Tanza's home in Grimney
Here it is...a brief history in one minute. If you are a slow reader, it could take an hour, but here goes.
My mother, Viktoria, ruled a far-off land with her husband, King Ulrik. She was enticed by a demon lover who impregnated her...with me. The King thought I was his, but it was obvious I wasn't after Viktoria had given birth. I was a creature with no soul or endearing features to speak of. The King couldn't bear the embarrassment, so I was shut away out of sight. A story was concocted about my death and everybody mourned me. I was no trouble as a small baby, but things got worse as I grew. I had no conscience, no idea of right or wrong and didn't respond to anyone or anything. I was hideous to look at and too large for Viktoria to cope with. She was the only one who could be around me as nobody else in the world knew of my existence and the King had long since disappeared. He was not the true King...Viktoria was the original heir to the throne, but had allowed him the title when they married.
Viktoria begged a local sorceror, Balthazar, to help her. He came from a long line of wise witches and It was felt that, if he could find some way of giving me a soul, I might...one day...be able to exist outside the castle and live a more normal life, even if I was a little unsightly. However, he couldn't do much for me, as my real demon father had passed down horrific and irreversible traits...one in particular was an intense craving for human flesh. Viktoria had contracted a rather nasty disease from her demon lover, which was slowly turning her insane. This rather helped with my addiction, as she became quite impatient with any criminals that were brought to her. The death penalty became the only punishment for anything at all. Hanging, beheading, electrocution, drowning, stoning, flogging...you name it, she did it...personally!! The harsher she became, the better behaved her subjects were. Nobody even dared laugh in an open space, in case they were arrested for breach of the peace and hanged.
The land became quiet and sad and I had become uncontrollable. As mad as Viktoria was, she knew she couldn't keep killing everybody she came into contact with. In the end, the only people she associated with were the castle staff. They were as safe as they could be...carrying knives and hammers in case of a sudden temper tantrum from their Queen.
Unfortunately, the only thing Balthazar could do was cast a spell that would enable me to gather knowledge, emotion and physical features from anything I consumed. This was the only way I could even begin to understand any kind of reasoning or awareness of other people and their behaviour. Slowly, it began to work. There were often rebels trying their luck at the castle...trying to harm Viktoria. I did not realize her importance to me at first, but Balthazar's spell helped me to learn what it meant to have a mother. I protected her until she became so completely insane that she would try to murder me on a regular basis. I did not want to retaliate and, strangely, she knew she shouldn't be trying to hurt me.
I left and travelled to Grimney. I visited Viktoria often, but Ulrik soon heard that I did not live at the castle anymore. He returned and reclaimed his royal title. He did his best to look after his Queen, but she had been beyond help for many years already. It was clear that he had missed her terribly and I was now able to see more clearly the damage my demon father, the Kishi, had done to both their lives. I do not visit much and, if I do, the King must not hear about it. Although he would not harm me out of love for my mother, Viktoria, I cannot truly say that I am strong enough to leave him uneaten. It was revealed that he had been sending groups of men to do away with me. If this had not been the case, I might be totally resolved in my decision to let him live. However, sometimes, he really gets on my nerves!
My father, the Kishi, still visits me. He is often accompanied by his little annoying friends, who can't behave themselves at all. They drink alcohol until they can't even see, speak or hear and they eat anything they like, in spite of my obvious anger. Added to that, but less annoying than them eating everything, they urinate and defecate everywhere. I only tolerate them for my father's sake. He can be a rather gruesome drinking partner, but at least he cares enough to visit.
So, why do I look like I do? Well...I don't always. Do you think it's easy being me? Do you think I just pull anyone in from the cobbles and scoff them on a whim? No. I have to watch my diet very carefully. I really am what I eat. If I eat a nice person, I am easier to get on with for a while, but if you see me after a heavy feast on a bunch of loutish tourists, you'll want to get away as quickly as possible. They really do take ages to work their way out. Sometimes I can be incredibly irate for weeks! My appearance also depends on my diet. Chewing on a handsome male will cause me to become more appealing to look at, while an ugly thief who's never been to the dentist in his life...well, you can imagine. I have tended to feed on males mostly. I find the strength acquired is more practical for my lifestyle. Who wants to be a weak girl in the middle of an angry mob...not me!
I have many friends here in Grimney. Most of them are the peasants who first took me in when I arrived. I consumed rather a lot of large and grotesque men while helping rid their settlement of invaders and earned the reputation rather early on as an uncontrollable monster...no change there then. Now they see me as family and I am proud to live among them. I have often used the dark powers, inherited from my father, to either help or hinder others, depending on what's needed. I was quickly drawn to The Coven and have spent many a long night scrying, casting and generally sharing knowledge with the other members. We are all of completely different backgrounds, but we get along...mostly.
At this very moment, I am trying to cut down on my intake of human flesh. I try to eat only people who would cause harm to others...I'm not a complete monster! As you can see, I have overdosed rather heavily on dogs and pigs and the hair on my back is just so itchy, especially as it's so hot these days. So, in time, you may come to see a few differences in my appearance. As for my intelligence, I try to feed upon the more intelligent of each species. I have many cold stores full of dehydrated body parts, each ripped from the most well-read and wisest of humans. I make sure I snack on them regularly to keep my wits about me. However, if anyone saw me a few days ago and wondered what in hell was going on with me...I apologize for my lapse in mental agility. I was coming home late, and incredibly drunk, from the Tavern and was rather too hungry to resist popping a hysterical pheasant into my mouth. I had to put it out of its misery, it was behaving like an idiot and I tripped over it too many times to be able to ignore it. Anyway, I ate it. Hence, I have been desperately trying to stop myself running into the cobbles and staring at on-coming horses. I think I must have been run over at least twenty times that night and a few times since...and not because people are usually trying to trample my sorry bones to the floor...I'm well used to that...but usually I try to get out of the way!!
So...if you see me in the Tavern...stop and have a drink. I don't bite. :->