Umiwatari Valley

Umiwatari Valley is a world of contrasts—lush jungle teeming with vibrant life and sacred ruins swallowed by roots and mist. Its climate is humid subtropical, lending it an almost dreamlike quality as the seasons change:

• Winter: The valley’s coastal cliffs become vantage points where one can glimpse the great whales breaching offshore. The Nekomata treat this migration as an omen, believing whales carry the voices of lost souls across the sea.

• Spring: The hari festivals bloom across the valley, mortal and yokai alike celebrating renewal with lanterns strung high in the trees. The Nekomata watch from shadows, sometimes appearing in masks to join the dances unnoticed.

• Summer: The long nights are filled with the glow of sagaribana flowers, which fall like stars from the trees, carpeting the jungle floor in blossoms that bloom only for a single night. The Nekomata consider these nights sacred, performing their strongest illusions during sagaribana’s brief brilliance.

• Autumn: Heavy mists cloak the valley, and ruins become nearly invisible, swallowed by fog. This is when the Nekomata vanish into secrecy, guarding their homes with heightened vigilance.

The ruins themselves are remnants of forgotten civilizations: stone pagodas, vine-covered shrines, and broken bridges spanning deep ravines. The Nekomata live among them, weaving wards and illusions to hide their presence. To outsiders, the ruins seem haunted—flickering lanterns with no bearers, ghostly meows in the distance, shadows shifting just beyond sight.

Adding to this mystery are the bioluminescent kodama unique to Umiwatari. Unlike their forest cousins, these kodama glow with radiant blues and violets, their bodies shimmering like lanterns in the underbrush. They are playful, guiding travelers—or leading them astray—depending on the whims of the Nekomata. Together, the kodama and their feline allies create a surreal landscape of light, sound, and illusion.