[OOC] The Immortal Honor: Ghost Serpents of Onan (Fantasy Kung-Fu Epic)

[Algorhythm]

The village of shrines is like an aged paper lantern, slowly wilting into the earth, smearing away old history along with it. It was built during the Xan Dynasty in honor of the Mud Orphan, Onan. Once viewed by onlookers with awe, many of which traveled from across the realm to pay their respects to the venerable legend. Now, it sits empty and neglected, surrounded by a forest of thieves and bandits that have pillaged its antiquities dry. Through its cobblestone steps and wild overgrowth, a candle is lit. The wax coating is a peculiar red, and even more peculiar is the green flame silently dancing above it. This candle sits on top of a wide marble table, which unlike the decaying furnishings surrounding it, is polished clean. As if from thin air, a pale-faced man appears before the table and sets a ruffled bag on its center. The dark fluid seeping from its bottom makes an unpleasant sound as it touches the table surface. The man utters an incantation, then abruptly unties the bag to reveal a decapitated head. A dim light can be seen in those dead eyes, as if the soul was trying to cling onto its last bits of mortal flesh. The green flame dances lively at the sight.

"So long as your name echoes across the grand halls of eternity, I will walk down the devil's path until all heads bow before you." The man turns away from the altar and disappears into the forest. He does not watch the green flame ignite into the misty silhouette of a demon. He does not watch it peel flesh and life force until a skull is laid bare. His sights are only set on the next offering, and he will keep doing so until the debt is paid...

---

World Info

The land of Daokai is currently under the reign of Emperor Jien Wenzong, the 2nd ruler of the Sky Dynasty. He resides within the City of Virtue in the north, surrounded by The Five Fortresses. These fortresses are owned by the most prestigious Imperial families and act as the City of Virtue's security border. Traveling south will take you to the bustling mainland City of Udai, whose borders stretch onto the eastern and southern coastlines. The far western peninsula is the least populated area that is mostly dense with mountainous terrain, known for their Grand Temples of Unoshin. Across the land to the east is the Lotus Peninsula, where the Iron Schools train the army's finest warriors.

History:

100-148: The Xan Dynasty rules all of Daokai for nearly 50 years. They've had two emperors under the Shao name. The last emperor, Li Shao, took thirty years of prosperity and dragged it through the mud with heavy taxation, fierce punishment for disobedience, and blatant government corruption. The Sky Rebellion was lead by former Xan General Fong Wenzong, who rallied the people under his banner to overthrow the government in a campaign that lasted six years before Li Shao was forcibly removed from the throne in the summer of 148.
149-151 - Emperor Fong Wenzong establishes the Sky Dynasty as the new era to supersede the Xan era. In the autumn of 151, he passed away due to a grave illness.
151 AF (After Emperor Fong Wenzong's rule) - Emperor Jien Wenzong ushers in the Sky Dynasty's 2nd ruler over Daokai.
152 AF - Residual Xan enthusiasts begin their rebellion against the new Empire under the Dragon Fang Liberation Army banner.
155 AF - Plague spreads the eastern coastline. DFLA leader Shun Yun leads his army from the west to disrupt Imperial stockades, effectively choking supply lines leading into three of the Five Fortresses.
156 AF - Emperor Fong Wenzong announces his plea for the DFLA to seize their attacks as the conditions of the plague continues to worsen. Shun Yun responds by laying siege against the Five Fortresses.
157-158 AF - The Sky Dynasty is engaged in a war against the Dragon Fang Liberation Army. The people, who were once mixed in their support between the two warring factions, have been causing an uproar of their own in response to the plague now spreading through most of the southern lands of Udai.
159 AF - Known as many things, but officially termed: The Phoenix Blessing. In a dramatic turn of events, the Sky Dynasty swiftly defeats the DFLA, simultaneously beginning a nationwide purge of the plague.
162 APB (After the Phoenix Blessing) - Consensus reports estimate over 700,000 people are exterminated. The plague has been neutralized in the mainlands, with only small reports of infection in the western peninsula.
165 APB - The Pale Hunter begins his murdering spree, the same year Emperor Jien Wenzong announces the birth of his son.
166 APB (Spring) - The Pale Hunter's death toll rises to 60 known victims.
166 APB (Autumn) - Our story begins...

---

Hello! I'm looking to get back into the rping scene again and hope to get people interested in this fantasy-based Ancient Asia theme I've been meaning to run with for some time. Magic, Sword fighting, martial arts, etc.

The basic plot is that a not so friendly individual is going around murdering people. The Prime Minister of the land is appointed by the Emperor to form a group of martial artists (that would be us) to capture and/or kill the suspect. You can either be a volunteer, or be forced to join for whatever reason.

