Series: Okami
Class: Ruler of the Celestial Plain
Alignment: Neutral Good
Gender: Female
Species: Wolf (Formerly Celestial)
Age: Unknown/Ageless
Birthdate: February 26
Height: 160 cm (63 in) nose-tail
Weight: 38 kg (85 lbs)
Short Description: White dog? Or divine beast?
But to some... these people, who trust in the old gods of Japan, or believe that greater powers than themselves exist... these people see something else. Not just a white dog, but a great white wolf, majestic and proud. Red markings decorate its fur at the forehead, cheekbones, it's back and upper front flanks. Small, winglike tufts of fur emanate from its front flanks.
The long fur of its tail is curled a little in the center, but the tip actually looks like a calligraphy brush. It's even stained with a little black at the tip, like someone's been dipping it in ink. And above the great beast's back a Divine Instrument floats. Or around its neck, depending on WHICH Divine Instrument is in play...
But by far the ability that she is most known for is her ability to use the Celestial Brush Techniques. The end of her tail is soaked in a sort of divine ink that she uses to literally draw on the world before her, or so it appears to those who can see her do it. She seems to draw characters and shapes in the very air, and in response things happen. There are thirteen individual techniques, but she only possesses three at the moment.
- Sunrise. Kanji: "terasu". Change night to day (possibly only temporarily and only in her local area).
- Rejuvenation. Kanji: None. Replace missing things or repair broken things. Can't heal living bodies but can replace missing components in robots/androids.
- Power Slash. Kanji: "zan". Cut through things softer than iron rocks.
Her divinity has some passive affects on the world around her too. Where she goes, flowers and grass briefly spring up in her wake, even on concrete, but disappear moments later. The same thing happens when she sleeps peacefully. Animals around her tend to recognize that she's not going to eat them, and are permissive enough of her presence to even allow her to pick them up in her mouth without panicking. And she does become stronger when people invest their belief in her power. Not in just ANY incarnation of Amaterasu, but specifically in HER.
While this is not HER power specifically, she does have a deepening bond with Issun the Poncle-- her Celestial Envoy. Issun is only about an inch tall, and can get into places she can't. Additionally, Amaterasu is a wolf, which means she has no hands and cannot speak. Issun speaks for her, as well as manipulates objects when merely picking them up with her mouth will not suffice. To do this, Issun has equal strength to a human, even at his size. While this is amazing for HIM, his strength IS only that of a well-trained human. He also wields the sword Denkomaru, a tiny katana made for his small size, with a calligraphy brush at the pommel that he uses to draw and to duplicate Amaterasu's techniques. He normally hides in her fur when not needed.
Logs
Background
Amaterasu was the queen of the Celestials, a race of people who lived high above her world on a floating continent known as the Celestial Plain. However, when Orochi invaded, her people were killed, almost to the man. Everyone that could be saved was placed on the Ark of Yamato, a flying ship created by the Moon Tribe. The Celestials had access to this vessel because after the unknown catastrophe that wiped out the Moon Tribe, the sole surviving member used the ark to sail to the Celestial Plain and escape the now-barren moon.
But Yami and his demons hid on the ship too, and when it set sail, they murdered everyone on the ship save for Waka, who foresaw Orochi's defeat. He told Amaterasu that it would only come at the hands of a chosen human. In response Amaterasu pulled the Ark down to earth, where it fell in the frozen Laochi Lake. And she waited for the birth of the human who would defeat Orochi. In that time, the Ark became a nest of monsters that began to spread across the world of Nippon.
Orochi fled the Ark and settled in the Moon Cave, near a small village called Kamiki Village. It didn't take long for Orochi to become an obnoxious neighbor-- he soon began to impose his rule on the village, demanding that a young maiden be sacrificed to him each year at the Kamiki Festival. He would consume her soul and increase his power and life. After one hundred maidens were sacrificed to him, he would become an even more powerful demon, and threaten the whole world rather than just one small hamlet. During this time, Amaterasu took the form of a white wolf and kept an eye on the village for 99 years, hoping to spot the chosen one. Her efforts were hampered by the villagers however; they believed she was a familiar of Orochi and generally attacked her on sight. The villagers called her "Shiranui"... "White Wild Majesty".
When she caught sight of the chosen one, a warrior named Nagi, she kept an eye on him. He too thought she was Orochi's familiar, however, and attacked her. She avoided hurting him during the attacks, but still kept a close watch on him, waiting for the night of the festival. On the night of the festival Orochi would announce his choice as he had always done-- a white arrow would be fired out of the sky into the roof of the house of the maiden he chose. This time it was Nagi's beloved, Nami, whose house the arrow struck.
Nagi flew into a rage and went to he Moon Cave to destroy Orochi. He battled on and on, but the demon's magical barrier kept Nagi from hurting him. Orochi fought Nagi until the man fell from exhaustion. Shuranui appeared, however, to shield him before the demon could devour Nagi's soul as well. Shiranui fought Orochi to allow Nagi to recover, but fared no better. Orochi struck her a severe wound, but with her last bit of strength she summoned the moon into the sky and infused Nagi's sword with its power. With his newfound strength, Nagi fought against Orochi. Nagi used the "8 Purification Sake" made by Nami to intoxicate Orochi, lopping off all the demon's 8 heads and stabbing him in the back to seal his soul away with the powered sword. The same sword, called "Tsukuyomi", was placed outside the Moon Cave to seal the demon's soul inside it.
But the victory was bittersweet. Shiranui had been poisoned by Orochi and the demon's toxin was too much for her weakened body to fight off. Nagi carried her back to the village and told the villagers what she'd done, and they forgave her. The elder of the village gave her a final pat on the head, in apology, and Shiranui passed away. The villagers built a statue in front of the divine tree Konohana in her honor, depicting Shiranui as a great, majestic beast with a fiery sun-disk above her shoulders. Of course, in truth, she was. But few could see that. Upon Shiranui's death, her powers, those of the Celestial Brush, split into 13 separate entities and left her dying body.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of troubles. SOMEONE removed Tsukuyomi from in front of the Moon Cave... and released Orochi. The demon cursed the whole world of Nippon with its dark powers. Kamiki Village was partially spared, but only because of the power of Konohana and the Wood Sprite Sakuya that dwelled within it. The village was intact, but all its people had turned to stone, Sakuya forced to store the spirits of the people in the fruit of the divine tree. With the last of her strength, Sakuya resurrected Amaterasu from the statue before Konohana, and then explained the problem. However, it seemed that Amaterasu had lost much of her power and memories in her long sleep. She would need to journey and recover her lost power.
But she wouldn't be going alone! A Poncle (think a fairy with no wings; with instead flea-like jumping ability and a sedge hat that is patterened to resemble a green aphid) named Issun had been napping in Sakuya's robes and had thus been spared the curse. Sakuya sent Amaterasu first into a world inside the tree, where she learned the first two of her now-lost Celestial Brush Techniques-- the ability to repair or replace missing or broken things, and the ability to summon a mighty slash and cut down things such as trees. Now it was time to head out and begin the journey to reach Amaterasu's full power and defeat Orochi.
All was set... except something went wrong as Amaterasu exited the divine tree. A flash of darkness filled her vision. And then... she was not where she was supposed to be...