Hel, Caretaker of The Dead
“Queen of the Forgotten, Lady of the Underworld, Tender of Old Wounds, Guardian of the Dead, Lady of Mercy, Death's Close Sister”
Some say her realm lies beneath the roots of The World Tree. Others claim her realm lies upon the furthest flung branches of the Tree of Life. But, no matter it's location this is a place of quiet solitude and rest; separated from the worries of the other realms it is amidst this forgotten land of healing mist where she made her hall, not only for herself but the forgotten souls of both God and Man. In her Mercy and kindness Hel takes upon herself; into her care, the forgotten, the ailing, the starving and the ragged who could not find their way into the Halls of other Gods nor their ancestors. Those who lack any great deeds or notable lives of their own. Those who did not die in battle or of heroic deed, those who did not die of some grand sacrifice of their own for the betterment of their kin but instead died under the crushing weight of misfortune. Those who perished to the unfortunate circumstance of famine or disease, old age and obscurity, those who knew only the hardship that was their lot in life. Those whose only prize in life was all the wounds seen and unseen which was often their only reward, that which only the forgotten might know.
Hel herself tends to these wounds that weigh upon these unfortunate souls, so that they might one day tend to others in turn.
Ghosts, we all know they haunt the mournful and lonely forests, fields, the remains of buildings and graveyards alike, but where do they go when they finally pass from this realm to finally be forgot in the mist of time?
Hel, once every century or two, sometimes longer... sometimes less, travels to the mortal realm of Midgard herself. Some say she travels astride a three legged horse, others say she goes by foot in search for her lover, a mortal man, the greatest hero of all they say though he is eternally overlooked, forgot, missed and unrecognized for his feats of courage and sacrifice; he who lost his life in a fire saving the helpless, or in the forest looking for the lost child, he who drowned in the river pulled down by sucking mud as he rescues the fawn, this is who she loves more than any other in all of the realms. And so when he must reincarnate, when by the very function of life he must leave her side, she searches for him wandering the world in search of her lover so that he might return home. It is during these travels that she discovers these lost ghosts of man inviting them, blighted as they are from suffering to her home, Helheim. Her hall of rest and healing.
During her journeys she encounters the many ghosts of the old, the infirm, the young and tragic who are lost and wandering the land of the living, instead offering them a place to heal their accumulated wounds of heart. She is their guardian, and their salvation. These forgotten dead. Offering them kindness denied in life so that they may heal and rise to live once again with their burdens lifted and the pain of previous sorrow forgot.
She is so beloved by these mortal souls, that they who were otherwise doomed to wander the world as lost souls. It is they who willing rally to her side to fight THE VERY GODS THEMSELVES! ...should she but ask.