Post by Rasher on Feb 28, 2011 4:28:04 GMT
Name: Hakaishigakure (Village hidden among the tombstones / Hidden grave village)
Symbol:
Location: The red circle on the map indicates the approximate location of the grave villages territory, though there is yet to be an exact border drawn
Geography: For the most part the grave village is made up of plains of even, soft soil with shorter grasses, sporting only the rare lone tree. Apart from the nearby coastline the only bodies of water are occasional tiny marshes in low-lying areas with reeds and taller grasses. The topography of the grave village is mostly even above sea level with very few higher areas and drops off only at its rocky coastline which is dotted with small cliffs. The plains themselves are covered in what could be the largest graveyard on the continent, monuments and markers, stone walkways and temple like structures cover the landscape, from the surface it doesn’t appear to be any more than a graveyard but every kind of structure from houses to forges to farms are contained inside, some underground, there is a network of paths overhead and a network of tunnels beneath allowing people to get around the area and many of the graves and monuments contain hidden mechanisms to open doors to these tunnels. Even on the brightest of days it appears to be an omissions and unpleasant place, but the Hakaishigakure ninja have no problems calling it home, underground the village is well lit and decidedly more alive looking with earthen walls and specialized phosphorescent lighting.
Weather: The region is not far from the coastline allowing for cooler weather and winds, though it is closer to the southern part of the territory the area is still a colder temperate zone. Though it has all four seasons spring and summer are decidedly milder and winters can occasionally be harsh. In the early mourning’s and evenings the area is covered by a dense veil of fog caused by the nearby ocean mist that usually burns off by noon. The air is moist but rarely receives much precipitation, heavy downpours are not unheard of but do not last nearly as long.
Population: The grave village has perhaps the smallest population of any ninja village, on par with only the completely obscure but its made up pretty much entirely of ninja. Everyone tends to serve duel occupations in the village, being a ninja first and foremost but also serving some other purpose to help the village. This demonstrates a very strong degree of loyalty among the grave ninja and up until now missing nin from the area has been completely unheard of. The grave villages sensei jonin are considered to be top quality as their academy turns out very strong ninja and the village has already been host to quite a few prodigies over the brief few years in its early existence.
Economy and production: The grave village has little going for it economically other than the fact that it is totally self-sufficient. Due to its small population size the ninja village is able to sustain itself with out exporting or importing any goods or services what so ever. Within the village there exists very well planed out irrigation systems and tunnels allowing them access to all the natural resources they require as well as allowing them to operate smoothly. As they tend not to associate with other nations and are a relatively small village they prefer a barter system rather than the use of gold money though they do possess a fair amount.
Defense: The primary weapon of the grave village as a defense is fear, their hidden location and superstition as well as an almost unparalleled force for espionage. The grave ninja spend a great deal of time and effort keeping tabs on the movements and plans of other villages to avoid being noticed by them. The area itself is recognized by every village to be a large, haunted graveyard which even the bravest ninja avoid treading. As it is only known of as a graveyard other nations see nothing of value there and avoid moving their forces through it as it is considered ‘hallowed ground’. If for some reason a hapless ninja did wander in to the area they would fall victim to the many hidden tags that exist in the area, some act as surveillance seals, able to allow ninja within the village to sense the newcomer and others act as genjutsu creating seals that cause the newcomer to experience illusions of ghosts and monsters, terrifying sounds in the distance and shapes in the fog which intensify the closer they get. The fog itself is also thick with a toxin that all grave ninja are immune to which causes fear in even the most fearless ninja amplifying the fear caused by the genjutsus in place. This works with the areas reputation as haunted to scare most ninja away. If for some reason these illusions fail the area is full of perfect hiding places and the grave ninja can ambush the threat from nearly any direction as well as trigger any number of traps laid there for just this reason. Lastly the actual entrance to the village is considered impossible to detect with out foreknowledge, hidden among the countless identical graves and monuments is a mechanism to open the entrance by a means that only grave ninja are taught. Below the tunnels are buttressed with the finest in structural engineering and defensive jutsu so that not even a large-scale earthquake could collapse them.
