Sloth

Saisei: The Crimson Dawn

Uchiha Tensai

Shinobi Academy, Konohagakure -- Present Day, Morning

_{It's a collaboration, innit}

All things considered, the 'stay in your seat and hope nobody notices you' strategy had worked remarkably well for Tensai. That was, until Kegawa arrived on the scene and Momomaru had initiated a full scale assault on his face before he'd even had time to react. His assailant moved with lightning speed and surprising momentum, as the minuscule missile had almost barreled Tensai over and onto the ground. It was all Tensai could do to shield his face with his hands, though this proved to be less than successful.

"I surrender! Please, no more!"

Given his predicament, Tensai hadn't noticed the sound of approaching footsteps until they were practically on top of him, and by the time he turned his body to face the mysterious newcomer, he found his personal space once again violated when he was all but tackled by his other best friend and actually thrown to the ground. So much for that plan.

"Ow! I think you're breaking some of my bones, man."

"I mean, you totally deserve it. It's been ages, and that's all you've gotta say?"

Shunpei's was a sound for sore ears. It felt like years since the last time he spoke to either of them, and it brought a smile to his face to be with them again.

"Hmph. Just so you know, I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. And hurt. And betrayed!" Shunpei added an exaggerated sniffle to his performance, and Tensai could've swore he could hear tears welling up in his friend's eyes. "I think I'm gonna cry."

However, it didn't take long for Kegawa to reinsert herself into the conversation with an energy that had become all too familiar.

"Shun-tan!"

"Hiya Kecchan!" Shunpei called back. "You want in on this too, right? It's not a dog pile without you, and besides, Tensai here hasn't experienced your righteous furry, erm, fury yet."

Kegawa laughed out loud, Shunpei's pun laden sense of humor was something that entertained them both, though Tensai was too busy trying to maneuver out of his friend's grasp to acknowledge the brilliance of the joke.

"Don't mind if I do."

With another body now on top of him and with a canine companion still nipping at his face, it was all Tensai could do give a (only slightly) exaggerated grunt of pain. He didn't know how long it took before the trio's laughter started to die down, but the silence that ensued was a quaint one, and Tensai had to recompose himself when Shunpei finally spoke out.

"So... Where've you been? What'cha been up to?"

There was a momentary pause before his next statement.

"And do you want us to get off? It's getting kinda hard to breathe..."

The latter half of Shunpei's sentence barely registered to Tensai's ears. Where was he? How does one answer such a question when they barely knew the answer? Thankfully, the other two members of his childhood trio took the liberty of standing up. He followed suit after taking a moment or so to gather his thoughts. If there were any two people he could talk to about his ordeal, Shunpei and Kegawa were certainly them. They'd been his two closest friends for as long as he could remember, siblings he'd never had as far as he was concerned. His grandmother'd probably scorn him, but he needed someone to talk to. So, clan secrecy be damned.

"I've-"

“Tensai, how does it feel to be handed everything when you failed on Ha no Kyofu bridge? How you’ve become absolutely worthless to the entire village, but you continue to be seen as this gift to the leaf?”

Tensai hadn't even gotten more than a word out of his mouth before he was not so kindly interrupted by the absolute last person he wanted to deal with. Fukushu. The Namikaze girl had been a thorn in his side he'd taken great care to ignore for the past couple years. Something she was making impossible. Did she know? Of course she knew. Fukushu knew everything. But how? Nobody was supposed to know what happened. For lack of a better term, Tensai was shocked into silence by the revelation.

He didn't know how long he stood there lost in his own thoughts. When he returned to his senses, he turned his head towards where he assumed his purple haired tormentor stood and responded to her in a harsher tone than most would've expected from him.

"Leave me alone."

Children of the Greatfather

@ONL The gemstones, not the Trolls.

Though, taxing the Trolls into submission is a hilarious image.

Children of the Greatfather

Clearly ya boy Brynjar was the one who crafted Steinar's epic armor and warhammer back in the day. The Stein just don't want to admit it!

