Fantasy Core RPG
© Jerry Harris 2013
(This link will take you to the
Fantasy Core Index.)
Martial Arts Schools
Kung Fu means “Excellence,” not “Fight all of the time
for no reason!”
Martial arts are a way of life in Shang-tu and the
Empire. Nearly everybody able has been
taught some fighting skills as a child, formally or informally, in addition to
warriors who have dedicated their lives to training. Dojos are present in virtually every
neighborhood and village. Most are
simply low level masters (5th level) teaching some self-defense with
some additional techniques for advanced students.
There are a few schools lead by higher level masters (6th
and up), who teach full fighting styles and often profess to having a secret
technique that they only teach to worthy students (and if it involves large
up-front money payments, it’s usually bull).
These various schools are natural rivals with one another for
supremacy. They fight in sanctioned
tournaments and formally by direct challenge, but mostly in informal “gang”
fights. The constables are constantly
breaking up fights between students, usually leaving the discipline to their
harsh masters.
Virtue follows correct form and thoughts.
There is one premier martial arts school in Shang-tu, the
White Tile Dojo, so named for its gleaming roof and floors (which are cleaned
daily by first year students). Every
aspiring martial artist in the city wishes to train there. Students of other schools never pick fights
with martial artists wearing their distinctive version of the black and white
yin/yang patch. There is a palatable air
of arrogant elitism among the students, who are only accepted by resume and
audition, and even then there is a waiting list. But with that, the White Tile students are
model citizens, doing good, charitable deeds around the city, even often
breaking up fights between other schools.
When brothers fight, only regret wins.
The White Tile Dojo’s only serious, organized rivals are the
monks of the Mount Tien Monastery. There
are several dichotomies at play in this rivalry. There is the natural one between the urban
and the rural. They differ in philosophy. The dojo is dedicated to the study of martial
arts, with virtue following its proper use.
The monastery is a religious institution that teaches martial arts as a
way of expressing virtue. Dojo students
learn skills to find employment or perhaps found their own dojos. The monks’ martial arts are learned for the
defense of the temple. Finally and most
importantly, Master Yune of the dojo is a former monk from the monastery. He was dismissed under questionable
circumstances by the abbot, Grandmaster Fu.
Excellence only shines when under the brightest light.
The White Tile and Monastery disciples are only sanctioned
to fight one another at the city’s annual martial arts tournament. There is an unspoken importance of this event
to the pride of both organizations, fighting for the honor of their
institutions and for Master Yune and Grandmaster Fu. Neither man genuinely has any emotional
investment in the tournament, other than for their students, but the students
believe otherwise.
When compassion ceases, fighting begins. Only evil will result.
It
would bring dishonor upon either organization to fight outside of the
tournament, and the monks and the students seldom have opportunity to meet or
hear of one another’s exploits anyway. But
the fights happen and they are epic. No
matter how secretive the arrangements, word gets out. Higher level combatants will reserve a table
at the Daan Tien Teahouse, while lower level ones favor pit arenas in
the Lake Ward. Constables are only there
for crowd control purposes. Betting
action at the Hotai Tavern is hot and heavy. Harsh discipline will follow the fighters
afterward from their masters, but so will fame and renown. These fights are normally only to submission
(to 10% of total hp or if 50% of hp are lost in one blow), as at
tournaments. A death at such an event
would be a tragedy for all involved.
Death matches are only fought by thugs or for blood vengeance, and never
in public view. [On a personal note, I am off next week until Tuesday, September 10. In the meantime, feel free to check out the links in the upper right box for some past site highlights. I hate to tease things out, but during my vacation, I plan on doing some more work another setting: Cyber-Pulp Fantasy Core.]
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