Matatabi Zangai [P]

[acids]

Deep within the southern forested lands of the Grass Country stood a once magnificent temple dedicated to those of the Zassou ichizoku. For years they had came here to induce rituals upon their young and others that had wished to join their clan's customs; it had been recently, about forty or so years, since the last person had entered into the place. Age had settled in gloomily about the estate as vines, moss and other virid foliage covered the stone walls of the ancient temple. And yet despite its ruinous disposition, there were a few zealot Zassou who still frequented the place of their birthright. It seemed to call these select few to its dark chambers to render unto those select ninja who sought to harness the powers of the vine the ritual that had been passed down for decades. Two men from the Vine Body bloodline stood in the middle of the temple, their bodies swaying to and fro as the wind crept in the seemingly abandoned environ. They had been calling upon the spirits via meditation. Someone would soon seek them out, they felt; someone, perhaps seeking knowledge, would be needing these two members for their occult ritual. The men prepared themselves.

Those who should seek the Vine Body men out would know of the temple's location. The Matatabi Zangai, or Silver Vine Temple, as it was called, was miles beneath the hidden village of Grass, far beyond the reaches of any civilized town in Kusa. The sunlight shined through the decrepit place in a single section; the back wall seemed to possess ancient designs of flowers that had been worshiped within the temple centuries ago by the first peoples of Zassou. This is where the two men waited, their visages masked by black cloaks and hoods. 

[Deleted]

0-5, Botany Grassland, 00 | 125

The young explorer was heading to the temple to join the Zassou clan, obviously. This was a big decision, a turning point in his life; it was far above that of a simple ear piercing. This was a full on body modification, there was no turning back from this. Kenji had weighed up the pros and cons of the ritual in a typical manner, and as far as he was concerned the pros far surpassed what little drawbacks the ritual had; the vines would serve to further strengthen his only synergy with the wood release.

As he didn’t really intend to do battle at the temple Kenji had only brought along the bare essentials, in his eyes at least. Opting to leave his crossbow at home, his trusty katana was as always attached to his waist allowing, in preparation for any flash arm attacks that could be required. His unique mask was also a key item, shaped like a human skull it was designed to strike terror into his enemies, but also had a myriad of functions fitted into it: eight times zooming function, thermal imaging, night-vision, X-ray vision, condition viewing, and substance locator. He was sure a lot of these functions would be put to good use inside this temple, but at some stage he might have to remove the mask. This wasn’t the only aftermarket part that was installed into the mask there was also a wireless radio, and head lamp, they both served a pretty obvious function.

As he made his way towards the temple Kenji started to search for herbs, to be exact the grassland variety. He noted several similarities between the herbs in this area and those of a rural environment, in fact the line between the two regions was somewhat blurred over time. One of the simplest things was to identify which herbs were in bloom; as stupid as it sounded some herbs actually bloomed in winter. Kenji began to examine many of the herbs comparing them against the pictures in his book, after all he wasn’t in any rush to get to the temple and experience a painful ritual that would cut into his flesh.

Kenji found that one of the best ways to test his own general knowledge was to assess whether a plant would produce fruit, seeds, etc. Obvious plans included an apple tree, clearly this was quite a distinctive tree to those who were actually knowledgeable, but when out of bloom many people actually struggled to identify it. One herb caught Kenji’s attention, he wasn’t quite sure what it was at all. As such it seemed rather fool hardy to pull or tug at it, as it could well have been toxic.

Toggling to his substance locator Kenji began to examine the floor, interestingly enough the plans all leaked some manner of fluid or pollen, this mode would pick up these substances allowing for a form of test. What did this plan excrete? It seemed to be some manner of think white fluid all over the floor, well this was a hard one. Kenji eventually gave up, perhaps he just wasn’t as knowledgeable as he thought he was. He decided that he would ask anyone who was at the temple, I mean this was a clan that grew vines out of their body; surely they would have at least some knowledge of herbs? Kenji entered the temple, and prepared to ask the two men inside, however was savvy enough to know that this could get them off on a bad foot.

[1] +1 to current affair dice rolls due to Eidetic Memory
EDIT: Sorry I forgot to mention that I get a +1 from having the Herbalism Studies book with me, I totally forgot that I gives a benefit.

SPOILER: Click to show

Botany (Specific Region) - Grassland
Rank: "E" (5 TP at all times) 
Skill: Skill
Effect: A skill that allows the user to identify plants.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A character with this skill has a basic knowledge of plants and how they grow. They know how to tell various species of plants apart and under what conditions each type of plant grows best. Most of the time they can tell poisonous plants from non-poisonous plants. User must choose a specific Region each time they go up this Skill. A successful Botany Skill check provides knowledge of plants, while failure indicates the character does not know or cannot recall anything about that plant. This knowledge is broader than the Agriculture skill, as it extends to plants (including trees) without obvious food or textile uses. Each Skill level allows the user knowledge of each Herb category (Example: Novice can identify Common Herbs, Master can identify Nearly Impossible Hearbs) within a region. Here is some Difficulty Examples.
• Trivial - Plant is in bloom
• Easy - Plant is whole
• Average - Identify plant fruit, leaves, tubers or seeds
• Difficult - Parts of plant in a mixture or food
• Very Difficult - Identify plant from charred remains
Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.
Limit: ---

[Nira]

I guess the GM will do the skill check roll, since it relates to the quest at hand.

+5, Learned.

0-31sp

[acids]

SPOILER: Click to show

OOC// Kenji has stated that he was simply training a skill, not looking to know the true origin of a specific herb. I'm assuming that means no need for a skill check. And no need to post the specifics of an herb that was used solely for filler purposes.

