An ageless Dark Power that roamed the mists of the outer Plane of Shadow, Xa-Phyxan was a higher being that feasted on all energy it came across from the Deepmists. Claiming the title "The Ashwrought," Xa-Phyxan asserted to have ultimate power over forces of desiccation and decay.
They offered their power to the Baron Metus Syrek, making him a Darklord and creating the dread domain of Syrek-Kas. The Ashwrought lifted the forest of Gravencrag from the Prime Material into a demiplane of their own making, which was hidden somewhere in the Deepmists. Metus was given complete control over the atmosphere of the land, and was given the powers of a Vampire. However, Xa-Phyxan made this bargain knowing that in secret, it would siphon all energy from the plane, leaving Metus only a ruler of ruins.
As centuries passed, the domain became a barren, ash-choked wasteland, and Metus was driven further into madness. He began exacting extreme cruelties on the few survivors living in Syrek-Kas, and he was eventually killed by the monster hunter Rudolph van Richten. Xa-Phyxan abandoned the plane after Metus' death, removing the barrier of its mists, and fled to even darker places in the Shadowfell.