Hourai Pantheon: 
The Gods of the Sky: The gods who dwell in the Heavenly Plain, separate from the Land. According to legend, the Gods of the Sky gave birth to the five brothers who founded the Five Kingdoms and left vast power in the hands of ten lesser gods, the Gods of the Land, to keep an eye on the land before they retreated to the heavens. Their influence on the world is very little, unlike that of the Gods of the Land. According to legend, the Gods of the Sky left shortly after creation and appointing the Gods of the Land from mortals below.

The Gods of the Land: The gods who directly interact with the world. They are the gods who govern various domains, and it is by their power that special individuals, rising beyond even the limits of humanit, are granted a Gnosis. The Gods of the Land, according to legend, live beyond the Nurikabe Mountains, but there are rumours that they walk among the mortals of Horai. These beings are worshipped throughout the world, under different names, but the ones recorded here are the most common.
	- Ren: The passionate, highly-talented god of fire, art and craftsmanship. Being skilled on all fields, he grants power to those who seek to become the best of the best, whether it is those who have genuine skill, or those whose drive exceeds even the capacity of their own talent, or those whose drive excludes all else.
	- Asha: The loving goddess of ice, family and love. Patron of all forms of love, she grants power to those motivated by love, platonic, romantic, familial or otherwise, and opposes those who would break up families and couples alike. She also embodies the obsessiveness and insanity that love may bring.
	- Giro: The righteous god of water, death and justice. Seeking justice for all men, he grants power to those who seek justice, whether it is by protecting the weak or smiting the wicked, and is bound by honor and justice alike. He also embodies vengefulness and a desire to see an enemy brought down.
	- Fuyin: The whimsical goddess of wind, wine and music. Seeking to convey the wishes of her chosen on the wind, she grants power to those who embody freedom itself, protecting the freedom of all, whether it is the freedom to seek new fields and change, or the freedom to remain comfortable, surrounded by those one loves.
	- Ozen: The stern god of earth, money and contracts. Enforcing promises and oaths, he grants power to those who bind themselves to duty, whether it is as retainer to liege, or bound by promise and one's own word. He represents both order and stagnation; stability as well as unchanging ness.
	- Rau: The rambunctious, young god of thunder and change. Never being satisfied with stasis, they grant power to those who embody change and defy the status quo, going against the boundaries of one's own station or of one's own physical form, with Rau's own gender remaining fluid. Rau represents all forms of change, whether they be for the better or the worst; an improvement in fortunes as much as a disaster.
	- Midan: The wise goddess of the forest, animals and wisdom. Seeking contemplation through enlightenment, she grants power to those who value wisdom and knowledge upon else, becoming masters of a single field, or knowing much about many, whether it is to share this knowledge or to keep it to oneself, no matter what.
	- Amane: The curious goddess of light, medicine and travel. She grants power to those who, above all, seek, whether it is treasure, knowledge or something else more valuable, whether those who seek seek for altruistic reasons or seek beyond their own capacity.
	- Mao: The hedonistic god of darkness, pleasure and vices. He grants power to those driven by desire and want; whether it is by having all that they desire, or seeking to try ever newer pleasures, no matter how pure or how depraved those pleasures are.
	- Suzume: The fierce goddess of war, law and metal. She grants power to those of iron will and determination, having the will to continue no matter the adversity, and embodies those also whose sheer stubbornness refuses to give way.

Gnosis: A 'blessing' that grants the wielder great power, granting power beyond the norm of humans. A Gnosis often takes the form of a glass-like sphere, smaller than one's hand, but quite indestructible to most things, even the most powerful forms of Mahou. These are often inset in a metal holder and worn somewhere on the body to keep it near; however, it is generally impossible to take a Gnosis from its master without the master choosing to relinquish it. The Gnosis is granted by the gods of Hourai to those of certain temperaments. The names are derived from seminal texts on the subject by Avropan scholars, which have been adopted throughout the world. Gnoses course with elemental energy, and can be used as a sort of battery to fuel spells with it; however, the only person that can use a Gnosis for such a purpose is its master, and it will not respond to someone who is not its master unless under extreme circumstances.
	- The Flamma Gnosis is granted to those driven to excellence. These Gnoses are red in color.
	- The Glacis Gnosis is granted to those driven by love. These Gnoses are light blue in color.
	- The Mare Gnosis is granted to those driven by justice. These Gnoses are deep blue in color.
	- The Aura Gnosis is granted to those driven by freedom. These Gnoses are dark green in color.
	- The Terra Gnosis is granted to those driven by duty. These Gnoses are amber in color.
	- The Fulmen Gnosis is granted to those driven to break boundaries. These Gnoses are dark purple in color.
	- The Lignum Gnosis is granted to those who value wisdom. These Gnoses are light green in color. (Aligns to Anima affinity.)
	- The Lumen Gnosis is granted by those who are driven to seek. These Gnoses are pure white in color.
	- The Nox Gnosis is granted to those driven by desire. These Gnoses are black in color.
	- The Ferrum Gnosis is granted to those driven by determination. These Gnoses are silver in color. (Aligns to Heaven affinity.)
	- Masterless Gnosis: A Gnosis with no master, either because its master has no longer been deemed worthy of its use, or because its master has died. These Gnoses are clear, resembling glass. When in the hands of someone found worthy of wielding a Gnosis, however, a Masterless Gnosis can be reactivated, becoming a Gnosis of any other type.

