I was thinking about this the other day, while rereading Dragoness Eclectic's Mythic Descent which also prominently features rakshasa/-si - and I think I have the answer as to why all of the naughty kitties we have are from other parts of the world than the Indian subcontinent, where they originate from, and have only partly rakshasa troops. Namely, they are renegades against Vibishana the Good Demon, son (or was it nephew? I can't rmemeber already) of Ravanna, king of the Rakshasa homeland of Hidden Lankha, and exiles by their (or in Maeve's case, her parents') choice. This also gives Maeve something to do when she decides to go back to the side of the angels - she returns to the ancient rakshasa duty of being a temple guardian.
I was alos thinking about the details of how the Four Directions were looking to unleash te one imprisoned in the shrine. It might be a little too Inu Yasha-ish, but what if there are five weapons, The Claws of _________, that they have to retrieve from it and use together in a ritual of some kind - a katana/wakazashi pair, a straight tai chi sword, a naginata, and one of those sickle-and-weight-on-a-chain thingies (manriki-gusari?). This would give them a series of goals that could be achieved to heighten the threat, and an alternative to one thwarted attempt after another to break a single seal or set of them - and eventually, only Maeve having taken the one she successfully unsealed when she defected is standing in An Liu's way of finishing the ritual.
4th & 5th Claws - katana and wakazashi, captured by Jaan and immediately given to An Liu before he washed his hands of the whole thing, having lost too many of his valued subordinates for so little.
2nd Claw - straight sword, taken by Maeve, who uses it to deadly effect if in a more european style than intended.
3rd Claw - naginata, which is unsealed by .... um, turtle-guy, but mysteriously vanishes. Miyou eventually figures out that her jounin took it to keep it out of the hands of rakshasa and dragon alike... when Long An Liu magically locates it despite warding jutsu and goes to personallyt retrieve it, throwing around attack magic the likes of which none of the hero cast can beleive, let alone having seen. This both establishes his baddassitude and backs up the threats he makes to turtle-guy to take matters into his own hands if the 1st and 2nd Claws are not retrieved soon. He shreditates popcorn-nin until the supernaturals arrive (summoned, prosaically enoguh, by Miyou calling them on a cell phone) arrive, but is plainly leaving because he doesn't want to bother with them, not because he thinks they're a threat. Dragon strength is put to use more in rescuing those trapped in the wreckage of the compound than any sort of combat, since anyone combast effective and not trapped is in chunky bits.
1st Claw - the chain hammer and sickle thing, of course.
United and propertly incanted over, the Five CLaws become - was it Ravanna himself or some lieutenant? - the Big Bad's handhold in this world, by which to tear a hole and enter. Going fromt he thumb as #1, why which weapon is which should be obvious for the most part.
- CD
ETA: The ritual: The five blades of the weapons are driven throguh a wall in the appropriate positions, then a rune crcle is laid out on the other side of the wal from the hadles, and the incantation reeled off. Things glow and the sky goes dark, then the blades twitch, pivot as if the hand they're the claws to just clenched, and rip out that section of wall, revealing a really BIG eye in a tiger-like face. Two hands tear the hole wider until the giant boss-guy can step out and administer beatings after the commercial break, then he puts up a shield and does his own summoning to bring Ravana to the mortal plane just in time to have a reaction shot before "Continued in Ep25..." appears at the bottom of the screen. New credit montage, with stills of the characters looking pensive at sunset.What, you think Samuel L. Jackson isn't going to survive the zombie apocalypse?
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
I was alos thinking about the details of how the Four Directions were looking to unleash te one imprisoned in the shrine. It might be a little too Inu Yasha-ish, but what if there are five weapons, The Claws of _________, that they have to retrieve from it and use together in a ritual of some kind - a katana/wakazashi pair, a straight tai chi sword, a naginata, and one of those sickle-and-weight-on-a-chain thingies (manriki-gusari?). This would give them a series of goals that could be achieved to heighten the threat, and an alternative to one thwarted attempt after another to break a single seal or set of them - and eventually, only Maeve having taken the one she successfully unsealed when she defected is standing in An Liu's way of finishing the ritual.
4th & 5th Claws - katana and wakazashi, captured by Jaan and immediately given to An Liu before he washed his hands of the whole thing, having lost too many of his valued subordinates for so little.
2nd Claw - straight sword, taken by Maeve, who uses it to deadly effect if in a more european style than intended.
3rd Claw - naginata, which is unsealed by .... um, turtle-guy, but mysteriously vanishes. Miyou eventually figures out that her jounin took it to keep it out of the hands of rakshasa and dragon alike... when Long An Liu magically locates it despite warding jutsu and goes to personallyt retrieve it, throwing around attack magic the likes of which none of the hero cast can beleive, let alone having seen. This both establishes his baddassitude and backs up the threats he makes to turtle-guy to take matters into his own hands if the 1st and 2nd Claws are not retrieved soon. He shreditates popcorn-nin until the supernaturals arrive (summoned, prosaically enoguh, by Miyou calling them on a cell phone) arrive, but is plainly leaving because he doesn't want to bother with them, not because he thinks they're a threat. Dragon strength is put to use more in rescuing those trapped in the wreckage of the compound than any sort of combat, since anyone combast effective and not trapped is in chunky bits.
1st Claw - the chain hammer and sickle thing, of course.
United and propertly incanted over, the Five CLaws become - was it Ravanna himself or some lieutenant? - the Big Bad's handhold in this world, by which to tear a hole and enter. Going fromt he thumb as #1, why which weapon is which should be obvious for the most part.
- CD
ETA: The ritual: The five blades of the weapons are driven throguh a wall in the appropriate positions, then a rune crcle is laid out on the other side of the wal from the hadles, and the incantation reeled off. Things glow and the sky goes dark, then the blades twitch, pivot as if the hand they're the claws to just clenched, and rip out that section of wall, revealing a really BIG eye in a tiger-like face. Two hands tear the hole wider until the giant boss-guy can step out and administer beatings after the commercial break, then he puts up a shield and does his own summoning to bring Ravana to the mortal plane just in time to have a reaction shot before "Continued in Ep25..." appears at the bottom of the screen. New credit montage, with stills of the characters looking pensive at sunset.What, you think Samuel L. Jackson isn't going to survive the zombie apocalypse?
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows