A.S.o.t.N. v.2
Jun 2, 2012 21:40:00 GMT -8
Post by ¤ SFS ¤ on Jun 2, 2012 21:40:00 GMT -8
[/i][/b][/size][/right]Pictured above: The Newt Sage, Katsushio. (lit: "Riptide" | 裂潮)●||The Abysmal Sect of the Newt
深淵派の井守
Once in the past, generations upon generations before the oldest and wisest of today's Monks, Kage and Daimyo were born, the Order of the Salamander was widely known and respected throughout the Village Hidden in the Rain. At that time, a young and all-powerful Shinobi became their prime contractor. Although he was not the first to call upon their power, he was the first to give himself fully to their ways. He lived his life by their philosophies of survival and added their name to his name effectively spreading their notoriety and renown as he spread his own. His battles were their battles, his victories were their victories, his legend was their legend and in time his end would become their end. He ruled Amegakure no Sato with an open hand instead of a closed fist but his power was respected enough to keep citizens in line and quell any problems that arose. But all men lived short lives and even the mightiest of rulers would have to pass the torch to the next generation or they would risk bringing darkness onto their people as their dying flame was finally snuffed out completely.[/size][/spoiler]
After the death of the Shinobi who embraced the Order of the Salamander the family withdrew from their heavy association with the land but remained close by, waiting for their return to prominence. In-fighting became ritual among the amphibians to ensure only the strongest and most enduring of their order survived. In their eyes, there would be no other way to gain another contractor who could surpass their last. They would cull their growing numbers and the ones who remained would crawl atop the dead as the elite. However in the midst of these proceedings an inner conflict was growing as a smaller group within the order began to disagree with the growing barbaric nature of the their kin. The Sage of the Salamander became obsessed with strengthening their family in his old age and saw fit to begin training an heir. He called upon a distant cousin to take his place after death but death proved too long a wait and the Sage was forced to kill in order to defend his title until the the proper time arose to pass on his legacy.
However where greed and tragedy closed one path, opportunity and chance opened another. The Sage's slain distant relative had recently sired a particularly large cluster of eggs that had not yet hatched. Staying true to the methods he had begun implementing for his kind he found the nesting ground where the eggs remained unhatched and counted their numerous numbers into the hundreds. Very carefully he arranged for the clusters of eggs to be moved to the outside world of the Shinobi. His orders were followed through to the letter and the eggs were moved to a place where they could hatch but were quickly abandoned thereafter, leaving both nature and fate to decide who lived and who died. Many cycles went by as the Sage continued to rule and when he returned to the location of the cluster only one tadpole and one egg remained. Pleased with the results the remaining two survivors were watched over in the Shinobi World until they had both reached a mature state. At which point they were returned to their ilk and trained as warriors.
Suishiooki, was the first to hatch and made it farthest into his growth without outside assistance. Because of this, he was chosen as the Sage's heir and was put through grueling training to assure that when the Sage passed, he would be ready to defend his new position as Sage against the older warriors who wanted nothing more than to kill him to increase their chances of ruling next. Suishiooki grew quickly under that lifestyle and before long was revered as the most talented Katon user the Order had ever seen, next to the Sage himself. Many suspected his fierce will and warrior spirit were due to the circumstances in which he and his brother's hatching occurred, as customs had always forbid eggs from being laid and hatched outside the territory the Order made for themselves. Katsushio, though soft-spoken and often in the shadow of his brother, was given his dues and respected for the survival of his hatching in the Shinobi World as well. He was also seen as somewhat of an oddity because of his relatively large chakra and his affinity with Suiton Jutsu which was exceedingly rare among the Order which was filled with Katon and Doton users.
As the generations rolled by many changes occurred in the Order in an attempt to recreate the power and skill wielded by Suishiooki and Katsushio. Before long it was forbidden for eggs to be laid or hatched in the land controlled by the Order and only the eggs that survived into a mature state in the Shinobi World unprotected were allowed to return to the Order's land. This rite became known as Jintsuu no Banshi or "Birth Pains of Certain Death" (出生の万死). Clusters were great but survivors were few and the Order was dying. The Sage could only see the beauty of his plans and ambitions, sure that his methods would strengthen the Order for generations to come well beyond his and even his heir's lifetimes. A large rift came to form when many younger females began hiding their egg clusters in Order territory and speaking out against the Sage's ways. Suishiooki's mate, Museimakaze was the most prominent of these females. A rare talent with Genjutsu she used her skills to conceal her whereabouts long enough to find a safe place for her first cluster to be laid within the Order's land, telling no one except Katsushio whom she trusted deeply and confided in. Well versed and raised in the Sage's ideals of survival and climbing atop the dead she took no chances and killed any who discovered her cluster.
Her plan would be short lived however as the Sage himself discovered what was the most massive cluster in all of the Order of the Salamander's history. He did so by following a string of older males going missing in a certain area which wasn't very hard considering how little of the older males were left. As father of the cluster Suishiooki had little problem with his offspring facing the same trials he faced when he hatched, but sadly, they would not get the chance. To make an example of Museimakaze's disobedience, The Sage personally gathered the entire Order to watch and destroyed the cluster of over five hundred eggs with a demonstration of his Katon Jutsu prowess. His motives were that killing Museimakaze directly would be a waste of a strong and fierce warrior and fertile female which he had too few left of either. Suishiooki had been fine with his children facing the same chances that he faced and it had become their law, a law he would have to one day enforce himself. So though Museimakaze pleaded with him on many occasions he refused to intervene knowing most of the offspring wouldn't make it back but hoping a lot of them did, as he himself had done. However, when he witnessed his mentor kill his entire cluster as if they were nothing to him he went into a state of shock. In an unforeseen fit of blind rage Suishiooki attacked the Sage, easily overpowering him in Taijutsu due to the age difference they possessed. The Sage's stamina was too small to properly defend himself in close quarters combat. However when the battle shifted to Ninjutsu the younger warrior was outclassed and his Katon only fueled the larger flames of his elder.
