Database and Lore

Li Shou (NSFW)

In the treasure trove of deities around the world, there are many wild and incredible mythical characters. Among one of the many Chinese deities, there is one known as Li Shou, but who is he in real life and what was his purpose? Li Shou is known as a cat god. Cats were for many cases considered to be a good thing in society. As mentioned with the story of Ptah and Sekhmet, cats were first discovered wondering through the farmlands going after the rats and pests that consumed the crops. They became easily domesticated and it was a matter of time before in some cases that they were worshiped as well. Li Shou is an example of this. While sources cannot agree as to Li Shou's gender or what he looks like, he is regarded as a cat god and a defender of the farm. In Tales of Heroes, Li Shou is not only a cat god and defender of the crops but far more. He is also known as a Senri or Xian Li. In real life, the Senri are the inspiration for the Nekomata in Japan. In China, the Senri are essentially old leopard cats that transform into magical beings that can take on the form of a beautiful woman or a handsome man. They are also known to be vampiric like and can suck the life out of an individual while possessing magical abilities. That being all said, In Tales of Heroes, the cat god Li Shou has only used his vampiric powers once. He is one of the few mythics that can take up either a human male or human female in form but he is essentially male. While he was worshiped a little bit, his true calling came from a story where he lived in a human village somewhere in China. Word began to spread that there was a spring of murders in the village that he lived. Determined to find out who was the cause, Li Shou would go about and question many people. It would be determined that a prostitute was the cause of the murders and him being a god of justice wanted to stop this person from bringing any more harm. Posing in his human form, he would sleep with each prostitute until he found the culprit. One of the prostitutes that he slept with tried to pull a knife and stab him but she failed to notice that Li Shou was a god. Taking up his true form, he would force her down and suck the life out of her. Never again did the prostitute commit any more murders. Li Shou was always the god of justice and protection. While he never claims to be perfect, he would join the Coalition of Deities and continue his service there helping others and using his magic in the many missions they offer. Eventually in the beginning of the 1930s. Li Shou would meet and befriend a woman in China by the name of Liling. He decides to reveal the truth to her that he is an ancient god. She accepts him for his true form and they get married. Obviously pictured above, Liling and Li Shou would live together peacefully as husband and wife. Even with the rising tide of the Japanese and Chinese war, Li Shou would take her to new safe locations to keep her protected and away from the conflict while trying to look out for her other family members. He would continue to live with her during the rise of China's communism throughout the rest of her life and never leave her side. Men or women that marry the mythics usually enjoy a peaceful safe life and in relative luxury with their mates or lovers. Liling would be just one of many of these happy examples.