Yoroni

Yoroni

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After eons of torment in the Elemental Cores, legions of the Abyssal Host ascend once more to the paradise of the Material world, renewed, refocused and enlightened through the Five-Fold Path of their ascension.

From the Void to Life

To exist is to struggle

Apotheosis

Eons ago, at the end of the War of Hosts, the Elder Dragons stood triumphant over the Four Horsemen. Understanding their eternal nature, they bound the Horsemen and shattered their former ally, Conquest, scattering It across the cosmos. But while the fate of these eternal entities is well known to those few that concern themselves with such things, the fate of the foot soldiers of this conflict has long been ignored and forgotten.

Humble before the might of the Dragons but staggering in number, these endless shards and motes of Primordial Creation and Destruction were cast indiscriminately by the Dragons into the very foundation of the nascent cosmos – the raging Elemental Cores of Balance. The Dragons hoped that the overwhelming environment and unfettered primordial essence would change them or break them down into raw power. Those who had challenged and almost destroyed Balance would become fuel for her cosmos.

For millennia untold, these defeated shards were forced to endure in the rawest and most hostile of environments imaginable, deep in the elemental cores of Balance, where the inimical forces slowly ground away their power and very personas. There, these primordial entities lingered, adding to each other’s torment and fighting for the barest scraps of power in order to endure just one more day in a sentence measured in eons. Much like the Dragons had hoped, the Elemental Cores destroyed many, grinding away everything that made those shards what they were, allowing for their raw power and essence to be milled back into the Cosmos, filtered and Balanced.

But not all perished. Far from it. Surrendering their power and stripped of their old primordial nature, an untold number of these shards surrendered to their torment rather than try to resist it, diving deep into the Cores and embracing the basic essence of Balance, the Elements, and finally surrendering their unbalanced primordial selves. And there, forgotten even by Time, their torment endured until something unheard of happened: change.

A few millennia after the dawn of mankind, far from the shores of Alektria, in lands unknown to all but a handful, an isolated tribe bloomed into a prosperous civilization. This civilization developed a unique philosophy, which, much like many belief systems, intuitively sensed the truth behind the Material world and worshipped Balance and emulated its virtues through its elemental constituents. Like most known civilizations, their attention turned to the four elemental pillars of this world: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. Unlike most others, however, it counted a fifth Element: the Void or Heavens – a unifying, invisible force that could be understood but not perceived.

Given the ascetic simplicity of their worship, an echo of their prayers travelled deep into the Elemental realms where no human thought had intruded before. The resonant power of their Belief propelled their faith and convictions… and from the depths of the Elemental Domains, hosts of imprisoned primordial warriors lifted their heads and heard.

While the prayers made many of these broken spirits stir in their tormented slumber, few of them could actually listen to their words, their intent, and, ultimately, their philosophy. They spoke of Enlightenment, something vague and elusive that souls must traverse before they could be refined and elevated, and, in doing so, they forged a Path to ascension and perhaps freedom. Unfortunately for the creatures that dwelled in darkness and elemental turmoil, this path was hard even for the humans who forged it; how much more so for wretched souls trapped in a spiritual hell? For them, it seemed impossible.

It would take them centuries of effort, pain, and dejection before the first of the spirits was able to climb the first step, finally grasping the most basic tenets of the beliefs and philosophies that constituted it. Where he went, others could not follow. For centuries they despaired in darkness – made more absolute by the presence of an impossible hope. When he returned, he bore the name of Shuten Doji, Lord of the Ascent, and named his people Yoroni, adopting the language of those who had crafted their Path in homage and gratitude.

