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In the beginning, there were Izanagi and Izanami. Together, standing upon ame-no-ukihashi, the bridge of heaven, they brought into the world all things - the land, the sea, and the sky, plants and animals and human beings, and the other kami, the spirits who inhabit the world. All of creation was their child, brought forth from Izanami's womb. But the last of Izanami's children, Kagutsuchi, the god of fire, killed her as she gave birth to him, burning her to death as he came into the world. Izanagi flew into a rage, and carved his son to pieces with his sword. But it did not bring his wife back from the dead. He was in despair, until finally, he could no longer bear to be away from his wife, and said that he would visit her in Yomi, the underworld, and take her back to the world of the living. Down and down he descended to see her. In the halls of the dead he met with her and she spoke to him from the shadows. She told him that she could not come back with him, for she had eaten the food of the underworld, and so could never leave it. His protests fell upon deaf ears - she would not return, and could not, until finally, unwilling to discuss it further, she went to sleep. As she slept, so overcome with the desire to see her, Izanagi lit a torch, so that he could watch over her as she slept. But as the light fell upon her, he saw that his wife was truly one of the dead - her flesh was grey and decaying, and being eaten by maggots. In terror, he screamed, and awoke his wife. Having been seen for what she had become, Izanami gave chase, hoping to kill the one she had once loved. But Izanagi fled, and sealed the door to the underworld with a great stone, so that his wife could not escape. And he washed himself, to cleanse himself of the filth of dead things, and as he did, he created new deities from each part that he washed. As he washed his face, he created the three greatest: from his left eye, Amaterasu, from his right eye, Tsukiyomi, and from his nose, Susanoo. Enraged at having been forgotten, Izanami declared that she would take 1,000 lives from the world of the living into her own world every day, but Izanagi swore that if she did so, he would bring 1,5000 new lives into the world to compensate. And so this became the way of the world - people died, and new people took their places. Soon, humans grew strong and found their own place in nature. This was a time of great peace and fertility, when the gods were celebrated by humans and held in highest regards. Men and women aspired to live lives according to the gods, nurturing the balance of their spirit by heightening their awareness of the kami found in the world around them and above them. They found meaning in life through a journey of spiritual ascension that would lead to enlightenment by discovering the key to true universality in all things natural and sacred, both in the world around them, and in the new cultures that were starting to form. With each passing day, the population grew, and human power grew with it. Power from their knowledge, from their technology, from their ability. And as they grew more powerful, they grew corrupt. Humanity began to go awry, losing sight of the most important sacred truth of being in harmony with each other, heaven, and earth. They began to hunger for more power, growing bitter and jealous, and lusting after dangerous and dark ideals which eventually led to war, great horror, and the eventual loss of the divine. The gods waited and watched, hoping for a day that humanity would once more find their way back to an era of peaceful harmony once more. But the world only grew darker, more violent. The gifts of the gods had been perverted into weapons of war and destruction, destroying men and women and the world around them. No longer content with being ignored, and having run out of patience, the kami who ruled in heaven have taken people from across various worlds, to live a life which is simpler, more connected with nature, and more conducive to learning harmony. A world untainted by corrupt societies, by destructive technology, and even by the stain of death itself. Or, so it seems...
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History