Melodies of Eternity App

[failtsuninari]

Player
Name: Miki
Age: 29
Personal Journal: kansaiphones
Contact: kansaiphones
Other In-Game Characters: N/A

Character
Name: Kenichi "Tenjou" Nakagawa
Age: 130 (Physically looks in his early/mid 30s)
Gender: Male

World History:
Kenichi’s world at the time of its creation was once home to all flora and fauna of both physical and supernatural origins. The dinosaurs were a good idea at the time but eventually, a reset was needed and humanity was created.

Even gods lived amongst humans during this time. As many classic myths and folklore from all over the world have proven, such coexistence proved to be a strain on everyone and the planet. The majority of the gods from pantheons across the world decided to create a separate realm to become the residence of souls, the supernatural, and deities. While a god could go back to the realm of the living, permanent residence is not an option because of the risk of their identity being discovered is too high.

With the separation of realms, humans began to gain more independence from the gods and followed the events of our own current timeline. The difference is that gods still influenced these events because they were a necessity according to the grand design set by overseers of fate. The human population with supernatural abilities were once plentiful but began to dwindle over time.

The realm of supernatural is known as Kuukan. The number of souls may not be infinite but to prevent either realm from collapsing from the populations, the great rule that both sides must be balanced was created. All souls return to Kuukan once their physical bodies in the living realm expired. They are escorted by psychopomps based on a soul’s preference from angels to the Grim Reaper to gateways across the world in locations of great spiritual significance, leading them into Kuukan. There are judges from multiple pantheons that await them to weigh their sins against their good deeds based not only upon their faith but a whole person in general. From that point, they determine where they go for their next life, ranging from hungry ghosts to deities, and when the rebirth is initiated. If a soul requests a repeal, they can use the waiting period to tip the odds in their favor and ask for a second judgment.

Kuukan, in general, is a chop suey of cultures and time periods. Architecture, fashion, language and etc trickle through from the living realm from incoming souls. While firearms of today’s caliber can be found, magic tends to be the most effective manner of combat when it arrives. Since the waiting period between incarnations can vary from weeks to years, it’s not uncommon for souls to develop “another life” such as creating a family or starting a new business. While beliefs of one group may clash with another, the general rule is for everyone to get along or risk being cast down into lower districts.

The realm is split into “districts” even though they are about the size of a small densely populated country. There are four main districts, which transitional areas between. The First District belongs to the deities from past and present mythologies. Said deities are not immortal and are subject to the rules of reincarnation as well. Because of this, the name of the gods are more of legacy title that’s passed on to those the predecessor finds worthy to share. While it’s possible for one person to carry that title, many prefer to share the title with their spouse. It not only serves a check and balance system but its said there extra benefits like power boosts and extra abilities exclusive to those who share titles. They work in sync with each other to decide what events will occur. Gods focus their work both in the region of origin so to speak and the groups that still worship them.

Those who work under the gods reside in both the First and Second Districts. Majority of the Second Districts are souls or supernatural creatures whose good deeds outweigh the bad. The lifestyles of the first two districts are indeed rich. Many of the public establishments like the libraries, schools, and such exist here. Kuukan is more or less a mythology/folklore fan’s wet dream. After all, it’s not every day you can spend a morning talking stories with a river spirit and then have afternoon tea with Demeter. Knowledge and creativity can freely flourish in the Second District thanks to the peace that surrounds the district. The passage between the First and Third districts is easy with the right paperwork.

The Third District can be considered purgatory in a sense. The souls that reside here are considered neutral in terms of crimes and good deeds. It serves as the gateway and orientation center for souls returning from the living world. Majority of souls who experienced a human life reside here. It's not uncommon to see many children and animals here. There are many apartments and markets located in this urban district. Because it's a hard job to ensure security between districts, it's not uncommon for an Ayakashi tried to sneak in from the Fourth District in the hope to power themselves up.

