Lore: Becrowned Arc

Describe an ongoing military conflict in your world.

Within the story of Gambit, many overarching plotlines and sub-plotlines tend to center around specific characters and a majority of the time their issues.
Following multiple simultaneous plotlines and story arcs throughout the course it’s the story, the principal story chronicles the formation of Gamb/t. Originally intended as a temporary method to get the Saja Boys back on their feet following their return to earth, Gamb/t unsurprisingly takes the world by storm with fans quickly beginning to celebrate the long awaited return of the ever popular boy band. However the paradise and fanfare doesn’t last as the delicate balance between star-life and personal life collide.
The Second Major Story Arc however, Becrowned, typically centers around as a continuation/ending to the Gwi-ma and Jinu plotline from the movie, while also adding other characters into the mix such as the Loyalists, as side-characters in order to move the story around. This Arc follows a violent war of succession through a web of political and social conflicts amongst the noble rulers and denizens of the Underworld, and also includes its own subplots, centering around Jinu and Rumi's relationship and how they navigate it with a looming war on the horizon and the results that come from such events.
However, every war has a beginning, and as such, this particular one has been brewing for centuries.
In Gambit, there is actually a reason as to why the boys refuse to set foot in the underworld again, despite the fact that Gwi-ma is by all intents and purposes gone with the wind for the meantime.
This is because within the lore for Gambit there is a bunch of major issue's going on in hell/the underworld that the boy's are trying to stay as faarrr away from as possible, especially Jinu. In a short jist, with Gwi-ma potentially gone or at least not fit to rule anymore for the meantime, there's a growing power-vacuum that's making the underworld look like a remake of Game of Thrones;
Loyalist's, those who still remain ever faithful and follow Gwi-ma and his teachings, are seemingly preparing for his return, while other "higher ranked" Demons are garnering for the Throne themselves. A result that is leading the underworld to the brink of a civil collapse which threatens the already wounded and delicate balance of the natural order of things left over by Gwi-ma's prior rule.
This entire muck-up, is because despite what people may think, the underworld DOES indeed need a ruler. There can not NOT be a King/Queen who sits on the throne of the Underworld because someone has to rule the underworld. Without a ruler, there is no balance.
Now this is actually pretty ironic, considering the fact that Gwi-ma had essentially bastardized everything when he was ruler anyways, even when it came down with turning the Grim-Reapers Saja Demons and other forms of demon kind into his own personal gather's, knowing specifically that that wasn't their job. As a result of this change in the order, countless number of souls became lost during Gwi-ma's rule, never to step into heaven and as such he ruined the balance of nature and many other "sacred instances" that made Heaven and the Underworld a working unit long before he ever became ruler.
One such instance of this change, became Demons, Humans and their relations with the Honmoon.
In the many stories built around Hunter society, the term Honmoon is often used to describe one of two things.