The current Emperor in power is not a kind ruler, and his dynasty's reign has seen its fair share of rebellions and corruption. With a serial killer on the loose, tension between the people and government is at an all time high, and the Emperor sees this as an opportunity to regain trust by enlisting popular heroes to fight under his name.

Looking for a small group (3-4) of people looking to have some magical kung fu fun without being mean to each other in OOC :)

[Algorhythm]

bump

[Algorhythm]

bump

[Zero Hex]

Yes hello, I take forever to make characters but I'm definitely interested.

[Algorhythm]

Sweet! @Zero Hex and np on the sheet. Just glad I got someone interested. I should have my own up pretty soon.

[Therealslayer]

Definately interested!

[manapool1]

Here we go!

[Algorhythm]

Finally got my character up. Added two more parts to the sheet: Theme Music & Political Affiliation.

[manapool1]

((Going to edit later. I can tell sleep and autocorrect messed him up))

Theme Song:
[youtube]google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&u.. (second wind theme)
[youtube]google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&u.. (normal theme)

Name/Nickname: Faungatua Iverum (commonly mistaken for 'Fuana' do to her appearance send hard to pronounce name. She does not correct them)
Age: 22
Gender: Female

Political Affiliation: Being a stranger to the lands, for the most part, she has no bias as of yet.

Fighting Style: Fauna's style with her weapon is very basic. It focuses on overwhelming the enemy with powerful and quick attacks to close distance to grab, disarm, kick or claw at the enemy before her. Her style takes principles of HEMA in terms of preparing attacks to turn each attack into a block wheN needed, and requires each block to be used to put the enemy off balance and open. Her style is grounded, power based and requires a lot of endurance.

When not using her weapons, she uses a strange mixture of folk wrestling and boxing that has been influenced by other wrestling styles and ancient boxing styles to create a heavily power based style. Her style is based on muscle memory and digging into the enemy's guard with a dart and dash to either grapple the enemy or to attack their ribs and kidney woth extremely powerful strikes. The style requires you to allow yourself to be hit in order to tank through it or coumter.

Personality: Fuana is a very stand-offish person who is slow to accept or trust people, but quickly to dislike them, and even quicker to anger. She is a stubborn person, both in fights and things involving pain where she will stand until every bone in her body is broken, and in other aspects where they choose a decision and stay to it and aread hard to convince or change her mind. That being said she is slow in decision making and tends to think hard on each big decision. Outwardly she seems savage to most: seeing battle as the best way to settle arguements, gruff and rude, and comes off as foolish, but what she lacks in boom smarts and street smarts she makes up for in survival skills and her ability with animals and warrior/nature based training. She has a necklace of bones.

History: Fuana was born in the island city states, Tathili, unaligned and just off of the Daokai. She, like so many of them, hado a small community of farmers, spice merchants and other exotic and simple crafts. When the people gathered for a festival she proved herself as the strongest in her village when she one the wrestling tournament, and later that year, she managed to defeat (in unarmed combat) a fully grown, notorious monster boar that had been destroying crop for years. From there, she was allowed to participate in battles between other islands, and once again proved herself as one of the best, defeating many of the best warriors of other islands, only to be defeated by a man who took pity on her and spared her under the condition she became his student. Under his training, he worked hard on perfecting her extremely unrefined technique, as up until then she was able to win almost sheerly out of intensity and physical power. They trained hard and his training was brutal, but when she was done, she took a new interest in technique and method to her fighting. She continued to prove herself and claiming many new things to study and hone her skills whenever she could. Eventually, she learned of what was taught in other parts of the world and eagerly she set off into the mainland. She traveled all across the globe, learning all skills and adding fighting technique to her ever growing strength. After a long time of travel, she moved into the daokai lands. Almost immediately she learned of a request for powerful warriors. She offered herself, showing and explaining her technique. Begrudgingly they allowed her to accompany them. She would be allowed to see the way people here fight, and they would get help.

Inventory: Fauna wears very strange clothing, as she comes from a very strange place. Her shirt is made of Llama wool and has been extremely cleaned but dyied and woven tightly and perfectly to make it a very good shirt and thick, as it is made to pad her slightly in case caught off gaurd in an ambush. The shirt splits at her sides to expose a small bit of her skin, her pants a black and baggy, made of imported silk textiles that slowly made their way into trade with her islands. They tighten around her ankles. Her feet are covered in leather moccasins.

Over her head she wears a strange mask, meant to be the mask of a spirit of battle, it is colored red and orange, two huge eye holes, and one mouth. It is attached to a long albino wolf pelt.

Besides that, she carried a 3 foot short sword that is completely straight, single sided with the top being an edge like a box cutter. The gaurd is a square, short gaurd and the shaft is wooden. Besides that she has a dagger made from the bone of the large boar she killed, and a boomerang.