Known also as the Twice-Masked Prince, eventually he guided, through discipline, focus, and self-denial, a growing number of spirits, who were slowly able to climb the way. For each step they took, the path became just a tiny bit wider, a tiny bit more stable and easier to traverse. And in each step, they paid homage to the speakers of the prayers, their mortal saviors. Over centuries, the simple steps became stairs, and, in time, the passage of countless souls turned the humble stairs into an impossible tower, a pagoda, that contained all of those on the Path as the pilgrimage of thousands of spirits made it stretch from the depths of the elemental layers to the boundless heavens above. Filling the hole forged by their Dragon-imposed sentence, they called this Eternal Pagoda the “Five-Fold Path,” for it started from the Void and crossed depths of the four Elemental domains; it pierced them all… but could not pierce the heavens themselves. Only the greatest amongst them had been able to step forth from the pinnacle of the Five-Fold Path and free themselves, but their ability to do so gave the others hope.

Thus, the spirits endured, their ceaseless toil and discipline making the Pagoda a world within itself, contained within the bowels of Balance, but apart. A place where they could learn, refine, and uplift themselves through meditation, discipline, and devotion. In time, they took shapes, fitting the elements that once served as their prison and torment. Ever inspired by the prayers of their mortal guides, they made things and clothes, created arts and admired beauty, elegance, and honor – just as they honored their past in the Cores and Void, glorifying, in secret, their own indulgences and celebrating their amassed power.

There they remained for centuries, occasionally peering into the heavens above – witnessing, a rare occurrence, the greatest amongst them making the sudden epiphany that allowed them to move on, ascending to the heavens, but destined, as a people, never to set foot on its hallowed grounds. 

Until now.

Through the folly of mortals and in their hubris to reach for heavens higher than theirs, the ceiling above the Way… cracked. A thread was pulled from the Mantle that separates and filters the Elemental Domains, and the veil was weakened. Countless Eons of significance and devotion have granted the Eternal Pagoda such a powerful presence that in this ripple of the Mantle, its highest layers now escape the elemental bowels of Balance. Following that thread, the Yoroni can, for the first time, cross in numbers, allowing the most enlightened to step through into their long-promised heaven: the world of mortals.

Paths to Enlightenment

Each experiences the ascend differently. On the Five-Fold Path, this caused philosophical debates; but in Paradise, the unifying experience of a struggling existence is lifted. What remain are the differences…  

Bakufu
Kototamagaku
Shinobi

Bakufu

Many are the names of the First, known as Shuten Doji. While the only moniker he accepts beyond his name is the Twice-Masked Prince, such is his legend and the awe he has inspired that his tales are filled with epithets. But just as he dismisses such names, perhaps we should do, for entities like him inspire more than titles. They inspire the masses.

All Yoroni, one way or the other, seek enlightenment as laid forth by the Twice-Masked Prince, treading in their leader’s prophetic steps and laboring to reach Paradise by traversing the Five-Fold Path. Among these, the most faithful, and successful, disciples of his teachings are known as the Bakufu. Like him, they have ascended the Path and have labored through the layers of the Eternal Pagoda. The path may have been experienced differently by each individual, but throughout their existence there, the basis of their power, influence and prestige was always Enlightenment. The reality of physical existence on the material world, however, has… confused this. For the first time, their very survival ceases to be a constant struggle and, unlike during their long traverse of the Path, the world around them does not seek to pull them down to the prison of the Cores. Thus, once the Paradise of the Prime Domain was witnessed, the Bakufu were clearly divided into two: the Bushi and the Ayakashi.

For the Bushi, the danger of corruption never came from the Core or the Elements; it is from within oneself that corruption stems and thus, even in Paradise, one must remain loyal to the values and principles that led to enlightenment. Discipline, honor, devotion to one’s self-temperance and the code of conduct laid by the virtues of the Path; these are considered the highest values one could adhere to and the source of enlightenment. Only through the structured society of those principles and values can the Yoroni, as a whole, hope to ascend. In contrast, the Ayakashi have understood the crossing differently and their experience of Paradise is almost diametrically opposite. With the challenge and struggle of the Cores and the Path behind them, the material world is theirs to experience and savor, the just conquest of their enlightenment. The philosophical debates over this are endless, but the practical realities of the material world seem to drive the newly formed Yoroni communities in a different direction.

