Quote:
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"You call yourself a warrior, yet the weapon you wield is not that of a warrior, not even that of an assassin, the weapon you use is fit only for a butcherer. And by Torek I swear that my blade shall not be defeated by it!" - Brave last words of Shang Iken of Fa, kemite master swordsman, killed by Ska Whur of Yu, ribbon blade... 'butcherer'
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Ribbon blades are long and incredibly thin metal blades gifted with an uncanny flexibility and maneuverability, capable of bending almost like a whip or a paper ribbon, from which they take their name. The weapon itself is heavily tailored towards attack and heavy wounding or single, quick, lethal, strikes. A fact that, added to its historical use by famous murderers and assassins, as well as the dark elves, has given the blade a quite sinister reputation.
Ribbon blades require expensive and hard to find materials, are incredibly difficult to make or find and even more difficult to master. Yet, for those few with the resources and determination to become skilled ribbon blade users, the reward is a terrible and violent weapon that can strike fast and swiftly from a farther range than any sword, spear, flail or ax ever could.
History:
Kemite warlords - defeating the long sword:
There was without doubt a time, in ancient history, in which the best swordsmen of all were to be found amidst the old homeland of the kemite people. Some would say that, even now, in the lands of the empire, mastery of the sword is still a honor held exclusively by those of the blood of Torek. Be as it may be, truth is that in the heights of their power, no man was more feared than a kemite master swordsman, and no weapon more terrible than the long blade they wielded.
The long sword of this lands was both strong and fast in its strikes, and also incredibly versatile in expert hands. Compared to the severely limited axes and spears of the time, the kemite long sword seemed capable of executing almost any combat maneuver and blocking any kind of attack from other, lesser, arms. In the pinnacle of the swordmasters reign, kingdoms and armies seemed to have only two effective means of countering the long sword. The first was using arrows and projectile weapons to reave the swordsmen from afar, a tactic whose effectiveness was somewhat diminished by the spread of loose plates of high-quality heavy armor. The second and most effective was to create their own expert squadrons of swordsmen to engage those of their enemy.
But as always, all it takes is one man thinking different to alter the balance of war forever. In our case, this man was lord Ska Whur, a minor ruler of a small province of the empire, an ambitious man and a lover of war. He was himself a master swordsman, and an incredibly capable warrior with several other weapons. But more importantly, he believed that the long sword could be defeated in both open and closed spaces by a hand wielded weapon of some sort. It is unknown if he himself came with the idea of the ribbon blade, but it is much more likely that it was some inventor at his service the one forced to actually give forth to Whur's dream, in any case, it was Ska Whur, lord of Yu, that history credited with the invention of the fabled swordsmen-killer.
What is truly undeniable is that Whur was indeed the first master of the blade, and that the design worked wonders against the unsuspecting swordmasters, overconfident in the power of the long sword and heavily unaccustomed to fighting against any other weapon but the swords themselves. The ribbon blade had a better range than the sword and was even more versatile in its attacks. Furthermore, Whur trained long to perfect techniques that could strike with surgical precision with his invention, and therefore render useless the armor the swordsman's used to defend against projectile weapons and other kemite long swords. Soon the name of Ska Whur became infamous, and for five eras his ribbon blade became legendary as one by one he defeated and killed the most skilled warriors of his time.
Eventually, Whur was defeated, not by a swordsman in single combat, but by a richer, more powerful lord, in full scale war. The lord, whose name has been lost in the mists of time, was also a swordsman, and a mediocre one at that. Fearful of Whur's fabled weapon, he ordered for him to be killed from a distance by a bowman squadron and for the blade to be broken in twelve pieces of exactly the same length and thrown into the sea.
Thus lord Whur also discovered, to his disgrace, the biggest disadvantage of the ribbon blade. For the very same precise techniques that allowed the weapon to attack the junctures of its opponent armor require a high degree of freedom of movement, and prevented its user from wearing heavy armor himself, in turn leaving him vulnerable to strong projectile weapons. As the powerful arrows of his adversary's army pierced the weak leather armor he wore as protection, the legend of Ska Whur of Yu was brought to an end.
Though the creator of the ribbon blade, and the first such weapon were destroyed that day, the legacy of the idea remained thereafter as one of the darkest traditions of the kemite people. For several eras, lone warriors and assassins coveted and used duplicates of Whur's original blade, but very few of them mastered the difficult style of combat that made the old lord so effective against the traditional kemite swordsmen.
