Sho

The Sho, also called the Imperial Elves or Grey Elves, are a race of maedi native to Tsaiyun. Highly xenophobic, the Sho have long denied outsiders access to their realm, which is largely a place of mystery. Sho appear much as Tsaiyuan humans do, save for their pointed ears, tall, robust frames and highly-angular features. 
=== History ===
The exact nature of the Sho is unclear, though it is known that, like all maedi, they descend from those Azlan who were cast into the Abyss following the disaster of the Tower Spell. The maedi who would become the Sho gathered around a leader called Baishi, the Grey Prophet, who led them back to the World Above. The followers of Baishi settled on the continent of Tsaiyun, and over the coming centuries would subjugate the scattered tribes and petty kingdoms of Man. This conquered territory was consolidated into the sprawling, orderly domain of Selang. The Sho claim that their Sublime House of Selang has endured since time immemorial, and frankly, it is impossible to say how true this is, as Altean scholars have never been granted access to the Sho’s extensive archives. It is enough to know that, by the latter First Age, Tsaiyuan vessels were already arriving at the great ports of eastern Altea, bringing with them exotic goods and even more wondrous tales of a realm that seemed forever closed to foreigners. The Arch-Lectors, beginning with Anvali (r. 806-813), sent several delegations to Selang and its capital of Pensha, but any meetings with Selangan officials were so shrouded in ritual that little of value could be learned. It seemed that the Sho had no interest in establishing a rapport with the barbarians across the Glass Sea. 
In the early Second Age, Archon Alexis (r. 1367-1389), master of Gallia, sent a large delegation to Selang to determine how the Sho had weathered the Typhonic Schism. The Sho appeared as serene and unchanging as ever, but officials hinted that they might welcome the assistance of Alexis in reclaiming the ‘rebellious’ province of Jingu, a collection of islands to the south of Selang that had thrown off Sho rule and established a human government. Alexis never committed any forces to this endeavor, but it was something of a shock to learn that Tsaiyun was not a timeless, unchanging realm, and the Sho were not the dispassionate ‘Grey Elves’ that stereotype had suggested. It seemed that even Tsaiyun had its wars and grand struggles, and the Sho were deeply involved in these conflicts. Latter visitors claimed that the Sho had become obsessed with walls and fortresses, with the need to seal off their realm from outsiders, particularly the Jurgas, an amorphous horde of ‘barbarians’ who dwelled beyond the light of Selang and who were blamed for every calamity that beset the House of Peace. 
The expedition ordered by Emperor Thari (r. 2582 – 2604), destroyed while crossing the Green Serpent Mountains, might have finally convinced the Sho to undertake their own explorations of foreign lands. But the officials received by Empress Alissa (r.  2795 – 2829), only caused the Gallian court to worry about a future invasion. A second embassy met with disaster, as its leaders were executed by the erratic Emperor Farazzo (r. 2925 – 2957) after he took offense at the call to make ‘flower sacrifice’ to all the ‘corners of the cosmos’ and so ‘mark the boundaries of the House of Peace.’ The Senate feared a terrible reprisal for this breach of diplomatic etiquette, but it would be another century before the Sho responded. 
The response came in the form of Zahak, the Phoenix Prophet. Zahak had gained control of the Qong Yad, the ruling council of Selang, several decades before 3050. Zahak’s exact nature is unclear, but he appears to have been a powerful sorcerer and mystic and was determined to restore the divine natures of the Sho. To do this, he called for an invasion of Altea to reclaim certain relics of the Azlan, and so effect a ritual that would return the Sho to the stars. Zahak exercised a powerful influence on his people, and in 3050, Khanaan was struck by a massive Sho fleet, marking the start of the Sunrise Wars. 
After nearly three decades of fighting, Altea rallied and Emperor Curates (r. 3053 – 3079) lead a counter invasion of Tsaiyun. Zahak met the foreigners on the Yellow Plains and called forth such terrible powers that he obliterated both the Altean and Tsaiyuan armies. This event came to be called the Eastern Doom, for not only was Zahak transfigured into a Head of the Beast, the forces he unleashed reverberated across Vala, bringing an end to the Third Age. Some were convinced that the Sho had been destroyed, or that Tsaiyun itself had sunk below the seas. These tales were ultimately proven false, but it seems that Zahak’s excesses inspired renewed isolationism among the Sho. 