The two men had been waiting. Their wait had been now over as a small figure appeared within the shadowed area. One of the Zassou members lifted his head as he sensed the boy: his eyes leered and his mouth turned into a snarl as he watched the masked child approach. He would speak first while his partner still stood moving like a flower in a gentle breeze.

"Stop where you are, shinobi." He lifted his left hand, signalling him to halt. "You come to us seeking aid and to join our ranks, yet you come masked? Do you take the Zassou as a joke?..." From the distance (roughly seven meters), Kenji appeared to the man as a nuisance. He couldn't even face his two soon-to-be clansmen with his own guise. That had upset the deep voiced talker.

"Remove your mask immediately," he said in a flat tone, "and leave whatever weapons you have to your right, on that stand. We will not allow you to proceed any further with these items." At this point, the gaining of the ritual lay in the hands of Kenji in whether he would comply or not. These men didn't want anything mundane to defile the heart of their precious temple and instead of attacking Kenji in his negligence to comply, they would simply disappear from the place.

As the first man finished his spiel, the second one broke from his trance. "Shut up, would you? Can't you smell him? He smells like Stiltrassa--did you touch it? ..Did you bring it in here!?? Get out! Don't come near me if you touched iiiiiit!" It appeared that this Zassou man was more... eccentric than his partner. He was the one who needed to shutup. His voice may have been deep, too, but it was very annoying and hard to understand. Either way, Kenji didn't possess the Stiltrassa nor did he touch it. He would probably never even see the thing again, as it was by mere chance that he stopped to look at it.

They waited to see what Kenji would do next.

SPOILER: Click to show

OOC// Yeaaaah, Kenji doesn't know what herb it was and I simply used that one just to add in filler for my post. No worry, though. He can't leave the temple and expect to find the rare herb without proper requisites.

[Deleted]

Remove his mask and weapons? Kenji complied with the request, if it made them feel more at easy then what was the harm? He was after all highly skilled in Ninjutsu arts, so could presumably hold his own without a weapon to hand. He wasn’t above doing his due diligence however, so as he would continue to observe both ninjas, with any hope his keen senses would adsorb enough information for him to deduce what areas they specialised in so that he could better formulate a plan for defence should the need arise.

“My apologies, I didn’t expect to encounter anyone quite so close to the entrance”
Kenji was proficient in the art of negotiation, something which lent itself to all most all interactions and wasn’t limited to merely debating the price of a book in a shop. As such he would attempt to negate with the two men, as clearly they had started off on the wrong foot.

“Stiltrassa? No, no I didn’t touch it. I didn’t even see it to be honest.”
How strange Kenji was normally quite skilled in finding herbs, it seemed somewhat out of character for him not to notice the Stiltrassa herb given that it also grew in the rural area. Of course we could all make mistakes from time to time, perhaps he would just return later to collect it?

“So is there a forma procedure that I must follow before I become a member of the clan?”

SPOILER: Click to show

Observation: 125 (135 vs disguse)
Haggle: 125

[acids]

SPOILER: Click to show

OOC// PRAISES TO NIRA-SAN & HER TEACHING ME HOW TO SKILL CHECK 

narutoforumrp.proboards.com/thread/103828/general-skill-checks?page=1&scrollTo=930466

1st Zassou//
You notice that the voice sounds oddly similar to that of a woman's, albeit deep, as she tries to disguise herself from you. You tell by the way that she seemed bothered by your mask that she was checking for Dojutsu, and from being bothered by your weaponry on any chance that she would have to resort to Taijutsu. Further, her hand motioning and speed of movement suggests that she is a Taijutsu Master. 

(For the sake of simplicity, don't mention that she's a woman out loud, keep that hidden intel to yourself )

2nd Zassou//
Oddly, the only thing that you could tell about this Zassou was from his voice. He was crazy and had an annoying voice. He was male and you couldn't tell what he was capable of in terms of specialty.

... On Haggle//
No Skill Check, as these are friendly persons.

"No worries," the gruffer voice called out, waving both hands out in front of them and shaking her head. These had been friendly people, these Zassou. Kenji could tell that she was a woman now - it had been exposed in her movements, which were quick and effortless. She appeared to be a highly skilled Taijutsu Master, as if that even mattered. As Kenji made note in reply to the second Zassou, he would let out a heavy sigh of relief and begin swaying once more. He interrupted himself as Kenji questioned them about specific procedures.

"Yeahyeahyeah." He said, nodding his head up and down at break neck speeds. "Show me a move! Show us one of your Mokuton techniques!.. Something cool!" he clapped his hands now, as he urged Kenji on.

"Do as the stupid one says," she said dully, "He's the one who will be performing the Tsuru Tako on you." Her voice turned serious, "But don't try anything funny. You seem to know these lands pretty well--I'm sure you are a shinobi of Kusa. If you now the Kusa Bunshin Jutsu, show him that.. if not, find something that won't cause harm to us or this temple."

The other man plopped down on to the ground beside his comrade, he was really child-like. "Ohhh~ the Kusa Bunshin. Just make one of those and I'll have you sprouting vines in no time!" It appeared that he was too immersed in seeing this technique to care about any precautions. The woman, still eyeing Kenji, would make sure that he created no more than what he was asked to do, if, in fact, he proved capable of performing the Grass Clone Technique. Otherwise, she would be sure that he didn't attack them or harm their sacred temple.

[Deleted]

The grass clone technique was a piece of cake. Kenji had learned it quite some time ago, so was able to replicate it on whim, proving that he could not only use the wood release but also that he was a ninja from the grass village. I myriad of hand seals were used to form the technique, each one was quite slow and controlled; there was no point in moving at his top speed and potentially provoking an assault from the pair.