Vysstichi nobility - tool of combat and torture:
One of those few was a young soldier by the name of Hi Quh, who inherited the weapon from the lord he served, who was never able to use it correctly. Hi Quh was not an ambitious man like Whur, but was smart and determined, and was very intrigued about the ribbon blade's peculiar characteristics. At some point he asked of his lord that he let him start a journey to find mentors and experience that would help him master the strange weapon, and thus better serve his lord's future wishes.
Permission was granted and for twelve eras Hi Quh wandered far across the lands, learning and eventually mastering the rare art of the ribbon blade. But this knowledge came at a terrible price for soldier Quh, as when he returned to his homeland, he found both his lord defeated by a rival, and his own family killed by the victor's troops. With nothing else to do and his soul forever cut in half, Hi Quh continued to wander, this time even farther away, by land and by sea until destiny or some interested deity brought him to K'Terak.
It is unknown why the kemite soldier decided to settle in such a strange place, perhaps because the ever dark land remained him of his own grief. What is known to us historians, is that he became servant and weapon master to a family of the Vysstichi nobility, as well as teacher in the rapier, long sword and knives to the young lord of the house.
Folklore says that one day, the adolescent dark elf saw his instructor by the garden of the house, practicing with a incredibly fast weapon he had never seen before, and that the speed and grace of the man's movements were impressed into the young elf's mind. The elf name was Yissik'ster and he asked of his teacher that he should teach him this strange and formidable weapon he seemed to know so well. The kemite soldier cautioned his student that the ribbon blade was very difficult to use correctly and posed a danger to anyone attempting to train in it as it could not be used or taught correctly in a non-wounding fashion. Those words of course, only heightened the vysstichi young lord interest in the blade. As a servant of the house, Hi Quh could not negate the elf child his wishes, and thus Yissik'ster became the first of the dark elves to learn the ribbon blade.
Soon many others followed and Whur's weapon found a new growing niche in the hands of vysstichi noble houses. Through the next few hundred eras, the dark elves did not only assimilate the fast lethal techniques of Ska Whur's style of the ribbon blade, but added new techniques of a very different nature: cruel attacks tailored at giving the opponent grievous or painful wounds, and prolonging the agony before death. The weapon and its precision once again proved invaluable in achieving those terrible effects.
Of the dark elves also come many of the additions to the original blade design such as hocks or serrated dents, as well as the custom of poisoning the blades edges to prolong the suffering of the enemy or ensure his death even after a slightly failed strike.
The kemite and vysstichi styles cross pollinated and enhanced each other for elven generations and the blade became both, capable of instant merciful killing and of long prolonged torture and humiliation of one's enemy. Another contribution of the dark elves was elven steel, much more flexible and light than the original special steels used by the kemites for forging the ribbon blade, even today elven steel is the standard material for ribbon blade making.
Jagara assassins - blade and hand unseen:
The use of the ribbon blade by Jagara spies and assassins during the early times of the Omnicat ruling is not only far more recent, but was also far less extended than its use among the Kemite or the Vysstichi. Yet it deserves mention for two different reasons.
The first is a series of techniques added by the Jagara to the art, focused in swift attacks that should take the enemy by surprise and incapacitate or kill him before he can even see the blade. A particularly good Jagara master of the blade, Ersh Wraithclaw, is credited by legend as "capable of decapitating a standing man so precisely and so swiftly with his blade, that he would remain in his feet, with his head over his shoulders yet fully severed from his neck".
The second is the material known as smokesteel, it is unknown if the Jagara invented it or got it from some other race, but is undeniable that they were the first to apply it to ribbon blade making. The black, non reflective metal was and still is more expensive than standard grade elven steel, yet a thin blade of this material is almost invisible while moving at night. Because of the range and maneuverability of the ribbon blade, this allowed Jagara assassins to attack even multiple times with the weapon before their actual position was found out.
Modern use and regulation:
In current times, the ribbon blade is used even more sparingly than in the past and only by kemite and vysstichi in any significant numbers. It is prohibited for use in the imperial or local armies by imperial edict, because of its bloody history, for its vulnerability to long range projectiles and also because of the time needed to train soldiers to use it to any reasonable degree. It is also banned from use in law enforcement corps through the empire because of its bias towards lethal or cruel wounding. However, imperial law also contemplates that, in an emergency, conscript forces are able to use any weapon they posses and have previous experience with.
The main use of ribbon blades in present times is by assassins, pirates and criminal groups. A secondary niche remains in the dark elves noble houses as a sign of power and ruthlessness.
