A small group of citizens from the fairly new nation known as Egypt, study the way of combat. The leader [and fonder] of this group wanted to document these techniques, because of the dreams he had about Horus and Anhur demonstrating them to him. He practiced these techniques for days and days on end, before teaching his brother and sons these methods. On small sand tiles, he wrote down the systems along with his culture and beliefs. He inscribed that training and practicing these techniques were ways of thanking the gods, and in return they would reward one with bodily health and knowledge of how to protect one ’s self as well as their belongings.
After news of other civilizations started to surface in Egypt, curiosity over their culture filled the land. The man, now teacher of a ‘word-of-mouth’ school, started to get word of people from these nations: Babylon and Mesopotamia, who wanted to trade methods. These fighters eventually documented their styles and culture in the inscribes. These, as well as the migrating in and out of Egypt, is the reasons why the documents found themselves traveling to Babylon, to live for two centuries.
- 8th century BC
Around the time 776 BC, the Greeks discovered the tablets. They brought the tablets to Greece just in time for the first Olympics. The Greeks, following in the tradition of the civilizations before them, wrote down their philosophy. They believed that Zeus had Hermes guided them to the documents. That they were meant to have this entity, which was touched by many different civilizations and their gods, to be placed in the hands of the Olympian’s people. They felt that their gods should enforce the power that lied behind the tablets.
They brought the winners of the first Olympic Games, as well as the winners of all the Olympic Games that followed while the tablets lied in the land of Greece, to write on sheets of paper, soaked in oil, sweat, and dirt which was scraped off the athletes. They wrote with ink made of magical herb from the bottom of Mt.Olympus . Athletes: such as Diagoras of Rhodes, his sons, Milo of Croton, and Theagenes of Thasos, wrote about their workout conditioning and training in their styles, the mentality they had/one would need to have to be successful in those forms of fighting. The tablets, which would be renamed ‘άρια τρόπο(ária trópo, meaning: Ares way)‘, would be held in a temple on the top of a hill in northern Greece. Upholding the tradition that the founder started, they called for the ‘greats’ from all over the country to document their philosophies.
For the years that would follow, Egyptians would come and add the power of their gods over the tablets that were added by them long ago. Two more centuries would pass before, for unknown reasons, the άρια τρόπο would be shuffled between nations again. Going from the hands of Zeus himself, to the hidden tombs of ‘The Pyramids of Giza’; from the newly built ‘Hanging Gardens of Babylon’ to the door steps of Persia, where it would stay until the wise minds of China would get a hold of it.
d^_^b
Well, this is what I got so far.....I kept having these thought about the origins of the Warrior Scrolls. So I sat for three hours and wrote this. I apologize for the limited amount of details and the poor wording/bad writing. My mind thinks in jumbles, making it hard for me to stay focused......I'll write 'Chapter II- The Iron & Silver Age' later.
By the dawn of the 6th century, the άρια τρόπο had seen the birth of four great civilizations. The Egyptians started the list with and set the foundation. They, along with the Babylonians and the Mesopotamian, constructed two fighting styles: Ancient Boxing and Wrestling. The Greek’s reinvention of the άρια τρόπο better defined the two styles. In the time they held it, they continued to add move and more into the list, as well as improving what was in there. They took the liberty to add Pankration in with the other styles. They added physical training and their philosophy, which was growing more and more over the course of time that they held the άρια τρόπο.
Fast forward a couple years to the early 500s BC. Persia held the άρια τρόπο for two hundred years without adding much before trading it. They traded them to the faith heavy, smaller neighboring country of India.
An Indian group, who had knew more about the άρια τρόπο than the Persians or anyone pasted Arabia did, were a group of trained combatants wanted to take them to India; which was a small nation compared to the much bigger and richer Persian Empire. They however did have more to give to the documents that the Persians didn’t. Hinduism swept through India and Buddhism was in its beginning stages. They depicted their peaceful beliefs and meditation of both religions; the techniques to get in tuned with one’s spirit and inner self. They, over time of them holding the documents, called across the Himalayas to the nation of China; more specifically Sun Tzu and his The Art of War.
Among the many trades India and China made, knowledge of Chinese combat. There were masters who placed their styles, such as Xingyiquan and T'ai chi ch'uan(Tai Chi). Taoism was documented in the sheets that the Chinese contributed. The study of nature and animals movement was also described in the documents. Along with the new information that was given to the άρια τρόπο, was the new public status that it got. The Indians and Chinese moved the άρια τρόπο into the secret shadows of the trades between India and China. The leader of the group, who bought the documents from the Persians, felt that this information would be misused. The Chinese also agreed with this notion; they even took the freedom to rename it: 戰士的方式 (Zhànshì dì fāngshì…meaning Warrior’s Way. In these trade meetings, they would sit around the Zhànshì dì fāngshì and preyed. In a silent state of meditation, these masters believed they were transferring energy into the documents.
