The Thousand Hells

The Hell of Eternal Childbirth

This is the first in a series of Yomi Realms that will be detailed for Kindred of the East. Hopefully, it is interesting as well as usable in your chronicles that feature Yomi and the Yama Kings as antagonists. This hell was inspired by postings by Jiituomas who allowed me to take that idea and run with it. So, here it is. I hope that all of you like it enough for me to do another one. Email me and let me know what you think.


Description
Yama King (Queen): Shao Hai-Xin, the Midwife
Imbalance: Yang
What happens to the soul of a child who is sold into slavery or prostitution? What about a child drowned because they were born female or because of unfair One-Child laws on the books? What about a child that is beat to the brink of death everyday, knowing his or her only escape from their parent would be death? To this day, these questions have gone unanswered, but the fate of the mothers of these children is quite sealed (the fathers are a different story altogether).


The first thing a visitor to this Yomi Realm will notice is several 6-story towers, with blood stained sides and women’s howl coming out of every window. When you venture through these buildings, the floors seem to contain an endless amount of rooms, each with a woman giving birth and a demonic obstetric doctor at the helm. These women repeatedly go through all the worst kinds of labor, including all the discomfort, breech births, lack of medication and extreme pain associable with it. When the hell spawn is born it is brought to the Castle of Blood where the Yama King resides. It is thought that she devours these souls of the children for her sustenance.


If your eyes gaze a bit lower, you will observe a barrage of thin, sickly mothers drenched in their own blood (still bleeding in most cases) thrown out through the main door to these Hospitals from Hell. They most likely will catch a disease and the childbirth wounds will become infected. Other than these additional tortures, the cycle of pregnancy begins again after a brief state of normalcy (lasting the equivalent of 3 days).



There are lines of these sick women, wearing little more than what’s needed to cover their private parts, begging the demons that roam the streets for medication to alleviate the pain. Few of these forsaken souls receive any kind of drug, however, without the enjoyment of demon supplier. Many prizefights take place in the middle of the street between the tattered mothers, for just a taste of morphine or other painkillers.


Throughout the entire pregnancy, the women go through the worst of morning sickness and weakness and must endure the almost constant nag of the smell of blood and unclean bodies that seethes through the air. As well, they are constantly attacked and pushed to the brink of death through beatings and rapings at almost every turn. The immense heat through this realm has a certain discomforting temperature that makes every step on the hot pavement or drop of sweat that much more painful.
Places of Note
Castle of Blood
This large structure that stands at the top of a very high mountain would appear quite different than its name implies. The Castle of Blood is a large, clean, white tower. It sparkles with a coolness the altitude complements. It is names mostly because of what goes on inside.
The red carpet is rolled out for those demonic messengers who deliver the newborns to the Castle of Blood. When inside, they are presented to the Yama King, who then swallows the child whole. She ingests the child, body and soul. No one except the Twice Born and the messengers is ever allowed here, except for the few mothers who are invited so their child’s soul may take its own revenge.


Denizens
This hell began as a torturous place reserved for those women who killed their own children. But as time went on, and the Yama Kings’ own battles began to take precedence, more and more additions were made to the rules of being sentence to the Hell of Eternal Childbirth. The souls of those who sold their children began to fall as well, then those who harmed their children in near death situations. Today, even those who loose their children or emotionally scar their children in anyway are subject to the rules of the Midwife. The only way to truly stay out of this dimension is to never have children.



The various demons that serve the Midwife do it for selfish reasons. They love to terrorize, kill, maim, devour and otherwise toy with souls and the Midwife lets them do it. Kumo, Raksha and even Corpse-Tigers frequent this realm and are given free reign, as long as they serve as demonic doctors (with the only duty being to keep the child alive) and not to cross certain borders toward the Castle of Blood. But anyone who is going to torture these women through their fragile state is more than welcomed by the Midwife.



