Nelri Concept - IV

During the pre-Rothelim era of the Ailyrenai culture, this art depicts a nelri of the common people, humbly seeking fresh produce from her home’s native forestlands. And while it is possible this look may have continued well into the era when the first Phoenix King was born, the image of the naked female breast in public was met with moral scrutiny by the Mourning Age and deemed uncivilised in the eras that followed.

Speculation as to the reason or reasons why this virtue came to be has been argued towards Esha’s mortal presence among them. However, while scholars can not agree on one reason alone, some say it was Esha’s choice of garb that inspired the people of Ailyrenai to later adopt it into their evolving fashion. Yet a lesser known tale speaks of the modesty coming to pass from the fear many of the nelri had, after Phoenix King Rothelim the Farseer’s mortal existence, against the shapeshifting Ishian civilisation that was quietly sowing its very bloodlines into the families of the Ailyrenai nobility.

Whether or not this in itself is true, the noble families involved were convinced that the Ishians were succeeding in it, based on their arts of seduction than anything else. Such was possibly the real reason why the nelri redesigned their fashion to starve off the openness of their appearance, once normal in their society till it became a threat.

As it were, bare-chested fenelen beyond the walls of privacy were a thing of the past. Yet a liberated art movement some centuries afterward paved a newfound interest in what once was an image of their earlier culture. In doing so, some fenelen of higher order had private portraits of themselves done with the ancient fashion adorning them, while others sought ways to insinuate it in public; Phoenix King Saul the Merciful’s royal concubine, Shiairi, attended a formal ball with said fashion adorning her flesh, and was thought to have helped the art movement grow in open taste. And by the time the art movement reached its peak in interest, well-crafted statuettes in similar likeness became focal pieces in noble gardens and halls of artful taste.


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When I was deep in the doldrums a few months back, I had a brief spark of inspiration when I visited a garden ornament store near the outskirts of town. lol, although it’s taken me until now to draw something closely inspired by it, I'm glad I finally got around to bringing this concept to life. And just so everyone knows, this is my first real attempt at drawing any food whatsoever… and a basket! Expanding my horizons, indeed. XD