The final and currently the fast-growing area is the Fourth District. Hell is a common name for it. It’s home to souls in need of punishment for their crimes, ayakashi, and malicious supernatural creatures. Unlike the other districts, because of its rapid increase, security at the borders is much more restricted. Like in Dante's Inferno, it can be further broken down into smaller areas devoted to a specific crime's punishment. Crimes can range from abuse to gluttony. The punishments are carried by workers who follow the gods of judgment. Only after they serve their sentence, a soul is re-evaluated to see if they are transferred to another district, reborn, or stuck in the Fourth District. It is not an easy path to redemption since temptation is always present and there are others who would like a free meal and power boost. While it is possible to traverse between the districts, the relations between them are mixed. Balance must be maintained amongst the district populations. It is easier for a citizen in the First to go between the districts versus a citizen from the Fourth going up. The biggest worry citizens from the first three districts is that an Ayakashi from the Fourth could devour them.

The First District sticks with the Second District out of all the areas. As mentioned earlier, many of those who work under the gods reside in the Second District as well many services also located there. Third District is the middle child where it can go between good and bad relations with the other districts. While it may not always be on good terms with the First, many citizens try to be on their best behavior in order to rise from the ranks. Because the Fourth District houses the most notorious souls, the First and Second districts try not to be associated with them. Security between Second and Third districts is rather strict and heavily monitored. There is a law enforcement presence that maintains the peace through the first three districts. In more intense cases where a rogue Ayakashi slips from the Fourth District, this is when the Inari Corps steps in.

Personal History:
In Kenichi’s world, all souls are subject to reincarnation when their spirit has lived out their current lifespan. Kuukan, the spiritual realm, is where they all converge while they await their next turn in the cycle. While the former living makes up the majority of the population of Kuukan, many supernatural creatures like demons and even gods reside here.

Kenichi was born to the Fourth Generation of Inari, the Shinto god of rice, agriculture, industry and worldly success among many things. His mother died due to birth complications and his father was often away due to work, leaving him in the care of many fox spirits who help run the Inari manor. Because the title of the gods isn’t strictly inherited, he was trained and groomed to be ready for the possibility of having multiple rivals who would want a god's name and the powers it carries. Well, that was assuming he actually stayed at home instead of running out to the Second District where he often played with different spirits and creatures. He never enjoyed the idea of being next in line to his father.

Inari, as one of the most influential/active gods, began to notice a spike in Mononoke, rouge beings who consume souls for the sake of power boosts like increased strength or extended life spans. When souls unattached to a physical body are consumed, they are permanently lost. This causes an imbalance between the population of souls in the living realm and Kuukan and souls cannot be easily replenished to recover from the loss. Kenichi’s father decided a corps should be made to take care of these Mononoke and to protect Kuukan from losing any more souls.

At this time, he took on his alias, Tenjou, for security reasons. His father decided joining the corps was what he needed to help discovering his calling. Over the years, Tenjou rose up in the ranks to captain and even recruited some of the new members. He also managed to develop and master his soul ability, an innate power all souls possess but difficult to unlock.

Time is not a friend to even gods-in-training though. The corps has had their shares of victory and defeat. A recent spike in the Mononoke population starts taking a toll on his morale. When he was 50 years old, in modern day Kyoto, he followed the trail of Nopperabou or a Faceless Mononoke who managed to spirit away a woman named Saori Nakagawa. The creature managed to separate her soul from her body when he arrived but Tenjou was too late. Her body was eaten but luckily he saved her soul.

Tenjou wasn’t given much of a choice and took Saori to her father’s place as she couldn't stay in the living realm anymore. Eventually, it was decided she could stay in the Inari residence while awaiting her soul to be reassigned for reincarnation. Over the many years of waiting, Saori found out about the corps and decided to join despite his protests. To everyone’s surprise, she managed to survive the training and became one of Tenjou’s closest allies. When she received her notice of her judgment day, Kenichi pulled her to the side and stumbled over his words to say he didn't want her to leave to which she said, "Who said I was?"