May help with my silly "Steindahl's wealth comes from them finding a heck of a lot of gemstones in their mountains after the Age of Strife/Thalasan Invasion" idea. Who needs shiny stones when there are Trolls afoot? Send them down to Havingardr. What do you mean we're not allowed to beat the Trolls up anymore?!

On that note: I apologize for my relative silence and lack of work on Steindahl this past week or so. Life's been a bit hectic, but I may be able to finish up the northernmost Realm when I end up having nothing to do in a hotel this weekend. We'll see.

Saisei: The Crimson Dawn

Ded I already told you on DIscord what was up smh.

Adieu

At least now I don't have any deadlines to not meet!

Do hit me up on Skype and or Discord on occasion though. I miss your beautiful banter.

Children of the Greatfather

Since @DeadBeatWalking convinced me to put my crappy work in progress here after he read the pad I was working on, I figure why the hell not. Keep in mind there's still a fair bit to be filled in over the next odd day or so, particular the Master biography and recent history, but y'know.

Now I need to hit the hay before my brain starts to liquefy.

And if I don't finish this everyone's allowed to kick my ass.

Steindahl WIP

---

Like the rest of the Masters, the history of the Stein begins at the origin of the world, when the Greatfather and the first of the Born roamed prehistoric Magnar. Much like his father, Steinar, eldest of the brothers, left his home after Nystra's disappearance. Rather than search the world for his mother, Steinar chose to hunt down those he thought had stolen her: the Trolls. During his battles against the Trolls, Steinar is said to have crafted a suit of armor and a massive warhammer within the heart of Magnar's central mountain.

After years of nearly unending combat throughout Magnar, Steinar was called home by the Greatfather, and was mortified to see that his beloved siblings had fallen to infighting and corruption. As he was not there to protect or guide his brothers as he should've been, when it came time for the brothers to be banished to the far reaches of Magnar, Steinar all but exiled himself to the northern wastes, the native territory of Magnar's Trolls. If he could not protect his family from themselves, he would ensure they would never fall to the children of Shebalog.

Unlike his brothers, Steinar was never wed, as he was consumed by his quest to safeguard Magnar from the northern Trolls. As the second generation of the Born spread across the Realms, three of Steinar's nephews and two of his nieces, one for each his brothers, would seek him out at his northern fortress. Weary of their cousins' infighting, the five sought to become Steinar's children. Touched by their dedication and loyalty, Steinar would fill a drinking horn with his own blood and have them drink from it, and thus these five would become the first of the Stein.

Steinar's war against the Trolls would continue for the rest of his life, shaping the landscape and traditions of the Realm he was given providence over. Eventually, he fought his way to the peak of the Troll King's mountain and slew him in personal combat. He had taken many wounds however, and Steinar breathed his last and fell from the colossal mountain fortress. The shockwave when he hit ground was felt throughout all of Magnar, and the mountains that sprang from the impact now serve as Magnar's natural border with the land of Trolls.

Ever since, the Realm was known as Steindahl, and the mountain renamed Steinar's Peak.

There is only one known instance of a Stein Master waging war against his fellow Born, approppriately enough, at the tail end of the Age of Strife. Under the pretense of unifying the Bornic Realms as his forbear would have, Agnar Stein all but left his Realm's mountain forts for the Trolls, bringing the full strength of Steindahl to bear against the chaos in the South. Due to their cousins' weakened states and their own superior equipment, the Stein advanced very swiftly. It was only when one Isvald Lastrund called for a feast on neutral ground that Agnar ceased his campaign, believing that the other Masters were going to bend the knee. Instead, Agnar was outraged at the proposal of a rotating Mastery of Magnar. He would not leave the feasting hall alive, and the Stein, despite being the eldest of the Born, found themselves last in the line of Magnar's Mastery.

Following Agnar's execution and Isvald's coronation as Master of Magnar, Stein history becomes rather one note. While their cousins reaped the benefits of peace in the South, The Stein returned to their home, carving forts out of the sides of mountains and raising villages in the valleys, all in a never ending effort to tame the land and eradicate the sons of Shebalog. Because of this eternal campaign and their endless supply of stone and metal, the Stein mastered the art of construction and blacksmithing. It was not until the Thalasan Invasion that Magnar would know better weapons or fortifications than those in Steindahl.