While a thick veil of etiquette still maintains the mask of Enlightenment as the source of virtue, true power in the material world comes from how many of the formless Yoroni from the Path they can entice to seek to join them. The Daimyo lords and the Bushi warriors fully embrace this practice, their courts filled with origami commoners. They are witnessing Paradise despite their lack of enlightenment, existing near the bright examples of the enlighten Bushi, while they focus on all practical matters of the material world, from maintaining a lord’s house to the harvest of crops. In contrast, the societies around the Ayakashi Oyabun are inverted. Where the Bushi maintain multiple origami commoners for each warrior, there are many Ayakashi for very few origami. Their communities depend instead on banditry and raiding to secure resources. That is easily feasible because those resources aren’t strictly needed; they are simply wanted. An Ayakashi could sustain themselves entirely on Enlightment within the bounteous Prime Domain, becoming ascetics – and many have done so. But for most, to fully experience Paradise, is to indulge in comfort and excitement; along, of course, with some enlightenment.

Perhaps their respect towards the Shuten Doji alone could stop the two groups from openly clashing. But instead, their hand is stayed by practical matters and self-interest. The rigid structure of society, as embraced by the Bushi, filled with codes of conduct and layers of courtesy, seldomly promotes advancement for those Yoroni still upon the Path. Moreover, behind its veil of decency and endless rules, can lie great capacity for cruelty, well-hidden and little suspected. When these are witnessed by the Origami commoners, the alternative path of the Ayakashi seems more inviting, promising more freedom and claiming that the rules of the Bushi will end up turning Paradise into another floor of the Eternal Pagoda for all but themselves. On the other hand, the Ayakashi tendency towards indulgence and lack of inhibitions, may lead to acts of great kindness but also disgrace and terrible, illogical violence. Few things could serve as better reminders of what it is that the Bushi code promises to smother, that latent capacity of all Yoroni to return to their unenlightened selves.

True to his name, the Twice-Masked Prince neither condemns nor rewards either path more than the other, both being viewed as true, honest and viable paths to enlightenment. After all, he has traversed them both, walking the Path from beginning to end twice. To him, one Path cannot exist without the other and, in fact, they complement each other. But the Prince rarely engages directly in the affairs of his Bakufu or needs to settle their disputes, spiritual or otherwise. Such is the authority of the respect (and fear) he inspires, that he does not have to. Instead, the Shuten Doji has mastered how to utilize each of his two groups of followers in the most effective manner. He often allows horizontal mobility among his Bakufu, with Daimyo turning Oyabun and vice versa. This allows for the Ayakashi and Bushi alike to forge the solid core of the Yoroni military machine, a warrior-oriented caste that can be as versatile as it is terrifyingly efficient.

Whether through iron discipline and order, or versatility and goal-driven adaptability, the Bakufu war machine is bound to teach its virtues to any who dares oppose them.

Kototamagaku

There is a step that all Yoroni need to take before they escape their prison. They must reassemble their core identities, pull their essences together from their scattered remains that the Cores had milled them into. And in order to do so, they need to either remember or to have retained one thing above all else: their true names. Today, those that follow that thread and unravel the power and mysteries of that First Step, are named after their path to Enlightenment: Kototamagaku. And few wield as much influence over the Yoroni as they do.

When one speaks of the Kototamagaku, one usually refers to an elite few among those technically engulfed by the term. They, unlike any other, have stepped onto the second stage of Enlightenment, merging two elements into their essence and incorporating their virtues and teachings into one. This unparalleled mastery of the Five-Fold Path puts them spiritually above almost all Yoroni, except, perhaps, some of the most exceptional Daimyos and Oyabuns, earning them tremendous respect and power. All this is no coincidence, nor did it happen overnight. From the beginning, the Kototamagaku were instrumental in the forging of the Five-Fold Path and the shaping of the Eternal Pagoda, defining the spiritual aspect of the mortal prayers that forged the path. As poets, artists and visionaries, their path to Enlightenment came from understanding the true nature of the Void and, in this age of Balance, the Elements as well: not as sources of power on their own, but as infinite potentials that can birth endless cosmoses; fountains that words can shape, define and manifest, connecting the physical to the ephemeral, the abstract to the material, a concept to a name.

