4) The Great War
The Spark of War
The pond shattered when ambitious human daimyō turned their swords against one another. Some sought power through alliances with yōkai clans, others enslaved or hunted them, and still more dared to unearth forbidden relics said to hold fragments of divine essence. Betrayals at feasts, poisoned rivers, and broken treaties set the land ablaze. Yōkai retaliated with fury; humans answered with steel and fire. Even the kami shrines split, as lesser deities chose sides, bound by oaths or bribed by offerings.
The Time of Endless Clans
For centuries Yamato drowned in chaos. Oni warbands surged from Akumatani, tengu defended Reikonzan’s peaks, okami prowled the Kirin Steppe, and human generals raised armies to rival the hosts of spirits. Allegiances shifted like sand: in some places, humans and yōkai stood shoulder to shoulder, in others they hunted one another with vengeance. Villages burned, dynasties rose and fell, and entire generations knew nothing but war.
The Silence of the Gods
Why did the great kami not descend to end the slaughter? The truth lay in their nature: they embody eternal ideals, not fleeting mortal strife. To intervene would shatter the Wheel of Rebirth itself. So they watched, silent and distant, while only lesser kami moved in whispers of fate. To the suffering, the gods seemed uncaring—yet their restraint preserved Yamato from unraveling in divine wrath.
The Vision of Nobunaga
From this sea of fire rose Oda Nobunaga, a warlord like no other. Where others fought for clan pride, he fought for unification. He welcomed yōkai envoys, forged pacts with spirits, and turned even oni into mercenaries rather than enemies. For a time, banners of human, yōkai, and kami flew together under his command, and Yamato knew the possibility of a different future. But Nobunaga’s fire burned too hot. His scorched-earth tactics, hunger for dominance, and defiance of old traditions earned him enemies. Betrayed, he was lured into a burning temple and perished—some say by mortal rivals, others by spirits who feared his ambition.
The Shogunate of Tokugawa
Where Nobunaga ruled with fire, Ieyasu Tokugawa ruled with patience. Once Nobunaga’s ally, he gathered the remnants of that fragile coalition, presenting himself as the only one who could preserve peace. Through careful diplomacy and decisive battles, he rose to become Shōgun of the Human Clans, his seat at the Shogunate Citadel in Sakuragawa. He serves the Emperor in name, yet his word outweighs even the throne. Unlike Nobunaga, Tokugawa seeks not conquest but preservation: a balance of human, yōkai, and kami power, held firm by iron order.
The Dawn of a Fragile Peace
At last, exhaustion dulled even the fiercest blades. The Treaty of Harmony was declared—not by divine hand, but by mortals and spirits who had bled too long. Villages lay in ruin, fields untended, shrines desecrated, and the land itself begged for rest. Like the Edo period that followed Sengoku chaos, Yamato entered a new age: one of guarded peace, controlled by the Shogunate, yet fragile. Beneath the calm, memories of fire still smolder.