Welcome to Gaia! ::

Mystical region, interpreted as an unreal apparition of the transition of the existing world we now live in and the realm of infinite possibility and un-reality. In archaic interpretation the Void is the place where the existing world enters the thoughts of "God".

• Description:
  The Ethereal Void is one of the strangest places in all the whole world, which should not be surprising as it is not truly in the world at all. It is thought by some to be a mist that surrounds our world. While this is partially true, the full nature of the Void is a bit more convoluted. Many speak of mysteries located in the Ethereal Void to the far south, beyond the Barthavos Desert, but even more fear the apparition of the Void beyond the world to the north. The latter is said to consist of utter darkness which is another expression or aspect of this nothingness between worlds, a cold, windy nothing-mist filled with ominous shapes and terrors. Evil is said to live and originate there. The nothing mist to the south seems much friendlier to the infrequent visitor, filled with a soft light coming from the nothing-mist itself. Most of the time this mist is either motionless or swirling gently, and travellers feel warm and safe inside. Yet the Void is not without its dangers. Imaginary storms are infrequent, but unpredictable, and can smear the thoughts and physical form of a still-living individual throughout the Void. Thus the Void takes on gradually the slightest shadow of a personality as the eons pass in the worlds it surrounds.
  
  The Void is a place where dreams can and do come true, but precautions must be taken. Anything can be imagined into existence, but to become permanent the imaginings must be made fully real by magic. Otherwise they will vanish as soon as the one imagining is no longer paying attention. Vigilance must constantly be kept as impossible creatures sometimes wander in through the Void, coming from other worlds, occasionally causing havoc. It is said that some of the stranger creatures found in Gaia and other places are descended from creatures who had thus wandered in.
  
  Even though the Ethereal Void surrounds the worlds, one cannot simply walk into the Void and find oneself in a different reality. Even if a wizard or highly imaginative person left the world behind, surrounding himself with his own reality, and walked straight into the Void, he would never get to another world. He could walk due south for hundreds of miles, and still he would be but a step away from the Desert of Light. This is because the Ethereal Void, in itself, is not truly real, it is only potential, and concepts such as time or distance simply have no meaning there. Other worlds can only be reached through the Void by first knowing the imaginary location in the Void, and then using a combination of imagination and magic to open a hole or a door that leads directly into the desired destination world. These locations cannot be described by distance or direction or duration or any other measurement we commonly use in our world of four dimensions. Instead, these locations must be described in the fifth, sixth, and seventh dimension, with using the eighth dimension being optional most of the time. With such an abstract way of thinking being neccessary to open portals to other worlds, even though only the most basic of magic is required, few can open them - only those few that have near-genius level imaginations. Technology works poorly in the Void, while magic is enhanced. Blades of steel are especially useless. Glass blades on the other hand, are quite usable in the Unreal.
  
  
• Different Places:
  
  The Nothern Ethereal Void
  
  
  Purported view on the Ethereal Void seen from an extreme northern position on the continent of Guldor. The skies in this northern region of the world are said to appear as constantly moving oceans with enormous menacing wave-like formations rolling around, reshaping constantly.
  
  The Southern Ethereal Void
  
  Purported view on the Ethereal Void seen from southern parts of the Barthavos desert. The sky in this region has completely lost its common blue, but appears bright with cloudlike structures of orange, red or even darker colours, which are constantly reshaping.
  
  The Island of Eden
  Eden is an island which is not located in our world, at least not in the same plane of existence. How it can be reached is still a great mystery, however, due to several reports of different travelers who managed to leave Eden it seems now confirmed that the isle indeed exists. It seems most likely that it can be only accessed through magical means as it is only possible to leave Eden with the help of magic. An invisible gate seems to exist in the Sea of Mists far to the west of the Gaian continent, but where exactly it is located cannot be said for certain.
  
  
  Tree of Life
  The only know location in the Void that actually sees visitors willingly. Simply put, two chosen people will literally vanish, and end up here. Upon winning or losing, they come back to their original place in time and space like nothing happened. The tree can change, it's platform filling with sand or becoming as slippery as ice. Of course, the changes only take place at the start of the fight, and never during.
  
