The Ryu'ain

This closed species and group are the sole creative property of Voidsquid. This however does not mean that any claim over Japanese culture, beliefs, aesthetic, or dragon folklore is being made. There is much homage to it to be made but this endeavor is entirely a work of creative love and fiction and not intended to be appropriation or gatekeeping in any fashion. Please do not treat it like it is and enjoy the read.


The Ryu'ain are much like other dragonkin of the eastern lands, but are distinguished primarily by their point of origin; their deity and creation spirit Sen (Sun) and its female counterpart Tsuki (Moon). All ryu'ain are the direct creations of this divine unity, represented both symbolically and religiously by a simple full circle. Sen and Tsuki are believed to be one and the same entity but with two distinct halves and conjoined faces. Day and night, black and white, good and evil, beginnings and ends. The duality of their creator means their beliefs are both distinct but non-binary, creation and destruction are balancing acts and all aspects of the worlds exist in the varying shades of gray.



The Ryu'ain faith takes much from the teachings of Shinto. Like Shinto belief, everything to them possesses a spiritual essence or energy called “Kami”. Places, animals, and people all have this energy. People share many things and in many ways with the kami around them. Shinto believes that certain objects or places have greater amounts of kami than others and these places or objects make it easier for people to connect with kami at these locations. Natural locales, like mountains and waterfalls, or man-made shrines are places where powerful kami like to dwell. Above all else, the ryu'ain strive for balance between, within, and around themselves; whether in strife or peace, action or inaction.



The Ryu'ain come from a separate world called “The Divine Coil”, a picturesque world that vastly reflects our own but idealized to portray a sprawling and natural beauty untouched by industrialization. Here, their god is at their strongest, here is where the first of their kind were born, and it is here above all other places that they protect and thrive within. Most of their kind live here in perpetuity; separate from time, but others travel between worlds, whether called to duty or summoned by times of imbalance. Only ryu'ain may travel to The Divine Coil and bringing anything from that realm to another without permission is considered a major offense.