Priestess Arilshae

High Priestess of Nyelath’s Grace

You forget the sea remembers.

OVERVIEW

Once the revered High Priestess of Nyelath's Grace , Arilshae united faith and pragmatism in a single, commanding presence.
She ruled not through decree but through inevitability — her voice as calm as the tide before a storm.
Under her guidance, the lesser mythal that protected the city was expanded, refined, and woven into the life of every citizen, from the humblest pearl-diver to the Pearlguard’s commander.

In her final years, she turned her attention to the growing instability of the seas — both physical and spiritual. The kelp gardens sickened, the fish grew wild and foul, and something vast began to stir beneath the continental shelf. She spoke often of “the deep dreaming,” though few understood what she meant.
Her murder shattered the city’s calm and revealed the flaw at its core — a mythal that could not protect against blood of its own blood.

HER DEATH AND LEGACY

Arilshae was slain by her son, Nimrath Oceanforge, who struck her in anger believing the mythal would protect her. It did not.
The blow not only ended her life but destabilized the enchantments she had maintained for centuries. Even in death, her magic endures — the mythal pulses faintly with her essence, a heartbeat echoing through the coral spire.

• Her body was entombed within the Sanctum of Still Tides, a shrine sealed by both coral and prayer.
• The Shoal Oath used to bind Nimrath was drawn from her own codices, written in her hand centuries before.
• Some whisper that her spirit now guides the city through the mythal itself — that each pulse of its light is her breath.

ROLE IN THE CAMPAIGN

Even in death, Arilshae remains a presence in Nyelath’s Grace. Her influence can be felt through lingering enchantments, preserved writings, and memory pearls that retain fragments of her thoughts.

• She foresaw the Echoing Gate’s awakening but chose to act subtly, guiding allies instead of waging open war.
• Her lullaby to her child—later discovered in a memory pearl—reveals her compassion and the tragedy of her secrecy.
• Her knowledge of the Lighthouses and their connection to the Gate remains crucial; only fragments of her research survive in the archives.
• Sea elves still pray to her as The Mother Beneath Still Waters, though officially Deep Sashelas remains their deity.

PERSONALITY

Measured, inscrutable, and unyielding. Arilshae saw centuries of mortal folly and treated diplomacy like weather — something to be endured, not negotiated.
Yet she was not without kindness: she often walked the kelp gardens, tending coral with her own hands and leaving tokens for lost sailors washed ashore.

Her greatest flaw was her secrecy. She carried truths too heavy to share, and in shielding her people, she left them unprepared for the storm to come.

CURRENT MYTH

Though gone, her legend only deepens. Many sea elves claim to dream of her — always standing within the heart of the Mythal, surrounded by pale light and whispering waves.
The Council calls this a superstition. The priests call it faith.
But sometimes, when the Mythal flares in defense of the city, those nearby swear they can hear her voice:

“Hold fast, my children. The sea will not have you yet.”