MetaSolaray

As of right now, no, is there a possibility? Of course...While Earth stance does have some basics thrown in the unarmed combat style, it's not really a focus as the original founder and her husband were both sword users, and as the art hasn't survived for a very long time it was deemed better to set a ground floor to work off BEFORE branching off. If someone who was close to Meta wanted to in that regard, he'd probarly spend time thinking it over, working it out...and since the style's belief of "The sword is an extension of the body" it wouldn't be hard, though in this regard I will probarly be limiting everyone to learning one Style for each stance, (So you can't be Master at everything, you have to constantly train in your one aspect)

That's what I assumed, this style was being used by Meta (My character go figure) before I could sit down to submit it. Now I can promise you a lot of the potential fighting style came through the RP I had in the server, making it stand out more and more and working on the lore as I did so. It was a pleasure to do this and I do hope it increases the quailty of Roleplay fights. No one wants to have a 30 year old swordsman get beaten by a 300 year old elf sword fighter simply because, "They trained longer so obviously you cannot win." And the 30 year old's RP is very deep and detailed, while the elfs is "Swings his sword at his enemy." Then complains in OOC that your powergaming because your character shouldn't be able to such and such or so and so. EDIT: Also added a poll so be sure to vote so I can get quicker info on it :D?

I have a very small group of friends who have been willing to help me develop the art and make it stand out without an issue. This art is a critical and core development style for my character and to not do it would simply take away...90% of himself as well. This lore was built around the very people I started to use it around, and a lot of my note history taking was built around them. I want to mainstream it now more so, and open the floodgates persay. Any time someone argued with me I would stop using it to be fair, so far those arguments were countable on one hand. And always were resolved... EDIT: Also my character has ICLy been training in this art himself since he was a small child, (Since he was 4, he's 20 now) SO of course he has high levels of learning. Where else would I pull the art from to have it learned...you'd need SOMEONE who knows it, and they wouldn't pop out the woodworks randomly.

