Legend has it that hidden within the mist-covered foothills and mountains of the Tea Country is a looming fortress city that hangs above a valley so deep that the nearly perpetual mist cover shrouds the ground and keeps it from sight and from within that tenebrous citadel the ruling figures of Otogakure quietly control all of the northern territory of Tea Country up to the border it shares with Fire Country. This ruling faction is shrouded in as much myth and legend as the City of Secrets itself, perhaps more so, but it was upon this day that somewhere in the Tea Country wilderness three of those ruling heads met in person within a darkened chamber, kneeling upon the floor before a truly impressive throne of blackened and polished wood that was adorned with flickering candles at a cadence which could only be described as haphazard. Wax slowly dripped from the edges of the various candles which burned at uneven sizes all across the floor around the feet of the great seat but the light shed from the candles seemed only to illuminate the forms of the three individuals kneeling before the throne. Upon the figure sat a shrouded man who seemed as much a shadow as he was a person, his physical form shifting from moment to moment as though it were made up of thousands of smaller parts all bound together to serve as a greater whole.
"I will hear the Ranger Order first." Whispered the shadowed form of the man named Kageoni, Otogakurian Grand Master. His voice slurred with a buzzing audible texture to them that made him sound almost as though his voice were a score of people speaking through a crackling radio in unison but the command was clear; "Begin."
Each of the three before Kageoni stood in unison but the individual on the left and on the right both took simultaneous steps backward to leave the one in the middle standing at the forefront and squarely in the spotlight of the Otokage's attention. A monolithic man, the representative of the Ranger Order towered over the other two and was built like a living mountain. Tightly corded muscles rippled across his body underneath a covering of taut, tanned skin that bore an innumerable amount of scars from ancient battles. Possessed of wolf-like features, the Ranger's face was devoid of emotion as he stood at attention like the other two-- though perhaps a bit straighter than either of them --with his right hand curled into a fist and pressed against the left side of his chest.
"Our offering has been selected." Rumbled the beastly Ranger, sharpened teeth showing just barely behind his lips as he spoke slowly and deliberately. "I will be proud to represent us at--"
"Master of Rangers." Interrupted the cacophony of buzzing voices that made up the form of Kageoni. "Am I to understand that the Ranger Order has decided not to present an offering?"
"I am the most capable of the Ranger Order. I am our offering." Insisted the Master of Rangers, once more his words lacking in any inflection which might have been taken as frustration or anger.
"Only I recall explicitly forbidding any of the Forbidden Masters from participating." Retorted Kageoni, a slight hint of irritation creeping it's way into his voice. "Unless you are offering challenge to me for my position?"
Behind the Ranger the other two figures continued to stand at attention with their closed fists in similar stances as their contemporary standing before them but even still they exchanged a glance between them as the buzzing clicks of Kageoni's multifaceted voice finished speaking, his question hanging upon the iron-clad tension in the air that had come from the Master of Ranger's insistence on representing his Order. There was a moment of pregnant silence between the gathered four as Kageoni gave the Master of Rangers ample time to think over his next choice of words carefully. It seemed as though he was choosing to remain silent as his answer. He would not verbally refuse a challenge such as that but nor could he defeat the Grand Master in such a contest and he knew it. He only had once course of action which would not lead to ruinous consequences for him and that was to remain silent.
"So be it. Master of Oracles, step forth." Concluded Kageoni, dismissing the Master of Rangers and calling the next of the three up to speak in the same statement. As if on queue, the Master of Rangers took a long step backwards and stepped into line with the other three before the individual on his right stepped forward.
Perhaps the only thing which could be described as average about the Master of Oracles was her height. Long tresses of luxurious black hair fell about her pale-skinned face and thin, beautiful features. Dressed in a long black gown that left just enough to the imagination to be dangerous, the Master of Oracles did not exude physical power in the same way that the Master of Rangers did but the hungry glint in her eye betrayed her as no less of a dangerous creature than he.
"The Oracles present no offering, Grand Master."
Once more there was a dissatisfied chittering from where Kageoni sat and in the span of a single heartbeat the undulating mass of collected shadows that was his body which had previously reclined upon the dark wood of the throne that dominated the room surged forth in a formless grouping of tendrils and appendages that quickly reformed into the vague shape of a long-haired man with burning coals for eyes standing closely enough behind the Master of Oracles for her to have felt his breath upon her skin... if he'd been breathing. For her part the Master of Oracles seemed relatively unfazed by this sudden aggressive moment and stayed resolute in the face of the peril she was in at the moment as Kageoni loomed over her.
"You have each grown willful in my absence. Did I not command that the Orders each produce an offering to be considered as our representative for the coming tournament? I am certain that I did."
The threat of violence was thick in the aggravated words of Kageoni but still the Master of Oracles managed to hold fast beneath his withering words despite the fact she was wholly surrounded by the mass of dark shapes that made up his physical form at the moment.
