Sunshine History (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sunshinehistory) wrote2015-04-07 06:03 pm
sunshinehistory) wrote2015-04-07 06:03 pm
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Crusnik and Vampire Bloodline
Crusnik
History
The Crusnik bloodline is old, and some say directly gifted from a brother of Princess Kaguya. Admittedly, those stories started with the whispers of the first people to learn to cage chakra outside of Hagoromo's teachings, and it was a difficult to pick the truth from the rumor, to know what skills truly existed before the Princess came to earth to lead the people. Those who are aware of the history, though rare, would make it clear that the bloodline was older than even that... though different.
Because of this, the bloodline is spread out over the countries to the east of the main continent, either nestled in publicly, like the Nightroads of Kirigakure, or treated more obscurely, as the Nightlords of Tea. There are other branches of the family, of course, but these two are the only ones that have obvious contact with the shinobi world at the present time.
One thing to be noted, is that the Crusnik bloodline is bloody, brutal, and often frightening to those who see it, and led in no small way to the stories of beings like vampires. Admittedly, they weren't the only ones to cause such stories to exist at all, but considering how closely their forms match some of the stories, there is humor in the idea that it was related to them at all, especially given that this bloodline has no aversion to sunlight at all.
The Nightroads
Native to Kirigakure, this was a lesser branch of the family that quickly broke away from the main family in the early years of their existence, setting out on their own and making their way into the islands to the north. This meant that they were present when Kirigakure united. The small numbers of people already in place for the founding of the village, to say nothing of other locals with similar pale coloring, ensured that the family turned into one of silver hair and pale eyes in this area, though the bloodline diluted so that those who would master it were rare, which meant that those who got the benefits of said mastery were even rarer, and control became a far more urgent issue.
Poorly treated in recent years, it's little wonder that the other branches of the bloodline have been looking askance to the Kirigakure line, making it their business to check if anyone has reached blood mastery in the last decades. While some elders still live from earlier times amid the clan, it is not promising, and it appears that the secrets of a true mastery might be gone from this branch entirely, should one of the other lines not step in to fix the issue.
The Nightlords
The polar opposite of the Nightroads, the Nightlords hold onto their original name, never having decided to try to humble their clan down with a pseudonym for travel and being walked upon. This part of the clan faded into the background, working in the shadows and keeping themselves out of prominent view. Often masters of their bloodline, this segment of the family is incredibly long-lived, holding to the appearance of youth for decades after it should have faded away. In this way, whatever age the bloodline is mastered at is often the age at which one appears to remain, thus leading to situations where a seeming teenager is over a hundred years old. This works in good stead however, as each heir to the head of this clan takes up a title of the same name whenever her training is complete, becoming the new Empress of Tea.
Because of the way Tea's leadership for day to day running is decided, they need a stable ruler to handle things around the frequent changes of leadership, and thus was born the Lady Augusta Vradica, the Undying Eternal Mother. Her face is never seen in public, as she always wears a veil, and her visage is always maintained by the current ruling Nightroad head of clan. These women are always dark haired and slight in body, as they're expected to master their bloodline as young as possible.
It's not unheard of for members of this branch of the clan to well exceed a hundred years before starting to age again, leaving the oldest of this branch of the bloodline to have died at just shy of two hundred during the warring states era.
Unlike their Nightroad brethren, however, few children are born of this branch of the clan, with the bloodline mastery making conception infinitely more difficult. Due to this, the Tea branch of the clan, while much more informed of their history and long-lived due to almost to the man having mastery of their bloodline, are also significantly smaller in number.
Abilities and Affinities
As with any bloodline, there has to be something special that makes it worth cultivating. The Crusnik bloodline is all about the blood itself, and making it dance to exactly your needs at any given moment.
