Namida no Megami

TERMINOLOGY




+ KIROKU (key-row-coo) The world of the fantasy. Kiroku is a single continent, divided into three sectors, and ruled by the Princeling.

+ DENTO-TEKI (den-toe-tech-e) The Church of Tsuyake, God of Progress and Ambition. The Church serves the Princeling, commanded by the Magus, and staffed by the Mages.

+ HONSHITSU (han-sheet-sue) Once, the faith of Unmei, Goddess of Nature and Time, it is now a society of healers and scholars, called Priests.

+ ANRAKUSHI (anne-rack-oo-she) An elite tribe of warriors and assassins, employed by the Church, and led by one know as SHE.

+ SHITASHII (she-tash-e) The warriors of Unmei, destroyed in the Reckoning, now a faded myth. Once, the legendary guardians of the Hoseki.

+ HOSEKI (hoe-sec-e) The thirteen crystals of Unmei, keys to the passageway of Heavan, lost in time.


+ Princeling The reigning lord of the Dento-teki, and the living son of the God, Tsuyake. Each generation, Tsuyake sets one boy on Kiroku, and the Church is led to him. He is raised in the palace at Shikotu, where he is bonded with a boy selected to be his Magus. After the passing of the old Princeling, the boy will then take the throne of Heavan. The Princeling governs the land, until the day he is ascended, when a new boy is chosen.
+ Magus The Magus is chosen in a manner similar to that of the Princeling, however, he is not of divine blood. The duties of the Magus include running the Church, and serving as the captain of the Priestling's guard. In order to protect the sanctity of divine blood, the Princeling is allowed physical contact only with his Magus, whom he has been bonded to by divine ceremony.
+ Mages Mages are practitioners of Black Magic, who serve under Tsuyake, the Dento-teki, and the Magus and Princeling. Damage and change are the only results of Black Magic, since they can draw no healing power from Nature.
+ Priests Once the leaders of ceremony in honor of Unmei, the priests have now become a class of scholars and healers, practicing White Magic. The most powerful of all White Magic, the spell Holy, is also the only White Magic spell that can be used to harm, and even kill.
+ Father/Mother Superior the chief Priest of a shrine, who governs over the others. It is the Superior's duty to protect the relics, and instruct the children in their rites.
+ SHE The SHE is the leader of the Anrakushi. It is her duty to oversee the various missions of the tribe, and she takes her orders directly from the Church. In order to protect the supremacy of the tribe, the SHE mates with her half-brother, called the Sire, resulting in a daughter that will become the next leader. After securing an heir, the SHE will select the most beautiful or exceptional woman in the tribe to mate with the Sire, and produce the next generation's Sire.
+ Sire the Sire will be the strongest male in a tribe of women. It is his duty to serve the SHE. As the most skilled assassin in the tribe, he can only be commanded by his half-sister, and will perform the important tasks assigned to the tribe by the Church.


DRAMTIS PERSONNAE





+ UNMEI (oon-may) the Goddess of Light and Water, creator or Kiroku, now held captive by...


+ TSUYAKE (sue-yak-e) the God of Fire and Glass, patron of the Church.


+ BAIU (bay-oo) the current Princeling, a naïve and sequestered boy who would see his god's will done, on Kiroku, as it is, in Heavan.


+ REKISHI (ree-key-she) Baiu's Magus, and the actual head of the Dento-teki Church, a dark and ruthless man who's ambition is the undoing of those who surround him.


+ AMADARE (ah-mah-dar-ay) the current SHE of the Anrakushi tribe, a fierce warrior, and a proud and sullen woman, who would change her stars.


+ KEMURI (kee-mu-ree) the current Sire and skilled assassin of the tribe, the brother of Amadare, who wants nothing more than to fulfill his destiny.


+ TAMASHII (tah-mah-she) a young girl masquerading as a boy in order to be a bard, she seeks her father's killer, and a chance to prove her worth.


+ KAIDAN (kay-dan) called the Lord of Thunder, a bounty hunter who seeks vengeance for his own father's death.


+ MOMOIRIO (moe-moy-ree-o) called the Child of the Sea, a young priest of the Honshitsu, who unwittingly becomes a warrior.


+ TSUMIHORABOSHI (sue-me-hoar-a-bosh-e) called the Lady of the Winds, a warrior with no memory of her past, employed, then betrayed and hunted by the Church.





TABLE OF CONTENTS


ACT ONE: A WHIRLWIND OF ASHES

proem: nai suketchi ni shakudo
(not drawn to scale)

Part One: Ankoku
(darkness)

Part Two: Kyaku
(client)

Part Three: Tamashii
(spirit)

Part Four: Chiri
(dust)

ACT TWO: SPLIT THE SKY

proem: ano sairyo oku sekkei suru
(the best laid plans)

Part One: Kyujitsu
(holiday)

Part Two: Shinko
(faith)

Part Three: Ishi
(will)

Part Four: Kizuato
(scar)

ACT THREE: A SCATTERING OF LIGHT

proem: gakumon ni iki o suru
(learning to breathe)

Part One: Hittakuru
(snatch)

Part Two: Chishiki
(knowledge)

Part Three: Jisuberi
(landslide)

Part Four: Kaibutsu
(monster)

CODA: FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM

afterwards: nokori
(remnants)

conclusion: tsumugu
(spin)