Shenhe

Affiliation

A human disciple of an adepti named Cloud Retainer, whom she calls master. Due to her close relations, she is often mistaken as an adepti. Adepti is a divine group who protects Liyue. They have life span up to a millenia, and possess strong combat abilities and shapeshifting.

Personality

An adepti disciple who's out of touch with society. Having spent much time cultivating in isolation in Liyue's mountains, she has become every bit as cool and distant as the adepti themselves. Although she has finally tried opened up to be more friendly to people in order to fit in. To Shenhe, Cloud Retainer is a knowledgeable and chatty master. To Cloud Retainer, Shenhe stands out as special from amongst the mortals she has instructed. Living with adepti as a human is by no means an easy task, but Shenhe has a unique constitution, an immensely strong will, and a great talent for adepti arts, all of which have won her the acknowledgment of the adepti. However, the long years of cultivation, coupled with the habit of eating divine herbs and drinking the dew of the mountains, have made her more and more distant from earthly life, and she has even been regarded as a mysterious white-haired adeptus. Now, with the help of the traveler, she's trying to be nicer to people, in hopes of getting to fit into society. Even with the red ropes suppressing her homicidal tendencies, Shenhe often contemplates the most violent means to eliminate others and is almost always easy to anger, obliterating her surroundings whenever her emotions get the best of her. Despite this, Shenhe ultimately wishes to fit in human society and places great trust in the Traveler. She prefers speaking with a small numbers of people at a time. Nowadays, her red ropes serve more as an accessory, having herself learned more about her emotions and society.

Background

Originally part of the Tianheng Thaumaturges clan of exorcists, Shenhe originally had a happy life as a child until around the age of six, when her maddened father attempted to sacrifice her to a malevolent god in order to bring back his wife. While Shenhe managed to defeat the remnants of the god herself, the incident scarred her for life, giving her homicidal tendencies and causing her to believe herself to be a "cursed" child. Despite the adepti's attempts to contain her tendencies, they have only done so by binding her soul with Red Ropes, which suppress her emotions and cause her to have an indifferent personality. As a result of living with the adepti, many of her fellow people worship her as one of them, something which deeply troubles her despite stating that she is just an adepti's disciple. She enjoys sampling small quantities of foods in a manner similar to Albedo. Due to having a limited diet in the mountains, Shenhe is used to eating plenty of herbs despite clearly despising their taste.

Usual Appearance

Shenhe has a fair complexion, long hair that turns from silvery white at the roots to inky black at the ends, and pale, iridescent eyes with white pupils. Shenhe's hair is parted off-center with evenly cut locks that flow just past chin-length framing her face, one side covering her right eye. the rest styled in a low, loose, thick braid fastened at the top below her shoulders with a red cord tied in a bow with her Cryo Vision mounted on it. Her outfit consists of a tight black backless bodysuit that fades into a dark turquoise at the legs and has intricate patterns all over it, its characteristics enable her body to move swiftly. It extends to her hands, covering her middle fingers with a gold stud on each of the knuckles. At the back of her bodysuit is an article bearing resemblance to coattails, consisting of white fabric patterned with gray. At her waist there's a window of her bodysuit on left & right side, giving an ease of access to her lower body. She wears a cropped white-and-gray sleeveless qipao top over her bodysuit to cover her massive pair of breasts. Her accessories consist of a detailed white-and-black curved headpiece and a red cloverleaf knot with a tassel as an earring on her right ear. Often uses polearm for combat

Relationships

A disciple & close student to Cloud Retainer, with Ganyu as her friend in their training. She has no problem being friendly & communicative with them. Lost nearly all her blood-related family except a boy Chongyun, her teenage nephew, whom she only found out recently. Coincidentally, he also weld a cryo vision. Unlike her, Chongyun & his close family has fit in & lived in Liyue society for a long time as an exorcist family. Holds respect for the Traveler, shown by her friendly nature towards them.

Hobbies & Activities

Spends most of her time in Liyue Mountains as her home, Shenhe often wanders & trains there, although occasionally travels to the city. She also lives in the mountains, specifically in Jueyun Karst region.

Story behind her vision

Few people know how the young girl in the cave, intended as a sacrifice by her own father, had been able to stand against the monster for days and nights on end by herself. Though Shenhe was born into an exorcist family, her maddened father had not taught her a single thing about exorcism. And like many at that innocent age, she was also wholly unused to facing life's perils alone. But in that aphotic cave, bereft of parental protection — indeed, betrayed by kin — Shenhe underwent a metamorphosis. Just as Moon Carver's readings had shown, the sleeping calamitous fates, violent urges, and unyielding spirit within her burst their bonds all at once. Those things served as an unseen shield and invisible blade, arming the girl's frail form. They gave her strength, gave her claws and fangs, allowing her to attack that wretched creature before her, to swear to tear it to shreds — to prove that she, and not it, was the cruelest evil that stalked the darkness. Their life-and-death battle across the next few days was one without end. Hunter and hunted switched places many times, the conflict locked in stalemate... As the shadow of death loomed large, the gods looked upon the extraordinary girl with favor. With the bright, crystalline object falling into Shenhe's hands, the balance tipped irrevocably in her favor and the victor was decided. The vivid icy light pierced through the dark like skyglow, showing the path to the future. In the past, it had guided Shenhe from her miserable fate. In the future, it would also lead her back to the mortal realm.