季節外伝歴史 Shiizun - A History

創造 Creation
It is lost to the annals of time when the world known as Shiizun by all who inhabit it formed. In the beginning, there was only darkness, an empty void of nothingness. Then came the appearance of the Gods, out of nowhere, nor of time or space. Setting about their work, they created the world as all who know it. They brought life into existence, and gave birth to the land, the seas, the trees, the animals. They ushered in the wind, the sun, the moon and the stars. They carved out the months, twelve for each year and three hundred and sixty five days, naming them Ichi, Ni, San, Shi, Go, Roku, Shichi, Hachi, Kyu, Ju, Juichi and Juni. They stood proud in their home of Kojiki, the realm above Shiizun, where no lesser being could reach, and looked down in admiration on all they had created.

反乱 Rebellion
For years, the world flourished, and the people within lived, experienced all Shiizun had to offer, formed families, clans and cultures. The world was geographically divided into four lands by that time. Kita to the North, Minami to the South, Nishi to the West and Azuma to the East. Each land had developed its own culture and hierarchy, but still they looked to the Gods, giving regular offerings and praying for fortune. Alas, all was not well. For many years now, Shinigami, the youngest of the five gods had been seeking an opportunity to rule above all, finding his peaceful co-existence amongst his peers dull and unworthy. With his jealousy and negativity, he created the embodiments of suffering, pain and hatred, and his will as a God thrust them upon the world. Then came death onto the humans. The Gods watched in horror as their beloved creations began to turn on one another, grew to crave one another's lives and gave into their now truly mortal forms. While they were distracted with the ongoing crisis, Shinigami proceeded to proclaim his self as the ruler of all, having created an army of demonic forces to aid him. But the young God was unprepared for the strength of his elders, and the four stopped his grab for power. As a punishment, they created the realm of Yomi, the Land of the Dead, binding him to the new underworld and damning him to watch over the souls of the dead for all of time.

チャンピオン Champion
The remaining four Gods grieved, knowing that now they could not reverse the effects on their creations, and so resigned to watch over them from above, as they could not enter the now mortal realm. They proceeded to each take over responsibility for the watch of one of the four lands. Mizuchi was given the task of nurturing Kita, whilst Kojin took the watch of Minami. Konohana was given the land of Nishi, and Fujin Azuma. Determined to stop anything like Shinigami's lust from happening again, the Gods decided to create a chamion amongst the mortals to be their hope and protection above all. Collectively, they spoke to a shrine priestess from the land of Minami, and told her of their plan, an asked if she would be willing to bear the child who would one day become Shiizun's light. Agreeing to their plan, they cast their will upon her. Nine months later, a healthy baby boy was born much to the priestess's delight. Questions however were soon asked of the boy's parentage, and refusing to betray the trust of the Gods, she kept silent, while the child was taken from her, and raised among the nobility of Minami. The boy was named Akira, and became a fine soldier, joining the Minami military in his early teens and showing much promise, much to the pleasure of his superiors.

発見 Discovery
However, the boy soon began to discover his supernatural abilities, as one night purely by accident, he went to light a lantern when he found fire burst from his own hand and lit the brazier. Alarmed and scared, he did his best to hide it from others, but as his power increased he found it more and more difficult. He was eventually found out and brought before the Daimyo of Minami. The young man was accused of sorcery and unnatural bonds with the demons of Shinigami's making by all around him. However, the Daimyo dismissed these accusations and instead, took an interest in Akira. Akira's was power never seen before, and the Daimyo concluded that it must be a gift from the God's themselves. He placed Akira under the tutelage of his finest scholars, in the hope that they would help him discover more of his power and master it in due time, for surely there was a purpose to it.

成長 Growth
Akira spent the next two years with the Minami scholars, as he honed his craft and they continued to observe, study and work alongside him. His control over the fire he could willingly produce now has become quite a feat, and the Daimyo would personally overlook Akira's training from time to time. On one such day, the Daimyo was watching, when Akira suddenly seemed to, albeit accidentally, rip out a section of the ground beneath him. Whereas others panicked, the Daimyo saw only more potential. Deducing that this might lead to more, and that Akira may have a grasp over the elements themselves, he set his scholars to work immediately, testing Akira's ability to create and manipulate. Sure enough, it was soon found that Akira had the control over fire, water, earth and air. The Daimyo then made connections around the world, calling for the wisest sages and scholars alike to come and help this startling young man develop his powers.