"The tournament presents an opportunity for my Order to study the details of the foreign shinobi which will be in attendance. I cannot trust such an important task to the other two orders and so I have chosen to conserve our brightest minds for this purpose as opposed to participation in the tournament."
The suffocating presence of Kageoni withdrew after a moment of consideration, returning to the black throne and to the sitting posture that it had been in before it's sudden approach towards the Master of Oracles.
"I accept your decision but do not think that there will not be consequences for disobeying my instructions." Kageoni's gaze flickered to the Master of Rangers for a moment before returning to the Master of Oracles and in that moment it was clear that there would be ramifications in store for both of them for having disobeyed the Otokage when he returned from abroad. "Master of Journeymen."
The Master of Oracles returned to her place in line and the final member of the congregation stepped forth with an awkward gait that caused him to take longer to get to the forward position that the other two had managed to step forward to and back from with simple grace. To describe the Master of Journeymen as a monster would be to undersell the hideousness of his physical form. Hunched and malformed, the Master of Journeymen's body was a horrifying amalgamation of flesh and metal. His right arm was gone entirely, replaced with an appendage that separated out into several smaller servo-arms that each ended in a three-fingered claw. Rather than place his right hand over his left breast as the other two had, he was doing his best to hold a shaking left hand to the right side of his mutilated body.
"The Journeymen Order has selected a candidate. She is prepared to participate as we speak." The Master of Journeymen's lips did not move as he spoke-- his face was pulled into an awful, almost permanent rictus grin of metal fangs and teeth --instead his voice possessed a processed quality to it as though it were being produced by a speaker somewhere on his body. "She has tested above expectations in every perimeter. All of our testing data is at your disposal, Grand Master."
"Well done, Master of Journeymen. Bring her here. I will make my final decision after I have met her."
Bowing silently in acquiescence, the Master of Journeymen took a step back into line and then finally the chittering and writhing form of Kageoni stood up before the three Forbidden Masters who each straightened a little bit at his rising.
"The Wind Daimyo's usefulness to us grows to a close which means that soon Sunagakure will cease looking inward and once more be looking outward towards the world. This will be our last significant opportunity to gather information before the game begins in earnest. We will be ill prepared to match them if we squander this opportunity and as the foolish Ishii Shiro is discovering they are not to be underestimated. Do not forget that."
Each of the three Forbidden Masters bowed silently and then, seemingly satisfied with the matter of their meeting being closed the mass of shadowy creatures that had made up the present form of the Grand Master dispersed into the depths of the shadowed room and with them went the light of the candles that adorned the Grand Master's throne leaving the three Masters in the complete darkness unsure of whether or not their Otokage had truly left them or if his presence still lurked in the room about them. There was still much to do in the coming weeks to prepare for the coming of foreign shinobi from all over the world and each of the Masters-- Kageoni included --had their own agenda they wished to fulfill in the process.
Only time would tell if they were fated to succeed or not.
"I will hear the Ranger Order first." Whispered the shadowed form of the man named Kageoni, Otogakurian Grand Master. His voice slurred with a buzzing audible texture to them that made him sound almost as though his voice were a score of people speaking through a crackling radio in unison but the command was clear; "Begin."
Each of the three before Kageoni stood in unison but the individual on the left and on the right both took simultaneous steps backward to leave the one in the middle standing at the forefront and squarely in the spotlight of the Otokage's attention. A monolithic man, the representative of the Ranger Order towered over the other two and was built like a living mountain. Tightly corded muscles rippled across his body underneath a covering of taut, tanned skin that bore an innumerable amount of scars from ancient battles. Possessed of wolf-like features, the Ranger's face was devoid of emotion as he stood at attention like the other two-- though perhaps a bit straighter than either of them --with his right hand curled into a fist and pressed against the left side of his chest.
"Our offering has been selected." Rumbled the beastly Ranger, sharpened teeth showing just barely behind his lips as he spoke slowly and deliberately. "I will be proud to represent us at--"
"Master of Rangers." Interrupted the cacophony of buzzing voices that made up the form of Kageoni. "Am I to understand that the Ranger Order has decided not to present an offering?"
"I am the most capable of the Ranger Order. I am our offering." Insisted the Master of Rangers, once more his words lacking in any inflection which might have been taken as frustration or anger.
"Only I recall explicitly forbidding any of the Forbidden Masters from participating." Retorted Kageoni, a slight hint of irritation creeping it's way into his voice. "Unless you are offering challenge to me for my position?"
