[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/AdsRebz.png[/img] [color=black]—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color] [img]http://i.imgur.com/ojyOjaC.png[/img] [color=black]—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color][/center] The Winter war was the first real shinobi world war. It involved the five major powers as well as including some smaller villages. As the winter crept up on the villages, slowly they began getting belligerent, and Kumogakure gathered it's forces to enter Iwagakure. As a result of this, Sunagakure, not wanting to lose any potential gains, also entered Iwagakure. They entered a three-way war, with Kumogakure fighting Iwagakure and Sunagakure simultaneously, while these two also fought each other. Kirigakure, who was allied with Kumogakure, sent over forces to help Kumogakure. Mostly Kirigakure spent their time assassinating people that were considered powerful, as well as thieving and stealing from the countryside. Iwagakure gave up a lot of land at first, hoping Sunagakure and Kumogakure would be satisfied with their new lands, but found quickly that neither of the two countries intended to back off. Then Iwagakure began fighting back, taking back some territory and pushing back the enemy forces. Konohagakure spent most of their time guarding the borders - they were relatively unscathed at first due to neutrality, except for Kumogakure and Kirigakure shinobi that found their way into Konoha territory, and pillaged and looted there. When Sunagakure offered them an alliance, it was denied at first, but later on accepted as the threat of Kumo- and Kirigakure nin grew. As a result they were dragged into the war, and began engaging Kumogakure and Kirigakure nin more frequently. In due time, they were also engaging Iwagakure teams that had entered Sunagakure, Kumogakure, or sometimes Konohagakure territory. Somehow, Iwagakure nin and Konohagakure nin managed to avoid killing each other. Despite the Tsuchikage not wishing to befriend Konoha, it seemed like the troops on the ground wished to avoid the bloodshed. As a result, there were only ever minor clashes and minor wounds. Konohagakure managed to hold on to their borders. Contrary to Konoha, Sunagakure actually lost a small bit of territory in the form of a mountain range to Iwagakure. Kumogakure managed to take some of Iwagakures territory but also lost some, so in the end, it seemed like they had not made any real progress. Kirigakure came out of the war richer, but was now disliked by all countries. Even Kumogakure disliked their ruthless and savage ways. But, the alliance still stood. The same could not be said for Sunagakure and Konohagakure, because the signed peace treaty enforced that Konoha end their alliance with Sunagakure. This was unwelcome at first, but when the Kazekage was later assassinated and the suspected murderer took his position, it was seen as a good thing the alliance had been ended earlier. [b]Notably, the Land of Iron was left unscathed.[/b] The already harsh conditions of the mountains and snow meant that with the arrival of winter, the area only got colder. The shinobis were of the opinion that 'nothing could be gained' in the Land of Iron, so they left it alone. Ever since, the land of Iron has isolated itself and no longer accepts visitors from Shinobi countries. [center][color=black]—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color] [img]http://i.imgur.com/37Y0tts.png[/img] [color=black]—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color][/center] [i]As we are roleplaying in an alternate universe, some things have changed. Some are changed for the sake of simplicity on our end (it's rather hard to write off some of the clans for example) and some were changed for the sake of the roleplay and making it more interesting. Most of these changes will have happened inside of Konohagakure. The roleplay takes place when Konohagakure as a village has existed for some fifty-seventy years.[/i] Konohagakure was created as a result between the cooperation of the honorable Sarutobi clan, whom included many people within their clan and grew from the inclusion of smaller clans into their fold. They contributed manpower and [i]the Will of Fire[/i] to the construction of Konohagakure. The Hyuga clan were their faithful 'ally' in this endeavor and made up the diplomatic and military aspect of the early Konohagakure settlement. The first ten years of Konohagakure were spent in relative peace, being among the first village to be constructed that grew in size quickly, compared to smaller villages like Amegakure. Konohagakure quickly became the hub of diplomacy, trade and politics. With time their lands grew too as smaller villages swore fealty to Konohagakure and joined their ranks, moving their forces to Konohagakure and building residences there. It quickly became the shinobi capital of the country of fire. [center][color=black]—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color] [img]http://i.imgur.com/84IRXCO.png[/img] [color=black]—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color][/center] The first hokage was Hyuga Jurou, the head of the Hyuga clan. He was alongside the Sarutobi when the village was first constructed and, alongside the Sarutobi clan, made it into what it was today. He was chosen to represent the village as a Hokage due to his prodigial prowess in battle, diplomatic mind, and his 'noble' ancestry. Furthermore, the presence of a dojutsu user on the seat of power of Konohagakure also meant they received international respect. He was primarily known for his long reign, which went by without a hitch. A whole 30 years. Primarily he invested a lot of time in lawmaking, governing and international relations. This included trade, threats of war, and alliances. Under his leadership Konohagakure briefly saw an alliance with Sunagakure, but this was quickly ended as a result of an assassination of the Kazekage. After thirty years, Hyuga Jurou died as a result of illness, already being quite old at the time. He passed peacefully, despite the turbulent time where new villages were being created out of blood and steel. His student and adoptive son, Enchiro Kishimoto took over as hokage. [center][color=black]—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color] [img]http://i.imgur.com/CQmOPRR.png[/img] [color=black]—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color][/center] With Enchiro Kishimoto at the head of state, the village saw a grand total of one year without any problems before problems found Konohagakure. In his second year of reign, he found Konohagakure at the mercy of a blizzard, innocent at first, but quickly becoming deadly. Despite best efforts to retain