Somewhere, out in the cosmic floor, in the limitless ice realm, where time was an obedient servant and all mortal sound was devoured by mist, a mountain of impossible scale pierced the void. It was in fact a 'Pillar of Heaven'. One of twelve. It was here in this quadrant that the local Wills or 'powers' met: to speak of war, of love, and of the migrations of fate.
The Pillars of Heaven were ancient and holy. The twelve Pillars of heaven reached down and touched the cosmic 'floor' a realm of endless mist and ice. However, there was a notable secret the lower ice realm held. The continents of the ice realm were 'powers.' Beings of immense mental and spiritual energy. As time passed the crucible of creations magma flowed out of the abuto or abyss, giving rise to more and more 'powers.' These powers explored the endless realm of ice and mist for eons in Avatar form. Exploring. Learning, even doing battle with one another at times.
The Powers Cultivated.
But then one day a Power discovered a 'Pillar of Heaven.' Soon word spread among the Powers and tens of thousands of them came to see the sight. The pillar intrigued them greatly, it was new to them, and anything new was to be coveted indeed, for all they knew was a realm of mist and ice. But the pillar suggested something greater then themselves. And they wanted to find it out. As thousands of Powers gathered at the base of the Pillar of Heaven, something mysterious happened. Ancient script lit up the pillar illuminating the realm of mist and ice. And the gate of the Pillar of Heaven opened to them. As they entered the Pillar the rules of ascension made themselves known. In order to ascend the pillar, they had to play and win a game of doom. This required the help of 'champions' in order to complete the challenges contained on each floor of ascension.
The Will of Heaven had made itself known: Create Circles of life, choose, train and ascend with your champion. And beat the G.O.D.
At each plateau of the cosmic mountain dwelt alliances of wills, bound together for survival and conquest. The higher a Will climbed, the closer it approached the ultimate grounds, where primal beings could invoke and write new realities.
But the climb was dangerous. Every alliance was fragile. Every step demanded a champion's blood. At its base, the Wills of the Continents manifested — sentient avatars of landmasses that dreamed, raged, and evolved.
And there he stood.
Jinmenju, the Will of the Beast Vein Continent.
His hair was long and silver, the hair atop his head feathered into a blinding crown of white spikes, each strand alive with Cataclysmic Qi — crackling arcs of wild genesis that clawed at the thin air of heaven. Tiger-striped markings wrapped his fair skin, epidermal layers of armor burned in by the approval of creation itself. When he breathed, the mountains of beast vein continent breathed with him. Around his bare shoulders flowed a mantle of wind and dust — the scent of savannas, of sandal wood, and of cursed rivers of blood.
A low hum rose, not from his throat but from the roots of the Beast Vein Continent — every beast trembling as if remembering the hand that had sculpted them from primal essence. He smiled, the curve of a predator-demi remembering a worthy rival.
Jinmenju, the Beast Vein Continents Will, was locked in a grinding war with Dor'mon'du, the Will of the Forgotten Continent — a shadow continent erased from maps but not from memory. The war between them played out both above and below. In the mortal realm, their champions clashed for supremacy.
In the cosmic realm, the wills clashed upon the glacial tiers of the mountain — titans tearing ice and soul alike.
Where Jinmenju presence smelled of wild rain and blood, Shakina manifested as song, and light. She carried a harp and had wings attached to her head, wrists and ankles, her wings and Harp were gold, and she was just as naked as Jinmenju. Her voice carried the fragrance of reason — an overwhelming harmony that soothed and subdued all things feral.
Yet her own domain was besieged by another Will.
The two of them met at the Summit of Wills, surrounded by a choir of smaller continental spirits. The ice beneath them groaned with suppressed eternity. Shakina spoke first, "You seek to ascend the cosmic mountain and play the game of doom with me, Jinmenju? But your kind burns as easily as it breeds." Jinmenju raised an eyebrow, "And your kind calcifies behind temples. I offer you not civility— but wild growth and renewal, and relief from the assault of the will of Ka'rink'ka."
Shakina smiled at this "Then let our alliance be tested. My daughter will wed your son. Let their spirits clash first… and if they live, their union will be the bridge that carries us both up the mountain."
Thus began the Celestial Courtship of Jinmenju and Shakina — their 'champions' union being both a trial and alliance. The outcome would affect not only Ash and one others fate, but the balance of power on the Cosmic Mountain itself.