Iocaste

Iocaste, also known as "White Terror", was a female silver basilisk who chose the Trading Post of Toussaint as her nest. She was named in honor of Iocaste di Salvaress, mother of Count Borhis di Sarvaress and wife of his father, when she departed.

On one sunny day in 1275, a witcher Geralt found a letter on the notice board at The Cockatrice Inn from a merchant, who said that his convoy had been assaulted by a strange beast. The witcher headed to the place to investigate. When the witcher arrived, all the place was scorched by a strange substance and all the merchants were dead. Here, Geralt met Count Borhis di Salvaress, who started telling the story of this particular basilisk.

It turned out that the Basilisk was the last of her sort and that Count Borhis was taking care of her because this subspecies was his dynastic symbol. According to him, the basilisk did not murder those who did not trespass upon its territory. The basilisks family was much larger at one time before the beech forests were felled since beechwood forests was a chief habitat of roe deer and, in turn, a staple of the basilisk diet; when roe deer grew scarce, basilisks made humans their staple food. He also told the witcher that in 1274, the basilisks were two, but Iocaste's mate passed on. Iocaste was also brooding two eggs but after the death of her mate, she cast them from the nest.

Count Borhis also explained that he posted warnings to prevent anyone from coming to any harm. Many merchants, however, ignored the signs and entered the basilisk's territory, only their dead bodies to be found soon after. It was not the first time that people entered the basilisk territory and got killed by her but Count Borhis always returned the bodies to their families with a generous sum as recompense.

See also: Silver Basilisk