Xeric

A weathered statue on Mount Quidamortem, depicting an ancient Xerician priest. The examine text implies that it is possibly a statue of Xeric himself.

The symbol of Xeric.

Xeric, formerly known as King Shayzien VII, is a powerful mage who once ruled Great Kourend nearly 1,030 years ago. He was responsible for the Age of Strife and is the creator of the lizardmen, who honour him as a great king. In the present day, he is Veos' Client, having possessed the treasure hunter Veos' body when Veos put on the amulet found inside the ancient casket dug up during the X Marks the Spot quest.

Personality

Xeric was an extremely ruthless and power-hungry ruler who chose to subjugate everyone he deemed disposable regardless of how devout they were to him, stating that the weak deserved to die. He trusted very few people, but rewarded them for their loyalty to him; he treated Xamphur cordially and extended a similar hand to Tekton. He did not take kindly to betrayal and other "failures", having punished Vasa Nistirio for his attempted coup and the Vanguard for what he perceived as cowardice.

History

As King Shayzien VII

The Arceuus wizard Ektheme, found in the Library Historical Archive, suggests that Xeric is actually King Shayzien VII.

King Shayzien VII took control of Great Kourend during the 32nd decade. During his reign, he was obsessed with the Dark Altar, and had spent a large majority of his time in the Tower of Magic performing experiments on citizens he summoned. Here, he oversaw the construction of various new sections, presumably to conduct magical experiments.

He was eventually killed in the Battle of the Concourse five decades later, and his body was never recovered. A few days after the battle, Xeric appeared and was said to have had a similar appearance to Shayzien VII.

This battle is also documented in Killing of a king, a text found in the Arceuus Library, where it is written that a coup d'état was attempted by his Elder Warriors, who successfully killed him.

As Xeric

After the death of King Shayzien VII, it was speculated that he had used the power of the Dark Altar and moved his spirit from his mortal body into an incorporeal one, allowing him to gain massive power and emerge victorious from the battle against the soldiers. As he reigned Great Kourend for a hundred years, it can be assumed that he had achieved immortality before The Ascent of Arceuus. At this point, he began to refer to himself as Xeric.

A lizardman, one of many created to serve Xeric.

With his newfound power, Xeric proceeded to kill the rulers of the five cities and claimed Great Kourend as his own. However, while he was very powerful, he couldn't rule the people singlehandedly, nor could he rely on human informants. His solution was the lizardmen, whom he had secretly created sometime during the 37th decade (1,040 years ago) after the alleged failure of The Great Expedition via experimentation on lizards native to Mount Quidamortem - although prior to the discovery of the Unstable Altar under the same mountain, it was only believed they were created through experiments on citizens of Kourend. With the lizardmen at his disposal, who were fiercely loyal and did as he commanded without question, the people were powerless to resist his authority, and thus began the Age of Strife. Many fled from Great Kourend, seeking refuge south-west of the kingdom, beyond the Kebos Lowlands. Here, the refugees founded the kingdom of Varlamore.

It is believed that the Tasakaal had granted the knowledge of immortality to Xeric for reasons unknown, but Xeric misused it; because of this, and his widespread slaughter of the people that would come after, the Tasakaal view him with contempt and become offended whenever his name is spoken to them, instead calling him the "great betrayer".

A set of Xerician robes, possibly worn by loyal followers of Xeric.

During the 40th decade, Xamphur, Xeric's closest comrade, achieved a breakthrough in the study of teleportation, giving Xeric the ability to perform a previously impossible feat. Using Xamphur's studies, this resulted in the creation of his talisman to teleport to various places across Great Kourend in an instant.

At the height of his reign in the 43rd decade, a resistance group called HAX (Humans Against Xeric) attempted to storm the Tower of Magic and defeat Xeric, but failed, resulting in the loss of two hundred members.

Defeat and exile

During 312-47 (the 312th day of the 47th decade), Byrne, a farmer, witnessed a Lizardman guard murder a child whilst working his farm. Outraged, he slaughtered the lizardman, with the entire town as witnesses. Urging the people to fight back, the people revolted, and within seven days, the lizardmen were outnumbered and driven beyond the kingdom into the Kebos Lowlands. During the revolt, the temple surrounding the Dark Altar was destroyed as well, weakening Xeric's power and forcing him into exile.

The remains of the Xerician temple on the summit of Mount Quidamortem.

After his exile, Xeric no longer had the Dark Altar's power to sustain his immortality, so he and the rest of his followers travelled west to Mount Quidamortem, where his artisan Tekton built a massive underground complex for him. In addition, the unstable altar he had ordered to be built in the small cave within the mountain would help maintain his immortality, as it allowed the Dark Altar's power to reach beyond where it previously could, amplifying its power.

Based on the journals dropped in the chambers, Vasa Nistirio, Tekton, and several other unidentified members (his council, a creature keeper and many "servants") accompanied Xeric to the mountain.

Tekton's newly created temple was capable of harnessing the power of "cave magic" from the crystals within, which pleased Xeric; however, Xeric soon became upset when his other followers, especially the "nasty high priest," began using it, so he had Tekton demolish the temple. Tekton complied, but only disabled it, in the event that Xeric changed his mind. Tekton tried to teach Xeric how to use the "cave magic" without the temple, but failed, which upset him. Xeric eventually took Tekton underground and gave him a new form and enhanced his anvil, teaching him how to repair his new body. Tekton noted that he could not utilise the crystals in his new form, though he did not mind and believed that Xeric wanted his strength, not intelligence.

A carving found within the Chambers of Xeric beneath Mount Quidamortem, which depicts a stylised representation of Xeric.

