The man who stole the heart of the Witch of the Wood...and paid for it.

"Beware the ghost of Old Man Hale
He waits for those who share his blood,
To learn his craft and never fail
And gift them madness in a flood."
~ Isen Children's Rhyme

Ladies, Gentlemen. Thank you for coming. I am Colonel Priska Meindl, Gedachtungen, Kernholz Branch, and I am here to talk to you today about Onisim Hale. There are hundreds of stories about Hale, and somewhere within those well-woven words, perhaps there is a thread of truth to be found. Born in the city of Kernholz, Hale enlisted in the army, like many youth of that time, when he turned sixteen. It is assumed before this that Hale was trained to be a thief by the Copper Blade, but otherwise kept his head down and evaded notice by the authorities.

He completed the year of basic training and then proceeded to serve his four year term, as required by those who enlist. Then he chose not to continue his service and was discharged honourably. We know this to be true because we have both his enlistment papers and his discharge papers. We have no other records of his time in the service beyond these. We've checked. The only thing we found was a single piece of paper in his disciplinary folder that had the words 'Too Slow Boys.' written on it in Hale's handwriting.

I can understand that some of you may be skeptical already as to why you have been required to attend this briefing. I couldn't help but notice the lack of confusion on all your faces when I mentioned the man's name. Of course I didn't need to explain to any of you who Onisim Hale was. You've all heard the stories. Everyone does, eventually. I will get to the point soon enough, but this briefing is necessary to lay what information we have before you all in the proper order. This will ensure we are all on the same page.

At age 21, Hale returned to his life and for two years he was, once more, quiet and in the shadows. It is suspected that he was either receiving more training or becoming a full member of the Copper Blade during this time. He first came to the attention of the Rechtstungen when he stole a number of valuable antiquities from General Loufftarova during a small party the man was holding. As became the norm, Hale left his calling card, the letter H burned into a nearby surface, most likely by cantrip. For the next twenty years, he stole from the rich and the powerful, and it was no mistake that all of his targets were less than exemplary citizens.

He became a folk hero, a man that the people looked up to, and we believe assisted him in several close captures. Also at the time the Rechtstungen perhaps did not pursue him too diligently. His crimes did often uncover larger crimes and brought attention to certain "people" with whom the Gedachtungen were quite interested with. As all of you here know, monsters can often look human and not all of them howl at the city walls at night. Several vampires, a number of doppelgangers, and a large cult of the Day of the Eaten Sun were a few of his not quite so unintended victims. There are of course two stories which get told the most and they are the most important ones for what we are here to discuss. The first story involves the Witch of the Wood. Please turn to page 18 of your briefing packets.

by Pravikun

There are a number of tales of how Hale and the Witch met, but the most widely believed is the one backed up by our records. We know that to evade capture Hale left the city as the gates were being closed for the night and fled into the forest. He was not seen for many days but he returned to the city and back to his thefts. According to the tales he was found by the Witch and he charmed her. She protected him from the forest and according to some versions, especially those sung in taverns, they shared a bed and he stole her heart. The story continues that he kept up the romance for over a year, but during this time he met another woman, the one he would marry. The Witch, supposedly, was quite angry when she found out and all versions of the story say that she strode into the city bringing the forest with her and she struck Hale in the heart with a blackthorn and cursed him.

"Callous thief, you should not have stolen from me what you did. By your own actions shall you be forever damned. May your talents, piece by piece, rob you of your mind."
~The Witch, Hale & The Witch's Heart, Act 2, Scene 3

Hale survived this curse, married the woman he had met and fallen in love with and they had children. He continued to steal and as time went on he began to lose his mind. Madness crept in, the more he stole, the madder he became. This leads to the second story, which involves his death and the death of the Karlovich Family, you will find more detailed information on them in pages 39 through 42 of your briefing packets. They were a large well off family that moved to Kernholz from an unknown location. Evidence collected from the remains of their manor house indicates that not a single member of the family was innocent of the crimes of dark magic, demon worship and necromancy. Not even the twelve year old girl.

By this point in time Hale was 67 years old, but still more than capable, despite his madness, of being a thief. Reports of the time are unreliable at best but most versions of the tale put Hale in the position of waging a war against this family of pure evil, in his own special way. For months the back and forth went on and on until finally Hale stole the formula for Dragonflame and used it on the manor house with the family inside..and him as well. The reason we have no useful reports is that during this time the people of Kernholz were experiencing strange dark nightmares, waking dreams and hallucinations and illusions. We are uncertain if this was because of the actions of the Karlovich Family or if it was Hale's madness seeping out of him and infecting the city. There is some evidence to suggest either case. The strange happenings stopped when the fire claimed both the family and Hale.

In the years since Hale's children grew up, had kids of their own and some, of course, followed in the old man's footsteps. Each and every child of Hale's bloodline who has become a thief has become an exceptional one...and they all gone mad as well. Usually this puts an end to it, but sometimes they persist and their eventual deaths are spectacular to say the least. None of them have ever lasted as long as Hale. The Gedachtungen have stepped in and for the past five generations we have monitored all descendants of Hale, provided for them to ensure none of them need to result to theft. This brings us to the reason for this briefing.

We have, regrettably, lost all of the current generation of Hale's bloodline, a total of forty-three men and women. They have all vanished without a trace and none of the rest of the families seem to know or want to share their whereabouts. And on top of that, three days ago in Sterschmid, Hale's mark was found burned into the front door of Lady Glaschtalle, a wealthy merchant who is now missing a very valuable tapestry. We are currently facing a resurgence of the Hale bloodline to the realm of thievery, which means social upheaval and possibly a spreading of contagious madness. I've taken the liberty of having my men put the coffee on. It's going to be a long night. Let's get to work.

by Pravikun

Related Organizations

• The Copper Blade