Xhu

Xhu the Dragon of Letters, Gilgaladra Yuria CE 485

**Xhu** was a dragon and daughter of Mim Kapal, that arrived in Prace in the Middle Eras of Bronze. Unlike her sister Ghi, she did not serve as a protector of the elves and of Prace. Rather, Xhu served as a guru that lived in the Misty Mountains (*eredhithui*) and would provide guidance to elves that sought enlightenment, as well as meditate with the troubled. In the Fifth Era, she came into conflict with Gaius Olivius, who tore her wings from her body and stranded her in the Speartip Spire, where she remains today.

Xhu is sometimes called the Goddess Blanc. She taught the elves writing, poetry, and the art of penmanship in the Eras of Bronze. For this she is also called the Dragon of Letters, who is believed to whisper into the ears of great writers and scholars. Her feathers also made the first quills, and these writing instruments are still in use today as "Xhu pens."

In the cult of Mim Kapal, Xhu represents the elements of
creation and chaos. She was the second dragon to make her presence
known deliberately to the Hellastians. She is also the dragon that has lived the longest of all her sisters in Prace.

## Religious significance

### Worship

Xhu is the second daughter of Mim Kapal, whose father was the planet Venus. She represents *conjuration* magic, the ceramic bone china, the autumnal equinox, and the element of metal.

She is celebrated in two major holidays: one on the autumnal equinox, which is a classic festival celebrating the harvest with wines, feasts, and memorializing one's ancestors. The latter is done during the night, where graves and tombs are tended to and cleaned, and adorned with bird feathers and azaleas. The other is *idhale*, the holiday recognizing the day that Xhu first summoned the kings and queens of Prace to ascend the Misty Mountains and seek her for enlightenment. This day is the most sacred day of meditation of the year, and practitioners are encouraged to spend at least eight hours on this day in trance, or otherwise reflecting on their lives and the history of their lands.

### Mystery cults

Specific worship of Xhu is most common near the Misty Mountains and among monasteries of Prace, primarily among monks and the educated who seek truth and enlightenment. However, Xhu is also a goddess worshiped by travelers and the itinerant. Elves who seek divine inspiration or pursue knowledge take Xhu as their patron.

## Theology

### The summoning of the kings and queens

There is no definitive timeline for Xhu's arrival, but sometime after the Ghinec Wars began, usually put after the Siege of Derendor, Xhu beckoned from her mountain that all the kings and queens of Prace, if they are to seek peace, to ascend the holy summits of the Misty Mountains and find Xhu and learn the follies of their past lives.

The death of her sister Ghi was followed closely by these wars, in which Ludor rapidly expanded over western and northwestern Prace, coming into conflict with other well-fortified and well-defended territories. Unlike previous wars Preliturgy, this was was not marked by the domination of a single polity; rather, a long drawn-out stalemate between Ludor and its rivals resulted in untold loss of life, becoming one of the bloodiest wars in Pracian history.

This bloody conflict came to a head after the fall of Derendor, in which one of Ludor's greatest rivals was forced to leave the Pracian mainland and escape to the Ions to the west. The city was razed, and the ensuing casualties allegedly turned the region into a mire, with soil saturated from the blood and bones. This conflict concerned Xhu, who feared that the eladrin had forgotten their history and the path towards peace.

### Teaching the Nine

Of all the cities with kings and queens, only nine ascended the Misty Mountains to seek Xhu.