Design:
Form and sizes
Ribbon blades are paper thin double edged blades of roughly the same width of a common western long sword, they tend to have a light and small hilt so that it does not interfere with the practitioners ability to react quickly and control the blade. Ribbon blades are seldom decorated, as it detracts from its maneuverability.
The size of the blade is dependent on the experience of the practitioner and his or her particular taste. In general, the following is an accurate guideline of the size of the blade a practitioner can successfully control, he can, of course, always use a shorter blade without penalty, but not a longer one:
| Basic - 3 to 5 arm lengths |
| Professional - 6 to 7 arm lengths |
| Elite - 9 to 10 arm lengths |
| Master - 12 to 20 arm lengths (varies from individual to individual according to preference and focus) |
| Grandmaster - 25 arm lengths or longer with focused training. |
(No known mortal can successfully control a ribbon blade of more than 40 times his or her arm length)
In addition to the blade, many practitioners use a wide iron belt around the waist or hand to store the weapon when not in combat as it allows them to quickly draw the ribbon blade without harming themselves in the process.
Materials:
It is known that the kemites of the time of Whur used special alloys to construct their ribbon blades, those alloys have since disappeared in favor of the much more strong, flexible and economic elven steel. Most blades of this kind are now made of this material, with a few more made of Katta smokesteel.
Smokesteel ribbon blades have the advantage of stealth in the darkening and can barely be seen in movement because of the fact that they do not reflect light and therefore remain completely dark to the eye. This blades are, however, much more difficult to find than elven steel blades and from three to five times as expensive, while providing no benefit in the light of the brightening. The resistance and flexibility of smokesteel is also a little lower than that of elven steel for very long ribbon blades, though the difference is barely noticeable for blades below 17 meters (about 55.77 feet).
None of those materials can be used to make stable ribbon blades of more than 60 meters (about 196.85 feet), however, since the world still has to see a giant ribbon blade grandmaster, that limit is mostly a curiosity.
Standard grade human steel and damascus steel are both useless in making a blade this thin which does not break from the strain of merely swinging it. Also dwarven steel, which is considered among the best for almost any other weapon, is incapable of achieving the flexibility of movement required for the ribbon blade. Some ultra-rare materials, in the league of Atherium and similar, have many amazing properties that would allow a truly powerful ribbon blade to be made out of them and even surpass the 60 meters length limit with ease. No known ribbon blade master has ever used a weapon of such metals to date.
Additions to the basic design:
As mentioned previously, the vysstichi culture has tried many different modifications to the original design of Whur's weapon, such as making the edge slightly dented or provide certain sections with hocks. Those modifications are generally frowned upon by the kemite and jagara ribbon blade masters as they detract from the wondrous maneuverability of the weapon.
Yet the dark elves sometimes prefer them, as blades modified in this way are more likely to make the enemy lose blood even if the strike is not incredibly precise and can also tangle with the weapon wielded by the opponent, thus harming and disarming at once. However, even among the vysstichi, such additions are more likely the mark of an inexpert noble trying to augment both his capacity of making damage with a weapon that they don't fully control and the potential of it as a tool of torture or intimidation.
Most true master ribbon blade users, even those of elven blood, prefer the cleaner, unmodified blades to their grafted cousins. Less trained criminals or assassins of any race and the aforementioned vysstichi nobles are the most common wielders of hooked or serrated ribbon blades.
Blade poisoning:
Blade poisoning on the other hand is a vysstichi costume that was quickly adopted by many users of the ribbon blade. Though some prefer to kill with the metal alone, most practitioners of this weapon's discipline are pragmatic enough to recognize the usefulness of a little more danger added to the cutting blade.
From the thugs polishing their blades on animal excrement and diseased bodies up to the great lords daily infusing their weapons with expensive and quick contact venoms, the number of different poisons added to the ribbon blade is staggering. Generally the ones preferred are those that have effect immediately, work on contact with simple skin or blood and do not weight down or prematurely corrode the metal.
Since disturbing the lightness of the weapon with concealed hilt poison vials and diffusion mechanisms is almost a crime for most of the true ribbon blade warriors, the poison is generally applied directly at the blade itself. This conveys a risk for the wearer of poisoning himself accidentally as the weapon is often put in wearable metal belts rather than in sword sheaths or scabbards. This also requires the user to reapply the poison constantly (thus wasting it every time he does not engage soon in combat) or some time before a known fight (depriving him of this advantage when engaged by surprise).
