From earliest accounts of the scribes, the land of Kyujin was sorrowful. The land produced a bountiful harvest, but the pillaging raiders would ravage the lands. The raiders not only kept what they wanted for themselves, they spoiled the rest in order to keep the villagers impoverished. The raiders had full rein and dominion over early Kyujin, and held power with steel and horses for centuries. That is until the Grand Master of all martial arts came, but no one knows where he came from.

He wandered the lands of Kyujin. He came to fame quickly for his unarmed and unarmored martial arts prowess could defeat the armored mounted riders and their weapons. In the tomes of scribes they describe this man as peculiar. Some say that he was seeking peace and beauty, but no one knows what his true motives were. He defended the oppressed when the opportunity arose, but never was he seeking a fight. No matter the size of the army or how well equipped they were, the Grand Master would always be victorious. When asked about his fighting style, he called it the Dragon, and he became known as the Dragon. It soon became known that he did not attack unless provoked, and the raiders stopped their war against him. Instead the raiders would attack villages that he was not at, and returned to their pillaging that they have been accustomed to. The Dragon did not act on this.

To be a Grand Master at martial arts, you must have a keen intelligence over a strong body. The Dragon possessed both. He knew what was about to happen. He continued to visit villages as he always did. Most villagers that once saw him as a promised savior were reviled at him, and would curse and spit at the man. They would say things like, "You can stop them. Why don't you?", or "Not one day has past when you leave and we're attacked again." The scribes themselves held emotional ties too, and have passages of praise crossed out and rewritten in it's place is words and even poetry describing how he can defeat an army, but he doesn't act, a fighter for peace, but he doesn't fight and there is no peace. What amuses many of today's scribes is that these words of ridicule are scratched out even more fiercely than the ones praising him. The Dragon had a plan.

Not all villagers at this time were against the Dragon. When the Dragon first arrived, and saved villagers, families, and even individuals people began to spread rumors of his fame. As the Dragon entered into villages, some people would wonder about him, maybe knowing only some kind tales. Then when the wars against the Dragon took place, and everyone heard or witnessed the defeat of groups of raiders to the Dragon, it seemed like all of Kyujin was united behind him. The common people of Kyujin wanted the Dragon to become king, and overthrow the raiders for good. When the Dragon just continued to wander, and the raiders started to avoid him, then people began to turn away from him. When the raiders committed atrocities in places the Dragon was not present, some people began to hate the Dragon even more than the raiders because he gave them a false hope. Not all villagers gave up immediate hope, but when someone would say a positive thing about the Dragon, the other villagers would outnumber him and put him down, and people gave up hope that way... It's a sad way to lose faith in someone because the majority are against your hope, but it happened. The last people to believe in him, were so dedicated to his cause that each of their village expelled them because they didn't want to hear any more about foolish hope. There were ten: nine men and a teenage girl. They began to roam too, in search of their sensei.

The Dragon hadn't been seen in months, but who's to blame him when the entire country hates you. At first their search was difficult. These hopeful wanderers were slandered and hated just as much as the Dragon. By traveling around the villages in search of scraps of information about the Dragon, they became infamous too. Gathering news from the villages, they soon found each other before they found the Dragon. The ten united and were incredibly relieved to find other hopefuls that believed in a common goal: to seek training from the Grand Master Dragon. Now that the ten became a group, the villagers no longer showed outward hostility. The villagers partly feared the ten because it was rumored they trained under him already, and partly some villagers gained renewed hope. The ten continued to travel the land, and news of them came quickly to the raiders through feeble taunts of the villagers, "I can't stop you, but the ten dragons can. They just left here, and they'll be back." The raiders first were in fear, but then through their ways they found out that the Ten of Hope had not received any such training. Though vicious, the raiders were also cunning to an extent, instead of sending a small force to quell the Ten of Hope, they traveled to several villages announcing their intent to kill The Ten of Hope in a small village named Caranoi that they spotted calling it Hope's Despair. The raiders announced their plan to crush morale so no more hopefuls rise.

While the Ten of Hope did not know the onslaught bearing down on them, the Dragon is not without ears. In Caranoi, the Ten of Hope just finished a free meal from the local innkeeper. When they exited the hostel, they saw a mounted army of over a hundred that surrounded, and the whole village is standing there terrified, corralled by the raiders. The scribes have a unified agreement on the dialogue for this moment. The leader of the raiders motions his horse forward and announces, "The Ten of Hope?", he then spits, "I could kill you all myself, but then how could I make an example?" Then out of an upstairs window of the hostel emerges the Dragon who retorts, "You want an example? That's fine by me. I teach by example." What follows next is not unified by any means except for the fact that the Dragon defeated the most of the army and routed the rest.

After finishing the battle with hardly a scratch, the Dragon approaches the Ten of Hope. The Ten of Hope bow before him. The Dragon announces to the cheerful villagers and The Ten of Hope, "This town was to be renamed Hope's Despair, but now I call it Dawning Hope for I've found the students that I've been searching for longer than they've been searching for me." The Ten of Hope stand smiling, and the villagers shout in praise to the victor. The Dragon then took his new students into the wilderness for several months. The raiders did not dare raid during the next season as rumors were coming that the Dragon and The Ten of Hope were united.

