Yuli

Description

Yuli, known as The River’s Only Guide, is the Ryushin goddess of rivers and their physical courses, honored for her serene guardianship of all freshwater flows. She governs not the concept of travel, fate, or passage, but rather the literal winding paths of rivers, streams, and freshwater routes across Lungao. Though one of the lesser Ryushin deities, she holds quiet importance among fisherfolk, poets, and ferrymen. Her presence is felt in the stillness of ponds, the murmuring of streams, and the currents that carve valleys over centuries.

Personality

Yuli is whimsical and aloof, observing the world as one might watch water ripple through stone. She rarely speaks, but when she does, it is with the calm authority of one who has traced every path and bend in existence. She is distant yet not uncaring—her interest, when stirred, is maternal and nurturing. Her moods mirror the water she governs: reflective, serene, and occasionally prone to sudden depth.

Abilities

Powers

Yuli possesses divine authority over all freshwater, granting her the ability to manipulate rivers, lakes, and streams with ease. She can raise or lower water levels, redirect currents, or cause waters to run pure or foul according to her will. Her memory is flawless when it comes to the courses of rivers—she remembers every twist, bend, and dried-up bed that ever bore water, even those reshaped by time or mortal interference. Creatures lost within a body of freshwater may find themselves guided by her unseen hand if they offer sincere devotion, finding the correct path as though gently nudged by the current itself. When she chooses to speak, her voice emerges not in thunder or speech but as ripples upon water, carrying meaning to those attuned to her presence—often ferrymen, river witches, or solitary poets who know how to listen.

Combat

Yuli rarely enters combat, preferring to divert enemies through floods or confuse them with illusionary currents. When pressed, she fights using coiling ribbons of water and conjures river spirits in the form of translucent koi, herons, or otters. Her form becomes increasingly intangible, like mist over still water.

Possessions

Ribbon of the Eddying Path

A translucent blue sash said to be spun from the first river's surface. It allows the wearer to navigate any body of water flawlessly and grants the ability to walk upon water, step through mists, and control the waters themselves, as well as being usable as a whip.

Stone of Still Currents

A perfectly smooth, black stone shaped like a teardrop, said to have formed in the deepest pool at the center of Yuli’s divine realm. When held in her palm, the surface of any freshwater within a mile radius falls silent. It absorbs all motion, all turbulence, and even suppresses divine interference or curses tied to river spirits. The stillness it invokes is not mere silence—it is the pure, sacred pause of all things. Yuli uses it when communing with her siblings or guiding rivers during great floods. Mortal hands could not hold it for long; the calm is so complete it would drive a living mind into dreamless catatonia.

Realm

Yuli's divine realm, The Azure Terrace, is a tranquil plane filled with meandering streams, koi-filled pools, and gently cascading waterfalls. It contains no cities—only shrines, water gardens, and reflection stones. Mortals who find themselves here while still alive often do so in dreams or visions.

Relationships

Enemies and Allies

Yuli maintains a mostly distant relationship with her divine kin, rarely involving herself in celestial politics unless the rivers or their keepers are threatened. However, even among the detached Ryushin, she has found points of both kinship and quiet opposition.   Her closest affinity is with Jihyoni Samsa who mirrors Yuli's theme of gentle restoration. The two often walk side by side in dreams and river reflections, their presences overlapping in sacred rites of cleansing and healing. Yuli also shares a fond if inconsistent connection with Wenya. Though Wenya’s chaotic nature sometimes disrupts Yuli’s serene waters, they share moments of mirth, particularly when Wenya’s breezes scatter flower petals across quiet streams.   Among her siblings, Chundo represents a more complex relationship. He sees the rivers as useful for borders and movement of law, while Yuli views them as living paths, not tools. Still, there is mutual respect between them, though little warmth.   Her most distant sibling is Zenhaiten, whose endless noise and celebration conflict with Yuli's stillness. His songs can awaken whirlpools and floods where Yuli had cultivated calm. Yet even he is not a true enemy—only a disruption. True opposition comes from corrupted river spirits and the lesser spirits spawned by Heolha and Chunja. These malevolent influences twist streams into poison or drown innocents for vengeance, crimes Yuli quietly works to undo without direct confrontation.

Worshipers

Symbols

Notable Worshipers

History