At two hundred and sixty-two years of age, Xerxes is the second eldest voice upon the Elder Council, and a man whose life has been shaped as much by sorrow as by service. Born the son of a humble vegetable farmer, his childhood was marked by the rhythm of planting and harvest. Yet it was not the soil alone that captured him, but the journeys his father made to trade with neighbouring tribes. As a boy he delighted in accompanying him, meeting strangers, listening to their stories, and learning how words and kindness could open hearts as surely as silver.

On one such journey he met Yria, a girl of another tribe. What began as a friendship between two wandering youths grew into love, and in time she left her kin to join him in the Thaeryx tribe. Their marriage was a joyful one. Yria bore him first a son, then a daughter, and for many years the young family lived in simple happiness. Xerxes worked beside his father, then later took over the farm. Though he still traded, he travelled reluctantly, for every day away from his wife and children was a day he longed to be home.
But joy was broken when Yria, carrying their third child, went into labour while Xerxes was away on a journey. The child was born too soon, and both mother and babe were lost. Grief hollowed him. For a time he could tend neither farm nor family, and it was only the kindness of neighbours and kin that kept his children fed and his fields alive.

From this darkness came an unexpected light. Fynx, an Elder of the Council, reached out to Xerxes in his grief and became a friend. In long talks, he saw in the farmer’s son a gift the Council sorely lacked: a natural talent for diplomacy. Fynx began to guide him, teaching him the subtleties of negotiation, the art of listening and persuading. Slowly, purpose returned to Xerxes’ life, and with it the strength to stand again.

As his children grew and took on the farm, Xerxes gave himself fully to this new calling. He rose to the Council and became the tribe’s most trusted envoy, travelling often to distant kin to weave bonds of trade and peace. To King Zaxus III he became a steady advisor in matters of diplomacy, a voice both practical and compassionate. Age has since stilled his wandering feet, and he no longer makes the long journeys himself, but his counsel remains as valued as ever.

His counsel is valued not only for the treaties he has forged, but for the steadiness of his heart. Xerxes carries his grief like a scar that has deepened his compassion, and those who sit with him find in his words the quiet strength of a man who has lived, endured, and still chooses to seek peace.