The Carp School
by Marc SaindonThis is an attempt to give create some lore for the Open Hand School
The Carp Martial Arts ("Yu Lung" or "Longmen") takes its name from the legend of the carp, who given enough time and effort swim upward the river and leap over the falls could eventually become a dragon. This is both an account of actual Yu Lung (Carp Dragons from D&D) and the slow-and-steady approach to martial arts. It's very popular in Ochalea, almost everyone is familiar with it like "mall ninjas" know of karate, but it also has a very high dropout rate, as perseverance is not a universal trait of character. Carp Style resembles our world's karate.
Adherents and Sifu (masters, sensei is a japanese word which wouldn't used in Ochalea) of the style often have fish scale-like motifs on their tuniques or as tattoos. Training halls often fly carp-shaped windsocks in guise of flags (koinobori, which I borrow from Japan). Meditation gardens maintained by Monks will often have pools of water were carps are kept. Maneuvers will often be named after an aquatic-related expression, which should expected as Ochalean are islanders and fishing and sailing are common aspects of their way of life.
The Carp Style is also popular in Yasuko.
Notes:
Longmen (mythology)
Yu lung
Koinobori
(art from: https://www.deviantart.com/tetedia/art/Koinobori-886040944)