Taking Blood
The most basic of abilities that any Crusnik bloodline user can acquire is the ability to take blood into themselves from another. This can be done through touch, and in the earliest stages of training is often by putting an open cut to someone else's wound to pull blood directly from them. As mastery rises over this aspect of ability, it becomes possible that a user can take in blood through any point in their body, or even weapons created from blood using the bloodline, without any wounds being present at all. Usually when this is happening, the canines of the Crusnik are elongated, and their eyes might appear to glow. A side effect of taking in the blood of another in any manner is that it will immediately cause any wounds, no matter how grievous, to begin to heal themselves in direct relation to how much was absorbed. The more blood consumed, the faster the healing. This can even at times go so far as to renew lost limbs if the mastery of the skill is high enough.
Another benefit of this state is that both strength and endurance often jump, leaning that the bloodline user in question will be able to fight stronger and harder.
The downside is that the lower the ability of the Crusnik, the more likely they are to simply be lost in bloodlust and kill everyone around them while learning their abilities, which leads to unfortunate situations where the Crusnik in question might rip the throat out of whoever is fighting with them as much as an enemy. Some bloodline users never reach a point where they are not a danger to allies on the battlefield.
Blood Weapons
These weapons can only be formed from the blood of the Crusnik bloodline user, or blood that has been filtered through their body. They are only ever one shape, and are often reliant on personality, varying wildly from scythes, to tridents, to swords, and sometimes off into more obscure things. They are always Melee weapons, and they are always incredibly elaborate and sharp. Formed from blood itself, they are solid, sharp, and will hold as long as the wielder has chakra to spare. Often, taking in more blood through touch will allow a user to hold the weapon's shape even longer in combat, as it will use the residual chakra in the blood to fuel itself once present.
There is a strong risk in using blood weapons, as once the blood is out of the body, failing to replace it will act as any other blood loss situation, and is not unknown to leave a Crusnik flat on their face in a dead faint the first few times, or when not in a proper battle where blood is being shed.
Blood weapons can only ever be called after one has at least a somewhat decent hold on Taking Blood.
Blood Wings
Seen as the ultimate mastery in the Nightroad branch, this is a step below it still, and is incredibly difficult to master no matter how good the teacher. Much like the Blood Weapons, the Wings are very reliant on the personality of the person forming them. Unlike the weapons, they will not maintain the color of blood when formed, often falling into some gradient that leaves them among the colors of blood in various states. It is not unheard of for wings to be blue, red, or even purple, with the odd black or white being the rarest.
These wings may take any form, and there have been Crusnik with wings that appeared feathered and bug-like in the history of the bloodline. Thus far, no one is evidenced to have dragon or batlike wings, but the option is not impossible.
The process is often learned in a panic over falling, and poses the same risks of blood loss as the weapons do. Learning to fly with them is known to be a difficult, exhausting process that builds back strength dramatically.
Longevity
The true mastery of the bloodline is increasing longevity. This is done by a user learning to take the blood of others and use it to refresh their body, thus repairing the fine damage that would otherwise leave someone to age and eventually weaken the body. The older one is when they learn this process, the less years they will be able to maintain it, as it is simply a slowing process, not one that can act in reverse. Moments where aging can occur still exist even in this, and the less often blood is used to refresh someone in this way, the shorter the lifespan.
Suffice to say, battle is a boon to people with true mastery of this bloodline.
Affinities
Due to the way they modify their bodies and blood itself, finding someone of this bloodline who is neither a Wind nor Lightning user is incredibly rare, as the bloodline encourages a lean in this family to one side or the other. Those who have other main affinities are rare, and usually have a weaker manifestation of the bloodline, but are not unheard of, and the ability to take up another affinity, while incredibly difficult, is far from impossible.
Vampire
History
The Vampire bloodline, unlike that of the Crusnik, is indisputably old. In fact, the two bloodlines spring from the same source, with the Crusnik becoming more powerful and rooted within itself, and the Vampire bloodlines growing thin and scattered across the countries. It was a mutation which allowed the Crusnik to flourish, and one that the Vampires, trapped in darkness as they are, did not benefit from.
Like their sister bloodline, Vampires, too, are steeped in blood, and their blood even tends to be a more powerful support to the other bloodline when they come in contact with one another. The reverse is not true, unfortunately, and the Vampire bloodline will always be the subservient of the two when they come in contact.