For non-combat items she carried a bag of stones with ruins on them, a waterskin, flint and steel, a flask of oil. A mirror, a map of daokai, a stone bowl and Grinder to work a salve, and a pack of dried meat.

Other: she practices an animistic religion.

[Algorhythm]

@manapool1 I like the Ashita no Joe theme songs! They go really well with the RP. Gives off that old school Kung Fu flick vibe. Since you said you'll be editing it, I just glanced over your sheet but like what I've seen. Just let me know when you're done with the edits so I can look it over more thoroughly.

[Therealslayer]

Samantha Oshiro

Theme song: Klrx & Kaj - Empathy

Age: 33
Political Standings: Despises the Emperor's ways. Samantha believes a noble government should be democratic, host fair trials to those found guilty of offences and also give back to his people.

Weapons: A pair of worn down Sais and a beautiful hand forged Katana (silver tsuba and pommel, soft blue Tsuka).

Fighting Style: Samantha is highly skilled with her sais and has adopted a mix of jujitsu muay-thai style during close quarter combat with them. She is also proficient in silently dispatching enemies with her katana, but often chooses not to kill unless it is absolutely necessary and will often use it for defence against a powerful foe.

Personality: Samantha cares a great deal for other's lives and finds much value in humility. Though she is wise, she can sometimes be naive and is quick to believe people's good intentions.

History: Samantha was orphaned at a very young age and hardly remembers anything about her biological parents. The orphanage in the city of Udai was small, mostly run by the local unemployed women. Samantha wasn't particularly social and was often pegged as shy and introverted. She would get angry but never showed it, having no outlet for it she decided it was easier to stay away from people instead of using them as punching bags, literally.

She rarely joined the other orphans for any activity or gatherings and instead chose to spend most of her time at the neighbouring dojo. She expressed a particular interest in martial arts and fighting. Masimoto, her sensei, sensed a great power within the shy young girl but saw how her anger set her back. Before even showing her anything, they practiced meditation until she had full control of her emotions. Masimoto trained her for years to come and as he had not married, or had any children, her took on a paternal role with Samantha early on.

When Masimoto passed away, she left the village and travelled around the continent, finding great peace in helping others. Samantha did everything from bringing thieves to justice to smaller tasks like finding lost horses and bringing them back to their owners.

[manapool1]

@Algorhythm
I finished with my edits.

[Jerkchicken]

Interested in joining

[Algorhythm]

Nice job on the sheets! I just have some stuff for you both to add (for future reference) when you put them in the character tab:

@manapool1 Can you add the name of the city state island Fuana comes from?

@Therealslayer Can you add where the orphanage was located in Daokai? You can use the landmarks I gave in world info to pick a spot.

I realize I didn't add where Yuo was born/located as well and I'll update that shortly.

@JerkchickenGreat, thanks for showing interest. Feel free to toss in a sheet!

Looks like we'll have enough players for me to get an intro post going by Friday, if not sooner.

[manapool1]

@Algorhythm it's called Tathili, I'll add it in.

[Algorhythm]

Thanks @manapool1. Go ahead and put Fuana in the character tab when you can.

I added some more info on the timeline in the world info tab.

Here's the gist of Daokai's modern history:

The Xan dynasty rules Daokai for 50 years. The first Emperor, Fung Shao, is pretty cool and hits it off with the people. Peace and prosperity and all that. Emperor Li Shao comes along and basically takes a dump on all the progress the previous Emperor made, to the point where a rebellion kicks off. That rebellion is lead by Fong Wenzong, who would eventually overthrow Li Shao and become the new Emperor of Daokai under the Sky Dynasty. He rules for two years then dies, handing over to his son (Jien Wenzong - the current Emperor) what would be a 15 year reign full of insurrection and plague.

Random Daokai notes to add:

I'd say that the overall public opinion of current Emperor Jien Wenzong is mixed, to low approval. He's in the shadow of his father's glory for leading the Sky rebellion and overthrowing the Xan Dynasty (tough act to follow). Yeah, under his reign, the Dragon Fang Liberation Army rebels who were terrorizing the lands eventually met their end, and the whole plague situation was thwarted (even though 700,000 people were killed in the process), but all of that was handled by Prime Minister Guan Zen, a person that is generally more well-liked than the Emperor. In fact, Guan Zen is the one who mandated that an Imperial Court be established, shifting a lot of power away from Jien Wenzong, who was more than happy to have less stuff to oversee.

Sorry... just blabbering on here lol. Don't worry. There won't be a lot of political stuff in this RP. We're here to kick ass after all and lord knows we get our fair share of politics OOC as is. I just get carried away when trying to world build.

[manapool1]

@Algorhythm I really like the political aspect and enjoy all of this stuff your putting into the history.

