Valas Hune

"Lolth will do as she will. I, however, am loyal to Bregan D'aerthe, and to my city."

- Valas Hune

Valas Hune was a pragmatic drow scout and member of Bregan D'aerthe. He was an accomplished guide of the Underdark. He became involved in a quest to solve the mystery of the Silence of Lolth.

Description
Valas was described as wiry and small, being in fact 5 feet 3 inches tall. Valas had amber eyes and a square jaw. He often appeared tense. His skin was scarred, particularly on his hands (although he noted that after being polymorphed, his scars were in different locations). He generally wore a simple vest of chain mail over a spider silk shirt and dark breeches. Over that he wore a vest with numerous magical badges and tokens (see Equipment below).

Personality
He seemed to know a little about everything, including constellations (such as one that resembled a crown). He was well traveled and had been to Ched Nasad a number of times, as well as many locations on the surface and even beyond to the Shadow Fringe and Shadow Deep. He was quiet and capable. He wanted to stay out of trouble with priestesses whenever possible. He was also referred to as "dutiful."

Valas was also humble. He explicitly did not like the title "master"; "I'm no one's master," he once told Pharaun.

Quenthel Baenre's group suspected that Valas was a Vhaeraunite traitor because of his connections.

Early life
Born into House Ozzl'Hune, a merchant house in Menzoberranzan, Valas spent his formative years engaged in the family business, organizing and escorting Underdark trading caravans. This job gave him ample opportunity to learn to fight and encouraged him to be cosmopolitan.

In the late 13th century DR, Valas and a dozen of his kin were escorting a caravan through the Labyrinth when a large group of minotaurs attacked them. Valas was the only survivor of the expedition and escaped the carnage after all the others had been killed. Somehow, Valas managed to survive in the Labyrinth alone and with no supplies, sneaking past monsters and finding a way through the winding tunnels until he found the refuge of House Jaelre. In thanks for taking him in, Valas lent his now-impressive fighting skills to the refuge's defenses, befriending a Vhaeraunite cleric named Tzirik Jaelre. Rather than stay with them indefinitely though, Valas decided to return to his family, acting as a guard for several caravans until he found his way back to Menzoberranzan. Here he learned that the loss of the caravan in the Labyrinth had left his family destitute and their rivals had quickly destroyed House Ozzl'Hune. He immediately sought out Bregan D'aerthe and impressed his new brothers with his skills in silence and bladework, soon turning him into a high-ranking member of the mercenary group.

The War of the Spider Queen
In 1372 DR, Valas was hired by Triel Baenre to retrieve the Ched Nasadan ambassador Faeryl Zauvirr and her retainers, who had snuck out of the city in disguise. He was then chosen to escort Quenthel Baenre, Jeggred Baenre, Pharaun Mizzrym, Ryld Argith, and Faeryl to Ched Nasad in search for information about the Silence of Lolth.

The group traveled to Ched Nasad, relying on Valas's abilities to direct them through the Underdark. Upon arriving in Ched Nasad, they became embroiled in a plot instigated by the Jaezred Chaulssin to lay low the city. Ultimately, the city was destroyed and Quenthel's band (plus Halisstra Melarn and Danifae Yauntyrr) made it out just in time by escaping through a portal that led to the ruins of the Hlaungadath on the surface in Anauroch.

The group eventually decided to consult with Tzirik Jaelre, the Vhaeraunite priest. However, when they arrived there, they found that House Jaelre had apparently left for the surface. They took a portal from House Jaelre's holdings in the Labyrinth to the surface forest of Cormanthor and determined where House Jaelre was located. Upon their arrival, Tzirik offered his assistance only if they aided him in retrieving a magical tome from a beholder lair. They did so and Tzirik revealed that Lolth was still alive but that she was locked away in the Demonweb Pits. The group and Tzirik traveled via astral projection to the Abyss. Once there, Tzirik betrayed them and gated in the god Vhaeraun, who tried to destroy Lolth. Valas attacked Tzirik in an attempt to return the group to the Material Plane, but was unsuccessful. In the end, Pharaun was able to have Jeggred, who had stayed behind, kill Tzirik's mortal body to return them to Cormanthor.

