High Helessa, Queen of Love
Lady Helessa Oishlog
The third daughter, fourth and final child of Princess Bialle Beth, her only with Ruhan Capall.
The Tragedy of High Helessa is known even outside of Revellia, told and retold more than most any other love story. Hostesses are fond of saying Helessa was conceived in sin, and thus condemned to it, but most are far more sympathetic.
Princess Bialle Beth married Lord Ruhan Capall shortly after her return to Revelback, and a mere fortnight after Ruhan had inherited his estate from his late father, who had choked on a cherry pit. Princess Bialle was ambitious, but made no secret of this. She was twice widowed to two middling lords and had three children from those two marriages. Capall was a well respected clan at Revelback, and even Lord Ruhan understood Bialle's intentions. He was but six-and-ten, the princess just over ten years his elder, yet she was renowned for her beauty, and it must be said she was pleased with him as well. Their child was said to have been made with great enthusiasm. Princess Bialle would suffer several miscarriages after this. No great harm was done to her health, but they never had another child despite their fondness for one another.
Helessa was well treated at Revelback, being a princess' daughter. Beseda, her eldest half-sister, was kind and even warm at times, but they nearly a decade apart in age. Her other half-sister, Vera, was only a few years older, but considered a distant child that had trouble connecting with others. Her half-brother Beran was older and filled with thoughts of knighthood, scarcely noticing her. So Helessa looked elsewhere for friendships, and found them easily. Both girls and boys her age were drawn to her. She was frequently allowed to pass out bread and pennies to peasant children, and sometimes played common games with them. She was allowed to learn spelling, and her instructors were so impressed as to expect her to become a speller herself one day. Queen Flaithe is said to have remarked much later in life, "What a shame she is not plainer, like me. What things the world would have allowed her to do."
Helessa was born into a new world. The Fall of Ainros came in her fourth year, and suddenly Clan Beth was the ruling family of all Revellia. Eastern culture was taking huge influences from the North, tellings of knights and courtly love were everywhere, and the Stock Wars provided an endless source for stories of bravery and daring sacrifice. Helessa was allowed to study magic, and she learned the spells of love and sacrifice upon the lute and even the harp. She was even allowed to visit taverns (with a guard of no fewer than four Mox Men) to play and study under common magicians.
Her world would be transformed before her tenth birthday, however. Her father, Lord Ruhan Capall, was discovered abed with her half-sister Beseda, who had only just entered majority. Beseda was rushed off to Dubraigh to be wed to a Luutar. Vera, who had had no role in this, was sent to Berleigh and betrothed to a Barkside. Lord Ruhan had his tongue torn out, then was gelded, dying of infection soon after.
It was not long after this that King Barthos died. Barthos' first son Barammos was already dead, slain in the Southern Rebellion, but Barammos' son Bennerog was alive and fighting in the Stock Wars to the north. Governance passed to the Mox Master, Lonnach Sorshan, who quickly show himself unequal to the task. Factions arose around King Barthos' widow Queen Dowager Eiyall and Prince Collium, Barthos' second son and next in line for the crown. Intrigues and backbiting followed for three years, and Helessa found herself inadvertently caught up in them.
Helessa was born with the dark red hair that many still associated with the legendary blood of Ainros, who had commingled with the Liddinawths from across the Golden Sea. Neither the Beths nor the Capalls boasted of Liddinawth blood, yet she bore the hair, and it was believed she would mature into an extraordinary beauty. For this reason, she became a tool of Prince Dorren Beth. Prince Dorren was King Barthos' youngest brother, and meant to end the infighting of the court with a violent takeover. Seeking allies all over, he sent spellers to the Green Isle, offering Helessa's hand to Lord Rookard Oishlog in exchange for his forces. Oishlog would ultimately refuse this, and Dorren's plans would be frustrated by the sudden death of King Bennerog whilst on campaign, delivering the crown to Collium, a more decisive ruler than Mox Master Lonnach Sorshan had been. Yet though it came to nothing, Helessa would long recall when her mother suddenly ordered her hair shorn six inches shorter without explanation. She would ever suspect her mother had sent the hair to Lord Rookard as proof of young Helessa's impending beauty.
