The Sage's Mountain [In one of many mountains in one of many lands]

[RasenganWarrior]

The Sage's Mountain
& The Cavern of the Guardian Hermit



The Legend

This mystical mountain was frequented by the great ninja of long past. Their stories were passed down through the generations and they were later regarded as sages. Each sage took a different path but many frequented this mountain from time to time to meet one another to meditate and train. Other ninja frequented this place in search of the source of the sages' interest,and spoke with the hermit that lived there. Some believed his words, some sat entertained by his yarn and others dismissed him quickly. As time passed fewer found their way to this mystical place. Finally the path eroded away from a great storm and the stories were forgotten or retold as fairy tails and bedtime stories to would be shinobi.

Three years ago a young shinobi stumbled across a scroll of an ancient ancestor. It had maps, and charts from long forgotten journeys. All were carefully drawn, not a tree out of place. As the young shinobi unrolled the scroll further the final map was drawn not in the careful hand of before. This chart was drawn with a finger in what appeared to be dirty red ink, beside it was the caption, "The Sage's Mountain". The shinobi rolled the scroll and kept it always at their side. The precise charts provided a great aide on difficult missions as their team sprawled across many lands. The precise charts alone allow saved their lives and others many times, showing escape routes and secret passages through et harshest of terrains.

The shinobi went on to become a chunin and while returning from a long far away mission, paused to gather water from a stream. While filling the canteen the shinobi looked down to find the bank was comprised of a bright red dirt. A quick look around revealed that the immediate area was comprised solely of the bright red dirt. The team, all familiar with the scroll, quickly huddled around the stunned shinobi. They had spent many hours sitting around imagining what mystical treasure that final chart would lead them to. It was after all the only chart thats origin was unidentified by its maker. They spoke of it often and promised to share it with one another if any of them ever found its secret.

They hovered over it as the shinobi dipped a finger in the canteen, dragged it through the dirt and across the scroll. A second later a heavy sigh emanated from the others. The mark was not as red as the chart. The others grabbed their gear and laughed as they brushed off the fresh disappointment with a heated discussion of whose theory of the mountain was best. The lone shinobi drew a kunai and left a small cut on a clean finger. The others saw what was happening and laughed. They each had tried blood on other scrolls before but the color was not the same. The shinobi placed the bloody finger once again in the dirt, the others hair stood on end… They were all struck with such excitement, that they appeared to be caught in severe genjutsu. The finger drew across the page and when it was lifted it was instantly apparent that it was a match.

The team quickly sat down and began deciding what to do next. Their mission had ended and their jonin advisors had promised them one month for training after their successful return. They were less than a day away from their village so they sent message to their advisors telling them their exact location mission report and projected date of return. Upon receiving conformation and approval that could never had come fast enough, they spread out in search of the start of the path. They located a broken wooden post after the first 10 minutes of searching and followed the map along steep cliffs, dense forests and across some of the most treacherous terrain any of them had ever seen. They finally reached the head of the trail, and despite being covered from head to toe in the bright red dirt, had not suffered a single scratch. All that was there was a small shack beside the mouth of a cave which despite its obvious depth, seemed to glow with life. The deeper it went, the more vibrant the plant life grew despite the moutain side being quite barren.

Suddenly the door to the shack swung open and fell right off its hinges from its own weight and decrepitness. The three shinobi tensed prepared for anything kanai's drawn and held firm. An old man stood their with a rack of four, rather large smoked fish. He chuckled, smiled, turned his back and beckoned them to follow, "The tea will be ready young ones, it is the special sage mountain blend. Wont you come in?"

They followed somewhat shocked, although the had put their weapons away, they maintained the battle sense in the event that something might spring them into action. Upon entering the small shack all worries were lifted. They found a warm meal, a gentle friend and a pleasant conversation. The hermit told them the legends of the past and entertained them with stories of the great ninja that had visited him beside the cave he so treasured. The shinobi were already thoroughly satisfied with the decision they had made to come as the stories seemed to put shame to any ideas of treasure or riches they had thought the chart would lead them to. The hermit turned to the young chart holder and spoke, "And the last young one I have seen pass through my cavern was indeed your great great grandfather, he was the one who drew the chart for you to find me here was he not?" The shinobi nodded. He spoke in a new tone, one more stoic and sincere, "Would you like to venture in to the Sage's Mountain and see for yourselves what it has to offer?" The three nodded, eyes transfixed on the hermit. He once more spoke in his cheery voice, "You shall venture into the mountain and create a world for you to use however you see fit. Well then I shall tell you the eight tenets of the mountain."

The Eight Tenets
1. The world formed belongs to all and is tied to all equally. Therefore, it shall remain until all have let it go.