Xeric conducted extensive experiments in the chambers, which caused a dramatic change in the flora surrounding the mountain. Having acquired several stray dogs, Xeric "hired" a hound master, as the creature keeper had died to lizardman poisoning after performing an experiment of his own. With the hound master's assistance, Xeric continued experimenting on them, eventually producing a Muttadile and a meat tree (a byproduct of the muttadile experiments); unbeknownst to him, the muttadile was pregnant, and thus a second muttadile was born in the process. It is unknown what happened to the other dogs and the hound master. More of Xeric's followers continued to arrive and he soon came down to visit the camp, which they took with joy. He then revealed a green tonic and ordered all in the camp to drink it, claiming that it would make them stronger and healthier. Soon after, he sent robed men to the camp; it is highly implied that all of the camp's inhabitants turned into lizardmen from drinking the tonic.

With his works still in progress, the Vanguard eventually found Xeric and re-pledged their allegiance to him. Xeric treated them with respect; however, this was just a ruse. He brought them down to the chambers along with a loyal follower, upon which he dropped the kind act and revealed a face of fury, using the crystals to warp the Vanguard into their current form. The follower was shaken by Xeric's brutality, who revealed he had known their feelings. He then tasked them with writing a book regarding these events.

Xeric and his followers eventually stumbled into a chamber where he noticed a massive rip in time and space. He used his powers to open the rift, but it was too much; it was a two-way mirror where the Abyss saw Xeric and his group and vice versa. A massive demon-like wasp squeezed through the rift and overwhelmed the group, claiming the chamber as its own. Xeric refused to accept defeat and sought a way to tame the creatures for his own purpose; as there is no mention of its success, he likely failed and eventually gave up on the prospect.

He later appointed Vasa Nistirio as his new high priest, but Vasa had gone insane after gaining a new form and demanded that Xeric worship him instead. Despite Vasa's newfound strength, Xeric was able to defeat the treacherous high priest and bound him to the four crystals in the chamber. He then appointed another high priest to succeed Vasa.

Eventually, Xeric and his remaining followers encountered the Guardian in the Deep and defeated it, obtaining a great amount of power in the process. The new high priest wrote a journal documenting these events. They left the equipment they made in the caves inside, with Xeric using his powers to seal them. The new high priest noted that Xeric sought greater ambitions outside of Great Kourend.

Return

Veos wearing the amulet that was inside the ancient casket.

Xeric's activities for the next several hundred years after are unknown. At some point centuries ago, he disappeared, which the lizardmen blamed Xamphur for, and imprisoned him for centuries. Xamphur was eventually able to convince the lizardmen shamans to free him, and has spent all his time since then working on finding Xeric.

While trying to find Xeric, Xamphur met an old man at a bar in Kourend. The old man, formerly a Shayzien soldier, told him a story about how around 60 years ago, a woman with grey, rock-like skin and glowing blue eyes saved him in a battle against the lizardmen. He promised her that any time she needed a favour, she could come find him. Years later, she returned to the man, who had since became a Trader Crewmember, and asked him to take the ancient casket to the mainland. He did so, though while sailing to the mainland, he heard whispers from the casket, first promising him power and immortality, and later threatening him the closer they got to the mainland.

Ultimately, after reaching the mainland and leaving a trail of clues, he had the casket buried in a pigpen in Draynor Village. Now, decades later, he hesitantly provided Xamphur with the first step of the trail leading to the casket. From there, Xamphur, knowing that the casket contained an amulet that Xeric was seemingly trapped inside, planted the seeds that led to Veos, a treasure hunter from Great Kourend, finding the treasure scroll and travelling to the mainland in search of the it. An adventurer helped Veos find the casket, upon which Veos immediately opened the casket and put on the amulet within.

Xeric, now having possessed Veos and posing as his client, tasks the adventurer with collecting info on the five houses of Kourend, as well as with scanning the Dark Altar with a mysterious orb. Although he does not yet reveal himself to be Xeric, he reveals to the player that he is indeed possessing Veos' mind, and has him reward the adventurer for being helpful.

Later, while the adventurer was investigating the disappearance of Councillor Sophia Hughes during A Kingdom Divided, an earthquake occurred, upon which Veos "wandered off, like he was in some sort of trance". Veos is encountered one more time in the Lizardman Temple beneath Molch. The adventurer, investigating a mysterious mage, eavesdrops on Xamphur talking with Xeric, who is still possessing the body of Veos. Xeric commended Xamphur for his ambition and told him that because they are no longer shackled (likely referring to needing to be connected to the Dark Altar), Kourend is now of limited use to them, and that he has discovered a new way to achieve their goals, with no one being able to stand in their way this time. Xeric then sensed the adventurer's presence and ordered Xamphur to dispose of them, and that he will meet him again in the south, before teleporting away. Unbeknownst to either of them, the adventurer survived Xamphur's attempt to kill them.

Xeric and (Veos') present location is currently unknown, but it is mostly likely that the south he told Xamphur he would meet him at is the Kingdom of Varlamore, meaning that Xeric has left Kourend entirely and travelled down to Varlamore.

Trivia

• According to Esther, it is a known fact that Xeric was interested in the Bruma tree, though for what purpose is unknown.
• The title the lizardmen use to refer to Xeric, K'uhul ajaw, means "Divine lord" in the pre-Columbian Mayan language.
• Xeric's name was chosen by Mod Mat K from a list of Latin names, because it "sounds like he should be a bad person". However, "xeric" is a word for ecological dryness derived from the Ancient Greek adjective ξηρός.
• Previously, if the player had an activated ring of Charos, they could attempt to charm Veos' Client during or after Client of Kourend. However, he easily foiled their attempt, asking the player if they thought that they could truly manipulate him with Charos' feeble magic. Due to the player's invaluable assistance, he willingly told them his name: Xeric. However, this dialogue was removed with the release of The Depths of Despair and The Queen of Thieves on 9 November 2017.