[Yutakako Takara]

Ketsueki no kemono

power is for those who hunger it

BASIC INFORMATION

RELIGION'S DEITY/NAME: Kurayami | 暗闇 | Darkness
TEMPLE'S LOCATION NONE
VILLAGE LOYALTY NONE

RELIGION'S IDEOLOGY

I. Howl to the Moon

Half of the Ten-Tails was sealed away in the moon, so when looking for guidance look no further than the bright moon upon the nights sky. If the moon isn't present to praise then seek comfort in slaughter until it's return.

II. Regret Nothing

Who cares what you did? Kurayami only cares about power and so should you, if you feel stronger from your actions continue doing them, otherwise forget them as soon as they happen.

III. Kill Everything

Everyone is your enemy so kill at your own leisure, then go ahead and kill some more for Kurayami. Can you smell the blood? Can you taste it's glory and feel it's warmth? Spill more blood.

IV. Love nothing, Leave nothing

Kindness is weakness and love is a poison and curse, if you think you love something then ---- it, kill it so it can't be blessed with your violence, then ---- it again so it's spirit cannot settle. Eat the remains if you can stomach it, Kurayami could.

IV. Lie to Survive

Arms tired from killing and legs tired from running, well if you can lie your way out of trouble, then you're as good as gold in Kurayami's eyes. Think you can get something extra or an edge on someone through lying? Then lie Kurayami loves it.

RELIGION'S LAWS

I. No Prayers

Yami is very selective of his disciples and doesn't look for those seeking help, a disciple of Kurayami must have been approached and recruited, and is done so more as a mercenary and less as a faithful. Kurayami cares more about intent than actual discipline.

II. No Loyalist

Kurayami will not accept anyone who isn't a missing ninja and active criminal, one cannot join or be apart of a village and remain a follower of Kurayami, well unless the joining was a lie to lead to more killing.

III. No Mercy

If you think you can walk away from it unscathed or more powerful than kill anyone and everyone you encounter. Also another's mistake is always a golden opportunity and a when a back is shown stab it.

IV. No Decency

Kurayami hates all life and only trusts those who're blood thirsty bastards, any act of kindness will cause Kurayami to drop his assistance immediately.

RELIGION'S STRUCTURE

Dark Pilgrim:

Those who've served the dark lord longest and somehow managed to escape the never ending purge. Dark Pilgrims are incredibly rare, but they do exist and while they're the least to be feared, they are usually the most troublesome in actuality. Typically ones idea of a priest or bishop, this role within the religion is more or less a voice. They preach the gospel of religion so to say. Granted that gospel is quite selfish, so usually it seems more like a loose effort to trigger madness and darkness in the lost.

Dark Pilgrim's are typically Demon's of Darkness who've managed to outlive their youth's ambition. Now they seek purely to see what others do with the gifts of their deity. They've lost so much in their own livelihood that they're practically husks of men crafted in the image of their lord. Though all secretly hope to see the bloody end of mankind and light to cease shinning. They oppose the concept of 'good' in all senses and embrace anything dark. Due to how long they've been foul, they're undistinguishable from normal civilians and yet totally invisible to Demon of Darkness.

Demon of Darkness:

Demon of Darkness is the title given to those who've subjected themselves entirely to darkness. They've under gone the ritual of the beast and internalized a demon to unleash upon the world. More likely than not these individuals are driven by a single goal or their selfishness simply knows no end. Demon of Darkness do not typically get a long with each other and will often fight each other to consume the other. Unlike Dark Pilgrim's who usually seem to fade from existence entirely to them.

A Demon of Darkness cannot physically harm a Dark Pilgrim, but as previously mentioned they do consume their counterparts. Once more familiar with the religion, it becomes very clear that they've taken dog eat dog to a new level. Demon's uphold the deities image by reminding the world of what horrors lay in the darkness. It is this class of the religion that does all the dirty work and is the acting hand of the Kurayami's will.

Chosen Undead:

Those who've survived a life threatening or near life threatening injury from a demon of darkness. As well as those nurtured by a Dark Pilgrim gain the status of chosen undead. Despite not being religious followers of the religion itself, these people will now have what's called the ritual of the mark put upon them. These individuals bare Kurayami's mark of a woman beside two moon. The mark appears on the back of a person neck though and thus is usually missed by those 'chosen'. These individuals are typically treated as naïve, but still potential for the position of Demon of Darkness.

The Ritual Mark however makes them typically a more juicy and pronounced target for Demon of Darkness, as sometimes they can be as much a boon as devouring each other.

RELIGION'S HISTORY

Kurayami is the counterpart to Hikari, but unlike the deity associated to the sun. Kurayami was always seen with a sense of negativity. The dark brought about many people's fear, it made him easily the less worshipped God. However the deity was still seen to most as simply a less known and more quiet 'lord' of mystery. Though an almost sentiment of disdain grew within the god, a feeling that'd make it very vulnerable to it's sort of 'exist'. The void of space.

Until the sage of six paths would create the moon, but the moon was created to store a very dark and essentially evil force. Whenever the suns rays beat down on one side of the moon, it'd in a sense push and pressure that evil energy to Kurayami. The God lacking followers was drawn to this creations immense power. In time the God lost all sense of self, it's disdain and lack of following let it lose it's form.

Morphing into thousands of hideous monsters, it'd soon directly channel it's energy to it's followers. Their wills tempted and the light off the full moon burned them. A sense of hatred to the very people filled them, a belief of others wealth being unfairly earned overtook. They'd take it all by force, they'd do it with the power of darkness. Through the shadows people would exact their most savage worship ever. It'd be the first of many red moons through out the years which followed the moons birth.

