ASSEMBLE THE VALOR SQUAD

Time to meet the original squad of god-tier beings who built Arda in creative mode while everybody else has to play survival. These are the Valor Squad, the big bosses Eric sent (or who showed up anyway) to shape the world after the whole music drama. Think of them as the ultimate Discord mod team, except instead of banning trolls they're fighting literal ones. There are seven Lords and seven Queens, plus a bunch of Support Crew sidekicks. Melvin? He's that one cousin who got kicked from the family group chat for griefing everything.

Manny Breezy is the wind guy and straight-up Eric's favorite, which makes him king. His brother Melvin was stronger on paper but way worse at listening. Valerie Starqueen, aka Queen Starlight, is his wife and the star queen—she's the one the Elves simp for hardest because she can hear your desperate voice memos even from the void. Uncle Ocean's the water lord, basically omnipresent in every ocean, river, and suspiciously deep puddle, and he's the one Valor Squad member who actually keeps supporting both Elves and Men no matter how many Ls they take.

Ollie Anvil is the smith god, the one who literally shaped the earth's crust and ores. He's got that chaotic creative energy that's kinda similar to Melvin's, which led to them beefing constantly while building the world—my theory is that's why Ollie Anvil's stuff always looked a little extra. His wife Vanna Bloom is all about plants and animals—she's the original tree hugger. Then you've got the judgment bros: Mandy Moodkiller (who runs the afterlife hotel for dead Elves and has spoilers for the future), his wife Vera Loom who literally weaves history into wall tapestries like the world's most extra scrapbooker, and their siblings Dreamy Danny and Esther Naptime who run the chill garden spa for living spirits. Sad Nancy's their sister, the official grief counselor who turns your trauma into character development.

Later came Swole Tully, the wrestling himbo who showed up specifically to clap Melvin's cheeks in a fair fight—finally someone with hands. His wife Nessa Footwork is the dancer. Orion Hunt is the hunter who actually liked hanging in Middle-earth's forests and only left reluctantly. His wife Vana Springtime makes flowers bloom wherever she steps, like a walking cottagecore filter. The Support Crew are their staff—most stay invisible, but some like Ozzy Waves (sea chaos goblin, almost joined Melvin's villain arc until his wife Winnie Tide talked him down), Winnie Tide, Melanie Magic, and that one guy who'll later be known as Gandalf are important. Oh, and Sigmauron started as Ollie Anvil's intern before going full dark side. Fire Bouncers are corrupted Support Crew too. Melvin himself went from wanting all the light to becoming a void-dwelling edgelord who corrupted others because he couldn't create solo.

Here's where it gets messy. Ollie Anvil, impatient for some students to teach his crafting hacks to, secretly made the Dwarves in a mountain basement like a kid hiding a tamagotchi from his parents. He wanted kids who could survive Melvin's constant trolling. But Eric caught him immediately and was like "dude, that's my job." Ollie Anvil was about to delete his save file but the Dwarves suddenly had independent will and begged for mercy. Eric adopted them but made them sleep until after the Elves woke up. Classic "I made this in my room" energy.

When Ollie Anvil told Vanna Bloom, she was stressed because she knew her plants and animals would get wrecked by these new miners. She took it to Manny Breezy, reminding him of that one part of the Music where trees got to sing. Manny Breezy checked the lore and confirmed that yeah, when Elves show up, some trees and animals will get possessed by spirits—basically the Eagles and the Ents. This sets up eternal Ollie Anvil-Vanna Bloom family beef where dwarves chop trees and ents become gym bros about it. Petty divine couple drama for the ages.

I'll just make some helpers real quick in secret, no one will noticeThey have independent will now? That's fine, Eric will understandVanna Bloom's gonna be so mad about the tree situationTime to explain to the Valor Squad that I speedran a new race