Greetings, he or she who is lucky to stumble upon my memoirs. I am sure it is of some measure of amazement to find such an artifact, but I must caution you. If you are not knowledged in the mystic arts, and of time and relativity, then what you are about to read will shatter your understandings, and challenge your will.

I am Valerian de la Shadou, but throughout history I am known by other names.

Vali Sæunn, Vance McShaddock, Valerius Sempronius, Val Shad...

Names of no importance to you, but in history's lifespan those names were present during civilization's evolution.

For my gift is time, it is at my beck and call. Seconds and millennia are my pets and familiars. My command is its wish.

 

Each member of my family has a unique gift. It is the birthright of the coven de la Shadou. A clan as much of a cult, dedicated to the dark powers. We dabble in Diablerie, and profane the sacred around us.

Our father, whom I shall not mention in the hopes of his name being lost to history, was a cruel sort. He pleasured in the control of others, especially his wife and children. Night upon night he would rape my mother in the hopes of conceiving his ultimate tool, and night upon night we "failures" would bear the brunt of his intolerance.

His abuse brought my siblings and I closer to one another. We plotted behind his back, and hoped he would never find out. We each grew stronger in our own ways, and our plans got bolder.

In an effort to protect my newborn brothers and sisters, my brother Armand and I devised a plan where I would use my mastery of time to reverse-age the babies into zygotes, travel into the future, and implant them into the adult forms of my sisters. It was only through this means would they be protected from father's wrath long enough to one day confront him.

With Armand's help I was able to erase my presence from history, and the histories of my rescued family members. With all knowledge of their and my own existence expunged, I was able to pass my siblings off as the third generation. Shielded from father's immediate attentions long enough to grow into their own power.

I chose to remain hidden in the past, far into the past. I sailed the north seas with the Norsemen tribes, lending my services as a "shaman" to the tribal chieftains, I acted as a druid for the Celtic clans during the time when they formed, I was an adviser and vizier to the Caesars in Rome, and depending on how old this parchment is I was/will be present when the New World was/is colonized.

But, my family needs always come first before my travels through the threads of time. At precise moments when my family needs me the most, I was always there to aid however I could. Even as I write this now I have returned to what I call the "mainstream of time" The ticking of the clocks that started at my conception.

This is my present time, and it is now that I am known by the name Valerian Darkshadow.