Higher Powers.---

[Warr]

Jikki no Shijou; (True Account of History)

Organization Head: Council of Patriarchs, though the individual leading of a temple, shrine, or monastery is a very varied thing.

Organization Places of Prescience: Throughout the continent, varying from shrines in the wilderness, to temples in the cities and various towns in existence, to monasteries, to wandering priests.

From the Writings of Abbot Amaagari Hirou: I've told a certain story many times, and will probably tell it many times more in my lifetime, and my students shall repeat the same story; again and again, so long as there are people upon this island living to be told it.

In the beginning, there were two gods. Twins gods, who were also rivals, and who would in time become lovers. Light and darkness, day and night, Amaterasu, and her brother, Tsukiyomi. With no one else, they would have fell into despair had they not been close, and as a result, in time, they fell in love.

These twin gods decided they should marry, and in the end created a great love for their love, to show their devotion to them. Tsukiyomi created the Sun with its fiery waves to represent the way Amaterasu brought warmth to his face, and light in the dark. Amaterasu likewise created the moon, to show her brother the beauty she saw in him, and to make him know that even in the darkest of darkness, so long as he was there, she would still see a -sliver- of light.

With that act of devotion, the two married, and in time, begot children. Children who made gifts to their parents and to each other, and these children eventually brought about the things which were the earth, along side their parents. The heavens of the earth were to be their home, but they wanted to see beauty throughout it, and all that was there before they worked at it, was water. Water and Sky.

They wanted more beauty and varied climes in the world, so they went about creating it. With hard work and, the mighty family of gods, that celestial hierarchy, brought about the continent which is the basis of our knowledge. It was a place with many twists and turns, and much variance.

It was a beauty, and the gods felt that the varied climes might be lonely, so they created plants and animals, and of these, some claimed allegiance to Tsuki, others to Amaterasu, and others, to their brother Susanoo, who had been banished from the heavens in a fit of rage. Their final act was to create humanity, and in this, they created a pair of children, who begot children as they grew into adulthood, serving the spirits around them. These children begot children as they aged, and in no time, humanity had spread to a whole village, serving the gods, and nature spirits around them, and finding their own professions.

Every one of these first members of the human race were masters of the arts of nindo, and extremely powerful. The histories of each nation would be marked by their movements, and their choices in life.

Edited October 23, 2008 by Warr

[Warr]

From the Writings of Abbot Amaagari Hirou on the three first children of Mizu:

Mizu no Kuni was once a true sibling and rival to its sisterland, Hi no Kuni. The two were connected, because Mizu no Kuni was not an island, but instead a large plateau, and it was at this connection that the first village of humanity lived. (Studies state that this region is somewhere around Nami no Kuni)

And from this first village hailed two born under and into the influence of Tsukiyomi, a pair known as Ebisu and Kai, wanted to explore the waters around them. Ebisu, because he knew the waters held tasty treasure, via fish, and Kai, because he wanted to explore the waters. The two became extremely proficient in their arts, and close to the water in affinity, and these two were effectively the first fisher, and the first sailor, a pair of brothers who would go on to become gods, and be the servitors and protectors against the goddess of the waves' wrath.

There was another of these duo's mark, a boy known as En'you, who fell in love with the embrace of the water itself, the cool feeling it gave him.

And it was this boy that brought about the flood, having been tricked by the goddess Umi (Who was in a jealous rage at the fact her close companion, co-worker, lord, and father, Tsukiyomi, would not leave her mother Amaterasu for her.

And I feel that I should not simply hint at the story, but tell it in full.

En'you was the younger brother of Kai, and the cousin of Ebisu. He was always thrilled by their stories of the waters, and used to go on adventures with them, though they would never let him in their contraptions they called boats. This irritated the boy, because he wanted to show he could do special things too, and he wanted to make there be more water to play in, so everyone could play in it, without anyone worrying about big brothers and cousins hogging it.

