Basically, gekitou is Japanese for "fierce fighting". It's an RP (roleplaying) genre with emphasis placed on the battle aspect. Experienced gekitouers (the Americanized noun form to describe one who partakes in gekitou) are characterized by the vibrant imagery used in the description of their battles.
As for rules, each player takes turns authoring a portion of the battle. The goal of the battle is not necessarily to win, but to create an elaborate, descriptive, action-filled, adrenaline-rushing, wonderfully authored fight.
An example of a fight between two experienced gekitouers is shown below, full version available at http://forums.ffgon.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=401
Magstar:
*It had been years since the last battle of the gods. A period of relative peace had succeeded that last battle, and in that time the survivors had scattered to deep warrens and hidden fortresses all around the world. Like the Twain and Seiiriko, they fled to heal their wounds and bide their time.
Immortals are a patient lot.
Now, in a deep forest of the world Ereth, Azmodeus leaned lazily against a tree. The muscles throughout his body seemed as placid as a lake, but underneath the surface strong currents swirled. The ebony black chain mail he ever wore was rusted near to obsoletion and torn open like cheap cloth in a dozen places. The ancient claymore Wyrmbane lay discarded at his side, like a tired woodsman's hatchet. All around him the creatures of the verdant forest hummed and buzzed with life. Mortanig, giant quadrapeds with hooves as large as a man's skull and a scaley body nearly six feet long wandered the forests in those days. Their three tails flew out behind them, each one tipped with a poisoned barb more potent than arsenic. Side by side with the Mortanig herds were the Ey-filsam eagle-men, beings of great wisdom, but even greater pride who built their nests on the highest brances of the tallest trees in the forest, never dreaming that some evil might come to the mighty redwoods and valmoot trees. These and a thousand other fay beasts lived content in the knowledge that the weak man in their midst was no threat.
Azmodeus smiled, then. His teeth shined like pearls in the bright noon-day sunlight. As amusement touched the corners of his lips, the very earth spouted out gouts of flame into the forest. Fire raged up the trunk of every tree, stripping it first of branches and bark, before seeping into the very heart of the mighty trees, turning them all to ash ere an hour had passed.
Standing amidst the smoking stumps and covered in layers of ash, the Demon Without laughed and laughed as the last of his sanity slipped away.*
Shiek:
*A tremendous and unearthly roar echoed deep throughout the Mirkan's forest valley. The sound carried on long and sad as it pulled energy from everything around it and crumbled the very mountainside that Mirkan stood upon. It was a sound like that of a tortured soul screaming as death's icy grip pulled him into the hell's fire and burned his soul to the core.*
*Clouds of dust billowed up high from the debris that was once a great mountain side. As the dust settled, Azmodeus' view was clear, and a smirk, filled with the most evil and malicious satisfactory, spread across his face as he gazed at Seiiriko. The Mirkan's wings were spread out far as she hovered in the sky, but they did not flap to keep her up. She was held with the deep burning hatred that she had, inadvertantly, converted to pure energy. Hell's fire burned brightly in Seiiriko's eyes, reflecting every ounce of rage and pain she could muster to her tired soul. Tears, a human-attribute that had always seemed to be something foreign to the aggressive Mirkan, were now flowing freely down her cheeks, pouring like heavy rain from saddened clouds as they dripped off her chin and wetted the tiny crumbled pieces of dust underneath her.*
*Her mouth opened, and fierce nothings sputtered out. Half-sobbed curses and angered insults weaved together until they sounded like gibberish. She screamed at Azmodeus until her throat was raw and her chest rose and fell heavily as her lungs craved more air, and her heart thumped so quickly she felt it would explode. The arrogant and sultry look to her eye would not be seen in this fight, as it had in so many others.*
*Seiiriko silenced herself abruptly and stared at Azmodeus, whose gaze and smirk had not changed once after it had started. The eyes of the two met and stayed locked as they fought in their own mental combats and waited for the physical combat to begin.*
Magstar:
*His eyes, white and devoid of either pupil or iris moved up her body, analyzing her on an emotionless abaccus. Numbers and observations clicked into place in the deep recesses of his warped mind. In the vision of his blind eyes, she glowed a green hue, and in her eyes he saw trees and beast and birds. His grin became a sneer as his calculations found her lacking.*
You... have not improved yourself. You are... weak... not worthy of godhood...