Military: Though the Hakaishigakure has a determined and talented reserve of ninja they are a purely defensive, neutral nation that has goals other than conquest on their mind. Primarily their ninja forces excel in the unseen, spying and keeping themselves concealed, most of their ninja are on missions to gather information from other ninja villages about the affairs of the world and keeping an eye out for information regarding the territory they live inside. Most of their actual fighting would come in to play if their territory were ever attacked, something that they are always vigilant for. They are a strong and well-equipped but small force that is more focused on the survival of the village than the decimation of their enemies. Though they have a talent for assassination they carry this out sparingly.
Philosophy and beliefs: The Hakaishigakure ninja are taught one simple doctrine: to avoid wars and preserve the greatest number of lives. This peaceful ideology is what they use to solve the ethical dilemmas that ninja commonly face, when faced with the opportunity to kill an opponent they simply question weather or not that persons death will save the lives of more people, this is why they commonly attempt to assassinate those who would cause wars, killing one to save millions. For this reason the grave village ninja tend not to kill innocent or weaker opponents, but rather simply subdue them or drive them away. Grave ninja are also taught a great deal of respect for the dead although they have a gravesite as there home and, whenever possible leave victims in dignified positions. They are however a closed society and welcoming outsiders to the village is incredibly rare and relations with the outside word are heavily discouraged, to protect the village’s secrecy.
Government and Ranks: The ranks in order of lowest to highest; Academy student, Genin, Chunin, Jonin (general forces), Sensei Jonin and the special squads YNC KYH and ANK, The council of Village elders, The six Obake (Special squad leaders, General forces leader, Village elder leader and Kage’s advisor), then finally the Hakakage. The leader and usually considered the strongest of the grave ninja is the Hakakage, however unlike other villages that answer to a nation the grave village has a three branch system of government, the Hakakage is absolute leader but can intern be overridden by a vote from the six Obake, a group made of the six highest individuals, the Obake are half appointed by the pervious kage half appointed by the council of elders who rule on judicial maters. The kage recognizes his role to be first and foremost the service of his people, as all leaders do, and they have a code of laws similar to most ninja villages with a focus on remaining hidden and preserving the peace and lives of the most people.
Special squads: Though the village has the same ranks as others apart from ANBU they possess three divisions considered higher than Jonin with a specialized purpose. While Jonin fill the general forces, sensei and medical divisions the special squads work under direct orders from the kage and perform most of the outside missions. The first of these squads being the Yurei no chinmoku (ghosts of silence) or YNC for short which specializes in espionage, venturing out to spy on individuals in the outside world to collect data for the Hakaishigakure. The second special squad being the Koke’nin Yokai Hosho (guardian spirit sentinels) or KYH for short, these ninja operate the network of surveillance, traps, illusions and ambushes that constitute the grave village’s defense, usually sound inside the village keeping watch using the various surveillance seals but in the event of an attack or newcomer they quickly rise above ground to meet the threat. Lastly there is the Akuma no kainyu (demons of intervention) or ANK for short, this is the elite assassination squad used by the grave village to eliminate those who would cause wars, they are by far the deadliest ninja in the village venturing out in teams to accomplish dire missions at all costs. Apart from the special squads there is a rank beneath kage level comprised of six ninja, the captains of each special squad, the leader of the regular forces of Jonin, the Kage’s personal advisor and the leader of the villages council of elders, this substructure under the kage serves as the main pillar of leadership called the six obake (named after the shape shifting supernatural creatures in Japanese folklore). Hakaishigakure’s kage is called the Hakakage (or Grave shadow)
History:
-Origin-
During the fifth shinobi world war their came to pass a truly horrific battle, a clash between four of the great nations‘ ninja villages, the stone, cloud, sand and leaf as well as four of the lesser villages, the sound, grass, rain and waterfall all came to fight at the same field as its position was once thought to be integral to military strategy all parties were determined to claim the area. What followed as a battle lasting well in to six weeks with no side gaining any clear advantage, eventually the lesser villages were pushed back from casualties far to great for them to keep fighting but the stronger three villages continued to send ninja, day after day the mounting number of casualties went from large to an outright atrocity and eventually only a handful of ninja from each village remained, unable to keep fighting for such a cause, each a changed man or woman. They then resolved to stop their fighting as fellow humans and decided instead to hide from the villages that ordered the massacre they had been a part of, hiding there on the field. In time the differences of the war were solved and the months past, little by little the battlefield became one of the largest graveyards ever constructed, the world moved on but the ninja living hidden among the freshly dug graves could not forget the deeply human trial they had all withstood there, they could not forget the unity that they now had from what they experienced and the bonds they had cast away from their old rulers.