Flowing Sun "Nature is both our greatest ally, and our most fearsome foe." Introduction As early as life begun, the need to fight for it has existed as well. Resources, mating, self worth and many more reasons of the constant struggle between life and death. Even the most intelligent of creatures have not forgone the drive of combat. But, as any tool for survival is created, so are methods to refine and specialize it, and the very creatures who can understand the world and it's resources, so have their methods of obtaining and keeping them. Weapons of war were created to aid in nature's destructive path of endless fight. Yet, as they were created so were methods of which to control them and limit them. Laws and morals, guidelines and beliefs. These were the stepping stone towards martial arts themselves, a set of rules that would both empower each fighter under it's banner, but also unite them. One such nearly lost art was the art of the Flowing Sun, a martial art defined by the very thing that drives it. Nature and it's bond with all life. Each student of the art would train and train, hoping to achieve a state of being that would be the very vanguard of the land they lived on. It wasn't just a state of being a warrior, but of togetherness with their fellow practitioners. It was one's ability to listen to the very flow of the world around them, and the flow that each person had with their own heart, that truly opened their heart and mind. Together, defined, they were the children of the origin source of their history. The one who begun it all with a single dream, a single ideal that defied a curse... Lore, History, and the origins of the Flowing Sun Marital Art Chapter 1: How long is my memory... Chapter 2: Renewed Hope in the Rays of the Future. Chapter 3: Dusk of Greatness Founding Beliefs of Flowing Sun "We are the vanguards of the nature around us, it is both our greatest ally in combat, and also our most fearsome foe. We must respect that all life is created in equality, and all life must be respected for it is a part of the natural cycle around us. Every ideal is simply another piece of the grand travesty, and even our own view can be misguided. We must accept that how we see something, is not how another may see it, and instead of seeking to remove that which does not agree, we seek to understand and even incorporate another's view into our own. As nature adepts to the cycle, we must adept to the situation, we are not one's who will stand firm by many rules, but stand beside our heart. While we respect the law of the land, we must also recognize that it is not the all seeing truth. It is up to each student to discover the conviction behind their heart, and see it through till the end of their days, from combat or otherwise. We are neither harbingers of light, or damnations of darkness, we must find inner peace and balance by accepting that not all light is helpful, not all dark is evil. The bright light at the end of the tunnel could be a trap, the darkness can shield you away from the eyes of an enemy, it is understanding and seeing from one's own view that they can visualize the stars beyond." Flowing Sun is a martial arts based on the belief that all things have a purpose, nature itself is an ever-changing and ever-moving statement of life. The martial arts takes this into account with the various stances and beliefs students are taught about life and learning. No student (though in recorded history there was no orc or drawfen students to be mentioned) will be shunned away from the art, and instead would be guided along the path to reach their inner conviction's potential. The strongest tool of the art is a character's own conviction, the belief and dedication to their heart is held in regard above all else. While the art tries to refrain from defining the definations of one's action, it is not an art that condemns actions for personal or ill-minted gains. The art is acceptable of killing another if the reason was balanced for protection, but it wouldn't condemned cold blooded murder for it was not a balancing act of one's own heart. The Fighting Style of Flowing Sun: Utilization and Arts For every art, there is both a spiritual and mental lesson, and then a physical one. Flowing Sun's combat style is heavily based on the aspect of fighting as a continuous adapting fighter. While in recorded history each student had used the Sword-styled tradition to advance, it is possible and is currently in progress of placing the teaching and the processes of the art into another format. The main focus of Flowing Sun is to never have an /ending/, every motion should lead into another, every kick should be the start of your next motion, every block should be readily interwoven into your next move. Warriors of Flowing Sun are experienced in their bodies ability to change and adept, never seeing a motion as a single event, but instead just another link in the chain of battle. With their body and mind, and the styles practiced with the art, a Flowing Sun martial artist is a force to be reckon with their ability to not only change to fit a sudden situation in combat, but their ability to be unpredictable as they constantly rearrange their body, their mind, and their fighting style. Sword Stances: Wild Inferno: Fire Stance Dance of the Gale: Wind Stance Terra's Embrace: Earth Stance Calming Tide: Water Stance Archery Stances Info: Prelimnary Flowing Sun: Archery Style A newly designed art focused on re-centering the teachings and disciplines of Flowing Sun into a new weapon. This art was designed by Master Solaray, for Apprentice Talithia and whomever else desired it. Believing fondly in the arts ability to flow, it was surprising effective to design the new art style by basing the very teachings around archery. To use the stance one needs a specially crafted bow, Light material to ensure weight and movements are unhindered, added iron guards on both ends of the bow for deflection and additional strength to firing power. Iron guards can be deattached to reduce weight or used as daggers as well due to design method. Wild Fire: Fire Stance Playful Wisps: Mineral's Vanguard: Earth Stance Tranquil Drop: Water Stance Reasons for the Art, and goals intended Very often when we go out in the land of Asulon, we meet someone who is a /Master Swordsman/ whose character has been practicing the sword for years/centuries, and there is no way we could beat them no matter what. This is especially true with elves, with much longer life spans then humans, how can a human possibly be able to beat them. Now I am not trying to single out a race, just a personal experience...With magic, and villain actions, an application is the threshold needed to be passed to prove you can do it, no one wants a mage who Rp's a fire ball with... "Xaiver summons a fireball from the void, and rains down hell everywhere." No one wants this out of magic, because someone who understands magic should be able to RP it...Never have someone who can't understand how to RP effectively what their character does, I believe the same should be true for swordplay. To many times I see sword fights/axe fights with, "Kaz rushes forward, swinging his axe at Meta." Instead of, "Kaz leers angrily at Meta, his snout breathing flames of fury as he roars a deadly battle cry, war axe high in the air as he brings it crashing down vertically at Meta, ready to split him in two." This is often then debated oocly with people, who will make claims such as, "I'm an Orc I can do this, you can't beat me 1v1." or, "I'm an elf, I've trained for 200 years to your 30, your human so you can't win." I believe every race has great strengths and weaknesses, but very few people actually practice or understand their own. As a human player, I wanted to design an art style to give swordsman another view point of fighting RP style. I want to push forward the idea that RP fights are not only a much better option then PvP but create a lot more depth as you challenge yourself and your characters limits in mid-combat, writing out how each motion of your body is controlled, and detailed. My character doesn't intend to keep this art to himself, as the last Master he actually wishes to teach many others, and OOCLY and ICLy I wish to teach as well, helping to improve a person's understanding of Rping combat scenes, and grow them as a fellow Rper, to make roleplays fight less rollplay to decide an outcome, and more engaging roleplay. Furthermore I wish to show that the fighting styles of people's characters can be unique, maybe even allowing others to pick up a martial art for their character and designing it, which was a ton of fun for myself to read the lore and interact making Flowing Sun Martial Arts a reality. I can hope that if it's accepted that I can take it a step forward, helping others define there's, and inspiring others to make their sword or axe fighter more unique then just a basic guard style of "Swings sword," But make their fighting an artistic display of showmanship. F.A.Q. Responses, Etc. Accepeted Students of the Flowing Sun Martial Art Master Meta El Solaray Sword Style (MetaSol) Apprentice Talithia Ruonna: Archery Style (Pixie524) Apprentice Rethlor Juicidius: Sword Style (Rethlor) F.A.Q Q: How does one join the art? Can I be self taught? A: Unfortunately you cannot be self taught this art as it is a fighting style that is left and passed on by the Solaray family. While in the past during Aegis there were students of other families who learned the art, they all perished defending their homeland against the undead, as well as the Solaray family to ensure they made it out safely to protect the noble teachings. This has left the training methods and the teachings of the art in that family and that family alone However, there is nothing to not say you had a relative who heard of the art, or spoke of a strange art they once saw that seemed to dance with the winds, attack like fire, stand like earth, flow like water...etc etc. Ask around around if anyone has ever fought like this, see if you can find the one who can teach it, and will probably will (He may be a bit cold at first to you, but that's just his nature) begin your tutoring. Q: Will you be keeping track of my training, do I have to follow the guidelines? A: Yes and Yes, with a slight bit of no. Before you can progress at any method of the art, A Master must ensure you are following the correct path both spirtually and mentally, and then it is assumed you go off and practice when you have time on your own, I would like you to provide me with either screenshots or good amount of words of mouth so I can keep a track of whose using the art and ensure it's training is kept sharpen, but this is a personal request. During the times that your character and Meta as well can you can return to him or send him a bird for additional training. Also the guidelines for how long it takes is a rough estimation, there are many variables depending on dedication, character adaptability to the stance, other struggles. Take it with a grain of salt, it's a guideline, not a lifeline. Current Note: The Backlore is not completely finish, but in the lore that will follow the chapter everyone but one of the triplets, (Who is a character I am designing) and Meta's parents will be left who knew the art before the journey to Asulon. NO one else will survive who knows the art, the only way you can know about the art is word of mouth (Maybe you had a sibling who sent letters about the art, or the Solaray family) or have seen Meta fight using it, or seen someone using it. Second note: I would appreciate feedback on poll decisions, it's just a reference for me to see, ESPECIALLY if your going to choose the bottom option, I've dedicated a long time to this, I want to have HEALTHY debates about it, to see all opinions.