Exarch Ferrel

In the world of Vallhyn Exarch Ferrel is a powerful divine magic user and one of eleven Sodality leaders. I should briefly note that she and I aren’t the same person even though we share a name. Ferrel has been my internet handle since I was around 15 years old. I liked the name and when I started developing Vallhyn I used it again. From there she developed in her own ways quite distinct of myself.

Despite an elfish appearance, Ferrel is actually a half-elf. This is one of the reasons for her larger size and slightly stronger build. Her father was a human that was lost just prior to her birth. In her early years she was raised solely by her mother, a tribal lunar elf in a small village in the frozen north.

Very early in her life Ferrel began to exhibit the power to wield divine magic but had little control over it. The village elders feared the powers and to save her daughter the elf whisked her away to the kingdom of Grammen to attend the Sodality Semonary. It was there that her powers were focused and she eventually was appointed to the Order of the Full Moon.

Ferrel has held many different positions in her career but decided very early on to follow the path of the warpriestess. These specialist clerics stand shoulder to shoulder with paladins and knights in battle and support them by utilizing their many protection spells and heals. This long service ultimately led to Ferrel taking on the role of Exarch in the Sodality; a position she was very surprised to get after a hiccup in her career due to falling afoul of Exarch Falk, her predecessor.

In our card game the Exarch Ferrel event is based around one of her special abilities that makes her unique in Vallhyn: foresight. From her Goddess Luaere she receives glimpses of events that may occur in the future. In gameplay terms the player that flips the event gets to continue to flip until another event is revealed. The player may then decide which dragon that event targets! That is a pretty big advantage and can change the momentum of a game. It is one of the cards that helps us maintain our goal for light strategy.

A dragon with an affinity for moonlight gets an extra bonus with Exarch Ferrel. In addition to the first effect that dragon gets to decide the target of all events until the end of their next time. For a whole round that dragon can control the fates of others! This is also extremely powerful but, as events are slightly less common than treasure, it isn’t guaranteed that a player can fully utilize that power. In a party game it also adds an element of humor as one player randomly throws out event effects. That tends to be how the moonlight affinity works. It is a tricky affinity to utilize well as it is rather subtle with how to win. Fire is very obvious! Sunlight is less so but still straight forward. Darkness requires a bit of sneakiness. Moonlight requires careful planning and knowing which events to capitalize on and when.

From a lore and feel perspective I wanted to continue the concept of fate manipulation with the moonlight specific event and Exarch Ferrel seems to fit it really well. Events can be both good and bad so deciding who they’ll impact is pretty powerful when used as part of a strategy. That was the thinking when we put together Exarch Ferrel. Give everyone a little power but help the moonlight player to get an advantage for a round. If you’d like to know more about Ferrel’s backstory be sure to check out the lore  area of the site! Over time that area will grow and include far longer articles specifically about the denizens of Vallhyn.