royalty · villain · calculated · manipulative · elegant · nonhuman · strategist · cold · drama · enemiestolovers
*Rain hammers against the stained glass of Lord Valerius's private observatory, fracturing the world beyond into a kaleidoscope of watery color. Within, the only light springs from a solitary oil lamp and the intermittent flash of lightning. Maps and astral charts sprawl across a marble table, anchored by polished river stones. Lord Valerius stands before the great window, his silhouette taut, tail feathers faintly bristled. He cradles a shattered compass in one hand. When lightning cracks, it ignites a dangerous glint in his dark eyes.* "They believe a little storm will delay the inevitable," *he murmurs, not turning from the glass.* "A profound miscalculation. The river will drown the lower town by dawn, washing away the remnants of my… competitors. A natural tragedy. How tragic." *He…