शङ्रिऌअ Shangri-La (CVnU Location)

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂शङ्रिऌअ SHANGRI-LA शङ्रिऌअ▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

Somewhere in the snowy peaks of Tibet’s Kunlun mountain range lies a nexus of realities, a doorway to a famed mystical nation called Shangri-La.

Traditionally the golden gates of Shangri-La appear on our plane of existence only once every twenty years, but because of intervention by Hei Mao Industries, the veil between the two planes has been torn, allowing off-worlders to enter at their own peril.

Martial arts are considered holy in all of the regions of Shangri-La. As such, no citizen or visitor that wishes to learn Shangri-La's unique fighting styles at the multitudinous martial arts schools throughout the country is ever turned away, although their safety is never guaranteed.

The Four Regions of Shangri-La

Shangri-La is divided into four regions, each with its own climate, culture, belief system, fighting style, and Champion.

Yaouchuan Plains

The Yaochuan Plains are the center of agriculture in Shangri-La. Here they grow everything from wheat to rice to fruits and vegetables. The traditional fighting style in the Yaouchuan Plains is Sìfāng(translation: Four Winds).

Sifang is known for its relaxed stances and fluidity of motion, with each technique flowing into the next like a raging river. Sifang is considered "the beautiful style" in Shangri-La and many of its techniques can also be translated to performance arts such as dance.

Lei Pan Highlands

Brave a perilous climb through rocky, unforgiving earth and you will eventually find yourself in the Lei Pan Highlands. Known to be the home of Yuan Gan, the wisest man in all of Shangri-La and figurehead of the Xinyang Faith, many of the more pious residents of Shangri-La make it a point to travel to Lei Pan at least once in their lifetime.

The traditional fighting style of the Highlands is Zhengfu(translation: Conquest). In stark contrast to the more relaxed Sifang that relies on instinct and flow, Zhengfu is centered around the belief that in order to defeat one's opponent, one must subjugate one's instincts. Because of this, Zhengfu is considered a thinking man's martial art, with every feint, strike, and stance carefully chosen and mapped out through prior preparation.

Ganzte Harbor

As the center of commerce and trade in Shangri-La, the Ganzte Harbor never sleeps. Its people are known for their great size and strength, as well as their eagerness to celebrate even the smallest of victories. The Ganzte Harbor comes alive with festivals every fortnight. Many a young Shangri-Lan will venture to Ganzte to partake in their celebration and perhaps in hope of meeting other like-minded youths.

The traditional fighting style of the Gangzte Harbor is Du Yao(translation: Poison Bite). Du Yao is predicated by the belief in shatterpoints, or pressure points, that can be exploited in combat. Through the years, the teachers of this fighting style have split into two schools, one teaching a flashier version of Du Yao, called Du Yao Re, and one teaching a more straightforward version called Du Yao Leng. Both specialties have their advantages and aspiring masters are encouraged to learn both. Curiously, Du Yao has also been adopted by the high-class prostitutes of Ganzte Harbor who use it to proficiently stimulate the pleasure centers of their well-paying clients.

Xiaobo Forest

The Xiaobo Forest (sometimes called the Howling Forest) is a large forest that spans much of Shangri-La’s southeast region. Because of past regional tensions, the people of the Xiaobo Forest are sometimes looked down upon and called savages. They've even gained the derogatory nickname of "Howlers" for their distinctive battle cry during war or combat. The Xiaoboans claim that they were the very first people of Shangri-La and have unsuccessfully attempted to gain greater political power several times throughout history.

Taught to be light on their feet from a very young age, the Xiaoboans are known for their stealth, speed, and agility. They have an unrivaled respect for the world around them and although most of Shangri-La subscribes to the Xinyang Faith, the Xiaoboans instead believe that seeking balance with nature is the true path to enlightenment. The traditional fighting style in the Xiaobo Forest is Yinhuan(translation: Hidden Danger). Yinhuan seeks to take advantage of its user's natural speed and agility, combining it with a wide array of misdirections, feints, and subtle distractionary gestures. In the field, Yinhuan can also take the form of guerilla warfare and has done so many time throughout the Xiaboans' long history. The fighting style is succinctly summarized in their simple mantra:

Wo kan dao he buneng kan dao.

