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A rough, rough, *rough* draft of the creation myth/introduction to something I've been working on. Eventually, I hope that it'll be a shiny new gaming system, complete with gaming world attached to it, but right now, it's just a lot of ideas. And the shameless abuse of lots and lots of mythology. And yes, the names are silly. They're subject to change...I'm just terrible at names.
In the beginning, the First Soul floated in the chaos which was the only thing outside of Itself. After a indeterminate time, It came to know the five great virtues, and in knowing them, imposed them on the unformed mass of creation. With the power of its realization of these great truths, the First Soul gave birth to the five Dragon Kings: Yama, King of Strength; Torii, King of Truth; Oma, King of Sacrifice; Hana, King of Self-Control; and the youngest, Qin, the King of Loyalty. The First, having had the five great epiphanies, became Enlightened, and crafted the realm of Heaven for Itself and those who would come after. It left the Dragon Kings to sculpt the rest of the chaos into the patterns of the great virtues.
The Kings each crafted one element with which to build the rest of creation. Yama, the eldest, contributed the bones of Metal and all the strength of the earth that his brothers might have a place to work. That they might see what they created, the youngest, Qin, plucked out his own fiery eye and set it to burn in the sky above the world along with the many tiny drops of his inflamed blood that we now call the stars, before burrowing deep under the earth and setting the deepest reaches on Fire. Oma tore into his body with his great teeth, one of his lost scales becoming our moon, and the oceans filled with his blood and the sky with his tears of pain; this, he called Water. Torii inhaled, and in a great gust of Air, scoured the earth clean and drove the seas into rivers and lakes. Finally, when all else had been done, Hana came forward, and after great deliberation, shaped one of Yama's orestones into the seed of the Tree of Life.
The Tree was planted in liquid flame, pushed its way through the skin of the earth, drank in the water, and released the sweet perfumes of its blossoms into the air. From its fruit were grown all manner of beast and plants, and they spread across the surface of the earth, and from there into the seas, until all of creation teemed with life. For a time, the Dragon Kings were at peace, proud of their work and its beauty. It was not long, however, before they noticed that their creations never were capable of the depth of being that they showed; the plants could not understand the virtues they were sculpted from, and the beasts could not choose to follow them. All life except for the Kings was mute and mindless, and when it died, no souls passed to the realm of Heaven.
It was Torii who first suggested that they seek out the First Soul, that they might learn the secret of creating sentient beings from It. It was Oma who volunteered to pass into Heaven as their messenger, and it was Yama who took upon himself the great sin of slaying his brother that he might pass into the other Realm. Qin, weeping from his one eye, burned Oma's body so that the soul might be released, and that the smoke would lead his brother to Heaven. Hana stood vigil at the gate that only those freed from flesh could pass, and began to craft another body for Oma in expectation of his return.
Oma's spirit marveled at the wonder of Heaven; as surely as their creations on earth were magnificent, the creations of Heaven surpassed them. He eventually came to find the First Soul, surrounded by beauty that would strike a lesser creature speechless and thoughtless. Abasing himself before the First Soul, he asked for the secret of souls, that he and his brothers would be able to craft true successors. The First Soul refused, saying that the secret was not Its to give. Instead, it agreed to craft souls, and set each soul into the body that was crafted for it, as long as Oma would remain in Heaven with It, leaving only to ferry the souls to the bodies where they would live. His heart heavy with the knowledge that he would never again be truly alive, Oma agreed. In compassion, the First took the tiniest piece of his soul to create the first new one, that at least a part of him might return to mortality.
The first vessel to be animated was the body Hana had been so carefully crafting, and so was, Shidan, the daughter of Oma and Hana, born into the world as the first of lesser dragons. With the knowledge of Oma's soul, she imparted the bargain Oma and the First had sealed, and although the four living Kings grieved for their brother, they turned their powers to crafting the races of the world. The oldest were the dragons, made in the image of the Kings, lesser in power, but still wise and great. After only a few of the lesser dragons, three of the Kings branched out to create creatures of still lesser power, but who were numerous and vital in a way that not even the Kings fully understood. These were the oni and all the lesser spirits. Hana again stood apart from the flood of creation for many centuries, watching his brothers create their races, and thinking.
It was Shidan who first noticed that Hana had retreated to his workshop. When he would not respond to her inquiries, she went to her uncles and asked if they knew what was going on. None did, and so the three Kings and Shidan gathered outside of the workshop, their own work put on hold to see what Hana would create, after all these long years of thought. It was another century and a half before finally, the great living door to Hana's workshop swung open. The four outside crowded within to see Hana putting the finishing touches on White Sun and Red Moon, the first man and first woman. Yama laughed to see such small, frail creatures as his brother's creation; Qin would not betray his brother by laughing, though he could not see the use of such creatures; Torii looked upon them and saw the Truth of them, and in so seeing, he left the workshop without another word.
“I give you the rulers of the world,” Hana said, after the door had swung closed after Torii.
“We are the rulers of the world,” Yama replied, “and these are less than any of our other children. They will not rule. I doubt they will even survive without our might supporting them.”