Kemite versus Vysstichi made ribbon blades:
Today most ribbon blades in open market can be classified as either vysstichi or kemite in design, and thought the differences between them are few, they are still a point of contention between different groups of ribbon blade users. In general both are made from elven steel except from the few that employ smokesteel. Those last being generally of vysstichi fabrication as only so few ribbon blades are of jagara's manufacturing today. In general kemite's ribbon blades are a little broader than vysstichi's ones and are never modified from the original design, while the dark elves prefer slender blades and some times modify them with hooks or dents.
Advantages, disadvantages and other considerations:
As stated in the historical review of the blade, short range hand wielded weapons are the most ineffective against it. Unarmored opponents are easily killed way before they are sufficiently close to the blade wielder to use their own weapons. Armor provides a good protection against ribbon blade users of basic or simply professional skill, but except for very good throughly impenetrable armors, it serves only as weight against a master of the blade the likes of Lord Ska Whur.
Also mentioned previously, no good ribbon blade user can mange the weapon to any significant fraction of his top dexterity while using heavy metallic armor himself. A practitioner of the style can never cover his weapon arm with any kind of physical protection, because in doing so he losses the freedom and precision of movement he requires to control the blade. Also, any head protection used by ribbon blade warriors must not cover the face, as they often require all of their field of vision to follow the blade accurately. A shield is impossible to use in combination with the ribbon blade.
Vests of reinforced leather armor with metal belts to store the blade are common among the most conscious practitioners of this craft. And a few ribbon blade users chose to avoid any form of armor for the sake of improving their speed and precision, even at the cost of security from wounds, both foreign and self inflicted.
This leads us to the second great defect of the weapon. Because of the great difficulty maneuvering a ribbon blade entails, it's not uncommon for a low level student of the way to wound himself by mistake, both in combat and during training. Particularly, a significant number of lower level ribbon blade warriors that have chosen to poison their blades at an early stage have died from a cut of their own steel, even a few among those that use leather armor. For this reason, poisoning a ribbon blade is best left to the elite warriors and masters of the art. Nonetheless, many ribbon blade users have little regard for their own lives and few chose to heed such a recommendation.
Because of the restrictions in armor the discipline imposes upon its warriors, the worst enemy of a ribbon blade user are strong projectile weapons. Arrows and bolts can pierce light armor at a distance longer than the reach of most ribbon blades, becoming the death of many masters of the blade. A few techniques can be learned at the highest proficiencies to diminish this terrible disadvantage. Even so, the creator of the weapon himself was unable to fend the rain of arrows of a complete archer squadron, even when the archers were vastly inferior to him in training.
Furthermore, the ribbon blade is a long term weapon discipline, that often gives little benefit to the inexpert user and only favors those that study it with dedication. Thus a student of the blade will notice that while he is still at the early stages of his learning he is severely limited compared adepts of other weapons. Yet this is compensated by incredible power and versatility for those who achieve the upper ranges of the ribbon blade masters.
As a final warning for the aspiring student, the weapon's reputation among other fighters that know its history tends to be quite ill. And ribbon bladers are often subjects of dark association with the cruelest of kemite criminals and the most tortuous of the dark elves nobles.
Construction and commerce of ribbon blades:
Ribbon blades are a rare and exotic weapon, only used by kemites and dark elves in any important numbers. They are complicated weapons, difficult to make, requiring expensive materials and the hand of a master weaponsmith. All those facts contribute to make this blades expensive and hard to find through the empire.
The only forges which regularly make and carry ribbon blades are to be found in Zinn'Sunn and Vortex, as those are the places of settlement within the empire of the two cultures that have most influence from the weapon. Even in this places, the price of the blade is thrice that of a common elven steel long sword. Smokesteel ribbon blades, a tool designed for assassination, are to be found only upon request at shady locales in Vortex and at three or five time the price of the already expensive elven steel ribbon blades.
Buying standard ribbon blades in big metropolis of the empire is possible, but quite expensive and, of course, possible upon request only, as the blades are imported on order from Zinn'Sunn.
Instruction:
Traditional versus modern ribbon blade instruction:
There is a distinction between the old ways of traditional ribbon blade training which often emphasize death and pain, and a much newer current that attempts to take such aspects from the weapon as much as possible.
Traditional education has his roots in the time of interchange of techniques and maneuvers between elves and kemite alone, a time where the power of the weapon attracted many ones, yet very few good ribbon blade warriors ever emerged. Thus, the established masters started coming with ways to discourage undedicated apprentices by forcing them to prove themselves. A general tradition was created after a while, named the Walk of the Swords Edge, which has become synonymous with traditional ribbon blade training. The Walk requires the student to submit to a predefined test before each stage of his training, defined by a particular mantra of the tradition. Many of the tests are painful or even mortally dangerous for the student as they are meant to test his mettle. Traditional masters never charge for training students, but also never take students they don't approve of, and their standards tend to be quite high.