- 4th century BC/250BC
The group in India moved the Zhànshì dì fāngshì out of India, seeing the constant progression eastward of Alexander the Great and his army. The moved far northwest to Turkey, before traveling to Greece. Once in Greece, they found an underground trading dock. The traders told them of how much Greece had grown in four centuries. The traders told them about Homer and Pluto, along with the worldly philosophy that they helped bring in. As they learned more about the advancement of Greece, they were told about the growth of the mega power known as Rome.
In Rome they would fight the new found sport of Gladiators and the Coliseum. The group and the Zhànshì dì fāngshì would stay in Rome three hundred plus years; until the rich, golden sun of the ‘Ancient World’ sets, and the dark, merciless moon of the ‘Middle Ages’ rises.
The Zhànshì dì fāngshì would hop around south Europe, but mostly roman territories. The Indian holders of it, passing away over time, left their progenies to hold the documents and continue the group. They placed all of them in a small, light yellow, clay box. In Rome, the documents would be touched by many popular gladiators of the time. Tetraites, Spiculus, Marcus Attilius, Crixus, Carpophorus, Flamma, Commodus, and Spartecus wrote about their training and the mindset that comes with being a Gladiator. The In Greece, the Greeks would organize and build a structure around the art of Wrestling before reentering it into the box.
The box would be taken to Egypt, along with Julius Caesar, to bask in the last days of the ancients with Queen Cleopatra before eventually finding its way to the Holy Lands by 5BC. There, it would grab the teachings of Judaism, and early Christianity and dodge the constant warring of the Romans/Persian war. The group successfully got out of the crosshairs of the war, which would be followed by a chain of wars that would dangerously hurt both empires, before ending up in India, around 470AD.
-470AD
Once in India, the group would find that Buddhism had rose in growth and gained many followers. They also found the emergence of Buddhist Monks. Some of the monks were packing for trips to China. The monks discussed the details of their trip to the group. They said they were going to help spread their teachings to their eastern brothers. Hearing this, the leader of the group knew. He was meant to bring the box back to India at this time, because the monks were meant to take it to China. So the group decided to trade the box to the monk, so it could get to China.
And to China it went, reaching the Song Shan Mountains by 489AD. It would see the building of the Shaolin Temple and the Buddhism’s growth in China. The monks would spend close to fifty years in the temple before starting to develop styles of combat. After studying nature for so long, the monks would create different ways of fighting based off of animals and their methods of surviving, hunting, and killing pray or enemies; And as these methods became arts, they were written down into the box, along with Neigong and Qigong. The basic belief of Buddhism was written in as well.
-1135AD
After being held by the monks, the box would be stolen by an unknown source, brought down to the bay of southeast China, and traded to the Japanese. Taken to Japan, the box would be taught the code of Bushido by the Samurais. The Japanese would keep the box until it was stolen by the early rooted Ninjas, whom would place Ninjutsu and their Guerrilla style methods. The endless rivalry between the Samurais and Ninjas would see the box change hands many times. The box would stop in the hands of the Ninja and taken overseas to Korea. In Korea the Ninjas, trying to keep it out of Samurai hands, would trade the box to the Hwarang warriors. In Silla, Korea the art of Hwarang-Do and Taekkyon would be documented into the box before it reached China again. This time basic Shaolin Kung Fu would be listed. The Shaolin training methods would be entered into the box as well.
-1190AD
The box, in the hands of Chinese army, was being moved out of China. The Chinese feared the Mongols getting their hands it. Their army slayed their way through china like a blood lusted shadow bent on conquering the entire world (Which they were).Luckily, the few men got the box over the Himalayas and into the hand of India. At the old trading grounds, that the Indians and Chinese once helped fill the box, the men found the group that gave China the box. The group, who were the descendants of the original group, was now Brahmins. They told the group about the threat of the Mongol’s virus like spread through China. The men asked the group to get the box far away from Asia.
The group agreed and took the box from the men, before they left. They knew that the box couldn’t stay in India, since it was in the middle of war as well; So the group contacted the Assassins and asked one of them to move the box to south Europe where the Greeks could keep it safe. The Assassins agreed to do the job; And the box was rushed out of India around the ‘Battles of Taraori’, and into the Holy Lands. While crossing through, they would sneak around the European armies who were in the middle of the ‘Third Crusade’. They eventually landed in Greece, where they would place their Guerrilla methods into the box before handing it over to their south European counterparts.
-13th century
The box would stay in Greece through the rest of the Byzantine period, until the Greeks would leave for the Fourth Crusade and get invaded by the Latin’s in the Byzantine-Latin Wars. Moving the box into the Holy Roman Empire, the assassins came to a dilemma. They couldn’t keep the box in the Holy Empire, or else it’ll eventually get corrupted into their favor. The assassins however, didn’t know where to take the box. To the east lied the invasion of Greece by the Latin Empire and right after, the Ottoman Empire. To the south lied Italy, this was being controlled by the Holy Empire.
