Toltiir was getting ready to make the next set of moves when he felt a presence behind him that he had never hoped to feel again since the beginning of the expansion of 4D space. It was a presence of absolute law, stern, unyielding, inflexible, incapable of compromise. Turning, he beheld Zentarin, elder deity of law. If Jyggalag could be described as the gifted general of order, Zentarin would be described as the Sun Tzu of order.
He was clad in chrome-polished spiked armor that was polished to a mirror-like shine. On his back was a two-handed sword made of a similar material. But what was the most distinctive was his face, which was not covered by the great helm that he wore. It was similar to a Norseman’s face, but it did not have any hair on it, beard or otherwise, and it was made of the same material as his armor and weapons, so it seemed that he was made of a single piece of metal.
“Ugh,” sighed Toltiir moodily, “What do you want Boring McDullardpants?” He called Zentarin that because what Zentarin viewed as perfection, Toltiir saw as colorless and boring.
“I saw the tampering you were doing with this universe.” Zentarin answered, sounding cold and slightly artificial.
“And…” prompted Toltiir, getting ready for a great debate between the two of them.
“I seek to aid you in this work.” Zentarin remarked in a frigid tone.
“But you … wha?” asked Toltiir, not believing his ears, “But you …”
“I stood in Opposition to you at the beginning of time.” Zentarin finished. “You also know that I do not care for any form of morality. But I do not like demons, who are inherently chaotic and inherently evil carrying out acts of law, such as writing worldrules, on universes. So I wish to aid you in this work so I can punish them appropriately.”
“So your motive is that you don’t like demons committing lawful acts, while my motive is that I don’t like unhappy endings.”
“Yes and there are a few conditions that I would like to act upon before I help you.” remarked Zentarin, without emotion.
“Aw,” groaned Toltiir, “Alright, what are they?”
“First of all,” began Zentarin “I would like to enlist Mata Nui as an associate in our endeavor.”“Wha?” asked Toltiir, his brain taking a moment to try to comprehend Zentarin’s lawful speech. “You mean the Mata Nui Robot has finished its mission?”
“More or less.” remarked Zentarin, in a matter-of-fact tone, “There were a few things that happened that were not part of the original plan, but it did teach him to pay attention to what was going on inside of him and not outside, not to mention that ‘Arrogance can topple giants.’”
“So what’s the other condition?” asked Toltiir.
“Since you are using elements from the Dungeons and Dragons Universe,” observed Zentarin, “We could enlist help from The Shinto Gods, the gods of Greyhawk, and the gods of Eberron.”
“Why them?” inquired Toltiir, not seeing the point.
“Four good reasons, Toltiir,” said Zentarin, dispassionately. “First of all,” he indicated, holding up a finger, “The gods of Greyhawk and Eberron are not bound to the laws that bind divines in the Forgotten Realms, that place rubs me the wrong way. Second,” he said, holding up a second finger, “At least three of the gods of both realms share the same sense of humor that you do. Third of all,” he said, holding up a third finger, “The Shinto gods are the rightful gods of this world and would appreciate the help for retaking their cosmology. And fourth,” he remarked, holding up a fourth finger, “You are too familiar to the gods of the Forgotten Realms, and they would be less than willing to help us if you were involved.”
When Mata Nui was formally welcomed by the Nine Elder Gods of the Ninefold path as the god of life, death, and rebirth, and the other gods had made their way to the demiplane known as Common Ground (Lolth showing up a little late after she got her abdomen kicked seven ways to Sunday during a failed attempt to invade Eberron), they began their debate on what they would do. Some of the things they decided on would be that Tharizdun and his insane clergy would be the primary antagonists, and the worship of Tharizdun causes the worshipers to become tainted. ; the gods of Greyhawk would send non-evil divine champions based on the divine rank of the patron god (one for Demigod and below, two for Lesser Deity, three for intermediate, and up to four for Greater Deity and up). The gods could send a champion equipped with either two Relics sacred to the church in exchange for two champions (on a one-for-one basis), or a Legacy Item in exchange for a champion, or only one champion equipped with both two relics AND a Legacy Item. Racial pantheons, such as the Seldarine and so on would also be able to send champions to fight Tharizdun, but the champions would all have to be non-evil to do battle against Tharizdun. Toltiir would choose champions for certain classes such as Binder, Shadowcaster, and other classes that could be considered heretical according to the Greyhawk religions. The gods of Eberron would send only three champions of each class in Eberron, but they could be of very diverse races. ; Mata Nui would be the patron god of anthropomorphic animals, and he would send six of his Champions as a Toa team, each one wielding a different elemental power; and the Kyuubi no Yoko would regain celestial versions of his old powers; gain anthropomorphic vixens dedicated to Lastai, exalted goddess of pleasure; exclusive access to the Beastlands for hunting; and become anthropomorphic on the condition that he do exercises similar to modern Body Sculpting, actively learn how to be good, and actively help Naruto get stronger. It was at this moment that Zentarin had to find out who was knocking at the door, figuratively speaking. When he came back, he didn’t look to happy.
“Who was it?” asked Dol Dorn.
“Apparently Zeus, Re-horakhty, and Odin learned about what we are up to and want in on our scheme.” remarked Zentarin, in a disgruntled tone.
“What, why?” asked Dol Arrah.
“Of all the gods who want to take part, only Zeus’ and Aphrodite’s motives are clear.” sighed Zentarin moodily. “Zeus is beyond angry for demons treading upon what he believes are the sacred rights of the gods, while Aphrodite is furious about the ‘All love shall be unrequited’ worldrule, along with its separate subheadings.”
