Valis (ヴァリス, vu~arisu) is one of the countries on the continent of Lodoss. In the capital of Roid, worshippers of the god of light Pharis can study to be priests. Parn's father Tessius served King Fahn as a Holy Knight of Valis.
Overview[]
The kingdom[]
The kingdom of Valis was founded by a warrior-priest known as Asnaam (アスナーム, Asunāmu) in the year 251 NRC. The kingdom is located in the south-central part of Lodoss, is known as the “Holy Kingdom” due to its state religion of the supreme god Pharis. In fact, the people have such a strong faith in the supreme god that they never miss their daily morning prayers. This is under the strict teachings of the Pharis sect. It is considered a sin not to do so, as is lying, especially when asked in confession.
In the kingdom of Valis, the throne is not hereditary. The Great Temple of Pharis traditionally nominates a senior knight to become the king, and entrusts him completely with protecting the country and the people from foreign enemies. For this reason, the lord of the country of Valis is considered to be the Great Temple of Pharis. The White Knight Fahn, famous as one of the Six Heroes, had a strong desire to unify the nations of Lodoss through diplomacy. The Great Temple backed this aspiration, and Fahn was crowned as king.
Roid, the royal capital of the kingdom of Valis, is at the mouth of the sacred river Fargo. This river, along with the plains that stretch eastwards, is one of the main trade routes in Lodoss. The kingdom of Valis, along with the kingdom of Alania, exports a large amount of food because there is a lot of livestock farming in the two countries. The coat of arms of the kingdom of Valis is a silver cross on a white background.
Social system[]
In the kingdom of Valis, the sovereignty of the nation lies with the Great Temple of Pharis. The King is only a figurehead who protects the kingdom from warfare and maintains national security and control. The king has been selected by the temple from the best senior knights from the Order of the Holy Knights for generations. And the famous "White Knight", one of the Six Heroes, King Fahn, who had the vision and ability, was selected to be in that position. As the kingdom of Valis is a strict religion-bound nation, it is infested with rigid formalism. Holy Knights are exclusively male. There are even some priests who cannot actually perform miracles.
History[]
Foundation[]
Before the kingdom of Valis was founded, the region was ruled by the kingdom of Elvec. This mighty kingdom spread to parts of Kanon and Moss. However, due to slave-like labour, the civilians were forced under by the royal family and the aristocratic class, a rebellion broke out, led by the Pharis sect. The warrior-priest, Asnahm, who became the leader of the rebellion, fought for five years. And after the long battle, the kingdom of Elvec was finally destroyed. Thus, on the 251st year of the New Royal Calendar, a new kingdom that would be led by the doctrine of the supreme god, named the “Holy Kingdom of Valis,” was established. However, Asnahm didn't make the throne hereditary; rather, he entrusted the Great Temple of Pharis to select his successors. The king would be selected from among the most senior ranking Holy Knights to protect the kingdom, but the Great Temple of Pharis would ultimately decide the right course of justice.
Year 473[]
Valis borders the eastern part of the Moss region via its neighbouring country of Venon. For this reason, immediately after the outbreak of the War of the Demon King, many knights were sacrificed fighting the demons. Moreover, immediately after the fall of Russen, King Warren died, which plunged the Pharis sect into chaos. During this period, the Pharis sect became corrupt, but the High Priest Genart aimed to reform it. There was a division between Genart and the Bishop; due to this, the sect's decision for the king’s successor was affected, and Captain of the Guard Knights, Dorros, was elected as the temporary ruler of the kingdom. However, there was a large faction that wished for the White Knight Fahn, said to be "the one knight in one hundred years," to take the throne.
In this turmoil, Valis’ national treasure, the holy armour, was stolen from the national treasury. An event like that had never occurred since the time of the founding of the Temple of Pharis. A doppelgänger, a demon, masquerading as the figure of knight captain Fahn had invaded Valis and stolen the sacred armour. Fahn, accused as the criminal, headed to reclaim the sacred equipment for Valis and restore his reputation. He boarded the abandoned ruin where the demons nested, and at the end of the struggle he succeeded in the retrieval.
