Hel

Bones press firmly against a skin that may not be there, pale and sickly. The specter turns, eyes gleaming against the dark, a hollow laugh sounding from her throat, and sets her gaze upon the ghosts lingering at the foot of her throne. They cower, knowing this creature holds their fate in her claws, knowing she will decide what becomes of them after death. A slow sigh of stale air flows over the grey hall; a queen determines the fate of the supplicants.

Hel is an Inheritor of the Incarnation, and one of the few with the Keeper aspect. She sits just beyond the threshold of death and waits for the ghosts of those who have passed on to enter her domain. Many who enter the gatehouse of eternal rest do not emerge out the other side. Instead they are detained and consumed into the creature who would play judge. The energy she gains from consuming souls feeds her influence, grows her ability to halt the souls of the dead. And what is not fed directly into the loop of her power goes to fuel the activities of the Shade across Sorineth.

She is a darkling creature, prone to drawing out the decision of which souls she will consume and which she will allow to pass by unharmed. The emotions felt by her victims do not appear to feed into her power; it is simply something she enjoys eliciting. And the choice she makes depends largely upon her mood and the reactions of those who fall under her jurisdiction. Freedom to pass to a peaceful death or oblivion rests on the whims of this arguably mad creature.

The Shade speaks to her often, and very clearly. What is said between them is lost among the mad thoughts and shadowed corners of Hel's mind. Orders, strategy, or simple conversation could lurk there, and each is more dangerous for those not connected to the Shade than the last.

Written by Kaiyre