Xenka
| Xenka | |||||
 Xenka, from Ultima VII Part Two | |||||
| Species: | human | ||||
| Profession: | Xenkan Monk | ||||
| Appearances | |||||
| |||||
Xenka is a New Sosarian prophet whose oracular visions foretold the coming of the time of Imbalance. The study and interpretation of her visions became the core task of an order monks years after her disappearance, and strange powers accorded to her allowed her to return to the material world in its time of need, aiding the Hero from Another World directly in the quest to preserve the multiverse. She appears in Ultima VII Part Two.
Description[edit]
Xenka was originally an impoverished and illiterate farm wife living near the outskirts of Moonshade. Upon being struck with the burden of prophecy, she took her revelations to the mages of the nearby city, hoping to convince them of the coming catastrophe. Dismissed as a madwoman, Xenka left her children and husband to find those that would believe in and scribe her visions, convinced of the importance of preparing for the coming armageddon.
Many of Xenka's visions were vague and inexact, and records of them have a highly experiential and dream-like tone. In them, she saw the destruction of the world preordained by the death of the Serpent of Chaos, and spoke of the earthquakes and strange sicknesses which would wrack the land as reality unraveled. The one hope in her prophecies was a figure known as the "Hero from Another World," a pious savior which would eventually be revealed as the Avatar of Britannia.
Eventually Xenka was assumed into the Ethereal Void, leaving the physical plane behind that she might reappear at the proscribed moment to aid the champion of her prophecies. Her return near the end of the Avatar's adventures was heralded by the unbidden ringing of the three bells of her order's monastery.
Once returned, Xenka proved a surprisingly direct and human woman, frustrated that the decades of analysis by the Xenkan order had often masked the stark meaning of her words. Cool and stoic, the prophetess spoke flatly of her grief for her lost life and her frustration at the corrupt denizen of the Serpent Isle, turning quickly to the task of instructing the hero through numerous tasks necessary to avert the apocalypse. With unerring pragmatism, the old seer revealed the rituals through which to capture the Banes of Chaos and to bind them again into the Chaos Serpent, showing little emotion when she decreed the necessity of a human sacrifice and little sympathy following the death of such an oblation – that being Dupre.
As the Avatar at last prepared to take on the mantle of the Great Hierophant and to make the final pilgrimage to Sunrise Isle, it was Xenka who bestowed the Ophidian Sword; the one artifact which could slay the bound Serpent of Balance.
Lore[edit]
| “ | Madness! Madness is all I can see! The world hath turned inside out. The stars shine blood red... Men are beasts... Beasts are men... Ashes... Ashes. The End is upon us all... Snakes leering in the void... Dancing a dance of death. The vision is over. I am without Sight... |
|---|
| “ | I see the Hero From Another World ringing the bells! I am not there. I am dead. Ring the bells. Oh, joy! What sweet music the bells make I am dreaming. I hear the bells and I wake... |
|---|
| “ | I can not allow them to keep me from reaching thee, for I know it is the will of Xenka that I assist thee. She speaks to me in quiet moments and in dreams, telling me that if the prophecy of peace is to be fulfilled, then the Stranger must be found. I have taken precautions and written in this journal what knowledge I could garner, that thou mayest succeed. In this way, if I do not find thee or am kept from thee, I can still offer thee aid through my writings. – from Balancing the Scales (Ultima VII Part Two)
|
|---|
Trivia[edit]
- One plot-stopper bug prevents Xenka from speaking about "sacrifice". The cause is the usecode egg in the small chamber in Furnace where the Serpent Staff is found; this egg sets a game flag which influences Xenka. To make sure, avoid the troll cave altogether until Xanka tells the Avatar to get the staff and first talk to Zhelkas before getting it. Step into the chamber with the staff and pull it directly into the inventory.