-Founding-
Once the mourners had left the gravesite the few determined ninja who stayed behind from the very day of the battle that had been its creation set to work, gathering war orphans who had no other place to stay they began to form a village, first modifying shrines and existing structures to live in but eventually deciding to build in to the very ground itself to remain hidden. Rising these children there it was one of the youngest solders who made an observation, that the war hadn’t been decided by those who fought it, the war had been declared by perhaps just a handful of people, he wondered what would have happened if those people had never been around to declare the war, he wondered if the removal of just one or two people could have saved thousands of lives. It was this solder, little more than a chunin at the time who would eventually become their first leader giving them direction, not just to live for themselves but to try and make a difference in the bloody world of a ninja. They then declared themselves to be the village hidden among the graves, Hakaishigakure. At first things weren’t easy, dependent on alter offerings for food and graves for supplies but soon they began work on their village, building up their base and training the next generation, biding their time. Soon advancements in their jutsu and building methods allowed for them to create an entirely self-surfactant, but entirely hidden community. With its establishment and the next generation well on their way to becoming strong ninja their leader was appointed the first kage in its history.
-Rain of the first Hakakage-
The first Hakakage is still to date the youngest in the village’s history, in his old village he was barely over a chunin at age eighteen. It was his vision that had founded the grave village at its start. His white hair and philosophy of peace combined with the fact that he faked his death to found the village earned him the title “the white ghost of peace” and under his leadership the government of the village was established, appointing the ordinal six Obake and laying the foundations for the tunneled city. His ethics and compassion as well as his feats of strength made him an almost legendary figure among the cloud village. Ordinal from the leaf village he is said to have “carried the will of fire in to the grave” though his mission of pace through assassination was a somber one it was his leadership that made the village believe in it belief that if some killing had to be done it was better to save the most possible lives. Though he led the Hakaishigakure for many of its early years eventually a small group of ninja discovered the village’s existence, if they reported that a group of ninja bent on assassinating warlords to their superiors it would mean total destruction of the village, to prevent this the first Hakakage intervened and allowed himself to be killed as a traitor to save his village. This sacrifice stuck to his principles of preserving life, his death saving people in both the grave village and the opposing village, giving his life for peace.
