Soshi Shadow-Brander
Return to Scorpion Schools or The Lying Darkness
Soshi Shadow-Brander[edit]
The Soshi Shadow-Branders are the Shugenja responsible for maintaining Shosuro’s Bargain. This includes choosing and then branding those Scorpion operatives suitable for receiving the mysterious Kage-Yakin. Only those who displayed an affinity towards shadows were capable of mastering this technique. Shortly before the War Against Darkness most of the Shugenja with this knowledge disappeared.
This Path is unsuitable for any Campaign taking place after the War against Darkness in the canon timeline.
Technique Rank: 3
Entry Path: Soshi Shugenja 2
Egress Path: Soshi Shugenja 3
Special: Must have at least one Shadow-Brand or Shadow Point. Characters who know this technique are prime targets for corruption by the Lying Darkness.
Technique: Shosuro’s Bargain:
Ranks in this path count towards your mastery level as Shugenja, keeping any previous affinities and deficiencies. For Purposes of this technique your Soshi Shugenja School Rank is considered 1 rank higher. You may now mark shadow-brands upon a receiver. This requires a one hour long ritual taking place on darkened room. At the end of this time the Shadow-Brander makes an opposed (Lore: Lying Darkness (Kage-Yakin)/Soshi Shugenja School Rank) roll against the recipient’s Void. If successful the target now has a Shadow-Brand. For every Shadow-Brand or Shadow point the recipient has the TN to craft the Brand is reduced by 5, characters hit by Shadow Bolts (see Way of Shadow) also have the TN reduced by this amount; however every failed attempt increases the TN for further attempts by 10. Whether successful or not the recipient takes 1k1 dice of damage from the ordeal.
It should be remembered that Shadow-Brand limit the maximun amount of Void a character may have. If granting a shadow-brand would result in the character having a higher Void rank than that allowed by the number of brands possessed the branding atempt automatically fails.
