Hella

The only upside to all of this is that she's a great story teller. She's really passionate about sharing myths and legends with the younger generations, but she's not a stickler with the details. In the tradition of orists of old, she puts her own spin on all the stories, making them her own. She also knows a lot of ballads, which she'll sing at festivals and things, while Joten plays along on his harp. This usually happens towards the end of the night when everyone is sleepy and full and maybe a little drunk, and between her haunting voice and Joten's rhythmic strumming, it all feels very medieval. And magical. Like goblins and numpties might just peek out of a corner and steal the leftovers off your plate, or else you'll get the much darker feeling, once in your own bed and trying to fall asleep, that some ancient and ethereal being is staring at you out of the ceiling.

Sachin humors Hella's legend-laden beliefs and theories, but the psychics aren't as polite and openly sneer at her attempts to contact the unknown. In the beginning they were willing to try to help her out, thinking she might want to learn from them, but Hella is convinced her books are more right than they are. Now they consider her dabelings "child's play," and Briseis especially tries to steer clear of her "shallow energy." I think Kolos feels about the same, though he doesn't say as much, as he also tried to connect with her in the beginning, and seems slightly uncomfortable, now, whenever she gets to talking about death and ghosts and afterlife. He would know, after all, what it's all really like. He's walked there. So if she doesn't even take his word on things, how much of a scholar is she, really? Aren't true scholars supposed to study real life as well as books? Isn't that how the books get written in the first place?