<sub>• Heimgard, like most of the Realm's major settlements, is situated at the source of one of the Northern rivers, theirs being the Gnifri, east of Steinar's Peak. While it has its origins as one of the many Stein fortresses built to defend Magnar from Trolls in ancient history, Heimgard now serves as Steindahl's capital and one of its two primary trading ports. The Old Fort makes up roughly twenty percent of the city's landscape and acts as the quarters for Steindahl's ruling family and visiting nobles.

• Steinar's hatred of Trolls has seeped into the very identity of his descendants. Within Steindahl there exists a class of slaves known as the Dolbri, or "Troll Bloods" that are said to originate from the icy plains north of Magnar. They are considered to be unworthy of all save the most unsavory tasks in the Realm, and serve at the behest of their Bornic overlords. To call someone a "Troll Lover" is a grave insult.

• Because of Steinar's adoption of many of his wayward nieces and nephews, Steindahl has a diverse population of various Bornic ethnic groups, making Steindahl at once an isolated Realm removed from the majority of Magnar's internal problems and a melting pot of various traditions. In short, any peaceful Born are welcome within Steindahl and may find a home amongst its people. Crime against a citizen, however, is severely punished.

• Accordingly, if a Stein noble is childless, it is not uncommon for one to adopt an heir via Blood Oath. If this ritual is completed, the participants are considered parent and child as far as anyone in Steindahl is concerned, and receive all the expectations therein. Adopted children are considered just as legitimate as biological children in terms of Stein law and general attitude.

• Only Steinar's armor remains in his Realm's possession, as their ancestral hammer was stolen by a descendant of Shebalog many centuries ago. While this adds fuel to the fires of hatred the Stein feel for Shebalog's children, it has also turned the warhammer into a symbol and signature weapon of the region, with many Stein smiths aspiring to craft a hammer to rival Steinar's own.</sub>

---

Born at the onset of one of the harshest winters in Magnar's history, Halvar Stein has personally seen the effects of starvation and desolation on his Realm's populace, and for the first time in many centuries, the Stein have begun raiding their Bornic neighbors.

This is Andar. He's Halvar's uncle. He is weary of his nephew's abandonment of Steindahl's tradition of non-aggression against their fellow Born, but with winter hitting the Stein in full force, he sees no way to dissuade his Master. Until that call to cross the Sturmsee where Halvar's obviously gunna go for it and everything's gonna be awesome.

Children of the Greatfather

@gorgenmast Thanks for the information my man. This is why it never hurts to ask. If Trolls are essentially monsters maybe I can spin it around to a realm wide disdain for their ilk as they've had to safeguard the rest of Magnar from them for generations? I'll see what comes to mind with some more brainstorming and get back to you.

Children of the Greatfather

Alright, now that I'm finished reading through the tidbits of lore and all that, would it be at all possible to have a Realm of Born in the North of Magnar descended from a son of the Greatfather who took to smithing? The admittedly very basic idea I've got so far is that this son of the Greatfather consulted with Dwarves, Icewalkers, and so on to learn their ways and subsequently became ignorant of his siblings' quarrels as he was too busy chilling with non-Born. Even had a fun idea where as of yet unnamed son would seek out the sons of Shebalog and not immediately kill them, resulting in his descendants being branded "Troll Lovers" or some other slur, but that's just me spitballing to myself and it seems an Eshkag pulled that off before me. Out of grief or what not he became the Master of Magnar's Northern mountain ranges and all that fun stuff, descendants get that cool architecture/blacksmithing/so on specialization, make vague attempts at staying out of wars with everyone else, potentially pick up a lot of cool stuff from the Thalasan Invaders, or try to innovate their own cool stuff using Thalasan techniques? I dunno.

Am I rambling? I do that.

Basically think a relatively isolationist northern region of badass blacksmiths and stonemasons who have the audacity to not hate their non-Born cousins that is subsequently brought to the brink of starvation and might actually be starting to raid other Bornic?? Realms for the first time in many centuries because winters suck, yo. Ignore the fact that Evar is calling for the Born to come together again for a Great Reaving or what not and other Realms might not like them at the moment.

