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[Calibur]

Contents

Sound Projects (I & II)

Nunchaku no Jutsu

NPC Profiles

Cloud Unity Squad

[Calibur]

The Shindou Clan
Silent Instruments of Hidden Sound

Philosophy

Mantra

Still the body and the mind will speak,
Quiet the mind and the soul will speak,
Silence the soul and the world will speak,
And I will listen.

Religion

Traditions

Culture/Appearance

History

In the days of Old Hidden Sound, the Eight Strings were a band of elite hunters whose mastery of the war bow was matched only by their reputation as prodigal musicians. These chakra-gifted men and women had tuned their senses to such a degree that they believed they could detect the Universal Resonance, or frequencies, of all things. Their unity, renown and enterprising spirits led to the founding of a clan built upon the reverence of these hidden sounds, enshrining their practices in the ceremonies of the new Shindou.

Eighty years ago, the Great Wars all but wiped out the clan, forcing the sole surviving branch family to find safety in anonymity. For decades, this clan survived by working as mercenary archers to feudal lords, moving nomadically under the leadership of Shindou Madoka and, later, his eldest daughter Mayumi. After several near decimations at the hands of bandits and ronin, Mayumi and her son Takehiko were inspired to transform their religious rites into a means of defending themselves when their bows would not suffice.

Takehiko, who fathered two sons, Shinonome and Tetsuji, continued this undertaking even after everyone else in his family was slaughtered by ronin in a raid of their refugee camp. That fateful night never released its maddening grip on his heart and, when the boys were old enough to fend for themselves, Takehiko went in search of the ronin to exact his revenge. He never returned. As the last two members of the once hundred-strong Shindou, Shin and Tetsu vowed to protect their clan heritage at all costs.

However, unlike their predecessors, they found fault with the isolationism of their family’s self-imposed exile: they wanted to trust again. So when the Seijuu called, the Shindou answered, and were among the first Nomads to bear the mark of the Eighth Note. Later, proving himself to Kaigen, Shinonome was one of the first new Senshi hand-picked to act as his lord’s eyes and ears. Sent to Lightning Country, his Eighth Note surgically removed, he rose to prominence as a diplomat from the status of an unknown rural mediator.

Meanwhile, Tetsuji remained the named head of the clan, years later solidifying his seat at the table of what would become Hidden Sound with a kunoichi bride named Kotone. Their son, Akira, was born soon after news arrived of Shinonome’s promotion to the rank of Special Envoy to the Village Hidden in the Clouds. The next year, while Shinonome was serving a long-term posting in Hidden Mist, he fell for the young diplomat from the Getseui clan who was serving as his guide.

Though their courtship was brief, Etsuko fell pregnant and Shinonome, to his credit, supported her through this time as much as he could within the limitations of his official role. However, shortly after their son was born, he decided to cut his tenure short and return to Hidden Cloud. Though he wished to return, he knew his continued dalliance would be considered a conflict of interest in his role as a diplomat, not to mention the first of the Iron Laws of Hidden Sound. He had to be clear where his priorities lay.

Yet he kept tabs on his son, learning of his exploits as a shinobi and, later, a seaman. And then, the boy’s sudden appearance on Calamity Mountain, to which the eyes of the world had turned. Stationed in Earth Country, Shinonome was suddenly within arm’s reach, having dreamed of meeting him for eleven long years. Now, he might have his chance, if only from afar. He knew that his actions would be observed closely by his handlers in Hidden Sound, but this, he realised, might be his only chance.

Notable Members

Shindou Shinonome
Senshi — Hidden Operative (Age 35)

Shindou Tetsuji
Senshi — Bunraku (Age 33)

Shindou Akira
Kitaeru (Age 13)

Battle Applications

Konji Taijutsu: Sumuken (Hybrid Taijutsu: Resonating Fist)

Survivors

[Calibur]

Inspired by Taido, Tai Ji Quan, Panzer Kunst, Wing Chun and Kyudo.