Hana just smiled. The eldest King stormed out of the workshop, dismissing humanity from his thoughts, although his children were told to wipe them out, should they encroach on their territories. Qin reluctantly followed him, as his duty fell to the eldest of his brothers. Only Shidan stayed, as was her duty to her father. “I pledge myself to protect and teach your children, as if they were my own, until they achieve their destiny.”
And thus, Shidan has always been the guardian of humanity, out of all of dragonkind; for although Hana was our father, after the creation, he returned to contemplation and interferes not at all in the lives of individuals. Shidan created the Lake of the Moon, and the island in its center. Here she taught White Sun and Red Moon all there was to learn of civilization, and when White Sun took the title of the first Emperor, his crown was wrought by Shidan's powerful magics, so that mortal creatures found it impossible to look upon without being humbled.
In those days, humanity was longer-lived, and White Sun had seven fine, strapping sons, and twelve daughters, all of whom grew up straight and strong. The sons took the daughters of the lesser dragons as their wives, and from their unions sprang the seven royal clans. The daughters were married to the highest royalty of the other children of the Kings, and through them came treaties and peace with many of the other races. But no marriages were made with the children of Yama, and all overtures ended only in blood. White Sun's authority began to spread across the mortal world, until he was hailed as Emperor in almost all the courts of the children.
Yama's heart grew hard and bitter at the thought of his children being subservient to humanity, and thus he began to plan. He created new races, races with no true souls (for he could not petition Oma for souls from Heaven), but with souls that had been ripped from other beings, and twisted to fit his requirements. These would come to be called the youkai. He carved a new realm, deep in the earth, in which to protect his works in secrecy. Finally, he sent out his dark armies; sent them first at the other children in human guise. His dark creations tempted and slaughtered and commanded, and turned the children against humanity, until they rose up and opposed White Sun and all his children. Shidan managed to keep the greatest of the other races, the dragons, out of the fighting only by agreeing to not participate, herself.
In the Oni War, White Sun was slain, and Red Moon chose to burn on his pyre with him, that she might follow her beloved to the next world. His eldest son, Kohoko, ascended to the Sun Throne, and the war continued for the next three centuries, through his death, that of his son, and through the reign of the Dowager Empress Sairu. In the end, the Empire was shattered, reduced to only a fraction of the power it once held; outside its borders, the oni ruled according to their own strange laws. It was only by giving the royal princess, Omachai, as a sacrifice to the general of the enemy armies that the violence finally ended.
It has been nearly a thousand years since the end of the Oni War, and what is left of the Empire has fortified itself, but not been able to recover any of its former territory. Humanity chafes at the abridgment of its rightful destiny, and beyond the safe places of the Empire's heart, perhaps the dark races of Yama still spread their poison, in hopes of persuading the Oni to rise up and eliminate humanity once and for all...
In the beginning, the First Soul floated in the chaos which was the only thing outside of Itself. After a indeterminate time, It came to know the five great virtues, and in knowing them, imposed them on the unformed mass of creation. With the power of its realization of these great truths, the First Soul gave birth to the five Dragon Kings: Yama, King of Strength; Torii, King of Truth; Oma, King of Sacrifice; Hana, King of Self-Control; and the youngest, Qin, the King of Loyalty. The First, having had the five great epiphanies, became Enlightened, and crafted the realm of Heaven for Itself and those who would come after. It left the Dragon Kings to sculpt the rest of the chaos into the patterns of the great virtues.
The Kings each crafted one element with which to build the rest of creation. Yama, the eldest, contributed the bones of Metal and all the strength of the earth that his brothers might have a place to work. That they might see what they created, the youngest, Qin, plucked out his own fiery eye and set it to burn in the sky above the world along with the many tiny drops of his inflamed blood that we now call the stars, before burrowing deep under the earth and setting the deepest reaches on Fire. Oma tore into his body with his great teeth, one of his lost scales becoming our moon, and the oceans filled with his blood and the sky with his tears of pain; this, he called Water. Torii inhaled, and in a great gust of Air, scoured the earth clean and drove the seas into rivers and lakes. Finally, when all else had been done, Hana came forward, and after great deliberation, shaped one of Yama's orestones into the seed of the Tree of Life.
The Tree was planted in liquid flame, pushed its way through the skin of the earth, drank in the water, and released the sweet perfumes of its blossoms into the air. From its fruit were grown all manner of beast and plants, and they spread across the surface of the earth, and from there into the seas, until all of creation teemed with life. For a time, the Dragon Kings were at peace, proud of their work and its beauty. It was not long, however, before they noticed that their creations never were capable of the depth of being that they showed; the plants could not understand the virtues they were sculpted from, and the beasts could not choose to follow them. All life except for the Kings was mute and mindless, and when it died, no souls passed to the realm of Heaven.
It was Torii who first suggested that they seek out the First Soul, that they might learn the secret of creating sentient beings from It. It was Oma who volunteered to pass into Heaven as their messenger, and it was Yama who took upon himself the great sin of slaying his brother that he might pass into the other Realm. Qin, weeping from his one eye, burned Oma's body so that the soul might be released, and that the smoke would lead his brother to Heaven. Hana stood vigil at the gate that only those freed from flesh could pass, and began to craft another body for Oma in expectation of his return.
