Mal Volari, a character from the Blades of Light and Shadow series, is a thief and one of your love interests. He first appears in Book 1, Chapter 1.
Appearance
Mal has brown eyes, medium-long brown hair, and tanned skin. He has a slight scar cut through one of his eyebrows. A premium scene of Chapter 3 reveals that he has a tattoo on the inside of his wrist, consisting of a pair of crossed daggers in a crimson diamond, framed by six blood drops. In Book 1, he wears a beige and brown armor with straps, silver poultrons on his arms, and long brown leather gloves with straps and silver. He also wears a brown leather and silver belt with a dagger hanging from it, and khaki pants. In Book 2, he has cut his hair short, and he wears a black leather armor with brown straps, a gray cape, brown leather gloves, and black pants with straps and a dagger hanging from them.
Personality
Mal is prideful and cares about his reputation as a treasure hunter. He also shows signs of being greedy and self-serving such as only agreeing to help stop the Shadow Court because Nia offered to pay him.
In Chapter 15, after Tyril confesses he is afraid, Mal stops himself from making one of his usual jokes and instead admits to being afraid as well. When Tyril asks if "the cocky rogue who always meets danger with a smile" can really be afraid, Mal answers that the reason he is always smiling is because he is always a little afraid.
Background
Mal was born and raised in the Nooks and Crannies, the forgotten slums of Whitetower[1]. He doesn't remember much about his mother, except that she worked too hard, and was too tired and too thin. She told him the most amazing stories though. When she passed away, he and his younger sister were shuffled from orphanage to orphanage. He joined the Thieves Guild when he was six and became a Whitetower Reaper[2]. Once, he found out where the thiefmaster had stashed all the goods, swiped half for himself and was halfway out of the city before he was caught. He swore that once he clawed his way out of there, he would never be broke, desperate, or downtrodden again. At twenty, he left the Guild to become an Adventurer.
Chapters
Blades of Light and Shadow
Book 1
- Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins
- Chapter 2: Of Loss and Legends
- Chapter 3: The City By The Sea
- Chapter 4: Escape at Sea
- Chapter 5: The Floating City
- Chapter 6: The Cursed Isle
- Chapter 7: The Deadwood
- Chapter 8: A Tale Of Two Princes
- Chapter 9: The Queen, The Prince, And The Exile
- Chapter 10: The City of Glimmering Lies
- Chapter 11: What Lies Beneath
- Chapter 12: The Murderous Masquerade
- Chapter 13: City of Wonders
- Chapter 14: City of Horrors
- Chapter 15: Into the Shadow
- Chapter 16: Blade of Light and Shadow
Book 2
- Chapter 1: Through the Looking Glass
- Chapter 2: Coming Home (Mentioned; Physical Appearance Determinant)
- Chapter 3: The Priestess and the Rogue
- Chapter 4: Our New Nemesis
- Chapter 5: Into The Woods
- Chapter 6: The Other Side
- Chapter 7: Conflict and Compromise
- Chapter 8: The Hero Of Riverbend
- Chapter 9: The City Beneath The Sand
- Chapter 10: Deep Below
- Chapter 11: Healing and Hard Truths
- Chapter 12: Surprises in Shadow
- Chapter 13: Just The Two Of Us
- Chapter 14: A Night to Remember
- Chapter 15: Watch Your Back
- Chapter 16: Pirates and Thieves
- Chapter 17: The Longest Night
- Chapter 18: It All Comes Down To This
Book 3
- Chapter 1: One Day More
- Chapter 2: The Undiscovered Country
- Chapter 3: Here at the End
- Chapter 4: Connections and Consequences
- Chapter 5: The River of Seekers
- Chapter 6: The Heart of the Sea
- Chapter 7: Rage and Ruin
- Chapter 8: Trespasser
- Chapter 9: The City of Light
- Chapter 10: Into the Deep
- Chapter 11: Abandon All Hope
- Chapter 12: The Pit and the Pendulum
Villainous Valentine
Villainous Valentine
- Chapter 1: The Empress
Relationships
Your Character
- "You're a lot of trouble, kit. But you're my kind of trouble."
- —Mal, to Your Character
He is one of Your Character's love interests. In Chapter 13 when your party makes it to Whitetower, he takes you to the Nooks and Crannies where he grew up. He "introduces" you to his late mother, telling her that you're a fighter just like her and always standing up for what's right.
Tyril Starfury
In Chapter 3, you bump into Tyril Starfury in the market. If you decide to confront him, Mal tells you later that he was forty percent sure that he could've taken Tyril or at least gotten a punch in. After Tyril joins your party, he and Tyril are seen squabbling often.
Wren
She is Mal's sister. He checks on her from time to time. She still lives in Whitetower and runs a bakery together with her wife Vivi.
Threep Pompedorfin
- "You do know that doesn't make sense, right? You can't just say words with that flirty little smirk and hope no one notices?"
- —Threep to Mal
Mal and Threep often banter with each other. While Mal calls Threep "mangy", Threep calls Mal out when the latter tells his tall tales.
Gallery
Other Looks
Miscellaneous
![Golden Choices Quote (November 15, 2024)[3]](/wiki/File:Golden_Choices_Quote_November_15_2024_Mal.png "Golden Choices Quote November 15 2024 Mal.png (786 KB)")
Trivia
- He is shown on the cover of Blades of Light and Shadow, Book 1, Blades of Light and Shadow, Book 2, and Blades of Light and Shadow, Book 3.
- He resembles professional wrestler Adeel Alam, better known as Mustafa Ali.
- On April 10, 2020, Pixelberry tweeted their #QuarantineHouse challenge, placing Mal in House 5 with Hana Lee, Kamilah Sayeed, Michael Harrison, Duke Richards and Damien Nazario.
- He teaches you the Stealth, Theft, and Evasion elite skills.
- He is one of the seven love interests to have chest hair. These are Damien Nazario and Khaan Mousavi from the Perfect Match series, Cal Lowell from Nightbound, Levi Schuler from Mother of the Year, Mal Volari from the Blades of Light and Shadow series, Alpha Werewolf from Wolf Bride, and male Captain from Shipwrecked.
- In Laws of Attraction, Book 1, Chapter 7, he is mentioned to be a licensed character in the Blades of Light and Shadow television series of which there is a fandom.
Memorable Quotes
Your Character: Are you serious? Mal: Not when I can help it. |
Mal [at the Nooks and Crannies]: I guess someone who's trying to save the world... really can come from a place like this. Your Character: And once the world's saved? Where will you go next? Mal: That's the big question, isn't it? It's been... all right, these past few months. Being a part of a group, you know. A team. But I work alone... It's a necessity for me. Something I learned from getting too many knives in the back. It's a hard habit to break. |
Mal [to MC and Nia]: I don't do plans! Plans are just begging the universe to make it all go wrong! |