Modern masters are mostly academical students of the ancient blade or ribbon blade fighters more conscious of the current ages and times. They practice their craft in academies or institutions of any kind, prefer the techniques that don't immediately kill and charge for training instead of mutilating their pupils as the old fashioned ribbon blade 'butcherers' do. They also avoid teaching the students of many of the most terrible and hurting ribbon blade techniques developed by the old ones, including some disarming or defensive maneuvers instead.
Getting ribbon blade training:
Modern ribbon blade training can be acquired only in the city of Zinn'Sunn at especial academies of martial arts. It is an expensive training and not often advertised, tailored mostly towards those interested in historical or alternative forms of combat.
Traditional ribbon blade training can be gained from itinerant masters of any race, that travel through the empire to better themselves as young Hi Quh once did, or in any of a number of circles of the blade. Circles of the blade is the name given to organizations dedicated to the tradition of the ribbon blade, often involved in criminal or mercenary business. This circles are commonly led by masters and have elite ribbon blade users among their high ranking officers. A few of the most well known circles of the blade are listed here, as is their base city:
- Kaskin'Kamat (The knife of Jalat) (Zinn'Sunn) : A powerful assassin's guild in the Kitsune district and one of the most violent circles of the blade in the empire. Lead by a mysterious master Zo, this killers act as paid enforcers for the most powerful criminal lords in the city. They use reinforced black leather armor that covers most of their body, including their free arm and most of their head, leaving only the face and weapon arm exposed as per necessity. They never fail to poison their blades.
- The Iron Wyvern (Zinn'Sunn) : Living in the outskirts of the kemite city and of lose affiliation, this circle of the blade is in truth a group of ribbon blade using mercenaries. Their leader is whomever of the three or four masters in the group is the most powerful at the time. Their members will work for anyone that can pay their services, as long as their leader consents. Armor and blade styles are diverse in this group.
- Meephos Red Knights (Vortex) : A secret society of noble Vysstichi houses that hold the teaching of the ribbon blade as their mark. They teach non-nobles in exchange for services, but accept in their ranks only exceptional warriors or those of political power or noble blood within the dark city.
Many other circles of the blade exist, but are smaller and less well known.
Techniques and levels of proficiency:
All the techniques following are classified by level and include name, origin when it is known (kemite, vysstichi or jagara) and whether they are taught in traditional way, modern education or both. The level descriptions also include the traditional challenge required by the walk of the swords edge at that particular level.
Basic:
Most of the time expended by a student of basic ribbon blade is dedicated to the art of drawing and moving the long blade without harming themselves. As such, techniques learned at this level are rather limited and the attacks of a such rated practitioner are often predictable to those who have observed a ribbon blade in action before. Luckily for trainees of this level, most common fighters are completely unfamiliar with Whur's weapon.
Feats at this level include only specialization in a particular type of draw (see the taught draws below).
The walk of the swords edge - First steep: "Thou shall know pain"
In traditional education, after a potential student has obtained a ribbon blade and convinced a superior practitioner of the art that they might be worth training (and this also tends to present it's own particular difficulties depending on the personality of the instructor), the new teacher hurts and engraves the student skin with a particular scar.
The scar is usually some motif representing a lesson that the master wants the student to remember forever. Its creation should be as painful and slow as possible to give the student an appropriate sense of the hardships involved in the way he has chosen. Instructors that have already learned and mastered the technique known as 'Meephos Caress' inflict the scar using it repeatedly and slowly, lower level instructors often use heated knives or carefully peel the skin and flesh of their pupils with a fraction of the student's own blade's edge.
Basic ribbon blade techniques:
Common stances, foot work and precautions with the blade (mixed origin, both educations): The student is taught how to stand, steep around, maximize the pull of the arm movements that should be used to control the blade and roll and unroll the long weapon unto an iron or hard leather wide belt. Most of this is first explained without the student holding the weapon itself.
Basic draw - Horizontal (Kemite origin, both educations): A simple blade drawing technique in which the blade is unrolled horizontally and a sweep with it is done in a broad area in front of the user. Is the standard ribbon blade drawing technique because it is simple, fast, useful to deter enemies and facilitates dancing the blade afterwards.
Basic draw - Upwards (Kemite origin, both educations): A different drawing technique in which the blade is made to sweep vertically from the floor up and then down again in a straight line of sight of the user. Starting to dance the blade after this start is slightly more difficult than with the horizontal draw, but is rare for practitioners of other fighting styles to expect an attack from vertical directions, and this might decide the fight if the opponent is unarmored.