Sumuken
Resonating Fist

A—Stamina
B—Speed
C—Strength
D—Control
E—Power

Stage I - The Enthusiast
Requirements: Stamina 5, Speed 3
Bonus: +5 Stamina, +4 Speed
Special Techniques: Control 2, Power 2

Stage II - The Apprentice
Requirements: Stamina 8, Speed 6, Control 6
Bonus: +5 Stamina, +4 Speed
Special Techniques: Control 4, Power 4

Stage III - The War Artisan
Requirements: Stamina 12, Speed 8, Control 8
Bonus: +5 Stamina, +4 Speed
Special Techniques: Control 7, Power 7, Reserves 6

Stage IV - The Warrior
Requirements: Stamina 17, Speed 14, Strength 12, Control 14
Bonus: +5 Stamina, +4 Speed
Special Techniques: Control 10, Power 10, Reserves 8

Stage V - The High Warrior
Requirements: Stamina 22, Speed 19, Strength 15, Control 16
Bonus: +5 Stamina, +4 Speed
Special Techniques: Control 15, Power 15, Reserves 13

Stage VI - The Master
Requirements: Stamina 30, Speed 24, Strength 21, Control 20, Power 16
Bonus: +5 Stamina, +4 Speed
Special Techniques: Control 19, Power 19, Reserves 18

Stage VII - The Elder
Requirements: Stamina 39, Speed 33, Strength 27, Control 24, Power 20
Bonus: +5 Stamina, +4 Speed
Special Techniques: Control 26, Power 25, Reserves 24

[Calibur]

Taijutsu/Weapon Style (Nunchaku)

A: Strength | B: Speed | C: Stamina | D: Tactics | E: Willpower

History: Nunchaku, or nunchucks, are primarily used for self-defence, particularly in gaining the upper hand against multiple opponents. Some say that they began as rice flails converted to weapons by farmers in a time of revolution; others that they were uniquely invented to circumvent the legislation that barred deposed aristocrats from bearing traditional arms. Whatever the reality, both explanations depict a weapon of necessity and practicality; a weapon valued for its capacity to turn the tide in nearly any skirmish with its speed, force and unpredictability. Although at a perceived disadvantage when facing a single swordsman or spearman, or any weapon user with a longer reach, nunchaku adepts are trained to parry, block, strike, bash, stab, immobilise, disarm and confuse their opponent, and ultimately seek to control the rhythm of each confrontation.

Description: Nunchaku consist of two equally-sized rods (around the length of the user’s forearm from the crease in their elbow to the crease of their knuckles) with circular or octagonal ends, connected by a rope (himo) or chain (kusari) that should be long enough for the user to hold across the flat of their palm with a few centimetres to spare. Typically, the sticks will be crafted from strong, flexible woods that have been hardened under mud for several years then finely sanded and stained for preservation, although metal is a popular alternative, with optional accessories like telescopic handles and concealed or retractable blades. Yet even with a standard pair of nunchaku, depending on how they are swung, the resulting blunt force trauma can be devastating. The user’s shoulder, elbow and wrist, coupled with the nunchaku cord, provide up to four turning points with which to generate incredible torque and concussive power for such a lightweight weapon.

Training: Nunchaku no Jutsu is considered a form of Iron Body Training for its capacity to toughen up its practitioners. Unlike a spear, which usually obeys its user, nunchaku have the potential to bite back. But in this art, getting hit by accident is just another way to learn, sampling one’s own medicine to better avoid self-harm in future and to grasp just how much damage one can dispense. Meanwhile, daily training with even basic spins will result in the repeated intentional striking of the user’s sides, arms, ribs and inner legs with their own nunchaku, not to mention a constant rotation of the core, the forearms, wrists, elbows and shoulders. This results in the conditioning of a physique prepared to get struck but also ready to strike back, armed with improved coordination, hand quickness and posture.


Stage I
Requirements: 4 Strength, 4 Speed
Bonus: +5 Strength, +4 Speed

Holding the nunchaku between the centre and upper parts of the handle permits the greatest control over the velocity and weight of the weapon. A wide, split stance, meanwhile, garners power through the legs and ensures the user remains ready to move at a moment’s notice. The nunchaku is only as devastating as the power generated by the body, and its reach is limited. The student must relax their muscles but not their posture so as to unleash the ‘chucks maximum potential. Stiffness will result in jerky movements, delays and certain defeat. Hand control, practical swings and direct lines of attack are therefore ingrained by performing hundreds of repetitions each time an offensive or defensive technique is trained.

At this stage, Core Skills comprise the first set of ‘Soft Strikes’ which, in a smacking fashion, are intended to connect laterally and vertically with the hard parts of the opponent: the skull, the elbows and the knees, creating high, middle and low zones of attack. Transitioning between the two skills is achieved with a flourish of the wrist at the point where the two swings would intersect. By the time the student graduates to the next stage of their training, they should be able to perform this shift in momentum with the same control that they apply to either skill in isolation, and with either hand. Ambidexterity is promoted from the first, as well as instinctive precision. If even the 199th practice swing of 200 is flawed, the student must begin again.