In the most recent years, the term is used to describe the extensive protective magical layer that prevents the Demon Lord Gwi-Ma and his demon forces from entering the human world. Linguistically, the word Hon (혼) comes from the Sino-Korean word yeonghon (영혼, hanja: 靈魂), meaning "soul, while "Mun" (문, hanja: 門) is a Sino-Korean word meaning "door/gate." This personification of the Honmoon, is the most popular and well-known interpretation of it that hunters know about. For generations, tales spoke of the Soul-Gate that kept the world safe from the encroachment of those that wish to destroy it and all that it swore to protect, the most famous of those being the Demon-Lord Gwi-ma, who no matter the depiction, has a intense, heated rivalry toward Honmoon.
Now the thing about the Honmoon, or at least this depiction of it, is the fact that despite what legends may say, it was never supposed to be fully SHUT despite what Hunters had attempted to do for generations. Instead, it was supposed to be used to balance out the relations between Earth and the Underworld; too many demons killing indiscreetly and indiscriminately would leave an imbalance, but they also balance the world when doing right. Grim-Reaper Saja, for example, often uses the cracks that form within the Honmoon's walls to get to and from Earth and ferry souls to the afterlife, essentially using them as Gates, hence the term Soul Gate.
However all this had changed upon Gwi-ma's rise to power and the sudden violent rule that he came with, for when upon taking the throne, he discovered what could become of a Demon who took souls for themselves, instead of ferrying them to the afterlife where they belonged which was originally done by sending them to Gwi-ma himself to be judged.
This act of the consumption of souls, would result in an intense rush of both power and vigor, leaving the recipient in what could only be described in modern terms as a Steroid Induced Rush; IE, the more you take, the more it gives, with Gwi-ma in his prime stated to have consumed so many souls that he could have possibly tore the very realm of heaven from the stars should he have chosen too.
However, much like with steroids, the rush comes with risks. . .Souls are not like twinkies, they do have a shelf life, regardless of how long a demon can make them last or however long they try to hang on. Weaker souls may last months, while stronger souls take years to break down upon being consumed. However it IS possible to burn through them very quickly, especially if you happen to be a god who happens to like to throw his strength and power around especially whenever someone pisses you off. Upon discovering this ability to "Power himself up", Gwi-Ma began to utilize his followers to gather up souls for him to consume, instead of doing his original job which was to simply judge and let souls pass on.
Over time this over-consumption led to many downsides. As Gwi-ma grew bigger and in turn lost his original form, instead garnering the flame-like aspects we see today as a result of him shedding the old form, it became apparent that the god was in a vicious cycle. With every soul he consumed he grew powerful, however, his increased power caused him to burn through the souls extremely quickly, resulting in him having to consume more, which he would then burn through again.
This endless cycle of Repetitive Feeding resulted in Gwi-Ma becoming a Starving God, one cursed with the endless cycle of feeding and overindulgence causing him to become desperate for more yet never feeling full.
This in turn, had resulted in increased Demon attacks on Soul-filled entities, many of them at first being the many magical creatures who lived within the underworld. The poaching of magical creatures became a habit and as a result, a multitude of different species that had once lived within the realm of the underworld began to disappear, with many being feared extinct.
While many Demon's were concerned that the overconsumption would have resulted in the destruction of the Underworld, those who voiced fears were quickly overruled by a faction of those who fell in line with Gwi-ma. Those "Higher Ranked" Demons, were ones who favored greatly the rule of the Demon Lord and rejected calls for moderation, finding "peace" under the gaze of the new King, who many saddled up too in order to find favor.