The grass in the nearby area began to swarm and pull together, eventually creating a clone. Kenji wouldn’t say anything at all, his actions spoke louder than words, it would have been a bit silly to declare that he had formed the technique as they could clearly see it in action. He couldn’t help but wonder what other tests he would have to endure before he got down to the busyness of the ritual?

[acids]

"Much grass. Wow. So clone." The seated Zassou's speech had been broken and child-like. He was impressed by the Kusa Bunshin no Jutsu and from his position, studied it as thoroughly as he could. The thing looked just like the guy who had made it and he created it from grass; truly, he was a manipulator of the Wood Release. He would wave towards Kenji, signalling that he could dispel the technique as his partner crossed her arms. What more would he have the Grass ninja do; which room would he select for the ritual? Everything seemed to be in the air, yet within five minutes or so of silent standing, the erratic Zassou spoke out.

"Nobara.. go and get that herb that we said we would use next, yesyes." He said, turning to his companion. She would Shunshin past Kenji and out of the main entrance as the man and the ninja stood face to face. They were alone now, but wouldn't be for too long - these Zassou knew their plants and could find them in a hurry.

"Now, ninja. Tell me your naaaaaame; but before that, do know that Vine Octopus is a lengthy ritual and it huuuurts. Eek! It hurts. I can't believe that we actually perform it on children..." The man would start to scratch his head, questioning his own people's customs.

"Ahh.. any questions? You get two questions to ask and let them be simple, yesyes. We will walk further into the temple as we await my friend." he turned, this final inquiry and demand of the man coming after he had learned the name of the Kusa-nin and if he indeed know of the pain he was to endure. He wanted Kenji to follow him. His gait was sporadic and he swirled down the pathway towards the antechamber of the ritual room. Fear of an attack wasn't even on the mind of the remaining Vine Body member. He left all the bullying to Nobara who was away at the moment.

[Deleted]

Kenji’s interest was piqued, he knew of the ritual and had saw a few people who had undergone the ritual but he had never studied it in an great amount of detail. Naturally he had many questions about it, the majority of them would no doubt be answered at a later stage once the ritual was complete. He knew for example that each clan member’s vines were different, as they were all influenced by the herb that was used in the ritual. Some people had strong thick vines akin to something you would find in a jungle, others were similar to ivy, or grapes. He couldn’t help but wonder what his vines would look like.

The pain? Well that wasn’t playing that much on his mind, not to say that he was immune to pain, oh know he was certain that he would feel it, no this was more attributed to his extraordinary strength of will. He had resolved to undergo this ritual; the pain, the expenses, everything else was now irrelevant.

For the time being Kenji would just observe, watching as the woman flickered past him at high speed. An interesting application of the body flicker ability, of course being a ninja Kenji was able to track her movements almost perfectly. It was still a testament to her skill, she was willing to use the body flicker just to collect a herb potentially leaving her open to an attack at a later stage, as such Kenji would assume that she had spent a considerable amount of time increasing the amount of times the technique could be performed.

“My name is Kenji Zero” He would then quote a popular saying “Pain is temporary” Acknowledging that the ritual would indeed be painful, but the kinship gained through it would last forever. The young boy followed after the whimsical stranger, what horrors awaited him?

[Deleted]

Kenji progressed onwards into a room, or at least what remained of a room, despite this being a legendary temple the clan members who operated seemed to have neglected basic house work. As various types of plant work were growing out of the floor and walls; or perhaps it was purposely left like this? After all this was a clan that was very at home with nature, they even had vines growing out of their bodies, maybe it even had something to do with the ritual?

“So my question, what is your names’?” Kenji asked referring, to the two people he had met. If he was going to die here he would at least know the names of the people who bodged the ritual up. “and the herb, any special qualities?” The reason for this question was quite obvious, he wanted to know what type of super powers he was soon to gain. He would presumable have to do some additional training should the herb prove to be a toxic one, else he would suffer the detrimental effects, even if it wasn’t a toxic one it could presumably have some type of side effect?

[Nira]

narutoforumrp.proboards.com/post/930437/thread

Slight adjustment on this roll. Didn't realize a +2 per roll was in effect. Modifying roll as appropriate.

0-42sp

[acids]

The room in which they had entered was covered in nothing but vines; barely, if at all, could one see the stone behind the thick green ropes. Shaking his head, the male Zassou member lifted his hands skyward, revealing the name of the room in which they stood.

"Welcome to the Kusabanori.." His hands then came together in a menacing way, but only to try to instill fear of the ritual further into Kenji.

"I am Akaza and there.." he turned, facing Kenji, "is Nobara." From behind the Kusa-nin stood the cloaked female. She had returned with the sought for herb, which appeared to have silvery veins on the dark green leaves. "This is the Megillos: it will increase one's eyesight to see faaaar out." His hand waved in front of him, adding pizzazz to his claim; Akaza may have been exaggerating, but he wouldn't let Kenji know that. As all three stepped into the chamber room, the initiation of the ritual commenced.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

