The origins of Gensokyo
Within Gensokyo, there are several groups of beings who can be roughly categorized into eight ‘species’ or ‘races’. Each with their own distinct subgroups. In order of commonality, these are Ghosts, Youkai, Fairies, Humans, Hermits, Demons, Kami and Dolls. Once, all these races lived on Earth. However these groups found themselves in conflict regularly. Over the course of thousands of years, humans grew in number and many of the more aggressive Fairies, Demons and Youkai were defeated. The apex of this conflict began at various times in the world, with Humanity overpowering the Youkai of Japan soon after their borders opened to the West in 1853. Though as dangerous as any rifle or bomb was the rise of secularism. Faith in these beings diminished, weakening what Youkai remained. To preserve what of them remained, the strongest remaining Youkai isolated the realm of Gensokyo from the Outside World in 1885. The realm has existed in almost complete isolation since then, with the barrier sustained by faith in the Hakurei God, as well as the strongest of the Youkai Sages.
These sages are known to include Yakumo Yukari, Ibaraki Kasen and Matara Okina, though there are assumed to be others. The dragons of Gensokyo are known to have vanished at the same time, suggesting the realm was isolated in part due to their aid.
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“Hey ya’ll, its yer girl Joon here to rob you dumb Kami again. Since you’re all out of money, I’ll take...hmm, your kimono. Yes, you in the red. It looks expensive. Heads, erm, lining they go out the kitchen window. Back, they follow the ‘hidden path’. HAI-YAAH!
…
…
Well this didn’t work out how I planned. But close enough to tails. See you idiots, I’m going to sell this to save up for my gambling fund this weekend.”
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The roars of the monster billowed down the halls. The beast they had just eluded racing through the halls. Oscar for his part turned to the kitchen windows. Quickly lunging and throwing one open. The old wood felt rotted under his finger tip, and the first wooden bar fell away. Leaving a space much too small for he, but enough for his three friends. Somehow, he managed to hide his panic with a daring smile back at the three.
“We have no time to lose. We have to get out of here—through the window, quickly.”
“But Osu, you can’t fit through there!”
“I couldn’t scare a Youkai away either.”
An impatient wave of his hand followed. The billowing from the hall soon showing there was little time to lose. Agappa was first, delicately climbing over the detritus left by the home’s owner. Before Wriggle rolled her eyes and flew over to the Mikari-Baba. Hefting her up and through the window. A dull but harmless thud coming from outside. Wriggle followed a moment later. Then, with a last glance back at him, Cirno flew out the window too.
From where she hovered, watching Agappa rubbing her head and Cirno watching the window, Wriggle felt...weird. She knew she would want to see him come spilling out that window. Hopeless as Oscar was, Cirno was right. He had been a good friend to them in the little time they knew him. But...at the same time…
He wanted to take Cirno from her friends.
The thought had an instinctive revulsion to it. The way a human felt when he saw a cockroach, she supposed. It was disgusting, wrong even. But then...it made sense. Hadn’t Rumia been talking to him before she vanished? Hadn’t he somehow found them after Cirno spent all night crying over him and Rumia? Hadn’t he decided to go alone with her, Cirno, and the creepy friend they HAPPENED to meet on the road together?
Something didn’t smell right…
She could head something in her brain like padded feet through the long grass behind her. The sound was so pronounced she almost failed to hear the soft words of gnats and centipedes. Their words made her smile faintly to herself. Before she peered over the window.
“Osu, you can’t get through, can you?”
The man was already halfway to the door, though her words stopped him. A soft smile crossed Wriggle’s lips as she continued. “I heard from some of the insects here. There’s a hidden tunnel here. The Fortune Teller built it as a way to escape if his home was attacked. You can find it in the cellar. He kept his preserved foods, sake and reagents there.”
Her news done, Wriggle turned to her friend. Half coaxing, half shoving Cirno from the scene. All as Agappa stared after her mutely.
Back inside, Oscar took stock of his situation. The house was inhabited by a monster, one which seemed to want him dead. But it could be fooled, and fairly easily. He just had to evade it, and find his way to the cellar. He was even pretty sure he knew where it was. He just had to get to it before the monster outside did…
The question was, how?
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= If he's scared by ghosts, then we just have to make things extra creepy. All I need is a few of these pieces of rooting meat, some cloth and a bowl...
= Maybe by getting the girls outside to make noise on the other side of the house, it'll distract him long enough for Oscar to get to safety?
= The monster had six eyes, and two of them went out when I fooled him. I wonder if there's some kind of significance to it? If I confront it directly and fool it twice more, maybe it will stop?
= Nah man. Straight up Naruto run your way to the cellar. Dude will have no time to catch you.