*His left hand dropped idly to his side and then swung out and upward. A thin trickle of fire followed after it, like a faithful hound. As his arm reached the midpoint of its climb, Azmodeus' fingers twitched and Wyrmbane flew into his hand. The blade came up glittering brightly in the sun, tiny white fires flickering along its blood channel.
Azmodeus' let out a roar of laughter and hurled the claymore like a javelin at Seiiriko. It shot through the air, through the breast of an unlucky bird, and would have struck Seiiriko in the heart, had it not glanced off a shell of rage. The sword plummeted like a stone, then, but on its way down to the earth, it cut through a tiny sapling that had survived the inferno.
Seeing this, the Demon Without threw back his head and laughed maniacally. His whole body shook with the explosive laughter that enveloped him.*
And you call yourself... a protector of... nature? Haha! All you do is harm nature as you... protect only yourself! What a... cruel joke that this Ereth is to be saddled with such a... pathetic god.
Shiek:
*Seiiriko face went blank as she let the last of Azmodeus' laughter float away with the wind. The fire faded from her eyes, and her gaze dulled and died as she slowly floated down to the ground. Her weak and emotional state had let her fall prey to the mindgames of the Demon Without. She landed in front of the small sapling and she kneeled down closer to it. She let a last, solitary tear roll down her cheek, and hang off her chin. She placed a clawed hand underneath her face, and let the tear drop into her palm.*
*Seiiriko's other hand grabbed the hilt of the sword, and as she did, the Claymore's firey energy snapped at her hand, biding it away from its master's sword. But she held tight and jerked it from the ground, throwing it aside with disdain, she carefully brought her other, open hand over the sapling, and angled it to the side, letting the tear drop streaked down her hand, cling to her pale blue follicles of skin for only a small moment, and then dropped in between the split of the sapling. With something almost like the delicate touch of a forlorn human, she placed her fingers at the base of the sapling and ran her hand upwards, letting the tree halves meet together as her hand passed by.*
*Carefully letting go, the tree sapling remained in its normal position, as if it had never been disturbed.*
*Something suddenly snapped in Seiiriko's head and a cackle emitted from deep within her chest and spread like wildfire through the silent and ash covered valley. It echoed off everything around it before it ended with a heavy and, almost, relieved sigh of Seiiriko. Her eyes became less reddened, and her cheeks lost the puff that they had been given from her crying. And, like the first star that appears in the nighttime sky, a twinkle beamed in Seiiriko's eyes, and an old and familiar look to her eye took it's rightful place. That arrogant and sultry look that could only be found within the brown eyes of Seiiriko.*
"Fool!" She boomed in a cocky tone,
"You think me weak?! Unworthy of Godhood?!" She spat upon the ground ill temperedly,
"Your mindgames and words amuse me, but your actions anger me. For that reason you must be taught a lesson." Her hardened look softened to a sly sneer,
"Do you laugh to cover up your weakness, or do you laugh because you have become senile and insane in the many years that you have seen... Or maybe it's both..."
*Azmodeus stood completely still as Seiiriko sauntered slowly up to him with a smirk upon her face. She was only a step away from him when she stopped. Their faces so close their breaths could be felt by one another. Suddenly, Seiiriko's smirk turned into a deadly and menacingly glare and her hand shot forward to his neck, and her claws dug into the skin. The Demon Without did nothing, only stared at Seiiriko with his blank white eyes and felt the points of her claws drawing tight around his neck.*
"Despite the fact I find your words amusing, know this..." She rasped low and dangerous to Azmodeus,
"If you ever question my intentions towards any of the heavens most luminous creations again... I shall kill you." The Demon Without continued staring and didn't seem to notice the claws in his neck,
"I didn't believe it at first, but I guess the stories are true... You have lost your mind... Though I thought you would be strong enough to hold on to something as simple as that. I'm disappointed in you Demon Without..."
Once again, the full version available at http://forums.ffgon.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=401
The History of Gekitou as described by Magstar
The father of Gekitou was known, at the time, as Boffo the Clown, and later to his close friends, as Scott. For nearly a year and a half he was an important elder at the greatest message board in history, Cheat Planet, which would later be known as
Planet Community. Thus, as per the nature of the board and his station within the hierarchy, Boffo embroiled himself in savage political fighting, which would one day lead to his downfall as a poster. It was in a time of relative peace, however, when he created the Art Immortal, the Sanguine Ludi, the Gekitou.
Its original purpose is a matter of some debate, but the art rewards a free-form
ingenuity which was rare and much sought after throughout Cheat Planet’s long history, and which was rare still in the later days of Planet Community. Boffo may have sought to use Gekitou to weed out the incompetents and fools from the general population, or perhaps he created Gekitou in order to train the promising but untutored youth of the day into the hard embittered
elders that were most revered amongst Planet Community society.
