Styx is an interesting – and horrible – case of myth generating reality, rather than the other way around. The idea of a chimera was unknown in the New World, but in the Old, stories were swapped in darkened taverns of creatures smashed together; body parts swapped until they became strange, towering abominations. The most famous of these, the chimera, was said to be a mixture of goat, bird, snake, ape, and more, all played up by drunken storytellers to be the epitome of terror and unnatural blight.

One day, however, as the story of the fearsome chimera began making the rounds, a stranger was listening along in an unlit corner of the tavern. Drinking in the fear that blossomed amongst the rapt listeners, he leaned back in his chair and allowed a smile to flicker across his face. In truth, this stranger was an avatar of Slern, and he found he’d just been given an inspiration. Styx is the result of that idle fancy – an experiment on Slern’s part to see if he could bring the myth of the tavern tales to life. He succeeded, of course, and now the terror he constructed roams the New World, causing dismay wherever it lurches.