And Umi came to him, her voice the most intoxicating thing he had ever heard, and her claim that she was the spirit of the waters incarnate, and loved his touch just as much as she did his. She told him that she wanted him to do something for her, and taught him a secret art.

In the end, En'you caused an irrevocable storm, which tore Mizu no Kuni from Hi no Kuni, and sent it crashing into the ocean, only leaving the isles of the highest of mountains in it by the end of it. This caused Umi to come into confrontation with every one of her deitial family, and in the end she was sorry for the destruction of the beauty there, and sorry for nearly killing her three favorite mortals. In the end, she decided that when they were ready, they would ascend to godship, and she would protect their descendants, both the ones descended through teaching and those through blood.

Edited October 23, 2008 by Warr

[Warr]

From the Writings of Abbot Amaagari Hirou on the origins of the position of Mizukage, and the seven shinobi swords:

As the children of the houses of En'you (Now the god of depths and the area he had destroyed), Ebisu (Now the patron god of Fishermen, Good luck, and hard work; and health of children) and Kai (Now the god of Sailing, The Guiding Breezes; and Chances of surviving Sea Crashes) grew, having moved onto the island of Mizu no Kuni; they began fighting over who would lead. There were many skilled followers of nindo, and even some who believed they could wipe the other houses off the face.

Umi disliked her 'descendants' arguing as they did, and disliked even more the chance of losing one of her favored companions because their houses were wiped off the face of the world. So she decided she would pick the most humble, cheerful, and caring youth, and use him as the avatar of her will.

She found him hiding from a fight between his cousins, a son of the house of Ebisu and the House of Kai, and he was quivering, fearful as seeing such beauty, hearing such beauty. She took him from that place, to a hidden place in the depths of the sea that was her palace, and she trained him, and the deities who were her servitors did the same, the boy even got training from the great moon god, Taiin.

This boy was gone for many years, so many in fact that the houses and their civil war had made branched out into the minor houses that had been formed. He had came back, his power hidden by the water, and his destiny to unite this nation's clans, to make them stop their civil war.

This boy was the first ever to be called what he would be, -he was an ancient and holy Mizukage-, and in the mists where he had been scooped up by Umi herself, he built a fortress, a place which would be known later as Kirigakure no Sato. This boy found others who would follow his cause, having bested them in combat, and these others became his bodyguards, a brotherhood of shinobi-nin known to us now as the Seven Shinobi Swords. With this brotherhood and his immense power, he brought peace to our land, and he told of the things he had been told of by the gods; building a village from this power and knowledge.

It is rumored that the swords of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen were gifts from the gods themselves to the Mizukage's retinue.

Edited December 3, 2007 by Warr

[Warr]

From the Writings of Abbot Amaagari Hirou on the Current Noble Houses of Kirigakure no Sato: In the time of the first great civil war within Mizu no Kuni, there were many splinterings from the main houses, and in the end, six of these splinters came under the flag of the original Mizukage. These clans, a pair who had both came from a mixture of En'you, Ebisu, and Kai Houses (known as the Namikaze and the Umikaze), a pair of rival clans who had originated from the house of Kai, the Hisame and the Hisui, a clan which had risen under the guidance of the god of blacksmiths, the Zandoran, and a clan who to this day the origins of their power cannot be described, the Kaguya.

These six clans, along with the Mizukage and the Seven Shinobi Swords, brought peace to the land which would become Mizu no Kuni. They brought peace and saved it from destruction at the hands of the three houses, whom had each came up with a triad of weapons. After the war had came to a halt, the council of Kiri, -a group consisting of the clans, the Mizukage, and the Seven shinobi swords-, agreed to take guardianship over Mizu no Kuni and its peace, and allow the boy they had appointed as Daimyo to rule, so long as he allowed the gods to guide him.

Each of the houses were given another task, as well. Each were given a task to protect and guard the world from those terrible weapons which had been created. Each owned lands, and each had a shrine built within those lands, this was where those weapons were hidden.

