Rakshasi, also known as Sang Ni

[Ravenbraid]

__________________QUICK STATS

Name The Hungry One, She Who Devours, The Maneating Maiden, she has been given many names. For fear of drawing her attention, her true name is seldom uttered by mortal kind. Names have power after all. Better careful than not, you never know when Rakshasi might be listening. Though, when disguising herself as a mortal, Sang Ni suits her just fine.
Age As old as the marshes themselves
Gender Female
Species Man-Eating Demoness
Ethnicity Rulastinia
Height varies, always the tallest person in the room

__________________IN-DEPTH STUFF

Physical Description

Spoiler

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art drawn by me and taken from my art blog | tw: demon with creepy eyes and teeth

In her true form, Rakshasi towers above houses and men. Massive and impeccably muscular, she wears only the pelts of wild beasts around her waist.  Her head is a tall mountain peak and her hair the turbulent rivers that pour down her shoulders to meet the sea. The darkness of their hair is the shadow of reeds against moonlight. Her teeth put the tusks of elephants to shame.

art drawn by me and taken from my art blog

When among mortals, her form changes to match that of those around her, though there are some traits she keeps consistently. Red hair, because she thinks it's pretty. Tan skin, because she likes to take naps in the sun after eating and doesn't want to get burnt. Tall and muscular, because people ask less questions about why you eat so much.

Personality

Rakshasi doesn't have the most experience with having "normal people conversations" and it shows. Her choice language tends to be overly formal and her word choice archaic. Normally it helps emphasize how old and powerful you are as a demon but among mortals you just sound weird. She is also surprisingly jovial for someone who used to eat people and has learned to enjoy the social aspect of eating, rather than just the act of eating itself. Raucous taverns and lively hole-in-the-wall eateries are her favorite places to frequent while in mortal form. She is also very critical of other people's hospitality. If she judges someone a good and generous host she may bless them with good fortune. If she judges someone a bad host she may curse them with misfortune.

Magic/Abilities

As a demoness of the marshes, Rakshasi is a natural shapeshifter. According to legend, she can grow as tall as a mountain, take the shape of a menacing black tiger, or appear to be a beautiful young woman. Whatever it takes to lure a person into the wetlands where they'll never be seen again. Nowadays she uses these powers to pass as a "local" wherever she goes. You know what they say, when in Rulastinia, do as the Anathanati do. In addition to shapeshifting, Rakshasi also possess tenfold supernatural strength, an iron stomach, and near insatiable hunger.

When going among mortals, she may be inclined to bless or curse them, depending on how hospitable they are. For example, if she goes to a house asking for food and they give her a delicious bowl of homemade soup, they may find a miraculous orange tree growing in their garden. If she goes to the house of a noble and all they give her is stale rice and cold tea, the household may be struck with sudden potentially deadly illness.

Relationships

Aung Kyiang Suu - The hunter who put a stop to Rakshasi's maneating habits.

History

For centuries, a fearsome maneating demon terrorized the people of Rulastinia. Elders would warn children not to stray into the marshes after dark, lest they be snatched away and eaten by the Hungry One. Those who had the misfortune of encountering She Who Devours by the riverside were seldom seen again, save for the bones found floating in the water. They spoke of her insatiable appetite for human flesh, how whole families would be devoured in their entirety. If not for the Hunters she would have feasted upon the Anathanati people for all time.

It was Aung Kyiang Suu who finally faced her down. The first time they met she took the form of a  beautiful woman alone on a fishing boat. It was a duel of balance on water with no winner, but she was able to get a taste of his flesh. The second time they met she took the form of a black striped tiger swimming through a river. It was a duel over stepping stones and around rapids, with again no winner, but he was able to wound the demoness. The third time they met she took her true form, monstrous and hungry for people-meat. It was less of a duel and more of a chase between predator and prey through the marshlands. The hunter led her into an abandoned woodcutter's shack where he trapped her under a rice bowl.

The rice bowl could only hold the demoness for so long but the two came to an agreement. If Aung Kyiang could cook her a meal that tasted better than people flesh, she would swear off eating people forever. He served her a three course meal starting with a wet salad made from fermented tea leaves. The first course consisted of steamed freshwater clams with ginger and garlic. The second course consisted of catfish soup seasoned with more ginger, lemongrass, and pepper. The third course consisted of broiled crayfish seasoned with warm spices and lemon. For dessert, coconut milk rice pudding.

The meal was more than enough to convince the demoness and so she swore off the meat of people. To satiate her endless hunger, she decided to travel across Panzhong and try all the foods that people had to offer. She's even writing a book about it.


__________________Fun Meta Facts!


✿ Her mortal name "Sang Ni" is a combination of the Burmese names Sang meaning "tall" or "above others," and Ni meaning "red." Her name is purposely obvious and simple as a way to show Rakshasi's initial lack of knowledge about humans (expect for how they taste). From an in-character perspective, Sang Ni is tall and red-haired because she thinks it looks cool. From an out-of-character perspective, these traits make her stand out among other Anathanati people to the point that she would be a walking talking target for predatory creatures of the swamps. Were she a normal mortal this would be worth worrying about, but the effect of her striking appearance is closer to aposematism, when animals clearly advertise via color, scent, etc that they are dangerous and should not be eaten. From a visual design standpoint, this is me as the artist telling you she's an apex predator of the swamps so don't mess with her.

✿ Rakshasi is based off of the Hindu-Buddhist demon she was named after. "Rakshasa (Sanskrit: राक्षस, rākṣasa) is a supernatural being in Hinduism. As Hinduism influenced other religions, the rakshasa was later incorporated into Buddhism. Rakshasas are also called "man-eaters" (nri-chakshas, kravyads). A female rakshasa is known as a rakshasi. A female rakshasi in human form is a rakshesha." (source: wikipedia)

✿ Rakshasi's character concept was partially inspired by the story of Hariti. "According to myth, Hārītī was originally a rākṣasī of Rajgir at the same time that Gautama Buddha also lived there. She had hundreds of children of her own, whom she loved and doted upon, but to feed them, she abducted and killed the children of others. The bereaved mothers of her victims pleaded to the Buddha to save them. So, the Buddha stole the youngest of her sons (in a variant version, the youngest daughter), and hid him under his rice bowl. After having desperately searched for her missing son throughout the universe, Hārītī finally appealed to the Buddha for help." (source: wikipedia)

✿ Part of how Aung managed to trap Rakshasi was by leaving out several vats of alcohol, each containing a single drop of his blood. Upon finding the conveniently placed booze the demoness took it upon herself to get drunk and pass out allowing Aung to trap her under a rice bowl. This part of her backstory was also inspired by the story of Sekhmet. "In the myth, Sekhmet's blood-lust was not quelled at the end of battle and led to her destroying almost all of humanity. To stop her Ra poured out beer dyed with red ochre or hematite so that it resembled blood. Mistaking the beer for blood, she became so drunk that she gave up the slaughter and returned peacefully to Ra." (source: wikipedia)

✿ Sang Ni's career as a "food blogger," while actually being a reformed demoness who can bless/curse people based on their hospitality towards her is an example of theoxenia. "Theoxeny or theoxenia is a theme in Greek mythology in which human beings demonstrate their virtue or piety by extending hospitality to a humble stranger (xenos), who turns out to be a disguised deity (theos) with the capacity to bestow rewards. These stories caution mortals that any guest should be treated as if potentially a disguised divinity and help establish the idea of xenia as a fundamental Greek custom." While the term is Greek in origin the concept of hospitality towards strangers who are actually divine or supernatural beings can be see in folklore across the world. (source: wikipedia) 


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