The scribes don't know what went on during the time that the Dragon and his students were in the wilderness, but when they returned is well documented. Each student chose a populous village to defend while the Dragon remained in careful watch of his students. Each of his students were special in different ways so the Dragon taught them different fighting styles. Each student started a dojo of their own, and the Dragon would visit occasionally to train his students and his student's students. The raiders had no plan for this. They were scared. For another season, the dojos trained martial arts to all the villagers that could walk. The raiders tried small raids on the dojos, and the dojo's leader and villagers would defeat them. Then the raiders tried one large war of over a thousand raiders on the Charge dojo, but the Dragon fought along with the dojo's leader and his students. After this defeat, the raiders splintered. Some raiders continued to run small raids on unprotected villages, but their time came to an end eventually when disguised students came upon them. Some raiders snuck in to some villages to start farming themselves, and no one really gave them much trouble. The end of the rein of raiders happened hundreds of years after it began thanks to the Dragon.

The people of Kyujin saw this opportunity to make the Dragon king. The Dragon declined," No. You're right. I would be a good king. But when I die, who would be there to rule over you? You can't count on them being as kind hearted as I. Indeed, you may have a dictator that would make the memories of raiders seem good. No. I won't be king." The people scattered and went on their own way. In a few months later, the people assembled at the Samurai dojo that the Dragon was teaching at, and again they asked him to be king. This time they said," We may have a dictator tomorrow, but today we want to have a true hearted, warrior king!" They started chanting," Dragon, Dragon.", and even some of the newer students of the dojo chanted it. The Dragon gave the novices a glare, and they shut up. Then he looked back upon the people and raised his arms for them to be quiet," You have asked me to become king, so listen to what I have to say. Twice you asked me to become king, and twice I decline. Instead of a king for leadership, you should look for peace through mutual respect. In the times of the raiders, you had no way to defend yourself, and you were constantly bearing defeat. I say now that you know how to fight, you have the possibility of peace in your grasp. The ten dojos will be my legacy. Respect the Ten of Hope. Remember how they bore your disrespect before they came into their power. I will continue to train with the Ten of Hope, and some may view me as a king, but if I were a true king then it would be irresponsible to do what will come next. In a few years time after the Ten of Hope have become true masters of their art, I must take leave of Kyujin. I ask that you forgive of me that choice.", he paused holding up one arm to continue the silence of the crowd," Now remember this and tell it exactly as I say to your children. You may spar with one another, but do not play dominance games as the animals do to determine who is the superior fighter. You must respect your fellow man's power for you do not know who would win in a real fight or real war. Kyujin is rich enough to support multitudes now that the raiders do not plague the lands. So be happy and live in peace as farmers, and do not neglect your training because it can sustain peace for generations." The crowd erupted in applause, happy in their new government system of respect. Some though were sad that the Dragon said he would be leaving in a few years.

The years indeed did go fast, and just when The Ten of Hope seemed to be reaching their maximum potential, the Dragon left. He didn't tell anyone except the Akido master where he was going who kept the secret. After the Dragon left, generations were born and generations died. There was a population surge because people were finally realizing the capacity of their lands, and people were happy to farm and train in the local martial arts style. Some people even moved to different villages to learn a style that fit them. Eventually the dojos were spreading out to let people choose their own style without moving away from friends and family. Everything seemed peaceful for generations.

Then as the villages grew into cities people stopped being content of just being a farmer. Some people became lazy and stopped their training in martial arts. And worse still some became greedy for money and power. Corruption came with the cities, but no one can say for sure that the cities were the cause of the corruption. New dojos opened that trained with weapons. It was quicker to train with a weapon and popular belief felt it more effective in combat. Those that knew the old tales of the Dragon didn't want to remind them that weapons were no match for an unarmed Master martial artist in most dojos. These people wanted power for themselves and not to share it. There were a few with the heart of the Dragon who tried to convince people that weaponless combat can beat an armed soldier, but they lacked the training of the Dragon so they could not back up their claims. Soon there was a chain of power leading from Dojo masters down to weaponed thugs to the untrained. The balance of power was once again tilted, and there were high stakes involved. The corrupt Dojo masters fell prey to the illusion that gold is power and wins wars, so they started striving for gold. And when someone strives for gold, someone else is losing theirs, and the inevitable power struggle began. And war broke out shortly after.

War. War between the dojos. Founded by the Dragon, trained by The Ten of Hope, now struggling against each other. You can't say that four hundred years of peace is a bad run. If the Dragon would have been king, it may have been less due to his successor's cruelty. But still the Dragon's plan seemed to fail in the eyes of the final remaining believers in that old story. Like most wars, there were no real winners except the extremely corrupt people at the top who had the power to stop the war. There just wasn't enough noble people to stand up against the pervading evil forces. Death and carnage was all that this war's legacy was. And that is probably what attracted The Unknown Evil.

The Unknown Evil opened a portal in the middle of the largest city: Prosperity. The Unknown Evil came in on a dark cloud, bringing with it legions of evil minions of undead and monstrosities. The city and all the inhabitants that didn't flee were destroyed in a matter of days. The city was rebuilt by the dark forces as a fortress. Scribes refer to this fortress as Prosperity's Dearth, but the evil forces kept the name Prosperity. From this fortress portaled in more and more monsters almost like an endless stream, and villages and cities fell one after another. The power structure that the corrupt martial arts master's relied on(gold), had no more value with civilization on the verge of collapse.



You were just recruited into a dojo a week ago as emergency militia. You are nothing but a novice in your field of martial arts, and the The Unknown Evil's legions are advancing. Back to main project page