The Curse of Von Hellmann · I. Rebellion and the Undead Army

South of Rune lies Forest of the Dead — a swamp where zombies, ghosts, and vampires roam among the twisted tree trunks, and pale Moon-Faced Flowers bloom in the moonlight over the graves. Players know this place as the lair of a raid boss. Eilhalder von HellmannBut hidden behind the undead and fog is one of Aden's most bitter stories—the story of a proud house betrayed twice: first by darkness, then by its own king. It was unearthed by a nameless seeker, called one night by a restless ghost from beneath a mossy tombstone.

Two Silver Peaks

The ghost gave his name Duke Adolf von Hellmann and couldn't understand why he no longer felt the king's favor and what had become of his land. This land had once been the honor and support of the kingdom. elmoreThe House of von Hellmann was a guardian family: the king himself Astaire Van Halter granted to the Duke Silver Peak — the highest military regalia. An old saying went:

"The Gem Scepter for the mighty King of Elmore, and the two Silver Peaks for those who protect him."

gravestone inscription (#021)

A scepter for the king, two pikes for his shields. The von Hellmanns were those shields. But the old duke's son, Lord Alfred von HellmannHe bore his honor with difficulty: royal power over Rune had long been hanging by a thread, the throne was weak, and Alfred, in the words of his old friend, only wanted to "spur on the weakling king"—nothing more. He never even considered treason. Until he encountered a sorcerer in the forest.

Mystic Neidrahu and the Shadow of Beleth

Dark Mage Neidrahu (in the daughter's diary - Nidrah) introduced himself as "messenger" and spoke to the lord in such a way that he forgot all about caution. The report, later recovered from the cache, spares no words:

"No one knows how deeply Neidrahu's magic entangled Alfred von Hellmann, for his eloquence rivaled sorcery. And Alfred wasn't the only one lured by his speeches—Neidrahu called himself an envoy and personally gathered supporters for the rebellion."

Neidrahu Report (#022)

The magician preached the power of the dark arts and boasted that his strength was equal to that of the demon himself. Beleth, the Black Mage who cast spells in the wastelands of Gludio (see L-millennium-love). Many doubted—and yet they believed. The son of a lord, Eilhalder, sided with the rebellion, convinced that the house's duty was to defend the land of Rune, not the royal family. The house plunged into ruin.

Friend of the Lord, High Priest Innocent, sensed trouble and hired a treasure hunter to find out what was going on with Alfred. It ended badly: the informers accused the lord himself of devil worship, and Innocentin was found guilty of concealment and was exiled to the library. The collected evidence was thrown into an abandoned well, where the ghost of the vanished hunter still haunts the night.

Scaffold

And then disaster struck - before the magician had time to complete his spell.

"Before his army was ready, the king learned of House Hellmann's treason. Enraged, without consulting anyone, the king launched a punitive force against Hellmann Forest."

Neidrahu Report (#022)

The house's supporters fought bravely, but disorganized—and were doomed. Vassals were beheaded or thrown into prison. And Lord Alfred, as the head of the house, suffered the worst: standing and watching as his vassals, and then his family, were tortured and beheaded, before ascending the scaffold himself. The proud guardian house was slaughtered in the square of Rune Castle.

Rise of the Dead

But at sunset, when the royal army was counting the captured treasures of the Hellmanns, the magic of Neidrahu finally awakened:

"A vast army of undead poured into the castle! These were the souls of executed vassals, led by Alfred's children—Lydia and Eilhalder von Hellmann! And all under the rule of Neidrahu."

Neidrahu Report (#022)

The same thing happened as in the war with Beleth: those killed by the undead immediately rose and joined the army of Lydia, and the senior vassals of the house turned vampiresThe executed family rose dead - and Lydia von Hellmann has become Mistress of the Forest of the DeadHere, Innocentin stumbled upon a riddle: if Lydia had been resurrected, then why had she become the mistress of the forest, and not Lord Alfred himself? The answer lay deeper than anyone had dared to peer.

