X is for Xylanthe

Change is a force I’ve learned to watch for and to take advantage of. The Great Serpent seemed like a wonderful change, awakening all that shivered, hidden in the World of Ouroboros. She awakened me, along with others of my kind, along with our hungers, hungers which could be fed by humans. Nevalyn, however, was only manipulating us to Her advantage, tricking us into serving Her and Her brood. Never trust a Serpent or a Serpent-Born. Use them, by all means, and I would love to get a taste of one, but don’t give them anything without making certain you extract a pound of their rich flesh or blood in return. Not that I’m not grateful to our lady. The way She manipulated us, along with Her own brood, taking a Jasior prince as her vessel gave me ideas about hiding in plain site. I spun my webs within the courts of the Kalanthian empire, catching an empress of my own. I’d hoped to use my pawns to ensnare Kyra Nevalyn or Prince Stephen Jasior in A Suitor’s Challenge, but both eluded me. I did find myself in a position of power when Kalanthia shattered due to the disagreements between princes and princesses within the royal family, who blamed their nation’s problems on the relationships between men and women. This splintering created the nations of Aethyria and Graeca, the former which I went to. I was with the women of Aethyria as one of the founders of the Circle of the Thirteen, creating a new country which thrives even today on magic and mystery along with order. Do Ariadne, Alexi, and all the other little mortal girls have an idea how much they owe me, how much I shared with them? No, I went down in history and legend as a monster, a nightmare to scare them into good behavior. One should expect as much from the children of Theianna and other Aethyrian founders, considering how they reacted when they discovered my webs, realized I’d been preying upon their maidens. They banished me to the cold northern chaos of Rowenda, a fitting exile for a “monster” like myself, close to so many of Nevalyn’s former lairs. Once again I made the best of the change which found me. I created the Dark Circle, a paradise for “monsters” like myself, a ring of enchanted woods and abandoned towers littered with lost treasure. Naturally adventurers came to the Dark Circle, seeking wealth and glory from killing monsters. A few found fortune fighing us, lived to boast of their mighty deeds, and we feasted well upon the rest. The Dark Circle was old when the Vampire Corwyth was but a youthful mortal acolyte of the surviving members of the Order of the Dragon. His progenitor was one of ours, even if he might not admit it. The founding of Corwyth Keep as a haven for the dead and undead was inspired by our own haven, although we were happy to let Corwyth have most of the infamy and the more dangerous hunters. It’s only too easy to blame the Vampire Corwyth when our servants feed outside the Circle, or bring us food from there. This is something we’re having to do more and more, for fewer and fewer humans are coming to us. Monsters are being re-evaluated in the light of a new morality, and are now seen as people. Killing them and taking their treasure is no longer glorious, it is wrong. Fewer humans are becoming adventurers, which means fewer are seeking the Dark Circle. This means less food for us. It’s inconvenient and annoying unless we can find a way to make this change work for us. I do have clever spies in the places where humans dwell, searching for ways to make it work, to secure for us more prey. Whatever disruption they cause, we can always blame the Vampire Corwyth for it. Yes, we shall make this work. I’ve survived and thrived for far too long in this changing world to give up now. There are always ways to lure tender prey to walk willingly within our walls. I simply have to use to the right bait to lure them to me. They will come, they will always come. I just have to make the experience look as tasty for our victims as they look to me.