Within the realm, only one demon is truly loyal to Shao Hai-Xin and not just looking for torturous fun, the Twice Born. It is known that the lovely Yama King is the devourer of the spirits that are born from her damned souls, but after consuming so many pure souls, she is also known to give birth as well. This being is a mass of souls, not ever truly knowing themselves for anything except the Midwife’s child and servant. Many are not even given real names, responding to nick names and insulting slurs just the same. They serve as the brute hunting force of the Midwife, taking out unruly demons and tortured souls alike. Hence, although they don’t exhibit great intelligence, their skills of perception are often unmatched by other Yomi minions. Their numbers are small, but their strength is not.


They are however, never allowed in the Middle Kingdom directly, kept as domain servitors instead. The Midwife fears their betrayal if they were to find out above the splendors of the world above. So, very rarely are they found outside of this Yomi Realm, which is to the detriment of Shao Hai-Xin’s rise to the Demon Emperor Throne.



The Twice Born
Physical: Strength 7, Dexterity 5, Stamina 6
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 2
Mental: Perception 4, Intelligence 1, Wits 2
Talents: Alertness 5, Athletics 3, Brawl 4, Dodge 2, Intimidation 5
Skills: Animal Ken 4, Etiquette 1, Melee 4, Survival 3
Knowledges: Investigation 4, Occult 1
Disciplines: Black Wind 4, Potence 4, Fortitude 4
Backgrounds: Allies 1, Resources 1
Hun: 3, P’o: 8, Yin: 5, Yang: 5, Willpower: 7
Body Levels: -0(x7)/-1(x4)/-2(x3)/-5/Incapacitated
Quote: “You must’ve done something really bad to have me come after you.”
Image: These hideous beings stand from 9 to 12 feet tall and all have dark skin that reflects the blackness of their hearts. They have multiple faces all over their body which never number less than 6. This not only adds to their gruesome appearance, but also to their ability to hunt and track as they can look in every direction at once. Their bodies have huge rippling muscles, with slightly longer arms (resembling an ape in their structure). They rarely wear anything more than a loin cloth, since their normal skin can soak any kind of damage you can through at it.

Possessions: They wield little except a strong weapon to protect yourself and keen eye for tracking those that your mother wants dead.

Roleplaying Hints: You are very much still a child in your mind. You serve your mother without question, yet you always wonder what else there is in the world. But that could just be one of your minds, for you are a melding of several minds, the minds that were devoured by the Midwife. So, while one mind is thinking one thing, the other is thinking something else. There is always one mind that is prominent, but they must still listen to all of them. You are a killer and all minds will agree that slaughter is the best fun there is, especially if it is the P’o soul that gave birth you that particular mind.

Storyteller Notes: The Twice Born usually carry weapons that do Strength + 2 Aggravated damage and can use their full Stamina + Fortitude to soak all kinds of damage. They are, however, low in intelligence and very gullible. All Subterfuge rolls are -1 difficulty on them. If you are not a direct target of the Midwife’s wrath then you have little to fear as long as you don’t say the wrong thing.



Story of the Midwife
Hai-Xin did not begin her journey as a Yama King. She was not created by heaven and is by no means a minion of the August Personage of Jade. She is not a victim, yet her mission had its roots in honor.


She grew up near the end of the 4th Age in a small nameless village in the Hebei Province, which eventually became Qinhuangdao. She was diagnosed as infertile at the age of 16, after several failed attempts at conceiving, which led to her daily beating at the hands of her husband. He so wanted to have kids. She gazed out at the unfair world through bruised eyes, seeing the other women who would drown their first-born if they were not male. She saw the children who were sold to European merchants to become slaves and prostitutes and she wept for those souls. Her daily beatings finally became too much for her to bear and she gave into the pain, finally letting herself die and pass into the Yomi Realm.


As a simple P’o soul, she began to exist among the other demons and evil spirits, and deemed herself the protector of these children. She was stole enough great power from other demons and minions of Yomi to become an avenging spirit, deemed “the Midwife” and killing thousands of those unfit mothers throughout the years. The arrival of the westerners did not help things much; it actually made them worse.