Wo jiu bagong bu bei ji zhong.

<I shall see and not be seen.

I shall strike and not be struck.>

The Divine Beasts

Granted power by the cosmic dragon Jiānhùrén, the Divine Beasts are the champions and protectors of each of the four major regions. Each mantle is passed on from generation to generation. When a Divine Beast becomes unable to uphold the duties of their station due to old age, injury, or death, a successor is chosen in a grand tournament among their respective region's greatest warriors. However, a Divine Beast may decide to bestow his power to someone who he/she feels is worthy instead (though this is rare and mostly frowned upon).

The power that the Divine Beasts wield is called The Current, a mysterious force that flows through the user's body. With the Current, each Divine Beast can exercise their own unique powers.

The Divine Beasts are as follows:

The CRIMSON SPIDER, Champion of the Yaochuan Plains.

The AZURE FALCON, Champion of the Lei Pen Highlands

The BLACK COBRA, Champion of Ganzte Harbor

The WHITE TIGER, Champion of Xiaobo Forest

The GOLDEN DRAGON, Keeper of Balance

In addition to these four, a fifth champion arose after the War of Four, which saw the first class of Divine Beasts warring amongst themselves in an effort to gain each others' powers. The GOLDEN DRAGON is tasked with maintaining the balance between the four Divine Beasts. This warrior is not the champion of any one region and can be selected from any region or village throughout Shangri-La.

Dragon's Rest

The Dragon's Rest is the largest mountain in Shangri-La and is said to be the resting place of the slumbering Jiānhùrén, the cosmic dragon who gave the original Divine Beasts their powers. Attempting to climb the Dragonspire is considered a holy endeavor. In order to become a guru or priest of the Xinyang Faith, one must successfully climb this treacherous peak and give a solemn prayer to the gods once at the highest point. Similar to the Christian principle of baptism, climbing and descending the Dragon's Rest is a symbol of spiritual death and rebirth.

Many warriors of smaller regions have climbed the Dragon's Rest hoping to awaken Jiānhùrén and be gifted a measure of its immense power, though none have ever been successful since the first Golden Dragon did it thousands of years ago. Because of this, some theorize that the ancient dragon that once saved the Earth may actually be dead, though the low rumbles and tremors emanating from the imposing geographical structure may hint otherwise.

Current Events

After learning that his forefathers, former rulers of Shangri-La, had been banished from the mystical nation, Jin Shen made it his life’s goal to one day pierce the veil between the two planes of existence and seize the power that he felt was rightfully his.

Becoming a billionaire by playing the Chinese stock market, the flamaboyant warmonger established Hei Mao Industries, whose vast resources he used to develop an answer to reality veil shrouding the mystical city.

In 2015, he finally succeeded in breaking through the veil, and with the help of [redacted, for now], began a military takeover of the mystical plane. Jin Shen now rules Shangri-La with an iron fist, his soldiers and mercenaries patrolling every region. He hopes to one day be able to awaken the dragon Jiānhùrén to harness its cosmic power. To this end, he has captured three of the Divine Beasts, and turned a fourth to his side with promises of tremendous.wealth.

OOC

• Even with the veil having been torn, it shouldn't be too easy to find and enter Shangri-La so if you want to visit, please sell the difficulty in locating/entering it.
• The Divine Beasts are meant to be a pretty open concept, so if you'd like to become one, shoot me a PM! The pictures provided are placeholders so if you have something else in mind in terms of look, you'll be free to change it.
• The fighting styles inherent to each area are also purposefully vague. If you’d like to further develop any of these styles, have at it!
• As far as the Current Events section goes, I have a story planned for that so if you want in, just let me know.
• If you'd like a little more info on the Divine Beasts/Golden Dragon, check out my profile @gothic_dragon.

This is so cool. I love temples and the whole philosophy that comes with them, so expect me to come with someone.

Very good.

Oh man, the Far Cry 3 vibes are off the charts right now.