This isolation is now ending. Those few merchants who trade regularly among the Sho, stopping in at the ‘Outermost Port’ of Kun-Jilan, have reported an increasing fervor among the usually restrained eastern elves. Invasions are apparently being planned for Jingu, the Attash plains and even the frozen Mukdan wastes. Some claim that the Sho ultimately intend to attack Heide and ‘liberate’ the Sa’sen, the descendants of Sho and Tsaiyuan humans who remained in Altea at the end of the Eastern Wars. Clearly, the Fifth Age will see the lands of east and west draw closer than ever before. Whether this will finally lead to cooperation, or simply new disaster, cannot be known. 
=== Society ===
When Alteans think of the ‘Sho,’ they in fact are thinking of the Selangans, the inhabitants of the greatest realm in Tsaiyun. Naturally, Selang is populated by several different races, the Sho merely being the most prominent. Explorers have suggested that there are savage Sho who live in the Yendu Jungle, that there are nomadic Sho who wander the Mukdan taigas, and even half-feral Sho who lurk in cliffs among the volcanic Dolg Mountains. The Sho of Selang would deny this. To them, the only truly civilized nation in Tsaiyun, indeed, in all the world, is Selang, the Sublime House of Peace. It is the dwelling place of the Sho, guided by Baishi and his Fourfold Path. Thus, any elf that fails to follow these teachings is not Sho, relegated to the status of a barbarian awaiting eventual enlightenment. 
The Sho of Selang, from what little has been gleaned, are a highly ritualistic people. They have a strong sense of order, and adhering to this order ensures that all remains harmonious and peaceful. To the Sho, ‘All under Heaven,’ must reflect the celestial harmony at the heart of the cosmos. It is the very purpose of the Sho to extend this order across the world. Any deviation from this order invites Chaos, and indeed, the Sho are great enemies of Chaos and its minions, for the Beast is the embodiment of all that is inelegant, barbarous and crude, the great destroyer of peace. Though in fact, when the Sho speak of ‘peace’ they truly mean ‘abiding contentedly under Heaven.’ To be discontented is to be hostile towards the correct order of the cosmos, and thus to serve the great Serpent of Chaos, enemy of elfkind. Acceptance of life and all its trials is very important to the Sho. Only barbarians shirk their duties or fail to observe the proper rituals simply because they are tedious or of unknown efficacy. 
According to several sources, all Sho names are just calendrical designations. Thus, a Sho named 17 Grassmoon, was born on the 17th of Grassmoon, the equivalent of Greentide. Many Sho thus have identical names, and distinguish each other by nicknames derived from some personal achievement or unique physical attribute, such as Sagacious Roh or Frowning Pei. Many Sho simply refer to each other by their titles: Scholar Lam, Soldier Hushuk, Merchant Qaiyah and so on. Among the status-conscious Sho, to have no title is to have no place in civilized society. Even a city slave, tasked with sweeping the streets daily, has a purpose under Heaven. The Sho without purpose are quickly ostracized, and they often become bandits on the margins of Selang. 
A curious feature of Sho society is their use of ‘ink magic’ or ‘spirit writing’ called munya. Enchanted tattoos are common throughout Tsaiyun, though the Sho are the master practitioners of this art. Tattoos can confer wondrous benefits, but they can also punish. Slaves are often marked with munya tattoos and rendered into mindless automatons, put to work for the benefit of the Sublime House. Other munya can render someone mute, blind or deaf. These ‘spiritual mutilations’ are prescribed for a set time, and then the tattoo is removed. The Sho consider actual mutilations to be barbarous, and also of limited effect. A man who has his hand removed for theft has no real chance of repenting and restoring his hand. But a tattoo that renders a hand paralyzed and useless for a year might yet teach the thief some manners, or so the Sho claim. And if no education is possible, a criminal is marked with a slave number tattoo and sent to work on the endless building projects ordered by the Board of Works.          
