Kiseki Backstory (Overview)

[Sanada Tomo]

The Shijin, the Gods, created the Universe. There were five: Suzaku, the Crimson Phoenix; Genbu, the Black Tortoise; Seiryuu, the Azure Dragon; Byakko, the White Tiger; and Kouryuu, the Golden Dragon.

Finding themselves alone, the Shijin had the notion to make themselves a universe.

They made the Mortal Realm first, a lush oasis of water and sunlight, earth and sky. A paradise. To accompany this creation the Shijin made animals of all kinds, from their own imagination, some even made in their own image. They were creatures of instinct and heritage. They had distinct behavioral patterns and they passed these down to their children and grand children.

But soon after their creation, Kouryuu grew tired of watching and learning from them. He proposed an idea: the creation of the Human, with free will and free reign to interact with the world on their own. But Suzaku objected, and the other Shijin joined her in opinion.

So Kouryuu proposed a solution; to create something inbetween; half Human and half animal creatures. It was from these designs that the creatures of myth sprang forth--Centaurs, Mermaids, Youkai, and other creatures.

[Sanada Tomo]

As these creatures developed and multiplied, they began to interact with the Shijin themselves, asking them for aid and worshipping them as Gods. It was then that the world began to crowd, and the Shijin conceived the concept of death, not only to control the population of the world but to also to make sure that no creature would live long enough to usurp them.

But they needed beings to help, these creatures, with the issues that they couldn't handle in person, and they created elements, figments of their imagination whose images had plagued them during lonely, sleepless nights. There were 18 of them, at first, and they were the first companions to the Gods. With these elements beside them as friends, they created a world based off of their powers working together for functionality.

These Elements were powerful beings, and because the Shijin had to create them to aid them in making their world, many believe that the Shijin themselves, under Kouryuu's stipulations, cannot make anything without the help of some other creature.

The 18 elements that created the world were untainted and pure, and they frolicked and lived together in the world that had been originally designed for the Shijin alone.

Fire was what heated the realm.

Air was what changed the temperature; what brought variations.

Water was something new to the Shijin, even as their own creation, they had never had need for anything to drink. It represented things not like them--something that the realm needed to thrive.

Ice was a variation of water, something that represented them--independent, without having anyone need them. Cold and callous, it took control of the weather without asking.

Earth was the substance that the ground of the realm was made of. Solid and ungiving, promising the Shijin that it would only cease to exist if it was destroyed.

Light, that gave even the night sky something to look forward to. The element that Kouryuu created to banish the darkness around the Shijin.

Darkness, that countered the light. Everything cannot be light all of the time, and so Dark was condensed to overtake the darkness, and viceversa.

Void, that held all things that the Shijin held unholy and imperfect, guardians of those things that were not right...

Sound, that gave all its bretheren words to hear and be interpreted, words that could be spoken to the gods and be carried on the winds;

Mind, which expressed the wills of all those unable to speak for themselves; the trees and waters and surroundings.

Insight, which gained affection to the Shijin by telling them a bit of what would happen.

Past, which reminded the Shijin of the darkness they had managed to banish.

Present, which would always point out the good in the here and now;

Future, who expressed the happiness that the Shijin would feel for a time

Time, which showed all three of the previous at once, laid open for the Gods to use and strategize;

Chaos, the element that housed all of the rejects of the Shijin; imperfect creations of flora and fauna that had become impudent or detrimental to the environment that had been made.

Law, to contain the enraged, illogical life that had to be shut away, and to govern the ways of the lands.

Force, which kept everything in place in the realm, so that they knew their place and did not aspire to flee into the Heavens, into the space where the Shijin had banished the darkness.

[Sanada Tomo]

The Shijin had fun with the elements, but they became bored, and against the earlier judgment of Suzaku, they decided to create the beings that Kouryuu had suggested earlier--Humans, the concept of which had spurned the other creatures ruling the Mortal Realm.

Humans were also Mortal, for Shijin felt that it would be unfair to create the existence of something like themselves. They interacted with the world that had been made, worshipping the spirits of the elements that existed during that time, calling on them for help when the Shijin were busy elsewhere or when a matter was not important enough. From these interactions--from living--other elements were created, adding to the ones that existed:

The thoughts of Humans gathered when they slept; things that they liked, things they didn't, things that they wished were real.

When the Shijin noticed these things, saw them as the Humans Slept, they named them "Dreams". Genbu thought that they were interesting things, dreams, and that it was a shame that they would disappear when the Humans awoke.

It was Genbu who suggested the idea for the Faerie Realm. A realm connected to the Mortal Realm so closely that one would be lost without the other. Every time a Mortal had a dream, a being in the Faerie Realm was created to reflect that very same dream.

