My first time posting here. The story is based off of what Valen has said in the game, and my own rather disturbed imagination. I hope to update every week or so. Enjoy!
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He awoke to a sharp, piercing scream. Curious and frightened, Valen cautiously crept down the stairs to find his mother's mangled corpse on the floor. Looming over the corpse of his mother was an angry demoness. He gasped in horror at the sight, and fell to his knees in tears. All the young tiefling had in the world was stripped away from him. The demoness, claws still bloody, gave Valen a quick smirk before vanishing, leaving behind a puff of smoke.
After a few hours, Valen arose from the bloody carpet, with no tears left to cry. He opened the brass door, and was nearly blinded by the City of the Plane's bright magical aura. In the city of Sigil, demons and devils are as common a sight on the streets as humans. Though common, Valen knew better to cross the path of a demon. His mother was enslaved by a being of the Abyss, and in her illness, was murdered by one. Valen had been taught that as a tiefling, it would be even harder to survive in the streets since demons and tieflings, young and old alike, were being recruited by crazed demons to fight in the Blood Wars in the Abyss. His mother told him never to leave home without her to protect him, but with her gone, Valen had little choice.
As a tiefling, Valen faced many challenges that both humans and demons would never have to even think about. Though he was mostly human, his demonic heritage was more prominent than in most others of his kind. He appeared to be human at first glance, but his demonic features; a pair of horns atop his head and a long, pointed tail, frightened away most human children his own age, and made him a target for demonic slavers. Without his mother to protect him, Valen would be an easy target for a demon slaver. Tieflings were considered to make better slaves than humans, since they are more durable and last longer.
Shortly after taking his first few steps outside, Valen witnessed the demoness who killed his mother being slain by a powerful Balor demon. He smirked a bit, and thought to himself, "What goes around, comes around." That smirk turned into an expression of terror as the Balor set its eyes on the tiefling. He ran as fast as he could, nearly tripping over his long, thin tail. Out of breath and panting, he stopped, and looked around to see if he had been pursued. Relieved to find that he was alone, Valen let his tired body fall to the ground, and, utterly exhausted, fell asleep in the street.
When he awoke, he found himself surrounded by group of human children, pointing and laughing at the drowsy tiefling.
"Look at that freak! He has horns and a freakin' tail! What a weirdo!" A chubby boy with curly blonde hair shouted in delight.
"Is he a demon or something? Nah, he looks pretty much human, other than he horns and tail." A tall, skinny boy said.
One of the boys picked up a long stick, and prodded Valen's deeply blushing face with it. "Stop that…" he sighed, brushing the stick away from his face.
"It can talk! That's kinda neat." The chubby boy said in wonder.
"Maybe we can sell it?" Added another of the boys.
As Valen went to stand up, the chubby boy stomped on his pointed tail, forcing him back down as he winced from the pain.
"It's real, then? He really is a demon boy!" Shouted the boy, thoroughly amused.
"I'm a tiefling, not a demon…" moaned Valen, rubbing his injured tail.
"What in the nine hells is 'tiefling'?" said the chubby boy, angered slightly at being corrected.
As Valen opened his mouth to answer the question, one of the boys chimed in, "It means he's a freak!"
Valen closed his bright blue eyes and let out a sigh. "It means I have some demon blood in me, that's all."
The chubby, blonde boy poked him again. This time, the stick hit one of Valen's curved horns. "So, you are a demon boy then, huh?" he said, grinning. "Do you have a name, or do demon boys not have names?"
"It's Valen, not like it's any of your business." Valen rubbed one of his horns, annoyed that it was there. Not that he really minded being a tiefling; not that he had a choice, but sometimes, like right now, he truly wished he was fully human, and not some sort of 'demon boy'.
"'Not like it's any of my business?" The boy said angrily. "Watch what you say, freak!"
Valen stood up, fists clenched at his sides. "Stop talking about me like that! My being part demon is not a weakness; it's a strength! And have you never seen a tiefling before? There are plenty of us in Sigil! I just look more demonic that most, but that doesn't make me any less human. And stop poking me, too! That's really annoying."