Basic draw - Deterrent (Modern origin, modern education only): Identical to the horizontal draw but using the wide side of the blade instead of the sharp one. Taught to students as a non violent way to push enemies away.
Basic form - Double circle (Kemite origin, both educations): The basic form for dancing the blade. The blade is danced horizontally going down and then lifted upwards at the extremes of its sweep to keep it in the air, the movement forming a pair of intersecting circles in the air. (occ: Think the symbol for infinity)
Note: A basic ribbon blade user can walk but not turn while dancing the blade. He can not run or execute any other difficult movements.
Professional:
At this level the practitioner has become used to the basic movements of the blade and can attempt modifications of his own to the common draws and forms as well as understand some of the more refined techniques developed for especial situations. The warrior is not longer as predictable and clear as one of basic proficiency.
Feats at this level produce new draws or forms slightly different to those above or tailored towards a particular situation, feats of conditioning are also common.
The walk of the swords edge - Second steep: "Thou shall know death"
In this steep the traditionalist instructor will often require the student to kill before commencing his professional training. The kill has to be a sentient individual of any kind and can be either armed or unarmed without distinction. The point of the exercise is to test not the things that the student can do, but those that he would dare to do, as such, the more terrible and inhumane the murder, the greater the promise he would seem to show to his instructor. The kill of course is to be done with the ribbon blade.
Professional ribbon blade techniques:
Professional draw - directional (Kemite origin, both educations): A complete drawing technique that allows the blade to execute a first sweep in any direction or angle and promptly start to dance afterwards. The most common way to start a fight for a practitioner of this proficiency level.
Professional draw - frontal (Vysstichi origin, both educations): A peculiar drawing technique in which a fast and precise wrist movement serves to launch the blade forth in an almost linear fashion against the enemy. The enemy is often hit first by the end of the ribbon blade and if unarmored, the weapon might pass directly through him, making a hole in its wake. This drawing technique leaves the user unprotected and therefore is only recommended against single enemies and when expected to kill with the first strike. At low proficiencies the frontal draw can only be aimed against the full body of the opponent, with practice this can change. This draw is based on the principles of the more difficult 'Surgeon strike' technique.
Professional draw and form - Full circle (Kemite origin, both educations): A defensive technique that can be used either at the start of the battle or in mid dance. It makes the blade describe a full circle at variable height around the user's body by holding the hilt up and making a circular hand movement. Serves as deterrent against multiple enemies from multiple directions.
Professional form - Waves (Kemite origin, both educations): A dancing form in which the blade undulates describing waves either from left to right keeping altitude or upwards and downwards while advancing from side to side. Different parts of the blade cover different parts of the practitioner's field of attack at the same time and therefor prevent enemies from getting close without being in danger of a swift strike by the dancing blade.
Professional form - False Withdraw (Kemite origin, both educations): Allows the practitioner to move his blade unto the back of his own body and then immediately execute any of the drawing techniques known to him. Allows fast reuse of the draws in mid combat and doubles as a feint.
Professional form - Hook (Vysstichi origin, both educations): Inspired on the false withdraw form, this technique launches the blade pass the side of the opponent in semicircular fashion without directly engaging him. Then the blade is pulled back, forming a hook around the opponent's body and hitting him on the back while returning towards his user. At low proficiencies this attack is meant to hit the back of the full body, at higher ones it can be directed to, for example, the back of an enemy's neck.
Note: A professional ribbon blade user can walk and turn while dancing the blade. He can not run or execute any other difficult movements.
Elite:
At elite level a student of the ribbon blade is taught the last draw and the two last forms. Then depending upon education he is taught either his first two specialized attacks or a powerful defensive maneuver. Upon reaching this level the learner of Whur's weapon is expected to combine styles of dancing the blade for greater flexibility and even to create his own custom blade-dancing patterns and draws.
At this point, feats develop into special techniques including and extending those usually imparted in the form of education of choice of the student. Previous feats are also often enhanced. Also, draws, forms and special techniques are chained for improved efficiency.
The walk of the swords edge - Third steep: "Thou shall know war"
In this steep the traditionalist instructor will require the student to kill once again before imparting further training. Yet this time the mark must be an armed warrior of a different discipline, selected by the instructor and considered of the same capacity as the student. The battle is intended to be in equal conditions, with fifty-fifty chances of success or less for the aspiring student, depending on the teacher level of exigence. The main aim here is to prove a student resourcefulness and cunning as well as experience.
