[Kemuri SHin]

Oni no kuni Basic Information Capital: Hōrai Largest City: Hōrai Official Language: Ryukyuan Government: Constitutional Theocracy  Head of State: Kemuri Shingo Heir Apparent: Kemuri Shinjiro Formation: Around 779 Borders: Northern Border: Soot Country & Wolf Country Western Border: Lake Country Eastern Border: Forge Country Southern Border: Honey Country GDP: Low GDP Per Capita: Low Gini Coefficient: .64 National Animal: Komodo Dragon National Bird: Giant Shoebill National Flower: Rafflesia History     Oni no Kuni, or Demon Country, is one that stays mostly far away from the struggles of the five major shinobi nations. Found on the opposite side of the globe from the others, Oni is a very secretive nation, known for being an incredibly spiritual land. That spirituality in itself gains interest from around the world as the religions and the cults that follow them tend to be of the macabre or twisted variety. The people of Oni no Kuni tend to be fairly normal in most senses, but it isn't uncommon for even the most unassuming of Oni no Kuni residents to be a member of some styling of cult within the nations borders. While the reasons for the high amount of macabre cults and people in the country is known, many say that it's because the namesake of the country is because of the dark demons which people claim are within it's borders. These demonic entities being a result of Oni no Kuni's twisted history. Warring States Period     Long before any villages had been found in the world, there was the warring states period. But before that was when many of the nations of the world were first being founded. Little texts actually remain from this period, but it's known that Demon Country was one of the first nations found on this half of the world. While "countries" weren't the official names, a war lord, and leader of a powerful army created a permanent encampment deep within the forests of Oni no Kuni. This War Lord, named Mitsunara Ishiida, expanded his reach and power more and more, until he had the power and authority to control the land.     The name of the land itself came from Ishiida himself. The story that Ishiida claims is the origin, was during one of his outings to gain power. His soldiers marched on a small village of farmers, demanding control of their crops and trade. The farming village fought back, and despite those farmers being outnumbered, they took out nearly four times as many soldiers as the village had civilians. Ishiida claims when he looked into their eyes, he no longer saw white, but stared through their eyes into the souls of demons, too strong for any one man to defeat. Ishiida was not made into a Daimyo, he had heard of them in other lands, but he said he refused to be one, he was a conqueror, someone who had taken this land and it's people by force, an emperor.      Oni no Kuni was not safe from the time of war. To Ishiida's disdain, other countries began to form around him. Ishiida didn't want competition. When speaking to his men, he said that he was not in the mood to share this great continent, and instead, his title of emperor would be true. He would rule not only Oni no Kuni, but the entire world.      The soldiers of Oni were feared. They were also failry distinct, as the battalions of Ishiida's men were all crafted Oni masks. The higher their ranking in his army, the more ornate and dangerous looking their Oni mask would become. A relic saved in Oni to this day, Ishiida's mask is one of legend. Pure white in it's core, with golden designs. It had gnarled teeth, bright blue eyes. It had massive golden horns, and attached to the mask itself had white and gold plating falling at all sides to protect the neck of the king, as well as the mask having a sideways third eye on his forehead. Oni no Kuni was powerful, and intense, and during this period it began to win war after war with it's neighboring nations. Ishiida proclaiming upon every victory that the demons of the shinobi world were speaking through him, that his rule was inevitable.      Oni no Kuni's power was only growing, at the time it's land was said to be greater than that of Wind Country's is today. Ishiida, who had taken to calling himself "Kishin" or "Demon God, was, if his name wasn't evidence enough, a egotistical ruler at this time. The more his power grew, the hungrier for power he seemed to grow. Even though it wasn't the case as of yet, Ishiida began to say that the sun would never set upon his Demonic Empire. This was until Ishiida died of old age at the age of 98. His son, Kamimusuko, took over at this point. Kami was nowhere near the same military strategist that his father was, but the country was already incredibly powerful, and the man became comfortable. The other nations of the continent saw weakness, however, and chose to pool their power, such as they could take back the land that Ishiida had stolen.     The next few decades of Oni's history would change the country forever. The nation loosing more and more land. Kamimusuko would pass himself, leaving the country in the control of his, at the time, 16 year old son, Shinjo. Shinjo was ruler in name only however, and instead his fathers military council began manipulating the young leader of Oni no Kuni. This itself would lead to more shrinking the country as these generals would break themselves away from Oni, making nations of their own. All of this would continue more and more until, at the age of 25, Shinjo was assassinated, not by a general or other commanding official, but by a simple farmer within Omi's shrunken boarders.      