Mai

The land of Mai 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 Mai 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, expanded its purview from military purposes to civil infrastructure. 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. Reiwan proved especially popular in the provinces as a result, receiving respect from the peasantry and generous patronage from satraps and landholders for the prosperity they brought.

Once the coverage of the great rural shrines was largely complete, attention turned to the construction of urban and suburban shrines dedicated to gods of arts or trades. These facilities were much more modest in size but became more lavish as the local economy prospered. Reiwan hit a brief golden age in the late third and early fourth century before decidedly falling out of favor with the imperial court during the long reign of Kaveh. In some areas, most of these newer shrines soon fell out of use, maintenance and memory and the religion made few gains amongst town and city dwellers. Elsewhere, Reiwan has soldiered on, continuing to expand in scope and gradually integrating spirits related to every conceivable situation or aspect of life. In these decisively Reiwan provinces, shrines and shrine maidens are ubiquitous in populated areas.

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 all 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 geomantic formations 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. Many satraps followed suit in this tradition in the capitols of their own domains and often 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 imperial capitol. Despite the grandeur of some of these shrines, they are not tombs and do not inter remains. The spirit proxy enshrined is usually some personal relic from life.

• Four Dragons Grand Shrine, Meridian (destroyed)

The oldest Reiwan shrine in the empire.

• Great Imperial Shrine, Meridian (destroyed)

Shrine of the personal spirit of Azurdeena as well as the imperial institution as a whole.

• Atma Grand Shrine, Meridian (destroyed)

Shrine to Atma, the greatest of all the spirits of Arth.

Expansion Style

This style dates from the Expansion era when many shrines were constructed on geomantic convergences both as a place of religious study and a public work directing spiritual magic to influence everything from harvest to weather. Expansion shrines are among the largest of shrines but can be remarkably remote due to their location requirements. Many subsequently had towns grow up around them and/or have taken on tertiary purposes as government buildings, commandery barracks or simply as a central place to house numerous subordinate shrines. 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. Local geography might be incorporated into the structure and most are fortified to some degree against bandit attack. Very few new Expansion style shrines have been built in the past seven hundred years but existing ones throughout the empire are continually maintained and tithed, by local peasants if nobody else will step up.

• Grand Shrine of Damara

The earliest shrine dedicated entirely to fertility.

• Kirisame Grand Shrine, Mai

One of the most important shrines in the empire. A center for magical training.

Modern Style

The Modern style is the archetypical Reiwan shrine. They have evolved over time to become largely wooden constructions with heavy elaboration and decoration, including large timbers as a sign of status. Although some of the most imposing complexes rival the Expansion type shrines in size, most are considerably smaller. Their distribution across the empire is uneven with some areas having only a few struggling jinja whereas elsewhere they may be ubiquitous.

There is also a Transitional style. These are among the oldest urban shrines established in the period between 270 – 400 or so. They are typically modest in size, less imposing than more modern shrines, display relatively greater regional differences in construction and use less wood.

Cathedral Style

Although the Reiwan establishment has been active in resisting the intrusion of Empyreanism for half a millennium, it has been less unwelcoming to the Jibrilite cathedral architectures transmitted to the continent over the centuries. To some extent, this style also has origins in structures raised by secret Empyreans to masquerade their places of worship as legitimate shrines. Understandably, this style of construction has found different levels of traction in different territories. Shrines built in this way remain heavily in the minority, though even notoriously conservative Mai domain has a few of significance. They tend to be mostly stone, with heavy use of ornamentation and statuary – especially of human figures which are generally avoided in most other shrines.

• Tenebrous Arcada, Nori

Reiwan arm of the White Tower.