  It would feel ... woozy. For a moment, there was the world, the peoples, the sounds, and then ... nothing. So fast it seemed to never have happened at all. The floor where they had been standing transformed to concrete. A small platform for each, 30 feet away from each. The platform was floating in the darkness, held up by a tree. A dark tree, black, blue, green and red in colors, that seemed made of anything but wood. It wouldn't burn, it wouldn't cripple, but it would move, alive.
  
  More platforms were everywhere, held up by the twisted tree. Four men could stand on one very comfily. Only, there were only two. Upon waking up, none would know where they are. None would know why they are here. None would know how, who, what, but they'd both no one thing for a certainty: the key to salvation was defeating the opponent.

::The winds were soft as soft and beautiful as the one they carried. Amidst a sea of cherry blossoms a silohette came into view, the tiny leave each danced across the figures features blinding all view of him minus the brief glimses from behind the precious pink leaves.

And then just as suddenly as they came the winds where gone and the cherry blosoms each gently drifted to the floor. There he was, his long white hair flowed behind like a thousand soft leaves caught in the wind, its gently motion blinded view of all but his left eye. An eye colored with a most stunning grey, almost a white, and yet not, just caught in an endless gaze of infinite despair.

His body was slender, thin and almost feminine. His samurai style white kimono was adorned with grey streaks, like lashes caught in the wind, and its long stretched neck gaze a view of his smooth and slender chest, and the violent scars that painted it.

As the wind blew, his clothes blew, pressing against him to reveal his thin and slender feminine form, and causing the sheathed katana at his right hip to jingle in the unatural breeze. The katana itself was an item of notoriety, it was the Gale Blade. Its sheath was decorated with a single japanese symbol on it.

風

Wind. And there he stood, his right hand rested gently on the hilt of his katana while his left hand simply hung at his right side, his slender fingers resting gently against his leg. And he spoke, his voice was carried on the wind like a cherry blossom pedal, it was soft, beautiful, and yet full of so much despair.::

Have you see him....have you seen Irikuzi...?

::He gazed in silence. No words. Just a silent gaze, his distraught grey eye gazing into the other mans. There were things that could simply not be said with words. Gently and sleekly the words slipped through his pale lips.::

My brother...

::The winds around him gently lifted the cherry blossoms again causing them to dance around him to a depressing rythym. His right hand rose gently his index finger slowly extending towards this other man, and he spoke again, his voice just as gently before, sleek, smooth, like a soft wine. As he spoke a single cherry blossom pedal danced along his hand before resting against the tip of his extended right index finger.::

Did you...take my Irikuzi?

::A wise man once said a water can roll and water can crash. The same could be said of wind, it can gently comfort, or viciously crush those in its path. Its quiet inconspicuous beauty is only matched by its unrivaled fury. The man across from the slender samurai had unknowing stepped over a silent boundary. And beauty would give into fury.

The once soft spoken and gently mans voice boomed forth.

LIAR!

As his shout tore forth across the battle field so did a sharp and furious wind, as it rushed at his opponent it tore up random chunks of grass which whipped around in its boundless fury. The blades of grass bore down on the lone warrior across the field each whipping wildly, each blade would cut like a razor. And through the center of this wild storm the single cherry blossom resting upon his extended finger shot forth like a bullet cutting straight through the center of the storm like a razor sharp dart aiming to pierce right through the lone warriors heart just behind the storm of leaves and shatter it, just like the samurai's heart had been.::

::His storm was unrelenting! The winds never ceased nor died down, and niether did the storm of grass razors, his eye never left his target. Niether did his hand ever leave the hilt of the Gale Blade.

At the core of the storm the winds were the strongest. And through the cycle of razor sharp leaves and small rocks that bullet fought to reach the samurai. And he waited for it. As it broke throught the storm aiming straight form him leaned forward to meet it. His left hand gripped the hilt and immediately drew it, his form was as gently as summers wind but his strength was a raging hurricane. The blade whistled as it cut through the winds and its curved katana blade which rested in like with his forarm immediately split the bullet in twain.

