The Universe.
The Shinsekai, 2120. The Philippines has been renamed, and the gods are locked away and all but forgotten by most. Three generations have been raised under a colonial regime, and a resistance, small and stubborn, has refused to let the old world die quietly.
“Then they came. With their ships and their machines and their new name for our home. ‘The Shinsekai,’ they called it. As if we were nothing before them.”
Manong Pantas, The Prologue
The Setting
The Shinsekai, 2120.
It has been eighty-two years of Colonist rule. The former Philippine republic and its ancestry is a memory now, kept alive mostly in whispered stories and forbidden songs. Advanced technology and magic coalesce in the Shinsekai but is under heavy persecution and control by the Colonists.
The nation is divided into six corporate-military zones. The impoverished capital of NeoManila. Mindanao, the only region that kept its name; unconquered yet still by the Colonists but out of reach of most. Underground tunnels and forgotten pre-war infrastructure connect what remains, and those routes are our rebel heros lifeline.
The Colonists' technology was never truly theirs to begin with. It is Kapangyarihan, the Realm of Magic, channeled through circuits instead of ritual, and their most dangerous weapons were reverse-engineered from relics they still do not fully understand.
Cosmology
The 10 Realms.
Kusho cosmology describes nine interconnected realms and a hidden tenth, the Kusho World itself, which holds the fabric of the rest of existence together.
Realm 01
Kaluwalhatian
The Heavens
The divine realm of the gods, a place of eternal light and peace. Bathala and other deities reside here, overseeing the balance of the realms.
Realm 02
Katauhan
The Realm of Mankind
The physical world where humans dwell. Shinsekai exists here, constantly influenced by the other realms.
Realm 03
Kagubatan
The Forests
The vast, enchanted forests, teeming with life and magic. Sprite Familiars originate here as protectors of the forest.
Realm 04
Karagatan
The Great Sea
The boundless oceans, mysterious and deep, home to ancient beings. The seas hold secrets and power, influencing weather and marine life.
Realm 05
Kabundukan
The Mountains
Majestic and ancient mountains reaching toward the skies. Duwende Familiars, wise and mischievous earth spirits, originate here.
Realm 06
Katapusan
The End
The realm of endings, where souls find rest or judgment. A place of transition, holding the finality of life.
Realm 07
Kadiliman
The Realm of Darkness
The shadowy realm, filled with fear and malevolence. Sundo Familiars, spirits that guide or misguide souls, originate here.
Realm 08
Kapangyarihan
The Realm of Magic
Where pure magical energy flows, affecting all realms. The source of all magical abilities and the birthplace of powerful relics.
Realm 09
Kadamgo
The Realm of Dreams
The mysterious, untouched realm, the origin of dreams and hidden truths. The mythical Adarna Familiar, with healing powers, comes from here.
Realm 10
Kawalan
The Kusho World / The Void
The previously unknown tenth realm. A realm of nothingness, yet the glue that binds all realms. Whoever controls Kawalan can influence or control all other realms.
The Shadow War
Sitan. The architect.
Sitan is the dark god of Kadiliman, the ancient rival of Bathala, having waited centuries for each opening. The Colonists did not arrive on their own. Sitan forged the Dark Alliance, traded forbidden knowledge from Kapangyarihan for dominion, and tamed Haring Tikbalang to break the islands in weeks.
The Shojin
The people who refused to forget.
The Shojin are not a single organization so much as a generation-wide movement, the rising collective resistance of a people who held on to the old names while the world was being given new ones. Inside that movement, the fated few lead the rest into the fray: Datu, leading with the calm of the water power he wields; Protacio, who writes weapons into existence; Leonor, who heals what the Colonists tried to break; and Mika, a rising heroine, searching for her captured sister and fighting for a freedom she has never known.
The first revolution failed. Betrayal from within and the Midnight Strike crushed what remained. Two years later, the survivors regrouped: smaller, smarter, more disciplined. This is where the story begins.
Famions
Companion spirits from
between the realms.
Every Famion belongs to one of the realms: Sprites from the forests, Duwende from the mountains, Sundo from the darkness, Adarna from the realm of dreams. The ancient Filipinos bonded with them through ritual, and the bond has always been a partnership rather than a domestication.
The Colonists banned that bonding and classified the Famions as anomalous fauna. The Seishi rediscovered the practice through Manong Pantas and the relics he kept hidden through the occupation. Inside the story, the return of the Famions is the first honest sign that the old world is still alive.
BEYOND THE LORE
Lifted from companion creatures in the Kusho World story, the Famions have evolved into a successful spinoff character brand with a beloved fan following and garnering millions of views monthly on socials.