Kimara
History
Oni society in the Bloom Age was founded on a singular philosophy: a war against the concept of a flaw. This ideal was expressed in all aspects of their culture, from the flawless execution of ritual to the creation of objects of static, perfect beauty. Their empress-goddess, Hotaru-no-kōgō, a being of immaculate ivory, was revered as the living embodiment of these pre-existing cultural ideals. Civil order was maintained by the Tenzen-Shugo ("Guardians of the Ideal State"), an administrative body that co-ruled with the empress to ensure the flawless functioning of their society.
During the Blood Age, the Tenzen-Shugo's role shifted from administration to military defense as external threats grew. Now known commonly as the Shugo, they observed the rise of Tatarigami across Dheghom and the decay of other gods. From these observations, the Shugo-Osa and the council determined that divinity itself was an inherent liability that threatened the perfect state of Kimara. Applying their core philosophy, they concluded that this potential flaw must be eliminated. The Shugo launched a preemptive strike to kill their empress. The attempt failed, succeeding only in wounding her.
The Blight Age began for the Oni with the consequences of that failure. The wound inflicted upon Hotaru-no-kōgō triggered her transformation into a Tatarigami, her ivory form fracturing into obsidian held together by veins of molten gold. This event did not alter the Shugo's philosophy; it only served as the catastrophic confirmation of their initial judgment. The potential flaw had now become a manifest one, and their objective to eliminate it remained unchanged. In response to the Shugo's attack, the Morito faction arose, viewing the act as heretical and the empress, even broken, as a divine beauty to be protected.
The nation is now locked in an intractable civil war. The conflict is not between two opposing philosophies, but between two factions applying the same rigid cultural methodology to an impossible problem. Both the Shugo and the Morito are convinced that there is a single, perfect solution that must be achieved through rote, violent application. The Shugo seeks to fulfill its duty by destroying the flaw. The Morito seeks to fulfill its duty by preserving the divine. This has left the two sides in a violent stalemate, each utterly certain of the perfection of its chosen path.
Government
No single authority rules the nation of Kimara; instead, as a result of its prolonged civil war, two opposing states have formed. Each state is organized around its own interpretation of the Oni's core philosophy of perfection.
In the territories controlled by the Shugo, the government is a rigid military junta. The Shugo-Osa wields supreme authority as a military commander, and the council functions as a war cabinet, its directives focused exclusively on the prosecution of the war, with extreme prosecution against any deviation from the law.
The lands held by the Morito are governed as a militarized monastic state, led by the Morito-Osa. The hierarchical priesthood holds authority, enforcing their rule as rigidly as that of the Shugo. Morito law is a series of theocratic edicts designed around the duty of protecting their wounded goddess. While the Shugo punish failures of efficiency, the Morito punish failures of devotion, with any lapse in faith or duty considered a threat to their entire existence.
Interesting Facts
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The art of Gansekiga, or rock arranging, is not the creation of a garden, but a multigenerational project to achieve a single, perfect, and static arrangement of stones in a field of raked sand. The placement of a single stone can be debated by masters for decades; to move one without achieving a more perfect state of harmony is considered a greater failure than to do nothing at all.
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The Oni do not bury their dead in the frozen ground of the tundra, instead practicing ritual cremation. The skull is then given to their kin to be polished with fine abrasives over a period of months until it achieves a mirror-like, obsidian sheen. These skulls line the halls of ancestral homes or barracks, a silent and perfect testament to a lineage's honor.
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The Oni cultural practice of creating ephemeral masterpieces is known as Setsunadō. Artisans carve intricate, large-scale sculptures from ice, knowing that they will soon melt. The cultural significance is not in the object, but in the shared memory of its fleeting, flawless existence. Since the war, this practice has declined, as fewer Oni have the time to devote to this pastime.
Current Challenges
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The Civil War. The nation's primary challenge is the civil war, which has reached a strategic stalemate. The Shugo's initial campaign of deicide was only partially successful and has stalled against the consolidated forces of the Morito and their divine allies. The Shugo now lack the resources to continue their offensive against this unified front, yet their doctrine forbids any resolution short of total victory.
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Coastal Predation. The reallocation of military assets to the internal conflict has weakened Kimara's coastal defenses. This vulnerability is exploited by external maritime groups, including Navrow pirates and Navtog slavers, who conduct raids on poorly defended settlements to seize resources and inhabitants. These groups often utilize firearms, giving them a significant tactical advantage over the less technologically equipped Oni forces.
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Doctrinal Schisms. The prolonged stalemate has created internal divisions within both factions. A key point of contention is the adoption of foreign firearms; some elements within both the Shugo and Morito advocate for their use to break the military deadlock, while traditionalists view such technology as a corruption of their cultural ideals. A second division has formed over the war's ultimate objective: divisions within the Shugo on which gods should be eliminated, while some within the Morito question the cost of protecting every deity at the expense of their people.
Clans of Kimara
While the civil war is framed as an ideological conflict between the Shugo and the Morito, the loyalties of the great Oni clans add layers of politics, ambition, and tragedy to the war.
The Fudokiba Clan
Known as the "Stone Pillars" of the nation, the Fudokiba are the most powerful and ideologically committed clan in service to the Shugo. Before the war, they were the architects of the state's legal code and the enforcers of its rigid order. They see the Morito's devotion as a sentimental flaw and the worship of imperfect gods as a chaotic variable that must be eliminated. The clan provides the Shugo with its most disciplined commanders and fanatical troops, forming the bedrock of their military power.
The Utsukiha Clan
The Utsukiha were the great temple-builders and artisans of the old era, a clan whose identity was tied to the creation of objects of perfect, uniform beauty. They view the Shugo's campaign as an act of profane iconoclasm. As the primary architects of the Morito's defenses, they now apply their mastery of stonework and engineering to turn sanctums into fortresses. Their loyalty is not just to the gods, but to the very concept of beauty and devotion that they believe the Shugo seeks to erase from the world.
The Kirinoya Clan
The Kirinoya have always operated in the periphery, a clan of scouts, spies, and agents who traditionally handled the nation's "outside" affairs. Their loyalty was to the state, not to any single ideology, and the civil war has shattered them. One branch of the family now serves as the Shugo's intelligence network, while another performs the same function for the Morito. The Kirinoya are now engaged in their own secret, internal war, using identical methods of espionage and assassination against their own kin.
The Wataribashi Clan
The Wataribashi were a clan of administrators and merchants who controlled the island's internal trade routes. Less concerned with divine matters, their primary goal is the preservation of their own power and the continuation of commerce. They have attempted a dangerous neutrality, with their territory acting as a buffer state between the two factions. They secretly supply both the Shugo and the Morito with resources in exchange for autonomy, making them both indispensable and utterly untrustworthy to either side.