-Rain of the second Hakakage to current-
The second Hakakage was one of the ordinal founding solders as well, a contemporary of the first who abandoned his position of rank and power within his former village of the stone and instead lived as a priest on the outskirts of the village repenting for his sins as a solder, but when his friend had fallen to save the village he answered the call to become the next Hakakage. Robed in black he protected the secrecy of the village under the title “The black priest” and it was under his leadership that the special squads were established. His ingenious system of strong espionage, clever defense to ward away outsiders and assassination allowed the village to thrive for many more years to come with out discovery. His organization of the grave village along with his keen head for leadership and quick decision making gained him a great deal of respect among the grave village and though his age was advanced he lead the village for longer than the first retiring with dignity and honor at a later age, believing that his actions as kage had finally atoned for his past. His successor was one of the first generation to grow up in the grave village, a powerful but highly intelligent ninja who would come to be known as “The red beast of the grave”
Village Specific Equipment:
List of Grave village ninja tools
Village specific Jutus:
Grave village secret art: Skeleton puppetry
Special Squads:
-YNC
-KYH
-ANK
Clans in the Grave Village:
-Shinimura
-Kenzoyoshi
-Makaizuka
Symbol:
Location: The red circle on the map indicates the approximate location of the grave villages territory, though there is yet to be an exact border drawn
Geography: For the most part the grave village is made up of plains of even, soft soil with shorter grasses, sporting only the rare lone tree. Apart from the nearby coastline the only bodies of water are occasional tiny marshes in low-lying areas with reeds and taller grasses. The topography of the grave village is mostly even above sea level with very few higher areas and drops off only at its rocky coastline which is dotted with small cliffs. The plains themselves are covered in what could be the largest graveyard on the continent, monuments and markers, stone walkways and temple like structures cover the landscape, from the surface it doesn’t appear to be any more than a graveyard but every kind of structure from houses to forges to farms are contained inside, some underground, there is a network of paths overhead and a network of tunnels beneath allowing people to get around the area and many of the graves and monuments contain hidden mechanisms to open doors to these tunnels. Even on the brightest of days it appears to be an omissions and unpleasant place, but the Hakaishigakure ninja have no problems calling it home, underground the village is well lit and decidedly more alive looking with earthen walls and specialized phosphorescent lighting.
Weather: The region is not far from the coastline allowing for cooler weather and winds, though it is closer to the southern part of the territory the area is still a colder temperate zone. Though it has all four seasons spring and summer are decidedly milder and winters can occasionally be harsh. In the early mourning’s and evenings the area is covered by a dense veil of fog caused by the nearby ocean mist that usually burns off by noon. The air is moist but rarely receives much precipitation, heavy downpours are not unheard of but do not last nearly as long.
Population: The grave village has perhaps the smallest population of any ninja village, on par with only the completely obscure but its made up pretty much entirely of ninja. Everyone tends to serve duel occupations in the village, being a ninja first and foremost but also serving some other purpose to help the village. This demonstrates a very strong degree of loyalty among the grave ninja and up until now missing nin from the area has been completely unheard of. The grave villages sensei jonin are considered to be top quality as their academy turns out very strong ninja and the village has already been host to quite a few prodigies over the brief few years in its early existence.
Economy and production: The grave village has little going for it economically other than the fact that it is totally self-sufficient. Due to its small population size the ninja village is able to sustain itself with out exporting or importing any goods or services what so ever. Within the village there exists very well planed out irrigation systems and tunnels allowing them access to all the natural resources they require as well as allowing them to operate smoothly. As they tend not to associate with other nations and are a relatively small village they prefer a barter system rather than the use of gold money though they do possess a fair amount.
Defense: The primary weapon of the grave village as a defense is fear, their hidden location and superstition as well as an almost unparalleled force for espionage. The grave ninja spend a great deal of time and effort keeping tabs on the movements and plans of other villages to avoid being noticed by them. The area itself is recognized by every village to be a large, haunted graveyard which even the bravest ninja avoid treading. As it is only known of as a graveyard other nations see nothing of value there and avoid moving their forces through it as it is considered ‘hallowed ground’. If for some reason a hapless ninja did wander in to the area they would fall victim to the many hidden tags that exist in the area, some act as surveillance seals, able to allow ninja within the village to sense the newcomer and others act as genjutsu creating seals that cause the newcomer to experience illusions of ghosts and monsters, terrifying sounds in the distance and shapes in the fog which intensify the closer they get. The fog itself is also thick with a toxin that all grave ninja are immune to which causes fear in even the most fearless ninja amplifying the fear caused by the genjutsus in place. This works with the areas reputation as haunted to scare most ninja away. If for some reason these illusions fail the area is full of perfect hiding places and the grave ninja can ambush the threat from nearly any direction as well as trigger any number of traps laid there for just this reason. Lastly the actual entrance to the village is considered impossible to detect with out foreknowledge, hidden among the countless identical graves and monuments is a mechanism to open the entrance by a means that only grave ninja are taught. Below the tunnels are buttressed with the finest in structural engineering and defensive jutsu so that not even a large-scale earthquake could collapse them.
