An'she

An'she (pronounced "AWN-shay")Highmountain tauren farewell emote or simply Sun"Eyes of the Earth Mother" is the sun god,Before the Storm, chapter 8 the right eye of the Earth Mother,Mists of Dawn and the twin brother of Mu'sha in tauren mythology.
==Mythology==
===The birth of Sun and Moon===
The tauren believe that the Earth Mother shaped the world to be a sanctuary where she could give birth to "the light of her heart" away from the corruption of the Old Ones trapped in the depths. After creating the world and the elements, the Earth Mother went into labor and brought forth the first light of day, a radiant son she named An'she, followed by a luminous daughter she named Mu'sha. The elements called them "Sun" and "Moon". Over time, the twins grew close to the elements, with An'she wielding fire's light and warmth and becoming close friends with the mountains, while Mu'sha similarly bonded with the waters and winds. They steadily grew in power until they were able to influence the elements themselves and use their power to forge weapons so they might spar and play: dual blades for An'she and a bow and arrows for Mu'sha. The Earth Mother was overjoyed by this and gently guided her twins through the ages, but she remained ever vigilant against the Old Ones and their shadows.
She eventually grew tired and knew that she needed to rest. In order to keep her children close and safe while she slumbered, she pressed them into her eyes—first An'she, causing a peaceful night to fall on the land and calm her spirit, and then Mu'sha. The Earth Mother rested first with one eye shut and then the other, since her children's light was now too powerful to fully contain. However, this restless watch denied the world An'she's warmth, causing ice and snow to creep across the land. Similarly, without Mu'sha's guidance, the winds whipped up in storms. When the Earth Mother awoke, she despaired at how the elements had changed in her children's absence, but as their light returned, the cold faded and everything back to how it had once been. The elements consoled the Earth Mother and showed her how her time of rest had allowed new life to thrive, and so she named the seasons in her time of work (summer) and her time of rest (winter). From her eyes, she then showed An'she and Mu'sha how to guide the elements through these new seasons and eventually how to bring about the accompanying changes to the land at will. She told the twins that they had proven their strength and that they should watch over the world that she had made for them, but that they still had to stay safe inside her eyes.
===Sorrow of the Earth Mother and An'she's wounding===
The Earth Mother wished for her twins to share the love and happiness she felt at seeing their growth, and so created the shu'halo (tauren). On their mother's request, Sun and Moon taught the shu'halo everything they knew—how to work with the elements, build homes, acquire food, sing, dance, ferry the rivers, and hunt wild beasts. However, while Sun and Moon were almost strong enough to defend themselves from the Old Ones and their shadows, the tauren were young and vulnerable. The next time the Earth Mother slept, the Old Ones stretched their influence across the land and corrupted many of the tauren with their whispers, causing them to make war on each other and throw the elements into chaos. An'she and Mu'sha watched helplessly, as their mother had only ever spoken of shadows and not the suffering those shadows might cause. They cried out, waking their mother. Upon seeing what had happened, the Earth Mother wept a single tear. Realizing that she was also susceptible to the corruption and thus no longer a safe haven for her children, she wrenched An'she and Mu'sha free from her skull, her fingers digging so deeply that their light could never return to her again. Sun and Moon tried to console their mother, but she lay paralyzed by sorrow. An'she declared that they had to set off to stop the source of the corruption, and his sister agreed.
Word of the Earth Mother's sorrow and the twins' journey to save her was carried on the winds. The siblings soon encountered a party of uncorrupted shu'halo, who presented a radiant blue infant they'd found on the plains. When the child began to wail, the twins recognized them as having been born from the Earth Mother's lone tear. Mu'sha took the babe in her arms and An'she asked what they should call them. Mu'sha replied that their mother would know, but before the twins could return to their mother, the shadows attacked them. With the aid of the elements, the twins managed to hold back the darkness: An'she stood strong as the mountain and fought with fire's ferocity, and the light of his blades caused the shadows to retreat, while Mu'sha did the same with her arrows, wind, and water. As they began to beat back the darkness, however, one of the shadows lashed out for An'she's heart. Mu'sha destroyed it with one of her arrows, but not before it inflicted a great wound on An'she. Mu'sha tried to bind her brother's wound with water and wind, but it continued to bleed no matter what she did. Mu'sha sent a plea on the wind and the Earth Mother sought out her children. She told Mu'sha that her presence was keeping the bleeding An'she alive, but Mu'sha knew that her brother would surely die if her healing light strayed too far from him.