When all the gods were situated around the central table of Common Ground, the gods of Greyhawk had to explain to the newcomers about who Tharizdun was, what they did to him. The next things that were decided on were that certain pantheons would have control over certain regions of the Shinobi world: The Pharaonic pantheon would have control over the eastern desert regions while the Babylonian pantheon would have control over the western desert regions (Toltiir had to find them, explain what was going on, and bring them to common ground to take part in the scheme). After a brief “war”, a peace treaty was scribed in both the writing systems of the Babylonian and Pharaonic pantheons upon a stone obelisk in the middle of the desert region, and that obelisk marked the boundary between the Pharaonic and Babylonian “territories.”; The Asgardian Pantheon would have reign over the lands above the borders of the Land of Lightning and the land of wind, but could not go further south than the middle of the Land of Lightning.; The Olympian pantheon would have reign over the western half of the Eastern Continent, while the Eastern half would belong to the Skarn people and their Martial Pantheon.; since there was no official history past the birth of the Sage of Six Paths, they could come up with their own history; and that because Naruto sacrificed the chakra sword to create a more-or-less permanent body for Saber, they would have to create a sword worthy of a so-called last-hope-for-light hero.
What was decided on for the history was: The timeline would be divided into four ages. ; The First Age would be a time similar to the Warring States period of China. The First Age would end with the unification of the Warring states into a single empire; The Second Age would combine the best features of Ming Dynasty China, Feudal Japan, Imperial Rome, and the Golden Age of Myths. The Second Age would end with the assassination of the Imperial line by the Cult of Tharizdun, who would then attempt to open a hole in Tharizdun’s prison to allow him into the world. In retaliation, the Gods would send champions to the realm, who would then band together to vanquish the cult. The organization, called the Lightbringers, would succeed in thwarting the plan and scattering the cultists, but Tharizdun, angry and frustrated at being thwarted, cursed all the Lightbringers into stone. Most were placed in elaborate templecatacombs to prevent their decoration, while a few were placed in elaborate outdoor shrines, where they would become like outdoor art displays. ; The Third Age was the official “Warring States” period of the Narutoverse, which would last until there was no one alive who would remember the Second Age. Toltiir briefly disappeared at this moment and returned with the D&D campaign supplement known as Ghostwalk. He then showed the other gods present, and they decided, after reading it through, that during the Third Age the provinces of Bazareene, Salkira, Sura-Khiri, Terrepek, Thurkasia, and the Hikirian Peninsula would be able to stabilize themselves and have their own separate histories after the collapse of the empire (Which it was actually how it appeared in the Ghostwalk/ book. The Third age would end with the birth of the Sage of Six Paths; The Fourth Age would consist of the modern timeline of the Narutoverse, but the Tharizdunites (as the mad cultist of Tharizdun were known) were not idle during the Third and Fourth Ages. It was the Tharizdunites that were ultimately responsible for spurring the other ninja villages that destroyed Whirlpool Village to do so because of a prophecy that stated that only an Uzumaki can slay Tharizdun once and for all.
What was decided on for Naruto’s sword was: The Uzumaki family sword would be ideal for Naruto, but the blade would be made of Starmetal fallen during the last appearance of the comet Alhazarde. When the other gods couldn’t agree on powers for the sword, Toltiir showed them all the separate powers of a sword called the Monado. Watching each power in action, the gods decided that they would be ideal, not to mention the fact that the sword’s power would grow with Naruto’s spirit. The gods whose portfolio involved the crafting and shaping of hot metal would forge the blade, while the gods whose portfolio involved magic would imbue the blade with its powers. Toltiir would then bring the sword to the Uzumaki Family during the Second Age. During the most recent Ninja War a Sword-specialist Jonin found and wielded the sword during the war, but lost the use of his right arm near the very end of the conflict.
The final thing that the gods discussed was the difference between ordinary ninjas and ninjas that could wield Holy Chakra. The end result was: Ninjas that could wield Holy Chakra would access special Jutsus that cannot be copied by anyone without sufficient purity of Chakra. Any attempt to use something like the Sharingan to copy such abilities would not only fail, but would suffer severe pain throughout the body for four hours as well as hilarious flatulence for four hours (a compromise was struck between Toltiir and the other gods). Ninjas that wielded Celestial Chakra could move in medium armor without penalty at first and later, they could move in heavy armor without penalty. Ninja Paladins couldn’t summon a special mount, but could do double the damage if they delivered a smite attack while charging. Ninja Clerics who could wield Holy Chakra could use Holy Chakra to lift curses, cure disease, heal wounds, and restore life to the recent dead (only one month dead). Removing Vampiric fuuinjutsu seals with Holy Chakra would be a bit trickier (not available until level 10 for Ninja Clerics and level 14 for Ninja Paladins, and still would bestow five negative levels that wouldn’t result in permanent level loss), but it would bestow some resistance to chakra disruption (a bonus equal to ½ the character’s level). The Shinigami protested most vigorously at the concept of divine resurrection, but the other gods were able to placate him with the fact that only the immediate family (mother, father, sisters and brothers) of Naruto’s and Sasuke’s families would be brought back to life. The rest would remain dead.
“This is the strangest scrying device I have ever seen.” remarked the Shadow, meaning a lot coming from him.
“I suppose a simple crystal ball, wouldn’t be enough for you?” asked the Traveler as they watched the small figures of an archer, a swordswoman, and a fox made their way around a board that seemed to be a combination of Monopoly and the Game of Life.
“Yup.” smirked Toltiir, in his special cat way.
“The Game of Heroes,” read Arawai from the center of the board, “The challenges are good, but the name is not very creative.”
“You’ll see,” hinted Toltiir, “But now we are going to get some action, because our heroes have just landed on…”
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