Ritual:
Tsuru Tako (Vine Octopus)
Rank: "C"
Type: Augmentation
Effect: Equips the user with a set of vines that are capable of absorbing the properties of other herbs of up to "Common" rarity.
Special: To perform: 1 hour; Duration: Permanent
Drawback: The length over which the vines can operate is limited by the knowledge in the "Vine Length Manipulation".
Description: The ritual is a rather painful and bloody one, but unfortunately the patient cannot be sedated as the vines are being inserted into the body as the vines can more properly latch onto the users chakra network when the user is conscious. The two inch long baby vines, which have been pre-hatched in a secret location, are laid out around the user by the Zassou medic. Using a scalpel the medic then makes multiple cuts: One in each hand palm and one on the tip of each finger, except the thumb. Each foot sole also receives a cut, as well as the forehead, the belly button and each shoulder. The medic then takes the baby vines and pushes at least one in each cut, whereas the hand palms and foot soles receive two extra vines. Now the most painful part of the ritual begins as the medic makes a large cut over the users left breast and inserts a final vine here. The Medic then thrusts his hand into the breast gap and pumps almost all chakra he or she possesses into the body of the one undergoing the ritual. The chakra spreads through the system of the user until it reaches the vines, after which it is returned to the body. The massive boost of chakra causes the many cuts to heal, sealing the vines inside the body and making them latch onto the chakra network of the user.
When done the user ends up with tiny needle prick sized dots in the places where the vines are located, from which the vines can slide out of the body. There is however one exception, the vine located in the left breast where the medic hand was inserted. Here a large, fist sized hole remains, with the vine located deep within it. When the user inserts a seed, flower, seedpod, fruit or nut of a herb the vine in the hole will wrap itself around the herb, sealing it inside the hole. The hole is quite large and the plant part inside is visible with the vines wrapped around it. Some Zassou hide it under their clothing, whereas others proudly display it to the world and keep it in view for easy access. The Zassou call this hole the ‘Herb slot’. The vines latched onto the plant in the slot take over the properties of the herb inside the slot, producing fresh doses of whatever properties the herb has in a gland at the root of each vine. The herb inside the slot can be changed at any time by the user, by ripping out the old herb and then inserting a fresh new one, after that it takes exactly one turn for the glands to produce the new doses of the new herb, as the old doses are degraded.
Limit: Must be a Ritualist for Augmentation Rituals.
Cost: Market Price: 12,000 Ryo Performing Price: 9,000 Ryo

Herb:
Megillos
Rank: Common, Huge
Type: Herb, Mountains, Winter, Eyesight
Effect: An herb that increases eyesight distance.
Special: Preparation: --- ; Duration: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A willow originally native to cold mountain regions, usually found growing near water or in aspen groves, now cultivated. Its long, narrow, dark green leaves have silver veins and white undersides, making them resemble the "white swords" of the tree's exotic name. These leaves are edible, though sour, and contain a nourishment. The leaves of this herb increases a character eyesight for 1d4 turns. They can see twice as far, and when in ranged combat, all ranges are treated as if they could fight with 15 meters extra proficiency. Herb consists 62 doses.
Limit: Must know Herbal Knowledge for Mountain Regions. 75% chance of finding.
Cost: 16,000 Ryo per herb. 400 Ryo per Dosage.

Flames had been lit, giving the room an air of mystery and power as the vines within the chamber stretched out in the middle of the place to form a bed or table of sorts. This would be the operating station; Nobara had gathered the requisite tools that Akaza would need and placed them well within reach of the table where Kenji would lay down. The seeds of the Megillos had been taken from the silvery herb and placed alongside the ritual knife and operation tools. Several small and very alive vines would squiggle on the holding station as Kenji laid back onto the operating table. Feeling no signs of treachery or aggression from the Zassou, he would allow them to perform the Mokuton Soutei Hashira to bind him to the table to keep him from moving or struggling during the transition. Nobara stood back and crossed her arms as Akaza approached Kenji.

"Duuuuuude, this is gonna be an hour's worth of work. Are you sure that you want to go through with this?" He sighed dramatically as his arms dropped to his sides; the question had been rhetorical, though, as he began to pick up the scalpel and push it into Kenji's open hand. The Kusagakure shinobi had been already tied down--he hadn't sought the Zassou out for naught. Whether he experienced pain or no, Akaza did not care; he smiled, continuing to cut the phalanges of Kenji open with small punctures before repeating the same process on the opposite hand. Both thumbs had been left uncut, however, and that may have saved Kenji from experiencing extra pain. It took nearly twenty minutes of precision and the use of a gentle hand to cut open his forehead, stomach, shoulders and the bottom of his feet. The issue of blood hadn't been a problem. Akaza used iryoninjutsu to keep Kenji from bleeding out while maintaining the openness of his wounds. From there, he began to gather the baby vines in his hands.

One by one, Akaza began to wiggle the small vines into the cuts of Kenji. His hands would receive three of the things, perhaps necessary to the ninja once he would begin to fully utilize his new manipulation over vines. His soles, too, had gotten triple the amount of the smaller openings of his fingers, forehead and abdomen. The ritual was almost nearing the midway point at this time.

"Okay, Kenji-san. You've managed to survive thus far, I'm sure you'll survive this..." Akaza began to hover over Kenji's left side as the scalpel threatened to pierce into his chest. The blade had been coated in chakras and was not used to enforce danger upon Kenji. But it would hurt. "Yesyes... very careful." The pain would be extreme to any man, let alone a child. The gash had been large over his small chest, but nothing life threatening. As the wound lay open, Akaza gathered the final vine into his hands as it wiggled its way down into his chest cavity. He would perform at first hand seals to prepare for a medical jutsu technique to heal Kenji and seal his wounds; then, as his hands were covered in the life-giving chakra, he would perform the Shihai Tsurukasa of the Mokuton release to control the vines within the child's body as he placed his hands upon him.

