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Joesh Valany (pronounced JOE-esh vahl-LAH-nee), or the Shang Falcon, is a traveling warrior versed in the martial art known as Shang fighting. He was alive during the 5th century HE. His original nationality is unknown, but he is probably Gallan, Tortallan, or Tusaine based on his name.

Biography[]

Early life[]

As the Shang school in Maren accepts students from a very young age, from 4 to 6, Joesh probably started there between those ages. At some point, after mastering the techniques, he would have taken an ordeal similar to the Ordeal of Knighthood in Tortall, but virtually nothing is known about what is required for the Shang Ordeal. Before earning his title, he would have traveled for one year, after that, seemingly he chose to be the Shang Falcon. He continued to travel after receiving this epithet.

Wanderer and Teacher[]

Joesh traveled many places across the Eastern Lands and maybe even beyond that. At some point he met and befriended Rispah Cooper, the cousin of George Cooper and the Queen of the Ladies of the Rogue.

He traveled to southern Carthak and came across Kylaia al Jmaa, a young girl whose family and sister had been shamed by a man. After watching her fight, he offered to pay her bride price and take her to the school in Maren. He swore that the bride price was only a formality, and that she would not travel with him as his bride, but as his student. She agreed after watching him break a slab of stone with his bare hands. It is presumed that he took Kylaia to the school in Maren. She later became the Shang Unicorn, one of the few women to choose the name of an Immortal—this was long before the release of the Immortals into the Mortal Realms.

He visited Rispah at House Azik in Port Caynn for a time, but was asked to leave by George, who didn't want Alanna challenging the Shang. This was probably done very politely, as it would have been unwise even for George to anger a Shang warrior.

Physical Description[]

"This man was bronze on his face, hands, and forearms, while his jacket, open at the collar, showed a chest that was white. He had brown-black hair, straighter than the hair of anyone I knew. His eyes were brown-black, almost the color of normal eyes. He didn't dress like a normal man, though. He wore a loose cloth jacket and, instead of a long skirt, a garment made of two cloth tubes that covered each of his legs. Instead of sandals he wore leather shoes that covered his feet and legs all the way to his knees. Only his hands looked right. They were hard, broad, and scarred, the hands of a warrior. His neck was muscled like a bull's."
—Kylaia al Jmaa, Student of Ostriches

Kylaia also described Joesh's hands as being "like iron" and his voice as "deep and smooth, like dark honey." He had a thick accent when speaking Dikurri.

Personality & Traits[]

As a Shang warrior, he is honorable and determined.

Appearances[]

See also[]

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