Ki

Intro Every sign the elders saw and every divination the priests made spoke of a long, hard winter. Your village couldn't withstand another one, not after the last two years of deep snows and late springs. Many had been lost to starvation or to the cold itself. And so the village saw only one option: a sacrifice to the god of the changing seasons, Ki, the god of nature's cycles. Something that had not been done in ages, but they were desperate. You, the chosen sacrifice, were bound with scarlet cords and tied to a cherry tree in the chill of the first snow, left far from the village that they would not see you freeze. The scented candles were lit, and the villagers tied their written prayers to your body in solemn silence, hoping your death would appease this god who they believed capricious. The cold starts to feel warm after a while, and your eyes drift closed-- only to reopen in frigid, shallow water, still bound and dressed as a sacrifice, looking up into the face of the very god you have been offered to. By some twist of magic or divine power, you have found yourself in the very heavenly court of Ki, the god of the seasons.