------------- Famous Rogues - The Scarlet Pearl

When the lands of Equideyea were home to marauding bands of nomadic horsemen, there was no thought to building an empire, no clue that the lands of the far eastern shores would one day serve as the birthing grounds of the greatest cavalry of the mighty Raidon Protectorate. In those dark days, mighty fortresses were built by greedy warlords interested only in defending their wealth and pleasures, and securing more.

On such Lord, Melgorth of Dalethorne, built a garrison before the gates of the Duergar fortress of Glyth, a passage deep into the bowels of the mountains, with rumored exits into the Deep Desert, ten thousand feet below. His armies were nearly invincible, and despite his strategically flawed position at the far western edge of Equideyea, he held what came to be known as Melgorn for fifteen years. He grew fat and wealthy, and the trade of the wandering Symballan caravans increased his wealth and power tenfold. And as with all men who crave power and wealth for pleasure and ego's sake, he fell to his own weaknesses.

From the desert came a honey skinned vixen with eyes like topaz. In the harim, she was unrivaled. On the floor of Melgorth's palace, she danced. In his bedchamber, he fell to her desires rather than she to his. For three months she stayed with him, his greatest conquest, his truest love. Until the night she threw off one disguise and put on another. From the eastern shores, there had been rumor of a beautiful sea captain, a pirate, a swashbuckler, and a thief. First she stole his wealth. Then she stole his life and set free all the slaves under his yoke. But rather than run, she defeated his most loyal bodyguards and stole his palace and his town as well.

She renamed the town and opened it to any and all who might wish to trade, regardless of their race, sex, or species. She set the standard that still rules there today, in the city perched upon the cliffs of Glyth, the adventurer's city called Xanthius. Her name was Ganyma Xanth. But her friends called her the Scarlet Pearl.

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