In a cruel twist, the creature feasted only on the young and virile, so each month one of the metropolises would send as tribute to Minorestes fourteen young women and fourteen young men, one to be consumed each day. Soon, the king would demand tribute not in coin or grain, but in the form of humans to be given as tribute. When a serving maiden disappeared in the wing, the wicked reality of the beast was known only human flesh would satisfy its endless hunger. But it grew quickly in strength and size, and its appetite was insatiable. Initially, the king and his wife determined they would conceal the beast in a wing of the palace, sending it food and keeping it away from all. Minorestes waited outside the birthing chamber, only to see the midwives fleeing in horror he entered in to see his wife sobbing and the form of a bull-headed child laying on the ground. The King was delighted to see his wife with child, as they had a young daughter, still an infant, named Araxnia, but he as of yet had no heir. Hoplita used the device, mind still clouded by Cytherea, and conceived from her union with the mystical bulls, sacred gifts from Thalattos long ago. There he and his son Icaranas would dwell until the royalty came once more for them. Taitalan was paid handsomely for the device, and was given a home in Erebus by the Queen for his discretion. Informed of the problem, Taitalan utilized his cunning to fashion the image of a heifer to entice the bulls, with a chamber so the queen could enter within. Secretly, she sent summons to the gnomish inventor, and he arrived not long after. She heard report from a tribute ship that sailed from Cleobonomos that there was an artificer named Taitalan who could fashion incredible wonders. Inflamed with lust for the beast, she sought some way to satiate her desire. The goddess of love descended to Queen Hoplita, and stirred her thoughts toward the ancient prize of the Minarestean Kings, their great azure bulls. And so Cytherea came to the queen in a dream, and planted a seed that would be the source of all the misfortunes of Erebus for its final generation. Enraged at his audacity, Thalattos appealed to Cytherea to meddle the minds of the royalty to begin his retribution. Where once he was a favored adherent of Thalattos, the king ceased his offerings of annual hecatombs to the god of the sea, and declared himself the sovereign master of the seas. Perhaps it was his hubris, or a madness set out by the gods, but Minorestes began to snub the gods their due portion. Minorestes ruled nearly all Calopius, demanding gold, silver, and grain from the cities to fund his island kingdom. The story begins with King Minorestes and his wife Hoplita. ![]() However, the tale of the Minarestean Kings is also a tale of liberation, tragedy, love, invention, and heroism. When Calopenes were young and the metropolises were still growing, Erebus stood a dominant force over the land. ![]() ![]() Much that was known about them was lost, save the memory of their great marble walls and towering columns. For centuries, it was ruled by a lineage of kings known as the Minarestean Kings. Erebus was an island kingdom south of Calopius in the age of heroes.
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