The Namikaze and Umikaze, twin clans, controlled some of the minor outlaying islands around Mizu no Kuni, a peninsula a few miles from the holy land of Kirigakure itself, and also controlled the coastal region of Teijuu. They built one shrine in each place, and protected them fiercely, sharing secrets of nindo with each other as they did.

The rivals, the Hisame and the Hisui, took opposing regions, which were comfortable to their power, as domains. The Hisame were the guardians of the North, and the Hisui guardians of the south.

The Zandoran were given the most dangerous item to protect, and moved to an isle past the islands in the eastern ocean to protect it, leaving a splinter of their clan with their allies the Umikaze and the Namikaze.

The Kaguya hid their ward within the hilly jungles to the west.

And as they controlled these lands, they served the gods and the people, despite the possible failings of governors and the like who had been assigned in those regions. Popular legend calls these clans such.

The Umikaze-The Guardians of Water; collectively, they were also called the guardians of the holy land.

The Namikaze-The Guardians of Wind; collectively, they were also called the guardians of the holy land.

The Hisame- The Guardians of the North; The Hisame have also been called the Guardians of Ice.

The Hisui- The Guardians of the South; The Hisui have also been called the Guardians of Steam.

The Kaguya- The Guardians of the West; The Kaguya have also been called the Guardians of Body.

The Zandoran- The Guardians of the East; The Zandoran have also been called the Guardians of Will.

And with their ties to many feats, these clans earned themselves holy and noble titles as the great houses of Kiri; but alas, all but two of them have been lost to the passage of time and the civil wars which have ripped across our land.

In truth, the two which we do know survived only barely did so, because of that horrible - 'Mizukage' in the days of lore, after the time of Rokudaime Hokage Uzumaki Naruto ruled Konohagakure no Sato- who attempted to kull all signs of religious significance aside from himself. He was a sinful man who thought himself a god, and even tried to destroy we scholars of true history, and the revered seven shinobi swords.

Edited December 5, 2007 by Warr

[Rei]

I've just gots to know: Where's my God of Loss, my God of Small Things?

Approved.

[Warr]

I'm done with the main part of this religion; and need to explain it a bit more now. This group is part scholar, part Buddhist/Shinto priest, and part teacher. They often volunteer to teach at schools, for both the non-shinobi and the shinobi-nin, and they really can use nindo for magical arts and such. Though this is not done in it's full part, as their are chronicles for other villages to be written, then added. This is primarily a religion for Mizu no Kuni, however, so it's 'done' and ready for review as an organization.

Note: Any arguments that it makes things 'unnecessarily complicated' can note that this is a shared world, and it might not be EXACTLY as I say, nor does your character have to ascribe to its truth. Furthermore, the same could be said for most clans, as they don't add anything to the world and setting, and don't help anything either.

I've just gots to know: Where's my God of Loss, my God of Small Things?

Approved.

In the post that describes most of the gods, or in the history of your Hyuuga kiddo? D;

Edited December 5, 2007 by Warr

[Rei]

I'm done with the main part of this religion; and need to explain it a bit more now. This group is part scholar, part Buddhist/Shinto priest, and part teacher. They often volunteer to teach at schools, for both the non-shinobi and the shinobi-nin, and they really can use nindo for magical arts and such. Though this is not done in it's full part, as their are chronicles for other villages to be written, then added. This is primarily a religion for Mizu no Kuni, however, so it's 'done' and ready for review as an organization.

Note: Any arguments that it makes things 'unnecessarily complicated' can note that this is a shared world, and it might not be EXACTLY as I say, nor does your character have to ascribe to its truth. Furthermore, the same could be said for most clans, as they don't add anything to the world and setting, and don't help anything either.

In the post that describes most of the gods, or in the history of your Hyuuga kiddo? D;

Either or.

[Warr]

Aye, but that's a discussion for later. =x

[Eechi-go]

I like the concept behind this, more religons should be made. The will of fire could be translated into one, for example, for all those extremists.

Anyway, no qualms, and I enjoyed the story so...

Approved.