Knowing that the shadows would return to take the rest of the tauren, the Earth Mother decided to sacrifice herself to contain the darkness. The twins protested, but she quieted them and told them to take permanently to the skies, from where their light would be able to chase away any shadows she could not hold. She told them to always stay in each other's sight so Mu'sha could tend An'she's wounds. She then gave the blue child—whom she'd named Lo'sho—to Mu'sha and told the twins to teach the infant everything they knew. Although heartbroken, the twins obeyed their mother's words and took their eternal post in the skies with Lo'sho. The Earth Mother proceeded to embrace the land a final time and give all of herself in order to keep the shadows at bay. Seeing their mother's sacrifice, Mu'sha guided the water and winds so the tauren would always be able to hear and follow their mother's voice while An'she shone his fierce light across the land so the way would be clear. All the while, Lo'sho listened to their lessons, hearing in them the wisdom of their mother. The tauren believe that An'she still bleeds every morning, sacrificing part of his light to let the tauren know that dawn is coming. But he doesn't do this alone; the yeena'e ("those who herald the dawn" in Taur-ahe) help him. The yeena'e are the spirits of the deceased tauren - those who died saving lives, or making new ones. An'she is honored alongside the Earth Mother, and sometimes, the tauren build pyres to honor their fallen loved ones at dawn, as Sunwalker Dezco did with Cloudhoof, so that An'she could watch their passing.Bleeding Sun
==Powers and worship==
Tauren priests known as Seers, and paladins known as Sunwalkers aim to revere the light of An'she. Tahu Sagewind implies that such a focus on An'she, as opposed to the power of Mu'sha used by druids and night elves, could achieve the balance of the Earth Mother, granting the tauren another blessing from her. An'she was apparently responsible for sending the tauren visions of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.Sunwalker Dezco#Quotes In their faith, the Light is associated to An'she,Ultimate Visual Guide, pg. 129 which gives them their powers.Life (quest) Tauren seem to use the terms "Sun", "Light" or both as synonyms for An'she, and when they refer to the Light, they use the terms "An'she's light",Bleeding Sun, pg. 33 "the light of the Sun", and "Sun's light".Tauren paladin trainers' quotes In order to use their holy powers, they may pray to An'she silentlyBleeding Sun, pg. 32 or verbally.Bleeding Sun, pg. 30
The power of An'she can appear either as red flames emerging from a white-hot source or as golden magic similar to other divine magic.The Sunwalker Kodo's eyes and war-drums noticeably emit red and orange flame, while in contrast the saddle emits faint waves of golden light. As young sunwalkers continue their training, they will learn how to lead rituals to honor An'she and the Earth Mother and will grow closer to the Light.The Way of the Sunwalkers Sunwalker Dezco has specifically used An'she to weave protective shields of light around others, channel holy energies through his mace to crumble enemies such as the mogu to dust, and heal others' wounds with "bright yellow light". As they become more skilled, the Seers' skills will expand, and they gain access to many new powers.Learning the Word (tauren) Through the powers of An'she, Tahu Sagewind is notably able to speak with the spirits of long departed, and can compel them to tell the truth.The End of the Saga
However, the sun god's powers have limits, as An'she could not save his son Redhorn from nearly dying. Dezco also mentioned that the sha's presence and influence in Pandaria was weakening his Sunwalker powers,Sunwalker Dezco gossip text - "I feel the call of the Light, far to the north of here. But this place...It has not known the light for many, many generations. The sadness in the earth is quelling the gifts granted me by the light. My wife, she is suffering, and none of my abilities are able to help her." and was unable to use An'she's power to save his wife Leza Farwalker from dying when she was giving birth to his two sons.Life (quest)
Anduin Wrynn considers An'she to be another expression of the Holy Light.Before the Storm, chapter 13: "[Anduin's] mind went back to the Netherlight Temple. The Light finds us, he thought. All of us. It chooses the story, or the face, or the name, or the song that resonates the most with each of us. We may call it Elune, or An'she, or just the Light, but it doesn't matter. We can turn away from it if we desire, but it's always there."
==Items==
*An'she's Pendant
*An'she's Band
*An'she's Invigoring Charm
*An'she's Infusion of Light
*An'she's Token of Guile
*Offering to An'she
*Vision of An'she
*Glinting Star of An'she
==Notes and trivia==
*It is said that long ago, An'she himself kissed the mountain where Sun Rock Retreat‎ now stands.A Small Retreat
*Two subzones in Highmountain are named after the sun god: the Pass of An'she and Fields of An'she.
*The Blessing of the Ancients balance druid ability has "Blessing of An'she" as one of its buffs.
==Inspirations==
*In the story, Eyes of the Earth Mother, An'she is associated with fire and dual-wields blades; this is likely based on .
*An'she, a solar deity of the tauren, may be based on the deity of the dawn Anpo or within .	
*The way Musha and An'she were born from the two eyes of the Earthmother due to her grief resembles how produced from washing his left eye and from washing his right eye after washing himself having seen his sister-wife's dead body.
==Speculation==
 
*In tauren mythology, An'she is the brother of Mu'sha, the tauren's name for the White Lady Elune. Therefore, An'she could in fact be an actual sibling being to Elune, whatever she herself might be.
*An'she and the sun may be the tauren interpretation of the Light. Baine Bloodhoof notably mentioned that he felt a kinship through the Light-blessed Fearbreaker to An'she and Mu'sha.The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm, chapter 27
*Dath'Remar Sunstrider received a vision of unclear origin that led to him forging Felo'melorn. In that dream, the arcane blade burned like the sun and dispatched so many enemies that it created a swift-flowing river of blood.Archive of the Tirisgarde#Felo'melorn Blood elf culture also uses the sun in various quotes, such as "The eternal sun guides us" (similar to the Tauren quote "May the eternal sun shine upon thee"), as well as choosing the name for the Sunwell.
*The "Blessing of An'she" buff in the balance druid ability Blessing of the Ancients indicates a possible connection between nature-based beings such as the moonkin and night elf druidism.
==References==
Category:Gods
Category:Tauren
Category:Before the Storm characters
Category:Eyes of the Earth Mother
Category:Lore characters