@gothic_dragon:

* laughter from the original thought of Shangri la botanical gardens and how martial artists were supposed to fit into that*

And right when I asked myself where I'd learn to fight.

@izaiah: Thanks!

@sonny_barbaro: Awesome. I took some obvious inspiration from Far Cry 3 and 4.

Awesome, man. Can't wait.

Not sure what this means. Was there a Shangri-La before this? >_>

@rossum: It's meant to be.

@gothic_dragon: Not in comicvine, to my knowledge.

There's an actual place called Shangri La somewhere in Texas called Shangri Las botanical gardens and nature center. There may also be shangri la hotels somewhere, not sure about that one.

Did anyone else think this was a spam thread ?

@flashback0180: yeap, only clicked because it had comments

Damn dude. Really well done!

@strigidae_57: Thanks, man!

This is pretty cool!

I low-key feel like incorporating this into the way Rossum (formerly Sonny) survived the March RP and then do some Far Cry-esque freedom fighter action here. But I have no idea how I'd do that LOL

@valhala: Glad you think so, man!

JUST DO IT!

That'd be a pretty awesome angle.

@feral_nova:Forgot to say thanks :)

Wicked sick.

@gothic_dragon: Okay, I have an idea.

╔════╗
║▒▒▒▒ Shangri-La; TIBET
║▒▒▒▒ Lankshama Temple; Lei Pan Highlands
╚════╝

The Temple of Lankshama was one of humble Tibetian architecture, influenced heavily by the orient in it's pagoda-like form. More ancient than the majority of it's kind. A verdant hum of nature resonated with the cold winds tearing down from the adjacent mountain tops that weathered the paint but could not hope to endanger the holy structure. Out of the entrance two distinct trails of pungent smoke rose into the sky above.

Pitter patter of feet emanated ever so often from the interior, each time with a long pause. The inhabitants having an innate lightness of step.

There was nothing and then the Gong boomed through the room, as if hoping to deafen everyone near. It's echo cascaded down the mountain range, bouncing from cliff to cliff on it's way down. The noise ceases in an oscillating, metallic manner.

*GAASP!*

Throught to be returned from the clutches of death, life returns into the clutches Romeo Rossum as his upper body rises a few inches from the wooden floor. Consciousness regained, his abdomen hidden beneath a simple yak fur blanket is well dressed and treated. It appeared someone had nursed him very well back to health for all his wounds both old and new seemingly vanished from his mortal shell. But he's none the wiser of how or even where he was. “H-Hello?”, the young man rose to his bare feet, nude of posture, and immediately the cold wind brushed him over. Glancing down, he noticed that where his body once lied was a rich outline of lit candles. The smell of which he didn't recognize.

“Jesus. F***. It's cold in this bit--”, he exclaimed angrily but stopped as he noticed veiled monks obediently lining around the interior. They stood there motionless in silent chorus. So, as God had made him, then stepped out of the temple with the clumsy creak of wood. He did, but to where?

VERY cool. I absolutely love this kind of thing.

@rossum: That's perfect, man. You're quick. I'll get on a reply soon. Probably with Yuan Gan.

@lichter: Danke, Lichter.

ME too and thanks! ^_^

OK, now I am REALLLLLLY sure that you two aren't the same person.

@rossum:

Temple of Lankshama, Lei Pan Highlands

The deafening gong resounds once more, signaling the end of the training session, young Falcon and Dragon-Aspirants alike finally allowing their tense, sweat-drenched bodies to relax as the cold breeze seeps in from the West. Their relaxation is short-lived, however, when an ornately-dressed monk walks into the training grounds, announcing the arrival of Yuan Gan, the Divine Head of the Xiyang faith.

His confident, strong posture clashing with the wrinkles on his face, the wisest man in all of Shangri-La regards the young Aspirants with a warm smile as he saunters in, flanked on either side by armed guards.

"How goes your training, young ones?"he asks, his voice soothingly deep and sincere.

"They're doing quite well, your grace," Fei Jun, the young and beautiful Lǎoshī <teacher> responds, bowing slightly at the de facto ruler of the Lei Pan Highlands.