The Fae have their own society, with their own laws and kingdoms and habitats, depending on the sort of dream that each fae originated from.

For a time, the Shijin began to watch the Fae interact with their realm, and forgot about the Humans.

[Sanada Tomo]

When the first generations of Mortal creatures began to die and pass away, the Shijin were forced to turn their attention to the Humans again. This was when they noticed that there was something living, something of substance that lingered when bodies were dead and gone. This force, which was thereafter named Spirit, brought the new total for Elements of the Moral Realm to 20.

These spirits, for a long time, used to guide those who were alive by providing guidance. However, when some vengeful spirits began to disturb the lifestyle of some of the other Mortals, that was when Kouryuu decided that they had to go.

And Kouryuu established the Spirit Realm. To this Realm he assigned the twins Fenrir and Anubis, a wolf and a jackal respectively, to guard against escaping spirits. At this time they worked with the Element of Spirit, which was given a manifestation like the rest of the elements, to judge those who had died and decide whether or not they had been pure enough to become (be reborn as) a fae of Dream.

This is where the Shijin first conceived the notion of punishing a "wrongdoer" in the next life, leaving instructions for the spirits of the wrong to become Nightmares. The Shijin were once again involved with the Mortals and the process of their reincarnation--and which kinds lives invoked which decision on the parts of the twin guardians, as well as the sort of lives they were subjected too after said decision had been made.

[Sanada Tomo]

At this point the now well established three realms of the universe received an unexpected visit: Dragons, who claimed to have been from their own, the Draconic Realm, exclusive to their kind alone. The Dragons had a different sort of magic than was expected by the Shijin; they were convinced that the "Dragons" were just creations spawned from residue of their magic.

The Dragons denied this, but the Shijin allowed them to explore the Mortal, Dream, and Spirit Realms. Dragons seemed to have their own magic, and they drastically caused changes to the things that surrounded them in the Mortal Realm--different species of plants and multiple species of animal began to appear. They could cause changes to the Elements of the realm. The Shijin attempted to study them to learn their secrets, to figure out why they had waited for so long to contact them--all the Dragons had said was that they were attracted to "life", the thing that made the Mortals who they were.

The Dragons also tried to visit the other two Realms, but found that the worlds had an adverse effect on the creatures--both Elements of Dream and Spirit would convert anything that remained steeped in it long enough to its own nature. Suzaku found this interesting and tested it on the Humans--they, too, would shed their physical being and become the Dream or Spirit if they remained in one too long.

For reasons Unknown, the Dragons refused to grant personal permission for the Shijin to visit their Realm. However, they did grant permission for any of their creations to visit.

When the Dragon's left, the Shijin were faced to deal with a world that had changed drastically, with regions split into more numerous areas of weather, but also by what thrived and grew in those areas as well.

[Sanada Tomo]

As the Mortals continued to expand and develop their own Realm, the Shijin grew bored of watching themafter a while, investing their time instead into testing just how far their powers could take them.

They created the Elemental Realm, a realm where each elemental spirit had their own domain that completely consisted of only their proferred environments. This Realm was given to the Spirits as a reward for watching over the Mortals during their periods of absence. Mortals were granted access to this realm, with proper training, for the specific purpose of beseeching the Spirits for aid. Each Elemental Spirit was given their own subjects in their relative kingdoms of this realm--sprites who governed a fraction of their powers.

However, the Humans began to use the powers to destroy their own realm, gaining currency and power for their own selfish purposes. Many of these purposes involved the killing of the beasts in the Realm. But the Shijin were too preoccupied with their own dealings to do anything about their strife.

The Humans began to practice using Earth to manipulate the minerals to create and shape metals for weaponry. Seeing this, the Shijin create a corresponding spirit to balance out the flow of power. The Element of Metal is added to the arsenal, bringing the total of Elements to 21.

Despite creating a new element to be manipulated, the Shijin did not very much at all help the Spirits who were being called upon to do the dirty work of Humans without very much consideration. Because of this, the Elemental Spirits destroyed the gates to their own Realm with their combined power, and sought to hide in the one place that no one would look--the Mortal Realm itself. The bond between Humans the Spirits now broken, Humans are no longer allowed to call upon the Ruling Spirits for aid.

[Sanada Tomo]

But the misconduct of the Humans did not go unnoticed. The Shijin's new purpose in exploring their magic was clear--to create a race with loyalty to their people imbedded deep enough for them not to destroy the world they lived in. To create higher beings; beings that would cooperate with the Shijin and be able to interact with them on a level more significant than they considered the Mortals--slaves.

