Tucked high in the Kaze Yama Mountains the Golden Cloud Monastery has been a place of serenity for hundreds of years. Starting out as a single structure built onto the side of a mountain, it grew into several buildings consisting of multilevel community housing, immaculate gardens, a massive training facility, and an ornate temple. Each of which is connected by a sprawling system of ropes, pulleys, bridges, and ladders atop cloud filled gorges.

The monastery was originally founded during the Core Revolution by 32 monks seeking to break away from the materialistic lifestyle overtaking the Southern Territories. These monks sought to maintain balance not only with Genesis and the Air Core, but within themselves. To achieve this balance monks, maintained a disciplined lifestyle of meditation, pilgrimages, fasting, martial arts training, music, dance, and sharing with those less fortunate.

But, over time things changed in the Southern Territories; the Air Core was being stressed by its habitual overuse. Energy was constantly pulled from the precious core. Pollution brought on by industrialization destroyed vital resources, creating widespread illness, and starvation.

Eventually the monk’s journeys below, turned dangerous. Several monks were killed, while others were chased back to their home. The sacred monastery had been discovered and was now a place of frequent pillaging. At this point the Golden Cloud Monastery went through a radical transformation. A band of elite monks now classified as ninjas massacred every outsider that walked upon their grounds, but they didn’t stop their. They journeyed below slaughtering hundreds of villagers, ensuring the Golden Cloud Monastery would remain a secret.

Since then no one who searched for the Golden Cloud Monastery has returned. Unlike the monks, these ninjas are not interesting in finding balance. Instead they will make it.