Any visitor to the Orman family palace couldn't fail to notice the ancient bas-relief depicting a giant scorpion in a battle stance. The Orman clan traced its lineage back to the times of the Forgotten Gods of the Adjalar Oasis. One of these gods was Akhreb Ummi. She went by many names: the Mother of Scorpions, the Protector of the Deceived, the Requiter… But she was most well-known as the goddess in charge of punishing traitors, upon whom she dealt merciless retribution.

For several centuries, the Ormans took Akhreb Ummi as their patroness and faithfully followed her precepts. They were known throughout the land as a family that worked honestly and treated everyone with respect, but severely punished anyone who betrayed them. This attitude inspired the trust and admiration of those around them, and the Orman business quickly became one of the most profitable in the oasis.

Their staggering success caught the attention of the emperor, who honored the Ormans with an aristocratic title. Year upon year, generation after generation, the Ormans gradually increased their wealth and gained ever greater influence. Eventually, their reverence for the gods gave way to a faith in hard currency, and the guiding principle of their ancestors — justice — was forgotten. The influential family used their power to discredit and intimidate their rivals; the most defiant ones were ruthlessly disposed of. They abandoned the ways of Akhreb Ummi altogether, and finally, the only remainder of the heritage of this ancient lineage was a single bas-relief in one of the mansion's halls.

Ziri, the daughter of Mensah Orman, was the only one in the family to remember the Protector of the Deceived. A quiet girl by nature, she would spend whole days in her room, playing with a scorpion carved out of smoky agate. Ziri felt completely out of place among her relatives, who in turn regarded her as a strange child, if not a lunatic.

Growing up, she was not impressed by their wealth, and the cruelty and foolishness of her family appalled her — as did her father's greed. "How did the clan that chose Akhreb Ummi as its patroness end up becoming the epitome of lawlessness and deceit?" Ziri lamented alone in the darkness of her room, as she heard her father executing yet another unfortunate soul on trumped-up charges in the courtyard.

But what was that!? Some kind of commotion had broken out in the street outside. Ziri peeked out of the window and saw a mob of angry peasants marching towards the Orman estate. Fed up with the tyranny of the aristocrats, they had decided to finally settle the score with Mensah Orman and his family. "It's time to break this vicious circle! Enough betrayal, enough injustice!" wailed the girl, paralyzed with fear as the enraged peasants broke into the house.

She heard the bloodthirsty mob storming through the house, murdering the Ormans one by one without sparing a single soul. Even the children and the elderly fell victim to their mad frenzy. Screams of agony resounded through the corridors, as Ziri started to whisper a prayer: "O Akhreb Ummi, great Mother of Scorpions, please save your devoted child..." The horrific sounds of revenge were getting closer. "I, Ziri, swear to become your eyes and ears. I will not succumb to blind rage, but I will be merciless towards traitors." Fear was encroaching on the girl's mind, but she steadily continued her prayer. "May your body protect me from harm, may your spirit help me to know the Light from the Darkness. Come, Akhreb Ummi!"

At that moment, the enraged intruders burst into Ziri's room, bloody knives in hand. Their eyes blazed with fury, and the blood from their cold blades dripped onto the floor. Their leader let out a chilling cry, and they rushed at the defenseless girl. Their blades were flashing in the air as the walls and furniture were rapidly turning crimson red. Thus, the last heiress of the Orman family perished, and the story of the great aristocratic lineage came to an end.

The murderers headed for the door, when suddenly they heard a menacing tapping sound behind them. They turned around, and their faces contorted into expressions of sheer terror. Before them, rising up on six sturdy chitinous legs, stood Ziri. She had returned to this world in a new form. There were no signs of hatred on her face, but her eyes shone with an unswerving determination to bring justice to those who betrayed their own principles and promises. Ziri’s heart was beating violently, as if it would burst out of her chest. Now the eyes, body, and feelings of Akhreb were her own. She had become Akhreb herself! Let there be justice!

Today, as she walks through the halls of her ancestral home, the honorable Guardian reminisces about days long past; the moment of her transformation, the miraculous survival of her little sister, the choice to take the righteous path, and the acceptance letter into Emperor Ingvar's hero squad. Ziri knows that she made the right decision.