History of the Necros Clan (Part 1&2)

Long ago, before the age of Kages and Villages, there was chaos and war. The first shinobi had begun to fill the land and multiply, creating jutsu and and raising clans. One of the first of which was the Hyuuga, who has survived because they have to this day guarded thier secrets fiercely. Most however, were not so fortunate. Back in that time of chaos, every jutsu imaginabe was confined to a single clan. There was a dopple-ganger clan, there was a fire clan, there was a 'replacement' clan, and so on. Then the leaders of both shinobi and non-shinobi devised unholy methods of exploiting one another's powers and jutsu. Many clans, to avoid such humiliation, banded together to preserve themselves and thier jutsu. This is a history of two such clans. One of which was the Jice Clan; a clan who had the power to influence the human body after the soul had passed on. It was thier belief that controlling the remians of nearby friends and family to be a highest honor, and to die beside them in battle a privilege, as they too will fight on with thier friends and loved ones. The second is the Merc Clan; a most humble clan who had the power with-in to heal and amend thier allies wounds, no matter how severe. These clans lived in harmony among each other, and protected one another in times of great need. Then the unthinkable happened. Shinobi, for an exchange for capital, infiltrated the Merc district and stole away the daughter of the Head of the clan. There was an uproar unprecedented in the halls of the Jice district. They went to war. They found the clan of the shinobi who commited the act, and slaughtered to whole clan, the more of those who died for the cause, the fiercer the fight, and they swarmed over thier enemies like locusts before the ripened field. They recovered the body of the daughter of the Merc Clan, but it was too late. She was mutilated beyond recognition, insomuch that the Clan Head, Char, spent weeks in furious denial, but the evidence was irrefutable, he eventually gave in to his pain and wept for days. In the midst of this mourning the Jice Clan further investigated the cause of this seemingly senseless attack. The task-force came back with the most disturbing news, the clan Head's daughter had her jutsu stolen from her, and is now available for purchase with an alliance treaty to certain shinobi factions. The Merc Clan was dealt a blow that could not be healed by thier own powers. They were shock-ridden and ashamed, they were naked and exposed to all the world, and they dared not show themelves among thier friends the Jice, for fear of thier shame.

After several days the Head of the Jice Clan, named Sangr walked in the home of the Char and demanded his presence in the Common Hall. The message was received with much anxiety from the Merc Clan, and the Char went there without delay. He met Sangr in a private conference room in the Common Hall. The issue they discussed at great length shocked the Char, for the topic was not the clans boundaries, nor severance, or of trade, or of anything of any economic or political in nature. The issue brought to the attention of Char was that of an arranged marriage between his son, and Sangr’s daughter. This had been planned for weeks. Upon hearing the tragedy that befell Char’s son, Sangr’s daughter sought constantly for the love and welfare of Char’s son. The end result was the inevitable: the son sought the hand of the daughter to marry. The Merc Clan leader was overjoyed. But something of this nature had never happened before, the clans traded freely, and enjoyed one another’s company, but a marriage between the two was strictly taboo. Yet, in light of recent events, this was a most gracious proposal, that their clans may now be integrated as one entity, is a truly novel and progressive move against those who attacked Char’s daughter. The news spread like a wildfire through the districts.

The wedding date was set and, it came and went without a hitch. But the true anxiety for both clans awaited nine more months, when the newly-wed couple gave birth to a baby boy, the first of many to come; for when the clan leader’s children tied the knot, their subordinates soon followed suit, soon there were many Merc/Jice couples that emerged. The child was born, and was named Sangr the 2nd, in honor of the bridegroom’s father-in-law.

He grew to be a prodigy in the Jice jutsu, and was trained in Merc jutsu as well, however, it did not seem that the child could use the Merc jutsu at all until Char, in a foolish spell of impatience, struck a mirror, whose shrapnel shards found the young boy’s throat. Shocked by the situation and his own stupidity, Char bent over the now conscious child, and froze. In a relaxed state, as opposed to trying to summon it, the healing chakra of Char’s blood-line now coursed through the young boy’s body quite freely. Excited by this discovery, Char tried a different technique, he taught the boy that opposed to concentrating, to go into a deep trance, and let the healing chakra flow through naturally. Being the prodigy he was, the boy learned this technique with ease, but he found that even ability was no where near as grand as Char-sama’s. For the boy couldn’t use his healing chakra on others, only himself.

But the boy was a prodigy, and being a prodigy, he set out to see what he could do with his unique abilites. He found that his healing chakra did react to something outside himself, it reacted to the deceased. After months of refinement, starting when he was eight, he emerged as the creator of the first Soul Pills. But at the time they were primitive and extremely dangerous, yet it felt like it was the right thing to do, like he was filing a hole in those who had passed on, though he personally never elaborated on why.