囁き Whispers
Watching the events unfold from his eternal prison down in Yomi, Shinigami began to scheme. While he could not travel to the mortal realm himself, his will and influence could still reach out, and destroy what his siblings had created. While the Daimyo slept, Shinigami projected subconcious thoughts into his mind, thoughts of conflict, domination, aspiration. After all, the Daimyo had Akira, even the Shogun could not compete with that power. Night by night the messages seeped in until the Daimyo decided to take action. But the exiled God spoke not only to the Daimyo, but to Akira himself. He implanted questions into the young man's mind, questions as to why with his power, he was letting a mere man seek to control him when he could take power for himself. The boy woke every morning with the notion that he had dreamt of a conversation, but never quite remembering it in detail, with the only vividness being his growing resent of the Daimyo. Akira spent more and more time with his teachers, learning of his powers and honing them, whilst the Daimyo plotted, his mind poisoned by the fallen God. Akira was soon brought before the Daimyo and given a choice: lead his armies against the other nations to conquer the world, or be forever imprisoned in the catacombs of Minami, never to see the light of day again. Akira was astounded to hear the Daimyo's words, and in the heat of the moment, tried to escape. Although he succeeded in taking down several men, he was overwhelmed, restrained and placed in the dungeons of the palace. There, he was horrifically tortured for days on end, the Daimyo offering him the same deal, with the added threat of killing one hundred Minami citizens everyday until Akira relented. Eventually, the pain took its toll and Akira begrudgingly agreed to the Daimyo's wishes. Soon after, the armies of Minami set out to take Shiizun, with Akira leading them.

救世主 Saviour
The other nations were taken by surprise and casualties on both sides began mounting quickly as armies were amassed and deployed. The devastation grew and grew, with the Minami army being told to spare nothing and none that opposed it. The allied forces struggled to hold off against the overwhelming might, spearheaded by Akira. The Shogun ordered the Minami army to stand down, but the Daimyo ordered the attack to be pressed, and the army carried on, more fearful now of the Daimyo who held Akira than the Shogun. The Gods watched the carnage from above, and just as it seemed that Daimyo's wish was within his grasp and the Shogun was defeated, Akira seemingly had a twist of conscience, turning on the Daimyo. After incapacitating him, the Minami army was brought to a halt, having lost their leader. The Shogun approached the young man and after hearing the full tale, announced Akira as the new Daimyo of Minami, removing the former and all his relatives from power. The Gods were pleased that their champion was fulfilling his potential and left humanity to its own accord once again, content that they would survive.

変化する Change
Akira and the army returned to Minami, where a coronation was held to officially declare him the new Daimyo. The nation rejoiced as the man who had become the world's saviour now led them. Although he was young, Akira proved popular amongst the people and had an array of advisers at his behest, who continued to guide him and help hone his powers. Minami grew in prosperity for many a year, becoming the leading nation if Shiizun in terms of economy and industry. Relations with the other nations were at their best, with all four co-existing peacefully. However, Akira was troubled. Every night, he would wake in a cold sweat, having seen a recurring vision of treachery, death and destruction. From beyond the mortal realm, Shinigami was still influencing him in secret, this time with what seemed like illusions and falsities but were in reality, a picture of a dark future. Akira kept the visions to himself, but as they became more and more vivid it slowly began to drive him mad. He began to overflow with paranoia, expelling his advisers, enforcing harsh new laws and having anyone who spoke up against them executed. The society of Mianami began to crumble, and relations with the other nations began to break, with many people of all nations publicly seeking to depose Akira. Refusing to agree to a summit or any other reason, Akira ordered the Minami army to mobilise for the first time since all those years ago.

裏切り Betrayal
Believeing his own power would crush any who opposed him, Akira had himself renamed Hanshin, a mortal God. The armies of the world once again met on the battlefields of Shiizun, with Hashin commanding the Minami army to crush all in their path. Many lives were lost as the war grew, and the Gods looked down once more to see their proudest creations being slaughtered like cattle, and all in the name of the one they created to bring peace to the world. They cursed Shinigami's name, knowing if it were not for him, none of this would have ever come to pass. They ventured down to Yomi and confronted him having all but cemented his inolvement in the chaos. The fallen God laughed at his siblings, admitting to all of it, and that for their crimes against him, he wished for nothing more than to destroy their precious creations and topple Kojiko, even if it took him an eternity. Promising him that would never happen, the Gods left their brother to be, for even if they wished to do so, they could not destroy him. Returning to Kojiko, they hastily devised a way to end the conflict, one that involved no more death. Creating a large stone, they poured their individual essences into the rock, before sending it down to Shiizun, to the shrine of the Gods located in Imperial city. They spoke through a priestess, informing all in the near vicinity that the stone must be taken and used against Hanshin, for it would sap his God-given powers.