Some instructor of this level that are of Master level themselves are known to weight this challenge in such a way that the student is highly likely to die on it. This is occasionally done out of cowardice, because of what the fourth steep of the walk entails.
Elite ribbon blade techniques:
Elite draw - Targeted (Vysstichi origin, both educations): A challenging modification upon the frontal draw. Allows the blade to be drawn forth in a straight line in any direction relative to the user. With enough training an speed, this draw can hit the opponent before he is even aware that the blade has been readied. It takes substantial effort to dance the blade after performing a targeted draw in an uncomfortable angle so a failed use of this start against an experienced opponent can be rather costly, specially at Elite proficiency. (This penalty is lessened for master and unimportant for grandmaster)
Elite form - Serpent (Kemite origin, both educations): A rather free form of dancing the blade, in which neither direction, turns or speed is fixed. It is characterized for a continuous movement and turns in soft curves around the practitioner's body. Baring the folding paper form, this form synthesizes and combines all previous dancing forms and is complete enough to be called the actual art of ribbon blade combat.
Elite form - Folding paper (Kemite origin, both educations): This form is not a requirement for the elite level ribbon blade user, but is often taught to complement the Serpent form. It uses precise wrist inflections to force the blade to turn folding at a sharp angle instead of a soft curve. The turn is slightly delayed as the initial movement must be impressed at the grip of the blade and then transmitted to the point of the folding. This dancing form is incredibly useful for surprise attacks as one who has never seen it before doesn't even imagine the weapon can actually turn in such a way at the user's intention. On the downside, this technique makes very difficult to control the folded part of the blade until the dancing form affecting it has been changed to a softer one, so must be used with caution. At elite level only one sharp turn can be imposed on the blade at a time, at master level two or three can be managed, a grandmaster can fold the blade as if he where dancing it in soft turns.
Elite special technique - Surgeon strike (Kemite origin, traditional education only): One of the most precision demanding techniques in the whole ribbon blade instruction. It can be used immediately after a draw or in mid-combat. It uses wrist movements to hurl the tip of the blade towards a precise target at a particular angle. It is often directed towards the opponent vital internal organs or neck and can be even used to penetrate lose armor. Plate mail and scale mail can be disregarded by an experienced user of this technique. Chain mail however, can't, but it 's still possible to attack unprotected areas of the wearer such as face or neck.
Elite special technique - Yissik'ster's disarm (Vysstichi origin, traditional education only): A sadistic disarming technique, based upon the surgeon strike and not always taught. It uses the blade to cause heavy damage to the junctures of various internal hand bones with a single strike. It renders the victim incapable of freely moving or closing his hand again and therefore ever using a weapon with it, causing tremendous pain in the process. The damage to the hand internals is often irreversible by non-magical means.
Elite special technique - Bindings (Modern origin, modern education only): Carefully wrapping the blade around the opponents arms or legs, this moder ribbon blade technique allows wounding as well harmless incapacitation. It however leaves the user open to attack from any third combatant.
Note: A elite ribbon blade user can walk, turn and run while dancing the blade. He can not jump execute difficult movements.
Master:
After attaining master level the practitioner of the ribbon blade is expected to have fully developed a personal style of fighting and particular especial techniques. No new draws or forms are taught and for those of traditional education only the ritualistic technique 'Meephos Caress' is imparted.
A master has such a deep control of the blade that he can cut projectile weapons on the air with it, though with high number of such weapons the difficulty of defending himself in such a way increases dramatically.
A master not only can, but it's expected to develop new and powerful special techniques as feats, in addition to any other type of feats he was already capable of mustering. Normally a master develops between two and four signature especial techniques before claiming the title, regardless of education.
The walk of the swords edge - Forth steep: "Thou shall know that you are now the master"
This steep of the walk's ritual differs from all others in that it is realized not at the start but at the end of the aspiring master's training with a master instructor. It is seldom revealed to the student until the very last moment and consists on a duel to the death with the instructor himself.
If the student kills the instructor, then he becomes a master in his place, therefore ensuring that each passing generation of ribbon blade masters is stronger than their predecessors or at least of similar prowess (considering the advantage of youth). In rare cases a draw can be called if both master and pupil manage to simultaneously incapacitate each other and they are allowed to part ways as masters both. However, nine of each ten occurrences of this test do end in death for one of the two, some even for both.
