Los Rabenadores

The Slashers

Country of Origin: Castille

Description: This school is founded in philosophies brought back from distant nations by Castillian explorers. While primarily Crescent in influence, it also acknowledges from Cathayan teachings that a student needs to find his individual style.

The name is something of a private joke - Los Rabenadores believe that their fencing is as close to perfection as is possible, and believe that the members of all other schools are butchers, hacking and slashing with little imagination or style. They hold the Swordsman Guild in particular disdain for encouraging the other schools in their delusions. To reflect this contempt, students of this school wear a badge consisting of a wilted fencing sword crossed with a butcher's cleaver.

In keeping with its Crescent influence, students are taught that only Theus is truly capable of perfection: for a man to aspire to such is to invite the wrath of Theus. To prevent this, each student is taught to incorporate a deliberate imperfection into his style. A knowledgeable opponent will try to push the student through a wide variety of maneuvers in order to find and then capitalise on this flaw.

Due to their disdain of the Swordsman Guild, students do not receive free membership. Instead they receive a free rank in one of their Swordsman Knacks.

Basic Curriculum: Athlete, Fencing

Swordsman Knacks: All students receive Lunge, Whirl (Fencing), and Exploit Weakness (Los Rabenadores). In developing their individual style they may choose one of Feint (Fencing), Riposte (Fencing), Stop-thrust (Fencing) or Tagging (Fencing).

Apprentice: To improve his focus the student is taught to fight in a variety of adverse circumstances: standing on a rope bridge; standing in rapidly running water; hanging on a rope; and so forth.

Further, the student is instilled with a sense of his fighting superiority along with a strong sense of honour. The result of this is that the student will usually use his fencing sword in his off-hand (incurring the normal penalty) in order to even the odds. To use his fencing sword in his main hand the student must pay one Drama die, which will last until the end of the scene.

Switching a fencing sword to his main hand does not require an Action, provided that the hand is free (or the student drops what is being held).

However, they are Castillians, and their passions run strong. When a student is impassioned (such as in response to Taunting or Tagging, or when a Background comes into play) he may choose to use his main hand without paying the Drama die penalty. While impassioned, the student will pursue the object of his passion, engaging other foes only as necessary to facilitate pursuit. The effects of passion last until source of the passion has been neutralised.

Also, the students are not suicidal, and in desperate conditions (a comrade has fallen or the student's dice have stopped exploding, though the Game Master may also permit other circumstances such as a clearly superior opponent) may also switch to his main hand without penalty. Desperation will generally last until the end of the battle.

A student may overcome passion or desperation. Each time the student chooses to not succumb to his emotions, he earns a free Drama die until the end of the battle. Drama dice earned in this manner cannot be traded for Experience under any circumstances.

Journeyman: Journeymen of Los Rabenadores practise blindfolded, training their other senses to heightened levels. As a result the effects of darkness are treated as one level less: dim light is like normal light (no penalty); total darkness is like dim light (-1k1).

Journeymen will generally fight duels (should they deign to accept) both off-handed and blindfolded. While this is ostensibly to even the odds, it is also to prove their superior ability. However a fight to the death against a Swordsman of a superior Mastery level should always be considered desperate - only the most cavalier Rabenador would enter such a contest deliberately disadvantaged.

Under the conditions listed for the Apprentice ability, the Journeyman may remove the blindfold, though it always requires an Action (and a separate Drama die). Note that the blindfold must be removed as the first response to passion or despair - one can't very well refute a Taunt or repel a superior opponent without glaring at them!

There is no double reward for resisting passion or despair while both blindfolded and wrong-handed.

Master: Masters seek extreme training environments in which only the most skilled of fencers can operate effectively. Examples of such environments are: underwater; hanging from a rope by the ankles; fully bound. They receive +1 to their Finesse, which also raises the maximum by 1 to 6 (or 7 with the Legendary Trait Advantage).