KING OF SWORDS 2-27
“SHADOW ARTS
I take a brief interlude here to briefly mention the hand and foot arts that are commonly known as the shadow arts. I cannot say much on account of both my limited understanding of these arts but also the extreme measures to which the various schools go to protect the knowledge and practice of these arts. The schools are administered by hereditary hunter clans and well hidden. At the time of writing there are said to be thirteen. The centipede school was infamously uncovered underneath the Red City’s ghost market some 60YT back , dug into its tunnels, and raided by a massive cadre of Root Knights, but it was not destroyed and has since dug itself a new lair somewhere else in the city. The locations of the other schools are unknown, and even seeking them out can be a perilous venture, as I have discovered.
The fools that seek these academies of the dark arts out are often aspiring vengeance seekers, assassins, or bounty hunters. Once initiated, a student becomes part of that school’s clan and is inextricably bound to clan law on pain of execution, typically by being flayed or buried alive. They learn how to move unseen, to use disguises, and the use of many tools, poisons, and explosives.
As for the styles themselves, they are a mix of internal and external techniques, with each school specializing in a particular technique to the point of obsession. Each school takes for their totem an animal, which guides their study. The aforementioned centipede school, for example, is said to train a technique allowing one to use any part of their body to wield a weapon. The legendary Crimson Legs, a human assassin from this school, was infamous for killing with four knives, one in her teeth, two in her hands, and one gripped between her toes.
The wolf school teaches two to fight as one, and mostly trains bounty hunters. The Stone Beetle school supposedly teaches a technique that turns bullets away from skin. The lizard school is said to allow limited transformation of the body’s coloration and texture to totally blend in with the environment (though I have yet to confirm this rumor and it appears a little too outlandish).”
-Manual of Hands and Feet
Vash is not having a good day.
I have a feeling he is about to go out of Vashion.
That qualifies as needless, violent Vashing. Please, stop.
Yes… hahaha, YES!!
Oh FUCK YES
Haha, that one goblin that raises their knife like they are ready to fight the person who as far as them know just punted the biggest, strongest red devil I and like they have ever seen.
Poor Kill Boss though, what sort of luck must one have to get in a fight with an up and coming physical god and their angel mentor?
I forsee Killboss becoming either friends or mortal enemies with the empty palm duo
I foresee killboss becoming very banished.
I wonder if the Goblins can already smell his fear.
That must look crazy to all of the goblins!
You mean US, right?
Both will work
*reads alt text*
Never in my life have I needed something so much, and not known it until it was given to me.
At this point I hope to get Abaddon’s attention and ask them to write about combat styles inclusive to weapon wielders. My preference goes to a sword or mace with a shield, or to wielding “anything you can get your hands on”, a la this one human called Jackie Chan.
The Beggar would be the ideal archetype for you, then. Get drunk off of anything, wield anything as a deadly weapon, grapple things that had not even imagined they could be grappled.
I think he’s going to need a new associate. This one seems to be broken.
Yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Well, well! big boy is still in one peace after that? If he were to suddenly have an, “I don’t get paid enough for this” moment, I doubt anyone, with the probable exception of Vash, would blame him.
you called it, my friend
After all the crazy stuff in the manual, that’s the thing that gets called out as outlandish?
And the Turtle School teaches you to shoot lasers out of your hands, because THAT makes fucking sense.
Would you believe it is an elaborate pun about a Polynesian king?
If it were, that would surely make waves.
When you claim an act is free
I question the economy
Is time in turns or symphony?
Team Angel Fight Force, GO!!!!
Isn’t it ‘quenches evil flame’, not ‘quench’?
empty palm quenches evil flame
empty palms quench evil flame
they’re doin’ a combo quench my friend
Eat empty palm it’ll qench ya
Nothings quenchier
It’s the quenchiest!
Maybe, but it’s the FORM they say, not the actual words. F’rinstance, look at the thumbs. Until she fixes her form, she’s only along for the ride.
He didn’t use given time to withdraw and find some calmer place? A fool, indeed. I was pretty sure that after the battle there wouldn’t be even a vestige of Vesh, so that the searches were to start anew.
Foolish, foolish, foolish, old man.
He already assumed the matter settled, as soon as his bodyguard entered the fray. As such, his next concern was assuring the ladies that all was well.
Business men like Vash (illicit or no) spend a great deal of time, money, and effort on building their empires. No one wants to see all that effort gone to waste. Nor do they want setbacks to get in the way of cutting a deal. If every corporate executive or crime lord dropped everything because of a little scare, they’d never get anything done.
Especially not on Throne.
I am wondering if the lack of confirmation of the Lizard School of Shadow Arts has been due to the difficulty in finding any of the masters of the art…
———————–
There was a Hom Sap cartoon which read,
A: “I’ve been investigating a vast conspiracy.”
B: “What did you find?”
A: “Absolutely nothing.”
B: “By God, they’re cunning!”
“‘…I understand, Havelock, that you scored zero in your examination for stealthy
movement.’
‘May I ask how you found that out, Madam?’
‘Oh, one hears things,’ Madam said lightly. ‘One just has to
hold money up to one’s ear.’
‘Well, it was true,’ said the Assassin.
‘And why was this?’
‘The examiner thought I’d used trickery. Madam.’
‘And did you?’
‘Of course. I thought that was the idea.’
‘And you never attended his lessons, he said.’
‘Oh, I did. Religiously.’
‘He says he never saw you at any of them.’
Havelock smiled. ‘And your point, Madam, is…?'”
– Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett
A classic. 😉
Get quench’d.
I surprised that her godly powers don’t do a better job of healing. A divine key shouldn’t leave any scars when used. I mean a fraction of that power can create and shape life, a lil plastic surgery shouldn’t be beyond them.
The devils dont have scars and they have less power than her.
Unless her scars are sybolic of her emotional state.
The scars might be a reflection of herself, burned deep into her psyche as a reminder of the challenges she faced
Maybe her girlfriend likes them?
If she can heal the scars with a thought then perhaps she doesn’t actually want them gone.
Maybe, in this theo-cosmology, scars are themselves a sign of power? Also, it has been previously said that humans are one of the few mortal races, and it seems (implied?) that humans don’t sport god-bindis often.
Indeed, humanity possesses the dubious privilege of being the sole mortal race on Throne, for their black flames are imperfect and destined to one day sputter out.
Hrmm… Regarding Allison’s scars, a master practitioner of the Backwards Driver combat style once said:
“I don’t get them dents buffed, pulled, filled or painted by nobody. They’re way too valuble. I come by each one of ’em with my best friend Lightning McQueen. I don’t fix these. I wanna remember these dents forever.”
It’s also possible that she doesn’t know how it works yet. It’s not like she’s had use of it for more than the lifespan of a sprat.
YEEHAW
It amuses me that the author of the Manual of Hands and Feet finds physical camouflage outlandish but was perfectly willing to accept martial arts which are taught solely by reading a manual but render one invincible (except for the side effect of slowly going mad and destroying yourself), etc.
Few too many holes in this building, methinks…
Nonsense, a building without holes is merely a box, THEREFORE it follows that holes are what make a building a building.
Ah, but too many holes also causes it to cease to be a building. It is a careful balance that is required between negative and positive space.
Ah, but is a building made out of holes not called a gazebo?
Not the bald Geisha!!!!
I wonder if the lizard school has already appeared,or did we just not know?
Discretion is the better part of valour