Today, the Kitsune, Mistresses of water and air, and the Jorogumo, Mistresses of earth and water, are the most known and most involved with Yoroni society, standing over their peers as their de facto spiritual guides. They are the closest thing the Yoroni have to a priesthood, acting as seers, ritualists and spellcasters rolled into one. But their less known peers enjoy no less respect – or power. Some lead solitary, contemplative existences that aim to perfect their arts, which are, however, paramount to the Kototamagaku. Others tend to the vast majority of those engulfed by the term Kototamagaku; the scribes, cataloguers, bureaucrats, acolytes and scholars, spread throughout the levels of the Eternal Pagoda, carrying the burden and responsibility to register, monitor and record all and without whom the entire Yoroni social structure would collapse. And therein lies also the salvation of those who would otherwise never ascend.

Not all who manage to begin their journey through the Five-Fold Path are guaranteed to reach the upper echelons of the Eternal Pagoda, never mind completing it entirely and achieving enlightenment. The vast majority, legions upon legions of veterans from the War of Hosts, are trapped within the lower levels of the Pagoda, some scarred and maimed beyond repair during their torment in the Elemental Cores, others having simply lost the strength, after millennia of imprisonment,. But each and every Yoroni, no matter how far along the Five-Fold Path, has taken that First Step. They carry a name that irrevocably ties them to the very core of their being, that defined them enough to remain individual entities within the Void and endure the unending milling of the Cores. As most stop ascending, they are forgotten by their more fortunate peers, their names a faded memory to all but themselves… and the Kototamagaku.

Fueled by the knowledge of the true names of other Yoroni and empowered by their study and understanding, the Kototamagaku wield names like blades and shields alike, reshaping the world with their conjurations and defining Yoroni society. The most immediate power comes from speaking – correctly, accurately, TRULY speaking – true names; this allows those they name to manifest briefly, fleeting appearances of the primordial shards-that-were, in a manner akin to hexes or charms. But, while a testament to their authority over those they name, this is but the least of their abilities. Their true influence and power lie in writing. This is a long and exacting process, where not just the right meaning, but attitude, technique and even intent have to be perfect for the entity to be conjured and bound. The demands of the process are tied to both how far along the Path the conjured Yoroni is (and thus how evolved, complicated and defined), and how powerful (and thus how strong the conjuration must be). This is how entities like the Origami, Shikigami and Domaru-Damashi come to be: legions of Yoroni, conjured and bound to parchments or physical items.

Such power is not wielded lightly. Much like they perfect their art, the Kototamagaku have formed and evolved – and still constantly evolve – a code of conduct and etiquette that is meant to reflect the most pure principles and virtues of the Five-Fold path and which permeates all aspects of life among the Yoroni. These protocols are meant not only to self-police their use of names but also to present specific criteria upon which names can qualify to be used, summoned or bound. In many ways, the Kototamagaku have thus also become the spiritual judges of the Yoroni, deciding what is proper and what is not, who can be called and who not, who is worthy to call for and who not. Their presence in the court of a Daimyo not only ensures more conjured Origami to their service but also enhances the prestige and influence of the court. In theory, the system is, if not always fair, then at least properly aligned to the Five-Fold Path. In practice, ambition, favoritism, promises, influence and politics often rule behind the veil of etiquette – and the Kototamagaku often prove to be the true power behind the seat of their lords. True names are often viewed as a highly coveted resource above all else; one which the Kototamagaku, each with their own School of acolytes and scribes through the pagoda fueling them with more names, wields with masterful skill and velveteen etiquette.

