--PLOT--

[Rai]

Since the beginning of time the creatures of mythos and humans have lived side by side. There was enough land and enough prey for them to rarely come into contact with one another. As the humans grew and more land was developed for their growing population, the creatures were being pushed back, their exposure becoming nearer and nearer. They didn't want that. The creatures liked their peace and knew that if the humans found out about them it would only cause problems. As a solution they developed a natural ability to hide their presence to normal human eyes. It took someone with a lot of spiritual power, with a strong spirit, to be able to see them.

Some creatures took advantage of this over the years, playing pranks and causing problems for the humans, or even just being seen. These were brushed off as being nothing but myths, stories to explain things that couldn't be explained in the past. Not much thought was given to it.

However, possession. Hauntings. Incidents took place that were more the work of humans than the creatures they blamed them on. It was a well kept secret, something that few people took part in, and fewer people knew of. For centuries humans and creatures have always been able to form contracts with one another, to share their power. There was a number of ways this could happen. The creature could enter the human's body, sharing one shell and the human being able to use the demons power as their own. The human could bind the creature to them, summoning the creature whenever needed.

Little was written down of how to go about it, and what was written down was heavily guarded. It was the creatures part of the deal. They wanted no more humans than necessary knowing of the means, fearing that the humans would take advantage of it to bind them and abuse their power. What the creatures didn't expect was demons to step forward and share these secrets with humans they wanted to form contracts with, spreading the creatures' powers farther than the creatures of the past could have thought.

They also didn't think about how their power could be absorbed into objects the longer they're around, allowing the holder to see the demons even if they didn't want to. Some took advantage of this. Some didn't like how the demons were becoming more integrated into human culture. A group was formed to fight against this, to try to educate the people against the viciousness of the creatures, to gain that distance that once existed many, many centuries ago.

For decades this has been the standard. For decades creatures and humans have formed contracts with one another while the group, Heaven's Gate, worked to try to push them farther and farther apart, even going so far as to, recently, take more violent stances on anything relating to the creatures. Take your side. Pick your poison.

[Rai]

Things To Keep In Mind

[/b] objects are inanimate objects that have absorbed the power of the creatures and allow the holder to see the creatures. They can be rings, necklaces, statues, and the such. In the case of statues, or other objects that aren't normally carried around or can't be easily handled, the power expands a certain radius, and any creature within that radius can be seen.

As such, most temples and shrines have guardian statues and other figures that have absorbed so much power from passing creatures and the creature it's their for to have a wide range where anything within the shrine limits is visible.

Objects like necklaces and rings, which are easily worn and carried, need to be held or in the possession of someone in order for it to work. The ability to see the creatures only extends to whoever is holding it, and the more people touching it the less power it has.

It's impossible to know what is infused with creature power or what isn't until you experience it first hand.


Schools, though they don't support their students going out and making contracts with the creatures, can do nothing to stop it and just ask that the students keep from using any powers on school grounds. Those who are caught breaking this rule are easily expelled or suspended. Punishment is worse if you're found harming another student or using it to cheat. Showing off, however, is not uncommon during breaks and lunch.


Going out and finding a creature to form a contract with has only started picking up in popularity within the last five or so years. Before then, it was uncommon, but not unheard of, and kept more secret than it is now. Some older people are still uncomfortable mentioning that they ever had contact with a creature.

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