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| - At the age of fifteen Xerther arrived at the small mud hut they called home with the fish she had caught that morning to hear the sound of Nam-Shub crying, she had been robbed on her way home from Khemi of all the supplies she had bought with the coin she had made whoring the previous three nights. "Curse these bandits for ever existing!" she cried as she sobbed uncontrollably. Xerther tried to comfort her "It will be ok mother, look I caught enough fish to last us several days. It is as you say, Set will provide for us!”. Upon hearing this her mother flew into a rage "Set? Set! Where was Set when I was thrown out of my home at the age of 16? Where was Set when I was forced to sell my body just to feed you? I curse Set as I curse that filthy Aquilonian dog who destroyed my life!" At this Xerther ran from the small hut in tears, ran all the way to the end of their small island and sat facing down into the bright desert sand and wept uncontrollably for what seemed like an eternity. After a time the tears just stopped, she realized she could weep no more. She shed her clothes, now damp with her tears and sweat and dived into the great river Styx. The cold waters seemed to wash clean the all of her sadness and give her a clarity of thoughts she had never experienced before. She left the water more determined to help her mother and was already trying to think of a suitable sacrifice to appease Set for her mothers blasphemy when she heard a scream from her hut. She turned and ran as fast as she could to the house. As she crossed the dune between the beach and the hut could see smoke billowing out the doorway. She ran inside but the smoke was already thick. Her mother was lying collapsed on the floor near the now upturned oil burner they used in their nightly prayers. Fire was around her still body yet still Xerther went straight to her. As she did a large scorpion scuttled from the house and across the dune. Looking at her mothers dying body she knew what had happened. She tried to pull her mother out of the house but at this she came too “No my…..daughter… … leave me….Set has came for my soul…..I…I….am…sorry”. With her last ounce of strength Nam-Shub kicked her daughter out of the doorway right as the roof caved in. Xerther lay on the earth outside the burnt out remains of all she had ever known, staring at the sky long into the night and yet strangely had no tears shed.. She woke up almost frozen too her core close to dawn and fetched her clothes were she had left them the previous day then looked in the ruins of her house for her cloak. Once she found it she then knew what she must do, it was seek vengeance. Vengeance upon the bandits who had robbed her mother. In her young mind they were the sole causes of all this tragedy. She set off at once into the desert. She marched all day following her mother’s footstep in the desert sands. She made a camp under an outcrop of rock and slept uneasily, waking in the middle of the night to the sounds of a violent sandstorm. She tucked her face deeper into the old cloak she had draped over her for warmth and set off in the direction the footprints had been heading, knowing fully well that the storm had destroyed all traces of them. She walked all the next day and deeply into the next night determined to find the bandits but saw no signs of them, or of any life for that matter. She slept out in the open now, as she had left the rocky terrain of the Styx delta behind. She awoke with a huge thirst at daybreak and was determined to find some water, yet all she could see was the endless dunes of the deep stygian desert. By noon she was close to collapsing and had stop sweating, as her body was running dry. She shed her clothes and kept on walking, she knew she would likely freeze to death in the cold desert night but also knew that with out water she would not see sunset. After another hour she collapsed to all fours yet continued to crawl, never giving up. Finally she could take no more and collapsed. As she lay there sure that she would be breathing her mortal breath and she called out to Set, not in the anger that her mother had, not as a cowardly Pict calls to his blood god as he nears death. “Set!” she cried “Set I have shed all of traces of my mortal life! I have withstood all your trials! Set I will do your will on earth if you but grant me rebirth!”