It is strongly advised that combat be avoided wherever possible. At this point, the learning of skills is only intended for physical, mental and synaptic conditioning. But should an initiate find themselves in a fight, they will not be without options, having received Tai Sabaki (whole body movement) instruction in simple shuffles to evade and upper body positioning to slip out of the way, as well as the fundamentals of blocking with the nunchaku.

Spin: This is achieved by swinging the nunchaku from side to side, rebounding the eye of the nunchaku rod (where the cord is attached) off the muscles of the back at either end of the arc. Varying the extension of the arm will result in broader or tighter destructive arcs.

Cut: This consists of a sharp downward swing, a momentum kill, then a sharp upward swing to loop the striking stick over the hand so that the rod's eye rebounds off the triceps (marginally increasing the return speed). If the user’s stance happens to be square (feet wide rather than a front/back split), the momentum kill is replaced by a rebound off the inner thigh.

Bridge Block: The user places the nunchaku in front of their body with their hands upright on either stick, held parallel and pulled taut so that the cord, which can be thrust in any direction, can catch the oncoming ‘soft strikes’ of blunt weaponry, as well as the chopping motions of arms and legs. Students quickly learn which attacks to block and which to avoid.

Techniques

First Blood
With their sticks held together in one hand, the user can catch an opponent off-guard by suddenly unfurling the nunchaku to its full length with an upwards Cut to the chin.

Special Techniques
Tactics 2, Willpower 2

Tamotsu (Preserve)
For a single post, the user can empower their nunchaku components beyond nature’s limits. The materials become impervious to heavy, sharp or chakra-imbued attacks that might otherwise break a stick or sever a cord, allowing the user to block in the knowledge that at least their weapon will remain unscathed (even if they don't). This technique carries a 2 post cooldown.
Stage 3 Effect: Cooldown reduced to 1 post.
Stage 5 Effect: Each usage can last for 2 consecutive posts.

Stage II
Requirements: 7 Strength, 7 Speed, 6 Tactics
Bonus: +5 Strength, +4 Speed

Those students who one day hope to taunt their every opponent with dazzling displays have been misinformed: Nunchaku no Jutsu is not a juggler’s art but a survivor’s art. The user must hit hard and hit fast, crushing as many obstacles as quickly as possible and keeping their opponent off balance at all times. Those who fail to grasp this might advance to Stage II but will rarely progress further.

The purposeful visualisation of an opponent is now included in practice swings, targeting specific areas of the body and varying directionality even more. The student will develop new ways of transitioning between techniques by learning to catch the attacking stick by the ribs as it is twirled over the triceps or across the body. From this position, the student is far more unpredictable in timing and directing their next swing. For instance, the next strike might be a spin, a cut or even a diagonal motion.

These skills will require the student to build greater levels of control and muscle memory so that, at later stages, the adept need not choose which skill to use; their body will simply react accordingly. The student will also train with a selection of nunchaku lengths to experience the variances in power, speed, extension and safe contact points that can come with each swing, developing a preference. And, with opponents in mind, the student can also now experiment with the new trajectories offered by Tai Sabaki's jumping and crouching motions.

Descendant: This downward figure eight is performed by making a chopping motion with the wrist to either side, the arm held at more of a warding length in front of the body. As the student grows in confidence, they will learn to vary the distance of these diagonal swings from the body as they did for spins and cuts, as well as their angle of attack.

Ascendant: As the reverse, this upward figure eight pattern is performed using a flicking motion with the wrist to either side. Switching between the Ascendant and Descendant skills can be achieved by rebounding off either the inner thigh or the triceps.

Open Block: The user pulls their sticks flat to create a straight barrier that can be snapped to whichever plane they require. It offers excellent coverage but, like its predecessor, makes anything less than a metal cord vulnerable to severing. Students who know they will be doing a lot of blocking should prepare accordingly.

Techniques

Felling Stroke
Jumping forward as they fully extend their arm in a vertical or diagonal strike, the user can generate a powerful finishing blow before killing momentum and withdrawing the nunchaku.

Reverse Snake Bite
Twisting their body and bending their knees as they perform a lateral or diagonal blow, the user catches the striking stick in a crouched cobra stance then unwinds suddenly to cross with a rising strike.

