The Living Weapon
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The Living Weapon[edit]
The Living Weapon can trace their origins to a brash monk who lived during the Gozoku era. Sozei was a rather rebellious monk left at the monastery by his impoverished parents. While an apt pupil he always showed a modicum of contempt for the samurai caste that he perceived to be made up of parasites. When the Gozoku attacked the Brotherhood Sozei was among the first to strike back, but soon became disillusioned about the hypocrisy of the Brotherhood that he came to believe supported samurai rule despite their pretty words. Gathering a following amongst the peasants that fought against the Gozoku alongside the sohei he soon began assaulting any samurai that passed along their hideouts. Weapons they kept for themselves and any money or products were given to nearby peasant and eta communities. Not long after that the “Righteous Wrath” as they called themselves managed to create a network of supporters and safehouses that allowed them to survive even as Magistrates and the Imperial Legions began a crack down on rampant banditry, culminating in Sozei’s capture and execution in 432.
Eventually the Wrath became a mostly urban group operating in Lion and Scorpion lands. They began to deal in smuggling, and protection schemes. Further, in a turn of events that would have infuriated Sozei, but further marked them as defenders of the under classes, many of them had landed jobs as doshin to magistrates.
The return of the Unicorn marked a new raise in the fortune of the group now dubbed the “Living Weapon”. Here was a clan that (at the time) made little distinction between samurai and peasants, was beset by many opponents and in need of assistance. As many cities previously occupied by the Lion were turned over to the Unicorn the Living Blade proved themselves priceless in smoothing the transition earning the good graces of a major clan. More importantly that brought them to the attention of the Kolat. Due to their similar philosophies the Kolat saw the Living Blade as an ideal tool to gather information and control the underworld. While the Blade rarely stooped to do the Kolat’s most dubious work, and in fact proved to be rather hard to infiltrate, they were quite useful at taking out troublesome criminal gangs, and in ensuring the peace and prosperity of Kolat controlled communities.
While Shinjo’s return ended the cooperation between the Kolat and the Blade, the gang escaped largely unscathed, as few were truly Kolat (or even aware of the Kolat) among them.
Today the Living Blade operates mostly in Crab, Unicorn, Scorpion and Lion lands. They get along well with both the Crab and the Unicorn, but frequently come at odds with the Lion and the Scorpion (who have almost wiped them out).
They are usually respected by the heimin as they charge little for their services and actually keep the peace and security of their territories. Relations with other gangs are more strained as the Blade often moves against the most unscrupulous gangs and with their frequent ties to magistrates they can be quite dangerous when doing so. Among the Samurai clans the Blade tends to respect the Crab, Sparrow and the Unicorn as they tend to be more lenient towards their peasants. The Lion, the Crane and the Scorpion tend to be despised. They are neutral towards the Phoenix and the Dragon as they have had few dealings with them. The Monkey clan is seen with interest but they have no opinion on them yet. Ronin are evaluated on a case by case base. Often they are the worst offenders against heimin, but they are their staunchest defenders as easily.
The Living Weapon [Bushi]
Rank 3 Technique
Entry Path: Any Non-Shugenja School 2
Egress Egress: Same School at Rank 3
Technique: The Living Weapon At the start of a round the Bushi may spend a Void point. If he does so he doesn’t need to call raises for the extra attack option on unarmed attack rolls and he rolls an extra die of damage on unarmed attacks for the round.
This technique is rarely taught to the samurai caste. The Living Blade pride themselves as defenders of the common man and they prefer to recruit among the heimin. It is not impossible for a trustworthy samurai to learn this technique though.
