Seroster
About The 'Seroster'[edit]
The Seroster is a mythical being of lore, believed to hunt down those who have done wrong and catch them in the act. A mysterious character, he is supposedly skilled with any weapon of his choice. If that were not terrifying enough, the Seroster has command over a legion of 'cats' who lead him about wherever he is needed. Known as their 'savior', the cats would follow him, warped in a strange craze over his apparent enthusiasm to kill. Legend says his weapon drove him to insanity, and he is controlled by it rather than his own natural thoughts. The story of the Seroster is commonly used to keep children in line and acting good, teaching them that bad things happen to bad people.
There have been at least three different versions of the Seroster over time, though he is most commonly depicted as a man dressed in black and wearing a white cape. His face is veiled and unseen, save for his glowing red eyes and even then they are only revealed when he chooses.
The Legend[edit]
For a long time, the planet of Sjille was a primitive place. Pre-colonization and space capable, the natives of the planet survived by hunting. Living in caves known as Chedes' Passage, they cooked their food on large fires and used the leftover animal skins to stay warm. As the legend goes, at some point during this time a single spacecraft crash-landed on the planet. Imparting some of his knowledge to the nearby people, the offworlder also offered some of his more useless belongings to the inhabitants in exchange for food. Not knowing any better, the inhabitants took his deal. The space traveler took the food and headed on his way, while the natives fought over all they had acquired. These disputes eventually ended with the nearly complete self-destruction of the inhabitants.
Only a handful of villagers survived long enough to witness the subsequent arrival of visitors from other worlds who came to colonize the planet. Over time the natives recalled stories of the space traveler, and as the colonizers gained the ability to communicate with the villagers the two cultures shared the curious desire to find the aforementioned starship. Unable to find the craft in question, the offworlders did find pieces of the ship that neither mysterious traveler nor the natives had found use for. Learning of this discovery, the denizens of the planet began talking of the man in black, donning a white cape. The colonizers' curiosity was once again piqued, hoping to find this mysterious spaceman their searches produced nothing for a second time. It was at this point that the natives began to note that the cloaked man had come after the fights amongst the tribes. Curiously, he was said to take the bodies of the fallen and burn them. Referred to often by the natives as 'the one who gave them everything then took it away', the colonizers presumed it was the pilot but no further information was produced.
In the legend, the colonizers began their conquest of the planet, building cities and harvesting crops. As this began, the mysterious cloaked man was rumoured to appear amongst the crowds though fleetingly before disappearing once again. The population of the offworlders eventually got so large that they looked to expand into the mountains of the natives. Greedy by nature, the colonizers sought to control Chedes' Passage. Despite superior numbers and technology, the colonizers were struggling in their conquest of the natives' lands due to apparent disruptions by unknown creatures. Each week, a group of colonizers would make the trek towards the mountains and each week the cats in the mountains would erupt in a horrifying scream and the travelers would not return. The size of the groups would increase each time until they resembled a small army. It had never been about necessity, only want and greed. Finally, after many weeks of failure and loss the colonizers reached the village to find it completely deserted...not a single native remained. It had taken a long while, but the planet was now theirs for the taking...or so they thought.
From the woods came the scream of the cats, causing the colonizers to crowd to the center of the clearing. The screams stopped, giving the trespassers a moment of relief before the cats attacked, their eyes glowing with rage. Through their greed, the colonizers had sinned against humanity and the cats of Seroster were sent to make them pay. The cats decimated the army, though they as they had done during the tribal wars survivors were allowed to live...five to be exact. These men made their way down the mountain side as fast as they could, though several days travel lay between them and their cities. The sound of the cats was persistent, causing constant fear in the survivors. Every couple of nights the screams were particularly clear and the remaining colonizers would awake to find one more member missing from their group. When it was down to two men, the woods became deafeningly silent for the remainder of the journey. Just before they reached the village, there was a single scream, and a man in black clothes and a white cape was in front of them. One of the men had heard stories of this 'Seroster' and thought of him as an evil murderer and decided to use his friend to protect himself. The legend tells that the Seroster moved so fast that the selfish man was dead before he hit the ground. In a blink of an eye, the Seroster had covered ten feet and cut him down. The man used as a shield was left alive, but stood frozen in place as the Seroster looked up to him and revealed himself. With glowing red eyes, the face was totally veiled and unseen but the Seroster could be heard to say in the darkest, most sinister voice: "I am all that is evil...I am greed, lust and hate...I am the darkness... I cannot disappear. You will join forces with me or you will not...there is nothing in between...Stand against me now... Or run..." It is said the man turned and ran for his life...
The morale of the story is that you can't live with evil because eventually it will overtake you. You may only run or stand up and fight. The cats of Seroster may not always look the same, but their screams can be heard before the Seroster arrives to either kill you or save you...
Other Uses[edit]
Shazam reacquired his uncle's ship, the Seroster while on Forman II