Overtime Gwi-ma's overindulgence had forced Demon's to start collecting souls from Earth later on down the line. Frightened and seeking answers for the sudden attacks, those of a more "Holy Faith" began to pray to the gods for answers, seeking guidance and reasoning and maybe perhaps, a way to defend themselves as traditional weaponry did nothing to repel the threat.
Upon discovery of Gwi-ma's crimes, a singular god attempted to reason with the Demon Lord, in the hopes that perhaps he would see the harm his actions were causing.
The result of this attempted intervention became a devastating, almost apocalyptic conflict where both ancients inflicted severe, lasting injuries on each other, the fight a catastrophic clash that reshaped the power structure between the Underworld and Earth, cementing Gwi-ma as a feared entity and setting the stage for the events that would transpire many years later. The resulting stalemate led to Gwi-ma's infamous reputation, the singular yet now wounded God's deep slumber, and the creation of the Hunters Guild, who, blessed by the wounded god, was given the ability to wield the threads of the Honmoon itself, to protect what it could not. Never to truthfully kill those who came from the underworld. But to simply balance, to cast out those who would do harm where no harm was needed, and to give a second chance to those who needed it the most, but also needed to understand.
In the years that followed, the resounding fight with the now missing God had greatly wounded Gwi-ma. Now down to a fraction of his power, the old God spent years attempting to regain his strength. In turn Hunters trained and perfected the art of wielding the Honmoon over the years. Though as time went on, history changed. The original teachings of the missing God became lost in translation, the reasons for Hunting became more of a personal vendetta than a need to balance an already tilted scale and as a result of this, the scales became even more imbalanced.
Innocent Demons, victims of Gwi-ma's ever present, desperate unwavering cruelty and lies, found themselves trapped within the confines of the Underworld, due to persistent attempts of sealing the Honmoon, with Hunters never truly knowing that they too were unbalancing the very nature of things.
Demon's forced to live in purgatory
Never to go forward
Never to go back
Always made to stay.
Always made to serve.
As Gwi-ma concocted a plan to take revenge on the Hunters, the Underworlds dynamic once again began to shift. Higher Ranked Demons, those who still served and worshipped the Old God stayed even closer to him, as his actions became desperate. Poaching drained life from the underworld, and many parts became Barren.
Lifeless.
Soulless
Only the freshest waters and lushest grasses could be found where Gwi-ma and his servants resided. The precious commodities reserved only for them and them alone. Over time, other things began to shift as well. A very present caste system had begun to develop amongst the Demons in the realm, mostly due to Gwi-ma's influence.
While many Demon's did thrive on a pecking order that resulted in functional family/familial dynamic's, Gwi-ma's rule had resulted in a dynamic that was more akin to a King/High Ranking Official vs lowly Peasant then anything else. Water Demons and other such variants became a ranked-class of Demons simply known as “Misbegotten”, while High Ranked Demons became rulers based simply around their overall strength and wealth; wealth in this case being the ownership of lush land and water that they could hoard, as well as stones like jewels and gold/silver, which were routinely given to the Great Lord as "payment" for whatever reason a Demon needed to give one.

As the years went on, Gwi-ma eventually came into possession of a young man, one whose soul he had taken as payment in order to grant the young man his desires. Upon tricking him however, the man lost not only his soul but his free-will. However in a surprising twist, for some strange reason that is still greatly unknown, Gwi-ma it had seemed, had taken a liking to the young man. Jinu, who was essentially Gwi-ma’s “favorite” for whatever reason the Demon Lord might have had to make him his favorite, had lived relatively comfortably for what it was worth because of Gwi-ma's apparent favoritism toward him.
Because of Gwi-ma and Jinu's "closeness", Gwi-ma essentially made Jinu "prince", meaning that if anything ever happened to Gwi-ma (which Gwi-ma never believed could happen anyways so nothing would ever really come of Jinu's crowning anyways), Jinu would in the end take the throne and follow Gwi-ma's "teachings" and rule as leader of the underworld in a matter similar to how Gwi-ma once did.
A way to keep legacy
However this turned out not to be the case. Upon Gwi-ma's defeat and Jinu's eventual return to the world, both he and the boys had vowed to stay as far away from the Underworld as possible, with Jinu personally denouncing his claim to the throne and any relation he had with the Old Lord.
(And for good reason)
However, Jinu's reluctance to "step up" may be causing more harm than good. Many Demons are worried, paranoid in fact that he's using Gwi-ma's teachings to his advantage, biding his time, ready to snatch the throne, so as a result they are openly hostile toward him and anyone around him. Loyalists to Gwi-ma also brand him and by extension the boys as traitors because of Gwi-ma's defeat back at the Idol awards. They essentially want him and the others dead as penance or as an offering to their god to gain favor. Regardless of other reasons, many other Demons want to claim to Earth as a result of this power-grab, and with no one to keep them in check, they are actually once again breaking through the Honmoon despite its new form, by finding the cracks within it.
The girls because of this, now employ the boys to help keep their numbers in check, because it's a win-win, the girls get some added muscle to deal with the stranger demons who are now breaking through to earth; especially now with ones they haven't dealt with before, while the boys simply get rid of the ones who want their heads on silver platters. However because of increasingly hostile Loyalist's, stronger demons and a world about to explode at the hinges because of it all,

It might be high time for our little Tiger Prince to start baring his teeth and claws.

Conflict Type

Military Campaign