Critically wounded and in agony over his loss Suishiooki accepted defeat embracing the death about to befall him. Before the killing blow was made however Katsushio challenged the Sage himself. Although he was young and lacked some of the battle experience of his brother, Katsushio's massive chakra reserves made up for his modest lacks. His Taijutsu held strong enough to keep the Sage at mid-range and his unrivaled Suiton Jutsu overpowered the Katon Jutsu of his opposition. It was a grueling and legendary battle but by the end, the Sage was dead and Katsushio was clearly the most powerful in all the Order. With the death of the Sage of the Salamander came a clear divide between what was left of the Order. Most of the elders and some of the young were too afraid of change and wanted to remain in the Order. They chose to stay behind and follow the path set by the Old Sage, embracing the concept of in-fighting and crawling atop their dead to become the elite. They had been freed of the Old Sage's tyranny, but it was all they knew.
For Katsushio, Suishiooki, Museimakaze and a small group of others the teachings and methods of the Old Sage weren't totally abandoned. The concept of survival and endurance was in their nature as well as their nurture, and it became their greatest concern. But they would chose to survive and endure in their own way. They set out to find a path of their own. A path among the deep and unending waters that their new leader used to free them from their forced slaughtering of their kin. A path where they could build an Order all their own.
What started as a splinter in the Order would become a Sect... Sinn-Enn Bunpa no Imori... The Abysmal Sect of the Newt.The Tokomaru are the prime shinobi the A.S.o.t.N. have aligned themselves with. Their history together is not long and filled with stories but in it's infancy and filled with possibilities.
The Summon Totem that is used to call forth a familiar of the Abysmal Sect of the Newt is located in Taki no Kuni on the section of the Country that is the farthest to the north as possible without going back into Tsuchi no Kuni territory. It sits atop a shrine that has been carved into the side of a mountain. This shrine is located under a large peak that overlooks the massive ocean to the north. Once the shrine is disturbed a seemingly endless swarm of small newts will overrun the users and knock them into the ocean below. Those knocked in always awaken in the mountains unharmed. However, for a chosen who the Newt deem worthy, they will awaken in a place quite different than the Waterfall Country.
This family resides in the Comet Cascade, a series of waterfalls that branch off into a series of underwater caverns. Collectively the territory is massive and easily twice the size of the Order's land on which Kutsushio, the Newt Sage was raised. This place, all but unreachable by the conventional means of the Shinobi, is the place the Newt call home. Here they grow their numbers with care and stability because of the trials they faced to escape their places in the Order of the Salamander and establish a new home for themselves and their young. To protect what they have built several Rites have been prepared that each potential contractor must pass before they are allowed to sign their blood with the Newt and enter Comet Cascade.
- Gishiki no Sanzon
(lit: "Rite of Survival" | 儀式の残在)
Although the Old Sage of the Salamander took the ideals too far the Newt still very much believe in survival and endurance as a way of life. As such the A.S.o.t.N. will refuse to take on contractors who have not endured in their own lives and grown into a state of moderate power and maturity on their own. This one is the most basic and fundamental of rites dating back to the hatching Katsushio and Suishiooki themselves.
[/li][li]Gishiki no Okui
(lit: "Rite of True Intention" | 儀式の奥意)[/i][/sup]
The Newt believe that a Shinobi contractor who joins with a summoning family cannot be just a patsy of their generation and village seeking to garner power and nothing more. To them, a contractor is an avatar or representative of their family to the Shinobi World. All that the contractor does and is will be a reflection on them as one. Just as Shinobi seek an animal that they can identify with, the A.S.o.t.N. will only accept Shinobi whom they can also identify with. This is the oldest of rites dating back to the Amegakure no Sato Shinobi who embraced the name of the Salamander so heavily that it spread both their legends as one.
[/li][li]Gishiki no Tayou
(lit: "Rite of Diversity" | 儀式の多様性)[/i][/sup]
The History has taught the Newt that diversity is an undeniable part of survival as Katsushio's rare Suiton Jutsu was the key to defeating the Old Sage. Because of this the A.S.o.t.N. seeks contractors whom have abilities they do not, giving their union a wider variety of Jutsu and thus, improving their odds of surviving different enemies. A major rule in regards to Ninjutsu Primary Shinobi who seek their power is that only those who have access to releases uncommon to the Newt may become a contractor.[/li][/ul][/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/spoiler]
Type: Amphibian
Restrictions:
- Contracts are limited to 2 PC's at a time with the exception of those in the Tokomaru family.
- Quest for contract scroll must be GM'd by a Storyteller.
- For PC's not in the Tokomaru family
- PC's must have a minimum of 2500 EXP to sign the contract.
- PC's must have alignments of "Good" and/or "Chaotic" to sign the contract.
- Ninjutsu Primaries must have access to an elemental release other than Katon or Suiton. All Advanced Releases are acceptable.
- Contracts remain active until cancellation, death, or prolonged inactivity. If a PC retires with their contract intact and later becomes active once again, they will be exempt from the contract limit of 2 PC's at time.
- PC's must have a minimum of 2500 EXP to sign the contract.
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