Background
"Everything we know is wrong..." ~Hellina
"Its a pretty big world." ~ Hellina
Originally from a small village in Paraton, Hellina is a cleric trained by the United Clergy of Orun. She left home at the age of 10 to join the Clergy and have a better life. Brought up in a chaste environment, she experienced little of the outside world or teachings beyond those of the church until she was brought to Alivast as part of an envoy seeking a rogue member of the United Clergy of Orun.
By her own account, she was handpicked by Viantius Apastrophi and Ragis Cade from a group of thirty female clerics based on her appearance alone, as a means of entrancing others to join the United Clergy whilst on their mission to apprehend Solliandris.
After the envoy group encountered The Unexpectables and the meeting turned violent, Hellina was burned and injured by Panic Grimtongue. She was taken to be healed afterwards by the guards, but when the United Clergy of Orun arrived to collect Hellina and leave Alivast, she fled and hid in the Lower Crafting District of the city. Living in alleyways and evading capture for several days, Hellina was found by The Unexpectables, who were able to peacefully apprehend her. After some questioning, the group took her to The Sweet Dragon to feed and care for her and contacted the guards. Hellina appeared heavily conflicted regarding what she saw in Alivast and what she was taught by the United Clergy of Orun. After some consideration, she was allowed to stay in Alivast by accepting to work for the city guard under Doros. She currently lives at the Orun Temple in the Lower Clergy District.
Through a chance meeting with the gnoll musician Xarv, Hellina was invited to join the Musical Menagerie where she practices singing under the stage name "Glossolalia."
Hellina has recently begun taking part-time jobs around the city alongside her position in the city guard.
A large burn scar covers the left side of Hellina's face even after she was healed. Despite the injury, she appears to be quite beautiful.
Personality
Hellina was raised to be a simple minded follower of the United Clergy of Orun and taught that their leaders were infallible and would always protect her and have her best interests in mind. That all changed when she was gravely wounded by Panic and her leaders failed to stop it. This experience left her previously unchallenged world view in tatters.
Originally following her injury, she was fairly withdrawn as she dealt with the internal conflict between her upbringing and her new experiences in Alivast. She struggled with her self-image since her scarring, and having a crisis of faith regarding many of the United Clergy of Orun's teachings appearing to be exaggerations of the truth or outright falsehoods. As she has grown in self-confidence and finding her own identity she has shown that she is a very polite and thoughtful person even when dealing with people that some consider terrifying. She has been making new friends that have been helping her work through this uncertain time. Notably Doros, Xarv, and especially a guardsman named Cole. She has also been helped by the local (non-UCoO) temple of Orun.
Even without the ethical questions she deals with, Hellina still appears to be socially awkward and introverted, displaying trouble understanding slang or other informal situations and is surprisingly naive sometimes.
Relationships
Hellina fan art by @Boo_Rad13y
The United Clergy of Orun
"I was chosen. I thought I was so lucky..." ~Hellina
Hellina served the United Clergy of Orun, showing great respect and awe for individuals such as Viantius, Ragis Cade, and Diella. Recent events however shook her faith in the United Clergy of Orun due to the distant and aloof nature of her superiors and the apparent happiness of the people of Alivast despite the unsavory view Viantius took of the city. Hellina was also distressed by the way Viantius and Ragis silenced Diella every time she tried to speak and would disregard her own questions and concerns.
Hellina's indoctrination to the UCoO's narrow teachings led her to believe that her beneficial magic would not work on races such as tieflings, drow, or kobolds. Hellina is deeply conflicted about the clergy and her status as a former member, lamenting how the people who raised her are likely terrible monsters and expressing confusion about being happy with where her life has taken her.
Panic Grimtongue
"I forgive you and I hope you can forgive me." ~Panic Grimtongue to Hellina
When chasing the Unexpectables, Panic badly burned Hellina after she attacked him. When the party found her again she fled in terror. Panic managed to chase her down and calm her long enough to take her to The Sweet Dragon. Panic spoke with her at length and gave her some degree of comfort while Hellina dealt with her inner turmoil and fear. He expertly sang for her a song called "The Light That Cascades the Peaks" which she greatly enjoyed. Even though it was a well-known song for Orun worshipers, she had never heard it before because her sect did not sing songs. Panic showed her an abundance of compassion and ultimately extended forgiveness and asked her to forgive him for scarring her. The two shared a hug and Hellina asked how it could be so warm.