The sheer force of the bullets impact pushed the samurai back a foot, allowing the bullets resulting explosion to miss him entirely. The mans face was full of a silent despair which drove him this madness. As the explosion cleared one could see the samurai plowing forward directly through his own storm and toward his opponent. That one grey eye never quiting its gaze, never changing its sorrowful stare. He held his sword to his lower right with its tip just inches from the ground, constantly cutting the grass as he ran and using the fresh blades to full his windy storm.

And as he ran he shouted once more. His voice clearly lashing forth over the sound of the rushing winds.::

I am Okuzakimarinoboru En! Samurai of the 5 Winds! Brother to Irikuzi the Burning Blade!

::Just about the the time he finished that sentence he reached a good 5ft from his opponent, he ducked low and slashed a wide sweep at his opponents feet. Aiming to slice them off just above the ankles. As he slashed he shouted again.::

For the memory of a brothers love, I will take you to hell with him!!

::The word "take" stuck out above the others because as he spoke it a rolling wave of wind flew directly at the man with incredible force.::

::Oki would have normally smiled as his opponent took to the air. He fell so easily for his trap, the reason Oki even attacked the ground was so that his opponet would jump and be caught in the air. The air was his domain, but a greater sadness filled his heart. A lost love. And even as his opponent jumped the storm of winds visibly curved upwards to meet him in the air. Though the air was invisible anyone could see the blades of grass rise up to continue there lashing. And as the winds kept him airborne and kept him moving steadily upwards.

The explosion of the missiles launching was something most unexpected though, and as they burst downwards Okizakimarinoburu's left eye shot open in shock. He knew what they were, he knew what they would do, and he knew that he could not escape that wide of a spread unharmed. But as he sat with his sword now laying to his lower right side, the Gale Blade began to visibly pulse. The blade itself was delicately crafted from its hilt up to its tip several etchings were carved into it, hundreds of thin lines that seemed to pave the way up to the tip. And as she sat watching the missiles with his legs crouched beneath a sort of light green energy began to seep from those etchings, filling them with a light green glow.

Beneath Okizakimarinoboru in a small 3ft radius, the blades of grass still attached to the ground began to stand straight upwards. All this would be visible or just a split second before the missles struck causing a massive explosion covering the area in a powerful blaze and blowing chunks of land in all directions. For all of half a second Oki was no where to be seen. One would assume he had been destroyed, they would assume wrong.

In a sudden burst he shot straight up from the blazing explosion, a strong gust of wind carrying him by his baggy and loose clothing. In all actuality he had jumped just before the missles hit, but the explosion had out run him. His bits of his clothes were badly singled and some of his kimono was still aflame. His face was sooty and covered with ash and part of his legs and arms, and other areas of his meek frame showed terrible burns. But there pain was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.

Okizakimarinoboru didnt need a rocket. During the seconds before the missles spiraled down to him he had gathered enough of a forceful wind to turn him into a rocket. He shot straight up at his opponent with immense speeds and with The Gale Blade held at an angle to the lower right. The blade itself seemed to be housed in its own wind as there were visibly bits grass whooshing around it at inconceivable speeds like blurs of grass.

It would take all but a second from Oki to reach within 5ft of his opponent and when he did he would slash use his powerful 5 Wind Slash. The wind caught around the Gale Blade would flatten against it making it into an even sharper cutting device, and added an effective 3ft to its length. The slash would be aimed directly at his opponents mid section with the direct intent of rending him in two.

Oki knew the air, and the sky, he knew that without wings one had no free motion in the air, they could turn and tumble, but they were a slave to gravity, and a slave to the wind. A slave to Okizakimarinoboru, Samurai of the 5 Winds.::

No more toys! This is for Irikuzi!

::Oki shouted back as he saw the gun drawn. Immediately he began to calculate, behind his soft face, and his scarred and slender chest, beat the heart of a killer, and the mind of a warrior. A little toy wouldnt stop him from getting vengeance for his broken heart.

He slashed his sword early. The force of the mighty 5 winds burst forward impacted the bullet just as it reached directly and evenly between the two fighters and allowing for an even dispersal of shrapnel between the two fighters.