Princess Bialle, naturally, denied any compliance with Prince Dorren's plots. Yet shortly after Collium's coronation, she left Revelback, taking Helessa with her. They moved to Ethelbrand, where Princess Bialle still retained a manse from her first marriage with Lord Marras Lemmen. Acrimony would frequently rise between Revellia and Ethel as the Stock Wars intensified, the Princess and young Helessa were never put in danger.
Quite the opposite, in fact. As Helessa grew older, word of her beauty spread farther. A jeweler, hoping to win her favor, showed her how to shape fine metals, and Helessa would seen take to forming roses and lilies out of fine gold. Nor was that jeweler the last. Merchants of all stripes, many influential and wealthy, came to request Helessa's hand for their sons and sometimes for themselves. Helessa found some of them charming, but in the Princess' mind it was unthinkable to wed her daughter to a mere merchant. Merchants were growing steadily more powerful in Ethel, but Bialle believed such power contemptible and fleeting. Her first two daughters had been tossed to unworthy men like meat to dogs, and she would not allow the same fate to befall her last child. She was offered apprenticeships by spellers, magicians, and in time even jewelers, but the Princess refused them all. Bialle had plans to wed Helessa to the son of Lord Hendal Morroth, an ancient Ethelite clan that was losing influence as Eysch culture grew in the region. Surely a beautiful maiden, scion of the ancient Beth blood and sporting the hair of the Liddinawths, would be a prize for such a clan.
Sadly, this plan never bore fruit. In Helessa's twenty-first year, King Collium died in his sleep, and his newest Mox Master was accused of poisoning him. Collium was Princess Bialle's twin brother, yet the two had never seemed close. All the same, the Princess returned with Helessa to the capital at once. The Mox Master was Golbran "the Goblin" Oishlog, first son (thought not the heir) of Lord Rookard Oishlog. Bialle vehemently supported the accusations against him. The new king, Collium's first son Dorreon, was moved by this, but his wife Queen Flaithe convinced him to speak privately with Oishlog (accompanied by guards, of course). The two spoke privily for two hours, and the King absolved Golbran of all guilt. Not only that, Dorreon soon after decreed that, in order to heal the wounds between Clan Beth and the Green isle, Golbron Oishlog would be wed to Helessa Capall.
Golbran Oishlog remained as Mox Master, making him the second most powerful man in Revellia, but his father had disinherited him, meaning his power was every bit as ephemeral as the merchants of Ethelbrand. Moreover, Golbran was a hideously deformed man: bunch-backed, bow-legged, short, and missing an eye from a hollymock fought on the Green Isle. More than once, Golbran was heard to jest in rude company that when he was born, the dogs came slobbering, mistaking him for their evening meal. That High Helessa, called Helessa of the Golden Flowers in Ethelbrand and the Queen of Love in Revelback, should be wasted on a man called "the Goblin," was more than Princess Bialle could bear. She raged and roared, spat venom, yet King Dorreon would not be moved. The two would wed.
Only once was Helessa opinion requested. "Could you imagine this," the Princess demanded, "that after merchant princes and gallant knights have begged for your hand, you are to be tossed out for this mongrel beast to devour?" Helessa replied only, "I wish to wed someone who will love me. He seems capable of that." "If nothing else," was the Princess' bitter answer. Helessa's views were not asked again.
It was another two moons before King Dorreon was officially crowned. He released his uncle Prince Dorren from the dungeons and set him against the Rathi in Ethel. Helessa's mother wished to return to Ethelbrand before her daughter's wedding, but she was forbidden due to escalating violence in the Rathlands, which lay between Revelback and Ethelbrand. Taking a ship was out of the question, as Ethelbrand's superior navy may well sink any ship of Revellian make. Thus was Helessa's mother forced to watch in bitter silence as her beautiful youngest child was wed to the Mox Master. The wedding was held by both a hostess and an aethir, as the people of the Green Isle were still Deinain worshippers.