Hai-Xin became greedy, wanting to kill those who even looked at a child in a harmful way, which led to many different kinds of exorcist being called to vanquish her. To evade their power, she retreated to a small realm in the Yomi Realm. It was a small, insignificant plot between two of the other realms. Instead of actively killing those women herself, the Midwife began waiting for their eventual death and then summoning their souls to her small domain, which continued to grow after the years.
She found that she could grow more powerful through the devouring of a part of the woman’s essence, devouring the P’o soul while having it still around to produce more energy. A stroke of genius came when she decided to spontaneously impregnate the women as they entered and after every subsequent birth. After devouring these souls, which allowed her to continue living, she was able to finally conceive her first child, a Twice Born.


The Twice Born fought back every attack on the Hell, protecting what Hai-Xin had created and still do till this day. She used to take care of their every wish, any of the mothers they wished to kill was their's and they had their relative freedom as long as they did as they were told in times of emergency. However, the ongoing battle between the Yama Kings has driven her to have more and more children, making them objects instead of her loved ones. In her current mind, they are simply soldiers that can be used to win the few wars worth fighting. Does child neglect make her just as guilty as the souls she tortures? Even if it does, she is the one in charge and things don’t look even close to changing anytime soon.

The Hell of Failed Dreams

Yama King: Sima Fu-Leng
Imbalance: Yin
Compared to more physical hells like the Hell of Being Skinned Alive, or the Hell of Boiling Oil, the Hell of Failed Dreams seems tame to those that know who do not fully understand it. It is only when one is forced to suffer an excruciating eternity there does its true malignancy become apparent. Filled with the souls of sinners that trampled others underfoot to make their own dreams a reality, this Yin Imbalanced realm feeds off the suffering, anger and self-loathing of its inhabitants.
Every new day begins the same. The damned is full of hope about that big promotion, that final sweeping victory over his enemy, or a marriage that could not be more perfect. And before the day is through (though "day" is subjective, it could be as short as a few hours, or as long as months), all of the sinner's hopes & dreams are crushed. No matter how great or bad things went in life, here, they always end in the worst possible way. Seemingly tame, the deviousness of this hell is that the sinner must deal with his greatest failure ad infinitum. Overwhelming feelings of despair and melancholy fill the soul beyond its capacity to deal. It almost goes without saying, but every suicide attempt ends in failure. This further frustrates the soul, strengthening Sima Fu-Leng’s grasp on them.
Places of Note
For each individual that inauspiciously finds their way to this realm after death, the landscape changes to fit the location of their greatest triumph. An aspiring musician might find himself on stage night after night, hearing thousands of people booing, while a promising law student may lose the one case that could make or break her career. The participation of the demented Yama King is a constant occurrence inherent to the torture of every soul. While he need not be present at the breaking of his victims to feed from them, he gains a special, perverse pleasure as he watches their failures time and time again. He appears to be whichever person is in the best position to crush the hopes of the sinner, whether it is a judge, a parent, whatever he needs to complete the illusion. This is both his greatest means of power, and his weakest link, however. An aspiring Kuei-jin can exploit if they're patient. The moment's leading up to the failure, Fu-Leng is present in each hell, but every other moment, he is distracted by his appetites. With the proper timing, a strong enough soul can see through the illusions. Once the veil has been lifted, escape is almost a guarantee, unless one is particularly unlucky. His attention focused elsewhere, Fu-Leng is powerless to hold the errant soul in check, the second breath usually occurs soon thereafter. He hates these sinners the most and he seeks, almost to the point of obsession, to eradicate them all.
Denizens
Sima Fu-Leng has need of few servitors within his realm. The people that make up a sinner's "friends" and "family" are all illusions, a mental trick designed to draw as much negativity out as possible. He rarely uses akuma within the Hell of Failed Dreams, preferring to take on as many roles per sinner as he feels necessary. When he does allow them to participate, it is as a reward, to bath them in rich Yin Chi for a job well done. No, instead, they are his primary agents in the Middle Kingdom, performing services he finds to be beneath him.
