Hela

Priestess of the Winterblood

**Hela**, is the former priestess of the Nightrunners until her group was massacred by the Winterblood. In a decision of fight or flight, Hela was taken by the chieftain of the clan and made his wife.

## Appearance and Characteristics

An unconventional beauty of a woman, Hela boasts a thick mane of hair riddled with dreadlocks and locked with spoils of raids. Gold decorates the tips of the locks and an orchestra of bells announces the woman’s arrival. A black eye is as dark as a moonless night, the other covered by leather. She reaches only 5’3” in height and boasts a nonthreatening demeanor, but very few l*iving* things know of this fiery little priestess'  prowess. With the loss of her eye, her sense of smell had grew. Learning how to track from one of Doregg's clanmen, she has slowly started becoming one of the clan's best trackers.

Hela wears clothing fit for the winter's kiss but nice enough to be worn by the chieftain's wife. A necklace of bones hangs from her neck and wrist, the unlucky fate for some animals. A gift from her husband, a thick bearskin cloak, is usually seen around her shoulders.

Her closest companion (other than her husband) is an owl that her husband had gifted her upon their marriage. She named the avian Sigur.

## History

Born in 371 to Eryk, a Night’s Watchman and a Mole’s Town whore named Alyssa, Hela’s *given* name was Sansa, after her mother’s love for the stories of the she-wolf. Normally, the women would either give birth or the child would die in the womb, but Alyssa had other plans for her and her daughter. Foolishly, she had made her way to the Castle Black and *demanded* to see Eryk, for he should have to help take care of the child that Alyssa bore him. Eryk was *enraged*, a *whore* telling him what to do? Instead of giving into the harlot’s wishes, he, as well as a few brothers, took Alyssa and Sansa in the dead of night and dragged her over to the other side of the wall, so that she may not cause any more disturbances in Castle Black.

Left to die, Alyssa carried Sansa through the harsh cold until her feet could no longer support the two: Alyssa fell ill from the winter’s wrath. Luckily, a wildling woman by the name of Val had spotted the tracks in the snow and followed them to Alyssa’s dying body. Val, to Alyssa, was nothing more than a one-eyed Wildling woman, come to kill her and her daughter. But she was too weak to fight, and  the Winter was not sympathetic with the Northern woman for soon she had passed. But Hela still lived, wrapped tightly in the furs of Val. Val, a priestess and ear to the Gods, was never able to have children- be it lack of companion or genetic. A motherly instinct was brought out in her, which resulted in Val taking the child. Instead of a Northern name, which Sansa would be ashamed of if she lived past infancy, Val gave her the name ‘Hela’, a strong and fearful name among the wildlings.

From a young age, Val had instilled the beliefs of her and her group of men and women who followed Val’s teachings into Hela. These men and women were from all over, different tribes, different locations, but came together under the teachings of Val. Not only was Val an ear to the Gods, she practiced blood-letting (tasting, drinking, bathing) and blood rituals to please the Gods and to tell the future of whoever was mad enough to ask for it. When Hela was beginning her teenage years, Val had heard whispers from the Gods that it was her turn to lead. In Val’s tribe, the seer would only need one eye, one for the men on this plane, and one for the gods in the next. In a ceremony, Val blinded Hela, taking her eyesight in her right eye. It was not a shock for the young girl, for the only shrieks that came from her mouth were the ones of the pain. A cloth was wrapped over the part of her face, shielding the others from the ghastly sight beneath. While it was ugly, it is also a sign that the woman was a seer. From then her training began.

As she progressed, Val had taught Hela about the Old Gods, and what they expected of her. Blood-letting came first and Val gifted the young girl with a ceremonial dagger, which doubled as protection if she would ever need it. The Gods had granted Hela the ‘Sight’, meaning if she had drank the blood of a person, she would know what happens to them next.  She believed it fervently, but it was up to debate if it was true.

After Val has passed from old age, it was Hela’s turn to rule as the high priestess of the group Nightrunners. Confirmed by the ceremony, a night of dancing, chanting and praying to the Gods, as well as sacrificing for Hela’s long reign over the clan. At the end of the night, the men and women of her group cut the skin underneath their eyes and let the blood run down their cheeks, resembling the Weirwood and the Old Gods that they worshipped.

A year came and went without any issues. That is, until the Winterblood came upon the encampment that Hela lived in. All of her family, her followers, her *friends* were killed. The one-eyed had fled when the huts began to burn, but one particularly broad man had grabbed her by the hair. It was either fight or die, for she would not let this one take her hostage. At the very end of the skirmish, Hela was roughed up and bloody, but the man fell like the way he fought: hard.

He was not the only hunter that day, for another giant had set his eyes on the young woman. She tried to run, but the man reacted quicker and she was casually tossed over his shoulder and taken away from the life she knew.

The next few moons proved difficult for Hela. Forced to wed the Giantborn, who she found out was the chieftain of the clan that massacred her home. Hela grew reclusive and hostile. Anger changed to acceptance, knowing there was no chance of her surviving on her own. She accepted the gifts of a bearskin cloak and an owl from the Giantborn, though it did take time to adjust to the married life. With him, she had four children and soon developed a love for her giant.

## Recent Events

As her husband's closest adviser, Hela has geared up to leave for Hardhome.

## Family

**Mother:** Alyssa - *Deceased*

**Father: Arryk** - Maybe dead?

**Foster Mother**: Val - *Deceased*

**Husband**: Doregg

**Children:** Tormund, Styr, Yvette, Ragnur