. As she lay there falling slowly into unconsciousness she looked up and could see a dark shape approaching her from a distance. As it approached she felt a feeling below her dry, white skin. A feeling of energy that at once felt both very alien and very natural. As the shape came into view she could see that it was a giant black cobra, its obsidian black scales almost gleaming in the bright sunlight. The giant snake approached her and stopped mere inches from her upturned face. It then turned and started to slither in a different direction. In a trance like state she stood up and began to follow the mighty creature, almost as if the beast controlled her very limbs. As the sun started to go down she could see in the distance a colossal black pillar. As she got closer she realized it wasn’t a pillar but a statue of a giant black snake. At the base of the statue was a deep pool of water, into which she quite literally fell and sank to the bottom. Lying at the bottom of this pool she felt all the filth of the desert wash off of her, her bloody and swollen feet were instantly healed and the thirst inside her was quenched. She returned to the surface and met the gaze of the great serpent that had leaded her to this place. Its eyes blazed and it began to speak to her, not using words yet she could here its voice more clearly inside her head than she had ever heard anything before. “You are not like others” it stated in its deep, almost echoing voice. “You had the tenacity to never give up. This is the true embodiment of our people, or country and our beliefs and yet you only have half the blood as my so called loyal servants. I wish you to be one of my avatars, for the false prophet Thoth-Amon leads our people in my name yet has sold his soul to an ancient darkness. I darkness I alone in all my power could not control. Acheron, they were my loyal subjects. Or so I thought at the time. I know now that they seeked dominion over not just the mortal realm but over my realms too. For their blasphemy I destroyed their entire civilization, yet I could not destroy their demon corrupted souls. There are demons from the void even I cant completely control, and they are a darkness not of this realm. If this darkness is to be destroyed once and for all I need not just the people of Stygia but of all the kingdoms of man united under one banner. I already have my general for this war, a Cimmerian who sits on the Aquilonian throne. He has no love for me yet I have not seen a thirst for blood amongst mortals since the days of Acheron. What I need is a true prophet to unite not just Stygia but all races of men. And to most importantly to show that I, Set are as benevolent as I am wrathful. That I can create as greatly as I can destroy. You will soon have now the powers of both life and death. You will be able to strike down the followers of darkness as well as you can bring the dead back to the mortal realm. Xerther, you are the voice of Set”. With these last words a huge bolt of lightning came down from the sky and hit the pool, filling it with raw, primal energy. Xerther felt this energy lift her up high into the sky until she was looking over all of Stygia. Set spoke to her again “Go now to the docks of Khemi, look for a slaver named Sakumbe and share his wine with him. He will poison you and take you to an old ruin. There they will try to put the soul of a demon into you and make you one of Thoth-Amon’s puppet slaves. But worry not, I will place wards on your body that will prevent this”. Xerther felt a deep surge over her still naked form and looked down to see she now had ancient symbols of Set etched into her flesh. She also realized they were fast approaching the city of Khemi. The energy around her dissipated as she neared the river near the port. She fell the last 20 feet with a plop into the river then swam to shore near to the docks. She looked around and could see a piece of string with some old tunics hanging on them, drying after being washed. She slipped one on and approached an old drunken dock worker, curled up half asleep near a mooring post cradling an empty jug in his hands like it was his lover. She attempted to wake him up by shaking him but it didn’t work. Getting frustrated she shook him harder when all of a sudden lightning shot out of her hands and caused the poor man too convulse. She jumped back in shock of what had just happened then slowly approached the man. She went to feel his face to see if it was alright but was already going cold. “No, wake up! Please wake up!” she pleaded, grabbing him by the shoulders. At that point she felt the energy build up in her, like when the serpent had approached her yet a thousand times stronger. She then felt it pass through her hands and into the dockworker. He coughed then threw up some wine, and then looked up into her eyes. “I…I was before Set, I was about to get judged and then….you….you…..called out to me and Set let me return” he stuttered. “You saved my soul! How can I ever repay you?” the man said with a look of gratitude Xerther had never seen before. “I am looking for a man, he is called Sakumbe” she stated. “That is his ship over there” he said, pointing at a great galley with many oars. “But I must warn you, he is an evil man. He trades in slaves and rumor has it other darker things too” he stated, almost sounding scared. “Thank you, Set walk with you” Xerther replied. “He clearly walks with you youngen” said the dockworker “May I at least know your name so I can tell others that a true prophet walks Stygia?” “the name is Xerther, farewell and thank you again old man”. Xerther approached Sakumbe as he stood on the docks near his ship. “Hello little one” he said “care to join me at the inn here for some wine?”….
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