The group consulted a demon for information on how to return to the Abyss and were led to Lake Thoroot in search of a demonic ship of chaos. Valas plunged into the lake to scout it out, having been given water breathing abilities by Pharaun Mizzrym. However, he was captured by the aboleth Jooran of Zanhoriloch, who used its ability to transform him into a water-breathing creature (including webbed paws, gills, a fluked tail, no hair, and a slimy coating). This didn't prevent Valas from returning to the surface to make his report (carrying a water supply in his magically enhanced backpack), where Pharaun polymorphed him into a (very slightly different) drow. However, as Pharaun warned him, his metamorphosis could potentially be dispelled.

The group eventually found the ship of chaos in the Lake of Shadows. While Pharaun prepared the ship, Valas and Danifae traveled to Sschindylryn to obtain supplies. When they returned, they found their expedition in tatters after an uridezu attack. However, the group continued onward, flying the ship of chaos to the Abyss, where they discovered that Lolth had moved the Demonweb Pits to another plane. They took a portal from the temple to the Astral Plane; at that time, Lolth returned, granting her priestesses their powers once again. Quenthel decided to lead the group straight to Lolth's new temple, but Valas determined that his capabilities (namely guiding the group through the Underdark) were no longer sufficient and that his contract was done. He teleported himself out of the Abyss and returned to Menzoberranzan.

Abilities
Valas was highly skilled at stealth and remaining concealed, giving him a large advantage in combat. Valas favored the use of his two kukris enchanted to produce lightning, which he used to hamstring, stab, and eviscerate his enemies. Valas also used a short bow with which he was highly proficient.

Valas had some ability to disable mundane traps. Though he had all of a drow's magical talents, he was unable to levitate because he was not a noble. He played sava well. He also mastered a special attack ability that allowed him to make an attack of opportunity against a foe who had just been struck in melee by someone else.

Equipment
Valas carried a double-curved shortbow. His preferred melee weapons were his magical kukris that were supernaturally sharp and enchanted to produce electricity.

Valas wore a shirt of chain mail with a vest that was enchanted to give him great agility and balance. His belt had a steel buckle shaped like a rothe head. He wore a ring of speed, On his vest, he pinned a large number of magical trinkets he had gathered over the years. These trinkets had various magical powers, although not all of them were enchanted. A few of his pendants (as of 1373 DR) were:
 * A pin with a nine-pointed star that enabled him to teleport short distances four times before requiring recharging.
 * A brass ovoid badge that enabled a mirror image spell.
 * A lucky double-headed coin (actually a magical amulet).
 * A mithral chime pendant he used to unlock things (as the spell knock).
 * A brooch of illusion which provided subtle illusions. It appeared as a gray stone surrounded by little uncut gems. It had been made by svirfneblin.
 * An amulet shaped like a golden sun hung on a delicate golden chain around his neck. When kissed, it protected him from wraiths. It came from surface elves who worshiped Labelas Enoreth. He expended it during a wraith attack in 1372 DR, after which it became dull gray and was presumably useless.
 * A crystal that could detect invisibility.
 * An insignia of Bregan D'aerthe and a cameo of deep green jade, which was worn upside down and when he touched it, he could convey messages to Bregan D'aerthe. (Whether the insignia and the cameo were separate items or the same one was unclear.)

Valas had also carried an enchanted backpack that was nondimensional.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * War of the Spider Queen
 * 1) Dissolution (minor)
 * 2) Insurrection
 * 3) Condemnation
 * 4) Extinction
 * 5) Annihilation
 * 6) Resurrection (minor)
 * Road of the Patriarch (minor)
 * The Ghost King (minor)
 * Gauntlgrym (minor)
 * Gauntlgrym (minor)