The Child-Snatcher's Twin

A tale that's often taught as fact, The Child-Snatcher's Twin is nevertheless still considered a myth to historians, the only evidence for it being from an unreliable source.   Orx the Child-Snatcher was a notorious Emperor of the Ancient Viri Empire, known best for his stealing newborn children to pass off as the twins of his own offspring. While the obsession with siring twins was not unknown among the Viri, who placed a high value on twins, few took it to such extremes as Emperor Orx. All of this is historical fact.   A prevaling myth, however, claims that the obsession was rooted in Orx having been born a twin himself, but the other one dying in infancy. To lose a twin is considered a terrible omen, so such incidents were often covered up by the parents, making the possibility entirely plausible. However, the only historical records in support of this theory is an ambiguous passage in Orx's deathbed diaries.   The rumour itself, at least among the nobility of the time, predates these by several decades, as noted in records of dinner party conversations, and it's possible that somebody who had heard the rumour misinterpreted Orx's own writings in that light, which fanned the flames of the tale. It became a prevaling myth which has withstood the fall of the Empire itself, and can even sometimes be found stated as fact in less-than-reliable history books.   Exactly why the myth continues to be so popular is unclear. It paints a notorious Emperor who tore families apart to increase his own status in a more sympathetic light, even though his name remains a source of ghost stories intended to frighten children.