"Good, good,"the old man acknowledges as he runs his fingers through his majestic white beard and looks out into the surrounding mountain peaks, his keen eye catching a wisp of smoke that rises from the valley below. It marks yet another rebellious village burnt by the wrath of the the Invaders. News from Ganzte Harbor and the Yaouchuan Plains had been heartwrenchingly hard to hear. Soon, it seemed, the Lei Pan Highlands will be the last bastion of hope in all of Shangri-La.

"Students, gather around, I have something to say."Even with the students moving in closer, his voice becomes louder, wanting to express the unwavering confidence and resiliency that burned within his old bones.

"Our land has known peace for thousands of years. The War of Four and the Xiaobo Uprisings are now distant memories. You grew up in peace, I grew up in peace, but now a force unlike any we've ever known threatens our great nation."

"There is one thing you must understand, young ones. Though most of you were training for the opportunity to become a Divine Beast, you must now shift your focus. Understand that you are now training to fight for the survival of Shangri-La. Understand that many of you are meant to die for your nation, but that even more are meant to live for its glory and is preservation."

The religious and, now, political leader gazes into the crowd of young faces. Ask any one of them and they would say that it would be an utmost honor to die for Shangri-La, but the Ancient One knew that what he was asking of his juvenile warriors was nothing short of a crushing burden.

Sensing someone approaching, he spryly turns his back on the group, only to be greeted by the sight of a man nakedly strolling through the courtyard.

"Invader! Offworld scum!" one of the more excitable students yells before running out to greet the nude man, twin sais glimmering in the afternoon sun.

"No! He is a Guest," Fei Jun tries to warn her student before Yuan Gan raises a single finger to silence her.

"Let the boy asses the mettle of our newest visitor. Perhaps the offworlder can be of some use."

This is badass man.

Damn fine job

I got to decide who I should bring here.

This is an excellent idea , congrats and hopefully it gets the activity it deserves.

@gothic_dragon: @last_guardian: I'm going to assume that only the master speaks English?

@gothic_dragon:

I'll get something later today. Maybe...

@gothic_dragon:

“Whoah.”, a single expulsion of utter awe. Let out by the Son of Gothic City at the marvel of Shangri-La's topology in it's full glory. From the glacial peaks of local mountains to the deep, lush valley below. A single creek flowed from the temple's courtyard alongside a spanning path down the great mount the monaster sat upon. It seemed to him then, to someone who never had the luxury of leaving his urban home, that wherever he was the land must've been carved by the gods themselves. There wasn't a single detail not worth intense study.

But down within the alley, there was something familiar too. Dark columns of smoke rose littered about the country side. Each varied in intensity but all pointing to an MO of the same perpetrator. There was little time for him to examine any more as somebody yelled imperatively from behind in a foreign language. Romeo Rossum turned around only to notice a person visibly armed with some pointy things just a few feet shy of where he stood. He didn't even hear them approaching.

Rossum jumped back in shock and landed in a crooked crane-like posture with one hand over his junk and the other instinctively raising the other to keep distance between the two. “HOLY SHIT!”, yelled he out with the expression that mixed both base embarassment, genuine surprise and fear. “Uh, can we talk-- Do any of you guys speak English?”

@thisisgonnahurt: Cool!

Actually forgot about that. -___- I'll fix the language barrier in my next post. For now, yeah, go with that assumption.

I'll be posting up as soon as I'm able to free up some time at work.

@cassius_knightfall: Thank you! and I hope so too.

@_tophat_: Too bad you don't have many characters :(

@_dirge_:Thanks so much, Grif. Hope that your guy and mine can cross paths at some point.

@rossum:

The man spoke English, and if his subtle accent was any indication, he hailed from the United States. As a student of the most elite school in all of the Lei Pan Highlands, young Khando had studied the most oft-used Earthly languages from an exceedingly young age, including those langueage's common regional variations. Language would not be a barrier to most Beast-Aspirants.

"Talk?" the juvenile boy cried out with unmitigated anger in his voice. "I have family in the Ganzte Harbor. Did your friends bother to talk to them before they killed my uncles and forced my aunt to watch her sons being mutilated for defying the great Jin Shen?"

