Prompt: Of Man, Lamia, and Goddesses (P4)

Summary: In a parallel universe much like our own, a series of divine mishaps creature a world where lamia replace human females as the eternal partners for men. What follows is a series of vignettes of how this world evolved over time. Commissioned by downhillrabbit6.1 for the month of September 2022.

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Part 4 (Sep '22)

3rd century BCE

The history of Chinese nationhood goes back thousands of years, with major dynasties forming and collapsing over periods of great turmoil, conflict, and intrigue. Like many nations the world over, the concept of a "unified" people is largely a myth, informed by the victors of countless smaller conflicts across vast regions to assert the supremacy and the security of their own peoples.

This history has repeated itself wherever living peoples have settled and established roots, and in an era where different cultures and different sentient species would often interact, conflict would often follow. The dawn of the earliest forms of sophisticated human civilization would bring tragedies on a scale not seen prior.

Geography often informed the settlements of the region, and terrestrial lands often experienced conflict on multiple fronts. Early recorded instances of human trafficking were common, with human males being a popular target for raiding parties from monsterfolk of all sorts. To the west, mountain ranges were home to furred yeti women, who would rely on their superior strength and stature that dwarfed that of men, to spirit them away to chilly mountain peaks for warmth and companionship. And to the east, where settlements bordered the Nan Hai (today known as the South China Sea), merfolk would ambush fisherman and sexually assault them, either on their vessels or dragged away to the relative safety of the faraway islands.

As populations in these regions grew over time, despite the raids from smaller monsterfolk tribes, they became all the more appealing as a source of manpower and wealth; men were prized for their ability to husband new offspring, and human women were just as coveted as a source of sustenance. As a result, raids grew in size and scale, and many monsterfolk eyed permanent residences to settle in themselves as force, for whoever controlled the resources of the region lorded over the region itself.

Human settlements, as a consequence, became increasingly militarized as humans sought to defend themselves. When all was said and done, however, a two-pronged attack from the east and west would prove to be far beyond the capabilities of men, between the brute force of the yeti and the clever wiles of the merfolk.

Able fighting men were not executed or put on trial, but were claimed as bounty, with monsterfolk of all tribes organizing to claim their men as if they were livestock. However, a third faction—the lamia—were known for their ambush tactics, and would seize upon such gatherings with impunity. Possessing strength and guile, they would routinely rout other monsterfolk tribes, their scale hides too thick for conventional merfolk weapons, and their strength beyond that of even the yeti.

The lamia, however, saw human settlements with a different strategy in mind, and one clever lamia would settle roots for human-lamia relationships. Known to history as Mǐn Ruì, she was a beautiful lamia, with stunning red scales that served as a contrast to her carefully-done makeup.

She made a deal with the human general, Zhānghuà: the lamia would serve as protectors of the community, and be allowed to join as equals. Facing oblivion from east and west, mankind yielded to her demand, and a partnership began that would shape history well into the present day.

The lamia valued human males as a prized resource like any other monsterfolk tribe. With this arrangement, they always had males well in hand. Mǐn Ruì was a sensuous, pleasure-seeking woman and, in her free time, was known to host a harem of able men, all attending to her needs. The lamia proved to be capable protectors, fending off attacks from barbarian aggressors, and their standing in society only grew; in a few generations, lamia-human couples outnumbered the typical human counterpart two-to-one, as able men were presented to heroic lamia as gifts for their services.

In these periods of peaceful stability, settlements saw cultural growth beyond anything seen prior, with the construction of lavish palaces dedicated to the matriarchal lamia who rose to prominent positions. They were the sites of grand festivals centered on the ovulation periods of the region's lamia; two times a year, men and lamia comprising the settlement's aristocracy would arrive to be attended to by waiting servants, while enjoying rapturous parties and raucous orgies.

Reports of the time indicate the nature of these events. The temperature would often swell to uncomfortable temperatures due to the crowding, as the floor would be completely obscured by flailing snake tails and human limbs; it was not uncommon for servants attending the nobles to be injured whether by being tripped or by being hit with a tail. Following the traditions of tribal lamia, they would gather in one space, coiling around each other, touching one another, and sharing food, drink, and their bodies and their mates. Despite a lamia's instinctual tendency towards jealousy and protectiveness, sharing mates was encouraged to strengthen community bonds, and human males were passed between lamia partners from one to another; many were powerless to resist.

Rivers of wine flowed into thirsty mouths, and the decadence of these occasions were without peer. In addition to catering of luxury dishes for refined pallets, live animals and prisoners of war were often presented to sate the appetites of hungry, sexually-driven lamia. There are even some accounts of lamia eating other guests at the party in the chaos of the festivities, but they are rare, and such instances were punished severely; organizers would prepare dozens of pigs, goats, cattle, and other animals for live consumption.

Some of these palaces remain standing today, depending on the region: the centaurs of the Mongol invasions that would arrive over a thousand years later would raze many of these storied buildings to the ground. Many of these palaces cultivated naturalized stretches of land suitable for hunting, a popular pastime among aristocratic lamia who wanted to indulge their predatory nature and their own heritage; many of these lands remain protected reserves even today, as a stopgap against unchecked urban expansion.

Early relationships with lamia would inform the progression of societies in the Far East for generations to come, and early Chinese civilizations provided a preview of what was to come for similar developments around the world. The earliest lamia were shrewd tacticians and diplomats, yet their fondness for their male human counterparts came from a place of genuine love, and many amourous tales were written of in this era.

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