Helga Hatebad

Official image of Helga, drawn by @grace.pptx on Instagram

Helga Hatebad is a player character of Arc 8 played by Sam. Helga is level 8.

## Description

Helga Gratz Hatebad is a Mountain Dwarf Forge Cleric from Glaceria and firstborn of Beryl Hatebad. She is a member of the Minor Council of Hyranor, representing the Hatebad Family.

Helga is a strong and stout Dwarf with a full beautiful beard that has gold and gems woven into it. She usually wears a full plate that she has forged herself, it's covered with fabrics to keep the metal safe. She has a Cloak of Billowing, because she loves arriving in style.

As is tradition for the Hatebads, she does not go along well with the Lovejoys. Especially Penny and her at this point have a sort of competition where they often try to "one-up" each other with their magic items. Because of this, Helga has a Wand of Scowls, while Penny has a Wand of Smiles.

Helga's seat on the Minor Council is also mostly to keep the power of the Lovejoys in check, and it is her goal to make sure that they do not gain any more power.

She is a very honest person and not too good at keeping secrets to herself, which can be dangerous in political surroundings.

Her Patreon submitted magic item are the Earrings of Smalltalk, which allow her to be aware of who she is talking to and what their position is, even though she usually does not know too much about the court. When speaking, the earrings are very polite, and end their little introductions with "Ta-Tah!".

## Backstory

As she was growing up, Helga spent a lot of time together with her mother in the forge, skipping class, because theoretical knowledge was never her thing, she learnt by doing.

She helped her mother build up the Hatebad empire, and as Glaceria started to become too small, and could not be extended outward, they started tunnelling downwards. Underneath the city, over the course of a century and a half, they built up a lot of ressources to produce weapons at scale. This got the attention of the Lovejoys, and the tension between the families rose further.

At one point, Helga started fighting in the collosseum the Hatebads built up underground, on the outskirts of Glaceria. Around that time, Beryl gave her a Sentinel Shield.

As they were digging down, they also found the Portal to the Plane of Fire below the city. While the others were still arguing what to do about it, Helga just dove straight into it, and landed in the Plane of Fire, where she became friends with Ember, and then with the Fire Giants, who are talented smiths. She started travelling between the Material Plane and the Plane of Fire regularly, wrestling with the fire giants' children and training their hell hounds until she earned the utmost respect of the Fire Giants, and a Belt of Fire Giant Strength, with which she can represent their might on the Material Plane. Since contact between the planes is difficult, her regular stays on the Plane of Fire often leads to her coming to an event too late.

As Beryl got older, she started the transition of power to Helga, who she knew would be supported by her siblings. This transition included Helga getting the seat on the Minor Council, mostly to keep the Lovejoys in check. Helga does not go to many meetings, though, except for when her siblings tell her that there is an important vote she has to be present for.

## Character Arc

Helga arrives late to the death ceremony, and when she does, she does so riding her hellhound Rancor, which scares Sybilla for a bit. The hellhound is not from Hell, though, but from the Plane of Fire, and Helga passes Sybilla's test as she does not understand Infernal.

She is not too comfortable in the political environment without the support from her siblings, so she regularly asks other people for advice, or who they plan to vote for. She is easily influenced by Crigley Jigglesphere, who approaches her to introduce his ideas to her, and then makes her forget they ever had the conversation, leading to her thinking those ideas where hers.

After Sybilla promises Penny Lovejoy that she will make sure that Gem Lovejoy is freed from prison once she becomes monarch, Sybilla tells Helga about it and thus gains back her trust. The princess gives Helga the necessary information to make sure that the Hatebads can be at the right place when Gem is free again.

As Helga speaks to Isadora after she is announced to be the new successor, her earrings tell her that Isadora has a deep and dangerous secret that might ruin her life. Helga asks Sybilla about it later that day, and together, they go to Isadora's room to confront her about it. There, they learn after some arguing and persuading that she has taken a card from the Deck of Many Things, which shifted her alignment, and since then she is fighting this new urge inside of her to do anything to gain power. Helga helps Sybilla convince her that there is still good inside of her, and that it is strong if she has been able to fight back her own alignment shift for months. Isadora can finally be convinced to give up her position as successor as soon as Sybilla is eligible again. To commemorate the heartfelt conversation and bonding time the three of them had, Helga uses one of the ornamental suits of armour standing around the castle to build a special breast plate for Sybilla, and a compass for Isadora. A clue keyword of the conversation was the idea of a better tomorrow, so the compass contains the inscription "Keep fighting, tomorrow will be better". The breastplate has a wing shape at the left arm to already accomodate for Sybilla losing that arm, and inlaid on the inside is an intricate design of fire, which she knows is a private but important aspect of her life.

The next morning, she goes back to Isadora together with Sybilla to give her her gift. The two of them arrive just in time to stop Isadora from fleeing from the castle, and Helga decides to stay with the sisters as Sybilla casts *Ceremony* on Isadora to re-reverse her alignment again. For her, the two have become close friends. Because she stays, she also learns that Sir Up plans a coup, that Sybilla sends her family to safety, and witnesses Sybilla and Nephila planning to create a new system of government and implement Nephila's proposed constitution. Because of all this, Helga trusts that Sybilla is a good monarch, and votes in favour of her in the following succession vote.

As the fight breaks out after announcing Sybilla as the new Queen, Helga immediately warns her of the chaos and Sir Up Ton. She also tells Nephila about the Hatebad weapons pile and its location, so that Nephila can send the common people of Tyle there to arm themselves. Then, she follows Isadora and Annie Wintersummer to get to Sybilla and defend her. Arriving at the office of the Prime Lord Wizard, Helga manages to heal Sybilla, thus saving her, while Annie and Isadora deal with Sir Up Ton.

During Sybilla's coronation after the fighty as she is approached by the Prime Lord Wizard, she calls for Helga to be by her side. While Helga tries her best, though, she cannot save Sybilla from Loroy, because he steals her soul immediately after killing her, making it impossible to cast *Revivify* on Sybilla. Helga is the one holding the dead body of the new Queen.

Around the same time, Penny Lovejoy, her bodyguard Yondo, and Isadora visit the high security prison in Tyle to implement one of Sybilla's first decrees by freeing Gem Lovejoy. As they leave the prison, Gem is killed by the Hatebad family standing on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. Penny recognises Beryl Hatebad. Additionally, the contract Penny made Sybilla sign is still valid, so Glaceria becomes an independent nation.

## Trivia

* Sam has written a page and a half of description for Helga.
* Helga has an interest in architecture and looks for inspiration for the Hatebad buildings in the Ember Keep.
* She is not good at reading, and doesn't read much.
* A goal of both Sam and Helga is for Helga to armwrestle Isadora at one point.
* Helga does not use her middle name often, so saying "Helga Gratz Hatebad sent me" is enough to get through Hatebad security.