Shi

"Shi the Dragon of Roses" Gilgaladra Yuria CE 496

**Shi** was a dragon and daughter of Mim Kapal
 that was disguised as the queen of Tethryndor. She was intended to bring in a new golden age for the Hellastians, until she was forcibly disrobed in her court by her betrothed, King Nim. This Defilement resulted in all in the court being stricken blind, becoming the twilight elves, and Shi returning to the heavens as Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.

Shi is sometimes called the Rosé Goddess or Dragon of Roses, and is believed to give life to flowers.

In the cult of Mim Kapal, Shi represents the elements of destruction and
chaos. She was the third dragon to make her presence known deliberately
to the Hellastians, though not by choice.

## Religious significance

### Worship

Shi is the fourth daughter of Mim Kapal, whose father was the planet Jupiter. She represents *illusion* magic, the ceramic bisque, the winter solstice, and the element of wood.

She is celebrated in two major holidays: one on the winter solstice, in which homes are rigorously cleaned and then brightly illuminated throughout the night. The other
is *varamale*, in which her Defilement is remembered and repented. Many observe thus holiday by refusing to disrobe, while it is usually ordained that it is imperative to dress extremely modest clothing. Indulgent activities, such as feasting and gambling, is generally forbidden, and no torches or lights are allowed to be lit until the following day. Participants are also obliged to carve wooden effigies to Shi and place them around their living space.

### Mystery cults

The mystery cults dedicated to Shi are ironically most common in Tethryndor and by the twilight elves, who see the Rosé Goddess as the best hope for the future of elves. She is also a patron of the forests and flowers, so even some who venerate the Old Faith worship Shi has an embodiment of the Great Spirit.

## Theology

### Guise as a princess of Tethryndor

Based on a lack of corroborating evidence found in the halls of Lorendor and the invading armies of Turbador, it appears that Shi disguised herself as a princess that did not exist between the fall of Tethryndor and the capture of its royal family.

Shi was described as unrivaled in beauty, so much so that she became the standard for elven beauty for generations. King Nim said of her beauty,

> When she gazes into the freshwater lakes, the fish forget to swim and simply sink to the bottom; and so too, the birds forget to flap their wings, and fall to the ground. The silvery milk of the moon hides itself at night, as there is no magic to bestow to her form. Even the flowers close their petals, in shame compared to this woman.
>
>

Nim inadvertently gave rise to the "Four Beauties" idiom to describe a woman's beauty based on this quote, "she sinks fish and entices birds to fall, eclipses the moon and shames flowers."

#### Reasons for disguise

Shi desired to help the Hellastians unite and bring change to the world, destroying other empires at the heel of an elven war machine and thrusting greatness upon Prace. Shi also desired to help the elves recover from the Sehanine by become a mother to all future elves; seeing the results of such with Nebonyses the Great and the cambinoid peoples were living vessels of Moloch, Shi would give birth to a new race of elves that would be the children of Mim Kapal.

Shi saw the King Nim as a new opportunity for the elves to unite, as his similarities to the late king Elemorya were striking, especially his strategic genius and benevolent rulership.

### Rule of Tethryndor

Because she was so valued by King Nim for her beauty, etiquette, and intellect, she was appointed as queen apparent of Tethryndor and allowed great autonomy over the region. However, a conflict arose between the new queen and her king: Shi demanded to be the only queen to Nim, and to legitimize only their children. In addition, she would not permit Nim to see her without her robes until they were wed.

King Nim was not accustomed to such demands, as his nobility afforded him no obstacles in his previous marriages; however, Shi's beauty was indeed so striking that he relented, and he swore to marry her and her alone.

### Defilement and Nim's curse

After completing his conquests of Baredor, uniting the province with his home province of Tethryndor, King Nim chose to wed his betrothed Shi. This was asserted by a religious elite to bless his intended conquests of the northern chain, with Ghine a primary target worthy of consideration. Nim returned to Tethryndor, by the Lake of Twilight, and dedicated a new capitol to Shi. Over the next 15 years, Nim would build the city as a base of operations and construct a massive temple and court dedicated to Mim Kapal, thanking the dragon-goddess for her favor.

However, during this period, Shi continued to refuse Nim's advances until she was wed; Nim had already dedicated the city to Shi, and even though he vowed to wed her in the completed Court of Shi, she forced him to wait all of the 15 years. Nim grew to resent Shi over his hubris, and by the time the court was completed and Shi was ready to be wed, Nim intended to humiliate her for his own satisfaction.

After being called to the court, Shi was wed to Nim in a grand ceremony. The marriage was well-received and widely attended. The court held over one thousand twilight elves. However, following the official ceremony, Nim's wrath could no longer be contained and he shouted before the court after they were wed, "Now, I will take what is mine!" Nim tore at Shi's dress, ripping it off her body.

The sight of Shi's body before the court was that of a goddess, and she flew into a rage; in a split second, the entirety of the court were stricken blind. Nim most of all was blinded and deformed, hunched and shriveled rather than his original strong and upright persuasion. The twilight elves would pass on their curse to their children, and Shi's words rang out as she left the court: "Elves will never again be united, you are cursed to fight among yourselves for a spit of land. I will see to it."

Unlike the high elves, twilight elves would lose much of their connection to the Heart of Prace, now being tied to the sin at the Court of Nimiron. Ironically, twilight elves are some of the last elves remaining in Prace because of this curse, as they do not marry out to humans and become Jade-blood people.