-------------- Tales of the Raptors – The Black Queen

Nothing in Xanthius is quite what it appears to be. No one would ever have followed Hildegard Bloque. She simply didn’t have what it took to be the Queen of Thieves. In a city that valued nothing more than power, one had to be ruthless and cruel to get ahead. If things were to change, they’d have to change gradually, over decades. So Hildy and the Cliff Raptors came up with a ruse. Hildy would disappear, not that many in the city even knew what she looked like or where she lived. She would be replaced by someone else, known only as The Black Queen. Tied now to the Crimson Sisterhood by an ingenious alliance, most would think she was part of that vile organization of slave trainers. Only she and a few others would know the truth.

Thus they began their plot to overthrow Haziz Fekesh and seize control of the Xanth Guild. With the Orb of Glyth in her possession, and a striking resemblance to the legends of Gahnimah Xanth, the rumors began in earnest that the Queen of Thieves had been reborn,… and she wanted her thrown back. Hildy could play the vile despot easily enough, and yet she had good friends who watched her back and protected her, even from herself. It wouldn’t do to bring down Fekesh, to dismantle his cruel and heartless rule, only to become a tyrant herself. They say that power corrupts,… but that’s not always true. Power corrupts the weak. Power corrupts those who have no idea how to wield it correctly. The real question was,… was the Black Queen the right kind of person to wield that power without letting it get the best of her?

-------------- Credits

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