The force of the explosion blew Okizakimarinoboru straight back and out of the powerful gust of wind which shot him forward. As he flew back he could feel the fresh burns along his chest. But the wind didnt disperse when Oki exited it, instead it shot directly at the blown back Starr, catching him and just as he recoiled from his shot, it would impact him like a wall, with enough force to blow stop even a speeding train dead cold, and trailing in that wall of wind would be the shrapnel meant for Oki.

The winds course was definite. It would shoot the man straight up, gravity held nothing on him, they were already over 200ft up and in a matter of seconds the man would be over 500ft up, and with no sign of stopping. Oki hoped he was afraid of hieghts. He wanted to see the fear, and pain on his eyes before he ending him.

The burns on his face and body stung, as did the few pieces of shrapnel which pierced him before the gust of wind caught them. For now he began to fall, his body danced along the winds as gentle as one of the cherry blossoms he brought when he first arrived, with his blood soaked and burned hair trailed gently behind him. Drops of his blood floated up as his body carreened downwards toward the ground. Finally a look of peace came over his face. He had gotten his revenge.

His opponent on the other hand wouldnt be graced with such a gentle ride, as the 5 winds blew him up they would be sure to knock him about, he would likely feel as if he was being constantly pushed and around by 5 random angles. This was meant to bring about a sense of distortion, to make him sick and dizzy, as his body was blown into a different angle every few fractions of a second. As he was blown about like a leaf caught in a tornado. And all the while he would be carried straight up. And then, at precisely 500ft, the winds would stop just dead cold. But as gravity regained its control he would see that the bundle of leaves and small rocks which were carried with him were now circling directly above him. The danced around like marbles caught in a sphere. Like an eye watching him. But, leaving him to free fall back 500ft to the ground. ::

::Unfortunately for the bounty hunter that ball that was behind and above him. The ball of swirling bits and bobbles was not for show. It was a trap, it was a reason for the peaceful look on his face. The ball of wind picked up speed lashing around furiously as the bounty hunter fell. Then, like the finger of god it extended down toward the free falling man. The wind itself had become Okizakimarinobu's ultimate technique. The 5 Wind Tornado. And as all of natures tornados its winds whirled at a full 500mph, winds powerful enough to rip a man to shreds, and winds capable of making even the softest of things a weapon. And the 5 Wind Tornado now bore down on the bounty hunters back.

The sound of whirring winds brought further peace to Oki's heart. His brother would be avenged. But he didnt free fall backwards, his fall was slower, softer, he rocked back and forth in a cushion of wind like a cherry blossom, the winds were softly carrying down to the ground. His clothes waved about in the wind as if barely held on by some form of magic, as he descended in his gently bubble. A bubble which was then impacted by his opponents wire. The wire didnt reach through but rather hit it was knocked off its aim by the winds, and wrapped 3 thrice around his waist, as the winds acted like a pulley, basically pulling in the bounty hunter as opposed to Oki being pulled by him.

At the sound of the wire whipping past his right ear Oki slowly opened his dull and yet beautiful gray eyes to see his opponent, his brothers murderer falling towards him with the 5 Wind Tornado in tow.

His eyes glimmered as his heart nearly skipped a beat and he let out a gasp. This, this one eyed man, the look on his face, it was impossible! This wasnt the look of a killer, it wasnt the look of a man who wanted his death but rather, it was the look of man trying to save him! His eye, his one yellow eye. At that moment nothing seemed as innocent as it. With that gasp, just a full 3 inches from the bounty hunters back the 5 Wind Tornado dispersed and the rocks and blades of grass each flew off in different directions. And he spoke. His voice once again gentle, soft spoken, kind. His words again slipped through his persed lips.::

Who...are you...?

::In that moment all Oki could do was simply looked up in an awe struck shock as his left eye, his only visible eye, his eye full of despair, gazed up at his opponents yellow eye. He was caught in its beauty and its madness. And in that moment, as his concentration faded, and so did the bubble of wind that kept him up.
Feeling his support fade, his soft feminine and scarred face filled with a sort of quiet desperation, as he began to free fall. He reached his right arm up as if to reach from his opponent, to cling to him and accept saving he offered. If he still offered it.::