Those Unrivaled Under the Heavens, Soulborn

Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:39 am

天下無双

"Many warriors declare they'll climb the peak of might, not knowing that a whole humankind is already above it. We are the sky they will never reach, and we shall only continue to rise."

Considered majestic by themselves & malevolent by many others, the Soulborn are a race dwelling from the likes of the Soul Plains -- the land that everything bearing a soul goes to upon perishing. Their progression begins with fortifying their spirituality and tempering it against other forms of reishi, building resilience & a bountiful foundation that paves the way for acclimating their very spiritual bodies to bearing density, weight & complex properties. Through years of practice, their reishi adopts the same format that kishi would, bringing forth a physical vessel for them to act in and more importantly, enhance their abilities under the principles of Soul Reinforcement.

Once mere souls, originally bearing not a true organ, nerve, bone or any form of complexity in their spiritual husk, they shed their simplicity and absolve themselves of their handicaps for the sake of growth. They bestow weaknesses upon themselves to temper those weaknesses into strengths.

Methods

Their body is not all they build a foundation for, however. Everything about themselves is something they have the potential and inherent ability to refine through the precise application of reiryoku used to facilitate their every activity.

This is established through Methods, written as traditional custom perks stylized after the alteration of oneself through the implementation of affinity. The general baseline for every Soulborn is to refine their manner of breathing, form of motion, and even the way parts of their body operate. They can create means to augment their skeletal structure, musculature, nervous system, organs & so on all under the pretense of reiryoku refinement, so long as they have the capacity for such.

At the beginning of every Soulborn's journey, they are given baseline empowerment of these qualities (through their inherent perks), with any personalized Methods after being born from them and their developments. Simple enhancement does not suffice for most Soulborns however. They cannot form their affinity without a Medium - thus, that is their next step.

Affinity

This is where reflecting comes into play, and realizing more about one's mentalscape and soulscape to birth a reflection of the word that defines them the most. It is through this realization that they acquire their Soul Weapon, and through their Soul Weapon they achieve their Affinity. Soulborns conjure their Soul Weapon through a reishi-compatible medium, typically an Asauchi, for their Initial Release (as a technique), with experienced Soulborn being able to summon it up as a product of Projection, the ability to release raw reiryoku from oneself (unless paired with Soul Weaponry, Kido or affinity-influenced methods) & as a proper extension of themselves. They dictate the shape of the weapon from the moment it is manifested, though it may not change once it's gone through such a process.

Save for other reiryoku-conductive constructs, this is the only way a Soulborn can manifest their affinity apart from Kido - but once they do so, it opens a whole realm of possibilities. Their general means of enhancement (be it by Reinforcement, or by Methods) can be reconditioned to suit their Affinity. This allows them to enhance their physique in the same manner through techniques, buffs, and styles primarily by flowing the influence of their affinity around or through themselves, uniquely without the aid of one's Initial Release.
--- For example, the basic breathing Method learned by Soulborn can be transformed into a breathing pattern adapted to the delay between lightning & thunder, should the Soulborn using such a pattern bear an affinity for Weather, Electricity, Lightning & so on.

Despite the heavy reliance that Soulborn place on their Soul Weapon, they compensate by bearing no specific or rigid application of their Soul Weapon's Affinity and the application of such. They can dictate how their word is employed be it for themselves or their weapon itself, so long as the means suit the word itself. This allows them to freely customize the necessities of their weapon to suit their style, be it wanton for violence - or fluid & gentle.

Specializations

While Soulborn praise themselves highly for their capabilities, they would not be who they are without the Arts they hone themselves in along their route. Four Foundations that they devote themselves to honing. This is a number of different routes that a Soulborn can take to define their combat.
-- Zanjutsu (Swordsmanship)
-- Hakuda (White Hits)
-- Hoho (Step Method)
-- Kido (Spirit Way).