Military: Though the Hakaishigakure has a determined and talented reserve of ninja they are a purely defensive, neutral nation that has goals other than conquest on their mind. Primarily their ninja forces excel in the unseen, spying and keeping themselves concealed, most of their ninja are on missions to gather information from other ninja villages about the affairs of the world and keeping an eye out for information regarding the territory they live inside. Most of their actual fighting would come in to play if their territory were ever attacked, something that they are always vigilant for. They are a strong and well-equipped but small force that is more focused on the survival of the village than the decimation of their enemies. Though they have a talent for assassination they carry this out sparingly.
Philosophy and beliefs: The Hakaishigakure ninja are taught one simple doctrine: to avoid wars and preserve the greatest number of lives. This peaceful ideology is what they use to solve the ethical dilemmas that ninja commonly face, when faced with the opportunity to kill an opponent they simply question weather or not that persons death will save the lives of more people, this is why they commonly attempt to assassinate those who would cause wars, killing one to save millions. For this reason the grave village ninja tend not to kill innocent or weaker opponents, but rather simply subdue them or drive them away. Grave ninja are also taught a great deal of respect for the dead although they have a gravesite as there home and, whenever possible leave victims in dignified positions. They are however a closed society and welcoming outsiders to the village is incredibly rare and relations with the outside word are heavily discouraged, to protect the village’s secrecy.
Government and Ranks: The ranks in order of lowest to highest; Academy student, Genin, Chunin, Jonin (general forces), Sensei Jonin and the special squads YNC KYH and ANK, The council of Village elders, The six Obake (Special squad leaders, General forces leader, Village elder leader and Kage’s advisor), then finally the Hakakage. The leader and usually considered the strongest of the grave ninja is the Hakakage, however unlike other villages that answer to a nation the grave village has a three branch system of government, the Hakakage is absolute leader but can intern be overridden by a vote from the six Obake, a group made of the six highest individuals, the Obake are half appointed by the pervious kage half appointed by the council of elders who rule on judicial maters. The kage recognizes his role to be first and foremost the service of his people, as all leaders do, and they have a code of laws similar to most ninja villages with a focus on remaining hidden and preserving the peace and lives of the most people.
Special squads: Though the village has the same ranks as others apart from ANBU they possess three divisions considered higher than Jonin with a specialized purpose. While Jonin fill the general forces, sensei and medical divisions the special squads work under direct orders from the kage and perform most of the outside missions. The first of these squads being the Yurei no chinmoku (ghosts of silence) or YNC for short which specializes in espionage, venturing out to spy on individuals in the outside world to collect data for the Hakaishigakure. The second special squad being the Koke’nin Yokai Hosho (guardian spirit sentinels) or KYH for short, these ninja operate the network of surveillance, traps, illusions and ambushes that constitute the grave village’s defense, usually sound inside the village keeping watch using the various surveillance seals but in the event of an attack or newcomer they quickly rise above ground to meet the threat. Lastly there is the Akuma no kainyu (demons of intervention) or ANK for short, this is the elite assassination squad used by the grave village to eliminate those who would cause wars, they are by far the deadliest ninja in the village venturing out in teams to accomplish dire missions at all costs. Apart from the special squads there is a rank beneath kage level comprised of six ninja, the captains of each special squad, the leader of the regular forces of Jonin, the Kage’s personal advisor and the leader of the villages council of elders, this substructure under the kage serves as the main pillar of leadership called the six obake (named after the shape shifting supernatural creatures in Japanese folklore). Hakaishigakure’s kage is called the Hakakage (or Grave shadow)
History:
-Origin-
During the fifth shinobi world war their came to pass a truly horrific battle, a clash between four of the great nations‘ ninja villages, the stone, cloud, sand and leaf as well as four of the lesser villages, the sound, grass, rain and waterfall all came to fight at the same field as its position was once thought to be integral to military strategy all parties were determined to claim the area. What followed as a battle lasting well in to six weeks with no side gaining any clear advantage, eventually the lesser villages were pushed back from casualties far to great for them to keep fighting but the stronger three villages continued to send ninja, day after day the mounting number of casualties went from large to an outright atrocity and eventually only a handful of ninja from each village remained, unable to keep fighting for such a cause, each a changed man or woman. They then resolved to stop their fighting as fellow humans and decided instead to hide from the villages that ordered the massacre they had been a part of, hiding there on the field. In time the differences of the war were solved and the months past, little by little the battlefield became one of the largest graveyards ever constructed, the world moved on but the ninja living hidden among the freshly dug graves could not forget the deeply human trial they had all withstood there, they could not forget the unity that they now had from what they experienced and the bonds they had cast away from their old rulers.