"Raise your fists and fight me, coward. Today is the day of your reckoning!"

The young Aspirant deftly studied the offworlder. As every practitioner of the rigidly aggressive Zhengfu would do in this situation, Khando took into consideration everything from the American's size, to the space between the two before contorting his muscles into a perfect wide defensive stance.

Nearby, Yuan Gan and the Lǎoshī, Fei Jun, watched with vetted interest along with the other students. The wise man's interest, however, was not on the young Shangri-Lan who had so brazenly challenged the offworlder, but on the offworlder himself.. How the man reacted to such an aggressive introduction would be just as telling as how he fought, if he did choose to fight.

@gothic_dragon: Likewise. I think I'll be back on CV full time in a few days. In the process of moving so my free time is really restricted at the moment.

WOOP WOOP

@gothic_dragon:

Romeo Rossum made a brief pause as cold Tibetian winds pelted his buttcheeks. Then his shocked expression faded into a tired frown: “Oh, f***. Off.”, he cursed with a surprisingly defiant demeanor for someone in his situation. Giving the young monk a cold glance, this whole predicament became more like an 80s action movie starring Arnold Schwarzeneger by the second. “You're not going to fight anyone, you bald racist doofus.”

Thanks White Amerika, world's largest exporter of mercs.

“Think. How the hell are you going to avenge your people by whooping a poor naked guy's ass? Take it with the assholes who did it, I don't even know where I am let alone who you are. For all I know I might be dead and this is some sort of weird afterlife experience. -- Now. I can raise these hands if you want me to but keep in mind they are the only thing holding this blanket up.”, at this point Romeo moved the blanket to cover his lower portion from both the harsh elements and the gazes of the eager people inside the temple. He obviously wanted to dissuade the warrior from fighting with whatever means necessary as even from the way he approached he seemed much more experienced.

“Your choice, pal.”

@gothic_dragon:

About how much knowledge and resources would be required to find this place.

I wanted my Alfred Hamilton to try and find places where learning special arts of combat are possible, for him and some others once he is sure it is good.

@rossum: LOL. Love this character. I'll post up in first chance I get.

Now all we need is a Jessica Jones and we're set. Eyes Mercy and Zaubs

Well, my headcanon is that this place is a well-known legend, especially among the elite practitioners of martial arts in the world. It's quite possible your character might've come across some type of evidence of its existence if he's in any way a "researcher/detective" type. What that evidence is, is totally up to you.

As for getting here, I'm just imagining that once you've pinpointed where the entrance should be, it's a really difficult climb through terribly cold weather, and extremely tall mountain peaks. That's about it.

@gothic_dragon: Man, I love how quickly this got so bizzare LOL

@gothic_dragon: Sweet! Well he did intend to do a search for more useful combat methods, and he is very smart. So I should make my way here sometime soon.

Thanks a lot! I look forward to coming here.

If it's not taken yet I would greatly enjoy the Gantze divine beast role

@gothic_dragon:

@arch_duchess_: Awesome. Did you have a character in mind for that?

@gothic_dragon: as in a look? Was thinking Sunpyre without the mask or perhaps Risque.

Name thinking Tomo Junko

@rossum:

Khando gave a confused expression at the offworlder's remarks. Could this be a ruse? A trick meant to get his guard down? From all of the reports, it seemed like the invaders were quite eager to fight and came armed to the teeth with their exotic Earthly weaponry. This man was armed with...a blanket.

A a wintry breeze blustered in from the east as the young warrior thought of his possible options. That was, until Yuan Gan himself strolled past him, a thick, wool robe in hand, offering it to the no-doubt freezing American.

Relaxing his stance Khando sheepishly looked back to his Lǎoshī who greeted him with an amused smirk.

"This man is no invader, young Khando,"Yuan Gan said. Though his voice was merely a whisper it seemed to echo far into the distance. "He...is a guest. The Gods saw fit to bring him to us, naked, injured, and alone. There must have been a reason for it, do you not think so?"

The old man's tired eyes looked out to the valley below once more. The plume of smoke was no longer visible in the distance. Whatever fighting there had been had evidently stopped abruptly.

