Timeline

*This page or section contains heavy spoilers for* Death Mark'*s plot. Proceed with caution.*
This is the page for the full timeline of events in *Death Mark*.

## Backstory

### Tengyo Period (938-947)

The head of a general who died in battle was put on display in the capital, but one horrible day, the head suddenly came alive and flew east into the Kanto region. It plummeted into the Toshima district of the Musashi province, effectively cursing the heart of modern day Tokyo. But some say the head fell before it reached its final destination. Instead, it landed on the western edge of current Tokyo, in a place called K Village in the Tama district. The village was heavily cursed with a terrible plague, vengeful ghosts, and other disasters. The local Shinto priests successfully suppressed all of it, but the curse strengthened every time a person's heart ran wild until finally, after a hundred years, the dead walked upon the earth on a night of pandemonium (Hyakki Yagyō, the Night Parade of 100 Demons). It spread from K Village to the surrounding areas, threatening the eastern edge of Musashi province.

### Muromachi Period (1336-1573)

This matter weighed heavily on the one controlling the Kanto region, so he mobilized the Shinto priests to suppress the situation. They struggled mightily and fought hard, but in the end, only one option came to light. It was suggested that if the power of Japan's gods could not restrain the curse, then perhaps it could be fought with the power of some other land's gods. Many mediums from foreign countries were gathered, but the situation was still unable to be contained.

In the midst of this chaos, a young girl blessed with divine powers appeared. Her name was never recorded, but it was said she drifted in from the west, her beauty beyond compare, with white hair and blue eyes. The shogunate and priests spoke with the gathered mediums and it was decided that their best course of action would be to sacrifice this girl. The sacrifice ritual was a success, and nearly all of the supernatural events afflicting the Musashi province ceased.

### 50 years later

A strange paranormal occurrence began happening in K Village, with people gaining an odd scar on their bodies only to suddenly die for inexplicable reasons. Those who feared that this could be the revival of the age-old curse abducted people gifted with spiritual powers from all over and managed to stop it again with a human sacrifice.

After that, the ritual was performed every 50 years. People with high spiritual power were gathered in K Village and made to live there, always under threat of being the next potential human sacrifice.

### Taisho Period (1912-1926)

As time passed and the modern age approached, the sacrifice ritual was altered. Now, an elaborate, living doll was created for the sacrifice and infused with spiritual power. One of the dolls created was one made in a western workshop and modeled after the original sacrificial victim. It was highly prized, as it contained enough power to seal the curse within itself, something none of the other dolls could do.

The families that performed the rituals were the ones who controlled the dolls, and the practice was passed down to the next head of the household. A lovingly crafted ball-jointed doll was obtained by the Kujou family during this time, and a nenjibutsu was encased in her body in order to suppress her powers.

### Showa Period (1926-1989)

Those who had knowledge of the dolls, the sacrifice ritual, and their importance died in the recent world wars, with the notes detailing the legend destroyed in a fire. The history of the dolls and the customs surrounding them were all lost, leaving only the dolls themselves.

### 50 Years Before 199X

The Japanese army, on the brink of losing World War II, began the Heavenly Buddha Project in a last ditch effort to curb the war in their favor by producing a biological weapon viable for war. The project was lead by a fanatical general in the Underground Shelter and involved grotesque human experiments in an attempt to produce a half-living half-spiritual being known as the Kannon Soldier. The Kujou family loaned the army several relics from their collection of spiritual artifacts until a tragedy occurred in the facility, forcing the project to come to a halt.

### Present day (199X)

The ancient village of K City is now known as H City, and a well-known family resides there in a mansion. It is there that a doll in the shape of a beautiful young lady awakens along with an ancient curse and the sinister grudges of untold sacrificial victims. Shortly thereafter, rumors pop up all over the city about a Mark of death.

* Voice Drama (Saya's Story)