Chakra began to transfer from Akaza to Kenji during this session of the ritual. His gentle hands would move all about the places in which the vines had been implanted, causing them to branch out and grow within the boy's body. If it hadn't been for the pain, Kenji could perhaps feel the things growing and spreading inside of his body as they began to attach themselves to his chakra epicenter, thus connecting them all to his spiritual reservoir. The wounds, too, had been healed during this transaction. What remained next where the final steps of the ritual.

SPOILER: Click to show

OOC// I guess you write it as a Training Post with the (10tps) or whatever and go off of what I have written. It may be broken down into like 2 posts for me, which would equate to 2 for you. A beginning and process of the ritual and then the ending.

[Deleted]

0-10, Vine Octopus

The whimsical stranger displayed such bravado, so this was in fact the ritual room? Kenji watched as the plant life started to come alive, moving around to reveal the stone walls. Small torches sprang to life, to provide ambient lighting hardly the best thing to have when you were about to preform surgery but he dare not question their choices. His mind began to race as it always did in situations of danger, what would his eyesight be like after being under the influence of the Megillos would it allow him to do away with the scope on his sniper rifle? Perhaps it would better aid a variety of long ranged techniques which were limited only by his own accuracy.

My how the tables had turned, you see despite his age Kenji was actually a trained surgeon. No not the type from a grubby backroom, nor the type from a medical institution, instead he had learned his ways at the temple he studied at, but make no mistake he was indeed a master. One of the many things that he had learned was of course the importance of your equipment, his personal favour was a carbon steel scalpel, maybe he would even settle for a stainless steel blade, but this? This ritual blade looked like it had been around for a while, instead of slicing though his skin like butter it would instead be more akin to trying to slice someone open with a rusty spoon, good times.

Of course Kenji was pretty unaware of the specifics of what the ritual, but from a general medical point of view it largely made sense. Being bound to the table for example was quite the common thing to do when a patient wasn’t going to be operated on while under the influence of a sedative. The roots formed around his small body lifting him up into the air, eventually forming the operating table, the wonders of physical Ninjutsu, would could never hope to achieve anything like this with the fire release.

The first incision was made into his fingertips, obviously it was extremely painful a fact that was only compounded with how dull the blade was, rather than a typical slice this was more of a saw like action, pulling and tugging the skin almost as if he was slicing a loaf of bread. The young boy’s body contorted somewhat as he struggled to adjust to the pain, he knew however that this was only the beginning, many more incisions would be made judging from the amount of vines that were wriggling around next to the operating table.

His mind was truly racing; however it wasn’t fear that occupied his thoughts rather questions, what on earth would this situation be like, these living vines inside him, it probably wasn’t that good of an idea to watch “The Ruins” last night. The young boy’s steadfast devotion made him all but immune to the effects of fear, he knew that he would simply be resurrected by his god should he ever pass away, what did worry him however was being controlled by these vines. What if they degraded his quality of life, or even took over his mind akin to Doctor Octopus.

SPOILER: Click to show

Tsuru Tako (Vine Octopus)
Rank: "C"
Type: Augmentation
Effect: Equips the user with a set of vines that are capable of absorbing the properties of other herbs of up to "Common" rarity.
Special: To perform: 1 hour; Duration: Permanent
Drawback: The length over which the vines can operate is limited by the knowledge in the "Vine Length Manipulation".
Description: The ritual is a rather painful and bloody one, but unfortunately the patient cannot be sedated as the vines are being inserted into the body as the vines can more properly latch onto the users chakra network when the user is conscious. The two inch long baby vines, which have been pre-hatched in a secret location, are laid out around the user by the Zassou medic. Using a scalpel the medic then makes multiple cuts: One in each hand palm and one on the tip of each finger, except the thumb. Each foot sole also receives a cut, as well as the forehead, the belly button and each shoulder. The medic then takes the baby vines and pushes at least one in each cut, whereas the hand palms and foot soles receive two extra vines. Now the most painful part of the ritual begins as the medic makes a large cut over the users left breast and inserts a final vine here. The Medic then thrusts his hand into the breast gap and pumps almost all chakra he or she possesses into the body of the one undergoing the ritual. The chakra spreads through the system of the user until it reaches the vines, after which it is returned to the body. The massive boost of chakra causes the many cuts to heal, sealing the vines inside the body and making them latch onto the chakra network of the user.
When done the user ends up with tiny needle prick sized dots in the places where the vines are located, from which the vines can slide out of the body. There is however one exception, the vine located in the left breast where the medic hand was inserted. Here a large, fist sized hole remains, with the vine located deep within it. When the user inserts a seed, flower, seedpod, fruit or nut of a herb the vine in the hole will wrap itself around the herb, sealing it inside the hole. The hole is quite large and the plant part inside is visible with the vines wrapped around it. Some Zassou hide it under their clothing, whereas others proudly display it to the world and keep it in view for easy access. The Zassou call this hole the ‘Herb slot’. The vines latched onto the plant in the slot take over the properties of the herb inside the slot, producing fresh doses of whatever properties the herb has in a gland at the root of each vine. The herb inside the slot can be changed at any time by the user, by ripping out the old herb and then inserting a fresh new one, after that it takes exactly one turn for the glands to produce the new doses of the new herb, as the old doses are degraded.
Limit: Must be a Ritualist for Augmentation Rituals.
Cost: Market Price: 12,000 Ryo Performing Price: 9,000 Ryo

Herb:
Megillos
Rank: Common, Huge
Type: Herb, Mountains, Winter, Eyesight
Effect: An herb that increases eyesight distance.
Special: Preparation: --- ; Duration: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A willow originally native to cold mountain regions, usually found growing near water or in aspen groves, now cultivated. Its long, narrow, dark green leaves have silver veins and white undersides, making them resemble the "white swords" of the tree's exotic name. These leaves are edible, though sour, and contain a nourishment. The leaves of this herb increases a character eyesight for 1d4 turns. They can see twice as far, and when in ranged combat, all ranges are treated as if they could fight with 15 meters extra proficiency. Herb consists 62 doses.
Limit: Must know Herbal Knowledge for Mountain Regions. 75% chance of finding.
Cost: 16,000 Ryo per herb. 400 Ryo per Dosage.

