeance against her former tribe. Her daughter fights well, but she is ultimately a mortal against a Daemon Prince of Khorne and that is a losing battle. When Eris finally falls, Valkia takes her head and places it high upon Khorne's throne personally.
Khorne[]
| “ | Khorne is not noted for his affections. His passions are those of rage, hate and bloodlust. Yet sagas of the Norse tell that Valkia is his paramour, an immortal consort who he returned from the dead. | „ |
| ~ The Book of Blood[15] |
Valkia considers Khorne both her master and her lover and while other servants of the Blood God kill for Kharneth for primarily selfish and self-serving reasons, Valkia does it out of duty and devotion. She sees clearly that her comrades are mostly out for themselves and this is something she chafes at and looks down upon them for. The Blood God returns Valkia's favor, for he was enraged at her passing and remade her sundered flesh with his own talons, reshaping her into a form more pleasing to him.[16] Kharneth cares nor for the lives of his followers, however he actively and consistently reincarnates Valkia in the rare event she is slain.[17][18]
The Blood God's eye consistently follows Valkia and her exploits and so those warriors that fight alongside her fight all the harder, for they are in the sight of their Blood Lord.[19]
Locephax[]
| “ | It had become oddly companionable. Valkia lived for her consort, to please him and bring forth the tithe of blood and skulls that he desired. But other than Kormak, her favored champion, no other had been with her for so long. Locephax knew her better than anybody. | „ |
| ~ Valkia, musing on the odd companionability of her once-enemy Locephax |
Despite their less-than-stellar meeting, personal enmities, and the eon-spanning hatred between their respective gods, Locephax and Valkia have been constant companions over the centuries and this time spent together in near-constant comanpy has blunted some of the hatred they feel towards each other. Locephax knew Valkia better than even the Blood God, lavishing her with compliments even as he still attempted indirectly to slay her and free himself by driving her enemies to seek her death. He also believed it his right and due to comment and critisize her every action, though Valkia would reinforce their power dynamic whenever he grew too bothersome with physical threats.[20]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Bloodraven (Sarah Cawkwell)
- ↑ Bloodraven (Warhammer Fantasy)
- ↑ Valkia The Bloody by Sarah Cawkwell
- ↑ Valkia The Bloody by Sarah Cawkwell
- ↑ Valkia The Bloody by Sarah Cawkwell
- ↑ Valkia The Bloody by Sarah Cawkwell
- ↑ Valkia The Bloody by Sarah Cawkwell
- ↑ Valkia The Bloody by Sarah Cawkwell
- ↑ Bloodraven by Sarah Cawkwell
- ↑ Valkia The Bloody by Sarah Cawkwell
- ↑ Valkia The Bloody by Sarah Cawkwell
- ↑ Valkia The Bloody by Sarah Cawkwell
- ↑ Valkia The Bloody by Sarah Cawkwell
- ↑ The Siege of Naggarond (The End Times)
- ↑ Liber Carnagia: The Book of BLood
- ↑ Warhammer: Warriors of Chaos (8th Edition)
- ↑ The Realmgate Wars: Godbeasts
- ↑ Warhammer III: Champions of Chaos (DLC)
- ↑ Warhammer: Warriors of Chaos (8th Edition)
- ↑ The Siege of Naggarond (The End Times)
