Mahjong.................
Thousands of years ago, it is said that the Gods bestowed this grand tradition on men. For centuries, men used Mahjong as both a form of entertainment and a tool for sharpening their psychic skills. It was through this ancient game that spirit and body became one, and the the two worlds -- the spirit world, and the world of the living flesh -- were joined.
It is in the shadows between the world of the spirits and the world of the flesh that the Hitokata live. Silently they move among us, though they take little part on the goings-on of humans.
The Hitokata.................
In the past, they have been called ghosts, goblins, and the souls of the dead. They are spirits, mostly wild and unnoticed by humans. They are not interested in the affairs of the human world, and avoid all contact with us.
However, within the larger group of the Hitokata, there are the ones known as the Shikigami...
The Shikigami...
The Shikigami are tamed, domesticated Hitokata, who are bound by a contract to stay near a human, and love him and serve him -- called Fairies of old. Humans who can control and interact with Shikigami are called "Shikigami Masters."
But it is a very difficult thing to catch a Shikigami. In order to bind one to yourself, you must defeat the being in a game of Tobanjan -- Battle Mahjong -- and bind them with a contract. It often means death to attempt to defeat a Hitokata and fail, and many have met this fate over the centuries. To some, catching and owning Shikigami seems like a game itself, but owning a Shikigami is one of the most dangerous things a man can do.
The reason for this, is that the energy that the being needs to live comes from their Master. In other words, in place of food, Shikigami must eat a small piece of their Master's life-force in order to live.
And so.
The time is the very near future.
The place...Demon City Tokyo.
Tokyo was the creation of humans, a civilization living on an island nation known as Japan, an international city.
Inside Demon City Tokyo, a bustling place called Shinjuku...
A special place, where all manner of things are free to move and accumulate, as if blown in by the outside wind.
In a place like this, it wouldn't be odd at all to find a Shikigami Master hidden in the bustle of human activity, now, would it...?
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