To the direct west lied the French during the Anglo-French War and the Normandy Campaigns. While fighting two wars, the French would have to fight the Spaniards that sat in the far west during the Albigensian Crusade. The Livonian Crusade happening by the coast of the English Channel, and the Battle of Zawichost starting in Poland. Northwards was the century long Norway civil war. The assassins saw war, invasions, and crusades everywhere they looked. With the Holy Roman Empire getting closer to them, and the word of Genghis Khan’s Mongol army reaching the Himalayas. The Ottoman Empire’s rise and the Norman’s constant warring, the assassins decided to move the box to the end of the world.
They quickly escaped central Europe, and headed for the Islands of the English. Marching through the Norman’s wars against France and the rebellion of Welsh, they landed in Ireland. The box would stay underground in Ireland for nearly four centuries. The dark times of the world would get worst. The Holy Roman Empire and Ottoman Empires would reach their peaks. Europe would continue to home many blood wars. The Holy lands would witness more bloodshed. The Box will witness the rule of Henry VIII; the blood thirsty King Drakul (a.k.a Vlad the Impeler). The black plague would take lives, as if the Grim Reaper ripped through Europe; And Genghis Khan will turn the Mongol Empire into the biggest Empire the world will ever see.
As it would appear that the world was stuck in the dark shadow of the moon, it will see the sun once again. The brightly overdue sun would shine a light that will show humanity, as well as the box, many advancements and bring the box into the Modern Era.
d^_^b
(Well, this was......a painful night. So, I hate to ask this (again); But, could one of you bros leave a 'bump' comment. So I could finish the timeline of the Scrolls.)
As if the moon had crashed into the earth, the world seemed doomed. The box barely made it out of the grip of the Mongols after being tossed around to be the Japanese. Through the bloody Holy Land and around the pressuring eyes of the Holy Roman Empire, if it wasn’t for the Assassins and their secret ways around, the box would have perished.
-1477
The European assassins kept the box in a small isolated corner of Ireland for the remainder of the High Middle Age. Keeping the box safe and out of the public’s minds, the Assassins lied low as well; The word started to come in of the new mindset of the countries the made up Europe; As well as the call of China. The Assassins of southern Europe came back and retrieved the box. They moved the box from the Ireland, through Italy in the middle of the renaissance, to the Middle East. After getting the box into the hands of what was felt of the Hashshashin, the box was then moved to Temples of Shaolin.
There, the Monks filled the box full of the new discoveries that they had. The Five Animal Forms of Kung Fu: Tiger, Leopard, Crane, Snake, and Dragon, all were written into the box. Soon after, word found its way through the shadows of China. Many Wushu schools and clans heard about the legendary box. The box that was blessed by the founders of combat, it would be an honor to any Martial Artist to have a part in box; And the Monks were allowing any Masters of any style to come and represent their style. So, many fighters left from far and wide to Temple of the Monks.
Many Masters told about their homeland, the basics of their styles, the origins of the style, and many other details about the style. Among these many styles was Horse and Monkey Kung Fu (which derived off of T'ai Chi Ch'üan or Xíngyìquán), Black Tiger Fist, Zi Ran Men, Drunken Fist, and many other forms of Wushu that ranged from different styles of Kung Fu, to hybrid methods, to body training techniques. Even neighboring countries came: such as Karate from Okinawan, Silat from Southern Eastern Asia, Jujitsu from Japan, and Kalaripayattu from southern India, among others.
-18th century
The box flourished in China through the great age of Wushu for two more centuries. Picking up dozens upon dozens of different styles, the box was full of great knowledge about the many ways to succeed in combat. The new arts of Wing Chun and Shaolin Boxing had joined the others in the box. Around the early 1700s, the Shaolin Monks decided to move the box back to Europe. The Monks informed the European Assassins that the box had created an energy source of its own; Because of centuries upon centuries of being blessed, prayed over, touched by spiritual hands, the box held an unimaginable amount of spiritual energy.
They said that they received word, from many spies throughout Asia, that the presence of the box had reached the ears of many warlords. The energy force was too powerful for any person to have control over. After the Shaolin Temple started receiving threats from these warlords, they knew it was too risky keeping the box in China. The box needed to become lost to the known world again. So the Assassins took the box to Western Europe, deciding to take it to the one place that no one would think to look. They secretly left Europe on a journey to the Americas.
Upon arrival, they sailed south to Central America. They set up a camp in a Spanish colony in the Caribbean Islands. A tropical paradise, the islands were beautiful. Surrounded by the greenish blue Caribbean Sea, and covered with the thick, fruitful, tropic plant life. It was a lovely place for them to set up their base. They snuck around pirates and soldiers as they studied the rest of America.
