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« on: August 04, 2021, 10:25:59 pm »
The home of the Zheng Mian is a dark and dreary place, a jungle with such a thick cover of foliage that there are few places where the light shines through. It is difficult to find large enough patches to farm, harder still to avoid the predators of the jungle. Were it just a bit more hospitable, maybe the Zheng Mian would have lived more comfortably. But they also wouldn't have attained their great spirituality. The Jungle of Light is the name given to this eternally dark land.
Many might have associated the jungles with the element of Wood. And perhaps in the outer regions they might be right. But in the darkest depths of the land, it is not the trees that define the lives of the Zheng Mian monks - it is the light. Those pure beams of sunlight shining through the rare break in the canopy, the light that gives the people the light to farm by, to see by, to live by. The Sun is the most important feature of the Zheng Mian's homeland. Through this trial of darkness and the purity of light, the founders of Zheng Mian learned to see the world for what it was.
The deathly home of the Zheng Mian paradoxically instills a lively character in it's people; they are those to whom death is a close friend, and not something to be feared. To be a cynical soul is to bring the dark into your heart, so laugh, and let in the light.
Laughing Lizard Style, Unarmed [Fire]
The Laughing Lizard style is one that cultivates a fierce passion in it's practicioners - but an equally burning creativity. Laughing Lizard is not a style of flinging fire into the foe's face like many of it's brethren in the element, but it's all about expression, creativity. To more rigid styles the movements of the Laughing Lizard seem random and haphhazard. The Laughing Lizard warriors fight with a smile on their faces, as if they were participating in a friendly game and not a potentially lethal engagement. Those sorts take themselves far too seriously; it's what makes it such a joy to see the stupefied look on their faces when they start getting hit!
The magic of the Laughing Lizard style isn't as directly offensive as many others. Instead, the user's erratic movements lend aid to the fiery mirages that trail them. In the split second where an afterimage is visible, it's not clear whether the fighter is dancing away from your punch or countering it, whether there's a low kick sweeping your legs or a high one jarring your brain.