The two kept bouncing between the lines of just partners and partners with benefits. It wasn’t until he was 110 years old and an encounter with an Jorogumo spider mononoke almost killed them. It was then he realized he couldn’t afford to lose her again. When he does finally defeat it and was severely injured, he finally proposed to her. While he did get punched in the face at first, she said yes and they wed a year later.

Six years into their marriage and their god title established, Saori saved a child from an attack and the girl clung to her until they were home. Kenichi tried to convince both of them that adoption wasn’t an option but he eventually agreed to help Saori foster her until her family was found. While they did spread word of the missing girl, there weren’t much leads to follow up on. A few months later, the girl’s parents eventually did show up on their doorstep. After a tearful goodbye, Kenichi decided they should have kids. A month later, Saori is pregnant and gives birth to fraternal twins, Toushiaki and Yae, who are now 5 years old. Now Kenichi and Saori juggle between being parents, gods, and defenders of the realm.

One day, Saori had gone off on a godly business trip only to come back with a motley crew:Mary Read, a female pirate who was part of an assassin brotherhood, Jiminy Mordecai the barkeep who wanted no trouble, a kid called Ira with silver hair who is now their adopted son, a master swordsman named Sephiroth with hair so fabulous it would make many gods jealous, and several furry winged creatures called moogles. His wife explained she had been whisked to another world where she and these heroes met and were tasked to save a world known as Crystalis, whose fate could affect the entire multiverse. While Saori helped her friends to adjust to their homeworld, Kenichi knew he had to find a way to help them. It did frustrate that he couldn't join in the fight, but by pulling strings, he managed to convince some of the gods to provide some weapons that might help them. Several agreed but on the condition that they were provided with materials and ingredients for a pre-crafting meal. After sending a giant skeleton down a deep mining pit while gathering the required ore, and fighting a pair of Rocs for their egg, the group returns. Sadly their visit ends once the weapons and items the gods crafted are complete and Kenichi and the rest of the Inari manor pray for their victory.

Sometime later, Saori returned with Mary Read and they brought news of their victory, which did come at a price of four of their own to be sacrificed. Also the son Saori had adopted did not return home with them as he wished to save his friends trapped in the world he was in before Crystalis. The family was given a brief chance to reunite during the winter holidays, which only gave them hope that their son would be able to return one day.

Personality:
Kenichi's life has been full of high expectations. As the son of the most influential gods and next in line, there was pressure to succeed and accept his inheritance. Over the years the lack of close father and son bond accumulated to an inferiority complex, which sometimes climbs back when the odds are not in their favor. Growin up, he often ran away from his classes and before he met his future wife, was more accustomed using his alias more than his real name outside the Inari manor. Because of this, he hung around the Second and Third Districts, gaining street smarts and humility while many who are Kenichi's age haven't even stepped out of the First District. With this exposure, he began to accept the different strengths every type of resident in Kuukan possessed and it taught him how to read others, a skill necessary to deal with gods, and empathy. Sometimes corps members have spotted him by chance giving food to an occasional orphan child or take a neglected and wounded animal spirit to a doctor.

Before he can even consider how he can pan out as a god, he had to learn how to be honest with himself. Working in the corps, he took on an alias so he could have an identity not tied to his heritage as gods could be a polarizing subject matter. Because of that, he had to maintain a facade, which with dropping morale morphed into one a tsundere like personality where he presented himself as one who didn't care much about things publicly when it was the opposite.