[Algorhythm]

@manapool1 Thanks! I'm sure there will be plenty more to add. Feel free to also contribute any info like about Tathili/anything else and I can update it in the OP. That goes for everyone else in the group. It's why I made the map info kinda vague so people could fill in the gaps with their own lore.

[Zero Hex]

Kinda funny how a game clearly labeled a kung fu fantasy with a clear chinese style has two very obviously not chinese PCs. But yeah, lets add another chinaman to the party.

Appearance

Theme Song:
IDK, will update should I find something appropriate

Name/Nickname: Gao Meng
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Political Affiliation: Neutral

Fighting Style: Informally referred to as the Gate-Breaking Fist, primarily by its user, Gao Meng’s style is the product of small village schools from the Nine Peaks Valley in the far western peninsula, unaffiliated to major organizations such as the Grand Temples and taught only within that territory. Though by no means well known, its down to earth origins as a means of protecting the land and its people from rebellions, large bandit groups and even potential invasions make it a very practical and effective martial art, particularly when refined through a competitive atmosphere between schools.

Efficiency, economy of movement, proper positioning and generating explosive bursts of power to strike the opponent down swiftly are the core tenets of the style. It relies on simple straightforward techniques, always keeping defense in mind, and practitioners are taught how to fight effectively at all distances and how to target the opponent’s body at high, medium and low levels. Though it has a solid grappling element as any complete school worth studying, it is primarily focused on countering grappling-heavy opponents and quick sweeps and unbalancing techniques to complement its focus in delivering crushing blows.

It has earned its name for both its aspect of "opening" an opponent’s guard, typically forcibly as though crashing through a gate, rather than taking no action if one finds no way around it, and because of Gao’s predilection for using its powerful short range techniques such as shoulder strikes to blast down doors as a way of making a dramatic entry when challenging schools. Weapon-wise it has a strong lineage of staff and spear practices, arms commonly handled by peasants, but Gao’s skills in these areas are merely adequate and pale in comparison to his dedication to body strengthening and applications of unarmed combat.

Personality: Loud, adventurous, fearless, full of energy and straightforward to the point of rudeness, it is all but impossible to mistake Gao Meng for an ascetic or an introspective martial master, let alone someone involved in court intrigues. An errant young man who craves excitement and to see the world beyond the reaches of his native village, he is supremely confident in his fighting skills and sets out to prove to everyone who’ll listen that the martial arts of Nine Peaks Valley are the greatest. And well, if they become known as the Gate-Breaking Fist because of his exploits, that’s just peachy in his book.

History: The son of a regular farming family in the relatively ample valley of Nine Peaks in the western peninsula, Gao Meng was brought up in a fairly no-nonsense environment and the village’s martial arts school was his main reprieve from what even as a child he saw as a dull life. The other were the infrequent trade caravans from outside the area, which brought stories of the outside world. Tales of military and martial exploits, many of them wholly fictitious or wildly exaggerated, were passed down to the delight of the area's youth, but for Gao they were more than simple entertainment. They became an obsession.

Dreams of glory drove him to train ever harder, and his constant progress fueled his dreams of glory in turn. He had seen the effectiveness of the valley's martial arts first hand, against both so-called experts that often arrived in the caravans and the Grand Temples' disciples when they were sent out to hopeless challenges as a way to break down their ego. He simply could not understand how so many men in so many villages would not seek out fame and fortune in a wider world. So many famous names and legendary schools, and he knew he had the tools to forge just as impressive a legend as any other. He just had to go out and do it.

It took him eight years after coming of age to feel truly ready to do so. He would not set out until he knew without a shadow of a doubt he was the best fighter in the Valley, he could not risk embarrassing his homeland's arts. It took him many challenges to many schools, many fights that at first threatened to sour relationships between the villages and which eventually made him something of an outcast, but he did it. There were eventually no challenges left in his homeland. Many didn't understand his obsession, a few still harbored some resentment over his actions, but the entire martial arts community of the area gathered to say their goodbyes.

Gao Meng, the menace of the Nine Peaks Valley, set out in the back of a random caravan with an unknown course towards the central areas of Daokai at age 26. He would bring glory and fame to his homeland and its martial arts or die trying.

Inventory: Nothing in particular.
Other: In case it wasn’t obvious the fighting style is heavily based on Bajiquan, depicted in a really cool scene here, though it also has influences and concepts from other schools of Chinese martial arts.

[Algorhythm]

Thank you @Zero Hex for applying! I think Meng the Menace will compliment the group quite nicely. Go ahead and post him in the characters tab when you can.

Awesome clip btw. I really need to watch The Grandmasters.

You inspired me to look for clips of Yuo's fighting style:

this


+



+ Obligatory Jackie Chan Drunken Master fight scenes.