Xoltha

Template:Infobox character**Xoltha** is an aloof, secretive exile and founder of The Embrace . She has lived in the Exiled Lands for a number of years, taking on a number of roles, masks, and allegences in order to survive.

## Appearence:

A mix of Stygian  and Darfari  stock, Xoltha posesses the best qualities of both. She is tall, sinewy, and dark-skinned. Her long, straight black hair reaches to the small of her back, and her limber body posesses a strange mixture of civilized beauty and savage allure. Her face is hard-featured and prideful, and her eyes seem to blaze with ambition when not half-lidded.

Xoltha carries herself with great pride, often inclining her head or rearing up in order to take full advantage of her imposing height. She crosses her arms often, letting the powerful muscle of her limbs speak for themselves during periods of silence. Xoltha's expression is the detached, passive stare of a careful observer. Her gaze is unflinching, eager to take in any detail.

## Personality:

Xoltha is intelligent, well-spoken, and infinitely polite when encountered in public. She takes great enjoyment in speaking with other exiles, often falling silent in order to hear others' stories and exploits. She chooses her words carefully and is quick to flatter or commend another's actions in order to make new relations. Xoltha strives to maintain an air of cool detachment in order to appear sophisticated and good-mannered when in mixed company.

In private, Xoltha remains well-spoken but allows herself to be more direct when speaking to close friends. Sometimes her icy passions slip into her speech, but she is quick to check herself and defer to others in order to keep conversation going. Paridoxically, Xoltha is both very guarded about her inner emotions yet also blunt and straightforward in her opinions. She holds herself to a very high standard of honesty, and although she often obfuscates or omits facts Xoltha will readily speak the truth if backed into a corner.

In truth, Xoltha is a woman of extremes. Her cruelty knows no limits, her sorrows know no depths, and her ambitions know no boundry. When left to herself Xoltha is haughty, childish, and easily frustrated. She has a long list of petty slights, and the exiles that caused them are often at the forefront of her vilest musings. Still, just as quick to anger Xoltha is quick to meloncholy. Often a violent outburst or shrieked oath is followed by a long period of empathic, self-indulgent brooding. Despite her cruelities Xoltha genuinely cares for many of her self-declared enemies, even if she's too stubborn or self-destructive to admit it.

## Relationships:

* Dulachan : Xoltha's closest friend, confidant and adventuring partner
* Gaise : Xoltha's most trusted friend and former adventuring partner
* Qi : Xoltha's former lover and object of obsession
* Scarlett : Xoltha's surrogate daughter, believed deceased
## The Old Serpent, Sorcery, & Apotheosis:

Xoltha's time in the Exiled Lands has wrought a variety of changes upon her body, in great part due to the corruption and dark sourcery saturating the landscape. In the begining, Xoltha was known to suffer acutely under the effects of sorcery. Her body would deteriorate, her voice would grow raspy, and her mind would be plagued with imagined whispers from long-dead civilizations. While suffering Xoltha would behave erratically, crafting obejcts of alien design and claiming to have visions of great destruction. Eventually, Xoltha's body suffered beyond the point of no return, causing her hair to fall out and leaving her emaciated and frail.

In order to restore her health (and out of a secret fear of losing her lover), Xoltha began to research methods of augmenting her ruined flesh. Eventually, her search led her to ancient Acheronian documentation of Serpent-Men, a pre-Cataclysmic race of powerful ophidians responsible for the foundation of many sorcerous civilizations. With the assistance of Dulachan , Qi , and Gaise, Xoltha performed an excruciating ritual in the Dregs in order to become a Serpent-Woman and regain her lost vitality. The ritual was a success, but the blasphemy of her transformation made her a pariah in Sanctuary  and caused a regretful Qi to commit suicide rather than leave himself at her mercy. Xoltha has harbored that rejection ever since, the pain of heartbreak festering within her until revenge became her subconcious, yet all-consuming, motivation to build up her influence in the Exiled Lands.