In the wake of this incident, Fahn temporarily left Valis to confront the demons as one of the Hundred Heroes, and it was said that he did this with a firm conviction. In the meantime, Dorros, who had grown impatient, sent an army to Moss. The demons had already invaded Russen and attacked Venon when Valis attacked a small country called Renton that was under the rulership of a demon doppelgänger. Venon claimed that it was proof that they had joined forces with the demons. However, the nations of Moss had organised a coalition to counter the kingdom. Dorros' army was routed by the forces of Moss and eight high ranking Holy Knights were slain. Dorros himself also lost his life. Fahn, who was visiting Moss, was taken as a prisoner. For this reason, Valis's later efforts in the war were subdued against the Demon King. It wasn’t until Fahn returned as one of the Six Heroes, and cleared his name after the doppelgänger besmirched it, that Valis proved to be an asset to the kingdoms of Lodoss in the Demon War. Other than Fahn’s personal participation, the kingdom of Valis assisted Moss after the failure of the Venon expedition, with outstanding human resources such as the healing of Saint of the Supreme God, Flaus, and the large amount of food that they provided to their civilians.
Year 510[]
When the War of Heroes began, the kingdom of Valis was threatened by the Marmo army, so it called on the countries of Lodoss to cooperate in countering the threat. As a result, the Allied Forces assembled, and the Marmo Army was hunted down. Valis succeeded, but troubles occurred in the other kingdoms preventing them from participating in the war. Therefore, the coalition was destroyed. Thus, the kingdom of Valis could only rely on a portion of the army of the kingdom of Flaim as allies.
The battle with the Marmo army occurred near the royal capital of Roid. In this conflict, King Fahn was defeated in single combat by Emperor Beld of the Marmo Empire and lost his life. However, in a move of desperation, King Kashue of Flaim took the Dark Emperor by surprise and beheaded him. It was a narrow victory, and many skilled Holy Knights and soldiers lost their lives. The city of Adan was still under Marmo occupation, and the capital of Roid, which was destroyed in the final battle, would take a long time to reconstruct. After Fahn's death, it was the Temple of Pharis led by Bishop Genart that contributed to the reconstruction of the kingdom. Genart also recommended Etoh as the next king because of his achievements in the reconstruction of the kingdom, though Etoh was not from the order of Holy Knights. Thus, a priest king took the throne, a rarity in the kingdom's history.
Years 512-515[]
After Kanon, Valis was the region second-most damaged by the invasion of the Marmo Empire during the War of Heroes.
Valis' second-largest city, Adan, was occupied and the entrance to the Holy Palace was also destroyed by repeated attacks. In addition, King Fahn, who fought in the final battle with Marmo, was killed in action, along with many of the talented Holy Knights and Warrior Priests.
However Valis recovered from such a devastating situation and Princess Fianna, daughter of King Fahn, married Etoh, who was crowned King of Valis. Etoh was a High Priest of the Pharis sect before the coronation. In cooperation with the Bishop Genart, Valis rebuilt the sect and the country and was working hard to recover its strength. Furthermore, after the coronation, Adan, which had been occupied by the Marmo Empire, was regained with the cooperation of the Free Knight Parn. The kingdom of Valis was on track to regain its former power.
Year 525[]
The city of Adan was once again captured by the Marmo empire during the War of the Destroyer’s Resurrection. The Marmo Empire then marched on Roid, but were repelled with the aid of the Kanon army. The kingdom of Valis then participated in the purging of the dark isle of Marmo, alongside the other kingdoms of Lodoss.
Locations[]
Roid[]
Roid (ロイド, Roido), the royal capital of the kingdom of Valis, is also known as the Holy Capital. Roid is said to be the third largest city on the island, after Alan and Raiden. It was a city developed at the mouth of the sacred Fargo River, which flows from the Nazar Mountains (ナザール山脈, Nazāru sanmyaku), otherwise known as "the roof of Lodoss." It is a good vantage point, with its waterways and land routes, and is surrounded by fertile plains. Therefore, the history of the city is old, and goes back to the age of the collapse of the ancient kingdom.