"Oh, so it thinks it can stand up for itself, then?" Said the chubby boy, a cruel grimace on his face. "Let's make it so he know better than that." He pulled back his fist, and punched Valen in the face, knocking him to the ground. As Valen tried to pull himself back up, another boy jumped on him, pinning him to the ground. Soon after, Valen lost consciousness.
When Valen awoke, he found himself covered in cuts and bruises. He slowly and painfully dragged himself from the cold, hard pavement, discovering that his right leg was broken and that his tail was twisted in an impossible position. Blinking to keep back tears of pain, he scurried off to the marketplace, cold and hungry.
The marketplace was bustling with humans, and louder than anything Valen could have imagined. He was starving, since he no longer had his mother to prepare meals for him, but had no money to buy food for himself. He knew, even though it was the wrong thing, that he had to steal to survive. He felt horrible about it, but he wanted to survive. He squeezed his way through a large crowd, thankful that there were so many people he didn't stand out. Towards the edge of the market area, there was a stand with a sign on it stating "Out to lunch". Valen seized the opportunity, and quickly snatched up a loaf of bread, shoving the whole thing into his mouth. He grabbed a few pieces of fruit, and put as many as would fit into his pockets. After he had as much as he could carry, he ran off, terrified of getting caught. At first he ran in the direction of his family's home, but remembering what had happened earlier, he let out a deep sigh and walked to the city core.
Valen sat down in the shade of a large tree. His leg was still aching from the beating earlier, and he could barely even move his tail. Ignoring the pain, he looked up at the sky, and counted the poofy clouds. He wished he was a cloud, and became one for a brief moment of bliss… Soaring through the sky, no worries; just watching the world pass before him. But he then snapped back to reality when he heard a deep, raspy voice, and saw a dark form looming over him.
"Hey, kid. I saw you back at the marketplace. I know what you did."
A look of horror spread over Valen's flushed face. "Are you… Going to arrest me? Please, I was starving, my mother was killed earlier today and—"
The dark form revealed itself to be a dark-skinned man, his dark hair in dreadlocks and his face unshaved. He wore gold-toned chainmail armor over a loose beige tunic. "Relax, kid. I ain't here for anything like that. When I saw you at the marketplace, I knew you had potential, so I thought, why not recruit you to join my guild? You seem to need a place to stay anyway- and you said your mom's dead? Well, if that's not a great reason to join my guild, than what is? We could always use a skilled tiefling in the guild! Come to think of it… There aren't any tieflings in the guild yet! Just humans… But a tiefling like you could a great addition to the guild. What do you think?"
Valen looked up at the man, a wide grin on his face. Perhaps in this guild, he could finally find some friends. Because of his demonic heritage, all his potential friends avoided him altogether. "I'll join!" Valen shouted enthusiastically.
The man nodded in approval. "I'll take you right away, kid. You ready to go?"
"Yeah! Lets go!" Valen was thrilled to have someone actually want him for something. He was thrilled to be useful.
The dark-skin man's expression turned from one of joviality to a serious grimace. "I must blindfold you. If you choose to leave us and reveal our location, you will be killed. Immediately. You are about to join Sigil's Guild of Thieves. This is no joking matter, kid."
A bead of sweat formed on Valen's pale brow. He had no idea he was about to join a thief's guild. But, he had no other choice. He had already proven his worth as a thief, and he had nowhere else to turn. His mother was all he had, and without her, the young tiefling was vulnerable, and had no one to protect him. His choice was to join the guild, or be captured as a slave and be forced to fight against the devils of Baator in the Blood Wars, which to him was a fate worse than death. To succumb to his demon blood and lose his humanity, to Valen, was like losing his soul. He looked to the barren ground nervously, and after a few moments, raised his head, and gave a single nod.
The man wrapped a blindfold around Valen's eyes, and put his hand on the child's back, leading him into the unknown.