Special Techniques
4 Tactics, 4 Willpower

Shinkiro (Mirage)
Coating their body and nunchaku in paper-thin chakra, the user can leave a host of convincing after-images in their wake. The ensuing cloud of fleeting apparitions are best used to mask the user’s next angle of attack or obscure a quick retreat.
Stage 3 Effect: The user can now project false images for misdirection, concealing crucial actions like chambering their nunchaku or remaining in situ while appearing to move in a different direction.
Stage 4 Effect: The user can solidify one false image and bring it to life as a kind of bunshin. This mirage clone has the full speed of the user and 1/3 of their original strength (including bonuses for both stats) but will be unable to use any jutsu. The clone will vanish after taking 1 direct hit or upon successfully striking an opponent with its phantom nunchaku.

Stage III
Requirements: 10 Strength, 10 Speed, 8 Tactics
Bonus: +5 Strength, +4 Speed

Once the student shows reliable skill and can demonstrate clean transitions between spins, cuts, and figure eights, they are introduced to pre-arranged sequences of attacks and blocks that can be practised with a sparring partner, preferably welding a bo staff. From this point, the nunchaku user should aim to train at a disadvantage as this will better emulate realistic conditions now that the restriction on combat has been lifted. Hand speed, arm conditioning, whole body mobility and posture control will all have improved noticeably, and are well utilised with the introduction of unarmed and acrobatic techniques.

New Core Skills encompass ‘Hard Strikes’, which are used to stab at the soft parts of the opponent, such as the face or neck, midsection and groin, each falling into high, middle and low zones. Even at this stage, the base of a nunchaku stick is dangerous enough to cut an opponent’s face open, chip teeth or wind them with a gut shot.

With improved striking ability comes the need to cross the field of battle more effectively to mete out destruction. Tai Sabaki becomes more aggressive and determined as the user learns to walk steadily forwards and back during each combination: stepping; halting; changing direction; advancing to create pressure on one’s opponent or retreating when it is the more practical option. By chambering their ‘chucks, the practitioner will also find it easier to introduce basic acrobatics into their flow, and a number of these, like ground-based rolls and one-handed cartwheels, form a staple of sparring sequences.

Flicker: Catching the striking stick under the armpit, the user braces for a new attack by pulling the cord taut. From this openly chambered position, the student can flick the striking stick forward then whip it back, catching it under the arm again. A flicker can be snapped any number of times, and in any number of directions, high, low, inside or outside.

Fury: This comprises all techniques that can be accomplished with either the hand gripping both halves of the nunchaku (closed chambering) or with the free hand. As a force multiplier, holding the sticks adds extra power to a straight jab with that hand, while the length of the sticks will broaden the chance of catching an opponent. In this position, the bases can be used to stab like a knife, or the corded/chained ends used in hooks. At early stages, Fury is used singly or in simple one-two combinations, akin to a brawl or street fight.

Closed Block: Gripping the sticks together near the chain in the closed chamber position, the user can employ the rods like a wide baton. There is no guard to prevent an opponent’s blade from sliding towards the hand, however, so this kind of parry is best used when the enemy has little room to manoeuvre.

Techniques

Leaping Crane
Following a returning spin, the user rolls their wrist for a transition behind the tricep, but instead of following up with the catching hand, they hold there, open chambering the weapon and feint with their whole body to deliver a sharp rising knee followed by a straight kick with the other leg.

Scorpion Shakes Tail
Immediately after a connecting vertical cut, the user close chambers the weapon and follows their upward momentum to leap into close quarters, deliver a force multiplied punch to the gut, then unleash the nunchaku in a point blank cut to the underside of the chin.

Special Techniques
7 Tactics, 7 Willpower, 6 Intelligence

Harisakeru (Burst)
Imbuing their sticks with packets of explosive chakra, the user can release this energy from the part of the weapon about to connect. If the nunchaku passes through the chakra and scores a successful hit against the target, the packet will burst, creating a shockwave of spasms across that part of the opponent’s body. For 2 posts, the affected limb will suffer a drop of 2 levels in Speed (to a minimum of Level 1). This technique has a 1 post cooldown but can be stacked to attack the same or multiple limbs.
Stage 4 Effect: The affected limb loses 3 levels of Speed.
Stage 5 Effect: The affected limb loses 4 levels of Speed.

Stage IV
Requirements: 16 Strength, 16 Speed, 11 Stamina, 14 Tactics
Bonus: +5 Strength, +4 Speed

Students who have gained exceptional control over their nunchaku are now permitted to spar against other students armed with short or bladed weapons in pre-arranged sequences. When even a mistake of half an inch could be lethal in a fight, any remaining sources of bodily tension must be trained out and replaced by serenity: confidence in their mastery of the single nunchaku.