The city of Roid has to be prepared for other forces aiming to conquer Lodoss, and has been the target of many fires and enemy attacks, but it has been rebuilt each time. There are many short buildings in Roid, making the Great Temple of Pharis, with its domed temple roof, surrounded by spires, appear to loom over the city from its perch on Sun Hill (太陽の丘, Taiyō no oka). The Royal Palace of Valis on the Hill of Righteousness is not as elaborate as the royal castles of other countries, but is just as magnificent. In the city center, a main street called Sacred Road of the Sun extends from north to south with the end point being the north side leading to the Great Temple of Pharis. The small streets outside the main street are intricate like a maze, key in slowing enemy knights. Roid also has a large harbour, Kina Harbour, that leads to the sacred river of Fargo. From this port, trading ships from Alan to the east and Raiden to the west come and go, with the south side of the delta acting as a natural breakwater. Thanks to that, the sea in the harbor is always calm.
Valis Castle[]
The magnificent chalk-white castle of Valis is simply called Valis Castle. The castle hall welcomes many guests, with many questions, from many countries. While the palace is fully manned by knights, it is not a castle specifically suited for battle. At the highest spire is the Holy Emblem of the supreme god, Pharis.
Great Temple of Pharis[]
The Great Temple of Pharis is a large monastery that can be said to be the head temple of the Pharis sect. The temple sits on Sun Hill, with its northern end pointing to the main street, Sacred Road of the Sun. The temple has a dome-shaped roof built of beautiful pure white stone. It comprises a main temple with a tower and eight spires surrounding it. The temple acts as an orphanage and shelters the poor. There are dormitories for Priests, Priestesses and Warrior Priests. Inside the main temple, there is a large mural in the chapel of Pharis leading his followers to heaven. Many dedicated believers pray at the temple twice in the morning and twice in the evening.
Adan[]
Adan (アダン, Adan) is Valis’s second largest city surrounded by countryside and countless small settlements between the cities of Norvis to the north and Kanon to the southeast. The fork in the highway acts as a transportation hub between the three kingdoms of Valis, Alania, and Kanon. Adan was conquered by the Marmo Empire during the War of Heroes. Valis regained it soon afterwards, but it would be occupied again in the War of the Destroyer's Resurrection some fifteen years later.
Lenoana Lake[]
Lenoana Lake (ルノアナ湖, Runoana mizūmi), or Stillness Lake (静寂の湖, Shijima no mizūmi), is a huge lake northwest of Valis. Lenoana was once a great metropolis where the guardians of the ancient kingdom of Kastuul lived. However, when Kastuul collapsed due to the barbarian uprising against Saluvan, the governor at the time, the city was submerged. Most of the ruins of the kingdom are at the bottom of the lake, though some remain partially submerged. Wort was said to have recovered many magical treasures from his excavations.
Swamp of Silence[]
The Swamp of Silence is a marshland that stretches south from Lenoana Lake. The swamp is still slowly expanding.
Holy River[]
The Holy River (聖なる河, Seinaru kawa) is another name for the Fargo River (ファーゴ河, Fāgo kawa), which flows through the territory of Valis.
Delta Palace[]
To the south of the royal capital, Roid, there is a large delta in the area, where a small number of fishermen live. Warren, once the King of Valis, went insane after his son, the prince, was brutally murdered by a Minotaur. In his madness he convinced himself that the Minotaur was his deceased son. However, the monster was relocated to a fortified detached palace that was built by the hands of the dwarves. It was at the king’s reluctance that his “son” was imprisoned within this palace. The King told himself that the child was training as a knight and that he’d taken a vow not to see his father until he’d achieved that goal. However, the Holy Kingdom couldn’t continue to protect this cannibalistic monster. At the hands of the White Knight, Fahn, and Saint of Pharis, Flaus, the monster was defeated and the palace was abandoned.
People[]
Individuals who are from or who have sworn allegiance to Valis include:
- Ares
- Asnarm
- Dorros
- Etoh
- Fahn
- Fendrick
- Fianna
- Flaus
- Galzac
- Helm
- Roger
- Maefer
- O’Donnell
- Parn, though he was not raised there, Parn was born in Valis.
- Tate
- Tessius
- Warren
Gallery[]
