Marjenjitsjá

Marjenjitsjá was an artist and mystic of Vht'shjenjé origin. She is one of the most influential philosophers within the Ancestral Veneration sect, as well as a highly respected painter, calligrapher and author.  
Marjenjitsjá is notable for lacking a Metsjenúr, or lineage name. She was born outside of Vht'shjenjé society, somewhere in the underground deep below Varvardnársh.
Her lineage is unknown, but it is believed she is the descendant of an obscure sect of poets that once dwelled around a pristine underground lake; there, they carved bizarre fractal patterns into stone and practiced absolute pacifism. The sect was exterminated by Ihtsikhá death-squadrons who regularly patrol the depths to weed out religious heterodoxy, but somehow Marjenjitsjá survived and made it to a city where philosophical ideas clashed. 
She became part of a popular artistic movement seeking to reconcile conflicting philosophical factions with Varvardnárshi society. The dichtomy, largely between orthodox idealism and heterodox materialism, was adressed by the movement by fusing materialist ideas from the artificer class into the idealism of the ruling clergy and poet classes. She eventually became the leading figure within the movement and began touring around Vht'shjenjé territory and even beyond, seeking artistic talent wherever she would find it. Several new talents came to fame through this search, most notably Vekhshtvezhán. Later she held a manifestation before the Upper Court of the government and was given official status by Shjevtyrín herself. After this boon, she proceeded to open an academy for pursuit of the finer arts, perhaps the first semblance of a university founded in the Scorched world.
She pursued to teach at the academy and at the same time publish a number of treatises to summarise her philosophy. The most notable of her works by far is the Ahtsijasht'rshtvy or "The morning dewdrop upon the cactus-blossomed coloured lake", which was canonised by the Shjevtyrín and studied extensively by scholars and poets alike. Her calligraphic works and illustrations of the saints are also highly regarded, and the "Marjenjitsján halo" is used ubiquitously when depicting the Ancestor-Saints. She continued to do so until she reached her senties, where she traveled south to the city-state of Kjh'shvannére in their time of peril to raise their spirits. There, she was murdered by a poet named Ashavtán who coveted fame but lacked talent, and intended to steal her works to be published by himself. When he failed, he stabbed the elderly Marjenjitsjá and threw her down a chasm, never to be seen again. His name is now one of the Infamous Three Names as remembered in Vht'shjenjé chronicles.
The mysterious origins of Marjenjitsjá have led to a lot of speculation about her. Many claim that she has already lived for hundreds of years and possesses supernatural powers similar to Shjevtyrín; some say because of her extreme wisdom and charisma she has developed magical skills, others claim that her magic comes from ancient, forgotten blood-sorcery practiced by survivors of Arthyrín's fateful invasion army that hid in the caverns deep below Varvardnársh. She popularised the manufacture of ritual bowls made from prayer skulls, the carving of prayer beads from human bone, and other ancient practices that had fallen out of use among the religious.
There is a shrine raised to her in Varvardnársh, holding her bone prayer bowl and a small piece of black cloth woven from her hair as a relic. She is not regarded, despite her influence, as an Ancestor-Saint, although there is a popular movement among many poets urging for her canonisation.
Category:Philosophers
Category:Vht'shjenjé people
Category:Artists
Category:Influential women
Category:Politicians
Category:Poets
Category:Intellectuals
Category:Sorcerers
Category:Scorched people