And then one day, when Sangr the 2nd was into his adolescent years, a stranger came to the clan districts. He met and talked with Grandpa Sangr and Char, and with his father and mother. The stranger mentioned something about religion. The adults just calmly shook their heads apologetically and excused themselves. When he asked what they believed in specifically, they replied that they believed in the Clan, and each other. The stanger was appalled. He turned to Sangr the 2nd and asked him the same question, which was, namely, Did he believe in a God or faith? Surprised by the direct attention, Sangr stammered out a “yes.” The stranger, and his previous critics were taken aback, but the stranger calmly continued to ask Sangr to elaborate. Sangr spoke in reply: “I worship and honor Lord Shinigami. When I use my jutsu and work with those who have gone before us, I know that I do them honor, and that they honor us, and that it is Lord Shinigami who makes this possible, that those who are with us are with Lord Shinigami, because we honor them.” The stranger turned his head and asked, “Who is Lord Shinigami?”. Sangr looked back with an equally curious expression, “Why, he’s the God of the Dead of course!” Obviously the stranger had never heard of such a thing before, and turned back to the parents, who were just as confused, but surprisingly, Grandpa Sangr started chuckling. He motioned for Sangr the 2nd to stand and follow him. Then Grandpa Sangr asked his grandson to tell him everything he knew about Lord Shinigami. After Sangr the 2nd finished explaining what he knew and how he knew it, his grandfather wrote it all down and presented it to the Clan council. The new ‘religion’ was a theological embodiment of everything they stood for as a clan, and they acknowledged its genuine truths. The council elders heard it again from Sangr the 2nd himself, and they were astonished and greatly impressed. With a surprising unanimous vote, the council accepted the teachings Sangr. By this time there were several children who were the by product of the clans inter-marrying, who were also experiencing the same phenomena as Sangr the 2nd.

In addition to worshiping Lord Shinigami, Sangr the 2nd and the others began to further investigate the Soul Pills and their effects. And as time wore on, they learned how to combine those who had gone before them with the elements, how to master their remains and even use the healing and Jice chakra simultaneously. Then they finally unlocked the secrets to the Soul Pills. It seems that when a Soul Pill is extracted, you take all of the pain of those who had passed on, allowing them to move on into the Great Beyond by filling a void in their hearts when they are severed from this world.

Time wore on, and Sangr the 2nd became 35 years of age and decided to ‘retire’, and was put to rest in the crypt in a conscious yet deeply entranced state so he could more easily access Lord Shinigami’s presence through intense meditation and worship. At this time, the shinobi factions began to solidify into villages and become a more stable and accepted war-machine that began to fit in with its surroundings. The Merc and Jice clans did everything in their power to maintain the integrity of their identity, but were quickly shunned by the other clans for worshiping a ‘Death God’. And the integrated clans were forced to either disperse or be the target of relentless attacks from all sides. The remaining Merc went to the neighboring villages and were accepted with open arms for their skills, and quickly became great medical-nin and surgeons. The remaining Jice sealed themselves with those who went before and lived the rest of their days entrusting their blood-line to the descendents of Sangr the 2nd and his companions. The remaining of the shinobi who were Jice/Merc hybrids continued living in peace where Sangr the 2nd had retired. His son, Sangr the 3rd, was 18 when he took leadership of the remaining clan members.

Twenty years passed in peace, and before, under the religion of Lord Shinigami, the Clan could only use the ritual jutsu’s to perform services for the dead in search for favor with Lord Shinigami. And a revolution started to unearth, a new breed of shinobi in the Clan began to create ritualistic jutsu that would allow them to serve as ‘missionaries’ for Shinigami. They developed a series of ritual jutsu which would take full advantage of their flesh, and allow them to also act as punishers of the wicked. They would use the blood of their opponent, and cut themselves to kill their opponent in a protective barrier. Then in the third year of this progressive revolution, it all came to a screeching halt…a descendent of Grandfather Char, and cousin to Sangr the 3rd, gained political control of the Clan and introduced a new god, Lord Jashin, and he renamed himself Lord Jashin, and was worshiped by his followers. All of those who opposed the revolution were jailed as heretics and traitors, and they were given the name Necros, because they were considered unclean for ‘wasting the immortal jutsu’ on the dead.

It was then that Sangr the 3rd, went to the crypt of his father and prayed with all of his might to Lord Shinigami, and offered before his father the Soul Pill of his son (Sangr the 4th), who was killed for opposing the revolution. It was then that the crypt broke asunder…and Sangr the 2nd arose again.

It had been rumored by the revolutionaries of Lord Jashin that the great Sangr had died long ago in that Crypt...and here he stood. Whole, and with such strength that all of the nearby dead began to stir restlessly, and more, his son couldn't believe that his father still...lived. His father arose silently from the rubble of the crypt and inquired quitely about the events that had happened of recent. His son explained slowly and in great detail, and with great awe he began to notice...that his father had not aged a day since he had entered the crypt!!! It was as if time had stood still for him all these years...

