Vash Vallerin

Scholar Vash, a character from the Blades of Light and Shadow series, is a High Priest of the Light and Nia Ellarious's mentor. He first appears in Book 1, Chapter 1.

Appearance
Scholar Vash has brown eyes, white hair with a full beard set in a French fork style, and tan skin. He wears a cream-tan tunic with a gray cloak and carries a leather sash and belt full of various potions and a dagger.

Personality
Scholar Vash is warm and gentle, giddy when he happens upon old and ancient texts, and knowledgeable.

Book 1

 * Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins
 * Chapter 2: Of Loss and Legends
 * Chapter 3: The City By The Sea (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 6: The Cursed Isle (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 13: City of Wonders (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 15: Into the Shadow (Mentioned)

Book 2

 * Chapter 6: The Other Side (Mentioned; Determinant)
 * Chapter 8: The Hero Of Riverbend (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 11: Healing and Hard Truths (Mentioned; Determinant)
 * Chapter 16: Pirates and Thieves (Mentioned; Determinant)
 * Chapter 17: The Longest Night (Mentioned; Determinant)

Nia Ellarious
When you and Kade are walking through Riverbend, Nia comes across you and asks you for help. You follow her to find Scholar Vash being cornered by an owlbear. After you and Kade rescue him, he introduces himself and asks if you two will guide him and Nia to the Temple of Ellara. Although Kade is hesitant at first, he agrees when he knows this is the kind of adventure you crave and the gold coins that Vash offers will help.

Scholar Vash tells you that Nia is a priestess in training and Nia looks at him like a father figure. He believes in her light and her purity even if she is insecure and doubtful about her abilities. She is devastated when he dies.

Your Character
When you and Kade escort him and Nia to the Temple of Ellara, you find it desecrated with the bodies of Town Constable Angus and Grenn. You deduce that someone else must be after the same thing that Mal was hired to retrieve and what Scholar Vash and Nia want to obtain. When you enter the temple, you have the opportunity to visit the Hall of Gods with Kade and Nia for a short reprieve, leaving Scholar Vash to marvel at the ancient texts. Afterwards, you and your party enter a chamber and quickly hide as you hear thugs approaching from another entrance.

After Mal unlocks the puzzle box containing an Onyx Shard and sets off the booby traps, you and your party flee with Duke Erthax in pursuit. Duke Erthax releases two Shadow Hounds and one strikes Scholar Vash during the chase, poisoning him with darkness. Although you and your party are able to evade Duke Erthax, the damage to Scholar Vash is already done and he cannot be cured.

In his last moments, he tells you and your party about the Shadow Court and the Great War. He says the Church of Light was founded to keep the Shadow Court at bay, and they were entrusted with the cursed artifacts, four powerful relics known as the Onyx Shards, to guard them at their sacred temples. He asks that you collect all the Shards and take them to the Temple of Light for a purification ritual, which will burn away all the dark energy stored within them and render them useless to the Shadow Court.

Although he is not sure what happened to Kade, he believes there are ways to bring someone back from the Shadow Realm and only if they resisted the pull of darkness. He asks that you protect Nia before he succumbs to his wounds and dies.