Oma's spirit marveled at the wonder of Heaven; as surely as their creations on earth were magnificent, the creations of Heaven surpassed them. He eventually came to find the First Soul, surrounded by beauty that would strike a lesser creature speechless and thoughtless. Abasing himself before the First Soul, he asked for the secret of souls, that he and his brothers would be able to craft true successors. The First Soul refused, saying that the secret was not Its to give. Instead, it agreed to craft souls, and set each soul into the body that was crafted for it, as long as Oma would remain in Heaven with It, leaving only to ferry the souls to the bodies where they would live. His heart heavy with the knowledge that he would never again be truly alive, Oma agreed. In compassion, the First took the tiniest piece of his soul to create the first new one, that at least a part of him might return to mortality.
The first vessel to be animated was the body Hana had been so carefully crafting, and so was, Shidan, the daughter of Oma and Hana, born into the world as the first of lesser dragons. With the knowledge of Oma's soul, she imparted the bargain Oma and the First had sealed, and although the four living Kings grieved for their brother, they turned their powers to crafting the races of the world. The oldest were the dragons, made in the image of the Kings, lesser in power, but still wise and great. After only a few of the lesser dragons, three of the Kings branched out to create creatures of still lesser power, but who were numerous and vital in a way that not even the Kings fully understood. These were the oni and all the lesser spirits. Hana again stood apart from the flood of creation for many centuries, watching his brothers create their races, and thinking.
It was Shidan who first noticed that Hana had retreated to his workshop. When he would not respond to her inquiries, she went to her uncles and asked if they knew what was going on. None did, and so the three Kings and Shidan gathered outside of the workshop, their own work put on hold to see what Hana would create, after all these long years of thought. It was another century and a half before finally, the great living door to Hana's workshop swung open. The four outside crowded within to see Hana putting the finishing touches on White Sun and Red Moon, the first man and first woman. Yama laughed to see such small, frail creatures as his brother's creation; Qin would not betray his brother by laughing, though he could not see the use of such creatures; Torii looked upon them and saw the Truth of them, and in so seeing, he left the workshop without another word.
“I give you the rulers of the world,” Hana said, after the door had swung closed after Torii.
“We are the rulers of the world,” Yama replied, “and these are less than any of our other children. They will not rule. I doubt they will even survive without our might supporting them.”
Hana just smiled. The eldest King stormed out of the workshop, dismissing humanity from his thoughts, although his children were told to wipe them out, should they encroach on their territories. Qin reluctantly followed him, as his duty fell to the eldest of his brothers. Only Shidan stayed, as was her duty to her father. “I pledge myself to protect and teach your children, as if they were my own, until they achieve their destiny.”
And thus, Shidan has always been the guardian of humanity, out of all of dragonkind; for although Hana was our father, after the creation, he returned to contemplation and interferes not at all in the lives of individuals. Shidan created the Lake of the Moon, and the island in its center. Here she taught White Sun and Red Moon all there was to learn of civilization, and when White Sun took the title of the first Emperor, his crown was wrought by Shidan's powerful magics, so that mortal creatures found it impossible to look upon without being humbled.
In those days, humanity was longer-lived, and White Sun had seven fine, strapping sons, and twelve daughters, all of whom grew up straight and strong. The sons took the daughters of the lesser dragons as their wives, and from their unions sprang the seven royal clans. The daughters were married to the highest royalty of the other children of the Kings, and through them came treaties and peace with many of the other races. But no marriages were made with the children of Yama, and all overtures ended only in blood. White Sun's authority began to spread across the mortal world, until he was hailed as Emperor in almost all the courts of the children.
Yama's heart grew hard and bitter at the thought of his children being subservient to humanity, and thus he began to plan. He created new races, races with no true souls (for he could not petition Oma for souls from Heaven), but with souls that had been ripped from other beings, and twisted to fit his requirements. These would come to be called the youkai. He carved a new realm, deep in the earth, in which to protect his works in secrecy. Finally, he sent out his dark armies; sent them first at the other children in human guise. His dark creations tempted and slaughtered and commanded, and turned the children against humanity, until they rose up and opposed White Sun and all his children. Shidan managed to keep the greatest of the other races, the dragons, out of the fighting only by agreeing to not participate, herself.
In the Oni War, White Sun was slain, and Red Moon chose to burn on his pyre with him, that she might follow her beloved to the next world. His eldest son, Kohoko, ascended to the Sun Throne, and the war continued for the next three centuries, through his death, that of his son, and through the reign of the Dowager Empress Sairu. In the end, the Empire was shattered, reduced to only a fraction of the power it once held; outside its borders, the oni ruled according to their own strange laws. It was only by giving the royal princess, Omachai, as a sacrifice to the general of the enemy armies that the violence finally ended.
It has been nearly a thousand years since the end of the Oni War, and what is left of the Empire has fortified itself, but not been able to recover any of its former territory. Humanity chafes at the abridgment of its rightful destiny, and beyond the safe places of the Empire's heart, perhaps the dark races of Yama still spread their poison, in hopes of persuading the Oni to rise up and eliminate humanity once and for all...
