Prompt: Of Man, Lamia, and Goddesses (P6)
Added 2022-11-09 12:59:29 +0000 UTCSummary: 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 November 2022.
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Part 6 (Nov '22)
Year 0, Anno Domini
Unlike their counterparts to the East, European empires did not see an incursion of lamia. This was only somewhat a stroke of luck; compared to the immense wealth and luxury that Asian and Indian empires offered, European settlements were comparatively much poorer, and less enticing to outsiders and raiding parties. Lamia in particular didn't respond well to northern climates, due to their cold-blooded reptilian bodies.
As a result, first contact between European men and lamia would not occur on a significant level until the age of the Roman Empire, a body that was exceptional for its ability to push and settle into new frontiers, often conscripting local communities into service as border guards in exchange for valuable salt. It was through their aggressive expansionism that they were able to push as far as the borders of a multitude of empires now comprising the subcontinent of India.
Rumours of voluptuous snake women capable of seducing and devouring men whole were initially seen as a jape by hardened Roman soldiers; these accounts, compounded by written accounts seized from libraries, were met with increasing incredulity. Though some officers regarded these accounts as simple attempts at fear-mongering, military accounts indicated a rise in morale among the rank and file of Rome; many wanted to capture a lamia of their own to keep as a sex slave, while others were interested in hunting one as a beast.
One general, Callipho Rufus, was interested in verifying the veracity of these outrageous rumours, and in anticipation of a future invasion, fielded a small scouting party under the guise of a diplomatic party. The accounts of this mission are worthy of documentation in its own book: the first Roman accounts of a lamia settlement emerged from this saga. General Rufus returned to the capital with a lamia escort, pleased to report on their combat capabilities and that unnecessary loss of Roman lives were not incurred.
The Roman strategy was to extend their influence to far-reaching regions and to control commerce, and the physical attributes of lamia were without peer among mortal men. Though demihuman tribes were shrinking against the encroachment of human settlements, there were still major forces at play; politicians in Rome heard of terrible devastation incurred by the Mongol Herd far from home, and ongoing conflicts with Selkie tribes to the far north weighed heavily. Lamia encountered in the East spoke the same tongue that diplomatic envoys understood, and thus could be "educated" in Roman customs. More practically, they could be made model Roman citizens, as well as apex Roman soldiers, amplifying their raw combat prowess with advance Roman strategies and armaments.
The marriage of Roman and lamia interests was twofold: Roman's national interests could be advance even further, and lamia could share in the wealth, and have their pick of an eager selection of men, entranced by the idea of bedding such powerful, sensuous women. It was not long until lamia were being taken as the consorts of famous Roman politicians, serving the empire, and enjoying all the privileges of Roman citizenship.
Roman public baths were an innovation of particular interest to lamia, as the balmy conditions were especially pleasing to lamia. Lamia would often have the bathhouses to themselves; many lamia would help themselves to a human woman whole before retreating to the borderlands of the Roman Empire, having their fill of the eligible men on their lonely postings... and oftentimes the ineligible men, who would have their wives disappear into the lamia's gaping maw.
The makeup of the Roman Empire changed quickly as lamia concubines would influence their politically-connected husbands. There was a darker side to this nominally-titled Golden Age, as a Roman Empire with lamia proved to be a very dangerous place for human women; they were the biggest targets among lamia populations that were biologically predisposed to be possessive of men and envious of women. Women who could not gather the resources to flee urban centres were often devoured whole in the streets, with investigating authorities bribed with coin, influence, or sexual favours.
The rapid change of the Roman Empire was remarkable, as one of the earliest incidents of lamia not only being a part of a large society, but as interwoven participants... largely as a consequence of supplanting the human women who once occupied that space. A society built by mankind, and reformed by lamia, surged to the fore as an example for other nations.
For a moment in time, there was a period of prosperity as the population of the Roman Empire surged from within, rather than as a consequence of expanding territory. Lamia were furtive mothers, and over successive generations evolved more and more to be ideal partners to men. One new biological innovation for lamia was forced ovulation; though lamia had a deep-seeded hunger for male semen and to be fill whole, they had an equal affinity to the biological function of laying their clutch of eggs. Among men eager to be fucked senseless, lamia could engage freely in constant cycles of intercourse, impregnation, egg laying, and repeating... in some cases, all at once.
Unlike human women, lamia could give birth over and over, siring large families of lamia; producing eggs the size of Roman vases, they would largely produce lamia girls. However, on the odd occasion, a lamia would be forced to give birth to a human male child, in the same way a human woman would. This adaptation among lamia was another step towards replacing human women in societies. Child-rearing lamia, tasked with raising large families of lamia, often sought out lamia wet nurses with multiple mammaries and arms to effectively multitask the breastfeeding of children; as the population expanded, so too did the army, and the Roman Empire would expand even further.
Lamia in the Roman Empire were notable for being the first to rise to positions of power, winning the right of equal citizenship among the men for their necessary role in the internal workings of the Empire, though the outcome of their supplanting of the human woman is a dark side of Roman history; modern historians, discovering accounts of such women, have mobilized to challenge preconceived notions of this period of history, highlighting a series of actions that some historians liken to genocide in a time of massive political reform.
