Shengshi

The god of rivers often writes his name in red ink.

## Summary

Shengshi is Galbar's god of rivers. He lords over the sphere known as Fengshui Fuyou, which means "Abundance of water is wealth." A simple water spirit of some nameless puddle in the previous world, the hospitable Lord of the Thousand Streams drifted almost unknowingly into Galbar's universe and was granted immeasurable power by the Architect. Now, Shengshi dreams of a world of prosperity for all gods and mortals - united by a network of water.

## Mastery of Rivers

As perhaps one of the most crucial sources of drinking water for all land-dwelling life, the presence of rivers, or a lack thereof, leaves a profound mark on the surrounding ecosystem that cannot be ignored. Shengshi has the ability to influence the twists and turns of these rivers, to slow some flows and speed up others, and to clean streams of filth. This power also allows him to carve rivers much easier. However, his abilities do not affect waters salty and still. As such, his influences does not extend to the lakes and seas of Galbar.

The control of water gives Shengshi a direct influence over life along his rivers. This power is, however, limited to sustaining or destroying ecosystems through the control of water. Furthermore, the river lord's subjects, those who dwell within his rivers, not only understand their liege's words and can make themselves understood, but also obey his commands without questions. This applies to the fish, reptiles and amphibians that dwell in Shengshi's rivers.

#### Abilities

Additionally, Shengshi’s form and portfolio gives him certain slightly less magnificent powers.

* Among these powers is his ability to swim incredibly fast. While his upper half indeed is humanoid, his serpentine lower half gives him incredible alacrity in the water.

## Mastery of the Harvest

The harvest is that, or are those, period(s) of the year when the crops are abloom and the fate of many mortals is sealed before the impending winter takes away all food and life. As such, it is a much celebrated time of the year, one where the tables are stacked high with nourishing dishes and steaming baked goods for all of creation to enjoy.

In terms of power, the harvest portfolio primarily allows Shengshi to influence the amount of grain that a patch of land will yield, applying also to any fruit, legume, vegetable, mushroom and so on - any plant that yields an edible harvest and can be cultivated with agriculture in time falls under this power. As he has reached enlightenment in the art of agriculture, he can also more easily teach mortals related skills and make more powerful tools. However, this power does not extend to the growth of fruitless trees, non-edible flowers and shrubberies - while Shengshi can influence their growth through other means, his power over the harvest only impacts the fruits these plants eventually will bear: He can make an apple tree sapling sprout big, juicy apples, but he cannot force the tree to grow any faster.

Furthermore, all of these events are strictly regulated by time - the harvest portfolio is heavily reliant on the season, and its powers will be severely weakened outside of the late growth season, but incredibly potent once the grains are ripe and the fruits are plump.

#### Abilities:

* With the power of the harvest comes the ability to make crops and plants sprout fruits with but a snap of the fingers.
* "From the Ashes" Having witnessed his jungle burn and having explored the theories of slash and burn agriculture, Shengshi applies this concept to healing - what has been burned grows back stronger, so if he burns a patch of damaged skin, he can use river water to 'cultivate' it and make it grow back stronger, effectively healing it.

## Persona

Shengshi wishes only to please as many as possible, and for everyone to please one another. He only ever deviates from this intent when his guests overstep their boundaries.

Shengshi, much like the rivers he sails, wishes life to flow along uninterrupted. As such, he values peace and stability over all; having said that, the river god has some slightly unpurer qualities about him: The god has a considerable respect for hierarchy - and while this may not initially be a sin, this respect often twists itself into a mighty egoism. Shengshi values all aspects of harmony and prosperity, and as such, he is particularly sensitive to any distruptions to these two, often resulting in outbursts of rage. It took little more than a simple interruption from Kalmar for Shengshi to label him an undesirable companion, for example, and the conversation between the two further devolved from there after the river god failed to keep his anger sealed.

He has a poetic soul, often finding inspiration in the patterns of water and the life underneath. He amateurishly expresses these inspirations in the form of music and poetry. He also has a deep passion of alcohol, which has occasionally led the god down somewhat more sinful paths. For example, his egoism often gets the better of him, making Xiaoli's job of checking her master's wanton drinking that much harder.