The clans of this bloodline have congregated into small clans thus scattered across the Elemental Nations, each with their own traditions and values, though often a bit isolated. When not isolated, they almost always keep their weaknesses secret.
Children are incredibly rare of this bloodline, and often treasured, because they are not, as a rule, easy to conceive. It makes the passing of family techniques much more pertinent.
Abilities and Affinities
As like Crusnik side, the Vampire bloodline, too, is all about the blood.
Taking Blood
Done differently than the Crusnik, a Vampire takes in blood purely through drinking. It is less a bonus and more a hindrance at times, as bloodlust is common in young members of this bloodline, leaving them stumbling and vulnerable when attempting to feed themselves.
Vampires can rarely handle solids well, by this same coin, and often blood is their main form of sustenance. Often, due to this, the line is known for rather close hand to hand combat and trapping methods.
Physical Tweaks
A Vampire is often stronger and faster than the typical person even in an untrained state. This is something that only ever kicks in after they have hit maturity and their bloodline becomes active, otherwise they are like any other chakra user.
One drawback of this clan is that they are often light-sensitive, and it's not unheard of for someone of this bloodline to keep all skin covered during the day to avoid severe burns.
Longevity
Like the Crusnik, the Vampire bloodline has the option of persistently renewing oneself. However, unlike the Crusnik, this is triggered by maturity, and because of that will often trap someone in a form of stasis at whatever age someone reached 'adulthood'. Since not everyone matures the same way, some are as youthful as children, and others appear as old as their twenties when this occurs. One thing of note is that because of the radically different method, it's not unheard of for someone to live up to a hundred years with this bloodline before their body finally resumes aging.
In cases where the bloodline is blocked, this can at times happen prematurely, leaving someone to rapidly age to death instead of living out a normal lifespan which should have carried them to up to a hundred and fifty, or sometimes two hundred years.
Affinities
Unlike the Crusnik, the Vampires do not have any limits or notable leanings in their elemental affinity skillsets. It can be noted that dual affinities are not uncommon in this group.
History
The Crusnik bloodline is old, and some say directly gifted from a brother of Princess Kaguya. Admittedly, those stories started with the whispers of the first people to learn to cage chakra outside of Hagoromo's teachings, and it was a difficult to pick the truth from the rumor, to know what skills truly existed before the Princess came to earth to lead the people. Those who are aware of the history, though rare, would make it clear that the bloodline was older than even that... though different.
Because of this, the bloodline is spread out over the countries to the east of the main continent, either nestled in publicly, like the Nightroads of Kirigakure, or treated more obscurely, as the Nightlords of Tea. There are other branches of the family, of course, but these two are the only ones that have obvious contact with the shinobi world at the present time.
One thing to be noted, is that the Crusnik bloodline is bloody, brutal, and often frightening to those who see it, and led in no small way to the stories of beings like vampires. Admittedly, they weren't the only ones to cause such stories to exist at all, but considering how closely their forms match some of the stories, there is humor in the idea that it was related to them at all, especially given that this bloodline has no aversion to sunlight at all.
The Nightroads
Native to Kirigakure, this was a lesser branch of the family that quickly broke away from the main family in the early years of their existence, setting out on their own and making their way into the islands to the north. This meant that they were present when Kirigakure united. The small numbers of people already in place for the founding of the village, to say nothing of other locals with similar pale coloring, ensured that the family turned into one of silver hair and pale eyes in this area, though the bloodline diluted so that those who would master it were rare, which meant that those who got the benefits of said mastery were even rarer, and control became a far more urgent issue.
Poorly treated in recent years, it's little wonder that the other branches of the bloodline have been looking askance to the Kirigakure line, making it their business to check if anyone has reached blood mastery in the last decades. While some elders still live from earlier times amid the clan, it is not promising, and it appears that the secrets of a true mastery might be gone from this branch entirely, should one of the other lines not step in to fix the issue.