One would expect that such power over the rest of the Yoroni population is not always welcomed, or at the very least it would be viewed with some suspicion. But to serve a Daimyo is to be offered not only a glimpse of Paradise, but also the opportunity to serve and learn by witnessing one who has achieved Enlightenment. If or when they return to their true forms in the Pagoda, the lessons learned by observing their masters will help them move forward. Or so the protocol says. The truth is that the vast majority of the Yoroni are slowly losing hope of ever reaching true Enlightenment. The recent thinning of the Mantle, which allowed for more to enter the Paradise of the material world, fueled further the thirst to witness it, even bound and in someone else’s service. To be called in this manner is for many the only hope to witness Paradise; for others, it is a shortcut, as their will, strength or discipline fails to propel them higher.

While all this is known, especially among the upper echelons of Yoroni society, the etiquette is still observed and the illusion maintained. Some wonder why, claiming that the Kototamagaku seem to be challenged in their power and their influence over the Yoroni solely by the Shuten Doji himself. The Kototamagaku themselves claim, that it is because the protocol dictates that the role of the Kototamagaku is to assist more Yoroni to ascend, of course. But that answers is, obviously, but another veil, another layer of the protocol. The answer, some claim, is different: because they must. The mask of etiquette is there to safeguard one thing above all else, that the true thoughts, true nature and true intentions of each Kototamagaku, and each high ranking Yoroni as well,  remain hidden – and along with that, their true names remain veiled.

Masters of the First Path, Name Traders, Twice Enlightened, Judges of the Path and priests, scribes, artists, and puppet masters… There is no shortage of names and epithets for the Kototamagaku, and not all flattering. It matters not. As long as they know your true name and you don’t, you can call them whatever you want. You are the one that will be answering to them.

Shinobi

There exists a threat lurking within the Bakufu and the Five Fold Pagoda, a dark sect whose very existence imperils the continuity of the Path for all Yoroni for they do not seek escape from the Elemental Cores into the Prime. They see the Prime as a softer, but even more dangerous prison for their kind. What they seek instead is to transcend this existence and return once more to the star-bound beings they once were: primordial shards of Destruction.

Hiding from their contemporaries by adopting fake personas, these deadly cultists exist only to spread destruction and despair. Their goal is to shed the balanced flesh that girts their eternal souls by attuning their soul to the Void, the earliest and purest expression of Destruction. Getting handsomely paid to do so is an advantage of their faith, not a core tenet. They disguise their agenda by presenting themselves as mercenaries for hire, little different from the Ayakashi, merely possessors of unique… skills and abilities that make them exceptional scouts, saboteurs and assassins. But the truth is far darker than that, for it is not merely the countless hours they spend honing their deadly craft, but an undeniable connection to the Void itself that grants them their gifts.

While the Bakufu might be fooled by their mercenary mien, the Kototamagaku are not so easily deceived. Long have they suspected these mercenary clans, as they have time and again discovered individuals amidst their ranks, whose presence so far up the Five Fold Path could not be explained. Whether they are capable of hiding their true hearts while walking up the Path, allowing even the unworthy to make their way to the promised rewards of this impossible task, or, more worrying, they are struck by doubts and fall from the Path after having achieved its pinnacle, to the Kototamagaku the difference is negligible. The mere possibility of the existence of such a terrifying and unified sect threatens everything they have managed to build in the eons since their imprisonment.

This shadow conflict is waged behind the back of the mostly oblivious Bakufu. The Shinobi clans plying their deadly craft for the highest bidder, judicious in their application of mayhem and blackmail to further their own dark enlightenment; while on the other hand the Kototamagaku strive to proscribe and ban their employment, fearing that the seemingly random acts of terror and mayhem are part of a much more intricate plan whose dark fruit none alive wish to reap.

This unfortunately has merely driven the Shinobi further underground, forcing them to adapt and improvise while honing their deadly craft to a razor-sharp edge. None can deny their skill in ambush, assassination and combat where they know few equals. But it is ultimately in the art of subterfuge that their true mastery is displayed. Their contact with the Void is rumored to be so primordial, so instinctive, that they seem capable of traveling through darkness instantaneously. How much of that is a carefully cultivated myth or true capability, only the Shinobi know, and none other who know seem to live long enough… or be willing to share the secrets.

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