Valten

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**Valten**
Personal information
Age	early twenties
Race	Human
Current status	Unknown (presumed dead)
Profession	Champion of Light

Valten was a fictional character prominent in the background material to the tabletop game of Warhammer. He was a prominent figure in the Warhammer Fantasy Battles Storm of Chaos campaign. Valten was seen as the reincarnation of Sigmar Heldenhammer, patron deity and protector of the Empire, the mightiest and most progressive country in the fictional fantasy setting. This was almost literally true, for Valten, like Magnus the Pious before him, was the deified Sigmar's chosen avatar, empowering each man to fulfill his desiny as his age's Champion of Light.

1 Origins
2 Sigmar Reborn?
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Origins

Valten was born the son of a blacksmith in the small village of Lachenbad, and grew up to be a strong and beautiful young man. His only deformity was a large birthmark, shaped like a twin-tailed comet. Valten lived his life in idyll, and had always been known to be special. But he was sorely put to the test when Beastmen attacked his village. While others ran in fear, he took up two hammers from his father's smithy and struck down Beastman after Beastman, eventually slaying their chieftain. Valten was regarded as a local hero, and word of his deed spread, eventually reaching the ears of the rabble-rousing Luthor Huss.

[edit] Sigmar Reborn?

Proclaiming Valten to be Sigmar reborn, Luthor and his army of fanatics rallied around Valten and marched on Altdorf, where Luthor demanded that Emperor Karl Franz step down and allow Sigmar's Chosen to take the throne. After long consideration, the Emperor refused to step down, but instead gifted Valten with Sigmar's hammer Ghal Maraz, proclaiming him to be the spiritual leader of the people of the Empire, and vowing to lead the imperial armies by his side. Together, Valten and Karl Franz set out to help the besieged city of Middenheim.

Along the way, Valten was gifted with a suit of gromril armor from the Dwarfs. It has originally been wrought for Sigmar over 2,000 years ago but never claimed by him. From Teclis, the High Loremaster of the High Elves, Valten received the mighty Elven steed Althandin, sired by Prince Tyrion's own mighty steed, Malhandir. Thus equipped, Valten, together with Luthor Huss, led an army of the faithful alongside the army of Karl Franz to lift the Siege of Middenheim.

Valten eventually brought the Everchosen, Archaon, to battle in a duel to the death. In revenge for the steed he had by then lost to the Chaos artillery, Valten first destroyed Archaon's daemonic mount, hurling the Chaos Warlord to the ground. Raising the Hammer of Sigmar high for the killing stroke, Archaon quickly released the daemon within his daemon weapon, impaling Valten. This diverted the Exalted's blow from its intended target. The hammer tore open Archaon's armour and dashed him to the ground. As Valten attemped to pull his foe's blade free from his belly, Archaon regained his feet and dealt Valten another mortal blow, carving open his breastplate and sending him to his back. Seemingly in shock at seeing the mark of Sigmar on Valten's chest, Archaon was charged by Luthor Huss, who landed a series of blows upon the Everchosen, including almighty blow to the head sending his foe down to one knee. Archaon overcame Huss, however, by breaking his ribs and hurling him across the battlefield.

Panting, bleeding, Archaon's head met that of the Orc Warlord, Grimgor Ironhide. Splintering the Chaos lord's shield and sending him sprawling, Grimgor battered Archaon twice around the head before placing his axe on the tip of his throat. Rather than landing the killing blow, Grimgor spared his opponent, letting him slump to the ground. The Orc proclaimed 'Grimgor iz da best!' and quit the field, cheered by his followers.

Valten lay comatose within the Temple of Shallya, having been carried there by Luthor Huss. Despite his own wounds, Huss kept a bedside vigil by Valten. Meanwhile, the same arguments for and against Valten's divinity and suitability to be Emperor remerged, with potentially disastrous results. Graf Boris Todbringer and Grand Theogonist Esmer asked for three days to resolve the situation. The next day Luthor Huss visited Karl Franz. His eyes filled with tears as he told the Emperor the news: Valten had been murdered in his bed. Shocked, Karl visited the room where Valten had been recuperating. The bed and the sheets were covered in blood, and the Exalted's body had been taken. A green glowing knife had been stabbed into his mattress, and the sign of the horned rat (a rune used by the Skaven) had been carved on the wall. Huss asked the Emperor what he should do. Karl took the Hammer of Sigmar back from Huss. He gave the priest a new duty: he would proclaim to the people that Sigmar had once again departed, his duty done and his Empire saved; that he had left Ghal Maraz to the Emperor as a sign of his trust; and that Huss was still his prophet, and would look for his return again, when the Empire needed him most.

Fan speculation on the true identity of Valten's murderer matter is rife. Although many players took the signs of Skaven involvement at face value, many also believe the signs and the dagger were purposely misleading, and that someone prominent within the Empire arranged Valten's death. There were certainly plenty of people with both the means and the motive. A minority believe, however, that Valten is only missing in action and not dead, as only his blood, not his body, were found. Recently, however, it has been confirmed that Valten's assassination was performed by the Skaven in their background book The Loathsome Ratmen and their Vile Kin.

Valten appears as a minor character in James Wallis's novel Mark of Chaos.