[Draven]

+10 acquired

[Deleted]

0-40, Vine Octopus

Oh well the process had started regardless as he thought of all these questions multiple incisions were made into his phalanges the pain growing which each cut, if you thought a paper cut was bad you should try slicing your own fingers to bits. The interesting part of this process was of course the blood, or the lack of it, apparently this woman was skilled in medical Ninjutsu, something which Kenji was not.

Instead he normally relied upon the use of herbs to supplement his medical care. This of course captivated his interest, as he began to think of all the medical applications of having his own set of vines. The incisions in his fingers were the least of his worries, the process was repeated on his other land; needless to say this stung like a bitch.

The intense pain just seemed to never end, some type of medical Ninjutsu was being used to stop Kenji’s body from healing. Of course this wouldn’t have been an instant effect, he wasn’t the son of some rapist troll, but his blood should have at least started to coagulate to form try and fill the void that was created by the blade. The horror didn’t stop after all of his fingers were lacerated, no it was only beginning the process was to be repeated on his feet an already sensitive part of the body due to how close the skin was to the muscle fibre and bone, the pain made the small boy moan in pain.

He wasn’t going to cry if he could help it, he did have some dignity after all as a ninja, they did receive some training on how to cope in these types of situation however basic it might be. For the moment he would simply have to cope regardless of the pain, eventually it would subside. All of this pain was starting to cause his body to go into shock, the pain that he once felt was starting to become numb, as he almost passed out.

Yet for some unknown reason he managed to move past this stage, although his body still maintained a degree of pain he was starting to become accustom to it, Although the pain in his feet was still really hurting, even though there was fewer cuts on his feet they were far deeper each one could have been a fatal wound had his blood been flowing correctly.

SPOILER: Click to show

Tsuru Tako - Kaizen (Vine Octopus - Improved)
Rank: "B"
Type: Augmentation
Effect: Equips the user with a set of vines that are capable of absorbing the properties of other herbs of up to "Uncommon" rarity.
Special: To perform: 1 hours; Duration: Permanent
Drawback: The length over which the vines can operate is limited by the knowledge in the "Vine Length Manipulation".
Description: The ritual "Tsuru tako - kaizen (Vine Octopus - Improved)"is is an improvement of the original. Please see the original for the details of ritual surgery. For profile purposes place both original and any improved ritual of it.
Limit: Must be a Ritualist for Augmentation Rituals.
Cost: Market Price: 23,000 Ryo Performing Price: 17,000 Ryo

[Deleted]

0-40, Vine Octopus, post 2

During his medical studies he had learned that the average human body doesn’t actually hold that much blood, and losing just one or two litres could be fatal, or at the very least require medical attention. This was the wonder of medical Ninjutsu, Kenji had been told that they could even slice someone’s head off and keep them alive by manually controlling the human body functions.

Clearly this was a high level technique, this woman was keeping the blood from flowing out of ten holes simultaneous, without her aid he would have probably bled out in seconds. If only there had been another medic that could have dulled his nerve endings so that he wouldn’t have feel all of this pain

Next up was the forehead, and man did that sting. He could only assume it was due to how close it was to his brain, but so far that was Kenji’s least favour part of the ritual. The feet and hands could be regenerated after all, but if this dude slipped with that blade he could have popped his eyeball like a grape. The fact that he was pulling back the fourth repeatedly to cut into the skin wasn’t reassuring in the least bit, he could quite easily slip due to the blood that was gathering around the tearing skin.

Tears started to gather in Kenji’s eyes, as they would in almost anyone’s it was an automatic human response, the pain was starting to get to him but his resolve would remain unshaken. Oh my! How many cuts are they going to make, surely this wasn’t a safe medical practise, not this guy had just been spouting garbage little over a half an hour ago.

Kenji was beginning to wonder why the hell they used this type of tool, thinking the whole ordeal would have went a lot faster if the blade could efficiently slice through his skin, a somewhat morbid though but after what seemed like hours of torcher he was starting to grow tired. His resistance was only further strengthened when he though back to the painful ritual his own religion inflicted on some of its members, the reaper unit.

SPOILER: Click to show

Tsuru Tako - Kaizen (Vine Octopus - Improved)
Rank: "B"
Type: Augmentation
Effect: Equips the user with a set of vines that are capable of absorbing the properties of other herbs of up to "Uncommon" rarity.
Special: To perform: 1 hours; Duration: Permanent
Drawback: The length over which the vines can operate is limited by the knowledge in the "Vine Length Manipulation".
Description: The ritual "Tsuru tako - kaizen (Vine Octopus - Improved)"is is an improvement of the original. Please see the original for the details of ritual surgery. For profile purposes place both original and any improved ritual of it.
Limit: Must be a Ritualist for Augmentation Rituals.
Cost: Market Price: 23,000 Ryo Performing Price: 17,000 Ryo

[Deleted]

0-40, Vine Octopus, post 3

This group of depraved individuals were tainted, they were evil, something that was readily accepted by the religion providing they conformed to the law. Now this unit would have markings carved into their rib cage, some type of magical spell that only the high council were privy to. It allowed them to be detonated should the need ever arise, yes they would simply explode. All of the chakra would culminate in a single point causing a massive explosion the equivalent to several explosive tags.