Maybe I'd be better off actually writing the concept up rather than rambling like a mad man, but I've gone too far now. Do let me know. If it's a no go, I'll either try to cook up some other harebrained scheme or slink away into the shadows, crying to myself.

One Piece: A Seaborne Song [AU]

Boez Cris WIP

“If all the world's an orchestra, this adventure will be our magnum opus.”

---

Name

Boez D. Cris

Race

Human (Homo Zaniens)

Age

20

Place of Origin

The Holy Land of Mariejois

Crew

----- Pirates

Role

Captain and Musician

Current Bounty

?? for the following crimes:

• Kidnapping of Wafer D. Kite* (??)
• Piracy, duh (??)
• Numerous Counts of Evading Arrest (?? total)
• Destruction of Public Property (??)
• Harboring Escaped Slaves (??)
• Other Crimes I'm sure

_{* Cris' initial bounty was considered higher than average, and although most now know Kite is a willing member of his crew, the crime has remained on his bounty due to the effort of Kite's mother and to cover up the actual reason he was proclaimed a criminal by the Marine Captain of Orange Town}

Appearance

Cris is almost as well known for his flamboyant manner of dress as he is for his eccentric behavior. He generally matches his clothing to his purple hair, nails and eyes with a scarf, armband and longcoat extending down to his knees. Underneath, he wears a simple black shirt and boots to go with a pair of beige jeans held up by a white belt. Cris is of average height for a male in his age group, standing at roughly 5'8" and weighing a magnificently mundane 132 lbs, or 1.73m and 59.8kg for those who use the metric system.

Equipment

While he has since moved on to electric guitars and various other musical implements, Cris still retains a rather worn down case holding his first instrument, a violin given to him by his mother during his formative years in Shells Town. He claims to keep it purely out of sentimental value and his crew has never seen him playing it.

Devil Fruit

Paramecia, Gura-Gura no Mi (Since we're scalin', innit.)

Though he has consumed one of the most powerful Devil Fruit currently known to the world, Cris is completely ignorant of this fact, believing that he has instead eaten the "Sound-Sound Fruit", given his general use of his newfound powers. For the most part, Cris utilizes the tremors he generates to mimic sound waves for various purposes, whether it be amplifying the sound of his own voice or guitar to acting as a one man band by playing any chosen instrument in such a way that it emits an entire ensemble with an accompanying female singing voice. He has also shown the ability to 'throw' his voice across an unspecified distance in order to communicate with others that are out of earshot. The drawback to this, however, is that the other party has no way to communicate with him.

Fighting Style

As one might expect given the nature of his Devil Fruit, Cris's method of combat revolves around using his guitar as both a medium for his powers and an improvised weapon. This usually involves Cris smashing his guitar into an opponent's head and sending them flying with the ensuing sonic boom, or amplifying any of the sound he generates to dangerous, eardrum shattering levels, though luckily enough he seems to be impervious to such things. Outside of his Devil given abilities, Cris has been noted as sufficiently agile and flexible, which certainly helps one not get hit and subsequently knocked unconscious.

Sonic Symphony: As mentioned, by utilizing his Devil Fruit in unison with his guitar, or any instrument, for that matter, Cris is capable of emitting sonic waves of force at a moment's notice. Typically, this involves Cris either strumming his guitar at an oncoming group of enemies or bashing them over the head. Either way works, really.

Forte Falsetto: Though already in possession of an impressive singing voice, Cris is able to amplify it to heights impossible for normal humans to achieve, effectively making his voice a lethal weapon. Most often, Cris manifests this ability in the form of a magnificent falsetto.

Skills & Abilities

Musicien le Magnifique: Having been trained by his mother and dedicating himself to becoming the world's greatest musician from a very early age, Cris is exceptionally gifted with a number of instruments. These range from the piano, cello and harp to his newly minted trademark guitar. While many claim his skill comes from his fruit rather than his fingers, Cris has swore up and down that while with his powers he's capable of doing the impossible, without them he can do almost as well.

