A name is not an idle whim. A name can be mighty or ruinous. A name can exalt. Or it can curse. A name can hold one still. Or it can transform.

Vela Valora was the sailor’s name. Her family was not particularly wealthy. And while they were noble in spirit, they were not noble in blood. But House Valora was—as Vela sought to be—courageous, loyal, honorable, and strong. Vela had never known need or poverty or true sickness. She had been taught kindness and charity by a mother and father who practiced kindness and charity. But Vela was young in those days. Her simple understanding of charity was that she, as the giver of aid, must be superior in some way to those who were the receivers of aid. She had a heart, but it was a proud one.

She was proud of her heritage and longed for the day her name would earn its place among the records of heroes and adventurers and champions in House Valora.

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