Ishiida had been succesful at filling the people within his ever growing boarders with an intense nationalism, but the larger those borders grew, the harder that level of nationalistic pride was to maintain. Dissent had been steadily growing in Oni since long before Shinjo was born. The falling strength of Oni, and the loss of faith from even the most nationalistic of Oni no Kuni's soldiers meant that revolution was inevitable. The assassination of Shinji did more than anything prior to it to spark that revolution.     Shinjo had no legitimate heir of his own, though plenty of illegitimate children, and the power vacuum left from a lack of leadership meant that Oni's borders would shrink even more, to the point that the nation would become fairly similar to the size that it is now. Though many of the actual members of the royal family were able to keep much of their wealth, most lost a great portion of their political power. Oni no Kuni chose to become like a lot of other nations around the world, and the first official Daimyo rose to power.     No member of the royal family, nor any of the generals that had stayed loyal to them, had any chance of gaining power. A general that had helped in the revolution of Oni no Kuni's people was chosen, however. The first Oni no Kuni Daimyo: Ranmaru Takeda. Takeda was not a violent warmonger like his predecessor had been, and instead took pride in his ability to forge alliances with the other countries around him. It was because of this, and the incredible wealth that the Mitsunara royals had amassed, that Oni no Kuni was able to rebuild successfully, even after all they had been through in recent history.  The Beginning of Hidden Villages     Takeda and his successor had already passed by the time that Konoha was founded. Their reigns being almost exclusively just rebuilding and keeping alliances held together. News of Konoha found it's way to the new Daimao of Oni, a man by the name of Saito Kota, the grand nephew of Takeda himself. Kota was unsurprised that more and more ninja were being condensed, so the fact that a village designed solely for shinobi was fairly unsurprising. Kota could not find himself too interested in Konoha itself, however. There was far too much work to do at home.           Once again at this time, another clan of Oni no Kuni was driven from the lands. A young member of the Oniga clan attacking an important official inside a bar. The people of Oni no Kuni persecuted this clan of "demons" and a large portion of them were driven from the borders. A small portion of them, those that stayed, were split across the country, unable to find their felow clansmen any longer for fear of persecution.     No matter how hard Saito, and Takeda before him, tried to distance Oni from it's history with Ishiida, there had been far too loyal to the former ruler. In the time that came, many religions and cults began to grow, all of them at least somewhat tangentially related to the demons that Ishiida had insisted spoke through him. It's said that Ishiida's obsession with demons, and the literal demons that the followers of these religions insist live throughout the land of Oni no Kuni, are the reason why all the religions in Kuni seem to be dark in some way.      One such religion that began to be prevalent throughout Oni no Kuni was that of Jashinism. While the exact origins of this religion are unknown, many claim that the first of Jashin's temples were found within the borders of Oni. Whether that specific claim is true or not, Oni no Kuni seemed to deal with more Jashinists than many nations at this time were having to put up with. More and more un-killable monsters seem to appear by the month, and so Kota focused much more on fighting off this dangerous cult as it tried to either convert or kill all of his citizens. Other religions and cults cropped up, many seeming to battle with the Jashinists, others still attacking the citizenry of Oni no Kuni. For this reason, the leader of Demon Country seemed unbothered, or at least too distracted to care, about the numerous villages that began cropping up on the other side of the world.      Saito was a great leader of Demon Country, and he managed to hold back many of the more explicitly violent religions in the country from gaining power. What few clans there were in the land of Oni no Kuni were in constant struggle with one another, and to Saito's dismay, the Waruichi clan was driven out of his boarders. The silk that the clan created had been a great boon to the nations economy, and they would surely be missed. As he reached the end of his time as Daimao, his faith failing him as he reached into his 80's, Saito chose his successor: Kemuri Shinji.      