Xistan is the source of natural decay and death upon the world. They are the end of a long life, or a life cut tragically short. They are the agony of a fatal wound and the quiet hand of mercy for a life snuffed out mid-dream. They are the ending of all things that bear life, no matter how long lived they may be, Xistan is the constant waiting for them at the end. Xistan’s influence affects more than just the individual person or animal or plant. They are death as well for communities and kingdoms and empires. They are even death for the entire world, though this is not something that their priests often speak of. Even they know that people are not able to think such grand thoughts often, and this is true even for them. Xistan is the twin sibling of Seram and they have remained close despite the widely held belief that twins are inherently cursed beings. Whether or not this belief holds water is a matter of some debate among those with scholarly interest in the old legend.

According to the oldest of stories about Xistan, they would often appear to those who had died as a member of their race, even occasionally appearing as a loved one already passed. So much so that their appearance was a matter of heated debate. The infamous stone mural known by the name The Phaenicia Dialectic, which resides within the depths of The Eater’s Tooth, has been studied for centuries because of its many depictions of Xistan. Since the Breaking, Xistan has been known to appear with less and less detail as time had passed from that moment. Xistan is most often manifesting as a vague, ethereal humanoid shape. Their form is blurred and shifting at the edges so there is no distinct definition to their shape, only the general sense that they are in fact, person shaped. Within the subtle shifting of their form, those who view Xistan may make out the brief implication of a tail, or a horn, or a tusk. Even the clothing Xistan wears is indistinct and it could be from any station in life. Xistan’s hair, such as it is, is the dark grey of a dead fire, long and fading as it grows from their head into smoke. The only distinct definition lay in the mask that Xistan wears, an ornate mask of black accented with gold and white, and the piercing red glow of their eyes behind the mask.

Xistan is not a feared God, despite their domain, they and their followers are respected in most places. It is they who gathers the souls of the dead and places them upon the Silver Path which they must journey along and reach the Silvered Garden, a place of final rest or of reincarnation. While Xistan has the capability of being cruel, they do not enjoy it. Death can often be cruel and swift and unforgiving, and being the God of Death, they are also this, but it is not a state they take pleasure from being. If anything, they seem upset, almost angry, that events have conspired to make such a death a reality. As life is revered by almost all peoples, Xistan believes that death should have equal reverence. Death is nothing that should be feared or fled from. To Xistan, all things that live must die, for this is how the balance is maintained. It is only a matter of time and Xistan is remarkably patient.

Xistan, much like their followers, sees death as a solemn duty to be seen to. It may be unpleasant, enraging or merely sorrowful, but it is still a duty. It is an inevitability none can escape from, so they see no reason to treat the dead unkindly. Several tales have been told by men and women who have nearly died and seen Xistan waiting for them. In each of these tales Xistan was not alone, for differing numbers of souls remained by their side, unable to move on just yet. It is believed that Xistan sheltered and kept them company until they were ready. The only time when Xistan is known to be truly wrathful is when their domain is thwarted. When someone, or something, gains true immortality and flouts the natural laws of the world, they are not happy. This is perhaps why Xistan is not friendly towards any of the great Heroes of legend.

The subject of necromancy is a touchy one around the God of Death, for while it is against the natural order of things, it also is not due to the interference of Magic. The undead, be they lowly animated corpses or powerful liches or vampires, Xistan will always be ready to greet them, perhaps with a little more joy to their tone than they might for a normal farmer. While it is said that even the Gods will one day die, there are those who wonder if Xistan will be among them. Is the God of Death actually alive? No historical record exists that Seram gave her gift to her sibling. As the embodiment of Death itself, could they be given life? What path will they set the Gods on when they perish? These are secrets to which only Xistan knows the answer, and they have never spoken of such a day.

Xistan’s powers lay within the grave itself, the power of death in all its myriad forms. The ending of growth, the decay of form and function, the loss of being, of thought and mind. Where Seram promotes growth and change, Xistan halts one, and substitutes a different change for the other. Their powers are as broad and far reaching as their sister’s are, all things both small and large, both weak and strong fall under Xistan’s gentle hand. But where their sister’s power overlaps with Karashiel’s, Xistan’s overlaps with Rioris in a small way. For it was the introduction of Time itself which first pushed the living on the path to death. It is perhaps no accident that Xistan and Rioris are both separated from the others by their domains. While Rioris exists outside of Time itself, the only entity capable of this feat, Xistan exists outside of Life. That which affects the living can not affect Xistan. They can not be injured, maimed, poisoned, or killed in any way, while they control the very domain of Death itself. Should there even come a day that they are not in control of their powers, perhaps even the God of Death may die.

