Amaterasu-ōmikami

Amaterasu-ōmikami
Born:	Unknown
Died:	-
Parents:	Three Nameless Gods
Spouse:	Onnotangu
Children:	Hantei Akodo Bayushi Doji Hida Shiba Shinjo Togashi (Adopted) Fu Leng (Adopted) Ryoshun
Titles:	Lady Sun
People

Amaterasu-ōmikami, also known as Lady Sun, was a Goddess of the Rokugani pantheon. The Sea of the Sun Goddess was named after her. Jade, the sacred stone, was said to be her tears. While the Sun represented the Order, her counterpart the Moon represented the Chaos.

Demeanor

Lady Sun was compassionate and wise, the matriarch of the Heavens and the source of all life, the most beloved of Tengoku's denizens. She was known for her kindness and sagacity, she was also a fierce warrior and one of the most powerful of Rokugan's deities. She was not noted for her temper, but when stirred, her anger was the choking drought of an endless summer, or the sundering blast of a once-dormant volcano. Her domain was purifying fire and the resilience of stone.

Creation

Amaterasu existed after the Nothing, who through fear, desire, and regret, was fragmented into ten thousand shards of reality, which coalesced into the jealous gods and the warring elements. In the beginning the world was formless and fluid. Eventually, the lighter parts separated out and became the Heavens, and the heavier parts sank down and became the earth. Then the Three Nameless Gods appeared, and they saw that while Heaven and earth had been formed, everything within them was still wild and unshaped. They created two gods, and sent them out to give shape to the world.

Moon and Sun

The two gods kissed the earth, and named it. Now that it was named, the earth was filled with life, and new gods and beasts appeared. The two gods also gained names: the man became Onnotangu, the Moon, and the woman became Amaterasu, the Sun. Attending them in the Heavens was the shinzoku, or tribe of the gods, while the mazoku demons of the underworld toiled beneath the earth to oversee the souls of the dead. The earth was populated at that time by the Five Ancient Races.

Family

Onnotangu and Amaterasu

Since the beginning of time, Lord Moon chased Lady Sun about the world. One day, he caught her, and as her light faded, the curtain fell on the age of the ancient races. Over the course of countless seasons, Lady Sun gave birth to ten children: Hida, Doji, Togashi, Akodo, Shiba, Bayushi, Shinjo, Fu Leng, Hantei, and Ryoshun, the Kami. Lady Sun's heart was never earnestly won by Lord Moon, yet she promised him children, so children she gave him. Once, while Lady Sun was exploring the far reaches of the Heavens, she encountered a Lord from an unknown land he called Tian Guo, who was well-versed in poetry, and she fell in love. Lady Sun bore two children with him. The first, she gave the name Togashi to conceal his parentage from Lord Moon. The second, her lover requested to be named Fu Leng after the tongue of his people. When Lady Sun revealed the name of her youngest son to Lord Moon, he raged. With one mighty burst of anger, he sealed their Heavens from the Heavens beyond so Lady Sun would never be able to see her lover again. Fu Leng was openly despised by Lord Moon.

Betrayal of the Moon

Legends said that Onnotangu noticed how strong and talented her children grew, and he began to fear that one of them would usurp his power. Others told that the Moon, jealous over Lady Sun's love for their children, swallowed their Kami children. This day was the night with no light, when Amaterasu wept for her children. She continued weeping, so much that she filled the Sea of the Sun Goddess with her grief and all of the mines of the world with her woe, and that was where jade came, Where her tears fell to earth they became crystal. Being unwilling to tear apart the heavens by warring with her husband directly, she offered him a cup of sake with a single drop of poison in it, each time Onnotangu swallowed one of the children. By the time he came to the youngest child, Hantei, Amaterasu was able to swap a stone wrapped in Hantei's clothing for the real child and her husband swallowed it instead. Then he fell asleep.

Fall of the Kami

Amaterasu trained Hantei in the martial arts. When Hantei and Lord Moon finally did battle, he sliced open his father's belly, and the rest of his siblings tumbled out. They fell from the sky to Seppun Hill, save for one. Lord Moon reached out at the last moment and grasped Fu Leng. Hantei swung his sword one last time and severed his father's very arm. Fu Leng tried to grab ahold of Hantei, and they both fell. Plummeting downward, Fu Leng plunged through the earth to Jigoku itself, where he was lost. The blood from Lord Moon's wound fell to the ground, where it solidified into obsidian.

The Creation of Mankind

As Onnotangu's blood fell from Heaven, it landed in the pools of Amaterasu's tears. From each pool, two humans stood up, for humanity was made from the tears of Lady Sun and the blood of Lord Moon.

Rokugan

No longer immortal, the Kami shared the mortal realm with human beings. They resolved to teach and guide these humans, and they held a great tournament to see who would lead those who lived in this land they dubbed Rokugan. Hantei was the victor, and after his coronation as Emperor, he charged each of his siblings with a different task.

References

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