demon’s head
Clockwise from top left: The School, Salamander Cenote, Training Room within the Dojo, a dragon gate on the Hebo River, the violent waterfalls known as Suijin's Rage where the Trial of the Carp takes place, one of the many waterfalls in Hebo's Rest, Mizu Falls, Ishida trains for the Trial in one of the most slippery rapids within Hebo's Rest.
"Why name it after a carp?"
"Not any carp―the Carp Ascending The Waterfall"
―young Konrad Harrsk and Keishiro Hayata, then sensei of the school
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: Flesh out Konrad's backstory and apparently Ishida's. Also more stuff related to swordsmanship.
- Image Credit: Wallpaper Cave, Twitter, Concept Art House, Rajawat, Walldump, Naetronic, Wallpaper Flare, Boredart
- Canon: N/A, B
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: N/A
- Structure Name: School of the Carp | Ten Thousand Waterfalls Dojo
- Classification: School
- Location: Hebo's Rest (mountain range), Atrisia
- Affiliation: Genichiro Ashina - father of
Inosuke Ashina
and
Ishida Ashina
- Accessibility: The school lies nestled within the heights of the mountain range near where the Hebo River begins. One must venture through treacherous mountain passes, ravines, gorges, hills and other natural hiking obstacles to reach it.
- Description:
- Overview: The School of the Carp is an ancient swordsman training institution. While the tenets it educated shifted over the turbulent Atrisian periods, one thing remained the same - it maintained to be a school capable of creating exemplary warriors.
- Tenets: Honor, courage, benevolence, discipline, strength, perseverance, duty, self-control
- Training: It is believed that the number of sword fighting styles and martial arts that the School of the Carp teaches is equivalent to the number of waterfalls found in Hebo's Rest - ten thousand. The training journey is split into five stages each ending with a trial to overcome. Each stage teaches a set of the School's tenets which is demonstrated during the trial.
- Trial of the Mule: Honor, Self-Control. The trial of the mule sets the student on the arduous journey of a thousand miles from the eastern furthermost point of Hebo's Rest to the western furthermost point. Donned in full warrior armor of Ashina Steel and leading a mule packed with edible, non-perishable goods, the student is tasked of crossing the mountain range and delivering the goods to a village. He is expected to maintain control and honor his assignment by not relying on the food carried by the mule, instead living off the inhospitable land of Hebo's Rest.
- Trial of the Commoner: Benevolence, Duty. The trial of the commoner sends the student to live for a few months as a farmer in one of the distant villages in Hebo's Rest. He is also to act as lawmaker and protector of the village from bandit and marauder raids. Toiling the infertile soil during the day and defending the village in the night, the student's trial teaches humility and compassion.
Inosuke Ashina
gained the moniker of "The Twenty-Man Slayer" during his Trial of the Commoner after single-handedly slaying twenty bandits.
- Trial of the Acklay: Courage, Strength. One of the numerous immigrated species to Atrisia, some Acklay have found a home in Hebo's Rest. While not great in number, they are most often found preying around the sole man-made reservoir that serves as a water sources for the few villages in the mountain range. The student's task is to hunt an Acklay down and return with its head. The head collection ritual is ancient and it is one to beautify the severed heads. Something
Ishida Ashina
demonstrated after slaying a Draelvasier.
- Trial of the Carp: Discipline, Perseverance. The Trial of the Carp is the epitome of the School. The Trial upon which the school was founded. It is believed that the carp that ascends the waterfall shall become a dragon. Thus, the student is to climb the waterfalls known as Suijin's Rage; violent and incredibly fast, the falls are at a height of about 1,500 meters; 400 meters of which are sloped cascades and rapids, then the next 1,100 meters are straight drop plunge. Overcoming this trial is considered inhuman, but only after completing does the student graduate from the school successfully.
- Trial of the Mule: Honor, Self-Control. The trial of the mule sets the student on the arduous journey of a thousand miles from the eastern furthermost point of Hebo's Rest to the western furthermost point. Donned in full warrior armor of Ashina Steel and leading a mule packed with edible, non-perishable goods, the student is tasked of crossing the mountain range and delivering the goods to a village. He is expected to maintain control and honor his assignment by not relying on the food carried by the mule, instead living off the inhospitable land of Hebo's Rest.
- Notable Graduates:
"I'm here to learn to fight, not observe nature; what's so special about this sinkhole?"
"Find out."
―young
Konrad Harrsk
and young
Ishida Ashina
,
a moment before the latter pushes the former into the Salamander Cenote.
POINTS OF INTEREST"Find out."
―young
Konrad Harrsk
and young
Ishida Ashina
,a moment before the latter pushes the former into the Salamander Cenote.
