Lars Valis

Lars Valis is a retired captain of the Dragon's Eye Squad 7 and currently works as a consultant at an archaeological institute in the northeastern bulwark of Talonreach. As a young man in the military, Valis briefly became a hero for discovering how to activate abandoned Bael Turath ruins along the Platinum Empire's northern border, providing the Empire with a tactical advantage over the Niridan Union.

It was Lars's archaeological expertise that enabled his discovery, and that same expertise made him a moderately successful freelance adventurer after he left the military and a well respected archaeologist after his retirement. After a few brief stints apprenticing with distracted cavers in small towns, Ava Stone applied to Lars for his tutelage. Ava demonstrated her talent quickly and became Lars's protege, earning his full-throated endorsement when she later applied to Lars's old post with the Dragon's Eye.

Lars has entered his silver years and is not the adventurer he once was, though his spelunking skills are as strong as ever. He is of a critical turn of mind and speaks slowly, throwing the full weight of his considerable wisdom behind every word. Anyone who would get close to him must first overcome his skepticism. Ava did it by clambering through a tunnel Lars said was impassable - discovering a small adjoining cave complex - in spite of the horns that Lars said would keep her from ever becoming a master caver.