Shinji was a gentle spirit, and he was chosen because the religion that he and his family practiced was one of great renown in the borders of Oni no Kuni. Saito wanted to avoid giving power to any of the more violent religions, and no clan was big enough to try and claim power for themselves. It was during this same time however, the very beginnings of Shinji's rule as Daimyo, that the first ever Kage Summit was held between the five great nations. Once again, the people of Oni no Kuni were quite often too occupied with their own internal struggles to deal with      Shinji did his best to spread his message of peace, and on a surface level it seemed successful, though the people of Oni still followed their religions, many of the religions in the land became less outwardly violent, which was all Shinji could have hoped for. None of these religions ever truly stopped holding beliefs that involved war, violence, or bloodshed, but as long as they were no longer raging a war for power within his borders, that would be enough to calm the tensions within the nation.  The First Shinobi War     Shinji did not see the point in getting involved with the struggles of the shinobi villages. However, he saw their conflict as an opportunity to grow his nation. As war raged across the great shinobi forces on the other side of the world, Shinji encouraged the religions of Oni no Kuni to preach to the people in the war torn nations. The longer the war raged on, the more the religions of Oni no Kuni grew, both at home and abroad. Oni no Kuni's population grew during this period as well, primarily due to the fact that they would bring in more and more refugees as war grew. Oni no Kuni, thanks to it's religions, was already a fairly powerful economic force on it's side of the world, so more people, many willing to work to improve their new home, only let Oni grow even more.     Such incredible growth in only four didn't come without problems. Shinji unfortunately had to deal with more uprisings as some of the religions of Oni no Kuni grew more emboldened by their new size. Shinji, some say against his own desires, tightened his grip amongst the public of Oni no Kuni, saying that to keep peace he would have to destroy the worst religions that Oni had to offer. The rubble left at the stalemate that ended the First Shinobi War meant that Shinji, who was still deeply entrenched in his own religious beliefs, would request that preachers and prophets from within it travel to the shinobi world and grow the religion all around the world. Those preachers would stay in the other nations, and Shinji's religion would actually begin to grow in size and power on the other side of the planet as well.     The power that Shinji had consolidated into his grasp to go against the growing violent religious sects seemed to be working. They would never be fully eradicated, but once again the violent religions of Oni no Kuni had been defeated and held back. The same year that Shinji turned 45, the same year that Uzushiogakure had been founded, two years after the first shinobi war, and Shinji was happy to have proven his leadership.      Power didn't come without it's own risks, however. Shinji was still a religious man, and while he was head of a country, he was not the leader of the religion he came from. Inspired by higher level members of the religion convincing him to do so, his religion, The Kanashibari Cult took on more power in the world. Kanashibari was given more control over the land that surrounded it's religious monuments. The Kanashibari Cult grew into Oni no Kuni's largest and most powerful of religions during this time span.     It was also during this time, that due to the lessened risk of persecution, primarily because of the growing of Oni no Kuni in population and diversity thanks to the refugees, that the fledgling members of the Oniga Clan, now under the banner of Yōkai, began to reform themselves within the nations borders.  The Second and Third Shinobi Wars     Once again a time in which Oni no Kuni chose to take in refugees from the growing conflicts around the world, taking on more wayward shinobi and even better still, a time in which the religions of Oni no Kuni became more and more popular on the other side of the world. The people of Oni no Kuni were increasingly welcoming of even more refugees, despite the fact that the country fell poorer. The religions of Oni made it so that the people cared not for their lack of economic power. They wanted more people, and more members.    Prominent Locations Yumegakure [Village hidden in dreams]     Yumegakure, the Village Hidden in Dreams. Found deep within the tall walls of the dense "Forest of Broken Promises", this forest in and of itself is actually one of the largest deterrents for invasion into the village. Filled with dangerous animals, massive insects, and near constantly covered in a thick mist, it's easy to get lost in these forests if you do not know the specific markers you are taught to look for.          Even then, the shinobi in Yume that aren't members of religion, seem to focus on the Kekkai, or Barrier, Ninjutsu to keep the village protected even more than that. Yume seem to be hopeful that their religious connections around the world will help to protect them, as many important religious figures from religions that have large followings all around the world, find themselves now living in Yumegakure. At that same time, many of the actual people of Yume aren't exactly the types that other nations would want to take in regardless, a massive amount of cultists and religious extremists that manage to coexist within the boarders of Yumegakure itself thanks to a shared sense of persecution from the other nations.     