The Sho are governed by the Qong Yad, or Empty Throne. The throne is reserved for Baishi and his teachings, but as the Grey Prophet has long since departed Vala, the Throne is guarded by four ‘Wardens,’ assigned to the cardinal directions. These paragons have perfected their anima, or ‘chi’ as it is called in Selang, and thus have attained near-immortality. Though of immense power, the Wardens are not able to govern Selang themselves. They rely on a sprawling bureaucracy of scholar-officials arranged in an intricate and somewhat confounding hierarchy. These scholars are broadly grouped under ‘Boards,’ tasked with maintaining harmony. The ‘Board of Rites,’ for example, performs the elaborate rituals needed to ‘conciliate Heaven and Earth.’ The Board of Enlightenment, by contrast, plots out the best ways to ‘liberate’ barbarians from there deluded beliefs. The Board of Enlightenment produced thousands upon thousands of printed tracts during the Sunrise Wars, and distributed these tracts throughout conquered Altean territory. Alas, the writing was so obviously false and propagandistic that it was of little use in understanding Sho society.
Naturally, such a vast bureaucracy is prey to corruption, something that even the serene Sho are not immune to. To ensure that no official disorders the House of Peace, the bureaucracy is policed by the Zun Yasha, the Deviltigers. These masked enforcers prowl among the populace and viciously destroy any threat to the Sublime House’s harmony. The Zun Yasha obey only the Wardens, and are a major reason why few foreigners have dared travel Selang without express permission from the highest mandarins.   
=== Religion ===
The Sho traditionally adhere to the teachings of Baishi, the Grey Prophet. Before departing the physical world, Baishi laid out his teachings of the Fourfold Path, though the Sho largely just refer to their religion as Kae’yu, the Teaching. The Teaching is somewhat obscure, as Sho are never eager to discuss their mysteries with outsiders, and the tracts produced for barbarians are for the most part simplistic. Still, after millennia, a rough picture of Sho religion can be sketched. At its most basic, the Teaching asserts that all existence has a single origin, Iloun, the One Source. Iloun produces chi, the substance of life, and this chi takes on various shapes, which the Sho call the Four Transformations: Mind, Form, Motion and Void. The cycle is endless, with Mind emerging from Void, taking on Form, and then performing its prescribed Motion, before returning to Void. To the Sho, all existence is a ritual dance, performed beneath the great canopy of abiding Heaven.
Everything that is born of chi, everything that exists, walks the Fourfold Path, again and again, until true understanding is achieved, and union with Iloun, the All, is made possible. Baishi claimed that Asur was but one round of transformations. He failed in his understanding and so now only serves as a lesson for those who would more wisely walk the Fourfold Path. The Azlan were misguided in their devotion to the Dead Sun, and so it was natural that they strayed far from Heaven and fell into Chaos. Trying to restore Asur was futile and blinded the maedi to their own divine potential, for as emanations of the One Source, they too could undergo the refinement needed to become divine, and thus mirror Iloun, which is the only ordered constant in a universe that is constantly in flux. 
A follower of Kae’yu must seek to embody the Four Transformations, and thus undergo unification with Iloun. Baishi maintained that attempting to resurrect dead gods, who had completed their transformations, would only distract the maedi from their true purpose: to make the universe mirror the serene order embodied by Iloun. To constantly return to a vanished past was a delusion that Baishi urged his followers to awaken from. Naturally, the Grey Prophet’s teachings are considered blasphemous to most other maedi, and it is little wonder that Altean elves have made no effort to establish contact with their cousins. This is fortunate for non-maedi, for if the great elven powers of Altea were to align with Selang, the dream of the world-conquering Azlan might become reality. But the Sho have no interest in allying with the ‘blind’ maedi of Altea, and Altean maedi want no truck with the eastern ‘blasphemers.’ To the Sho, all gods and spirits are but projections of Iloun, wise perhaps, and worthy of honor, but only a fool mistakes the official standing before the throne for the throne itself. But the throne, of course, is empty, and anyone who is properly enlightened might sit upon it. This is the great goal of all pious Sho, and thus they work to make their realm a mandala of perfect harmony that will reveal the way to their own divine ascension. But as a Locian philosopher once said, ‘It is not for the sake of friends that cities build high walls,’ and Selang has built many walls, and the Sho watch them anxiously. For all their serenity, for all their professed distance from profane mortals and barbarians, the Sho are prepared for war, and the next great clash between Altea and Tsaiyun might see all under Heaven burn.   
Category:Maedi
Category:Races