However such savage acts weren't met with the same resistance and frankly the majority of outbreaks either ended quickly or escalated enough to create a hunt worthy of slaying their efforts. Despite the purposeful act of vengeance for those ignoring it, Kurayami would of lost the vast majority of it's followers. What little fame the religion held now shifted into infamy, a place that once had small churches or religious huts would be downgraded to cult followings in the depths of caves.

Kurayami once offered safeguard in the dark, but now he offered power a power which could scale. A fact that even though he'd lost all his followers, those who survived now rose in the ranks of life. Obscurity to the worship of darkness would now be relished by other religions. There was less a need for preachers as those who followed Hikari now preached of Kurayami. Even though it was in disdain and with the will to hunt and kill them. How 'dark' a quest for followers of light to embark.

Those who follow the religion are often visited by the deity's voice or vision via a dream. Typically targeting those who've already demonstrated serious evil. Dark Pilgrim attempt to also bring individuals into the fold, but they're a rare breed and the man power of the religion typically gets itself killed early on. This religion is too scattered and it's members too self driven to have effected the worlds history at this point. Usually they're just lurkers of the dark in individuals histories.

RELIGIOUS ABILITIES

Ritual of the Mark

Those who follow the ways of Kurayami are capable of performing something called the ritual of the mark. This ritual is performed by Dark Pilgrims through dripping a black grease into the wounds of target while patching them up. Alternatively surviving severe injuries from a Demon of Darkness, while in their Demon form, will also place the ritual. A day following the ritual of the mark it'll activate, this'll create the religions mark upon the back of the target neck. Those with this mark will get a dopamine hit every time they kill person or eat a person. Each instances adds a counter to the individual.

Ritual of the Dark

Those who're pledged into this religion of evil first must perform this ritual. It's performed by sacrificing ones own weight in life at the start of a night, then before the night is over consuming it all. One is required during this ritual to wear one stolen item and must have surrendered their kindness prior, if they had any. Upon eating the sickening amount of food the individual will go into an almost coma for a day. They'll wake up in the night with power equivalent to their average shinobi counterpart. However when daylight hits they become weaker than the average civilian counterpart. After performing the ritual those effected get a strong dopamine hit from sinning or killing. Every kill gains a counter, eating the kill gains another. These counters double if the individual killed is a shinobi. These counters can double again if it's a played character.

Ritual of the Beast

Upon reaching ten or more counters a chosen undead or recruit Demon of Darkness will typically go through a second ritual. This ritual is known as the ritual of the beast. In this ritual two crescent moons facing opposite directions will be drawn, a mother will be laid between them, then forced to eat their own child's flesh and drink their blood. Afterward the ritual performer will sacrifice three animals over the mother, before taking a fatal bite out of the woman. This'll cause them to bleed out, but the blood will turn black, it'll seem to consume and melt away the body. Kneeling within this pool of blood, one will chant out to Kurayami for power, which if they've reached the appropriate counter will be granted.

Similarly to the ritual of the dark, the user gains a power boost at night, but on top of that boost the user is now able to regenerate in pitch black. Regeneration is equal to the users counter number in pounds of flesh, but every 10lbs decreases temporary counters by 1. Alternatively though natural sunlight damages the user, it's damage taken temporarily reduces counters based on users size. Counters lost this way are regained by escaping the thread.

The main power of the ritual of beast is the users gained ability to transform into a monster or as they prefer to be called demons. These monstrous forms take on the appearance of those animals eaten during the ritual, despite a change in appearance at base level a user must retain the general human form. Features like tails, wings and anything 'extra' would require an individual SA, as well as increase counter drain in sunlight by a minimum of one.

The abilities form is often less important though than the forms size, as depending on the number of counters a religious user has stacked determines exactly how large they could manifest themselves. These sizes as previously stated will increase damage taken from sunlight.

• 10+ Counter: At 10 or higher a user can become roughly twice their size. This increases daylights counter drain to +1
• 100+ Counter: At 100 or higher a user can become roughly a buildings size. This increases daylights counter drain to +5
• 1000+ Counter: At 1000 or higher a user can become roughly a boss summons size. This increases daylights counter drain to +10
• 100000+ Counter: At 100,000 or higher a user can become a creature of roughly ten tails proportion. This increases daylights counter drain to +100

Note: Due to their proliferate sin and murder, those who've committed this ritual reek of death and often must wear incredibly strong orders to hide it. If they choose to hide it.
Note: Temporary counters going below 10 disables ones demon form and thus regeneration perk.
Note: Total Counter decrease by 10% every year.

Dark Pilgrimage:

The final ritual of the clan of darkness, this ritual requires the user to be at a 1000+ counter or maintained a 100+ counter for the majority of ones life. This ritual require the user to commit suicide before a night sky with no moon present. Known as opening one up to Kurayami, if one performs this act, then they're blessed with the gift of immortality, as well as safe guarded from Demon of Darkness. Granted almost the 'highest' rank within the religion, Dark Pilgrim do lose all other ritual effects.

MEMBERS

Dark Pilgrim

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Demon of Darkness

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Chosen Undead

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✜ designed by catbug for use on naruto: fallen blades

[Yoshiko]

This is an old idea and a mess, I am more than willing to re-work the 'how it works'. I just felt this system created quantifiable draw backs to allow a certain high level of openness to form.