Master ribbon blade techniques:
Master special technique - Meephos Caress (Vysstichi origin, traditional education only): A fearsome ritualistic technique that can be used as means of assassination as well as torture or intimidation. The flexible ribbon blade is made to envelope in several turns one of the victims extremities or his neck, with the edge clawing into the flesh at an angle. If the blade is then withdrawn slowly, it will painfully scar and lacerate the victim's skin, drawing blood and sinking deeper with every turn. If it's instead withdrawn quickly, the force and friction of the blade will likely severe whatever it is coiled around at the moment, becoming a killing blow. Once trapped into meephos caress, the unfortunate soul that encounters this technique is totally at the mercy of the ribbon blade master at the other end of the weapon. Any movement he attempts will probably cause the blade to sink deeper and may also be felt immediately on the hilt of the ribbon blade for the vibration.
Note: A master ribbon blade user can move, run, turn, jump and generally execute very complex maneuvers even while dancing the blade, as it has become second nature to him.
Grandmaster:
A ribbon blade grandmaster is no longer trained into one, he becomes one himself. The path to become a grandmaster, regardless of education, is supported around the feat of learning at least two of the four great techniques of the ribbon blade, or developing equivalents. Each technique must be pursued separately and requires difficult, eras long, training and search.
The four known great techniques now follow. No ribbon blade user can call himself a grandmaster without either the knowledge of two of this powerful blows or the honor of having invented at least one of equivalent power. This great techniques are considered the ultimate class of feats a ribbon blade user can accomplish.
Whur's Dragon Growl (secret grandmaster technique of kemite origin, not normally taught):
Apparently similar to the frontal draw attack, this terrible technique is actually of a fully different nature. It requires almost superhuman speed and control in the vibrations of the wrist, deep concentration and study of many different materials and great judgment and calm in severe battle conditions.
In its execution the blade is launched forward towards the objective, apparently ignoring armor or obstacles. In truth the user most consider carefully where the hit is going to land, and synchronize the vibrations of his blade to those of the target material. Such that upon impact, the vibrations are transmitted an amplified by the blade, canceling upon the weapon itself but mutually enhancing upon the target. The result is an apparently light blow that can turn rocks, armors or even living tissue unto dust with a single hit.
This technique cannot be aimed with enough precision for a surgeon strike or similar maneuver as it requires all the blade handling capability of the user just to keep the rhythm of the vibrations. It's often used to destroy armor, rather than to bypass it.
Blood Bath of Lyrve'shir (secret grandmaster technique of vysstichi origin, not normally taught):
A risky technique, useful against multiple opponents, that requires the ribbon blade itself to be destroyed in the process. It is executed as a single, throughly calculated, hit with the weapon against the floor. Upon which the blade breaks into up to thirteen different fragments, each of them sent flying as an aimed projectile in any set direction. The blade shards carry such a force and can be aimed with such a precision that they will reach vulnerabilities even in armored opponents and might traverse more than a single body each. The devastation caused by this powerful blow is only offset by it's heinous cost, since the weapon used is destroyed afterwards.
Wraithclaw's Execution (secret grandmaster technique of Jagara origin, not normally taught):
A directional sweep so fast that the blade cannot even be seen by the untrained eye. Even master or grandmaster warriors of any weapon's discipline often are unable to view the weapon in movement, everyone else has no chance of doing so. As said in the history section, this sweep is so fast that it can behead a standing person and leave him unmarked, yet death. Some report that, after the blade has passed using this technique, a sound similar to a small explosion can be soon heard. Because of the incredible speed, hitting armor or other solid defense with this attack is often not recommended, the hit might breach or cut the object, but the force can also destroy the blade and the recoil is bound to be dangerous for the attacker.
Armor of Storms (secret grandmaster technique of Modern origin, not normally taught):
The missing technique of the times of Whur, a modern conception that uses the blade as the perfect defense against projectile weapons. Making the blade describe an spiral dance at high speeds around the user's body, the ribbon blade grandmaster creates a shield of steel and air that fully protects him form attacks. Furthermore, an approaching opponent would probably be cut to pieces by the circling blade. It is the only technique of modern times that has been deemed worthy of study by traditionalist ribbon blade users and even included into the great four. Requires great strength, speed and endurance, apart from a over the norm dominion of all previous dancing forms.
Note: For a grandmaster, the ribbon blade is an extension of himself, he can do anything with it in his hand he could do without it and even more. He can hold an manipulate objects by warping the blade around them.
Dual wielding:
Dual wielding ribbon blades is extremely difficult and rare, if it were to be used as a feat of expertise, it could only be by a warrior of master or grandmaster proficiency in Whur's weapon.
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