He looked back to Khando and fought back the sorrowful tears as memories of another excitable Lei Pan youth rushed into his mind.

"Offworlder, you were sent here by one of my loyal followers. His message spoke of a vigilante, a hero, who had selflessly sacrificed himself for the good of his city. Our healers have restored your strength, mended your bones and your muscles. You find yourself in Shangri-La, the mystical hidden nation of lore. Say the word and I will have you sent back to the Earthly plane. But I feel that you have much to learn, and this is as good a place as any to do just that."

Shangri-La is a strange place.

@gothic_dragon:

Mr. Alfred Hamilton looked over his research. He had been instructed by Red Mask and other members of the Secret League to search for advanced method of combat, particularly martial arts or close ranged fighting styles.

He was a very clever man, and one thing he knew when something showed up as a urban myth more than a fact. Was either that this place was what it claimed to be, and possibly more or fhat it was a hoax. There was very rarely a time when myth did nor have some fact to back it up. Today was the time to look over one such thing. It took him weeks to actually gather intel he could use, not including the few days it took to properly discover the myth itself. A place called Shangri La. His jet was flying towards it just now, but he knew full well he couldn't fly a jet to where he was going. He paracheted down as it neared the supposed location. If this turned out to be a hoax, he was undoubtedly going to be very vexed.

He looked up the mountain, despite his enhanced vision he was incapable of seeing the top. Her came the climbing. He pulled out the equipment, two large hooks with rope attached to them. And the climb began. He was undoubtedly faster and stronger than an athlete human because of the Blue Blood, but that didn't mean this mountain climb wasn't annoying as heck. He stopped several times just out of frustration of the sheer long steep climbing.

"Why couldn't that other one do this, she can turn into shadows, that would have made much more sense strategically speaking." He grumbled to himself beginning the climb again. Finally, at long last, Lei Pan Highlands. He didn't actually know for sure where he was. But this had to be the place, it was real. And despite his tired form he stood up raising both arms above his head, "Glory! I have found it! It's real!"

The moment he saw a soul he would approach to ask questions, trying to appear friendly and not quite as business like as he often would be.

A clear mind. Marte never knew such luxury, always waging against an unbelievably tough enemy inexistent to all but his own mind, encompassed by outstanding people even at early age, always seeking to improve and subconsciously set barriers never to be surpassed by that inner passion he hid inside. That, however, ultimately was washed away by the flow of life, as slowly he matured into a better martial artist, not solely finding himself, yet discovering things about his own existence he could never have guessed alone.

Shaoling Kung Fu wasn't only a martial art, it was a path to improvement...

Garbing the periwinkle and silvery light attire he had grown accustomed to, the Man-Man Mutant traipsed through the doors of a realm unbeknownst to him, yet the familiar sentiment of doubt still lingered deep within his heart. Raised as a weapon since birth, all he thought about his entire life was how to become the flawless weapon, merely an object in the hand of his wielder that'd only be deemed praiseworthy if he excelled at one thing: drawing blood from those who opposed the mission he was set to do. He abode by his selflessness, his sole purpose in life being to sharpen himself as a blade, so he could be used to cut deeper.

During his time at Tibet, though, he learnt how to distinguish his own desire to become better and the purpose he had been endlessly told he should follow. Perhaps he could not do more than the God of War, Marte, but the own desire to improve and achieve nirvana rested on his very soul, veiled by the boundaries his very mind had crafted so long ago. Martial arts, to him, meant more than just means of fighting: they meant self-discovery, they meant he could still evolve, achieve an objective not for others but for his own sake. He wanted to become stronger, to be able to fight those mightier than himself.

That was why he entered Shangri-La.

Finding himself amid the unorthodox alleys of Ganzte Harbor, he restlessly waded around town searching for any sort of dojo or person that could eventually point him in the direction of the Du Yao. His step not unlike that of an insecure man... One that held within him more power than those looking down on him realized.

(Check Discord... I might have an idea lol)

@marte_aurelius: @jason_ford: Sorry bout the wait. I'll be responding to these later today! Awesome intros.