Helessa and Golbran were ever kind and polite to one another, and oft observed to be friendly and perhaps even intimate in their affections. Yet none failed to notice that no child came of their union, and most were of the opinion that Helessa refused to let him touch her. These opinions were oft voiced loudly, and even in Golbran's hearing. He would smile and make a jest of this as often as not, though some just insults resulted subtle punishments, such as a minor loss of privileges for a lesser lord or extra duty for a stableboy. Yet still, nothing came of this.
Golbran Oishlog was said to have no close friends, but Helessa was loved by all, making them frequent confidants of the King and Queen. They were close in age. Helessa was only two years younger than the King. The Queen was fully nine years older than the King, though this had never impeded their love, and Golbran a scant year older than she. Norshan Graunt, then the Treasurer, was said to have noted that these two couples were uniquely suited to one another. The King and Helessa could relate fondly by their shared youth, the Queen and Golbran by their better years. The ladies and men could relate by their sex, and of course the couples themselves loved one another unequivocally. Later in life, when serving as Mox Master himself, Graunt would deny having said this.
In 944 RA, the Great Parley put an end to the Stock Wars. Dorreon returned from the negotiations along with his uncle Prince Dorren. Accompanying them was Sir Solan Morroth, the second son to Lord Hendal Morroth. Prince Dorren had captured the Rathlands of Ethel from Rathi rebels, but agreed to return the lands to the Etheli at the Great Parley. Sir Solan's family were purported to descend from the ancient Kings of Rath. Sir Solan was greatly moved by this gesture from Prince Dorren and King Dorreon, and wished to visit Revelback before returning to Ethelbrand. During his visit, he charmed the Queen and Helessa greatly, as well as Princess Bialle. When the Princess again voiced her desire to return to her manse in Ethelbrand less than a year later, Sir Solan offered to escort her there. He would return to Revelback in 946 RA, and remain until the Autumn of 948 RA.
This time from 944 Ra to 948 RA is oft called the Years of Golden Roses. The King and Queen were beloved by all, and though the commons never trusted Golbron Oishlog, his wife was loved dearly, and some of that admiration reflected on him as well. Ethel ships brought Northern customs and foods with them. King Dorreon acted on his desires to connect Revellia with the rest of the world, and magicians were allowed into court functions again, spellers became more regulated, and delicacies and rarities from Eysland, Samaya, and Vaina finally began to trickle into Aerwoth and to Revelback. Sir Talanar Han'dylth even chartered a ship east to Liddinawth, returning with a small retinue of his distant cousins who wished to see this strange land he had come to call home. The King and Queen's first son would later become betrothed to one of these dignitaries.
These joys fell away in the Summer of 948 RA. Sir Solan Morroth received word that his elder brother had died at sea, making Solan the new heir to Clan Morroth. He must return home shortly to assume his responsibilities. Lady Helessa was seen to weep at this, as were many ladies of the court. Despite his ancient Rathi blood, Sir Solan was tall with the gilt hair of the Eysch, and had turned many a head during his time at court. Nobles, including Norshan Graunt, would note a strange tension amongst the royal couple as well as Lady Helessa and Golbron Oishlog after this time. Roosan Tallmun, then Chief of Ships, would later insist that nothing appeared strange, and anyone who suggested so merely wished to seem wiser than they were.
A feast was thrown on Sir Solan's last night at Revelback. Sir Solan had overextended himself earlier that day hunting in the Boarswood, saying no such fine game was to be found around Ethelbrand. He offered a great toast thanking his fine hosts, then excused himself early. It was not long after this that Lady Helessa left the table as well, pleading illness. These facts are well known. However, some will insist that Golbran Oishlog soon after departed as well, with neither a pardon nor word to anyone. Others will say he remained until tragedy struck.