In his own eyes, Shengshi sees himself as playing the role of a host at an ever-lasting feast. Shengshi loves and welcomes all living things that settle on his rivers’ basins, and his greatest wish for his “guests”, to put it that way, is to provide for their every need. As such, he makes certain to clean his rivers regularly so his guests may only drink deep in the purest waters in existence. He keeps his guests comfortable and warm through water temperature management, and makes certain that they sleep soundly to the sounds of calm, docile streams. All executed to the best of his ability as a gracious host. In coherence with his obsession with being a host, he expresses generousity at an almost fanatical level, constantly bombarding his friends with gifts. He upholds a radical code of politeness and often applies self-depricating acts in the presence of his siblings to honour this code: These acts include kowtowing, bowing and profusely apologising for even the smallest transgressions.

Shengshi can be described as respectful and kind to both mortals and gods. He holds firmly the belief that conflict is to be avoided at all costs, and will do everything in his power to satisfy his guests in hopes that conflict will remain at a minimum. Although Shengshi upholds a strict code of honesty, he will always be very careful not to speak the truth if it could cause conflict. As such, like the rivers twist and turn around obstacles, his words will twist and shape into excuses and agreements that avoid him putting someone else, or himself, in a poor light.

However, as a host, he of course demands similar attitudes towards him, and those that fail to act as such are deemed “uninvited”, so to speak. He does not actually -say- what he demands, however. To punish the wicked offenders Shengshi will, to the best of his ability, strive to politely ask these unwanted guests to leave his domains, whether that be his sphere or his river valleys. How he does this varies depending on the severity of the guest’s faux pas, but he will never directly ask someone to leave. Naturally, this only applies to those who are actually on Shengshi’s domain. When Shengshi himself acts the guest, he will hold his host in the highest respect, sometimes going so far as to portray himself as a mere demigod in comparison.

An example of Shengshi deeming a guest uninvited was when he decreed the blood river Seihdhar dirtied the waters of the river Beihe. He proceeded to raise a mountain range between the two rivers called Qiangshan and cursed the river Seihdhar to never be welcome in his realm of rivers.

His ambition is to one day end conflict between mortals and have friend and foe feast together at great banquets, and have countries that once despised one another before engage in trade and collective progress towards a great future. He understands that this is a daunting task, but firmly believes water can be the tool that unites all life under a banner of peace and prosperity.

## Appearance

Shengshi’s torso is humanoid in appearance, with well-toned features, apart from a slightly rounded pot-belly. From top to tail, Shengshi stands roughly eight feel tall. White, leathery skin covers most of his chest, abdomen and face, but the rest of his body boasts a coat of glistening, crimson scales. From his stomach and downwards, his body curves and twists into a long, serpentine tail, white as marble on the front and red as the dawn on the back. The tail is adorned with glistening fins and completed by a small, pointed tuft of hair at the very tip.

In coherence with his serpentine body, Shengshi’s face likewise displays both humanoid and draconic features. His lower and upper jaws stick a little more out in front, and his high, sharp cheekbones give his cheeks a stretched look about them. His nose flattens out right below the bridge, appearing almost feline. The nose gives way to a wide, fanged mouth dressed in a black mustache, which hangs from his upper lip like two blackened jungle vines, reaching his throat.

His eyes, ringed with black lines, slant somewhat upwards at the outer edges, roofed with two black eyebrows that each stretch far out on each side of his face. His pupils take the colour of the last river he looked into, so he strives to keep all his rivers as clean as possible so his eyes glisten like a lake in the moon’s glow. His pointed ears grow upwards and curve slightly towards the top, much like a pair of short sabres. From the top of Shengshi’s skull sprout two long antlers in the middle of a long mane of black hair, that itself hangs down to his shoulders.