Akuma are a special case, however. Fu-Leng contacts a perspective servant in his dreams, sending nightly visions of Dharmic failings, with only himself as the savior of the Kuei-jin. To those that harbor any secret hopes of making a pact with a Yama King, he appears while they're awake, as a hazy figure often mistaken for a Spectre, and offers them the ability to fulfill all of their goals. Every contract he negotiates includes so many loopholes that should a Kuei-jin take the time to read each one, the Yama King will already have become bored and moved on to his next subject. For this reason, he largely avoids Resplendent Cranes, instead preferring to focus on Dragons and Devil-Tigers seeking easy power or those of heretical Dharmas. Should a Kuei-jin respond unfavorably, resist his mental intrusions, or in any way attempt to "hunt" him, Fu-Leng resorts to absolute force, sending as many akuma as he feels are warranted to correct the situation. There are few things he hates as much as being told "no."
Sima Fu-Leng can appear to be anyone he so chooses, the better to taunt sinners. When making one of his rare visits to the Middle Kingdom, or playing inside the dreams of a potential akuma, he appears to be a young warrior in armor millennia out of date. No one knows what he is thinking, or how he reacts to any news by his facial expressions, for he has none. His face is instead a perfectly smooth surface, composed of solid obsidian. He never speaks, communicating only telepathically with those he lowers himself to address.
The Story of Sima Fu-Leng
Report to the Most Revered Bone Ancestor of Chongqing
Given by Xin Sheng, Mandarin of the Eternal Void Wu
Re: Yama King Sima Fu-Leng
As per your request honored ancestor, I have set my disciples onto the task of uncovering any information regarding the being known as Sima Fu-Leng. It was with humility that I accepted your confidence in this endeavor, and I am pleased to report we have learned much of this enemy.
During the Three Kingdom period, Sima Fu-Leng was known as a strategist born in Hei Ne, in the Wen region, elder brother of the noted tactician Sima Yi, who is recorded as being killed while foolishly attacking a superior force. This story, as is usually the case, is far from complete. From scrolls obtained at great expense by many of our Dharma, we have discovered at least a fraction of the truth.
Raised in the ways of defeating an enemy, Fu-Leng's family had many high hopes for him. He tirelessly trained to become the perfect general, working his martial skills during the day, and his mental skills during the night. At his side, Yi would learn to be his aide, forever in the shadow of his brother. It was this that ultimately bred resentment and hatred within the younger of the two. Knowing that he would never eclipse Fu-Leng, Yi was forced to bite his tongue, and submit to his brother's orders.
It was to be Fu-Leng's day of glory, sometime after his 19th summer, when he led a small force of soldiers into a nearby region. His plan was flawless, every contingency planned for, except one. Several hours before his army was to engage the enemy forces, Yi begged his brother for a private audience. Once alone, Yi unrolled several scrolls, upon which he had devised his own strategy for victory. Fu-Leng carefully looked over each one, shaking his head in disagreement at each new parchment. From a fragment of the journal kept by Yi, we now know that Fu-Leng laughed at what he considered the utter recklessness of each plan, and it was at this time that Yi drove his dagger into his own brother's heart. The last vision he saw was Yi, his dearest companion, wiping his life's blood onto a piece of cloth.
Due to pacts made with several mandarin of the Devil Tiger Dharma, we have gained insight into what happened next. Regretfully, this insight comes at the expense of many unrighteous mortal souls.
Watching the battle from the Shadowlands, Sima Fu-Leng was outraged to see his men follow his utterly traitorous brother, and even moreso outraged to see his brother's plan succeed. What should have been the victory that made his name known across the land, turned into the last day of his mortal existence. Sima Yi would go on to become an advisor to Cao Cao of the Wei Empire, Sima Fu-Leng would come to power another way.
It was his love for his brother that prevented him from seeing the murderous intentions within, it was that same love that sapped his will to rise again as one of the Wan Kuei. It is unknown how long Fu-Leng wandered the Shadowlands before that love turned into a boiling cauldron of loathing and hatred. Only the effect is known. The pain and suffering in his heart tore at his being, shredding every piece of mortal decency that he once held onto so dearly. Being betrayed was not enough; that his brother had won the battle at the expense of his life warped his psyche. It was this pain, this raw seething emotion that caused Fu-Leng to seek out a pocket of the Yomi Wan for his own. A yearning to make those like his brother pay for their tactics consumed his every thought. In his metaphoric heart, blackness grew, a hole that no amount of sadistic inflicting of suffering would fill. Slowly, a fraction at a time, he has cultivated his hell, tailoring it to the needs of each sinner's ultimate failing. He avoids conflicts with other Yama Kings, feeling it to be a waste of his precious Chi, and little more than a nuisance that would take him away from the enjoyment his hell brings him.
Unlike most Yama Kings, he seems to have no desire to be the Demon Emperor. All signs point to him wanting only one thing; the one soul he desires to torment for all eternity, that of Sima Yi. Our forces have begun searching for Yi’s spirit in the Yin Worlds in an attempt to quell his power. The Yama King who enslaved Ji Xiang-Ling for so long will pay for his misdeeds, most honored ancestor, and the second tenet will be served.
May this information please you,
Xin Sheng