Hebo's Rest: The Mountain Range
Hebo River: A massive river that begins near where the school is located and finally enters into a lake well beyond the mountain range.
Suijin's Rage: The deadly and immeasurably high waterfalls where the Trial of the Carp is conducted.
Salamander Cenote: A deep cenote used as a training ground by the School.
Mizu Falls: One of the many waterfalls of the Hebo River.
Satoshi's Pass: A treacherous mountain pass named after Satoshi Ashina, it is considered the entryway to the School.
Village of Three Crossings: The village at the crossroads; all three paths from east, south and west merge here. It is the final settlement before journeying towards the School.
Izanami Reservoir: A large, man-made reservoir within the plains of the mountain range. It is considered the water source for the few settlements in Hebo's Range.
School of the Carp: The School
Dojo: The training room of the school.
Forge: The forge where swords are forged (surprising, isn't it).
Student Quarters: The place where students sleep.
Mess Hall: The place where students eat.
SECURITY
High: Mostly due to its location and natural defenses is the School's security considered High, but also due to the fact it is the training ground for elite warriors. While their numbers tend to float around the dozen, they are still formidable foes to face at their home turf.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
I - First Atrisian Period | Lords of War
The school was founded during the reign of the First Atrisian Emperor with the aim of creating elite warriors for the bloody conquests of the Emperor. These swordsmen would become the precursors of those would later be known as the Yovshin Swordsmen. During these period the philosophy and tenets were quite straightforward and simple - revolving around extreme valor in battle, complete mastery of martial arts and weaponry and superior military skills and athleticism. In short, the School of the Carp focused on breeding pure fighters.
II - Second Atrisian Period | Of Honor
During this period, the school underwent a sharp shift in its philosophical outlooks after Hisashi Oda became sensei of the school. Motivated by the shifting societal landscape which saw the swordsmen of the school as little more than beings capable of unfathomable carnage, Oda expanded the tenets of the school into teaching its warriors a set of moral codes and emphasizing more on honor in battle. Moreover, the sensei took the bold decision to turn the school neutral, unaligned to any of the Atrisian warlords, essentially removing the school from political and societal consequences.
III - Third Atrisian Period | Bushido
It was upon the ascension of Uueg Tching which marked a turning point for the school and a steep decline. The fifty-forth Atrisian Emperor's shift in employing assassinations, espionage and deception to unite the land turned the school of the Carp all but redundant. From training hundreds of swordsmen, carrying the legacy of the Yovshin, the school's pupils became merely a dozen in a matter of years. Peaceful times arrived and thus the need for supreme warriors waned. Oda's instilment of honor and moral codes developed through the Second Atrisian Period and into the Third Atrisian Period were not abandoned but even emboldened bringing the school's philosophy at complete odds with the methods and tenets employed by Emperor Tching.
Sensei Satoshi Ashina, ancestor of
Inosuke Ashina
and
Ishida Ashina
and a Jedi, was a staunch and fierce opposition to Emperor Uueg Tching's philosophy. Satoshi is regarded as the sensei responsible for further developing and expanding Oda's teachings by introducing principles from the Jedi stressing tenets such as sincerity, responsibility, frugality, loyalty, harmony, compassion and tranquility. It was Satoshi who formalized the 'way of the warrior' which would remain the code of the School of the Carp for millennia after and to the present day. Some historians argue Satoshi's outlook shift of the School was not one made out of idealism but a shift required by the circumstances; Emperor Tching's reign brought peace and unity thus necessitating warriors to adapt and be accepted, rather than shunned, in a peaceful society.
Inosuke Ashina
and
Ishida Ashina
and a Jedi, was a staunch and fierce opposition to Emperor Uueg Tching's philosophy. Satoshi is regarded as the sensei responsible for further developing and expanding Oda's teachings by introducing principles from the Jedi stressing tenets such as sincerity, responsibility, frugality, loyalty, harmony, compassion and tranquility. It was Satoshi who formalized the 'way of the warrior' which would remain the code of the School of the Carp for millennia after and to the present day. Some historians argue Satoshi's outlook shift of the School was not one made out of idealism but a shift required by the circumstances; Emperor Tching's reign brought peace and unity thus necessitating warriors to adapt and be accepted, rather than shunned, in a peaceful society.
IV - Contemporary Times | Beyond The Gulag Plague
Throughout the ever changing epochs, Satoshi Ashina's tenets remained a constant. At some time during the plague it is believed the school's benefactors became solely the Ashina family. Even through the nightmarish times of the Gulag Plague, the school persevered with numbers of students no more than a dozen at a time. The swordsmen of the school over the ages grew to be colloquially known as samurai.
A most recent event worth mentioning was the removal and exile of Keishiro Hayata, the sensei of the school, by the benefactor of the school Genichiro Ashina over unspecified differences.
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