To the Seran people, Xistan is known as the Devil King and according to the legends and stories they hold power over the dead, the devils who crawl into the lands of the living through the realm of the dead, and other monstrous creatures are often ascribed to answering to them. The Yososhuyona, at least half of them, are known to pledge fealty to Xistan and serve upon their court from the land of the dead. The other half owe their fealty to Seram and serve her court. Some of Xistan’s power is held within The Mask of Silence, the ornate mask of black wood which they are always seen wearing. The mask itself is shaped in a large oval and fully covers their face. It had two holes cut in it for their eyes to see through. There are soft and subtle accents painted on the mask in white and gold. These accents form a symmetry between the left and the right sides of the face, yet details on what these accents may portray are non-existent. None who lay eyes upon it ever can remember what these accents depict. As such those who have seen Xistan, and the mask, are left with the impression that the mask itself has little in the way of detail to it. Just a feeling that there may have been a vague sense of the shape of a face painted upon the mask.

According to several of the legends of the Devil King, Xistan has the ability to stop all magic from affecting him, to silence and still any creature, to quell fear and anger and other strong emotions, and to enforce an unbreakable silence so that no lies may be spoken, only the truth of actions able to be seen. It is due to these stories that it is believed by many Arcane scholars that Xistan’s mask has these abilities if not more. Xistan has also been seen to wield a two-handed hammer, a rounded blunt edge on one side and a curved spike on the other. The head of this hammer is in the shape of a large bird skull. Whether the hammer has any magical abilities, or whether its effectiveness is merely the result of being wielded by Xistan, is uncertain.

It goes without saying that the Empire of Sera holds Xistan in high reverence and there are nearly as many temples and houses of worship devoted to them as there are to Seram. The Free Lands of Muria, The Kingdom of Merjoux, The Kratocracy of Azura, The Plutocracy of Cendaq, the Theocracy of Ordina, and the Academia Arcanum all have temples and houses of worship to Xistan within their lands. This is so all the proper funerary rites can be performed for the deceased and the remaining body taken care of by whatever method is most widely used among the peoples. Only among the Stratocracy of Isenfeur are there few houses of worship to Xistan. The Isen people do not believe they have the luxury of time to allow the priests to deal with ancient rites and observances. As such the Isen people will deal with the physical remnants of the deceased near immediately and with some preparations then a celebration of their life will be held for all who knew them to attend. Despite this, the Specialist Division of the military does have the symbol of Xistan as part of their badge of office, and their members are often known to say prayers to Xistan.

The clerics and priests of Xistan within the Empire of Sera have only large, and smaller, houses of worship. The large houses are always located close by the shores of the various islands which make up the Empire. Whenever a member of the Seran people passes on, there is a funerary procession that begins in their local house of worship and makes a journey to the nearest large house. Priests will attend to and ferry the body the entire way, acting as both honor guard to the deceased and companions on the journey. Once the procession reaches the large house of worship, the deceased will be prepared and buried at sea during the next high tide. As such it is not an unusual sight along the various roads of the Empire to see such a procession.

While it is known to varying degrees that there are those who will kill for money within the world, none of these organizations seem to revere Xistan in any true way. At most they hold them as a respected professional if they consider them at all. The various groups of assassins are often more focused on mortal concerns than on paying homage to or killing in the name of Xistan. Even those assassins found within the Empire of Sera seem to be more concerned with the Empire itself, than with what the God of Death, the Devil King, might desire.

Within the Empire of Sera, beginning on the 21st of Xistas there is a fortnight long celebration of the dead and the living, of Xistan and of Seram, and the empire as a whole. During this celebration, the first seven days are devoted to Xistan and the dead. The first day is for the remembrance of the honorable dead of the Empire as a whole. The second day is for the remembrance of the honorable dead of each caste of the Seran people. The third day for the remembrance of the honorable dead of each family. These days are quiet and filled with stories of the dead, tales of their triumphs and failures, and of the lessons they left behind for the living to learn from. The next three days are spent in celebration of the lives and achievements of the dead. The fourth day is for each family to proclaim the accolades of their ancestors for all to hear. The fifth day is for each caste to proclaim the honors won and victories secured of those who came before. The sixth day is for the ancient tales and stories of the great heroes of the Empire to be told far and wide and for those great men and women to be remembered. The seventh day is the day when it is said the Devil King allows the devils to pass through the gates into the realm of the living as agreed upon for their fealty to Xistan. It is this day beyond all others that the people of the Empire are wary of agreeing to anything.

But the Empire of Sera is not the only land in which the God of Death has a celebration. In the Free Lands of Muria there is a yearly event known as The Festival of the Fallen. It is a solemn celebration and remembrance of those known and unknown who perished during The Breaking. The Lost Gods are honored here, the Dragon Precursors are remembered, and the people of Muria take time to honor and remember their presence. This is largely symbolic for the people of Muria, yet despite many not attending, most of the populace still observes this festival and treats it with gravitas. While Ordina, and the Chorus of Harmony, do not have a celebration, there is a service among the Chorus known as Ascension. It is held immediately after the funerary rites have been performed and the friends and family of the deceased have said their goodbyes. The priests of the Chorus will then sing a song that will begin as a dirge and slowly transition into hymn, the song is intended to guide the soul of the deceased along the Silver Path and protect them from chaos until they reach the side of Yshirea. The Azuran people, while not revering Xistan or having any holidays associated with them, do seem to go out of their way to avoid issuing challenges to each other during Death’s Day each fortnight. They see it as being overly antagonistic towards the God of Death to possibly increase his workload during their day each fortnight. The Azurans know that death comes all too easy in their homeland.

