Shinri

Shinri wears the gilded mask of a warrior, but the locals will tell you their true strength lies in coaxing stubborn seeds to sprout. “When they first arrived in The Heart of the Forest, they moved like a drawn bowstring,” the eldest berry picker recalls. “Tried to challenge Mokuzai to a duel over some perceived slight.” The story goes that Mokuzai simply laughed and asked if their rigid honor code could teach a river to flow uphill. Something in Shinri broke that day, or perhaps, was finally set free. The mask remains, but its purpose has changed. It is no longer a face for war, but a mirror to reflect the forest’s quiet, unyielding life.