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¶ Celestial Realms
The realm of Rokugan is vast, stretching from the tainted Shadowlands in the south to the towering northern mountains—yet all of Rokugan is only a small part of Ningen-dō, the Realm of Mortals. And Ningen-dō lies between the Spirit Realms, below the Celestial Court of Tengoku, beside the enchanted land of Senkyō, and above the torturous realms of the dead. In most circumstances, mortal samurai stay in Ningen-dō, but the influence of these other realms cannot be underestimated. [1]
¶ Diagram
¶ Above: The Celestial Heavens
¶ The Celestial Court (Tengoku)
The Celestial Court, where Lady Sun and Lord Moon, most of the Fortunes, some of the Elemental Dragons, and others are thought to command the order of the universe. [1:1]
¶ The Realm of Blessed Ancestors (Yomi)
The Realm of Blessed Ancestors, for noble souls who have achieved their destiny. Set just below Tengoku, but still within its bounds, is Yomi, the Realm of Blessed Ancestors. Yomi moved above the Mortal Realm along with Tengoku after the Day of Thunder. Human souls who have achieved their destinies go to Yomi, from which they can watch over their descendants in Ningen-dō and guide the mortals who dwell there. Rokugani scripture holds that only the souls of samurai can enter Yomi, at least without considerable exception. The blessed ancestor spirits of Yomi help Tengoku by guiding the progress of mortals. It is a paradise realm for those who have reincarnated countless times. [1:2]
¶ The Mortal Realm (Ningen-Dō)
The Mortal Realm, home to humanity and elemental kami. [1:3]
¶ Beside: Senkyō
The Rokugani term for "enchanted country" or "immortal country". It contains sentient animals and shapeshifting tricksters, and can bleed into Ningen-Do through the untouched nature of some forests, such as Isawa Mori and Shinomen Forest. Divided into Chikushō-dō (the Animals’ Path), Sakkaku (the Path of Mischief or Illusion), and Yume-dō (the Realm of Dreams). [1:4]
¶ The Realm of Animals (Chikushō-dō)
Chikushō-dō, the Animals’ Path, is one of two courts of Senkyō and it's members guide animals to a better reincarnation. [1:5]
¶ Realm of Illusion (Sakkaku)
Sakkaku, the Path of Mischief (or Illusion), is one of two courts of Senkyō. It's members embrace the form of animals and play jokes and tricks on other mortals while seeking the power to break the cycle of rebirth, so that they may remain as animals forever. [1:6]
¶ Realm of Dreams (Yume-dō)
Yume-dō is the Realm of Dreams, a place of fantasy and hidden truth, of what was and what may yet be. Its connection to the Mortal Realm is poorly understood, but one cannot exist without the other. Mortals visit Yume-dō in their sleep, and some can travel there with talent or training. The denizens of Yume-dō are the least understood, for it is not known if they are real or only exist as creations of the slumbering mind. [1:7]
¶ Below: Meido and the Realms of Punishment
¶ Meido: The Realm of Waiting
Beneath Ningen-dō is Meido, The Realm of Waiting, where all beings go when they die. Souls are judged by Emma-Ō, the Fortune of Death, in Meido and then reincarnate or are sent to another realm. Never intended as a permanent residence for souls, Meido now struggles to keep up with the constant stream of dead resulting from disasters in Ningen-dō and undermining by Jigoku, which seeks to influence the realm. [1:8]
¶ Gaki-dō: The Realm of the Hungry Dead
The Realm of the Hungry Dead is a realm of punishment for souls who could not be satisfied in life: the greedy, the lustful, the gluttonous, and the power hungry. Their fixation on physical pleasures caused them to neglect their dharma, their desires growing until they could not be sated, and so they have been relegated to this realm where nothing satisfies. [1:9]
Gaki, the most abundant souls of Gaki-dō, are ghosts who know only hunger, in every sense of the word. Ironically, Gaki-dō is an easy place to escape, but most souls there are simply too hungry to think of leaving. [1:10]
¶ Tōshigoku: The Realm of Slaughter
The Realm of Slaughter is another realm of punishment, but unlike Gaki-dō, Tōshigoku is for the violent and the cruel. This realm is thought to have been created by the Fortune of Death, Emma-Ō. Originally conceived as a place of rehabilitation where such souls could work out their anger, Tōshigoku is a never-ending battlefield where punished souls fight in unending wars, dying and rising again and again. It is filled with the souls of those who died pointless deaths, those who killed recklessly and reveled in slaying, and those who succumbed to their rage and hate and therefore did not tend to their dharma. [1:11]
¶ Jigoku, the Realm of Evil
The Realm of Evil, the home of oni, demons, and other untold horrors. Jigoku is a wellspring of evil in the Spirit Realms. Comprising torturous strata of unending terrors, it is the domain of the Ninth Kami, Fu Leng, and his hordes of demonic minions. It is the source of the Shadowlands Taint, a spiritual stain that twists the victim to Jigoku’s embrace and strips them of autonomy. [1:12]
Most oni, the native spirits of Jigoku, are demons who serve Fu Leng and have become twisted abominations. Many beings believe that even though the Ninth Kami is locked away, his influence still guides his oni minions, and the hordes of Jigoku still plot to overtake the other realms and pull everything down into chaos. [1:13]
Jigoku was not always a Realm of Evil, however. It once served as a prison and place for wicked beings to suffer for their crimes and, eventually, be rehabilitated, but this was before Fu Leng made Jigoku his domain. Those with true wickedness in their hearts and whose deeds are undeniably vile are still thrown into Jigoku as oni after being judged by Emma-Ō, even now. However, with each new reincarnated oni, Fu Leng has one more member to add to his army, a fact the Fortune of Death is all too aware of. [1:14]