	- Gnosis Resonance: The power of Gnoses increases when two or more Gnosis wielders combine forces due to the coursing elemental energies amplifying the power of individual Gnosis wielders. Different kinds of Gnosis grant different Resonances to their allies; it is by this power that Gnosis wielders are capable of even greater things when working together. (OOC Note: This is just a reference to Supports.)

The Prohibition: A promise by the Gods of the Land, sworn after their fight with the God of Curses tore the land apart. The Prohibition prevents the Gods from acting directly on Horai, requiring the use of Gnosis wielders to do so, and only indirectly; no God of the Land may directly or by influence force a Gnosis wielder to do anything. This was in order to prevent the land from being rendered ashes once more.

The God of Curses: A foreign god, emerging from beyond the stars. An impure, corruptive influence, the God of Curses lay waste to Hourai upon its arrival, twisting man and beast alike to its desires. The people of Hourai turned to the Gods, begging for relief, and so the Gods of the Land descended upon the God of Curses. A long battle was fought, during which the God of Life was slain, but eventually, the Gods of the Land sealed the God of Curses away, binding them in chains and casting them into the darkness to be forgotten. It is said that every New Year, the God of Curses shakes their chains to drive fear into the souls of man to cow them into bringing it back; it is said that the celebrations are meant to drown out the noise of the God of Curses' chains, rejecting their influence and forcing them to remain bound for another year more.

The God of Life: A former God of the Land. According to tradition, he was a loving god who loved all of his creations, from the smallest insect to the largest wyvern, he gathered thirteen of those closest to him as perennial companions. However, the arrival of the God of Curses and the ensuing battle between the God of Curses and the Gods of the Land took a toll on the God of Life, who saw his friends dying around him to protect him from the God of Curses' rage. Infuriated, the God of Life took to battle and managed to subdue the God of Curses, at the cost of his own life. As the other Gods of the Land rushed to imprison the God of Curses, the dying God of Life gathered his dying friends and made them promise to meet again in the next life, overcome with grief over their time having been cut so short. With the last dregs of his power, he bound them to that promise; all save the Cat agreed, for the Cat was weary of life and their will was sapped by the God of Curses. The friends of the God of Life were forever commemorated as the basis of the Hourai yearly calendar with the exception of the Cat, who was left out for his disagreement, or so legend states, and to this day, the Juunishi, or so they are called, are said to determine the personalities of those born in the year they were assigned to, making them of great interest to diviners. It was said that the God of Life had his own type of Gnosis, but it has long since been forgotten, with the God of Life having been long dead and incapable of handing them out, and nobody remembering what his Gnosis comprised.

	-The Binding Curse: An affliction plaguing those born in Amatsu. It is said to be related to the legend of the Horai Juunishi. The Curse afflicts those afflicted with it with the curse of turning into an animal corresponding with that of the Juunishi, such as a horse or a rabbit, when physically exhausted or under extreme stress; this transformation lasts for a variable amount of time, from minutes to days. It is said that the Curse has other effects, such as bringing bad luck to those reincarnated as the Cat or shortening the Cat's lifespan, or granting the Rabbit good luck. Countless efforts have been devoted towards breaking the Curse, to no avail; no level of Mahou, or use of a Gnosis, has been able to break it. As such, treatment generally consists of the palliative, to alleviate the side effects of the Curse. The existence of the Curse is generally considered folkloric to the population, but some scholars and those closest to the Cursed, as well as the Imperial Court, are aware of its existence.

