Helena of Malostria (Level 1)
Name: Helena of Malostria
Witchname: Bysma’el
Age: 33
Race: Human
Height: 1.73 m (5’8 feet)
Weight: 63 kg (140 lbs)
Occupation: Helena stays on the road, earning her keep as a witch while trying not to be called on. She acts as a fortune teller, herbal doctor, and sage, but also does not shy away from more heinous services such as invoking curses and causing ailments.
Personality: Helena enjoys being alone most of the time and often has little interest in socializing with others. Nevertheless, she is receptive to new experiences and is interested in hearing stories from people who have lived different lives than hers. When she speaks, she tends to do so briefly and efficiently, which can sometimes be interpreted as rudeness or a lack of interest. With a trusted companion she can talk for hours, and very warmly so, about her witchcraft and other stories of the occult.
Given the many tragedies in her life, Helena is not easily scared or shocked. However, she does tend to be hesitant and can be overly deliberate in her actions. Generally, this has worked out well for her, but from time to time she can be too hesitant to act or choose.
As a ‘wildling’ or someone who has lived outside of society for most of her life, Helena is not aware of many customs nor is she knowledgeable about current events of the ‘city dwellers’. This often puts her in awkward situations when visiting a town or city, as she will need – but not want to ask for – more guidance to find her way around. At the same time, she impresses many with her knowledge of nature, as well as all that is dark and unnatural.
History: Helena was raised in a coven, a pact of witches dedicated to furthering their craft. Growing up in a witch commune meant that Helena had no one mother. Instead, she was collectively raised by every adult woman in the coven. Her biological mother, Malostria, was amongst the coven but played no special role in her upbringing. As a child she received a great deal of education, although this was obviously different from more convenient forms of schooling. From a young age she also started participating in the supernatural activities of the coven. They performed rituals that bent the laws of reality, seeking out dark energies and even darker knowledge. However, in contrast to what many expect of witches, it was not a violent coven and they rarely voluntary sought to interfere with the lives of others.
Before Helena reached the age to join the coven as an equal, Malostria left the coven and Helena in particular, as not to be a distraction for Helena on her journey to become a witch of her own kind. As part of her rite of passage to join the coven as a witch and equal to all others, Helena also had to leave the coven, but only temporarily so, to seek out a spiritual companion. She moved from one shadowy place to another, becoming so engulfed in her dark pilgrimage that her entire being become a part of a ritualistic journey that lasted several years. Just after the fourth year, she completed her ritual and was joined by her spiritual companion, Azemio. He (or she, it had no gender as well as both) appeared to Helena in the corporal form of a venomous snake. Azemio had been watching Helena’s journey from another realm and had found her to be a worthy and compatible companion. As such, Azemio completed a similar ritual of companionship to be able to join Helena. From their joining onwards, Helena and Azemio were inseparable. They were bound by blood and mind, enabling them to telepathically communicate and sense each other’s physical presence. For two more years Helena traveled until she joined her maternal coven which she had left as woman, but now returned to as a witch. Amongst her fellow witches, Helena was henceforth known by her witchname: Bysma’el.
Much had changed in the years that she had been away. Superstition, driven by poverty and injustice, had become ever-present. While the coven had been driven away by angry mobs of villagers before, it was different this time. Organized squads of well-trained men were roaming the wilds, seeking not to drive away but to kill the witches.
For several more years, the coven was able to stay out of the reach of the inquisitors and other witch hunters. However, one day they were betrayed by one of their own. Garradia, a young woman who had recently joined them after completing her ritual of companionship, had turned mad. She had been too ambitious and too thirsty for power; an evil wendigo had overpowered her spirit and had corrupted her with insanity. Garradia turned on her witch family and made a pact with the inquisitors. In the resulting onslaught very few of the coven managed to escape.
While Helena was amongst the survivors, her companion Azemio was not. Azemio’s physical vessel, the viper, was brutally beheaded by a witch hunter. While Helena was able to kill the hunter and claim Azemio’s head and body, she was now without her spiritual companion. For while Azemio is not of this world, it does need the body of the viper to be able to act in this world. With the vessel broken, Helena can no longer interact with Azemio, nor he with her.
With her coven destroyed and her companion taken from her, Helena started to roam the world again, a second ritual of companionship. Her pact with Azemio is broken, but for a witch death is only a temporary obstacle. Helena now seeks to more fully embrace the duality of nature and find the means to change the balance so that Azemio’s viper body will once again be a suitable host. While the cost of such a transaction might be high, Helena has few qualms with the sacrifices that have to be made, especially if it are others who have to be sacrificed.
Appearance: Having lived in the wildlands for most of her life, Helena has a rough appearance. She has been darkened by spending so much time in the sun and the skin on her hands is thick from all the painful wrestling with thorny plants. Her shoulder-length hair is dark brown and usually not kept very well. A trained observer might spot the small streak of grey hair, as well as the greenish tint in her mostly brown eyes as signs of her witchcraft.
You can usually find her in comfortable but plain travel clothes, clearly made only with practical requirements in mind. When in a public area, Helena tends to wear long sleeves to hide the many scars on her body, remnants of wounds inflicted by others as well as ritually self-inflicted ones. When out and about, she will use her short spear as a walking stick, or tie it on her back when it gets in the way. The rest of her display consists mostly of varied collection of small bags, purses, and bottles filled with herbs, scrolls, and perhaps the occasional small cadaver.