The makeup of the village's houses and buildings are fairly uniform. The path to the Yume Lord mansion being in the dead center of the village. There is no central road leading directly to it, instead the entire village is a confusing maze of streets that is, like the path to the village itself, easy to get lost in if you don't know what to look for. The houses are also primarily elevated above the earth with large pillars, designed that way to have the people of Kuni at ground level as little as possible. FOUNDED: 1020 CURRENT LORD: Kemuri Shin TRAVELING RESTRICTIONS:     Academy Students: --     Genin: --     Chunin: --     Spec. Jounin: --     Jounin+: -- Capital City: Hōrai     Just West of the Forest of Broken Promises, Hōrai is located in the center of a large lake. The city itself is not built on actual land, instead it is a sprawling mass of man-made platforms that are anchored to their position in the lake. This does mean that the city of Hōrai is theoretically able to move with a combined effort of the people within it. While not the largest city in terms of it's actual land mass, the city manages to pack more people into it's area than any of the other cities in Oni no Kuni.     The city is segmented into three portions, primarily based on elevation. At the lowest level of the city is a sprawling mass of slums. Many pieces of the slums are just a series of boat houses connected together with basic wooden platforms. Other pieces of it are fairly more elaborate, however at this level even the biggest of buildings won't escape 2 floors. Those houses or shops that are two floors are also often not actually twice the size of the other houses, but rather roof heights are lessened, making these buildings feel more cramped than they would appear from the outside. This is despite the fact that these low dock areas would also be the trade hubs of the city. Alongside these shambly boat houses and crudely crafted residences are large warehouses and docks to facilitate the cities trade. Usually with a heavy presence from guards.     Going deeper into the city, and climbing higher up into it's more well crafted portions, is where you will find a more classic city scape. Due to the nature of how the city is built, it can still be cramped in many places, but the actual buildings and pathways are made to be much more permanent, and are well kept. THis is where you find the majority of the actual stores of the village. People from the slums will often work in this portion of the city. There are very few residences in this portion of the city.     The highest and most central portion. This is what many who live in Hōrai call the "True Capital" of the capital. This is mostly referring to the fact that this is where most of the money flows. Beautifully made homes, as well as the actual capital building of Oni no Kuni, where the Daimao lives. A 'mansion' made out of the body of a grand ship, said to once be the lead ship of "The Great" Mitsunara Ishiida's exploratory naval fleet. A ship that was rarely used as Oni no Kuni is landlocked. But was said to once be used to strike fear into island nations outside of the continent. Kodama     Many in Oni no Kuni refer to Kodama as a relic from a much worse time in the countries history. This majestic tree, towering over any and all that get anywhere close to it, is actually a massive prison complex. The lower levels are mostly bureaucratic in nature, as well as a massive amount of security feature to stop inmates from reaching these lower levels. Once reaching the heights that contain the trees foliage, one will find a countless array of cells, labor areas, and feeding areas. The prison is in the center of a large crevice, making escape even harder as one would have to clear major distance to avoid falling into the deep ravine below. With only one actual entrance, a large path way reaching to the base of the tree, escape is near impossible from this complex. Amabie     At the northern most edge of the Forest of Broken Promises, Amabie is a small village located in a small swamp, known as the Lost Woods. Like many places in Oni no Kuni it is hard to actually find this village, this one especially, because every home in this village is built into the landscape. Small homes burrowed into the ground itself, or literal tree houses where people have hollowed out the inside of the larger trees. The reason this village especially is coveted is because for many religions and clans in Oni no Kuni a journey through the Lost Woods is said to be a rite of passage. Many of the plants in the area carry a naturally hallucinogenic property to them. Many believe these effects assist people on their spiritual journey, coming better connected to nature. Kanashibari Gardens     Kanashibari Gardens is a gigantic Cherry Blossom Tree, the size of this tree is comparable to that of Monkeypod Trees. 250 feet in diameter with hundreds of thousands, some say millions of pink petals. It's said that each petal on the main tree represents a soul of someone on the planet. When the tree blooms, people from all over Oni no Kuni, all over the world, come to pray at the tree for good luck throughout the year.      Surrounding the main tree is a massive field of more regular sized cherry blossom trees, as well as a small village, which is mostly filled with the caretakers of this beautiful tree, as well as a famous spa.