The Nightlords
The polar opposite of the Nightroads, the Nightlords hold onto their original name, never having decided to try to humble their clan down with a pseudonym for travel and being walked upon. This part of the clan faded into the background, working in the shadows and keeping themselves out of prominent view. Often masters of their bloodline, this segment of the family is incredibly long-lived, holding to the appearance of youth for decades after it should have faded away. In this way, whatever age the bloodline is mastered at is often the age at which one appears to remain, thus leading to situations where a seeming teenager is over a hundred years old. This works in good stead however, as each heir to the head of this clan takes up a title of the same name whenever her training is complete, becoming the new Empress of Tea.
Because of the way Tea's leadership for day to day running is decided, they need a stable ruler to handle things around the frequent changes of leadership, and thus was born the Lady Augusta Vradica, the Undying Eternal Mother. Her face is never seen in public, as she always wears a veil, and her visage is always maintained by the current ruling Nightroad head of clan. These women are always dark haired and slight in body, as they're expected to master their bloodline as young as possible.
It's not unheard of for members of this branch of the clan to well exceed a hundred years before starting to age again, leaving the oldest of this branch of the bloodline to have died at just shy of two hundred during the warring states era.
Unlike their Nightroad brethren, however, few children are born of this branch of the clan, with the bloodline mastery making conception infinitely more difficult. Due to this, the Tea branch of the clan, while much more informed of their history and long-lived due to almost to the man having mastery of their bloodline, are also significantly smaller in number.
Abilities and Affinities
As with any bloodline, there has to be something special that makes it worth cultivating. The Crusnik bloodline is all about the blood itself, and making it dance to exactly your needs at any given moment.
Taking Blood
The most basic of abilities that any Crusnik bloodline user can acquire is the ability to take blood into themselves from another. This can be done through touch, and in the earliest stages of training is often by putting an open cut to someone else's wound to pull blood directly from them. As mastery rises over this aspect of ability, it becomes possible that a user can take in blood through any point in their body, or even weapons created from blood using the bloodline, without any wounds being present at all. Usually when this is happening, the canines of the Crusnik are elongated, and their eyes might appear to glow. A side effect of taking in the blood of another in any manner is that it will immediately cause any wounds, no matter how grievous, to begin to heal themselves in direct relation to how much was absorbed. The more blood consumed, the faster the healing. This can even at times go so far as to renew lost limbs if the mastery of the skill is high enough.
Another benefit of this state is that both strength and endurance often jump, leaning that the bloodline user in question will be able to fight stronger and harder.
The downside is that the lower the ability of the Crusnik, the more likely they are to simply be lost in bloodlust and kill everyone around them while learning their abilities, which leads to unfortunate situations where the Crusnik in question might rip the throat out of whoever is fighting with them as much as an enemy. Some bloodline users never reach a point where they are not a danger to allies on the battlefield.
Blood Weapons
These weapons can only be formed from the blood of the Crusnik bloodline user, or blood that has been filtered through their body. They are only ever one shape, and are often reliant on personality, varying wildly from scythes, to tridents, to swords, and sometimes off into more obscure things. They are always Melee weapons, and they are always incredibly elaborate and sharp. Formed from blood itself, they are solid, sharp, and will hold as long as the wielder has chakra to spare. Often, taking in more blood through touch will allow a user to hold the weapon's shape even longer in combat, as it will use the residual chakra in the blood to fuel itself once present.
There is a strong risk in using blood weapons, as once the blood is out of the body, failing to replace it will act as any other blood loss situation, and is not unknown to leave a Crusnik flat on their face in a dead faint the first few times, or when not in a proper battle where blood is being shed.
Blood weapons can only ever be called after one has at least a somewhat decent hold on Taking Blood.
Blood Wings
Seen as the ultimate mastery in the Nightroad branch, this is a step below it still, and is incredibly difficult to master no matter how good the teacher. Much like the Blood Weapons, the Wings are very reliant on the personality of the person forming them. Unlike the weapons, they will not maintain the color of blood when formed, often falling into some gradient that leaves them among the colors of blood in various states. It is not unheard of for wings to be blue, red, or even purple, with the odd black or white being the rarest.