When at home, in the wild, Helena moves without much effort, appearing almost as graceful but without the flair. She clearly enjoys traversing nature, whether it is a chilly mountain side or a warm jungle. Lately, she has started to frequent civilized areas more often, but when one would observe her it can clearly be seen that she does not move as confidently and purposefully in a city as in the wild. In any environment, Helena seems self-occupied, with a gaze that moves over the world but does not seem to be part of it. As a vivid daydreamer, Helena’s thoughts often certainly are not of this world.
Skills:
• Witchcraft
Helena has extensively practiced several dark spells that make her a dangerous opponent. These abilities (listed below) are powerful, but their use is depending on careful ritual preparation. Prepared abilities can be used once in combat; to be used again Helena needs to have some time and access to her craft items. Once she completes the rituals again, the abilities can be used once more. At the start of a thread Helena has prepared all abilities in advance, unless stated otherwise.
• Occult Lore
Having practiced the darker arts for nearly two decades, Helena is knowledgeful in many of these areas. While she relies on scrolls, books, and other reference works, Helena is familiar with and has at least a basic understanding of most forms of occult dealings. This allows her to identify the properties of esoteric trinkets, spot curses, and have an above average understanding of dark beings such as demons, the undead, and fellow humanoid dark magic practitioners. Helena was also taught about the properties of herbs, roots, and other elements that can be harvested. Through careful preparation, Helena can make basic substances with minor properties extracted from the ingredients. This allows her to sustain her mortal needs as well as to craft the countless miscellanea that typically feature in the elaborate witch rituals.
• Short spear fighting
Helena is proficient with the short spear as her weapon of choice. While familiar with the weapon, her expertise is focused mostly on being able to use the weapon defensively and only to a lesser extent as a weapon of attack.
Abilities:
• Curse of Incompetence
With dark whispers Helena invokes a curse upon a single individual close to her, causing significant incompetence and clumsiness. The target becomes generally less skilled, functioning at roughly 80%. This affects only basic stats such as speed, strength, and intelligence. Abilities and skills are not directly affected, unless their use relies on the basic stats. The target will be instantly aware that something is wrong and will experience a sense of dread for the duration of the curse. A curse on a target the same level as Helena lasts for 5 minutes and has effects beyond that duration.
Like all her abilities, Helena needs to prepare for each use and can only prepare one use in advance which allows one target to be cursed. The magnitude and duration of the effect is inversely related to the targets’ willpower and supernatural affinity.
• Poisonous Mist
Helena cuts herself with her ceremonial knife, causing a substantial flow of blood. Helena licks up the blood and spits it out, turning it into a poisonous mist that dissipates after a minute. Anyone other than Helena is mildly but continuously hurt by the poison, which causes blurry vision, painful sores, nausea, and headaches. After a few seconds, the mist occupies the area up to about 3 cubical meters (9.8 cubical feet).
Like all her abilities, Helena needs to prepare for each use and can only prepare one use in advance. Given the cost in blood, Helena is naturally limited in how often she can use this ability, as it will drain her noticeably.
• Necrotic Blade
After uttering some dark words of power, Helena channels a vile and entropic energy into either the blade of her spear or her ceremonial knife. The next time it comes into contact with something or someone the dark energy is released. While the direct injury caused by this attack is no more than normal, it leaves a festering mark. This corruption lasts for about a minute; it does no harm initially but does so increasingly over time. This harm mainly manifests as feelings of pain and only to a lesser extend as physical harm, which is limited to a burn wound. After it has ended, the pain will mostly be gone and only the burn wound persists. The corruption affects only the point of contact and does not spread.
Like all her abilities, Helena needs to prepare for each use and can only prepare one use in advance. If the corrupted blade misses the intended target, the energy is released on whatever object the blade connects with, or it dissipates if nothing has been struck within a few seconds.
Equipment/Weapons:
• Short spear
This short spear is Helena’s trusted companion. Standing 6 feet (1.82m) tall, it is a little longer as she is, making it a relatively short pole arm that compromises force in favor of mobility and speed. The pole itself is made from wood, with an iron spearhead shaped like a pointy leaf. It is predominantly suitable for thrusting, but sideway cuts can inflict serious damage as well if there is enough force behind it. Helena typically avoids direct confrontations and mostly uses her spear as a walking stick such that it provides aid as well conveniently broadcasting that she is not defenseless.
• Ceremonial knife
This small iron knife is intricately decorated with paint and carvings, depicting many important and mostly gruesome events of Helena’s life. It is as much a diary or history book as it is a tool of trade. While it can arguably be used in combat just like any knife, it is typically reserved for cabalistic rites. Given the clearly occult function, Helena typically conceals this knife as not to draw too much unwanted attention.
• Occult miscellanea
In addition to her spear and knife, Helena typically travels with a collection of scrolls on the occult arts, various herbal and animal ingredients, and other trinkets that are vital for her witch trade. Most of these objects were harvested in nature and have no monetary value, or would serve any purpose at all for those unskilled in the dark arts.
Familiar:
Wherever she goes, Helena carries the decapitated snake vessel of her spiritual complement: Azemio. After countless years of faithful companionship, Azemio’s physical vessel was brutally decapitated by an inquisitor order. With its corporal form incapable, Azemio cannot consort with Helena. To be reunited with her occult partner, Helena is seeking to resurrect the viper. While such a rite is possible, it is yet beyond the capabilities of Helena to do so. To buy time, Helena invoked long lasting curse combined with several oils that preserve the snake’s body and significantly delay the inevitable decay.
