*The story of Helseuri*
I knew what I had to do. Something of this great consequence must be brought to the Lord and Lady of the isle themselves, and no other.
I tried to think of how to tell them this awful news as I walked the path to the fortress, and I had no plan on how to as I saw them standing before me.
Lady Serenity saw me first, and I saw her eyes open wide as she said to me
"Lady Tully, what on earth has happened to you? Your hair.... Why, it is as white as the snow in December!"
I looked down and saw for the first time what had happened. I had been that frightened. I had gone into the woods with hair as black as ebon and emerged with that which you see now.
I looked up, and saw the worry in their eyes, and the whole story spilled from my mouth in a rush, The tears coming again as I spoke of what it had said.
They listened intently, in silence, and I saw the storm of emotions on their faces. When I had finished, they exchanged a glance then Lord Malakh said to me "I have never heard of this goddess Helseuri, we must go at once to consult the drow Palmina"
I shuddered at the thought of having to talk to that nasty drow, but compared to the thing in the forest, it would be a pleasure.
When Palmina heard the name Helseuri, her eyes narrowed and she hissed. When she had heard the rest of the story, she took a deep breath and said "Helseuri is one of the ancient Forgotten Ones.
She became a goddess when her life was taken by a pit of vicious snakes. She had been exploring the wood as it is told, playing her flute and laughing up into the treetops at the birds following her and her music.
In her distraction, she fell into the pit and was immediately strangled by their coils and killed. Before she could be swallowed whole however, a centaur who had been enchanted with her music unbeknowest to her threw a looped rope down and pulled her up by her neck, her lifeless arms and legs bumping off the edges of the den.
He took her to a circle of stones near the forest edge where he laid her down and a single tear rolled off his cheek as he said 'fair maiden, the woods will have thee for eternity now' and slowly walked away to let the forest claim her."
"The forest did indeed claim her.Little did the centaur know the whole thing had been watched by none other than Jothop, the god of the darkwood. he saw her beauty and took her, cast a spell upon her to make her body come to life, then took her for His own.
Deep in the forest, where no eyes ever saw, he did horrible things to her, made her his play thing. She never fought him, for powerful magic held her senses. But one night he made a fatal mistake.
He had taken a snake from the woods, which happened to be the very one who had squeezed the life from her. As he used it to torment her in ways that are not told, the snake got infuriated and bit her.
Her eyes cleared at the pain, and unseen within her mouth fangs burst forth.. beneath her skin her muscles strengthened and lengthened, and with a small smile she reached out and drew him to her. He thought it was a moment of passion and let it be.
Her grip strengthened, tightened, and by the time he realized what was happening it was too late. Her teeth sunk into his shoulder, and she fed. Drank the blood of a god and in doing so became one. When she was finished, his body was that of a mortal, broken and drained. Only such circumstances leading to that moment could have accomplished that."
"So she embraced that which had killed her in another life, forgiven for bringing her back. She became the queen of the serpents. This is the story of Helseuri"
Palmina sat back and looked at us, then said
"Only one thing will save us. That which gave her such joy once will not be forgotten"
We looked at her puzzled at first, then all at once, we saw. We saw what we had to do.
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