The adepts of this stage will have learned to both flip the nunchaku cord over their wrists to transition into inverted grips, and catch the striking stick behind the waist to transition between left and right side attacks and blocks. These additional skills will drastically increase the user’s unpredictability by adding sudden flourishes for double instead of single hits, altered trajectories and hidden movements that make it even harder for opponents to track the path of the nunchaku.

The student’s Tai Sabaki footwork now scales to incorporate subtler repositioning, moving out of alignment instead of dodging or fully evading in order to maintain control of one’s own flow and continue the cadence of battle. Meanwhile, confidence in the nunchaku’s range and reliability allows the user to include travelling movements that would previously have been considered too risky, like twirling jumps, dive rolls and hand-springs. Kicks also become more common as a means of extending one’s destructive potential.

Scythe: This multi-planar lateral strike combines a diagonal swing up, an overhead flourish, then a descending diagonal. This technique can be reversed by rebounding off the ribs, while switching hands is typically performed behind the waist. The Scythe pattern is best utilised as a radial attack against opponents who may be surrounding the nunchaku user. It can be quickened with a twirling step or used to strike at the knees by folding into a crouched cobra stance.

Snare: This versatile means of trapping opponents employs the nunchaku’s innate capacity to wrap its cord around objects. Getting in close after creating an opening, the user will either use the weight of an attacking limb or weapon to fold their nunchaku around the point at which the cord catches it, or perform a deliberate feint by overreaching with a sharp swing so that the cord lands full against it. Once the striking stick is caught and pulled tight, the user can then mobilise their own bodyweight to immobilise or disarm the enemy.

Cyclone Block: Cycling the cord around one elbow and pulling it taut in the space next to the triceps will better defend against wide cuts from either side, creating a secondary guard with the user’s arms. From this position, they can then strike back with their own cut or spin.

Techniques

Crashing Wave
Snaring the opponent’s wrist, the user pulls hard on the nunchaku sticks to loosen the enemy’s grip on their weapon. Pivoting on their inner foot, they then yank the enemy off-balance, throwing them over their shoulder and slamming them to the ground.

Tiger Fells Tree
In order to destabilise and debilitate, the user distracts the enemy with a feint swing and stamps on the inside of their foot instead, then delivers a descending nunchaku strike to the inside of their knee and finishes with a sharp punch to the exposed jaw.

Special Techniques
10 Tactics, 10 Willpower, 8 Intelligence

Yukan’na Kagayaki (Brave Shine)
When an enemy uses a chakra-based technique and there’s simply no going around it, this special offers the high risk/high reward alternative to go through it! Charging their nunchaku with chakra, the user must match the opponent’s technique with a full strength swing of their own, detonating their payload at the precise moment of contact. With a blinding flash, this powerful counter will cut through any chakra/ninjutsu technique Stage 4 and below but will also render the arm wielding the nunchaku useless for the next post.
Stage 5 Effect: Counters chakra/ninjutsu techniques Stage 5 and below.
Stage 6 Effect: Counters chakra/ninjutsu techniques Stage 6 and below and will render their arm useless for 2 posts. The user can lock the enemy’s chakra inside their nunchaku so that they only suffer a 1-post penalty, but the weapon will then become a volatile liability for the next 3 posts, during which time, if it leaves their hand, it will explode and render their arm immobile for the remainder of the thread.

Stage V
Requirements: 20 Strength, 20 Speed, 16 Stamina, 16 Tactics
Bonus: +5 Strength, +4 Speed

Once control over the single nunchaku has been mastered, the student will be introduced to dual-wielding with a second nunchaku. Their every move becomes a guessing game for opponents; even sparring partners will be hard pressed to keep up once the student is taught to use both matching and alternating directions, with swings of equal or different speeds, chambering one but not the other, and using different grades of momentum kill.

When faced with a dual-wielding nunchaku adept of this stage, opponents have but two advantages: the user will be limited to performing only the same Core Skill with both hands; and they will know which nunchaku belongs on which side of the body. The student will not yet be able to use different techniques concurrently, and they are not dexterous enough to switch holding hands without alerting their opponent to the ruse. Instead, they focus on their new capacity to attack with twice the force, or to attack and defend simultaneously. Core Skills at this level are typically grouped into set swinging patterns to train muscle memory to the point of instinct.

Tai Sabaki allows the user to better complement the movements of their chucks with footwork to create and occupy openings, finding and commanding the most favourable positions to press their attack. The number of airborne, hands-free acrobatics the user has access to also expands so that they can move quicker, further and more elusively to new positions, such as with a butterfly, side-somersault or aerial cartwheel.

