Reynaud Valmont

“Your wife killed my mother.”
“For which your father killed her and then died himself, likely because of the poisoned stiletto Calienne always had up her sleeve. And that was the Game, played faithfully by both your side and mine.” ―Celene Valmont and Gaspard de Chalons^[1]

Grand Duke Reynaud Valmont was the youngest son of Emperor Judicael Valmont I of Orlais and the father of Empress Celene Valmont I.

Background[]

Grand Duke Reynaud Valmont was the youngest son of Emperor Judicael Valmont I,^[3] and the brother of Emperors Judicael II and Florian. During Florian's reign, the emperor eschewed the advice of the powerful nobles who had long served in the cabinet in favor of his brother, their younger sister Melisande, and their cousins.^[4] Relatives more distant than Emperor Florian's siblings were typically not allowed in the Winter Palace.^[5]

Reynaud shared his father's interest in elves and the Dales and collected statues of halla, the traditional Dalish beasts of burden. The work of Dalish artisans during the Long Walk to Halamshiral, these statues were later repurposed by his daughter as the keys to several rooms in the Winter Palace.^[6]

The prince eventually married Duchess Clarisse de Montfort, a member of the powerful de Montfort family. The couple had one daughter, Celene Valmont, born in 9:04 Dragon.^[7] They dined with other powerful nobles, such as his wife's cousin Duke Prosper de Montfort and Dowager Marquise Mantillon, raised their daughter in the ways of the Game with hopes that she would one day take the Orlesian throne. In 9:20 Dragon, Reynaud's wife was killed in a "hunting accident" arranged by Calienne de Ghislain, the wife of his nephew and family's chief rival to succeed Florian, Gaspard de Chalons. In retaliation, he and Duke Prosper visited her at her father Duke Bastien de Ghislain's estate. Calienne was killed by Reynaud in a "hunting accident," but wounded himself,^[2] likely by a poisoned stiletto she always carried.^[1] The injury festered and grew foul, eventually claiming his life and leaving the sixteen-year-old Celene an orphan. Although the official story was always that Prince Reynaud had died of illness, the truth that he had died of poison was whispered among servants.^[2]

Codex entries[]

Codex entry: Cailan's Documents - Page 1 of 3

Codex entry: Emperor Florian

Codex entry: Superstitions of the Royal Family

Codex entry: Winter Palace

Note texts[]

Halamshiral Investigation - Clues (Grand Library)

Notes[]

• Reynaud is referred to as Prince throughout Dragon Age: The Masked Empire and in various Dragon Age: Inquisition codex entries, even after his brother Judicael II became Emperor, which should have granted him the title of Grand Duke.^[8][9] He is correctly titled as Grand Duke in Codex entry: Emperor Florian.
• Celene's Dragon Age II codex entry says that she is the daughter of Florian's youngest sister rather than his youngest brother.^[10]

References[]