Rurouni Taikai II
From TaikaiWiki
Rurouni Taikai II: Shards of Sorrow was a main tournament held between March 31st, 2002 and April 6th, 2002, on the Underclocked forums and hosted by User:Daigohji.
While the contestants were invited in many prior tournaments, in RTII they were unceremoniously ripped from their home-worlds and forced to fight. Most previous tournaments were hosted by the Eternals and promised such prizes as immortality or godhood, but in RTII the only prize was the winner's right to remain alive. Never certain of the true reasons for the 'tournament', the only clue the contestants had was a mysterious man who called himself the True Namer. At the end of each round the most severely injured among the contestants died in the Light of Transition, becoming phantoms.
Travelling with the fighters was a grey-haired young lancer called Id. Forever trapped within a suit of armour and plagued by a pain in his side, Id was told to observe the tournament in order to unravel the truth of his forgotten past. Over the course of the tournament Id met a series of people who seemed to embody traits that he lacked; wisdom, self-sacrifice, etc. On the final day he came to understand their significance. The Creator had not been the only one of her kind. A nameless one, forgotten by all, had chosen to watch over The Multiverse born of The Creator. After countless millions of years he came to the end of his life, and was afraid. His mind shattered into seven shards, each taking mortal form as Id, Morsus, Queen Orbytas, Lieutenant Orbitas, Aemulatio, the True Namer and Vereor. His death, which would have been an instant from his immortal perspective, was held at bay by the different time perspective of his seven mortal avatars. In a last act of desparation he clutched at the Multiverse like a drowning man and dragged into his mind those who could teach him how to embrace life and accept the inevitability of death. As the one who became the seeker of knowledge, Id had to learn this lesson.
Finally the nameless watcher became whole once more, returned all of the contestants to life and accepted his death.
The zipped archive of the tournament is available here. The drafting and afterparty threads have not been archived, but the prologue and rules can be seen in the Other Important Threads section below.
Among other inovations, RTII was the first tournament to feature Full Motion Video (FMV) integrated into the over-story. The links included in the tournament archive are no longer valid, but all the original videos are available here:
Teaser trailer
The opening movie from round one
Id vs Vereor from round one
The True Namer intrudes on Queen Orbytas in round three
The king and his brother meet on the battlefield at the end of round four
The ending. Id accepts his fate.
Renmazuo was the winner of the tournament, playing as Zack Ebony.
Contents |
Rounds
Round One: Clipped Wings (the Alptraum Mountains, Original Location)
Round Two: By Any Other Name (Segredo City, Original Location)
Round Three: The Watchtower (the floating city of Jaula, Original Location)
Round Four: Field of Dreams (the Kingdom of Belastung, Original Location)
Round Five: From the Light to the Dark (the Catacombs of Noctorum, Original Location)
Round Six: The Sea of Stars (the Colonial Migration Vessel: Intrepid II, Original Location)
Final: Still Waters (Mirror Lake, Original Location)
Other Important Threads
Drafting Thread
Round Two Sub-plot
Descriptions Thread
Introductions Thread
Continuity
The tournament occurs within the Eternals continuity, but removed from its influence. The locations of each round are the dreams and memories of the nameless watcher given form, and within his mind the contestants are insulated from the power of the Eternals.
Battle System
RTII introduced the Experience System, based on the idea of risk and reward. By voting in public and participating in mini-games that could end in positive or negative results, the players gained experience and powered up their special attacks.
This tournament also introduced the Only Human round modifier. Though this rule has gone on to be used in different contexts, its original purpose was to give a different spin on the final round. Finals are normally heavy on high-powered combat, but in RTII the finalists were stripped of their fighting ability and forced to make their way through a monster-infested suburban town.
Awards
Best Award: Some Guy as Some Character
Best Other Award: Some Other Guy as Some Other Character
(Remove this section if the tournament had no awards ceremony.)
Roster
This tournament allowed some sort of characters.
| Final Round | Sponsor | Character | Battle System Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Some Guy | Some Character (some sort of source for that character) | Some Battle Info |
| Final Round | Sponsor | Character | Fluffy | Battle Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Some Guy | Some Character (some sort of source for that character) | Some Fluffy Thing | Some Battle Info |