Compared to this Kenji’s suffering was a trivial matter, after all they had their skin peeled off their upper body so that clerics could carve symbols onto their rib cage, the pain from that must have been excruciating. This would also be performed without the use of aesthetic, not exactly a run-of-the-mill weekend activity. Finally Kenji heard a grating noise, magnified several times by how close it was to his ears, the blade had touched his skull, and with that the cut had been full completed.

“Fuck man! That hurts!”
There was a short respite but it would be just that, short. It seemed the man had grown tired of slicing the child’s body to ribbons and instead had decided it was an apt time give him a taste of what the vines would be like. Gathering them up in his hands he began to insert them into the open wounds, jimmying them in. These things had a life of their own and in almost instantly started to crawl up inside the wound. The pain this causes was pretty excoriating after all they were effectively separating layers of the boy’s skin from the inside.

He could visibly see one of them in his hands just beneath the thin layers of skin it was almost exactly as he had envisioned it yet this foreknowledge did little to dull the boys distress, he could only imagine that the same effect was happening to his feet as three of these little fuckers were inserted into each foot. They almost immediately started to fight for dominance inside his body, he could feel the tendrils grabbing onto his skin threading through the muscle fibres of his body so that they would be anchored in place.

His face contorted in agony as he riled about trying to get comfortable with what felt like worms inside his body. This was a very alien feeling for Kenji he had never had anything inserted into him that felt anything like this, for the moment they appeared to be just like pronounced veins, perhaps one might even say they appeared to be varicose. There was of course the small matter of them wriggling about, apparently they were simulated by Kenji’s movements. The vines also decided that they would need to adjust their possessing to better be accommodated in their host.

SPOILER: Click to show

Tsuru Tako - Kaizen (Vine Octopus - Improved)
Rank: "B"
Type: Augmentation
Effect: Equips the user with a set of vines that are capable of absorbing the properties of other herbs of up to "Uncommon" rarity.
Special: To perform: 1 hours; Duration: Permanent
Drawback: The length over which the vines can operate is limited by the knowledge in the "Vine Length Manipulation".
Description: The ritual "Tsuru tako - kaizen (Vine Octopus - Improved)"is is an improvement of the original. Please see the original for the details of ritual surgery. For profile purposes place both original and any improved ritual of it.
Limit: Must be a Ritualist for Augmentation Rituals.
Cost: Market Price: 23,000 Ryo Performing Price: 17,000 Ryo

[Deleted]

0-40, Vine Octopus, post 4

Kenji doesn’t normally use profanity, but the pain had driven him to it, little did he know the operation only goes downhill from here, the next part of the operation was to take part on his chest and fuck this was going to hurt. The blade move around his chest much akin to a spoon taking the top of a boiled egg. With each pass the blade sunk only millimetres deeper but it was enough for him to feel it, the colour or at least what was left of it started to drain from Kenji’s face, as he could actually see this man cutting deeper and deeper towards his heart, it wasn’t a very pleasant sight to say the least.

"Yesyes... very careful."

Was this dude for real? It’s not like he was going to get less careful as the ritual went on, or at least Kenji hoped not. The grade went deeper and deeper into his body, and true me he could feel it. Due to his small stature the blade only to travel approximately two inches, Kenji knew this because it was all he could think about as the blade made its decent. Why is this taking so long? His cutting to deep? All he could do was doubt the man’s performance, despite him probably doing this procedure several times before.

He didn’t know what was worse, the strange sensation of the tendrils moving inside him, or the blade cutting towards his heart. At least this would make for a good story when he returned to the village, while other people would be out playing football over the weekend what was he doing? Undergoing an extremely painful operation that could potentially kill him. The joys of being a ninja.

The flesh was then extracted much akin to the top of an egg leaving his internal organs exposes, they were visible though the ribcage. The sensation of having cool air touching these organs was an extremely strange one, it just didn’t feel right. He tried to mentally prepare himself for what he knew was to come next, the largest vine of the bunch was to be inserted into the cavity. He could see it convulsing on the medical table, almost as if it was excited and ready to go. Fucking vines!

And just like he had predicted the vine was indeed placed inside the wound, like the others it attached itself to his body, only this time it wouldn’t have to just attach to the muscle fibre it could actually bond itself to his rib cage. Had he been thinking clearly Kenji could probably see the benefits of having this bioorganic armor, but for the moment he couldn’t do anything but wriggle like the vines. The feeling of the tendrils latching onto his organs was just too strange, now he knew why that woman went to such extremes in the movie to cut these little things out of herself.

SPOILER: Click to show

Tsuru Tako - Kaizen (Vine Octopus - Improved)
Rank: "B"
Type: Augmentation
Effect: Equips the user with a set of vines that are capable of absorbing the properties of other herbs of up to "Uncommon" rarity.
Special: To perform: 1 hours; Duration: Permanent
Drawback: The length over which the vines can operate is limited by the knowledge in the "Vine Length Manipulation".
Description: The ritual "Tsuru tako - kaizen (Vine Octopus - Improved)"is is an improvement of the original. Please see the original for the details of ritual surgery. For profile purposes place both original and any improved ritual of it.
Limit: Must be a Ritualist for Augmentation Rituals.
Cost: Market Price: 23,000 Ryo Performing Price: 17,000 Ryo

[Deleted]

Tracking Scent 5-10, Levi, Takkun
Tracking Scent 4-10, Ba'al,
Tracking Skill, 4-10, Bel, Amon

Kenji’s team set out into the local rural area in search of a quick buck, they intended to aid their master by finding a vast amount of Tamariske in a very short time period. They all drew from past experience of searching for the herb, as such there was no need for a lecture they all just went their distinctly separate ways.

