What does power mean to us?
Close your eyes and picture a powerful person.
Go on.
What did you see? A mountain of muscle? An old rich guy in a suit? Magneto after Genosha (look it up)? Who, in your mind, defines power?
Great or marked ability to do or act
No matter who you pictured, you almost certainly only scratched the surface. The mountain of muscle has immense physical strength. In a battle of force, they are a powerful foe. They bear the simplest and most obvious form of power: might. But what is one mighty warrior against an army? The mountain of muscle may outmatch any one or even ten opposing soldiers. Yet, their opponent is not those soldiers, but the general who commands those soldiers, and the hundreds like them. The might of the mountain would then find themselves face to face with one who wields a different kind of power: authority.
The possession of control or command over people.
What about beyond might and authority? They say knowledge is power. For, the more you know, the better you can navigate the world, the more options you can explore, and the more opportunity you have to develop another often overlooked kind of power: influence.
Celebrities are typically rich, but rarely wealthy like the invisible hands that pull the strings of the modern world as we know it. Yet, their appeal and aggressive visibility hold sway over the public consciousness and discourse. Trends in fashion, behaviours, interests, baby names, career goals, and even political affiliations have long been spurred on by whatever pretty faces were most popular at the time, so much so that “influencer” has become its own career path; literally being famous FOR being famous.
Visibility is power.
Information is power.
Wealth is power.
Dominion is power.
Strength is power.
Valon Durey possesses all of the above.
Valon Durey is wealthy. Like, hilariously, disproportionately, comically wealthy. He inherited a company and built an empire through cunning and ruthless strategy.
Valon Durey is informed. Being the CEO of both a technology and a transportation company, as well as on the board of a telecommunications company, Valon has direct access to comprehensive data on nearly every citizen in Avenir.
Valon Durey is visible, being arguably the most famous face south of the Great River. Love him or hate him, everyone who's anyone in the five Prime Lands knows the name Valon Durey. And most of them fear it.
Valon Durey has dominion. With his aforementioned wealth and status, Valon has managed to have a firm hand in nearly every facet of life in Tehopolis and much of the surrounding towns. Politics, media, drugs, tech, transportation, communication, sex; Valon Durey either controls it or has sway over who does. And none of that compares to his true power.
Valon is the son of a titan of industry, and the grandson of an ambitious innovator. He is the latest in a long line of rare and dangerous warrior Callers. He was born to rule. You could say, when it comes to Valon Durey, power is in his blood.
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