Quick Wit and a Silver Tongue: He's charming innit.

Background Information

Cris was born in Orange Town within the East Blue some twenty years ago to a music teacher who doubled as a single mother. He did not have the luxury of knowing about his father, as his mother almost never spoke about the man, and Cris never felt particularly inclined to ask about him as a child.

With his mother being an instructor, Cris took to the musical arts very early into his childhood. He would soon come to the realization that not only was his mother a supremely skilled artist, but that he had seemingly inherited her talent with a menagerie of musical implements. First and foremost, his mother molded him into something of a savant with the classical instruments in her possession. Violin. Piano. Harp. Such were the tools of the trade, and Cris took to them like a bird to flight. Despite a lack of paternal awareness, Cris maintains that he had a happy childhood with his mother in Orange Town.

At the age of eight, like almost every other child in the world, Cris became enraptured by the last words of the man that was larger than life itself, Gold Roger. He, like so many others, had his sense of adventure sparked by the late Pirate King, and while his mother did her best to quell such ambitions, the itch for adventure never left Cris' mind from that day onward. He looked outward to the world at large, knowing that his destiny awaited him far away from the Organ Islands.

Cris has always been extremely confident in his abilities. So much so that this confidence had been misconstrued as arrogance on several occasions by his fellow students. As one might expect, this made it particularly hard for Cris to make friends in his youth. The only friend he managed to maintain was another boy named Kite, whose mother ran the bar Cris' mother happened to frequent. It was also at this bar that Cris first heard the sound of a guitar from a touring band that happened to be playing. Fickle as children often are, Cris implored his mother to buy him one. She did, and much to her surprise, Cris dedicated himself almost exclusively to it.

Cris' mother fell ill sometime after he turned fifteen. Though they certainly weren't poor, the cost of medicine soon saw the family of two's savings dry up. Not knowing what else to do, Cris began to sell his mother's collection of instruments to pay for her care. He was down to the final two instruments in the house when his mother finally passed on. Those instruments? The violin his mother gave him as a child and his trademark guitar.

Not knowing what else to do to sustain himself, Cris began wandering the streets of Orange Town, living off the donations of strangers. It was during this time that the local bar became something of a second home to Cris, as it was his most frequent venue, so to speak. A few years later, and he'd achieved the minor notoriety of being the hottest act in town, in more ways than one.

His prodigious talent with musical instruments and singing aside, Cris also happens to be a very charming man in general. This, of course, made him quite popular with the ladies on his home island. One night several months ago, when he was performing at the local watering hole that had essentially become his second home, Cris' eye caught an unnaturally beautiful young woman. After a few too many drinks, Cris found himself being led back to said feminine beauty's estate. However, before anything too graphic could be done, Cris was caught red-handed by a father yelling at the top of his lungs. What he did not expect, however, was an accompanying group of men with muskets. As it turns out, Marine Captains don't take kindly to starving artists seducing their daughters. Wishing his companions farewell and leaping from the second story window, Cris managed to escape his pursuers by hiding out in the only place he could think of: Kite's home.

After informing his only friend of the night's events, the duo devised a plan to, in no uncertain terms, get the hell out of dodge. This involved the two of them sneaking out once more and making their way to the docks, where they just so managed to "borrow" someone's dinghy. By the time they managed to sail to the nearest neighboring island, a bounty had already been placed on Cris' head for kidnapping, evading arrest, and appropriately enough, piracy. Thus began Cris' life at sea, unusual as such a coronation might be.

The months since he has been branded a pirate have certainly been eventful for Cris. He's managed to escape capture on numerous occasions, swindle another pirate out of his devil fruit and commandeer said pirate's ship after a heated encounter when his victim sobered up (That he ended up having to eat the devil fruit in order to get out alive was a bit of a hassle, but so be it), and assemble quite an odd collection of companions. After the initial shock of realizing he was now the captain of a pirate crew, Cris decided there was only one place that he and his newfound friends could go from here: the Grand Line.

All it'd take was a quick stop at Loguetown to resupply and they'd be off to scale Reverse Mountain.

朝代循環

Do I get to meet Sun Wukong?