Bel the giant eagle took to the sky, clearly this afforded her a considerable advantage over the others, she was able to search the area from this aerial view making best use of her extraordinary vision to try and track down the tree. Obviously the fundamental principles of tracking were of great use in this situation, the general knowledge that animals tended to live close to a water source made it pretty obvious that trees would always be in a high supply around water source as they would inadvertently carry their seeds.

The giant salamander took a different approach altogether, making use of her huge size she would forcefully push through the undergrowth at a high pace akin to a train. She intended to just cover a large area, taking advantage of her ability to move unimpeded by the environment. Obviously she was guided by someone rather than wandering aimlessly this was her nose, she decided to try and smell the distinct smell of the tree to better help her hone in on its location.

The two snakes were as always determined to prove that they were superior to the rest of the group, both would split up in an attempt to cover more ground, but they would utilise the same tactics, their acute sense of smell! The snakes would try and not only find the scent of the tree but also that or the nearby animals, this tree would make a prime food source after all, so if Takkun could smell a high quantity of animals close by then surely they would have congregated to eat something?

Ba’al took a slightly different approach, although he was still attempting to track the tree via his sense of smell this large snake would instead climb to the top of the trees, from here there was less to impede his sense of smell and given the trees large size it would still be both visible and more importantly giving off its sent to the nearby area. Allowing him to smell one with ease should it be close by.

The last animal bring up the rear was Kenji’s mantis, or that term should be used quite loosely as he was more of a mantis that temporarily aligned himself with Kenji. For the time being he would do the young boys bidding searching the rural area through the use of his uncanny senses, he wasn’t particularly interested in finding the tree, no he would much rather find an animal to devour. Perhaps that way he could once again recoup a shard of his power, he did after all evolve after each kill.

[1] Dice; Five 50% rolls,

SPOILER: Click to show

Continuation from here

Tamariske
Rank: Uncommon, Colossal
Type: Herb, Rural, All Seasons, Heal
Effect: A large tree capable of healing Light wounds.
Special: Preparation: 2 weeks ; Duration: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: They are evergreen or deciduous shrubs or trees growing to 1 to 18 meters in height and forming dense thickets. Tamariske are characterized by slender branches and grey-green foliage. The bark of young branches is smooth and reddish-brown. As the plants age, the bark becomes bluish-purple, ridged and furrowed. The leaves are scale-like, 1 to 2 millimeter long, and overlap each other along the stem. They are often encrusted with salt secretions. The pink to white flowers appear in dense masses on 5 to 10 centimeter long spikes at branch tips. This herb will cleanse Light wounds, removing all infection within 15 rounds. Herb consists 128 doses.
Limit: Must know Herbal Knowledge for Rural Regions. 50% chance of finding.
Cost: 25,500 Ryo per herb. 196 Ryo per Dosage.

Torakkingu Nioi (Tracking Scent) Levi (Newt), Ba'al (Snake), Takkun (Snake)
Rank: D, C, B, A, S
Skill: Skill
Effect: An animal companion hones their sense of smell to such levels that they may track an opponent.
Special: N/A
Drawback: Certain animals cannot progress to the higher levels of this technique do to their lack of acute scent abilities. Animals with unremarkable scent abilities, such as the bird, can only learn up to the B ranked version of this technique.
Description: The user of this technique gathers their natural scent abilities, using them to track an opponent. The animal catches the scent of the tracked object or person, and from there follows the scent trail. With the D ranked version, the user can only track a scent ten days old. Each rank higher that is trained increases the time frame by ten days. This means that a user with the C ranked version can track a scent twenty days old, while the S ranked version can track a scent fifty days old. This technique may be used to track humans, objects, or even herbs. However, when tracking an herb or poison, the user can only track an herb or poison of the same rank of as their current level of this technique. The user can only track an herb they have encountered in the past. The user must have encountered either a poison itself or the components making it up in the past in order to track it. This technique increases the user’s chance of finding an herb by five percent. This amount increases by a further five percent at each rank, so an S rank user has their chance of finding an herb increased by twenty five percent. The user can track an opponent over various terrains, including grassland, hard earth, and undisturbed snow and sand, and still water. When tracking another human being, the user has a thirty percent chance of catching a scent while in the same region, or a ten percent chance while in an adjacent region. A user must have at least one post between each post asking for a scent roll. This percentage increases by ten at each rank, so the S ranked version of the technique allows the user a seventy and fifty percent chance, respectively. Once a scent is successfully caught, and the user is in the same region as the tracked victim, the user has a twenty percent chance of finding them. This percentage increases by ten for each rank of this technique learned, so the S ranked version offers a sixty percent chance.
Limit: Must be an animal with a high sense of smell.

Tracking, Bel, Amon
Rank: "E" (10 TP at all times)
Skill: Skill
Effect: Characters use this skill to follow the trail of animals and other persons.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Tracking means the user found a trail if they gain the check, while failure means they did not. If user fails this initial skill check, they simply cannot find that particular trail. After finding a trail, further checks may be necessary depending on the situation. Darkness, falling rain/snow, a dust storm, moving from one terrain to another (such as from sand to rock), one trail splitting into 2 or crossing water are examples why a user might need another Tracking check. Look in Task Skills thread found in the Skills and Traits Index for more information. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.
Limit: ---

[Draven]

Kenji +40 Aquired

Takkun +2
Bel +2
Amon +2
Levi +2
Ba'al +2

Levi and Amon each would find 1 Tamariske