Spins and Scythes are chained together to generate breathing room, making full use of the nunchaku's field of destruction, crossing over in the middle then extending to either side.

Ascendants and Descendants feature figure-eight patterns and so are practised as either an upward crossover or downward crossover respectively, endlessly layering one arm over the other so that both weapons can be swung safely in front of the body without getting tangled.

Cuts and Flickers, with arms separated on opposite sides of the body, can be performed simultaneously with both nunchaku or alternating, one after the other.

Fury combinations are now highly unpredictable, as the student may choose to chamber one or both nunchaku for striking or blocking, mix in kicks, free up a hand by temporarily holstering one pair, or suddenly extend and retract an arm in a feint.

Snares continue to be applied to single opponents in simple joint/weapon locks. The student is still learning the best ways to shift their bodyweight to pull and push others off-balance, disarm them, and position themselves behind an enemy for choke holds.

Body Block: Reserved for times when the user is performing chambered combinations, the nunchaku is held backhanded and laid along the underside of the forearm to catch and redirect strikes made at the closest of quarters — a last line of defence.

Techniques

Mantis Guillotine
This submission technique calls for the user to get in close enough to Snare the enemy’s throat and choke them out from behind. However, should the opponent be close to breaking free, the user then has the option to pull sharply on their makeshift garrotte, performing an overhead throw to disengage.

Falcon Slaughters Phoenix
Rushing forwards with single Scythe technique, the user switches to an inverted grip behind their waist, whips out their second nunchaku and continues to pressure their opponent with double Spins until there is an opening to press forward, chamber, lead with a rising knee, deliver an airborne spinning kick and descend with a full double Cut.

Special Techniques
15 Tactics, 15 Willpower, 13 Intelligence

Kage no Shikei (Shadow Execution)
A single mirage erupts from the end of the user’s weapon and rushes the enemy, fully incorporeal and passing through the target’s body in the most disturbing of ways, its nunchaku held taut like a guillotine. In its first post, this duplicate will obscure the user (who follows in its wake like a shadow) until it passes into the enemy’s blind spot to synchronise with the user’s surprise attack in a pincer strategy. Because it is only an illusory decoy, it won’t be able to inflict any damage, but any reprisals made against it will also phase through. That is, until the user’s next post, when the mirage subtly solidifies into a full physical bunshin (with Taijutsu bonuses). When this happens, the user is granted the unique ability to switch places with their clone in the manner of an undetectable super-speed Kawarimi.
Stage 6 Effect: The user can create a second mirage hidden in the first, the pair splitting to flank their target with a mirror-image decapitation strike. When these decoys solidify in the next post, the user gains the option to make a second body switch in their third post, although this will also consume one of their Kawarimi usages for the thread.

Stage VI
Requirements: 26 Strength, 26 Speed, 23 Stamina, 20 Tactics, 16 Willpower
Bonus: +5 Strength, +4 Speed

By now, a practitioner wielding dual nunchaku has become a sight to behold. Their speed magnificent, and their control beyond refute, their spinning sticks appear to move independent from each other, as if manipulated by different sides of the brain. Each weaving pattern chains from hand to hand, shoulder to shoulder, armpit to armpit, a constellation of rebounds, catches, swings and combat choreography.

Core Skills to attack and/or defend can now be interlaced, removing one of the two remaining obstacles to complete mastery over their weapons. Only highly skilled opponents, when faced with the user’s wellspring of possible combinations, will be able to predict where the next attack might come from. To counter this, two final skills are introduced to the student’s repertoire, exclusive to dual nunchaku.

Existing techniques are also improved upon. Chambered chucks are now capable of stabs, bashes, pulls, pushes, blocks and pinions, and are interspersed with sharp, direct kicks and punches meant to surprise and debilitate. Meanwhile, Snares, capable of immobilising up to two opponents, can also be performed against single targets while in motion, such as rolling past an enemy's foot to catch the ankle or knee and pull them off balance. The student’s body, having been conditioned daily to receive and inflict thousands of blunt weapon strikes, is toughened yet supple, their movements to advance, strike and relocate strong yet sudden. The lessons of Tai Sabaki, and indeed countless battles themselves, have taught them to stick and move, never too long in one place, dominating an area with advanced footwork and efficient acrobatics.

Waterfall Strike: This evolution of the Descendant technique targets the top of the enemy’s skull, the user’s forearms crossing over in an alternating pattern to create an infinite downwards wheel weaving side to side. The centrifugal force generated is so great that, even at this stage, a full momentum kill is necessary to transition into another skill.

