Hella Varal

Hella Varal
Art by Amanda Rae
Basic Information
Title(s)	Queenkiller Regicide
Race	Human
Pronouns	She/her
Place of Origin	Ordenna
Affiliation(s)	Ordenna Boat Party Golden Lance (deputy) Forest Party
Meta Info
Class	Fighter
Alignment	Evil
Player	Ali Acampora
Season	Seasons of Hieron Winter in Hieron

Hella Varal, the Fighter, is a mercenary from Ordenna who wields an ancient and powerful sword.

Appearance

Hella is a tall and muscular Ordennan hailing from a town on the island's eastern shore slightly south of Velas's latitude. She is fit, with long, strong limbs, and brown skin. Hella has eager golden eyes, a square jaw, and wears her red hair in a bun.

Hella wore chainmail armor in Seasons of Hieron, but upgraded to scale male by the time of Winter in Hieron. She carries a sword with rubies on its bronze hilt, as well as a metal shield, a knife in a belt sheath, and a pre-Erasure brass spyglass.

Personality

“	There's a reason why Hella isn't in the military, and it's kind of because she doesn't know how to act?	”
–Ali, "You Haven't Kept Up, Have You?"

Hella is terse, brooding and can come off as flippant. Following the events of Seasons of Hieron, she has a lot of angst and self-hatred to work through, and struggles to reconcile her loyalty to Ordenna with her personal beliefs.

Alignment

Hella's alignment is Evil. She gains experience whenever she destroys something rather than trying to understand it. Hadrian believes her to be at a spiritual crossroads, and wants to guide her to a sense of morality closer to his own.

Bonds

Old

• Hadrian is soft, but I will make them hard like me.
• I worry about the ability of Lem to survive in the dungeon.
• I'm not impressed by The Great Fantasmo.
• I don't understand the extent of Hadrian's troubles, but I've made hard choices and met gods as well. Hadrian has my ear and my blade when he needs it.

Current

• I know Hadrian wants to see the best in me, but these days I cannot afford to not defend myself.
• If I can learn anything from Adaire, it's patience. I'd like to teach Adaire to stop meddling.
• I am no bright-eyed adventurer, and neither is Throndir. I am not going out of my way to protect him.

History

"Hella Varal: Queenkiller and Wielder of Whispers" by Conner Fawcett

“	She grew up with simple means but her role as a hired hand and conveyor led her to gain respect and the attention of the government of Ordenna, the reason for her frequent visits to Velas. Armed with a beautiful, mysterious sword, a lack of patience, and wariness of her people, Hella is a useful but unpredictable companion.	”
–Characters, Friends at the Table official site

Following her adventures with the Boat Party, Hella became a renowned figure in Ordenna for having slain Adelaide Tristé. However, some members of the Ordennan military look down on her for traveling with mixed company, or a perceived lack of patriotism.

According to some ancient books Hella found off the Ordennan coast, the name 'Varal', meaning a line on which people are hanged, was given to her family to mark them as traitors, although Hella has not yet learned how this came to pass.

Abilities

Hella's fighting prowess is unparalleled, and her mystic sword can either aid or interfere with her goals.

• Hold My Beer - Hella can use pure strength to destroy an inanimate obstacle. Or, in the case of the closed door on Eventide Island, she can just not do that and let the Ordennan army take care of it later.
• Heirloom - Hella can consult the spirits that reside within her sword.
• Merciless - Hella's unrestrained violence makes her an especially deadly foe.
• Smash! - In combat (when Ali rolls a 12+ on Hack and Slash), Hella can make her target lose something physical (a weapon, their position, a limb)
• Through Death's Eyes - When Hella enters battle, she can name an NPC who will live and an NPC who will die. On a partial success, she can name one or the other. On a failed roll, Hella sees her own death and takes an ongoing impairment throughout the battle.