Xian Wu 2

Martial Arts Schools The Adamantine Arrow dojo, fencing salle or wuguan is a famous tradition. Outside of martial arts, the order also runs bodyguard academies, elite security training schools and revolutionary cadres that teach the so-called People’s War. An innocuous gun club or firearms safety course could conceal a cabal or caucus from this tradition. In all cases, the group needs to teach more than a collection of ordinary fighting techniques if the school wants to engender a unique magical style. The school must have a specific theory of magic that links its mundane methods (instinctive shooting, kenjutsu or grappling, for instance) to Supernal symbols. A punch has to be more than a fist smacking an enemy. It should describe a host of magical operations. A Chinese martial artist might say the punch flows from focused intent to create fajin power that shoots through bones and tendons. She uses that theory to increase her strength beyond what musculature and even perfect technique allow. The school also needs special customs. Blood oaths, belt rankings and uniforms are examples. Without them, even a school of hardened Talons is an alliance of convenience, not a true teaching brotherhood. Some schools are secret societies with political aims in the Fallen World or monasteries where members govern their souls with physical discipline. Oblations: Practicing a martial arts or fitness routine taught by the school; teaching a class; taking a test for a license or rank; meditating on the grounds of the school; performing a ritual in honor of a master teacher, patron deity or school religion; studying a manual specific to the school. Rote Factors: Using the school’s favored weapon as part of a rote mudra (+1); casting on school grounds (+1); successfully using one of the school’s techniques (specific to the rote) in combat on the previous turn (+1); spending a full turn (or for an extended spell, twice the usual time) performing a martial arts routine for no other reason than to focus the mind (+2).