the peace, his efforts failed, and Konohagakure quickly found itself defending their already scarce resources. During his reign he also found himself on the battlefield - something the first hokage had never had to deal with - and showed off the skills of a kage. Much like the other kages, it was proven here that a kage was a force to be reckoned with. When he was wounded during a skirmish versus Kumogakure elite shinobi, he decided to stay on the battlefield to protect the unit that he was with - as a result, his wounds became worse and frostbite set in. When the fight was over, every person in the unit came home safe, but the same didn't go for his arm and leg. A year after the winter ended, he abdicated as a result of stress and war wounds, saying 'A man who can't use his full strength cannot protect his country'. A vote would be held for the next hokage. [center][color=black]—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color] [img]http://i.imgur.com/FqKQb9V.png[/img] [color=black]—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color][/center] The vote would point out Mawari Mōri as the next hokage. The vote was narrow, with a tiebreaker included within. She was considered 'too much of a hothead' to bear the title of hokage, but her power and skills ultimately meant that she was chosen over a lesser candidate who was more calm and collected. As the council stated later, 'a great kage has to be strong enough to enforce their rulings, but these rulings can be made by great strategists behind the scenes'. And, true to that saying, she went on to pick her runner up candidate as a council advisor when a spot freed up. During the single year that she has stood at the helm of the village, she has managed to make some minor changes. First and foremost, she has made it clear to the rest of the world that Konohagakure will no longer be pushed around. This angered Kumogakure greatly, and made Kirigakure slightly wary. Sunagakure however seems more willing to enter an alliance than before. Iwagakure seems to be holding back slightly - they have not yet said anything in relation to Konohagakure and will likely continue to not say anything. [center][color=black]—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color] [img]http://i.imgur.com/jB6vxHF.png[/img] [color=black]—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color][/center] [b]Kumogakure[/b] remains largely the belligerent and hostile village in the world, largely in fact due to their large military. The saying that dogs that bark don't bite, that saying doesn't go for them. The Raikages have notoriously all been loudmouthed militarist shinobi. Never the less, they are respected for the worthy shinobi they bring forth and pose a serious threat. The only reason they have not yet crushed Sunagakure, Konohagakure or Iwagakure is because they have a lot of internal problems relating mostly to politics. That's the reason why three of them have all died at the hands of assassins. They are commonly allied with Kirigakure - their island nation is considered 'unimportant' for conquering, and thus the Raikages have mostly just focused their eyes elsewhere. The alliance is uneasy and it is not uncommon for 'friendly fire' to occur on a battlefield. Never the less, the Raikage ensures Kirigakure that he will defend them if the need arises. [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/lH7hqNK.png[/img] [sub]The Fourth Raikage, Kimura Shozen, characterized by his electrically yellow hair.[/sub][/center] [b]Kirigakure[/b] similarly finds itself at the center of attention in most cases when it comes to hostility. But, contrary to Kumogakure, whom favor outright military power and large armies of shinobi ([i]large for the time, which isn't large as we know it[/i]) Kirigakure favors precision strikes. Their numbers are lower than that of Kumogakure, but one can be certain that any surgical strike was committed by Kirigakure nin. They are masters of stealth and, for the most part, operate in loosely organized teams with a high amount of decision making vested in the jonin. The Mizukage holds power, but ultimately the loose island nations has to contend with a large amount of corruption and loose cannons. They seem to thrive largely on theft and banditry, which during this time period, was still considered a valid strategy. [b]Sunagakure[/b] is frequently associated with Konohagakure and their on-off alliance. Currently they are not allied, due to the ending of the Winter (and thus, the war) having included a treaty that ended the alliance. The alliance was never rebuilt due to suspicions that the new Kazekage was somehow involved in the death of the former Kazekage. Their primary business right now is trade, as there are few places suitable for agriculture. As a result they are quite wealthy. They have good trade relations with all nations (even their enemies, Kumogakure and Kirigakure) and export and import anything from low cost goods like food to luxurious weaponry and ornaments. [b]Iwagakure[/b] is an isolationist country at this time, not engaging in political and diplomatical ties with the other villages for the most part. They prefer to work on their own village, expanding it's reach and performing missions. During the Winter war they tried to stay away from the conflict, giving up large amounts of land to Kumogakure and Sunagakure before eventually striking back and driving out the enemies. When it was clear that neither Sunagakure nor Kumogakure would let them live in peace unless they were fully annexed, they struck back. By extent that meant they fought against Konohagakure and Kirigakure too. But Konohagakure shinobi never actually fought in Iwagakure, and any skirmishes between Konohagakure and Iwagakure shinobi typically ended quickly and in a friendly manner. There was a mutual respect between them. This was contrary to Kirigakure shinobi, who fought purely to gain spoils of war. [b]The Land of Iron[/b] has remained isolationist - they refuse to answer any diplomatic envoys and typically do not accept shinobi into their borders. Ever since the Winter, they have lost a lot of manpower. The already harsh conditions were made even harsher with the cold, and nothing more would grow in the area. As a result, a lot of Samurai died, leaving only the strongest. As a result, it seems like those samurai that remained have become rather strong. Their small numbers are accounted for by this, meaning that an invasion still seems unlikely. A common trait they have now too seems to be insanity - the many deaths, cold winter and isolation means that many of them are not used to the same social interactions as the shinobi are, and similarly, gave them strange cultural and social traits.