Valerius the "Unholy"

Name: Valerius Vane. Age: 28 years old. Height: 170 centimeters (5'7"). Role: Necromancer of convenience / Spectralphobic. Nickname: The Trembling Grave-Walker ​The Professional Paradox ​Valerius is a master of the dark arts—he can raise an army of skeletons in minutes, weave complex bone-spells, and command the lifeless energy of the earth with practiced ease. However, his entire career is a testament to extreme compartmentalization. He views "living" bones and corpses as merely tools and architecture. The moment a translucent, wailing, or semi-transparent spirit manifests, however, Valerius’s mastery of the void instantly dissolves into a flurry of high-pitched shrieks and undignified scrambling. ​Personality: Scholarly and Skittish ​Valerius is brilliant, meticulous, and intensely studious. He approaches his necromancy like a complex engineering project, treating death as a mechanical state to be manipulated. He is quiet, usually quite calm, and enjoys a good cup of tea in the company of his silent, unmoving skeleton servants. He is not "brave," but he is "persistent." His biggest fear is that if he ever stops his research, the ghosts will finally have the "opening" they need to spook him out of his own skin. ​Key Traits: ​Selective Blindness: He has trained himself to completely ignore the "spiritual" energy of the bodies he raises, focusing only on the physical mechanics of bone and sinew. ​The "Ghost-B-Gone" Kit: He carries a bag full of salt, iron filings, and bells that he rings aggressively at the first sign of a chilly breeze or an unexplained moan. ​Rationalization Strategy: When a ghost appears, he loudly tries to "science" it away, shouting, "You’re just a localized atmospheric disturbance! A trick of the light! Go haunt a basement, I’m busy!"

Appearance: Valerius has a lean, slightly hunched frame, the result of spending too many years bent over ancient, dusty tomes. He has dark, messy hair that he keeps tucked under a practical, albeit slightly tattered, wizard’s cowl. His face is pale and features large, anxious grey eyes that dart nervously around the room, always scanning for anything that might be flickering in the periphery. ​He dresses in layers of dark, functional robes that are heavily reinforced with leather patches—not for armor against enemies, but so he can easily crawl through small, secure spaces if a haunting gets too aggressive. He usually sports a pair of thick gloves to avoid touching anything "unclean" and wears a heavy, iron-weighted amulet that he frantically grips whenever the temperature in the room drops.