Twenty-two years ago, in the sleepy Taldan village of Heldren, halfling twins, a boy and a girl, were born. Celebrated by many in the hamlet as a divine miracle, Hans, a local woodcutter’s assistant, and Christina, a server at the Silver Stoat inn, relished the joys of parenthood. As the twins, Honsul and Gritil grew, they became a unit – spending days exploring with their father in the woods surrounding Heldren, and nights with their mother helping to cook and clean at the Silver Stoat. Perhaps the other residents of Heldren found the twins’ inseparable bond a little odd, but none could deny the love and connection that the Andersen twins shared. In particular, the more astute observer might notice that Gritil seemed more kind-hearted and protective while her brother appeared the more dominant and sociable.
During the twins’ 13th summer, strange happenings began to occur in and around Heldren - a few supplies and animals had gone missing and the old butcher swears there were a couple of days he has no memory of (“the dangers of alcohol”, Christina Andersen would warn her children). As Honsul and Gritil headed out for their daily adventure in the woods, their father, half-jokingly, reminded the twins to stick together. A couple hours into galivanting, the twins came across a frail old woman gathering herbs.
“Oh, my dearies, I thought I sme…” The old crone paused briefly before continuing, “I thought I sensed some children heading my way. I hate to be a bother but can you sweet children help me take these back to my cottage.”
Before Honsul could object, Gritil had readily volunteered their services. As the twins arrived inside the cottage, they immediately smelled the stew that was brewing in a large cauldron in the center of the home. After setting the herbs on a rickety wooden shelf, Honsul heard a thump as Gritil’s unconscious body hit the floor. Honsul only barely processed what had happened before the old woman, moving unnervingly quickly, scooped up Gritil’s body and tossed her into the cauldron. Immediately blinding light and anguish overwhelmed Honsul’s mind and charged the space around him - the last thing Honsul noticed before losing consciousness himself was a figure stepping out of the light and engulfing him.
It has been almost a decade since the unconscious body of Honsul Andersen was carried into town by the ghostly presence of Gritil Andersen, and almost a decade since the village of Heldren gained its first and only incorporeal inhabitant. Upon investigation of the cottage, the village, led by the local wise woman, discovered that the twins had happened across the lair of a green hag that had recently taken residence in the woods. To the best of the wise woman’s ability, she divined that so pure and true was the bond between Honsul and Gritil that the gods intervened to keep the twins together during their arcane assualt – binding her spirit to Honsul. Recalling the blinding light and overwhelming sensation, Honsul (and by extension Gritil) began to believe that perhaps Sarenrae herself had intervened and “saved” them from the green hag. Over the past decade, Honsul and Gritil have become stewards of the Inheritor’s light and miracles in Heldran sharing space with the worship of Erastil in the village temple. Furthermore, the twins, forever an inseparable unit, have continued to explore the woods and continued to help their mother at the Silver Stoat – life goes on.