-Founding-
Once the mourners had left the gravesite the few determined ninja who stayed behind from the very day of the battle that had been its creation set to work, gathering war orphans who had no other place to stay they began to form a village, first modifying shrines and existing structures to live in but eventually deciding to build in to the very ground itself to remain hidden. Rising these children there it was one of the youngest solders who made an observation, that the war hadn’t been decided by those who fought it, the war had been declared by perhaps just a handful of people, he wondered what would have happened if those people had never been around to declare the war, he wondered if the removal of just one or two people could have saved thousands of lives. It was this solder, little more than a chunin at the time who would eventually become their first leader giving them direction, not just to live for themselves but to try and make a difference in the bloody world of a ninja. They then declared themselves to be the village hidden among the graves, Hakaishigakure. At first things weren’t easy, dependent on alter offerings for food and graves for supplies but soon they began work on their village, building up their base and training the next generation, biding their time. Soon advancements in their jutsu and building methods allowed for them to create an entirely self-surfactant, but entirely hidden community. With its establishment and the next generation well on their way to becoming strong ninja their leader was appointed the first kage in its history.
-Rain of the first Hakakage-
The first Hakakage is still to date the youngest in the village’s history, in his old village he was barely over a chunin at age eighteen. It was his vision that had founded the grave village at its start. His white hair and philosophy of peace combined with the fact that he faked his death to found the village earned him the title “the white ghost of peace” and under his leadership the government of the village was established, appointing the ordinal six Obake and laying the foundations for the tunneled city. His ethics and compassion as well as his feats of strength made him an almost legendary figure among the cloud village. Ordinal from the leaf village he is said to have “carried the will of fire in to the grave” though his mission of pace through assassination was a somber one it was his leadership that made the village believe in it belief that if some killing had to be done it was better to save the most possible lives. Though he led the Hakaishigakure for many of its early years eventually a small group of ninja discovered the village’s existence, if they reported that a group of ninja bent on assassinating warlords to their superiors it would mean total destruction of the village, to prevent this the first Hakakage intervened and allowed himself to be killed as a traitor to save his village. This sacrifice stuck to his principles of preserving life, his death saving people in both the grave village and the opposing village, giving his life for peace.
-Rain of the second Hakakage to current-
The second Hakakage was one of the ordinal founding solders as well, a contemporary of the first who abandoned his position of rank and power within his former village of the stone and instead lived as a priest on the outskirts of the village repenting for his sins as a solder, but when his friend had fallen to save the village he answered the call to become the next Hakakage. Robed in black he protected the secrecy of the village under the title “The black priest” and it was under his leadership that the special squads were established. His ingenious system of strong espionage, clever defense to ward away outsiders and assassination allowed the village to thrive for many more years to come with out discovery. His organization of the grave village along with his keen head for leadership and quick decision making gained him a great deal of respect among the grave village and though his age was advanced he lead the village for longer than the first retiring with dignity and honor at a later age, believing that his actions as kage had finally atoned for his past. His successor was one of the first generation to grow up in the grave village, a powerful but highly intelligent ninja who would come to be known as “The red beast of the grave”
Village Specific Equipment:
List of Grave village ninja tools
Village specific Jutus:
Grave village secret art: Skeleton puppetry
Special Squads:
-YNC
-KYH
-ANK
Clans in the Grave Village:
-Shinimura
-Kenzoyoshi
-Makaizuka