Truth: Triol and the Stolen Army of Shilen

The truth was revealed by the culprit himself - a dark magician who now calls himself simply the "Mysterious Sorcerer" (hardin) and hardly hides that he is Neidrahu. He was not the master, but the tool of the demon named Triol:

"Triol wanted to help House Hellmann. If Hellmann had become king, a war would have broken out between Aden and Elmore, and we would both have profited. The plan fell apart when the royal army invaded the forest and slaughtered the house."

Hardin/Nidrah (#025)

And then comes the darkest part. There weren't enough dead to raise an army, and the mage opened the door to the other world and stole the army of Shilen — the very same abyss of the goddess of death that we know from the Seals (see Chapter VII). While he was casting his spell, the distraught Lydia carried off the body of her servant. RoseThe magician called Triol, and Triol has already made Lydia the Mistress of the Forest of the Dead.

Two Lydias

But Neidrahu did not stop at necromancy - he put it over the unfortunate girl experience:

"I split her personality into two bodies, thinking the stronger would devour the weaker. Things turned out a bit differently, however. The Mistress still rules the forest with magic."

Hardin/Nidrah (#025)

Thus were born two Lydias. One was immortal. Mistress, which holds the entire Forest of the Dead in its cold will. The other is quiet maid, the real Lydia, who comes out only at night and still remembers who she was; the one whose decaying diary and suicide note tear at the heart (see L5-von-hellmann-lidia). The strong did not devour the weak—they drifted apart and lost each other, both trapped in the dead forest.

Rose and flowers on the grave

In the midst of all this horror there is one pure name - Rose, a servant who was Lydia's age and friend. She lost her only brother in the previous war, and then gave her life in the Hellmann massacre. Now she lies under a simple tombstone in the forest, and the old servant of the house Dorian every day he puts a flower next to him on the way to the castle:

"Here lies Rose, a faithful and loving servant. May she rest in peace."

Rose's tombstone (#024)

Around her grave, the Moon-Faced Flowers bloom most brilliantly in the forest. Apparently, she was killed by one of those hiding behind the light.

False Priests and the Sorrow of Innocentin

For the "priests" Einhasad in the Rune temple - Agripel, Benedict, Dominic — turned out not to be servants of the goddess of light at all. They secretly worshiped Triol, guarded his protective totems, and, according to Nidrah, were "the ringleaders behind each of the tragedies." It was they who slandered Alfred and the true priests; it was their "Silver Spires" who retroactively sanctified the lie.

And you Innocent — the only one who sought the truth to the end, not for power, but for the memory of a friend—paid dearly for it. For the sake of investigation, he resorted to necromancy, and after that, he confesses, "the realm of the gods is closed to me." The exiled priest, deprived of heaven, nevertheless achieved his goal: he proved that Alfred's death was not in vain, and with bitter tenderness, he identified the hairpin with the Moon-Faced Flower—

"So this is Lydia's hairpin! Now I remember – she wore it in her hair... How beautiful she was then."

Innocentin (#023)

Choosing

Thus the full truth of the Forest of the Dead was revealed. The Guardian House fell not from a single blow, but from a chain of betrayals: the dark mage Neidrahu betrayed the lord, the demon Triol betrayed the mage, the king betrayed the faithful, the false priests betrayed their god. Some call Lydia's rebellious army a "revolutionary army." Sunset" - and this is no coincidence: the same door to the other world, the same army of Shilen, the same eternal strife between Dawn and Dusk smolders under the roots of this forest (see Chapter VII).

That is why the dark magician leaves the last word not for himself, but for the one who has gone through this entire sorrowful path:

"Justice alone doesn't solve everything. What matters is the will to live. Whether you fight for them or against them—one day, you may have to make that choice."

Hardin/Nidrah (#025)

And the seeker, who laid the old duke's ghost to rest and restored the house's honor, departs the Forest of the Dead with this choice on his shoulders. And Lydia—both Lydias—remain in the darkness of their castle: one ruling over the dead, the other awaiting her hairpin. And above the grave of the faithful Rose, the pale flowers still bloom in the moonlight, revealing their faces only to those they love.