The Hell of Predator Turned Prey

Well here goes. I brain stormed one night for original hells to throw at my players. Most if not all had read The Thousand Hells source book, so I wanted to hit them with a surprise. Now my game was a Year of the Lotus one that consisted of a wide variety of characters, not just Kuei-Jin. Thus, I made hells to appeal to each of them. This is one of three in a small series of hells I’ve made.
Description
Yama King: Hoshoku, the Great Spider
Imbalance: Yang
Throughout history, animals have been slaughtered and destroyed in the name of expansion. Some were killed for money, some were killed defending their homes and some others were killed simply to feed the growing number of humans. Only the arrogance of humanity could lead them to the erroneous assumption that there was no repercussion for their forceful subjugation of nature.
Even the arrival to this Hell is nothing gentle. A soul awakens naked, in the midst of a burning hot desert. The "sun" shines down on this domain nonstop, never setting and never giving a moments respite from the heat. The poor souls lost here, can feel this skin boiling under the sun. It doesn’t take long before the smell of burning flesh fills the air . . . your own flesh. The boiling heat literally begins to sear the bone from the flesh of those unfortunates caught under it, with no shelter to protect oneself from it. The desert is so expansive that one has no chance in coming across another person or animal. One is totally alone as long as they dwell there, left only to lament their sins that got them here and the unbearable heat.
Occasionally, a searing desert storm will rip across the desert. These storms are of a ferocity and intensity, unlike anything any mortal is likely to ever have experienced or will experience again (should they escape that is). The lucky ones simply disappear, never to be heard from again. The unlucky ones "live" through this violent storm, although they’d wish they had somehow perished again. Their skin is flayed and torn, wholly missing in some places. This allows the searing hot sand to get into their wounds and cause even more pain. It’s almost like salt in their wounds. In some rare cases, limbs have been lost to these Hell Storms.
This is unfortunate as mere minutes after appearing in the Hell, the P'o soul is instantly consumed by an unbearable hunger that drives them to feed. There is no effect to not feeding, but the pain is enough to drive a soul insane. As one would expect, as the souls slowly go insane, they rapidly lose their aversion to feeding. This compels them to seek out others to feed from. Shortly as this realization comes to them, they begin to hear screams of the wounded and dying of this realm, as they are killed over and over again. Rare is the P'o who can resist searching to find out the source of these sounds.
In the center of this Hell, is a great jungle. Filled with various animals that are hellish mockeries of their mortal representatives and a heavy sweltering heat, this is still the safest part of the Hell. Well . . . in theory it is. For within this jungle, lies the Yama "King" itself, along with other P'o souls and the various wildlife. One must fight constantly to survive here and rest is likely to lead one to death. Of course, the easiest prey would be the unarmed ones . . . Sadly that is only other P'o souls. Due to this, the few P'o who escape this Hell, have difficulty coming past the chih-mei stage, due to the depredations they have committed to survive here, their P'o is stronger than normal.
