Metztli (Daemon)

[Wretched 2038]

The creation story of the Kharajyr is one not bound in tomes, nor found on any shelves. It is held within the minds of those scholars who are called madmen, who are denounced and forbidden to speak. These men are the wisest, and yet, they suffer the worst fates.

The legend goes that in the dark times, during the world’s infancy; a time few believe existed and Aenguls & Daemons roamed freely, there was an old wives’ tale. They spoke of a Daemon, one who had an affinity for stealing babes from the cribs in the recesses of the night and leaving no signs of the coming. It wasn't an isolated tale, however, it was known to many; springing up sporadically whenever a child disappears without explanation. In spite of this, few knew the truth. Under the cover of stars, the Daemon Metztli would visit lonely farmsteads, called by the scent of infantile blood, and she would whisk away the children straight from their beds.

Legend has it that Metztli’s form was so beautiful; those adults who looked upon her were driven mad and tore their eyes from their sockets. Fearing and denying the truth, elders would attribute this phenomenon to the intense grief the parents’ experienced rather than anything otherworldly. The truth behind the disappearances unfortunately does not end with the children vanishing. The aftermath of these kidnappings were much more gruesome and horrifying.

These children were taken far away, to an undiscovered land in the mists of the oceans. This island was of untold beauty, giving life to incredible varieties of flora and fauna; a paradise of Metztli’s own creation. All that was missing was sentience, Metztli needed a master race. The ocelots that called the island their home were taken by Metztli, and in a series of horrifying, magic-ridden experiments, were crossed with the infants. It took centuries of perfection and tweaking, hundreds of hideous failures discarded into the ocean, Metztli at last created a single, white, humanoid ocelot. This was the first of the Kharajyr, the father; he of the purest blood.

Metztli was immediately filled with a maternal need to protect this child, to nurture him, and bring him and a new race of his kind into being. After all, she had created what she deemed to be perfection. She desperately tried to recreate this perfection, but could never achieve the same beauty as the original. Nevertheless, she brought about many more creations, spawning a species until they could sustain themselves. When her children had matured, she knew (as any caring mother would), that it was time to depart the island paradise and leave her children to thrive alone.

Although the Daemon’s true intentions for the creation of these people were never revealed, it has been speculated that she wished to recreate the form of a lover who was stolen away from her. Others say she wished to grant the world a race of beings in her own image, and still others suggest Metztli wished only to play God and nurture other living beings.