Perhaps you have heard the story of the great king of Keftiu who, upon finding himself in favor with his pagan gods, asked that everything he touched might turn to precious metals. The king, doomed by his vain and foolhardy request, choked to death as he tried to eat a grape, which turned to gold in his throat.

There is another such unfortunate, who some call Keftiu as well in imitation of the old story, for he has never seen fit to give his name. Everything he touches, rather than turning to precious metals, instead crumbles to dust. This includes the ground at his feet, which is reduced the the consistency of a raked ash, as well as the dust in the air, which results in a falling mist of death about his figure. The only exception seems to be his worn and tattered raiment, which some claim is that of an old Imperial guard from the Crisis era.

For whatever reason, this Keftiu keeps to himself, having taken up residence in the Vale of Ash about the summit of the Oesoyo volcano–one supposes, because there the ash he creates will not be noticed. None have ever seen him eat, and the few times an arrow or bullet has been loosed at him, it has dissolved when it struck. Some feel that he is facing an immortal punishment for some long-ago transgression, though what sin could merit such a punishment defies the imagination.

High Inquisitor’s Note:
Many attempts have been made to communicate with this “Keftiu,” and while he is clearly alive and conscious, he appears to either ignore or to be confused by most utterances. One scholar, though, was able to receive a response. He called out a question in Middle Imperial: “Quid tu hic?” The response was a single word: “Defectum.” “Failure,” or perhaps, “I failed.”

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