However . . . rumors do surface occasionally. Some who can remember their escape from this Hell speak of committing atrocities of various sorts to escape. The first speaks of a hidden tear in the imperfect fabric of this realm, which lies somewhere near the Great Nexus, Hoshoku's personal lair. Only with a bloody, cannibalistic sacrifice of another P'o to the guardian of the realm, can one make it through this gate. The other, more common rumor speaks of something even more depraved. They speak of lone souls who refused to enter the jungle, for a variety of reasons. These P'o wandered the wastes, embracing their own madness and feeding . . . on themselves. They devour their own body, dealing with the pains caused by the blistering sand as it gets into the cuts and wounds they tear in themselves as they feed. Only after the P'o has suffered enough and sacrificed any of its remaining humanity, can the battered and beaten soul make escape from this Hell. The amount of time required for this varies in the stories from seven to fourteen days. But some have to question this. It seems all too convenient. Almost as if someone decides to let out those souls who have willingly damned themselves further. Only the Lord of this Hell can know and if he does, he’s not exactly telling.
Places of Note
Jungle of the Spider
Making up the vast majority of this Hell, the Jungle is the lair of the Yama King and its servants. It is also the only respite from the heat of the barren wastelands that surround this Hell. This fact alone is enough to drive most P'o into the jungle in search of food and shelter.
The Great Nexus
At the Center of this immense jungle lies the Great Spiders lair. As there are strands and layers of webbing all over this Hell, it’s only fitting that they must have some sort of point of origin. This is it. An outdoor area, it is covered in thick webbing in an intricate pattern that makes navigating it difficult and the likelihood of one of the strands being disturbed immensely high. Should a foolhardy traveler disturb the network of webs, he has just announced himself to Hoshoku and must face those consequences. Once one has managed to make it past the outer layer of webs, they can see the true face of the Nexus. It’s a huge dome made of spun webbing, with hundreds upon hundreds of spun cocoons. Inside each of these is a P'o soul that has been captured and fed is being upon by the gluttonous Yama King. Once they have been drained of their essence, they begin to metamorphose into Servants of Hoshoku. Appearing as nothing more than oversized spiders, they immediately move out to set up their own small domains in the Spider Jungle.
Denizens
This Hell is littered with those who abuse nature. Be it a worker who clear cuts a forest, a poacher who hunts animals only for money, or a careless trapper who leaves his traps behind and this results in animal deaths, all are subject to judgment by Hoshoku. However, at times, he delights in gathering souls from those who eat their own kind, cannibals, and setting them loose in the jungles. He relishes the horror of the victims of these men and women. The horror at knowing their end comes not by the hand of some servant of the Yama king but one of their own.
In addition to the P'o souls, this Hell is littered with nearly any animal that could conceivably survive in a jungle type environment and even some that cannot. Indeed, the environment changes these animals, making them more hideous, monstrous and powerful than their earthly equivalents. Any victims of these monsters wake up outside the jungle, in the midst of the great desert, hungrier than ever.
Other than these predators, there is also the Servants of Hoshoku to contend with. These immense spiders hunt down P'o souls at their Masters’ behest and bring them back to feed his immense hunger. These souls who are devoured are judged by Hoshoku and those deemed wicked enough are transformed into the animals that litter this realm.
Servants of Hoshoku