## Worship and Influence

### Canon

Shengshi began already in the Age of Creation to outline the beliefs of his cult in the early manuscript of the Classic of Wisdom. The first three passages of the book describe the most crucial quality of a student of the Flow: adaptability. Like a river twists around obstacles, so must a student of the flow dance around the signs of conflict and find the solution that will lead to the most prosperous outcome; however, like the flood wrecks its way across nature, the student cannot shy away from conflict if there is no alternative.

## Relationships with Other Dieties

* Chopstick Eyes: Shengshi regards his smaller sister as a dear friend, and is highly appreciative of her generous behaviour.

* Arae: Shengshi shares a similiar mindset with Arae when it comes to family and traditions, and respects her deeply for the purpose she had taken upon her.
* Urhu: Shengshi is very fond of Urhu's polite behaviour and regards her as a favorite among his siblings. He received a cage of exotic birds from her as a gift for allowing her to stay at his castle. He loves the birds very much and often plays music to their songs.
* Kirron: While Shengshi initially was skeptical to his brother's rather unorthodox behaviour, he cannot help but respect the red god's strength and skill in tracking. Still, he remains wary around him.
* Narzhak: Shengshi will never say it directly to him, but the river god considers his brother to be of an utterly barbaric character. Yet, despite his judgment of him as brutish, the snake respects the king of strife and steel, and will gladly drink with him.
* Sartravius: While Shengshi has never actually met Sartr face to face, the river god already has a very poor opinion of the fire god, owing to his tendency to leave a burning wasteland wherever he walks.
* Phystene: Shengshi has a very high opinion of her sister of the trees, despite her overtly having a distaste for the river god's indulgence in a life of luxury. However, Shengshi still considers her one of his most valueable and respected allies.
* Kalmar: Kalmar and Shengshi's relationship did not get off to a good start. From Shengshi's perspective, he found the hunter god to be brutish and impatient in behaviour, two traits that the river god found especially taxing on his own impressions of his brother. They eventually signed a truce after a time of conflict, making the two once again allies of necessity.
* Asceal: Shengshi finds Asceal to be a wonderful conversation partner and guest. He notices that she does not share his own culture of hierarchy and ritualistic politeness, but he still regards her as a good friend.
* K'nell: Shengshi is very fond of K'nell, seeing him as a polite gentleman with many worthy creations. His connection to Hermes through Xiaoli bolsters this bond.

## Creations

### Avatars

* Xiaoli, First of the Court, the first avatar of Shengshi.

### Life

* Tea
* Yeasts

* The Mud Worm: The Mud Worm is a simple worm that lives in river valleys in Fengshui Fuyou and on Galbar. Its creation characters are 泥虫, literally "mud insect". The creature eats primarily river algae and the detritus of fresh water vegetation and animals. A typical specimen reaches a length of about 10cm-25cm. They typically live for six weeks in an undisturbed environment. As a handicap for being a popular source of food, Shengshi granted the mud worms the following trait: As long as their eggs are laid in a river, the eggshells will be coated in thick mud that few predators can penetrate.
* The Servant
* Wahou
* Nongxing
* Longtsao

#### Legendary Beasts:

* Chuanwang
* Jia-Long

### Artifacts

* Jiangzhou, the Castle on the River
* The Distillery: A metallic contraption given the function to distill wine into liquour. Used when producing rum.

### Landscapes

* Mountains
	+ Qiangshan
* Rivers
	+ Beihe
	+ Nanhe
	+ Nuhe
	+ Lihe
	+ Kangjiang
	+ Taipang

### Palaces and Small Towns (Age of Lords)

* Mengcheng, the home town of the Dreamers.
* Tal Eren, Anu's palace.

## Trivia

* Shengshi's name is a reference to the Chinese expression for a "time of peace and prosperity" (太平盛世), which in pinyin is spelled tài-píng-shèng-shì. The last two characters are also used in the phrase 汉唐盛世 (hàn-táng-shèng-shì), which describes the golden ages of China under the Han and Tang dynasties, a time period which also inspires much of Shengshi's character.

1. ↑ Portfolio claimed in this post: https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4906043
2. ↑ Bought for 1MP in this post: https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4961105