These wings may take any form, and there have been Crusnik with wings that appeared feathered and bug-like in the history of the bloodline. Thus far, no one is evidenced to have dragon or batlike wings, but the option is not impossible.
The process is often learned in a panic over falling, and poses the same risks of blood loss as the weapons do. Learning to fly with them is known to be a difficult, exhausting process that builds back strength dramatically.
Longevity
The true mastery of the bloodline is increasing longevity. This is done by a user learning to take the blood of others and use it to refresh their body, thus repairing the fine damage that would otherwise leave someone to age and eventually weaken the body. The older one is when they learn this process, the less years they will be able to maintain it, as it is simply a slowing process, not one that can act in reverse. Moments where aging can occur still exist even in this, and the less often blood is used to refresh someone in this way, the shorter the lifespan.
Suffice to say, battle is a boon to people with true mastery of this bloodline.
Affinities
Due to the way they modify their bodies and blood itself, finding someone of this bloodline who is neither a Wind nor Lightning user is incredibly rare, as the bloodline encourages a lean in this family to one side or the other. Those who have other main affinities are rare, and usually have a weaker manifestation of the bloodline, but are not unheard of, and the ability to take up another affinity, while incredibly difficult, is far from impossible.
Vampire
History
The Vampire bloodline, unlike that of the Crusnik, is indisputably old. In fact, the two bloodlines spring from the same source, with the Crusnik becoming more powerful and rooted within itself, and the Vampire bloodlines growing thin and scattered across the countries. It was a mutation which allowed the Crusnik to flourish, and one that the Vampires, trapped in darkness as they are, did not benefit from.
Like their sister bloodline, Vampires, too, are steeped in blood, and their blood even tends to be a more powerful support to the other bloodline when they come in contact with one another. The reverse is not true, unfortunately, and the Vampire bloodline will always be the subservient of the two when they come in contact.
The clans of this bloodline have congregated into small clans thus scattered across the Elemental Nations, each with their own traditions and values, though often a bit isolated. When not isolated, they almost always keep their weaknesses secret.
Children are incredibly rare of this bloodline, and often treasured, because they are not, as a rule, easy to conceive. It makes the passing of family techniques much more pertinent.
Abilities and Affinities
As like Crusnik side, the Vampire bloodline, too, is all about the blood.
Taking Blood
Done differently than the Crusnik, a Vampire takes in blood purely through drinking. It is less a bonus and more a hindrance at times, as bloodlust is common in young members of this bloodline, leaving them stumbling and vulnerable when attempting to feed themselves.
Vampires can rarely handle solids well, by this same coin, and often blood is their main form of sustenance. Often, due to this, the line is known for rather close hand to hand combat and trapping methods.
Physical Tweaks
A Vampire is often stronger and faster than the typical person even in an untrained state. This is something that only ever kicks in after they have hit maturity and their bloodline becomes active, otherwise they are like any other chakra user.
One drawback of this clan is that they are often light-sensitive, and it's not unheard of for someone of this bloodline to keep all skin covered during the day to avoid severe burns.
Longevity
Like the Crusnik, the Vampire bloodline has the option of persistently renewing oneself. However, unlike the Crusnik, this is triggered by maturity, and because of that will often trap someone in a form of stasis at whatever age someone reached 'adulthood'. Since not everyone matures the same way, some are as youthful as children, and others appear as old as their twenties when this occurs. One thing of note is that because of the radically different method, it's not unheard of for someone to live up to a hundred years with this bloodline before their body finally resumes aging.
In cases where the bloodline is blocked, this can at times happen prematurely, leaving someone to rapidly age to death instead of living out a normal lifespan which should have carried them to up to a hundred and fifty, or sometimes two hundred years.
Affinities
Unlike the Crusnik, the Vampires do not have any limits or notable leanings in their elemental affinity skillsets. It can be noted that dual affinities are not uncommon in this group.