Tornado Strike: This evolution of the Ascendant technique targets the underside of the enemy’s chin to create an infinite upwards wheel that weaves from side to side as one arm flows under then over the other. The centrifugal force generated is so great that, even at this stage, a full momentum kill is necessary to transition into another skill.

Deflect: Employing incredibly tight and accurate rotations of the wrist and elbow, the user whips the butts of their nunchaku with such power and precision that it is possible to rebound small projectiles and some light weaponry in the opposite direction.

Special Techniques
19 Tactics, 19 Willpower, 18 Intelligence

Shinku no Uzu (Crimson Vortex)
After placing pinpoints of chakra on the ends of their weapons, the user swings their nunchaku with increasing ferocity and intricacy. Glowing from frictional energy against the air, the chakra points lengthen into arcs that heat up the immediate area. They quickly gain intensity in the following seconds to become boomerang blades of golden heat, which the user can fire off in quick succession up to a range of fifty feet. Six tanto blade-sized projectiles (3 per weapon) will be generated, and cause 2nd degree burns on impact, searing through layers of fabric and scorching skin before bursting in a metre-wide cloud of superheated particles to cause further 1st degree burns. Charging their Vortex Blades for additional posts will yield vastly more destructive results and can be accomplished with one or both nunchaku, allowing the user to gain power while defending or attacking. However, this technique can be interrupted before reaching its maximum potential, which would still cost the full Stage 6 usage.

By the next post, these burning orange blades are as long as a katana and sharp enough to penetrate the opponent’s deep tissue almost to the bone, while being hot enough to cause 3rd degree burns, melting the surface of boulders and blackening reinforced steel. Their flight paths are also more unpredictable, akin to normal boomerangs, although they almost always find their target, even up to sixty feet away. When they burst, the clouds can inflict 2nd degree burns to body parts caught in their spheres.

By the third post, these blinding crimson blades are as long as an odachi and twice as thick, hot and sharp enough to sever limbs, char bone, melt steel, and self-cauterise the wounds they inflict with 4th degree burns. Their savage, highly circuitous flight paths make them insanely difficult for opponents to predict, even those seventy feet away. When they burst, the clouds can inflict 3rd degree burns to body parts caught in their spheres.

Stage VII
Requirements: 34 Strength, 34 Speed, 31 Stamina, 25 Tactics, 19 Willpower
Bonus: +5 Strength, +4 Speed

The last barrier to mastery falls away, and the one thing that the student has been told they should never use, the one thing that they have been trained to resist, becomes the only thing that they are missing: the juggler’s art. Not the flashy tricks of charlatans, but sublime sleights of hand that turn ambidexterity into omni-dexterity.

The dual wielding expert is perfectly aware of their nunchaku’s speed, impetus, angle and weight. No longer limited by precautions, they are free to perform all manner of transition: wrapping the chucks behind the neck; dropping or flipping the chucks directly into inverted or regular grips; switching subtly between hands by releasing one nunchaku to catch its mate whenever there is a tactical advantage to be gained; spinning close chambered chucks in their palms to shift grips; retrieving the chucks from the ground with a flick of the foot if ever disarmed.

With simple wooden nunchaku, Soft Strikes have the potential to dent armour and crack stone, while metal or weighted nunchaku, if swung with maximum force, could turn a piece of steel plate concave, crater a boulder, or even fell a young tree. Similarly, Hard Strikes like Flickers and Fury stabs will puncture most surfaces, be they flesh, muscle or bone, but can now be landed with the utmost precision to connect with the smallest of moving targets: anything from the eyeballs of their enemies to the wings of a fly.

Special Techniques
26 Tactics, 25 Willpower, 24 Intelligence

Tai Sabaki Hijutsu: Tengoku no Ashiato (Whole Body Movement Secret Art: Footsteps of Heaven)
This later addition to the style owes its origins to the warrior abbot, Ninigi Ryogen, who developed the art while cloistered by the Minamuto Clan’s two-year siege of Koga Monastery in Bear Country. Based on a ritual to honour the spirits of fallen brothers cast into the underworld and petition their aid in times of dire need, it was taught to the Abbot’s fiercest students, whose mandate it was to flee the monastery and gather support from neighbouring villages. Of these three students, one died at the hands of an ill-timed patrol and another in the resulting rout of the Minamuto, which led to a great fire that ravaged the monastery. As its only survivor, the final student, Kobayakawa Nobuki, took a vow of pacifism and settled in one of the villages that had answered his call. By the time of his own passing, many decades later, he had taught the secret art to two worthy disciples, both residents of the farming village. One was a master of the spear; the other, the nunchaku.