What is known is that, not an hour later, a great cry was heard from within the castle. Half the knights at the feast took up arms at once and searched the castle, while the rest remained to protect the King and Queen. It was Sir Talanar Han'dylth himself who found Lady Helessa's bedchamber locked, the sound of hoarse weeping on the other side. Sir Talanar was of the blood of Liddinawth and enjoyed a spotless reputation, and so his words may be taken as fact. Sir Talanar called twice into the room, asking Lady Helessa if she were well. He then heard sounds of a scuffle, along with grunting or growling. His sword drawn, Sir Talanar kicked down the door.
Sir Talanar found Golbran Oishlog and Sir Solan standing not ten feet before him. Sir Solan was upon his knees, weeping and near retching, while Golbran Oishlog stood staring with the look of the newly dead. Neither of them was looking at Lady Helessa, who lay on the floor with a blood red blossom upon her breast. Lastly, Sir Talanar noted the knife that had likely been thrown into the corner where it sat.
Sir Talanar demanded that both men submit themselves to surrender. Sir Solan declared, through sobs, that the Goblin had slain the Queen of Love. He repeated this several times, even as the guards arrived and took the two men into custody. Oishlog was silent.
The feast was rapidly cleared away, and the two accused stood before the King and Queen. Sir Solan explained that he had grown to love Lady Helessa, and that for this he meant to leave Revelback, lest he be tempted into sin. As he was preparing for bed, Lady Helessa summoned him to her bedchamber, where she revealed that she loved him as well. They were speaking of their love, and how it could never be, and as they exchanged a single kiss by which they might remember one another, Golbran Oishlog burst in. Upon seeing them together, he drew his knife and murdered High Helessa. Golbran was unable to overpower Sir Solan, but the knight was so grief-stricken that he had been unable to disarm the man. When Sir Talanar called from without the door, Golbran tried to surprise Sir Solan with his knife, and only then was he able to knock it from the murderer's grip.
King Dorreon called the testimony damning and clear. It was the Queen who was not yet convinced. She called Sir Solan a stammerer, and demanded that the Mox Master explain himself. Remarkably, Golbran explained nothing. He only demanded that the matter be settled by hollymock. Matters of murder had not been settled by hollymock in over a century, yet Golbran argued passionately for his case, and for each precedent the Queen offered against it, he found two in favor. Only when the Queen was out of arguments did the King finally say, "Do you truly mean to try your might against Sir Solans, Golbran?" The Mox Master insisted that he did. Two swords of equal quality were found, and the customary six shields. Whosoever should break three shields first would be declared the innocent party.
From the start, it became immediately clear that Oishlog had no intention of breaking Sir Solan's shields. He fought to kill. Sir Solan, perhaps knowing that killing the man would not prove his innocence, or perhaps being more honorable, fought well and true. He broke all three of Golbran's shields without suffering a single break himself. The Queen attempted to interrogate Golbran further after this, but the King declared that the matter was closed. Sir Solan was exonerated and ordered to leave the castle by sunrise the next day. He did so.
Golbran Oishlog was held until Princess Bialle could return to see justice done. He was then tortured horribly, his tongue removed, and finally beheaded by King Dorreon himself. The head was given to Princess Bialle. What she may have done with it, none know.
High Helessa was buried in the royal crypts. Her golden flowers, of which she had made hundreds, were taken to the flower gardens of Ghessel, the most beautiful neighborhood of Revelback. Over time, these flowers were stolen by children, petty thieves, and enterprising pirates, and nowadays the few that remain are guarded by Mox Men. But for half a centuries, the golden flowers lay undisturbed for all to enjoy, the last legacy of High Helessa of the Golden Flowers, called the Queen of Love.
Social
Family Ties
Relationships
Conditions
Ethnicity
Life
4919
4948
29 years old
Circumstances of Death
Slain in the Tragedy of High Helessa
Birthplace
Revelback
Family
Spouses
Golbran Oishlog
(Husband)
Siblings
Beseda Luutar o Lemmen
(Half-Sister)
Beran Aerrin
(Half-Brother)
Children
Eyes
Bright Blue
Hair
Red ("as rubies")
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Ghast (peach)
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations