Chakuna

Chakuna, the Darklord of Valachan, is not merely the ruler of her jungle domain—she is its avatar of hunger, survival, and sacrifice. Once a protector of her people, Chakuna became the embodiment of the law of the wild: only the strongest survive, and strength is proven in blood. She is both apex predator and trembling prey, locked in an endless ritual of proving her right to rule.

Chakuna has no heart, not figuratively—but physically absent, her chest a hollow cradle for the savage will of Valachan itself. That unnatural void doesn’t slow her. If anything, it amplifies her senses—she hears the heartbeat of every creature in her jungle, feels the ripple of their fear, the twitch of their breath. It is said that no one who enters the jungle escapes her notice.

• She is tall, lithe, and sinewy—a panther in humanoid form, her body painted with blood and ceremonial dye, adorned in bones and feathers taken from former champions.
• Her eyes gleam gold in the dark. When she runs, the wind parts for her; when she strikes, it is without mercy or hesitation.
• She is always armed with a ritual dagger carved from the fang of a great jungle cat—the first beast she ever slew in the Trial of Hearts.

To feed her bond with the domain—and to appease the devouring jungle-spirit that pulses through Valachan—Chakuna enforces the Trial of Hearts, a brutal contest of survival.

• Outsiders or transgressors are marked and released into the jungle. They are hunted. If they can survive until the next dawn, their hearts are spared. If not, Chakuna claims them, ripping the organ from their chest in sacrifice.
• These rituals are performed with solemn reverence. To Chakuna, this is not cruelty—it is worship.

Chakuna's bond with Valachan is unique: it is voluntary, a pact struck with a vast, alien awareness that suffuses the domain. This ancient force—not a god, but a hunger—chose Chakuna as its champion, its mouthpiece, its blade.

• She must continually prove herself, or the jungle will take her in place of her victims.
• Every root, vine, and beast in Valachan watches her. If she falters, they will consume her and her people.

When Chakuna closes the borders of her domain, the seas churn with monstrous fury, and the Mists coil like strangling vines, forming an impassable barrier. Even birds refuse to fly beyond her reach when the jungle decides to keep its prey.

Though Chakuna began as a savior—rising against the tyrant Urik von Kharkov—she has become something even more feared: a goddess of the hunt, whose mercy is indistinguishable from savagery.

• She desperately loves her people but believes only through their blood and suffering can she continue to protect them.
• She is both guardian and executioner, both matriarch and monster.

Chakuna, the Heartless Huntress, is the apex predator of Valachan—chosen by the jungle’s will to enforce its brutal law through the Trial of Hearts, lest the land devour her and all she swore to save.