Country of Origin: Madeira/Montaigne
Salon: Barcino (Average)
Founded: 1641
Sanctioned (Swordsman’s Guild): 1646

Description: Some thirty years ago, Brigitte Vallée was a promising young Swordswoman trained in the Valroux School, though she found even the flamboyant Techniques taught by her fencing master a little “too stuffy.” As fate would have it, Brigitte crossed paths with Arturo Nieto, a Gallegos-trained Swordsman who would go on to found the Nieto School of swordplay. Despite their differences, the two fell deeply in love and were married in 1636. As one might expect, their wildly diverse personalities led to conflict, and in early 1639, Arturo spurned Brigitte as “too frivolous” and left her.

There is an old Théan saying: the Abyss hath no fury like a lover scorned. Brigitte’s first instinct was to challenge her ex-husband to a duel, though she knew he was a superior Swordsman and the effort would be doomed to failure. She was, however, aware of his development of his own School, and she set out to match his efforts by developing new own signature style: one predicated on risk, derring-do, and (for lack of a better word) fun. She dedicated her School to thumbing its nose at Nieto at every turn, even going so far as submitting her creation to the Swordsman’s Guild for sanction…and defeating Arturo in a “training exercise” just to show that she could.

The Vallée School relies on speed, agility, and panache. Combining fancy acrobatics with quick and precise attacks, swashbucklers tumble around the battlefield, harassing and thwarting their opponents, Vallée Swordsmen dart in and out of the fray, wearing down opponents with daring thrusts, all while foiling any counterattacks with a flick of the wrist and a flash of the blade. Their deft parries and fatal ripostes are carnage elevated to an art form; they may appear to be a touch arrogant and devil-may-care, but behind this veneer lie people deeply dedicated to their craft.

The main weakness of the School is the mindset of its practitioners. A Vallée Swordsman is taught to never turn down a dare, whether it is a direct, spoken challenge or a feigned opening left in one’s defenses. This can maneuver the Swordsman into a vulnerable position and lead him into disaster.

Basic Curriculum: Acrobat, Fencing
Knacks: Disarm (Fencing), Exploit Weakness (Vallée), Flourish (Fencing), Riposte (Fencing), Tagging (Fencing)

Apprentice: A Vallée Swordsman seems to have no fear, charging into melee and tumbling, swinging, or leaping around the battlefield with style and flair. The student of Vallée receives a free Raise on any attempt to use the Knacks from the Acrobat Skill in combat, including Active Defenses.

Journeyman: Journeymen of Vallée learn a Technique called the Subtle Blade: a bit of a misnomer, as it applies to the Swordsman’s entire body, not just his weapon. The TN to directly target the Swordsman with any Swordsman Knack is increased by five.This applies to Knacks such as Beat, Corps-á-Corps, Double Attack, Double Parry, Feint, Flourish, Flurry, and so on but not any indirect Knacks such as Wall of Steel or Razor. It applies to both the Active Defense and Attack portion of a Riposte. If an attack is directly targeting the Swordsman’s rapier (e.g., Bind, Disarm, or Sunder), the TN is increased by ten instead.

Master: At the level of Master, a Vallée Swordsman has practically become the personification of grace under fire (and of blind luck, to boot) and even his mundane thrusts and parries carry a little “something extra.” When making an Attack or Active Defense using any of the Knacks found in his Basic Curriculum, or when attempting to use one of his Swordsman Knacks, the Master may re-roll any dice that come up lower than his Mastery Level in Vallée, as if they were Drama Dice. Unlike Drama Dice, the Master must keep the new result, even if it is worse than the initial roll.