Janos Valkun
| Biological | |
| Full name: | Janos Claudias of House Valkun |
|---|---|
| Born: | January 2 |
| Birthplace: | Jido |
| Sex: | Male |
| Race: | Human |
| Hair: | Brown |
| Eyes: | Green |
| Height: | 5'4" |
| Weight: | 180 lbs |
| Personal | |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Family/Relationships: | {{{family}}} |
| Religion: | The Temples of the Acetae |
| Title: | Prince of House Valkun, Member of the Guild Council, Captain of the Hyperion |
| Nicknames: | Jan |
| Hobbies: | Chess, gardening, archery |
| Known skills: | Diplomacy, managing businesses, commanding airships |
| Favorite color: | Red |
| Inspiration: | Jidan the Clever |
| Motto: | "Gods are to be worshipped, not followed." |
Janos Valkun is part of the twenty-four member Guild Council of the Jidoran Federation, and one of the representatives from the capital city-state of Jido. He has been an effective trader and businessman, owning a fleet of commercial airships and sponsoring a good portion of the airship-based military forces of the federation. Janos has been a major proponent for war against the Divine Empire.
Contents
Personality
Janos Valkun is surprisingly frank and blunt for a master manipulator and a politician. He has not earned his stature by being silver-tongued and telling people what they want to hear, but instead through presenting an air of intimidation and authority. His deals are often negotiated quickly, with few rounds of talking, and he has been known to bolster his threats with force. He is remarkably stern, personally cold, and often regarded as immovable.
The Hyperion
The Hyperion is Valkun's personal airship. Many wealthy businessmen in the Jidoran Federation own their own air- or sea-going vessels. These vessels are often well-armed, and make up a good portion of the Federation's airship forces. Valkun's is particularly powerful.
The Hyperion is roughly seventy-two meters (or two hundred and sixteen feet) long, being one of the largest ships in the fleet. Its hull is constructed of iron and steel, which is polished and has ornate markings on it. Its figurehead is silver-plated. It has two turrets on the front, which hold double-barreled magitech cannons, and one on the back. The vessel is entirely enclosed, but has four landing bays on each side, which can be used for boarding actions.
It also has significant cargo bays, and doubles as a trading vessel. In wartime, the cargo bays will often be used to expand on the marine detachment, but when used as a trading vessel, it often has large numbers of treasures from across the World of Magi inside it.
History
Early Years
Valkun was born into House Valkun, a prominent family of merchants from Jido. His father died when he was three years old of a plague, which wracked Jido and much of the surrounding lands. Janos also suffered the plague; he nearly died, but managed a rare and miraculous recovery with the aid of several Magi who specialized in healing. His face remained pockmarked for the rest of his life by the effects of the plague.
There were rumors that Abraxas had manufactured the plague; while these were quickly disproven among the Magi, Janos clung to it and remembered it. After his father's death, his uncle became head of the family and took his father's place on the council. His uncle proved the opposite of his father: a weak-willed, uncertain man, who was not willing to pressure the Divine Empire.
Janos attended a private academy for the finest of Jido as a youth. There, he met a lifelong friend: Dalmen Ferino, who was from a lesser family. There, they became best friends, and moved along. However, two things changed both men. Ferino's family fell out of favor when the majority of their trading fleet sank in a storm. Ferino left the school, unable to pay his tuition, and joined the military. House Valkun also lost reputation, when his uncle refused to support a motion to censure the Divine Empire for sinking a ship from Cohen.
Janos took matters into his own hands. Being his uncle's heir, he decided to have the man killed - and recruited his friend Ferino to do it. His uncle suffered an unfortunate fall from a tower in Jido, and Janos became head of House Valkun at the age of seventeen.
Captain of Trade
While he became head of his House, the Guild Council voted to not replace Janos' uncle with him. It instead awarded the honor to a particularly successful merchant from Meronda. Whispers of foul play were quickly silenced, as Janos buried them under social events he funded in memory of his uncle. Delman Ferino was also hired on to make certain of his friend's loyalty, instated as captain of House Valkun's military forces.
Janos quickly set about rebuilding his family's reputation and holdings. He put a great deal of focus on their airship routes, at the expense of their sea routes. This was initially costly; House Valkun lost a notable fraction of its wealth, as it had to buy expensive airships. However, the gambit ultimately paid off several years later, bringing more trade quickly because of the speed that the airships could muster.
He also, with the help of Ferino, built up the military forces his uncle neglected. House Valkun made its airships double as airborne warships, and trained a sizeable number of ground forces. As their wealth increased, they also began utilizing more seagoing ships for some trade routes again and started to enhance their personal fleet of sea-going warships. Within ten years of Janos' ascension to the head of his House, he had doubled the amount of trade it was doing and made its military forces nearly a fifth of the Federation's military forces.
Guild Councilman
It was at this time that Janos chose to make another gambit, and reclaim his seat on the Guild Council. The Jidoran Federation found itself in the Ten Islands War, which broke out over several islands that both the Federation and Dalmacia claimed. Janos chose to withhold House Valkun's forces, which were a substantial part of its airship fleet, claiming the war was ill-advised. He had Delman Ferino present an ultimatum to the Council: give him a seat, or he would refuse to lend his troops (at the threat of civil war).
The Council agreed, and expanded its number of seats by one so he could have a place on it. House Valkun's forces were mobilized, and contributed to the Federation's victory in the war.
Since then, Janos has remained leader of House Valkun and has been an influential councilman. He has created more trade routes, but has also helped make the Jidoran Federation more aggressive against the Divine Empire. He has helped support principalities threatened by Imperial allies and has advocated war. Privately, he has funded efforts to use magitechnology to find a way to injure or even kill Abraxas.