	- The Cursed: Those born under the auspices of the Binding Curse. Every generation, fourteen of them are born, corresponding to the twelve animals of the Hourai calendar, the God of Life and the Cat. Their identities are not publically known; a special office of the Imperial Court exists to record who the Cursed are once they are discovered, in order to facilitate special assistance and their identities are generally kept secret except to those closest to them, to avoid unwanted attention. The Cursed randomly reincarnate in anyone born within the borders of Amatsu, with the exception of "God", who reincarnates into the Imperial Family consistently; conversely, nobody born outside of Amatsu's borders has ever been Cursed. No Cursed has ever been a Misaki, despite common folklore occasionally mistaking the Cursed for a Misaki. However, the Cursed seem to have patterns as to what and whom they reincarnate into; always embodying the animal with whom they are intertwined, and drawn towards lives and careers which best suit them. Furthermore, an unusual amount of Cursed individuals are Gnosis wielders themselves for unknown reasons; it has not been an unheard of occurrence for the majority of the Cursed living at any one time to possess a Gnosis.

	Seven years ago, all of the Cursed in Amatsu were given summonses to Soumahara. While not all of the Cursed answered, those who did were rumoured to have been brought there under the pretense of breaking the Curse. Instead, it is said that they were effectively held prisoner in the Imperial Palace, subjected to the increasingly erratic and abusive behaviour of the Empress and mistreated until what was said to have been a fight between one of the Cursed and the Empress caused a commotion that caused almost all of the Cursed that were summoned to the Empress to break free and flee Soumahara. The identities of those identified as the Ox, the Sheep, the Tiger, the Snake, the Rat, and the Monkey are not known.

Mahou: The local term for magic. Mahou encompasses multiple disciplines, ranging from astronomy to offensive magic to alchemy. Most laymen believe that the only form of Mahou that classes as Mahou are the visible uses of offensive magic, or the use of Curses to create magical effects such as fireballs or vines; scholars, however, are educated in multiple fields, as part of Mahou. One of the peak aims of the field of Mahou is to use it to fully understand the nature of a Gnosis, and much time has been devoted into studying Gnoses and their interactions with Mahou.
	- Curses: The most visible part of Mahou, these are the use of magical scrolls and seals to produce offensive magic to fight enemies. Battle mages and the like are specialised into this. The magical energy used to create these Curses are derived from elemental energy, the very same that is generated by a Gnosis and permeates one; as such, the use of Curses around a Gnosis user can increase the power of a Gnosis wielder of the same element.

	- Healing: A subclass of Mahou, this uses elemental energy to provide healing effects. Though Mare and Lignum provide the best healing, all elements can aid in healing the body. Special staves are used to channel this energy properly, rather than the scrolls and seals of Curses. Certain types of staves are instead able to discharge the energy to bring illnesses and maladies upon an enemy; these are rare, but valuable tools to those who understand their power.

	- Alchemy: A discipline of Mahou aimed at being able to contain elemental energy within external objects, such as potions or explosives. Alchemy spans a wide range of sub-disciplines, such as pharmacology to basic chemistry; from apprentice healers of the Mizuno school to veteran scholars in Mitakihara, anyone with a basic understanding of Mahou has at least some familiarity with alchemy, and many choose to make it their lives.

	- Divination: One of the few disciplines of Mahou that has nothing to do with elemental energy, these instead encompass various forms of attempted clairvoyance, such as astrology and haruspicy, to attempt to manipulate or predict better fortune for others. 

Shiryo: Demonic, shadowy beasts that plague the countrysides of the Five Kingdoms. Dangerous to all living things, Shiryo ceaselessly hunt humans and attempt to devour them, being hazardous to take on except by a group of trained fighters. Their flesh is resistant to steel and elemental energies alike. However, a Shiryo is of no real threat to a Gnosis wielder, for something about their nature renders them vulnerable to the power of a Gnosis, purging their resistance; some Gnosis wielders make their living slaying Shiryo to keep travelers safe. What little of them is known is derived from vivisection; Shiryo fade almost instantaneously upon death into shadowy wisps. However, what is known is that the Shiryo lack, among other things, digestive systems, leaving it to question as to why they seek to devour human flesh.

Misaki: Humans born with animal traits, such as animal ears and tails, said to be the blessed of the Gods of the Land. Legends about Misaki have been retold since time immemorial, ranging from nine-tailed fox Misaki capable of shapeshifting, to mischievous tanuki Misaki. It is said that a Misaki is a blessed child, and families with Misaki born into them are considered blessed. The child of two Misaki is often a Misaki itself, but not necessarily so, but families that have a Misaki born into them often have had a Misaki in their family tree. Despite the common folklore, however, the Misaki are not any more or less human than those without their traits, with the only difference being unusual sensitivity towards elemental energy, which influences many Misaki into becoming mages. They are not to be confused with the Cursed, who are never reincarnated into Misaki.