Valkyries

Valkyries are the result of the coupling of Zahd, the Taznikanze God of War and the Seas, with mortal women. The Taznikanze named the stars in their sky after them, which should give one the idea of just how much Zahd slept around. Unlike the Ojean, Zahd's servitors, the Valkyries often acted quite independently, and, indeed, of all the mythological beings of Aesimond, the Valkyries were the only group that seemed to care very much about mortalkind.

Valkyries often had powers appropriate to their role, or dramatically appropriate for their place in a story. They are, however, almost all superlative fighters, and believed to live forever. Valkyries were incapable of having children of their own. Mortals could only bed them if they beat them in combat; there are some stories of Valkyries even marrying mortal heroes.

Valkyries almost always fought with minimal armor protection, in true alte Taznikanze fashion, to show their contempt for their enemies ability to do them harm. Sometimes they wielded notable weapons which would resurface in other places in Mana's history, such as the Daedalus Lance. "Valkyrian" comes up often as a named pole-arm, it is not known if this is one weapon or many.

Notable Valkyries

• Roxanne North-Star, as her name implies, shares her name with the northern star of Mana's sky. She is a guide to travelers and wanderers, serving as a constant beacon to all those who might otherwise be lost. Unknown to most, Roxanne current serves as a trainer for the Mana Knight, Fara Somers, and has a day job as a Professor of Tasnican Studies at the University of Albrook.

• Gabriela the Grave. She is known as "the Grave" both for her serious countenance and her task of guarding and maintaining the Temple of Fame, where the greatest heroes of the Taznikanze are buried, including Hauscarl the Lionheart, Kedir the Black, and, of course, Belgememnon. Gabriela has an enchanted longship that can sail to the Pure Land, where the Temple and the Mana Tree are located.

• Audthana Dragon-Slayer. As her name implies, she killed lots of Dragons, mostly the serpentine, lesser race of Dragons known as linnorms.

• Lenneth the Dutiful eventually ascended to godhood herself, becoming one of the Five Ladies in Certrain Elementalism.

• Isgird One-Hand was reputedly one of the finest fighters of any the Valkyries; so great, in fact, that she once challenged Zahd himself for the title of God of War. After Zahd defeated her, he smashed one of Isgird's hands with the Hammer of Sebedor. Although angered at her impudence, he was impressed enough with her bravery and skill to not kill her. Some have claimed to see a mercenary working in the Web matching her description.

• Astrid Sky-eyes is famous for marrying the mortal hero Kedir the Black, who bested her in combat. Kedir's saga makes it clear that she was quite a formidable combatant, besting many of his finest Totensoldaten before the war-lord himself proved her match.

• Ariela has a number of epithets; "Ariela Open-Legs" is the most polite. Sometimes referred to as "the first porn star", Ariela's Adventures are quite lurid and erotic. She seems in some ways to take more after the Sirens, but she is not malicious or wicked, though she is quite indulgent. She did get around the "you must beat me in combat to bed me" rule by being pathetically inept in combat.

• Lynnhilde of the Iron Woods. She features prominently in the Waldhafen Cycle, which deals with the same-named Taznikanze settlement on the Upperlands forest coast. She is known for her superlative forestry knowledge, as well as being (at least one of) the wielders of the Gigas Axe, an axe with the power of an elemental giant.