The Legends

Legend has it that every millenium, in return for the aid and kindness to humankind, an Imugi would be bestowed a Yeouiju, a source of untold celestial power that would transform an Imugi into a Celestial Dragon. According to legend all Dragons are originally Imugis, or lesser dragons, who resembled gigantic serpents. But Celestial Dragons are special because they are Imugis that have been waiting for 1000 years. Also Celestial Dragons were one of the few beings that could freely move between Earth and the Heaven’s.

Imugis are usually benevolent beings related to water and agriculture, they are bringers of rain and wind. Hence, many Imugis can be found in waterfalls, rivers, lakes, oceans, or even deep mountain ponds. People would build their villages close to these water sources with special pagodas erected nearby, hoping to entice a Imugi to take residence. The Imugi were then worshiped through prayers and animal sacrifices.

For millennials Imugis have become dragons, while their followers, the villagers or townspeople receive special blessings but all changed a millennium ago: Bangyan, a Imugi filled with hate and destruction, had the sinister intentions where it and its followers sought to steal a Yeouiju so once he ascended into a Celestial Dragon, he would destroy both Heaven and Earth before rebuilding them to its twisted conceptions.

Bangyan was filled with evil notions but it was too proud to fight for a pond or river. It believed that the other Imugi should give their ‘homes’ up. When that failed it blamed the other Imugis. His hate for his own kind and humankind became greater. With no water source for it to live in. Bangyan moved to the mountains and found a cave with stalactites and a very small pond. Bangyan's evil aura made the area barren. When ghouls, sorcerers and corrupt shamans noticed the evil aura surrounding the cave, they established a cult and worshipped Bangyan as if it was a real God. These prayers and sacrifices resulted in it turning into Dark Imugi. Due to its transformation Bangyan had lost all its colors, it was now a gray, sickly looking Imugi but he was more powerful than any other Imugi.

Fearing that Bangyan might succeed, the celestial beings sealed the Yeouiju within the body of a 16 year old girl, Areum. But the Banggyan’s followers discovered where to find the girl. Upon her twentieth birthday, Bangyab orders its army, the Dybbuk, to capture the girl. The Dybbuk destroy her village and kill all the villagers. But what they didn’t know is that days before Aruem was taken away by the Guardians of the Yeouiju.

The Guardians of the Yeouiju were nine individuals, who were all the third child of a concubine or second wife. The guardians were created when the Heaven’s made the first human. This was the first time in history that the Guardians were called to arms. When Bangyan’s army fails to capture Areum, Bangyan becomes enraged and decides to go after Aruem itself. The Guardians fight it resulting in Bangyan also failing to capture her.

Areum and the Guardians decide to try and reach Jade Mountain but she is captured by one of Bangyan’s followers. While being held captive, Bangyan uses the followers body to talk to Areum. He tells her that she should give up on running because it would find her wherever she goes. Areum tells Bangyan that he can never have the Yeouiju. Bangyan laughed and told her to wait for him. Luckily she is rescued by the Guardians before Bangyan reaches her.

During their run, Areum and one of the Guardians, Tae Yong, fall in love. They promise each other that when all is over they will find a place to leave and be happy. She then discovers that she has to sacrifice herself in order for the Imugi to become reborn. Areum, saddened by the thought of leaving Tae Yong behind, runs away from the Guardians.

Bangyan and its followers managed to locate Areum. They corner her on top of a cliff. The Guardians also find her and try to protect her. Desperate to be free from what she sees as a cursed fate. She decides not to give the Yeouiju to Bangyan or the destined Imugi. She and Tae Yong take their lives by jumping from a cliff into the ocean. The loss of the Yeouiju resulted in no Imugi being reborn into a dragon.

The Heaven’s saddened by Areum and Tae Yong’s rash action promise that they can escape going to hell again. But the Gods warn them that they first have redeemed themselves for not listening to Heaven's words. They were forced to be reborn 250 times before they could have salvation.

Bangyan, also angry by Aruem's actions, swears to return to fulfill his goals.

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In the beginning of time there was a heavenly fortress, Magosung, that housed the first Goddess. There were four Heavenly Men guarding each cardinal direction of the fortress. They were named Cheong Gun, Hwang Gung, Hukso and Baekso. They in turn married the four Heavenly Women, and gave birth to twelve children each. These children would become the ancestors of all humans. The ancestors were pure and were said to drink from Earth's Milk, which came from a spring inside the heavenly fortress. They could speak to each other without making sounds, and move around without seeing and they didn’t die of old age. Thus they lived for ten thousand years undisturbed.

Over time their numbers grew and the number of people became too large. There was not enough of Earth's Milk to feed all. Because of this, a man standing in line by the name of Jiso decided to give up on ever receiving his meal of Earth's Milk. Eventually his hunger grew too intolerable, and he decided to kill himself by jumping off a clif. But when he arrived at the cliff he saw a grape vine growing in the edges. Unable to suppress his hunger, he ate the grapes and immediately acquired the five tastes of sourness, bitterness, spiciness, sweetness, and saltiness.

Jiso returned to his people and told them of his discovery. Soon however, those who ate from these grapes began to grow teeth. From the teeth spewed a saliva that turned into venom. This was because they had eaten another living thing in order to stay alive. Soon they were able to see, but were no longer able to hear the heavens. Their skin became coarse, their feet heavy, and they were no longer pure. They gave birth to many animal-resembling children and their lifespans began to shrink.

There eventually came a point when the people of Magosung began blaming Jiso for their transformation, and he along with his family and all those who had eaten the grapes were forced to leave Magosung.

As the line of Jiso was leaving, however, Hwang-gung tried to encourage them by saying that if they could recover their pure nature, they would be free of their misery. Upon hearing this, the people became convinced that the only way to become pure once more was to drink from Earth's Milk again. They then stormed the castle and overwhelmed it, razing the fortress to its foundations in order to reveal the source of the spring that had given them Earth's Milk. The spring, however, began to flow in all directions and thereafter the milk turned into inedible earth, leaving not only the original perpetrators but all the former inhabitants of the now destroyed castle to starve.

Soon thereafter there ensued a massive famine, and everyone was reduced to devouring not only grapes, but all sorts of plants and even animals in an attempt to satiate their hunger. Of them only Hwang-gung went to the Goddess Mago and begged her for forgiveness. He swore he would not rest until mankind could recover its pure nature. From her he obtained the Three Heavenly Heirlooms, and great knowledge. He then called together all the people of the earth, taught them agriculture, and gave each clan leader a Heavenly Heirloom and then sent them off in different directions to become people of the earth.