Valkyries

Introduction
Valkyries are a race of winged humanoids that have started to colonize the known world ever since the Pirate Purge began in earnest. Originating from Skypeia, they seem to be the Skypeian equivalent of Amazons, i.e. only females seem to be of the species, and only breed with humans strong enough to carry on their power and legacy.

Appearance
They resemble Blue Sea People in many ways; most notably, in their looks. Though, admittedly, that isn't saying much considering they're considered a sub-species of Skypeians, whom already resemble humans in a lot of ways. But as you'll soon discover down below, there're a few differences that make them deviate from their common ancestor.

Biology
As said, they are the Skypeian equivalent to Amazons; with few, if any men, and even then, they're mainly sex slaves strong enough to carry on the species. But aside from this, there're several other differences that separate them from their two-winged cousins in Skypeia.

Most notably, instead of two petite wings that don't do much, they have four large, bird-of-prey-like wings used for flight, as well as being able to blow large gusts of wind with said wings.

On average, a Valkyrie can fly up to 50 miles per hour on a clear say, though they have a tough time flying in stormy weather. This is because their wings can easily get waterlogged and weigh them down if prolonged flights occur.

They can use Haki in very rare cases, but in truth, their true strength comes from their raw power and intelligence.

Inter-Species Relationships
Like with Amazon Lily, men are severely distrusted, and sometimes even hated, regardless of species. But most of this is due to their history with the former 'rulers' of Skypeia; Enel, and his Priests. However, this does not apply to everyone. The most noted example of this exception is the Valkyries of Orlean Village, a group that was formed by the former ambassador of the species; Freyja, Daughter of the Thorin Queen Vallhalla, where the original ancestors of Valkyries come from.

Overall Strength
As said, though they are aware of Haki courtesy of experiences during the purge, their biggest strength is their raw power and ingenuity. Their intelligence is considered, perhaps not surpassing of most species, but is often much faster than the average human mind when it comes to decisions of emotional and tactical levels normally considered challenging.

But by far, their most prominent strength is their lung capacity, able to hold their breath as long as an alligator. So much so, that their main weaponry is based on this asset. Said weaponry are horns that wrap around their users like a sousaphone. These horns often are twisted no inventor on the Blue Sea would have been insane to think up.

The reason being that these horns are so heavy that most people couldn't lift them without throwing out their backs. Though in truth, all of this is pretty ironic, considering they come from an atmosphere so thin even warriors like Roronoa Zoro and Luffy had trouble fighting in it at first due to being not used to such extremes. Just goes to show you how bizarre the White Sea's life can truly be.

Beliefs
Despite their distrust of men, it's not out of what any one species did on the Blue Sea. It's more an instinctual dislike brought on by where their species comes from and the effect Enel and his Priests had on their lands. But more on this later; as a whole, it depends on the individual Valkyrie leaders on how powerful this instinct is, and usually, it resolves down to a somewhat cordial affair.

This distrust aside, the Valkyries consider loyalty above all else to be the finest virtue, and will defend who they choose to their dying breath. And more often than not, this does happen to those whom prove too loyal for their own good.

Despite this loyalty, they're rarely blinded by it, and only do so for their own ambitions.

Members of the Race/Tribe
By far one of the most prominent examples of positive Valkyrie members is the quartet of Valkyries in the North Blue town of Orlean Village. Here, the former ambassador to the Blue Sea herself, Freyja, and her sister/daughters protect the village from any threat regardless of source.

This is partly due to their more forgiving feel towards the Blue Sea People, as they know they're not like the Priests and Enel. And also partly because of Freyja's connection to the first mayor of the town, Cab K. Alloway; whom she fell in love with, and to this day is considered the unofficial bodyguard of the mayor. When Cab died, she was assigned to the Goodman Family as a sign of homage; though the reasoning there shall be addressed at a later time.

Regardless, perhaps the other prominent member of this group is the Valkyrie Brünnhilde; as she is a member of the Goodman Pirates, joining out of a sense of duty to captain Mercury Goodman after what happened to his best friend, Pallas T. Kite.

History
The Valkyries' history begins in the New World, with a lost island called Thorin. Here, supposedly, a race of horn-based warriors called the Sounders ruled, able to literally blow away enemies with horns the size horses, and lung capacities unlike many humans. All was well, until the fabled Knockup Stream sent this island flying high into the sky, never to be seen again by the Blue Sea.

As it turns out, this island became a legend to those of Skypeia as the Moving Isle of Sound. That's because, to this day, the isle is always moving, never resting, and if you hear closely, you'll hear their horns sounding a low drone in the distance. The reason for this is that when the Knockup Stream sent them into the White Seas, they landed on a rare current of White Sea clouds called Dreadwind Currents; which always keep the island moving, like an oversized ship made of earth and plant life.

Occasionally, these Dreadwind Currents can swirl up cloud storms, which can toss the island far from much of anything in the White Sea remoting to inhabitants. Though a hard life, it was a sustainable one due to the abundance of cloud fish and other such life on the White Sea. But all that changed when Enel found them.

He and his Priests found the land unexpectedly, and tried to make it a part of his Upper Yard empire. However, even with Mantra, he was given stiff resistance from the tribe. So much so, that after a disasterous battle during a massive cloud storm, they fled to continue their rule of Skypeia. And those of you that saw the Skypeia arc know what happened him.

As for the Valkyries, they remained in the Dreadwind Currents for years, until the Marines started to colonize the White Seas and Skypeia. Also by accident did they find Thorin again, this time with much stronger anger than with Enel and his Priests, though more out of habit instead of hatred. It wasn't until the Marine Vice-Admiral overseeing the mission, one Talahasee V. Jones, convinced their queen, Valhalla of Odinus, that Blue Sea people weren't a threat.

After that, they slowly began to colonize the Blue Sea, migrating to new prospects for their species, maybe even gaining rememberance of what they lost due to the Knockup Stream.

Trivia
A lot of the Valkyrie's nature comes from a combination of the philosophy is inspired by the Amazons and a bit of the Valkyries themselves of Norse origin. This is especially true of their names, which are named after either Norse places, or noted Norse figures from Freyja to Svafa.

They often see the Skypeian populous as snobs, due to being literally above them for the majority of their time in the sky.

For those wondering how they gained four wings, part of this was due to interbreeding with Skypeians and even a few of the Shandorian populous. After a while, they grew four wings instead of the standard two.

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