-1777
In the middle of the Revolutionary War, the east was a war ground. Paved in blood and gun powered, the Assassins made sure to stay out of the east. They had camps in the Mid-West and throughout Central America. In their search, they founded many native forms of combat. Though they weren’t as heavily structured as eastern styles, they were very fluid in nature. The war tribes: like the Apaches of the Southwest, Mohawks of the Mid-West, Comanches of Central North America, and the Aztecs of Central America, they all had very advanced and successful methods of combat.
The Assassins were able to study these methods, as well as document them into the box. Many of the tribes prayed over the box, and blessed the box. Doing this, the box’s energy grew even bigger. Among these many methods, one that stood out was the rhythmic, dancing style of Capoeira. Over time, the war soon ended, and the Unite States was spreading. The Assassins wanted to keep the box free from the new nation. So, they moved the box back to Italy.
-19th century
While in Italy, the Assassins found many fighting styles have immerged. Bare Knuckle Boxing was now very popular in England. As well as Prize boxing, that was even more popular. The Gentleman’s art, created by Edward William Barton-Wright upon his return from Japan, of Bartitsu was becoming very wide-spread in Europe because of its mixer of Boxing and Jujitsu. The French shipmen style of Savate was practices on the rocking ships of southern Europe. The Assassins quickly started studying these styles. They received word from the east that the Judo had grown off of Jujitsu; As well as Tia Chi, from the T'ai Chi Ch'üan. The Korean style of Taekkyeon started immerging . The box needed the come back to the home of Shaolin.
After a few years of being in Europe, the box was moved into the Shaolin Temple. This time, the Monks decided to keep the box a secret. They took the box into a hidden temple in the Himalayan Mountains. Hidden under snow and mountain rock, the temple was sure to be lost to anyone who didn’t know the exact location. They would use Assassins and Ninjas to secretly searched for new styles before bringing the masters/highest train practitioners of said style to the Temple to represent the form. After a series of studying, the monks would take the master to the hidden temple to document it into the box.
This method was constructed to prevent the power of the box from getting in the wrong hands. The box would stay secret; everyone who knew of it was sworn to secrecy. The Assassins and the Ninjas kept an eye on the ones who knew. The ones who told the existence of the box were gotten rid of.
-20th century
For the remainder of the box’s days, the method worked. Martial Arts styles developed in many places around the world in the two centuries that was to follow. He box was perfectly safe for the events of World War 1 and 2. The Assassins/Ninjas retrieved the highest train practitioner of the style and brought them to the temple.
The grounded grappling style that was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu started being practiced in Brazil around 1925. The 1930s saw the development of Krav Maga in Czechoslovakia. Muay Boran was revealed in the southern Asian country of Thailand; along with its less systematic form: Muay Thai. Russia presented the wrestling like style: Sambo, in 1938. In the 40s, Korea was flooded with the influences of Chinese and Japanese arts, which drove the creation of Tae Kwon Do, Taekkyeon, and Hapkido. The wide varieties of wrestling that were practiced in America, as well as the teachings of Yip Man in southern China. The box documented them all as they immerged.
Through the late 19th century, the box sat safely in it temple. The Monks heard world of the wide spread of Eastern styles being practiced in the West. The States was starting to flourish with a love for fighting for sport. Prize Boxing and Amateur Wrestling was practiced by the most. As well as the growing knowledge of Kung Fu and other eastern styles. The Assassins studied these styles, as well as the young master that helped bring Kung Fu to the Americans: Bruce Lee. A few assassins watched him through his and noticed his different teachings. After seeing this, they hid themselves among his class, and studied the early style and philosophy of Jeet Kune Do.
While they studied Bruce, many other spies for the box studied other Martial Artists of the time. They trained with the best Prize Fighters of the time, and practiced with the best Wrestlers of the time. They studied their training, style, and way of using that style. The spies continued doing this for the next few decades.
As the 21st century arrived, the box was now filled with thousands and thousands of years of Martial Arts. From the dreams of one man who lived in a small part of Ancient Egypt, to the grandest stages that the world had to offer, the box had come a very long way. It met some of the greatest figures to bless the world with their presence, and passed the very people who toned the modern world. It sat at the bright, dinner table with rich men, and roamed the blood cover fields of grim ones. Saw the start of the oldest styles, and the determined ones who created them. It saw the best of man’s ability and the worst;
The box was created out of the love for Fighting and the appreciation of Culture. It was sealed with inner energy before being sent off to absorb the very essence of this world. The box manifested into a magical entity of itself.
d^_^b
(I was working on this over the end of summer. I left it with a little that needed to be done. So, I finished it up today. I needed to finish this for something else I'm planning to do once I get enough time.)
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