He didn't want to admit he was afraid of life-changing commitments and was in the middle of a burnout phase. His first motive to join the corps was as a means of escapism from the stuffy atmosphere of the First District. There was nothing appealing to him about lazily lounging about and barely doing any sort of work. The more he participated in the corps, however, and saw how much it changed both corps members and those he helped, he began to enjoy his work. Sure it was dangerous, but it proved to Kenichi that he didn't need to inherit a god's name to obtain a sense of fulfillment in his life. Whenever a corps member got injured, Kenichi would send one of the manor servants to look after them while they recovered. He never asked for rewards from the victims of mononoke attacks but he occasionally visits them to see how they are. His actions have even inspired them to provide help and information to the corps. Seeing many of them rebound was often more than enough for him to be satisfied. Out of all the survivors, Saori helped to re-spark that passion the most. As she became more of a presence in the Inari manor and eventually the corps, it helped him to remember why he stuck with it for so long. While he did realize he did have feelings for her, he couldn't bring himself to propose right then. It took him twenty years and almost losing her to ask the question. Realizing that maybe taking over his father's title would only further his cause to provide more aid to the corps and the balance of souls, he also became the fifth generation of Inari along with Saori.

Patience, respect, and trust were only further strengthened by the relationship between Kenichi and Saori. They wavered between strictly work partners and friends with benefits. Since his father allowed Saori to stay in their residence and join in the corps, he would often avoid her if possible. It was not out of spite, but he was afraid of failing someone again. Back then, he often struggled to give her praise in public and unintentionally put a wall between them. He did realize they had feelings for each other early on, but neither pushed for going beyond just dating each other despite all of their friends trying to get them together. Fear and hesitation were what kept them from getting married sooner. He had doubts that Saori would ever want someone like him as a husband. However the truth was she was more than ready, but she knew Kenichi wasn't and so she didn't pressure him into marriage.

Even gods have to worry about their own mortality and nearly getting himself and Saori killed by giant spider mononoke was the wake up call. This is why he doubles down on his marriage proposal by asking Saori if she would be his soul-mate. It's considerided a nearly forgotten relic in their time. To be a soul-mate to each other means their bond that transcends any traditional relationship by ensuring that their souls will find each other no matter how many times they are reborn. As their relationship strengthened, they had to acknowledge they couldn't meet all of each other needs so they decided to keep their relationship open.

This open-mindedness has also bled into other aspects of his life as he is not as strict about traditions compared to his predecessors or the current gods. Those who visit Inari manor on business often say it's unlike visiting other gods as hospitality and generosity are their hallmarks and not their egos put up on display. When several Heroes of Light dropped in when Saori returned, he got hit with the news of her picking up a lover in Mary Read and a son, Ira. Lovers were uncommon, as they shared one but an adopted child was a different story. He could see why his wife found Mary Read attractive and admired her strengths. His one regret is not being able to spend more time with Ira in the two encounters he had with the young man. Regardless, he was accepting of the two and gave them both his blessing and told them they were always welcome in their manor.

When the topic of children came up, a fear that was hidden away awoken. He was alright with children in general but an old fear resurfaced. He did acknowledge by then that his birth wasn't the direct cause of his mother's death, some remnants of that guilt lingered. The last thing he would've wanted was to have his children live without their mother. After his months-long foster parenting stunt, he softened up to the idea only then to pass out when he heard the news Saori was expecting twins. Saori and Kenichi balance their corp work and god duties with parenting. As a husband, Kenichi sometimes has to remind Saori to take breaks but we all know what they say about people who live in glass houses.

He adores his children and does his best to be a good role model for them but he has moments where his papa wolf nature comes out. An ayakashi was lucky if they could walk away from a fight against him with just one broken bone after threatening to harm the twins. While his relationship with his father did heal up over time, Kenichi promised not to repeat the same mistakes his father did and to be a presence in Yae and Toushiaki's lives. He would often take his children to not only different areas in Kuukan but parts of the living realm to help learn how big the world really is. While he does his best not to spoil them, it sometimes he allows it. Rumor has it he even carries a picture of his family as his own personal good luck charm.

Samples:
Where Dad and Adopted Son are Reunited
Where Kenichi gains a Chocobo

Vaikuntha
Moogle Name: Cecil
Moogle Gender: Male

First Job: Dragoon
Second Job: Cavalier