After everything had been said...the great Sangr the 2nd arose quickly from the ground and marched straight away into the Clan District...skeletons and corpses trailing him from behind. The missing bodies of those who opposed the revoltion were torn from thier hiding places, from beneath the houses and the fields. This continued until he had reached the very gate of the new Temple of Jashin, the center of the Clan religion and governance. The temple gaurds, recognizing the Necros Jutsu, acted to sieze upon Sangr...but when thier eyes met his gaze, they fell to the floor, unconscious and writhing in what must have been agony. Sangr never slowed in his stride untill he crossed over the 'veil' and stood before the Altar of Jashin, and faced Jashin himself.

Jashin was most upset and beligerent. "How dare such filth stride with such confidence and pride over the threshold of Lord Jashin!!!" he screamed at Sangr. "Who are you, a Necros, to commit such an act of defiance and heresy?!" It was then that Sangr's stone-face broke into a wide grin. "It seems you have forgotten both your place and your heritage young...Necros. In the name of Lord Shinigami, I delcare that you shall denounce this false ideal Jashin and tear down this worthless shell of a temple and embrace your true faith and inheritance, or you and all who shall follow you will be skattered and slaughtered from out of this Clan." Jashin and his court stared in awe...and disgust, and dismay, that a strange Necros would stand there so bold in presence of Lord Jashin and speak such things. Jashin stood, "How dare you reffer to me as such a disgrace!!! A Necros!!!? Those who take their pains and use them to worship a false God and 'revere their dead' when Lord Jashin instructs us to take those same pains and use them to convince others of his reality?!! Who are you to say such lies!!! WHO ARE YOU!???" Then, Sangr broke into an uncontrollable laughter, and the court stared at him uneasily. When his fit had subsided, he looked straight into Jashins eyes, "I am the acolyte of Lord Shinigami himself. I have seen his form and have wielded his blade, I was the first to bring you your god, your religion, and it was only 20 years ago that I retired from teaching you the way of what you call Necros...I retired from the broken crypt and was awoken from my supplication with Lord Shinigami by my own flesh and blood who petitioned for mecry on his people and for justice on their oppressors. And here I stand, Sangr the 2nd, with a host of the remains of those whom you betrayed." And as these words were spoken, a mob of undead stormed the court.

Each undead grabbed the nearest official while Sangr performed many handsigns, when he was finished the eyes of all the undead glowed a deep, hazy purple and their captives fell to the ground unconscious and began writhing in pain like the entrance gaurds. After finishing, Sangr the 2nd turned his eyes to Jashin, who stared back defiantly..."Why? Why now!!!? You arise from the dead, to tell us things we already know!!! Our heritage? How dare you to think that we dont know who we are!!! WE ARE THE SERVANTS OF LORD JASHIN!!! The true god of the Living and the Dead!!! You are either confused from your slumber or you are a traitorous fraud!!!" Sangr's eyes glowered in anger. In an instant, Jashin was held in the air by the collar, staring into Sangr's own hazy eyes..."Heh...is that it?" Jashin retorted. "We are strengthened by the jutsu of Lord Jashin...very much like yourself I too have suffered many deaths!!!" With these words Jashin grabbed a kunai and stabbed lSangr's left fore-arm. Seeing that his jutsu was not working, and that he was in serious discomfort, Sangr dropped Jashin to the ground and pulled out 5 Soul-Pills, one of each element, from with-in his robes. But Jashin was the first to strike, tasting the blood of Sangr, he then cut himself and used the blood to form a circle with a triangle with-in it...with the jutsu complete, he then stabbed right fore-arm. Sangr immediately felt the pain and saw his blood dripping down his right arm...ignoring the pain however, he completed his handsigns, it was his move. Instantaneously the Soul-Pills released thier chakra and Sangr summoned 5 Undead Elemental dragons, which crashed through the ceiling and soared high into the air and began combining thier chakra, and opened the portal to Shinigami Himself.

The chakra was heavy in the air, and Jashin found himself barley able to move as he watched the reincarnation of Shinigami descend upon Sangr. The chakra crackled with intensity as Jashin stood before Sangr's ultimate jutsu, and when Jashin realized his jutsu had lost its power over Sangr entirely. The reincarnation was a hideous, horned beast with a wicked smile and it weilded a short katana/dagger, and its transparent form rested upon Sangr, and infused its chakra with his own. The result was a deafening roar of pure energy...and in the center of it was Sangr. Sangr now stood before Jashin, not as he was when he arose from the crypt, neither as the host of Shinigami's reincarnation, but as a Necros, dressed in formal black robes which flapped and flowed majestically in the wind. Sangr raised his hands into the air: "Lord Shinigami, grant unto me the measure of my loyalty, the measure of the devotion of my descedents, the measure of my chastisment and correction of these defiant ones. I, offer myself as tribute, that the will of those who have passed on before us may have peace before thee, Shinigami, what is the measure of my supplication to thee? Give me now that measure, that power which is mine, that I shall use for the correction of my descendants, for whom I am accountable!!!"

With this incantation, there appeared in the hands of Sangr a mighty Sythe of the Gods, Soukyoku: the God Slayer, and its black blade sliced through Jashin's ritual jutsu like paper. (to be cont.)