Mai

The land of Mizuho on the continent of Zenith (Heylel). It is ruled by women of the Madomura clan.

Military

Madomura Household Guard
Shinto Samurai trained to fight Angels.

Izayoi Ninja Clan
A secret force that foiled the second Shogunate and retained to this day, in secret.

Madomura Mithril Retainers
Elite warriors who, like many warriors could cast no shadow into the Umbra. They give up their souls to be bound into giant suits of armour.

Armed Shrine Maidens

Characters

Madomura Madoemi

Reiwan

Reiwan is one of the major religions of the Zenith Empire and by far the dominant one in the Mizuho domain. It is an animistic faith holding all aspects of the universe, from the grand orbits of celestial bodies to the minute operations of clockwork, accountable to a nigh infinite variety of gods and spirits. Practicing Reiwan means to respect, thank and assist these spirits so that they properly conduct their affairs, promoting the proper functioning of the cosmic order. Reiwan's clerics, the shrine maidens, act as intermediaries between the divine and profane, observing and promulgating a vast set of spiritual practices ranging from minor daily rituals to arcane ceremonies and public festivals of considerable scope and scale. Included among these are rituals meant to obtain sorcerous effect. Reiwan is a major source of magical training throughout the empire and served the imperial court and its satraps as astrologers and time keepers.

History

Reiwan coalesced from the various shamanistic traditions of the empire's numerous founding cultures after the Four Great Dragons' ascension from Arth and celebrated the role of the great elemental spirits, the Primals, in resisting the attack of the Angels. The earliest shrines were dedicated to the empire's greatest defenders and built to direct geomantic and spiritual power towards defensive purposes. Forming alongside or splitting off from direct dragon worship (theologians differ), Reiwan was always less about personality cults or the individual power of the august and more about defending and fulfilling the needs of the whole. Early shrine maidens saw their worship as contributions to the defense of the empire, pioneering both the Path of Service and the Wellspring Way philosophies.

As immediate threat of invasion subsided, Reiwan expanded its purview from military purposes to civil infrastructure as well. The empire's rapid expansion across the Zenith continent demanded accelerated recovery of the hinterlands, especially in the regrowth of forests and the taming of land and water for use by disparate races with different needs. Great shrines from the Expansion era, among the oldest and largest still extant, are built on powerful geomantic convergences and direct this energy to influence everything from local water supplies to the fertility of nearby populations. In subsequent centuries, Reiwan exploded in size and scope, integrating spirits over every conceivable situation or aspect of life and assembling them into the foundational magical infrastructure of the empire.

Shrines

Aside from festivals, most core ceremonies are conducted at shrines ranging in size from tiny roadside eaves to massive walled complexes of interconnected prayer halls, sub-shrines, pagodas and reliquaries. While shrines are built with the presumption that even great divinities can portion and inhabit a proxy object or location, some facilities are constructed to encompass entire holy locations and thus cover considerable acreage.

Types

Meridian Style

The oldest grand shrines of Reiwan were built to honor the Four Great Dragons, Azurdeena (posthumously), Atma, and the other Primals who directly battled the Angels in defense of the empire. These early sites predate the present day styles of Reiwan religious architecture, resembling palace architecture popular in the former capitol. They were large, ostentatious structures built largely of stone, often with significant underground portions and exacting specifications in architectural workmanship and astrological significance. Following the reign of Azurdeena each Zenith Emperor or Empress has, as a matter of tradition, commissioned or had posthumously commissioned in their name, a shrine dedicated to their spirit. These are known as the Imperial Personage Shrines and were once located east of Meridian. From the tail end of the Imperial Expansion onwards, personal posthumous shrines started to be commissioned for other persons of note in the capitol. The construction of these August Personage Shrines accelerated in subsequent eras, sometimes starting before the dedicatee was even born. At the height of the empire, there were so many that an entire district was set aside for them. Many satraps followed suit in this tradition on a smaller scale in the capitols of their own domains and some retained Meridian style architecture for this purpose. These consist of most of the Meridian style "temple-like" shrines still extant after the destruction of the capitol. Despite the grandeur of some of these personal shrines, they are not tombs and do not inter remains. The spirit proxy enshrined is usually some personal relic from life.

Expansion Style

This style dates from the Expansion era when many shrines were constructed on geomantic convergences as both places of worship and public works directing spiritual magic to influence everything from harvest to weather. Many Expansion shrines are among the largest but are often remarkably remote due to their location requirements. Some subsequently had towns grow up around them due to their presence while others have taken on tertiary purposes – often as government buildings. They are traditionally built using relatively basic methods and with whatever materials are locally available, emphasizing geomantic and orientational rather than architectural precision. This is due to historically being built on limited resources in freshly settled areas. For the same reason, large timbers requiring large individual trees are avoided as these were rare after the Cataclysm. Very few Expansion style shrines have been built in the past five hundred years.