Hellina waited in line for hours to get a signed poster of the popular gnoll musician, Xarv. A very shy Hellina later summoned up the courage to give Panic the poster which he promptly sold to Scarbles for 7 gold pieces. Panic later gives Hellina a ticket to the Romansion spa after apologizing again for maiming her. Hellina had a wonderful time at the Romansion and payed the kindness back by introducing Panic to the Musical Menagerie. There, Panic met many musicians such as Xarv, Scratch, and Desirée, the latter of whom had information about Panic's mother.
Out of desire to revisit the Romansion, Hellina began taking part time work to save up for a second ticket. This goal led to her taking a job as a server at the ball held to welcome The Silver King. While working, Borky embarrassed her by wiping his mouth on her sleeve, causing her to retreat from the ballroom in a huff. After returning Borky took her tray of drinks from her despite her protests which allowed Panic to offer her a dance. She accepted, albeit hesitantly, and opened up about how she was slated for an arranged marriage prior to her desertion of the clergy and her mixed feelings about how she now has a choice in how her life plays out, and how much having choices scares her. Panic encouraged Hellina to make the most of the freedom she's found.
Doros
Doros got Hellina ice cream after her emotionally explosive mission in the Sewers with Tiengo and the Unexpectables. Fan art by @hargoliphstudio
Hellina has worked for Doros for several weeks and still does not know what he is because she had no knowledge of Goliaths prior to coming to Alivast. She is also too embarrassed to ask because it has been so long and nobody has told her. Doros and Welch got her ice cream after her mission in the sewers.
Tiengo
Tiengo took a liking to Hellina because of her beauty, but also because of her scar. During their time on the mission in the sewers he flirted with her in a clumsy fashion culminating with a blunt and crude proposition for sex. The normally demure Hellina exploded in a tirade of anger, frustration, and grief as she rejected him and expressed how her entire worldview and sense of identity had been destroyed with her experience in Alivast and being disfigured by Panic's magic. Tiengo retreated from the scene making Hellina one of the only living people to rebuke the Red Death and survive.
Hellina later felt terrible about her treatment of Tiengo and in a hilarious display of her sheltered and viewpoint, she gave him a trashy romance novel about tieflings called "Forbidden Horns" as a token of apology. Oddly enough Tiengo not only accepted, but also read with interest.
Xarv and the Musical Menagerie
Hellina ran into Xarv at one of his concerts and quickly became a fan of his. As the two interacted and struck up a friendship, Xarv decided to invite her to the Musical Menagerie. As the United Clergy of Orun did not practice music, it took her a while to find her footing in the new environment. She practices singing there under the pseudonym "Glossolalia," the name of a phenomena where the religiously moved start speaking in unknown tongues; the closest thing to music her clergy allowed. Xarv believes Glossolalia is making excellent progress and encouraged her to perform for The Unexpectables during their visit.
Solly
Solly and Hellina met while she was waiting tables at the Silver King's ball. Hellina asked Solly if Viantius and Ragis Cade were really the monstrous individuals she was told they are. Solly confirmed these testimonies. The two seem to have interacted little since the ball.
Cole
A guard with Stendin's squad who as been helping Hellina work through some of her developing thoughts on her new environment.
Leonel
Hellina was Leonel's Cleric. He was slated to marry her and presumably sire children, as all UCO clerics and Paladins do. What depths of their relationship was is unknown, but it's clear Hellina eventually came to the realization she did not want to be married, at least right away. Leonel assumes that Hellina needs him and will welcome their reunification.
Trivia
- The song Panic played for her is alternatively known as "Sunrise over the Cascade Peak"
- Much to Doros' dismay, Hellina has learned some dirty words due to Welch's potty mouth.
- Hellina saw Xarv performing at the Twelve Dwarves Tankard which apparently has a basement performance area. She noted that she could easily see over most of the crowd.
- Hellina is a pure cinnamon roll that feels uncomfortable seeing men's bare chests outside the confines of marriage.
- Hellina was unaware her escorts and bedroom at the Romansion were meant for sexual pleasure, instead gleefully enjoying their company and taking a well-deserved nap.
- Hellina was originally intended to be a simple one-off character with only the most basic backstory, but when she was knocked out by the Panic, MontyGlu felt that it was impossible to leave her in the dirt unmoved by the experience, and she had to have Hellina go through an amazing moment of character development. So, in a single instance, she became an incredibly complex character.
- Hellina was raised in the same temple as Honoré, Evelina, and Maria
- Hellina was supposed to play at the Romansion lounge with Xarv, Scratch, and Sage, but apparently she got cold feet "when she saw who was in the audience". It is unclear who's presence gave her pause.