Behind the Ranger the other two figures continued to stand at attention with their closed fists in similar stances as their contemporary standing before them but even still they exchanged a glance between them as the buzzing clicks of Kageoni's multifaceted voice finished speaking, his question hanging upon the iron-clad tension in the air that had come from the Master of Ranger's insistence on representing his Order. There was a moment of pregnant silence between the gathered four as Kageoni gave the Master of Rangers ample time to think over his next choice of words carefully. It seemed as though he was choosing to remain silent as his answer. He would not verbally refuse a challenge such as that but nor could he defeat the Grand Master in such a contest and he knew it. He only had once course of action which would not lead to ruinous consequences for him and that was to remain silent.
"So be it. Master of Oracles, step forth." Concluded Kageoni, dismissing the Master of Rangers and calling the next of the three up to speak in the same statement. As if on queue, the Master of Rangers took a long step backwards and stepped into line with the other three before the individual on his right stepped forward.
Perhaps the only thing which could be described as average about the Master of Oracles was her height. Long tresses of luxurious black hair fell about her pale-skinned face and thin, beautiful features. Dressed in a long black gown that left just enough to the imagination to be dangerous, the Master of Oracles did not exude physical power in the same way that the Master of Rangers did but the hungry glint in her eye betrayed her as no less of a dangerous creature than he.
"The Oracles present no offering, Grand Master."
Once more there was a dissatisfied chittering from where Kageoni sat and in the span of a single heartbeat the undulating mass of collected shadows that was his body which had previously reclined upon the dark wood of the throne that dominated the room surged forth in a formless grouping of tendrils and appendages that quickly reformed into the vague shape of a long-haired man with burning coals for eyes standing closely enough behind the Master of Oracles for her to have felt his breath upon her skin... if he'd been breathing. For her part the Master of Oracles seemed relatively unfazed by this sudden aggressive moment and stayed resolute in the face of the peril she was in at the moment as Kageoni loomed over her.
"You have each grown willful in my absence. Did I not command that the Orders each produce an offering to be considered as our representative for the coming tournament? I am certain that I did."
The threat of violence was thick in the aggravated words of Kageoni but still the Master of Oracles managed to hold fast beneath his withering words despite the fact she was wholly surrounded by the mass of dark shapes that made up his physical form at the moment.
"The tournament presents an opportunity for my Order to study the details of the foreign shinobi which will be in attendance. I cannot trust such an important task to the other two orders and so I have chosen to conserve our brightest minds for this purpose as opposed to participation in the tournament."
The suffocating presence of Kageoni withdrew after a moment of consideration, returning to the black throne and to the sitting posture that it had been in before it's sudden approach towards the Master of Oracles.
"I accept your decision but do not think that there will not be consequences for disobeying my instructions." Kageoni's gaze flickered to the Master of Rangers for a moment before returning to the Master of Oracles and in that moment it was clear that there would be ramifications in store for both of them for having disobeyed the Otokage when he returned from abroad. "Master of Journeymen."
The Master of Oracles returned to her place in line and the final member of the congregation stepped forth with an awkward gait that caused him to take longer to get to the forward position that the other two had managed to step forward to and back from with simple grace. To describe the Master of Journeymen as a monster would be to undersell the hideousness of his physical form. Hunched and malformed, the Master of Journeymen's body was a horrifying amalgamation of flesh and metal. His right arm was gone entirely, replaced with an appendage that separated out into several smaller servo-arms that each ended in a three-fingered claw. Rather than place his right hand over his left breast as the other two had, he was doing his best to hold a shaking left hand to the right side of his mutilated body.
"The Journeymen Order has selected a candidate. She is prepared to participate as we speak." The Master of Journeymen's lips did not move as he spoke-- his face was pulled into an awful, almost permanent rictus grin of metal fangs and teeth --instead his voice possessed a processed quality to it as though it were being produced by a speaker somewhere on his body. "She has tested above expectations in every perimeter. All of our testing data is at your disposal, Grand Master."
"Well done, Master of Journeymen. Bring her here. I will make my final decision after I have met her."
Bowing silently in acquiescence, the Master of Journeymen took a step back into line and then finally the chittering and writhing form of Kageoni stood up before the three Forbidden Masters who each straightened a little bit at his rising.
"The Wind Daimyo's usefulness to us grows to a close which means that soon Sunagakure will cease looking inward and once more be looking outward towards the world. This will be our last significant opportunity to gather information before the game begins in earnest. We will be ill prepared to match them if we squander this opportunity and as the foolish Ishii Shiro is discovering they are not to be underestimated. Do not forget that."
Each of the three Forbidden Masters bowed silently and then, seemingly satisfied with the matter of their meeting being closed the mass of shadowy creatures that had made up the present form of the Grand Master dispersed into the depths of the shadowed room and with them went the light of the candles that adorned the Grand Master's throne leaving the three Masters in the complete darkness unsure of whether or not their Otokage had truly left them or if his presence still lurked in the room about them. There was still much to do in the coming weeks to prepare for the coming of foreign shinobi from all over the world and each of the Masters-- Kageoni included --had their own agenda they wished to fulfill in the process.
Only time would tell if they were fated to succeed or not.