And using their magic, they created the Angels. This race that consisted of eight subspecies were made with the additional purpose of being able to stop the Mortals from completely destroying themselves. They were the keepers of the Mortal Realm, made to keep the Humans at bay while the Shijin went about their experiments and projects.

The first eight Angels, the first prototypes for each of the subspecies remained in the Mortal Realm, taking over the manifestation of the different tasks that go on through the day.

[Sanada Tomo]

After this, the Shijin began the construction of Heaven. Split into eight layers, there was a different race of Angel in each layer. Given to each layer of Heaven was a King, chosen from candidates picked by the Shijin themselves, who were sons and daughters of those who were made as a second wave of Angels.

These races lived in relative peace until the eighth choir of Angels began to spend more time in the Mortal Realm than they did in the Celestial. This choir, called the Paladim, were exiled from Heaven for their transgresssions, as the Shijin were afraid that they would convince the other choirs to turn against them and serve the Humans completely.

Conversely, the age of the Shijin ended only after the Paladim's descent to the Mortal Realm, when the King of the fifth choir of angels convinced the other Kings that the Shijin were no longer needed. It is the only time recorded in Kiseki history when all seven Heavenly Kings united as one against a common foe. With the Shijin locked away, the Celestial Realm flourished, confident that its Kings would lead them into an age of prosperity.

[Sanada Tomo]

As Heaven set into its era of peace, the Humans in the Mortal Realm were doing as badly as they were well. Mortals lived in a new, advancing, deteriorating earth. This only gave the Celestial Beings reason to look down on them even more--depending on the Angels so much, and not even knowing it, for survival.

The King of the Seventh layer of Heaven--Sanada Tomoyo--and therefore over all of Heaven as it was now the highest layer, would be later exiled for breaking a rule of the Realm.

When the King was cast down to the Mortal Realm, rather than losing her powers she bided her time, gathering all the power that she could find in the Mortal Realm. When at the peak of her power, she cordoned off a section of the Celestial Realm separated it from Heaven, and divided it into seven Layers, a mirrored image of the place she had once ruled. This place, later nicknamed by Humans, was to be called Hell, a place where Fallen Angels and those shunned by Heaven began to flock.

[Sanada Tomo]

Angels who did not agree or were persecuted for actions in Heaven eventually began to "Fall", leaving Heaven for Hell; the one race was now two, divided by personal values and viewpoint of loyalty to the Shijin.

Heaven and Hell have gone through many, many changes in ruling Kings for their layers; they, because of their fluctuating rulers, have had different standings with each other. There have been times of peace between the two and times of battle, competition and War. One of these incidents is the Great Purging.

After Sanada Tomoyo revealed herself as the Yami-ou and creator of Hell, the then-leader of Heaven, Miyazawa Chiyo, took great pains to stop discrimination of those who chose to live in Hell.

It is unknown to most Angels in Heaven the reason behind the Great Purging, although the patrons of Hell know this all too well. After suffering through a broken promise from Sanada Tomoyo, Miyazawa Chiyo in a petty fit of anger, launched a Major aerial attack on Hell, wiping out a small portion of the Fourth Layer of Hell including the King, Kiryuu Seki. Taking a lead from their King, this was followed by an attack from Heavenly forces. These forces were eventually pulled back, but not before a substantial amount of damage was done to the Layer. Hellion forces in the Layer, spurred by the anger from the sudden attack, managed to hold their own, but in the wake of those who perished in the aerial invasion that mattered little.

During this attack came the birth of another personality on Chiyo's behalf. Calling herself Nataku, "she" was the manifestation of Chiyo's suppressed anger up to the point, which was hidden under the Nikkou-ou's normally gentle and pleasant exterior. However, despite this development none in Heaven protested her rule.

In Hell, Tomo refused to attack Chiyo, earning himself many enemies among his own people.

[Sanada Tomo]

Another of these Major events is the Kouma Sensou, a plan to ressurect the demon-dragon King to annihilate Hell.

Kouma Sensou is put into place by three Heavenly Kings. Ken-ou Arima Inu, Koorie-ou Aizawa Sasuke, and the Nami-ou Tonaru Nayanae. The process to ressurect the demon king uses the spirits of 5 of the seven Seirei, killing them. The plan backfires and kings under the fourth level of heaven are destroyed. This causes Hell to place Heaven under occupation for Heaven's safety as well as for its own. Kaze-ou Uesugi Yomi is executed for treason following her assassination of five of the seven Lords of Havoc in order to harness their powers to overthrow Maha-ou Sanada. It is also revealed at this time that Moeru-ou Karasu Itsuki has been spying for Hell for several centuries. It is revealed that he has indeed fallen and he is exiled from heaven, taking the throne of the second layer of Hell after Akumu-ou Sohma Yuki is moved to the sixth layer to replace the traitorous Kaze-ou. Sohma Yuki eventually left Hell after being refused by Sanada Tomo the favor of ressurrecting her companion, Ohtori Jin.