Spoiler

When you reach the largest portion of the cavern, you and whoever is accompanying you (there must be at least two for this to work) will decide on a world you wish to create. Within this world the rule goes, if you can imagine it, it can exist. If you want it to have no gravity you can do that, as long as the entire party agrees. This allows you to create any type of terrain and any set of physics that govern how the world will function. The basic laws of the naruto universe will all exsist unless you state otherwise at the beginning. This also means that the genjutsu like world will persist until all participants in the world have released it. To release the world you can willingly release it as you would release a genjutsu you casted, or you can be rendered incapacitated (knocked out or dead). Basically, until everyone left calls it quits or their is only one person left conscious, the world will remain.

2. Only those truly willing are granted entry.

Spoiler

Pretty self explanatory, your character cannot be forced into the cavern or to participate by anyone, genjutsu or otherwise. If they attempt this your character will just reappear outside the cavern.

3. Those who seek unrequited malice shall pass, unable to linger within the mountain.

Spoiler

Basically this means that if you are trying to go into the mountain in order to harm someone that is not trying to harm you, the mountain will kick you out. If everyone is going in with good intentions then the mountain will allow it. Like wise if everyone is going in with bad intentions (trying to detain people, distract, trick or other devious things) the mountain will allow it. But if some are going with good intentions and others with bad, the mountain will make the bad reappear outside the mountain like in tenet 2.

4. Nott shall be granted passage between worlds, or while at which time the dept. is paid.

Spoiler

There is no way to contact people outside the genjutsu if you are in it, and they can not contact you. You are also unable to leave until the criteria from tenet one is achieved. The dept. will be explained in tenet 6.

5. That which is taken or given shall be returned in form.

Spoiler

Anything that happened under the genjutsu is undone. This means no wounds, no deaths, no muscle gain, no memories, no scars, no hunger, no exhaustion, no nothing. You will be exactly the same as when you entered aside from normal aging and things that effect you ongoing. But don't worry about the memories of what happened, thats in tenet 6.

6. In exchange for the experience alone, all that is taken is the sacrifice of a second time spent.

Spoiler

After the genjutsu like world is dispelled, participants will have the option to relive their experiences from a combination first/third party perspective. If they deny this option they will find themselves outside the mountain with no memory of what happened inside. If they choose to pay the time they will remain in the mountain for the same amount of time the genjutsu was in effect. They will have the opportunity to view the world from a first person perspective out of their own eyes or from a different perspective like a bird's eye view or however else they choose. Although you wont get stronger you have the potential to learn from pushing yourself al the way to death, if you so choose and not die. It is perfect for sparring all out against allies or the ultimate real life battle training.

7. Admittance is withheld until others have ventured.

Spoiler

Simply put, you can't use the mountain twice in a row, you must wait for another party to use it before you do. However, you can use it as many times as you like in one life time. Getting thrown out of the mountain counts as a use.

8. Those who pay their time and honor the mountain shall be granted the seal of the mountain.

Spoiler

If you follow the rules of the mountain and pay the dept. then upon leaving you are give its seal. The seal will manifest as the image in the spoiler below. You however can choose its location and color. The seal will appear as a tattoo on any part of the body you choose. It is normally not visible. It becomes visible by one of two ways. If you are close to someone else who bares the seal, they both will glow dimly. Or if you say, "Guide me to the mountain" the seal will glow brightly with the diagonal lines pointing to the current location of the start of the trail to the mountain.

The three shinobi eagerly fished their hearty meals, thanked the hermit and made their way into the mountain. They remained in the mountain for six days, three days of the harshest and most enriching training they had ever endured, and three days to pay the dept. to the mountain and retain their experience. When they exited they each bore the mark of the mountain. They all then decided that the age of the mountain was needed again, so they each pulled out a scroll, made a small cut on their index finger, dipped their fingers in the red dirt of the mountain and drew the same chart that lead them to this mystical mountain. With that, they thanked the kind hermit and made their way back to the base of the trail, and finally, home to their village. They showed the marks and the maps to the people of the village who eagerly wanted to see what the young shinobi had seen but when they reached the bank where they had first found the red dirt, it had gone along with the mark at the base of the trail. The mountain had moved and its red dirt along with it to a different mountain in the world. But by now, word and the maps had spread across the lands so that when people found the red dirt, they could find their way to the mountain. The mountain itself seemed to be able to sense when the people seeking it were ready, and would appear before them along their journeys.

The Mark of the Mountain

Image

The Red Dirt Of The Trail

Image

I have been working on this thread for a long time. It started as a vague idea while daydreaming in my marketing class. The red dirt is actually a photo a classmate of mine took while we were both on a school trip to Kauai Hawaii and that trip gets some of the credit for the idea of this thread.

[RasenganWarrior]

OOC: If possible in the future I will be writing Briato, Pinta, and Riyu's experience in the mountain. They are the first of all the rpg characters to go to the mountain all are welcome to do the mountain, please follow the rules in the first post, those of the rpg section, those of the forum and anything the mods might tell you. Other than that, this is meant as a place to be creative, expand your characters limits and promote their personal growth instead of strictly strength. The idea is to fight without blood shed. Also please let me know if you liked the short story I wrote for this.