Within the Plutocracy of Cendaq, while there are houses of worship to Xistan, there are no real holidays or services, at least not officially. While those with money, and thus power, all but ignore the God of Death and hope that they will do the same, those who are less well-off hold quiet celebrations, small and furtive events, never in the same place twice. The details regarding each such event are different, ever changing and shifting. It is one of the better kept secrets within the Plutocracy. When it comes to the dead within Cendaq they are either left where they have fallen, abandoned, and forgotten…or The Oasis takes them in and sees that they are well cared for. Within the Fellowship of Bata there is a two-day observance beginning on the 42nd of Seras and ending on the 1st of Xistas. In the time between these observances, people will volunteer and prepare for what is to come. Those who perform the observance are chosen at random from a selected pool of people. At sunup on the 42nd the chosen are celebrated and held in high regard, their every want and need catered to, nothing is forbidden from them. This lasts until sunset, and at that point the chosen are then sequestered to be alone until the following morning. At sunup on the 1st they are provided with a simple breakfast and a small specially prepared drink. The drink is saved until last and drank all in one go. This drink contains a specifically mixed dose of poison which will put the chosen into a near death state. Many of the chosen have not returned and have perished in the attempt. But many more do return, and they bring with them answers, for during their brief time meeting with Xistan, they ask them questions about those who have gone on before them, of the very nature of death and dying and many other topics.

Well known is the story of how Xistan was created alongside their sister Seram, woven both together at the same time from thread made from the Weaver’s own hair. This duality of creation forever has bound Seram and Xistan together and was the first instance of twins upon Ashiel. The first, but not the last. After their creation Xistan followed in Seram’s footsteps, a few paces behind and for each creature that Seram bestowed the gift of life to, Xistan gave the gift of death to. There are those who say that death is no gift, but there has been more than one story of beings who were unable to die and whole have sought Xistan out for that mercy. Told in the Fellowship of Bata is the tale of Berivas, the Emerald Dragon, last of his kind. Following the Breaking, all the other Dragon Precursors were dead or presumed so and their grief was immeasurable. They called to Xistan and begged the God of Death to set them on the Silver Path, and after much discussion and debate over the matter, Xistan agreed.

Spoken of in hushed tones within the Stratocracy of Isenfeur is a story of how Old Man Hale stole Xistan and trapped him in a sack for years. During this time none of the people of Isenfeur were able to perish, no matter what befell them. One of the few tales where Old Man Hale is shown to succumb to his folly, he realizes his mistake and sets Xistan free. Xistan flees Hale and the world is set right again, yet the story says that Hale himself is forever shunned by Xistan. Naturally, there are many tales of Xistan within the Empire of Sera. Chief among them is the tale of how after Seram bestowed upon the first Emperor the divine mandate of rule, that the paths to hell opened and devils poured forth and ravaged the land. The Emperor rallied his people and fought bravely against them for years untold. Eventually, when he had been fighting long enough to tire of war, the Emperor devised a cunning plan and while clashing with one of the Devil Lords on the field of battle he allowed himself to be slain so he could in turn slay the Devil Lord and hold him in place until Xistan arrived to collect the souls. Normally the soul of a devil scurries back to hell to create a new body for itself, avoiding the touch of Xistan. But now the Devil Lord had no choice but to face the judgement of the God of Death. He begged for Xistan to set him free, for there was the dead and the dying all around them to be seen to. Surely one devil soul was nothing compared to all that.

The Emperor spoke up and argued that a devil’s soul was worth the same as the soul of any mortal and thus was deserving of equal care and respect. The arguments waged long and fierce in that timeless moment until at last Xistan rendered their judgement that the soul of any living thing was equal to the soul of any other living thing. All held equal weight in their eyes. Thus, were both souls placed on the Silver Path and a chain of events put into motion for when the King of all Devils learned that one of his was claimed by Xistan did he call to Yshirea to intervene, and not with calm tones and gentle repose. Yshirea went and spoke to Xistan about this, and still irksome from his discussion with the King of Devils, did the God of Order agree with Xistan that all things which die fall under their domain. Yshirea returned to the King of Devils and laid upon him and all devilkind the edict that should they perish upon the mortal plane that their soul would be placed on the Silver Path. From that day forth was Xistan known among the Seran people as The Devil King.

Almost as well known as tale of Xistan’s creation is that of the creation of Xistan’s daughter, X’isdia. During the aftermath of the creation of B’erram, Xistan sought out Berana to take him to take for what he had done, yet the God of Chaos was nowhere to be found. It was only upon their return that Xistan was approached by Navendia. Whatever conversation transpired between the two of them has been kept secret ever since. Neither of them has spoken of that time, yet somehow the legend says that Navendia drew open her cloak and welcomed Xistan within to see what lay behind that impenetrable Mystery. It was from this conversation, this agreement or union, that X’isdia was formed, the Goddess of Vengeance. Her dagger blessed by both to be a formidable weapon and one suited to her methods.