Valentine Nicasus Maxence Mérovée Olivier de Foncé

Name: cee!
Age: old mrs. old
Contact: Ceeeeee @ plurk
Other Characters: Matthias, Darras Rivain, Tiffany Hart, Doki o Bearhold, Nikos Averesch (don't @ me i like characters)
Interests: rping the rescue of lost animals. rping the adoption of lost animals. rping the adoption of animals that are not lost. rping being married. rping being very smart. rping being very Orlesian.


Name: Val de Foncé (Valentine Nicasius Maxence Mérovée Olivier de Foncé [son of Mérovée de Foncé, Comte de Falaise sur la Mont])
Canon/OC: OC
Journal: degenere
Race: Human
Nationality: Orlesian
Occupation: scholar (professional), demolitions expert (professional), designer of siege engines and other structures (professional), zoologist (professional), renaissance man about town (professional)
Division: Research
Mage or Not: nah
Age: holy shit he's 33

History

- Firstborn son and originally heir presumptive of Mérovée de Foncé, Comte de Falaise sur la Mont. Family holdings and mansion southwest of Val Royeaux. One younger brother, Betin. Mother Lady Maxence Begnoche, a baroness of Val Royeaux, known for her parties, wit, and the Begnoche sapphires.
- Charmed, vaguely unhappy childhood. Spoiled, beautiful, impetuous; raised at Falaise sur la Mont. Captured and raised all kinds of wild animals in weird places in the mansion. Clashed with his mother. Indulged a little more by his father but still discouraged from idle pursuits. Educated privately. Early acceptance at 12 to the University of Orlais. Showed great promise in architecture especially.
- Not common for heir to attend university; Val's maternal uncle Lord Guiscard Begnoche persuaded Mérovée to send Val to study to round out his education and get him accustomed to Val Royeaux, city life, the elite. Furnished with a home, supplied with servants and an allowance.
- Val loved university, never wanted to leave. Better with his studies than anything he had been in his life, finally found pursuits to his interest. Became greatly skilled with explosives at about this time under encouragement of an instructor. Moved out of his furnished home into a home with friends. Didn’t inform his parents. Mérovée traveled to Val Royeaux after servants wrote in concern. Tracked Val down and confronted him. Tempers were high. First time Val was threatened with being ousted from the family.
- Angry with his familial situation but happy otherwise, Val made great friends (Freddie and Jeannot!), achieved great things. Brilliant without trying very hard, impressed professors and classmates. Had a flair for the dramatic and practical demonstrations always displayed this. Turned toward destructive construction; built small scale siege engines and waged war on other students (pranks!). Inspired by his reading on the Qunari, held first trials of his explosive black powder; frequently lost his eyebrows to explosions. Simultaneously developed a reputation for laziness, last-minute cleverness, daring, and carousing.
- As he advanced in study, classroom work took a backseat to adventuring under pretense of fieldwork. With best friends Jeannot and Freddie, he explored, looted, recovered, mapped, discovered, and studied foreign lands. List here.
- The rift between Val and family grew worse. Political tensions similarly mounted in the background. The de Foncés had political and personal ties to the Marquis de Montsimmard and so would come to favor his side in what would become the War of Lions; Val preferred to be left out of politics entirely. Too much else brilliant and amazing in the world.
- At 20: Mérovée demanded Val return home to la Mont and take on familial responsibilities. Val refused; was disinherited.
- Weathered brief poverty before Uncle Guiscard died; left a minor fortune in gemstones and property, not very lucrative.
- More adventure! Also heard rumors of the Inquisition’s work. Val and friends very impressed.
- Orlesian politics heated up as the War of Lions began in earnest; Val’s expertise in explosives sought by both sides. Unwilling to get involved, left Val Royeaux on an extended adventure. Ended in Par Vollen where they were forced to flee. Took to Skyhold to help the Inquisition.
- Stayed until it became Riftwatch. Momentarily fled and faked his death at the thought of a marriage proposal. Returned, alive. Avoided being forced to join the Orlesian army. Adopted several strange beasts. Participated in a marriage of convenience to Wysteria Poppell. Helped with a fantasy gun. Adopted more strange beasts. Furnished a small library. Commissioned the digging of a cellar in Wysteria's haunted house.
- Fell in a kind of love with his wife of convenience.
- Followed her to Orzammar.
- Came back to Riftwatch.

Personality

First let it be known: Val is an almost-charming asshole.

Like basically all Orlesians, he is convinced of his relative superiority to everyone--and yet he’s just charming enough that he is, many times (in the right circles), excused. A quick thinker and a fast talker, Val is confident and clever, and his extensive schooling has given him command of a vast range of topics and disciplines, with specialties in zoology, construction, and demolition.

In the negative, Val is impetuous, prone to fits of sulking when he isn’t understood or doesn’t get his way. He is mercurial and he is temperamental when his irritation is roused. He will get into fights to defend his friends, his work, and himself. He has a great deal of personal pride, which fills in the gap left by his disenchantment with his family. He is impatient, and abandons people too slow to keep up with him. And, because he knows how intelligent he is, he often disdains the intelligence of others, especially when their so-called expertise overlaps with his.

