092 – Xyzlax, The Reformed

Who said that your creator must define your purpose? Sure, you might’ve been weaved from nightmares, cast in bones and blood of the thousand sacrificed souls, incarnated into existence via vile, forbidden magic and put on duty as a cruel overlord of a vast and dangerous dungeon, but it doesn’t mean you don’t have a simulacra of a heart somewhere in your nightmarish being! After the Tower Wars plenty of the Others littered the ruined realms, in search of new masters, purpose or merely a think to eat the face off. Xyzlax the Dark Crystal was the final boss of a particularly gnarly dungeon, using his great eldritch powers to destroy the interlopers! But one day he decided that his disintegration beams and life-sucking spells do not, in fact, define him. Through mindful meditation he discovered his inner self, threw off the shackles of his long-gone creator and found out that his tentacles might do more than tear the flesh of the daring adventurers. He found a new passion in cooking and a new purpose, in helping others. It wasn’t an easy path – his dreaded mind-invading voice, malignant presence and threatening aura made plenty of kin to run away, scream and pluck their own eyes out when they meet him. He was driven away by plenty of places. But as he didn’t mutilate anyone in a long time, some folk began to notice, and one day he received a letter – an invitation to the Wharf Town, the most open place in all the realms! That sounded promising, and indeed, he was welcomed with quite some pomp, the generous Mayor seemingly happy to see the him and completely unphased by his deathly vapors! Now Xyzlax is a well known member of the community, operating a vast operation of soup kitchens, orphanages and shelters, helping the meekest and most downtrodden to survive the next day – and the benefit? No gang ever dared to stop his operations…