Lashvansh

**Shri Lashvansh Lashkara** is the patron bodhisattva or god of Ruotan and Parmankjapoi.

## Development

The earlier Porasonid authors based Lashvansh on an earlier character from a popular TV show in Red Ardesch, a space pilot. His fans claimed that he had romantic relations with women and men, from his actions and gestures.

## Characteristics

Lashvansh tends to be very mischievous.

He attacks his enemies with his magic sword or by shooting fireballs from his halo. He also summons tornadoes and lightning storms when he is angry.

## Biography

According to the Ruotan canon (or the sanitised version of it used in most countries), Lashvansh was a knight who married the princess Lurisha after killing a nine-headed dragon. They went on adventures fighting monsters and evil people, but when his friend Kalshoroi was killed by an ogre, he was so stricken with grief that he never smiled again. Not even his quest to slay the ogre was able to relieve his suffering.

When he and Lurisha died of old age, their souls became into lesser gods who protected so-called "deviants", especially bisexuals, from harm.

### Other versions

In the original version, Kalshoroi was also his other spouse.

Another version from Vozolaz claims that when Lashvansh died, his sins transformed him into a monster that devours the blood, livers, and souls of bigots. Plaguewalkers would eat their brains afterwards, and other monsters and scavengers greedily take most of the portions (and eating any plaguewalker that lingered behind too), leaving vampires with what little dropfuls of blood that remain in the end.

However, in the canon used in Josol and Siangwaan, Lashvansh's soul does not become a monster after he dies. The gods transformed him and his friends into celestials who lead their own armies of forest wights and *chellarcha* to protect the eastern lands.

## Uses

For most of the time, Lashvansh is invoked as a throwaway joke. Some people wear costumes of him to make fun of other people, especially Tuksharans and Porasonids (due to Ruotan's Tuksharan language and the purple colour of the latter's national flag).

In some countries, people make mock shrines to Lashvansh and any of his companions as a mischievous joke. Sometimes, they put up scarecrows and dress them up as Lashvansh and Lurisha -- complete with haloes made from boards -- and they pretend to leave offerings to these idols for amusement. Lashavansh is later identified as a solar god, while Lurisha is depicted as a lunar goddess.

Some people even worship them for good luck, or invoke their names for good fortune or to keep away evil spirits. Lashvansh became a popular folk deity in Siangwaan after he supposedly saved its first president, Ziu Mengdo, from being killed in battle against the Thralondians.

## Trivia

* The author based Lashvansh on the fictional pilot Lance McClain from "Voltron: Legendary Defender". While his orientation is not explicitly mentioned, a number of vocal fans like to imagine that he is bisexual, making him a popular character among bisexual fans.
	+ Shri Lashvansh's leader, Vairocana, was the patron bodhisattva of the year 2016, the same year when his show debuted.
	+ His mantra reads "Om Lashvansh Rashkonija/Parkonija"
* His birthday, July 28, is under the patronage of Mahavairocana.
* A certain Hjokkunzar Celestial, Raunonto, disguised himself as Lashvansh during his quest to kill the bird-headed sorcerer Kakadu. Sometimes he assists people, such as one of the leaders of Siangwaan's revolution against Thralond and several relic-hunters.