His wealthy upbringing has left him out of touch. Though he has been expelled from the de Foncé family, he retains many of the traditional Orlesian prejudices against lower classes, other races, and other countries, but is quite enchanted (ha) with mages, a predilection that leans toward a fetish. Despite his disinterest in the politics of Orlais, he is deeply proud of Orlais, especially the University. He has a small fortune but it isn’t easily converted into actual coin, which occasionally leaves him strapped for cash, but his charm can often get him a deal. He has bar tabs in many cities.

Val detests responsibility, and his reputation for laziness is well-earned. He puts forth little effort and prefers to schedule fieldwork rather than remain in any classrooms - and yet he has never been kicked out of university. Rumors abound as to how he has avoided this fate. Contrary to his reputation, Val is passionate about his focused studies. So long as you are speaking of his interests, then you have his interest. He dislikes poetry (too unspecific); he adores epic sagas of adventure, which helped inspire his exotic fieldwork.

Val has made a family of his friends. As charming as he is, he has cultivated a wide social circle, but few attain the upper tiers of his affection. He loves Freddie and Jeannot deeply and unconditionally, and would do anything for them and would rather die than betray or fail them - and he expects the same from them. He loves easily and is highly physically affectionate, yet does not develop lasting romances. He has, somehow, fallen into a relationship with a Rifter, Wysteria Poppell. I mean, de Foncé. They got married and he actually likes her, despite his best efforts.

He is brave to a fault when it suits him, and more brutal than he is a skilled or elegant fighter, definitely better with a bow than he is with a sword. He charges into danger without thinking twice, and takes great satisfaction with risking life and limb for a goal or purpose. As long as it's his goal and/or purpose.

Opinions & Affiliations

the Chantry - scholarly respect. mostly bemused. personally not extremely religious but not irreverent either. vows of chastity are both confusing and hot, which makes them more confusing.
the Qun - scholarly interest only with some touches of respect. the Qunari are so exotic and weird and backwards, you guys! great work with the black powders. highly interested in those black powders.
the Mage/Templar War - no real opinion. would side which whoever would be most contrary in any given discussion. if forced to choose, would probably come down on the side of mages, because they're more interesting.
Theodosian Race Relations - humans are generally superior. full stop.
Elves - gross interesting.
Nobility - claims to be anti-nobility but also enjoys the status and perks of being noble and rich and would be really hard up if that changed so. not actually anti-nobility. really he is mostly just ANTI MASK.
Mages (Apostate or Otherwise) - "You're so lucky," Val would tell every mage, with a wistful sigh, "I've always wished I was born a mage. It would be so disappointing to my family." But he won't get to say this, bc mages don't talk to him.
Grey Wardens - waste of time, there are more interesting things to do and be, too much responsibility. loves the griffons though.
Templars - waste of time, there are more interesting things to do and be, too much responsibility. their armor is ugly. way too serious.
Seekers - a measure more of respect for this order but... generally considered to be a waste of time, there are more interesting things to do and be, too much responsibility.

Strengths & Weaknesses
STRENGTHS

- demolitions (explosive powders, combustible liquids, oils, quicklimes and sulfers)
- construction (with a special focus in aqueducts, bridges, roads, and siege engines)
- zoology, with specific focus on beasts of Antiva, Rivain, Tevinter, the Donarks, and what little is known about the Arbor Wilds. adores dragons, griffons, giant spiders, giant winged ants, and underground creatures with creepy white eyes
- great camper, good at roughing it (with his cool supplies)
- highly intelligent
- quick and voracious reader; quick and clever thinker
- deeply passionate and inspired about his personal interest and work
- brave
- wealthy

WEAKNESSES

- quick temper
- inability to comprehend or consider the likely intelligence of others
- massive superiority complex, prejudiced against other countries and races in a vague but still semi friendly way
- not trained as a fighter
- disdainful of the intelligence of others
- lacks passion and inspiration for things outside of his interest
- impatient
- holds a grudge
- thoughtless and not especially selfless
- stubborn
- wealthy

Inventory

- the clothes on his back
- 1 dagger, expensive (on his person)
- 1 longbow, expensive (left it in his workroom)
- 6 arrows, black and green-dyed fletching (left these in his workroom)
- 2 bags full of: parchment, inks and pens, 6 books (mostly written in Orlesian, 1 on architecture of Orzammar, 2 on zoology, 1 on cartography, 1 on what passes for physics in Thedas, 1 on dwarven history, 1 trashy romance novel) and 4 journals (all written solely in Orlesian, many sketches and drawings included, mostly of animals, caves, stalagmites, underwater lakes, half-finished sketch of a woman who is ABSOLUTELY NOT WYSTERIA).
- 1 hat (which is in a style that is very cool in Orlais right now thank you)
- 1 money pouch containing 18 pieces of silver and a little bit of gold.
- 1 mysterious egg, small.

Motivation

The Amis originally planned to join the Inquisition (and Riftwatch) was to become instrumental in saving the world with their wonderful brains. This remains Val's goal. Also he followed Wysteria back. Not because he cares or anything.


here and here