It was revealed by Chiyo that Heaven did not hold Hell accountable for the battle of the Kouma Sensou, as she did not agree with the proposal for the plan that was enacted and apologized on behalf of her people, offering again a peace treaty between the two Realms.

However, this time Heavenly subjects didn't agree with this verdict, and many Angels engaged Hellion beings in various skirmishes and small battles. Tension began to rise in the anticipation of War. The Kouma Sensou and Great Purging battles were nothing compared to what was being foreseen as possibly the greatest War between Heaven and Hell.

It was then that the Ha-ou of Heaven, Miyazawa Chiyo, died. No one knows the actual cirmcumstances of her death--only that when the Yami-ou was questioned about it, she did not confirm or deny the charges. All of Heaven is under the impression that Tomoyo killed Chiyo, and cries were War were at an all time high.

[Sanada Tomo]

A new King stepped up to rule Heaven: one of the two remaining Lords of Havoc, Hishikawa Tohru, had been personally trained by Chiyo to succeed her. She was accepted amid much controversy, as she was a Human, the first Human to become a King of Heaven. Her first act as King was to replace the Fallen/Killed Kings in Heaven. Tsubarisu Hotaka was placed in the Fifth Layer, Akito Asaba--the Last Lord of Havoc and the second Human to become a King--in the First Layer and Morita Haruhi, a vampire, took the seat of the Second Layer. Kotani Fi, who had been ruling the second Layer at the time, wished to retire from the grim situation of Heaven and Hell.

In Hell, Tomo was counting his losses as well and trying to recover. After Seki was killed in the Kouma Sensou, he was replaced by a sister who proved traitorous and was taken care of relatively quickly. Komeui Tokiju replaced Ohtori Jin in the first and aided the Paladim, a race banished from Heaven long ago.

Tomo managed to find a Human--the mononoke of the Mortal Realm--named Ishii Shoko, who agreed to aid him in Hell if he was reincarnated as a Celestial. Through manipulation of those in Heaven, Tomo was able to arrange this and he gained a new King of the Fourth.

In an attempt to settle these things once and for all, there was a dual wedding, announcing the union of Yamazaki Ren, King of the sixth of Heaven and Sanada Tomoyo, creator of Hell. Two other Heavenly Kings, Hishikawa Tohru of the Seventh of Heaven and Tsubarisu Hotaka of the fifth of Heaven were being married at the same time.

However, an assassination attempt had been made, and because of it ties between Heaven and Hell have all but parished. Heaven has declared War on Hell, and no one is certain as to who the victor will be.

[Sanada Tomo]

Various battles take place in Hell; there are agents from Heaven going after the Ishii Shoko for his assassination attempt on Hishikawa Tohru, and he along with Karasu Itsuki left Hell, earning the title of Rebel in both Realms. Some Upright Angels attacked the King of Hell directly, blaming him for the conduct of his subordinate Kings. While Hell managed to effectively deflect attacks from Heaven, Ishii Shoko was able to attack the Sixth Layer of Hell, which was annihilated and required restoration.

In the midsts of these skirmishes, Kings from Heaven have disappeared; Hell's Kings have betrayed the Yami-ou or left. Both sides struggled to regain their leadership--Hell from missing at least three Kings and Heaven from losing two Kings and a Ha-ou, or High King.

Heaven fell into chaos, Angels taking the opportunity to command those who served as citizens in Heaven while there was no one there to direct them.

Trying to stop warfare from boiling to a new high, Sanada Tomo held a conference for all Kings, Elders, and their guests. It was decide that Heaven was not in a position to declare war and would be spending its time trying to mend its government's structure. Shortly after this meeting a new Ha-ou, Kouzetsu Gin, was elected to attempt to bring stability to the Heavens.

[Sanada Tomo]

However, the previous conflicts between Heaven and Hell up to this point have had an effect on the Realms around them. Creatures that have not been seen roaming for millennia--Dragons, Elves and Jin--are now wandering across Realms. The Elemental Spirits have come out of hiding to seek champions that will command them skillfully in battle.

And never before seen breeds of creatures are spawning forth. One of which is Mishiranu Arashi, who has discovered that he is of the unusual condition of being half Lillium--something that is not supposed to exist with males. He is growing more powerful and consuming souls--as his second lineage is that of the Djinn--and wreaking devastation in every Realm he visits.

While Heaven and Hell are keeping a hold on their forces, tense is raising among the other Realms. They all anticipate a battle, and no onw knows which side would emerge victorious...