So, Iwa. Here goes nothing.
Known notable characters:
Kamizuru [given name] (deceased) - Shodai Tsuchikage, clan is presumably extinct, flight jutsu
Mu (deceased) - Nidaime Tsuchikage, dust release, flight jutsu
Onoki (almost certainly deceased by the time of the RP) - Sandaime Tsuchikage, dust release, flight jutsu
Kitsuchi - either son or son-in-law of Onoki. I'm leaning towards son, myself.
Kurotsuchi - daughter of Kitsuchi, granddaughter of Onoki, lava release
Akatsuchi - going with the -tsuchi naming scheme and the large bulbous nose, I want to say he's part of Onoki/Kitsuchi's clan, too.
Gari (deceased) - Blast Corps, blast release
Deidara (deceased) - Blast corps, blast release, unnamed kinjutsu (knead chakra into substances), possibly related to Kurotsuchi (though I somewhat doubt it)
Han (deceased) - 5 tail jinchuuriki, steam ninjutsu (elemental combination?)
Roshi (deceased) - 4 tail jinchuuriki, lava release, better not be an Uzumaki
Thoughts:
Should I be using 'Blast', like I've always thought (and I see on the RP wiki), or 'Explosion' like I'm seeing on Narutopedia right now? Blast release seems to be an elemental combination bloodline, but are there accepted elements that create it? Doton/Raiton, maybe?
Problem with the existing timeline: Madara fought with Onoki shortly after Konoha's founding (and presumably before the Valley of the End battle). Onoki was also known to be a young child after Iwa was founded. The existing RP timeline has Iwa being founded in 3 AF, the VotE in 2 AF, and the Fourth war in 83 AF. The established facts do not work together at all with the first two dates. And the third date can only work with the facts if Onoki is in his late 90s in 83 AF. I rather doubt it, though, since I think he was maybe a decade older than Sarutobi Hiruzen.
How should this be resolved? Obviously the start of the RP timeline can't be modified (too much work), but as is, the timeline clearly isn't canon compliant. What could fix it, I think, is if Madara leaves Konoha before 13 AF and the VotE is in 14 AF (Madara apparently dying could be a big influence on villages being more outspoken to start the first war). That would give the following proposed timeline for Iwa (including births/deaths of tsuchikages to help keep ages and stuff in perspective):
2 AF - Onoki is born.
3 AF - Iwa is founded.
10 AF - Shodai Tsuchikage dies. (old age? I thought of making him die later to Madara, but that seemed excessive)
- Mu becomes the Nidaime Tsuchikage.
13 AF - Uchiha Madara enters Earth Country while searching for the Kyuubi. He encounters and fights shinobi from Iwagakure. Onoki, a chunin at the time, participated in the battle.
16 AF - Mu's more aggressive foreign policy leads to the beginning of the First Great Shinobi War.
- (First War needs to be updated to include hostilities between Iwa and Kiri)
- Mu and the Nidaime Mizukage kill each other in combat.
- Onoki becomes the Sandaime Tsuchikage.
25 AF - First Great Shinobi War ends.
26 AF - Iwa shinobi begin the long process of improving the defensibility of their south eastern borders
41 AF - Kitsuchi is born
47 AF - Second Great Shinobi War begins.
52 AF - Second Great Shinobi War ends.
62 AF - Third Great Shinobi War begins.
66 AF - Third Great Shinobi War ends with the Treaty of Ryokugyoku Toshi.
- Kurotsuchi is born.
83 AF - Fourth Great Shinobi War.
84 AF - Onoki dies of old age.
- Kitsuchi becomes Yondaime Tsuchikage.
94 AF - [unnamed son of Kurotsuchi] is born.
95 AF - [unnamed daughter of Kurotsuchi] is born
96 AF - Kitsuchi retires.
- Kurotsuchi becomes Godaime Tsuchikage
114 AF - Kitsuchi dies.
118 AF - [#1 born]
119 AF - [#2 born]
124 AF - [#3 born]
125 AF - Kurotsuchi retires.
- [unnamed son of Kurotsuchi] becomes Rokudaime Tsuchikage.
133 AF - Present day
If anyone can poke holes in this (rather doubtful, unless the RP did something with one of the characters), please let me know. I'll be posting more Iwagakure stuff over the next few days in preparation for creating my cute little genin team to participate in the upcoming chunin exam.
My current (very very basic) ideas for them:
Elite Jonin - member of Blast Corps, probably former captain. Very heavy ninjutsu user.
#1 Son of [unnamed daughter of Kurotsuchi] - Earth and Fire affinities. Much prefers Earth techniques. Has recently started developing his own Lava release style.
#2 Great great great granddaughter of Mu - Earth, Wind, and Fire affinities. Has trained with all three, but not very proficient in any of them. Not yet capable of any Dust release techniques.
#3 Child prodigy - extremely gifted with chakra manipulation, bloodline related to solidifying chakra (if something similar has already been used in the RP, I'll come up with something else). More of a prodigy than Sasuke/Neji. Probably roughly equal to chunin exam Gaara without Shukaku being given complete control. Knows a few basic jutsu of all five elements, but does not have an affinity due to his bloodline.
Entire team relies heavily on ninjutsu. All are slightly above average with taijutsu for their ranks, though they all prefer to avoid it. #3 has a bit of skill with genjutsu (well, the Jonin does, too, but he doesn't use it). Jonin has moderate fuuinjutsu knowledge, #3 knows some theory. #1 and #2 are proficient with basic weapons. #3 is below average in terms of accuracy. More details need to be worked out, but that's a basic outline of their abilities. Essentially, they're being groomed to be the next generation of leaders for Iwagakure. Having them all on the same team to show off to the rest of the nations was planned as soon as #3's bloodline manifested.
Should anyone else starting a character (or starting a new one for the exams) want to take #1 or #2 (or the jonin, for that matter) and develop them, just let me know and they're yours.
And if anyone has suggestions for the given name of the Shodai Tsuchikage, the clan name of Mu, the clan name of Onoki, or the names of Kurotsuchi's children, I would be extremely happy.