This special technique requires the user to close chamber their weapons and stab them powerfully into the ground. Then, the user draws the palms of their hands towards the sky in a ritual prayer to summon the blessings of the departed from the underworld in the form of chakra from the utmost depths of their coils. In doing so, they leave behind an indelible, invisible thread, luring their opponent into attacking the unarmed master. Although, in truth, distance is irrelevant. If they so wish, the user can prolong their preparation until after their adversary has made their move (the beginning of their next post). Then, in a flash, they summon their nunchaku from the ground like the gates to the overworld snapping shut and, at the moment of contact, emit a chakra-infused light from their body as bright as the sun, fit to blind any within visual range.

Immune to the light of their own chakra, the user must act quickly to direct the energy flooding every part of their body and use the single attack in their arsenal: the pinnacle of Tai Sabaki; a linear sequence of spinning footsteps that garner the sum total of their power to deliver a double strike with their nunchaku. Connecting with the force of hurricane, the attack is mighty enough to fell trees, shatter boulders and cleave canyons in the side of a mountain, with a resulting shockwave that will negate a Stage Seven ninjutsu technique and blow away the remaining debris, clearing the field of battle for fifty feet in all directions in front of the user. In the aftermath of this attack, the user will be so drained of chakra that they will be unable to use jutsu from any list above Stage Three for 3 posts.

[Calibur]

NPC Characters

Mori Souto

[The Finders’ Keeper]

Age: 46
Sex: Male
Height: 6'2"
Country/Village: Formerly Kaze no Kuni / Sunagakure
Rank: Jounin
Missing-Nin Rank: A

Nindo; "Way of the Ninja": What's mine is mine, and what's yours will shortly be mine.

Souto has been at large for over ten years, but in that time has never left Kaze no Kuni. He broke with his shinobi contract to KAZE when an internal investigation unearthed his policy of stealing and purveying the items from his crime scenes that he deemed too valuable for the evidence locker. After evading arrest, however, his business only grew, along with a following of cut-throat acolytes, and he has operated with impunity for the last seven years out of an ancient thieves’ den within striking distance of the Hidden Village, hidden from all public records by a partner in high places. He is about as vicious and self-serving as they come, having no need to hide his true nature before his men. Indeed, his ability to disguise his actions was, at one point, as impenetrable as the night. But his motivations now remain as clear as day.

Techniques:

• [???]
• [???]
• [???]
• [???]
• [???]
• [???]

I was a baby. What did I know? Mom says he was tall — strapping, whatever that means — with hair like mine, but amber eyes, and really liked the colour blue.



Do you?

Well— Wait... That's not... You know that doesn't mean anything, man.

[Calibur]

Unity Squad 8

Squad Roles

Squad Dynamics

Squad Story Hooks

Saionji Miwa



"How's it looking, Sparks?"

[Highwire]

Age: 19
Archetype: Assassin
Shinobi Rank: Chuunin
Military Rank: Corporal
Division: Intelligence - Investigator

Nindo; "Way of the Ninja": "A good ninja possesses her own spirit. A great ninja, the spirit of her friends."

About:

Techniques:

• Yatama no Shikaku: Assassin’s Projectile
• Futoumeisei Gai Nai No: Those Lacking Opacity
• Cloud Genjutsu
• Global Ninjutsu

Ingakankei Akihiro



"Fighting pose, huh? Alright, I got one."

[Beast Mode]

Age: 18
Archetype: Berserker
Shinobi Rank: Chuunin
Military Rank: Corporal
Division: Combat - Shock Trooper

Nindo; "Way of the Ninja": "I've got this."

About:

Techniques:

• Global Ninjutsu
• Ingakankei Clan Weapon Taijutsu
• Mugenru-pu: Infinite Loop
• Yajuu No Houkou: Roar of the Beast

Yamane Ren



"Get that thing out of my face, Kagero."

[Shrike]

Age: 18
Archetype: Maven
Shinobi Rank: Chuunin
Military Rank: Corporal
Division: Engineering - Field Mechanic

Nindo; "Way of the Ninja": "I can build things up or break them down. Which do you want?"

About:

Techniques:

• Raiton: Lightning Release
• Cloud Gadgeteering
• Yomi no Buyou: Dance of the Underworld
• Madoiken: Illusion Fist