* Physical: Strength 6, Dexterity 7, Stamina 6
* Social: Charisma 1, Manipulation 0, Appearance 0
* Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 1, Wits 3
* Talents: Alertness 5, Athletics 3, Brawl 4, Dodge 2, Intimidation 4
* Skills: Animal Ken 2, Stealth 4, Survival 4
* Knowledges: Investigation 3, Occult 2, Rituals 1
* Disciplines: Demon Shintai 5, Yang Prana 3, Yin Prana 1 Backgrounds: Mentor 5 (Hoshoku), Allies 2 (Other Servants)
* Hun: 1, P’o: 9, Yin: 3, Yang: 7, Willpower: 8
* Demon Shintai Characteristics: Demon Armor x 2 (chitinous armor), Huge Size x 2, Mandibles
* Health Levels: -0(x8)/-1(x2)/-2(x2)/-5(x2)/Incapacitated
* Quote: A loud clacking of mandibles followed by screams and tearing.
* Image: Servants of Hoshoku are basically nothing more than giant distorted spiders, with immense power and an unswerving loyalty to their maker. They tend to appear as 13-ft long, 8 ft. high, furry spiders. Underneath the fur, is a thick carapace that can fend off even the most powerful of shots. And even should the attack pass its thick armor, these beings can withstand immense amounts of damage before giving up. However, as creatures of Yang, they can vary wildly in size, shape and appearance but the stats listed above are for a typical Servant.
* Possessions: None, unless they carry their latest victim in a web-sac.
* Roleplaying Hints: Hunt. Kill. Feed. Serve the master. Storytellers Note: These creatures can spend chi to heal or to power disciplines. Also, they may spend demon chi, to gain extra actions or damage. They have a very basic intelligence but, unless given strict orders by Hoshoku, they attack to incapacitate and failing that retreating before death. They take no stock of whether an enemy will be a future threat, or whether they will be able to stop a group of opponents. Pick off one person and move on. In addition, for the cost of one Yang chi, they can spin a web. This webbing requires a 9 on the Feat of Strength chart to break it.

The story of the Great Spider

Hoshoku was originally a spirit in the service of the August Personage of Jade. Although, he was created by Heaven to serve as a guardian, he chose to become a defiler and spirit of Hatred. The story is one of a fall from grace, but one must not feel sorry for this spirit. Once a spirit has fallen, there is no redemption.
The Great Spider served as a guardian of the Beast Courts for some time, keeping balance between the then Wan Xian and the Hengeyokai. However, he found his patience strained at times. He felt a kinship with the Kumo and sought to keep them safe, albeit out of the way. But these ferocious monsters refused to acknowledge Hoshoku. They saw him as an interloper, trying to steal away their worship from their triumvirate Gods. But nonetheless, he persisted in his endeavors.
In time, things got strained. He developed a small but secretive following amongst the Kumo, while working to maintain a strict balance between the Beast Courts and the Wan Xian through his intermediaries. After a generation had passed, he sought to finally integrate his followers into the Beast Court. He granted the Sentai of Kumo who was loyal to him one of his servants as a totem to help guide them. The group approached a gathering of the Beast Courts . . . and was summarily slaughtered to the last child.
Hoshoku was outraged. He lashed out immediately and attempted to slaughter the Beast Courts, by manipulating some of the then fallen Wan Xian, the Wan Kuei, to attack the Beast Courts. In his righteous anger, he slew every member of the gathering that had killed his precious Kumo followers. He would have moved on to slaughter the rest of the Xiong Ren, were he not stopped by the heavy gaze of the August Personage of Jade. Incensed at one of his own aides, acting so base, he levied a heavy punishment on his wayward scion. For his treasonous actions, he was cast out of the Heavens, fallen to the pits of Yomi.
Thrashing in anger, Hoshoku refused to be denied. He tore at the very essence of Yomi in his anger, tearing away some of the lands of weaker Yama Kings and pieced together a realm of his own from these shards. Once his work had been complete, he retired to the middle of his new abode and rested. He would have his revenge no matter how he had to do it.
By biding his time and gaining power, Hoshoku believes he will one day grow powerful enough to strike down all those who had wronged him in the past. The Hengeyokai of the Beast Courts and the August Personage of Jade will both feel his wrath. Hoshoku has no designs on the Throne of the Demon Emperor, but he seeks to unravel all that the August Personage created. Feeding off this destruction he intends to cause, he will then face and destroy the one who unjustly punished him.