[Thetis]

末摘花 | Suetsumuhana as above, so below. CLAN TYPE: Hijutsu CLAN ORIGIN: Nohara no Kuni CLAN RESIDENCE: Kusagakure, Takigakure CLAN IDEOLOGY "As above, so below.” After centuries of nomadic wandering, the Suetsumuhana have never felt it was their place to settle down. In their own philosophy, the earth itself is a sacred entity that they are not to intrude upon any more than they have to. They are forbidden from wearing metal, and do not build their houses out of stone, preferring tents of animal hide reinforced with wood over conventional housing. In eras past, they were even forbidden from agriculture, as the tiling and terracing of the land was seen as a grim transgression against everything they hold dear. They despise mining of all stripes, and will go out of their way to refuse metal implements of all stripes, even when those would make their lives easier, or even to save their own life. Hence, their clan’s secret arts. This is not to say that the Suetsumuhana is willingly pacifist or concerned with the rights of those atop the earth, however. They will willingly forage for food, hunt animals, and kill those who they believe deserve it without hesitation. In modern times, those who have found their families within Hidden Villages often relax their code on farming for the sake of survival. The clan is not forbidden from learning the techniques of Doton, but they are frowned upon. The clan vastly prefers Katon, Suiton, and Fuuton over Doton and the earth’s very enemy, Raiton. CLAN HIERARCHY As many of the clan still wanders in the forests and jungles between Nohara and Bonchi no Kuni, their structure hasn’t truly changed in centuries. Even within the ninja villages, the roles are the same, even if the constraints of society have shifted their purpose. Wayfinder The Wayfinder is the last word of the clan, and the one everyone looks to for leadership and guidance. They are traditionally the most adept scout of the group for those who still wander, able to steer the tribe through hardship and treacherous environments. Within the Hidden Villages, the Wayfinder is responsible for dealing with village leadership on matters that affect the entire clan, such as housing, recruitments for war, and of course, paperwork. Wise Circle The Wise Circle is not always filled with Elders, but it often is. The Wise Circle holds the secrets of the clan within their hands and voices. As the Suetsumuhana traditionally did not settle for a great length of time, all of their history and arts are held in story and song. Secret techniques, histories, and knowledge of the world around them are all passed down from Circle to Circle. Otherwise, all remaining members of the clan are expected to pull their weight and fill in when needed. Traditionally quite small, the Suetsumuhana dislikes keeping more than twenty five people in one tribe in the wild, though in the Villages they are afforded the luxury of numbers. CLAN HISTORY If you were to ask the Suetsumuhana where their clan came from, they’d simply gesture to the world around them. In their own legends, they are as ancient as storied clans like the Uchiha or Senju, but the truth is much murkier. Due to what could be centuries of oral history, the details have been lost, and the Suetsumuhana were never ones to write things down. What is true is that they have been traversing the wilds of Nohara no Kuni and Bonchi no Kuni for as long as they have existed. Their stories speak of great journeys across the world, of heroes who hunted game with spears made of vines and arrows tipped with rose petals. When nations rose up in their native lands, they learned quickly to get out of the way. When these nations then established villages of soldiers with strange powers, the Suetsumuhana felt threatened. Their own sacred arts were not enough to fend off attacks from these people they did not trust and feared. Never ones to put down roots, the Suetsumuhana faded as best they could into the background. When war came through their lands once, they felt that they were right to hide. How could they hope to survive by throwing themselves into the fray? Strange things were happening in the villages the Suetsumuhana tribes found themselves bouncing between, and they did not like them one bit. When war came a second time, doubts began to surface? How long could they keep this up for? A song called "Taiyou and The Bow of Seven Colors” details their early skirmishes with what would become the Tokonatsu, a clan with similar but ultimately irreconcilable philosophy. After the second war, the Suetsumuhana saw the Tokonatsu quietly insert themselves into Takigakure no Sato, and wondered if perhaps they could do the same. When war came a third time, the Suetsumuhana found themselves split into three halves. Some wanted to remain in their ancestral lands, living the way they always had. Some wanted to join Kusagakure, considering what was now Nohara no Kuni to be the clan’s rightful home. Others wanted to directly emulate the Tokonatsu and join Takgakure, seeing them as a clan that knew how to adapt to their changing world. As one might expect, the tribes shattered. The song "Smoke Upon New Shoots” details the ending of the Tribal Compact, and the tribes going their separate ways in an attempt to survive a world rapidly changing around them. While the tune is the same, each tribe has their own particular recounting of the events. Those who came to petition Kusagakure for passage found a city in turmoil. Their own leader had vanished into thin air, and war was at their door. Seeing an opportunity this tribe became the Grass leaves of the Suetsumuhana plant. They would watch, in the years following the war, this village gain and lose leaders the way a maple does leaves, and distanced themselves best they could from the village while still maintaining their position within it. In modern times, the Kusa tribe find themselves with a solid base of power, though it does little good for them. Some have wondered if the village is cursed, and they themselves also cursed for abandoning their old ways. Arguments are common about the desire to return to their old ways and wander away from this village of endless instability. Clashing with old rivals the Tokonatsu, the Waterfall leaves found themselves in a much more contentious position, forced to aid their rivals in Takigakure’s encroachment of the desert. Here the Suetsumuhana took many losses, their flowers difficult to obtain in the desert, and heavily outmatched by the Aiel’s own secret arts, wearing away what weapons they could create out of cactus flowers and oasis plants. With the stable reign of the Taki Lord Ryu, the Waterfall tribe has found themselves in an odd position. Bad blood still exists between themselves and the Tokonatsu, but both clans participate in Takigakure in different but harmonious ways. Perhaps in the future, the wounds of the past can be bandaged? CLAN ABILITIES 花忍法­ (Hana Ninpō) || Flower Ninja Arts Honed after centuries of living off the land, the Suetsumuhana have discovered a way to turn flowers into weapons. Whereas many ninja carry around metal tools to do their work, the Suetsumuhana seek to turn the world around them into weapons. While the specific techniques vary across the clan, the basic mode of action of the art iis that the Suetsumuhana infuses a flower with chakra, turning it as hard as steel or stone. These techniques effectively allow them to create weapons from plants ambient in their environment, allowing them to avoid relying on steel. Of course, this is not Mokuton. The foundation of the Suetsumuhanas’ art is entirely non-elemental, akin to the Transformation Technique than anything resembling the intersection of Doton and Suiton. They cannot create flowers at will, and their choice of weapons often make them prone to Fire (though the Suetsumuhana Clan has been known to exploit their techniques propensity to catch fire for their own benefit as well). CLAN MEMBERS Wayfarer: Kusa - Name Here Kusa Member - Name Here Kusa Member - Name Here Wayfarer: Taki - Name Here Taki Member - Name Here Taki Member - Name Here

[Thetis]

Tagging Hisakawa Yamato and Kaze for their respective leader approval!