犠牲 Sacrifice
The stone was secretly smuggled into the allied forces camp, and its use explained. Upon much deliberating, a brave general by the name of Tadakatsu Li offered to do the deed, and was given the stone as he rode off into the front lines. As the battle raged, and Hanshin seemed to single handedly drive back the allied forces, Tadakatsu approached him. Tadakatsu was a brave and renowned warrior, but was prepared for the fact the battle may have been his last. Valiantly, he drew his sword and prepared to engage with the greatest power the land had ever known. The forces around them drew to a halt to watch the conflict between the two, as they collided. The battle went on for what seemed like an eternity, with Tadakatsu skillfully deflecting and dodging Hanshin's powerful but emotional elemental attacks. Neither provided the other with an opening and their defences were like stone. Finally, Tadakatsu accepted what he must do. Rushing in for an attack, he purposely gave Hanshin the opening the younger man desperately wanted. Hanshin grabbed at the older general's face, fire spewing from his palm and horifcally burning Tadakatsu's face as he screamed out in pain. He knew his end was at a near and so, fightning through the immesurable pain, he drew the stone, placing it against Hanshin's chest. With a bust of energy and swirling lights, the stone reacted with Hanshin, sending a beam into the sky. Hanshin began to cry out loud as his eyes and mouth erupted with multi coloured light, essence pouring out of them into the stone. Still holding onto Tadakatsu's face, Hanshin stood rooted as he was drained of his power, before collapsing to the floor once the deed was done. Hanshin had been stopped, but at a great cost to Shiizun.

再生 Rebirth
The war was over. But while their was joy and relief, there was also pain, suffering and remembrance. A grand funeral was held in Imperial City, honouring the dead and most significantly, Tadakatsu for his bravery. As a token of thanks, the Shogun granted the Li clan his heirship, having no children of his own. The stone was brought to the shrine of the Gods, and through the mystical essence inside of it, the Gods spoke to all. They decreed that the energy within the stone could never be destroyed, so thus, the stone would be broken into four, with each land protecting a piece. The Stone of Water would be given to the land of Kita, the Stone of Fire to Minami, the Stone of Earth to Nishi and the Stone of Air to Azuma. There, they would be assigned to the protection of notable clans from that land: the Kusanagi of Kita, the Tachibana of Minami, the Tseng of Nishi and the Liang of Azuma. The stones were taken back to their individual homes and rested their, until something began to happen not even the Gods had forseen. The essence in the stones began to morph the land and the people, imbuing the individual lands in a particular season, and granting various individuals the ability to channel their stone's element. Kita was cast into an eternal Winter, and various individuals gifted with channeling water, Minami with Summer and Fire, Nishi with Spring and Earth and lastly Azuma with Fall and Air. The choice was then made to rename the lands respectively according to their new conditions. Kita became Tochi No Eien No Yuki, the Land of Eternal Snow. Minami became Tochi No Eien No Taiyou, the Land of Eternal Sun. Nishi became Tochi No Eien No Hana, the Land of Eternal Flowers, and Azuma became Tochi No Eien No Ha, the Land of Eternal Leaves.

余波 Aftermath
Back in Imperial City, Hanshin was brought before the Shogun, now powerless and weakened from his defeat. The Shogun showed no mercy this time, and bid Hanshin to be executed before all of Imperial City as punishment for his crimes. The next day, Hanshin was put on display before the citizens of Imperial City, as well as the notable clans from all the lands. Screaming his defiance till the last, he claimed he would have his vengeance on all, before his life was snuffed out by the executioner's blade. Peace once again returned to Shiizun, and the people went their separate ways, now learning to adapt to their new homelands and powers. The Gods looked down on the new world an for the first time in years, were truly content, knowing that life had been given a new chance, and humanity would continue to flourish.