Regardless of his intentions, however, Boffo the Clown, for all his unpopular views, created in Gekitou an art that would be passed down long after his retirement from Planet Community life. Even his most bitter enemy, the hag Cubone, upon home the departure of the brilliant Clown can be blamed, tried her hand at the art, and for a short time deceived herself into believing that she possessed a modicum of the talent necessary for Gekitou.
The first generation of Gekitou warriors is largely forgotten now. Even Magstar, whose memory stretches back farther into the annals of Cheat Planet and Planet Community history than any other, and who chronicles its history can remember only a few of those who fought. Blaine and Lt. Surge, elders of Cheat Planet who left with neither pomp nor circumstance and who were thusly not missed for far too long, fought, the hag Cubone and her mentor, the witch Growlithe also took part in the battles, as did the brilliant author but poor politician Merlin Durai and the writer, historian, statesman, warrior, Magstar. Boffo himself fought but beside he and the others mentioned earlier, no more can be recalled.
After the first flurry of popularity, months worth of time passed before Gekitou came again to Cheat Planet, and this second generation of battlers saw the first division between the High Art of Gekitou, practiced by the first generation and a few new elders, just recently risen above the
thronging masses, and the
mundane and
banal “battles” perpetrated by those
teeming, thronging masses.
During this second generation of battling, the administrator Borg_5x8, a scion of the board from whence Gekitou sprung, joined the legions of warriors vying for prestige in the massive tourneys that developed. So too did Articuno and Mage of Thunder, an ancient poster whose fingers first posted in the days before Cheat Planet. It was also during this time that board began to raise up champions, declaring them great and powerful warriors. The two that were at this time raised highest on golden pedestals were the wicked and notoriously destructive hag Cubone and the honorable, glorious knight Magstar. Between these two there was great hatred, for Magstar was as a brother to Boffo the Clown, who had suffered greatly at the hands of the hag. These two warriors each represented factions that were at all times at odds with each other in the swirling turbulence of Cheat Planet politics: Magstar was an elder, and it was from them that he derived his greatest support, while Cubone curried favor among the masses by garnering pity from the soft-hearted young of the board.
With such hatred and such bitterness separating them, it was no surprise that Magstar and Cubone were brought together in a great conflagration of conflict in the arena of the Gekitou. There, after many long weeks, Cubone was forced to concede the victory to her nemesis, and accept him as the better warrior. However, Gekitou faded again and would not be revived for months more.
The third and final generation was no short burst of battles, but a long drawn out series of fights. It was in this age that the lady Shiek and the warrior lord darkmind joined the elders, as did Jeff, he who was once Webby, and AnthropomorphicMew. There were also among this batch many who began low and rose to some measure of prominence over the passing of time. Among these were Wulfgange, and Enrique. These new warriors were sufficient in number and interest to drive the third generation for nearly half a year.
A great tourney, the greatest in the board’s history was held then, and all the gods and lords of the Art assembled to fight in it.
In the waning days of Planet Community, as the boards’, their leaders, their posters, and even their Gekitous began to fall into ruin and decay, Magstar began an effort to save Gekitou. Aided by the greatest Gekitou warriors of the day, darkmind, Mage of Thunder, Articuno, Shiek, Boffo the Clown, pattycakes, and more, so many more, he formed the League. It was the first and only institution of Gekitou warriors in the history of the Art. It would have trained those of little experience, and put those of great experience to efficient work. As the League formed, Boffo the Clown, founder and father of Gekitou, declared Magstar to be his regent over the art, and to do all in his power to keep it pure and clean and undeniably Gekitou. Yet, despite the noble aims of the League, it was not able to save Gekitou. Planet Community died in that age, and many thought Gekitou gone with it.
Thread available at http://forums.ffgon.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=472
And Gekitou Dies, as told by Feran
In the most recent generation of Gekitou rose such powerful users as the FFGON representative and interboard representative roseoftears, the lazy and mysterious Zadin, and the loud and obnoxious Feran, who suffered many incarnations in his rise to be Webstrate.
Magic Sparrow was appointed Torre, where he continued his motto of standing beside the rules, whether or not the rules were in err. The arrogance of the Gekitou community, and the harsh elitist standards that prevented them from writing led to a harsh decrease in activity as Gekitou faded away, never to be seen again..