Alright, in a fairly good mood today (despite the fact that my PBP game has apparently died
) But I decided to do multiple write up today to make up for my lack of activity recently.
And here's the first one:
Martial artistsNo, I'm not talking about guys like
Raven or
Black Wing, your "regular" grade of martial artists, I'm talking about guys who have mastered martial arts techniques which are so amazing and fantastic that their practitioners can be classified as paranormals.
Super Martial arts (as such things are called), comes from the manipulation of Ki. This energy is called many things by many people: Chakra, Reishi, Haki, and so forth, but its basically the same type of energy. This energy exists in all things, living or unliving, and while Mystics and Wizards use this power to fashion their spells and enchantments, Super Martial artists use their power to boost their physical attributes to incredible levels, allowing them to pull off nearly impossible feats. Some of the higher level martial artists can even release concentrated Ki blasts or perform even stranger attacks and maneuvers. Wizards and magical types regard this use of Ki as rather primitive and unrefined; akin to a gorilla using a rifle as a club, and as such mages often feel contempt for Super Martial Artists. Few wizards are brave enough to say as much to a Super Martial Artist to their face however.
Like Magery, people are born with different capacities for Ki Manipulation. Unlike Magery, virtually anyone who is willing to invest the time and effort into it can learn Ki manipulation. The training is grueling, dangerous, and unless your a prodigal or have a natural knack for it, it will take decades before you develop the power necessary to be able to fight on superhuman levels (Which is why many martial artist heroes like Raven and Black Wing don't have super martial arts skills). However, certain peoples Ki is wired in a way that allows them to manipulate their Ki with relative ease (This can actually be considered a metaman power, and shows up a such on most metaman testing). The pathways for Ki flow like the human circulatory system, and every persons is unique; with their own preferences for Ki usage and their own affinities for certain elements and attack styles. A good example of this is
Dan Hibiki: Hibiki's Ki is wired for high speed movement and leaping, but not for ranged Ki blasts. Which is why, when he attempts to throw a fireball, it does next to nothing. It's not because he's weak or incompetent (well, he IS Incompetent, but that's beside the point), but because he's trying to force his Ki to do something it isn't built to do. More sensible martial artists pick up on what their affinities are rather quickly and pattern their martial arts styles accordingly.
Okay, so you have a Ki manipulating prodigy, now what? Where do you learn all these cool martial arts moves? The easiest answer is the White Lotus Society. The White Lotus Society has secret schools on almost every continent designed to train the next generation of Martial artist heroes. Different schools cater to different tastes; The White Lotus temple in England actually teaches Boxing and Savate, while the Japan HQ offers sumo lessons to aspiring prodigies. Of course, on the flip side, the Black Hand also has schools located the globe over, and often keep an eye out for Ki sensitive youths to kidnap and brainwash into the the service of the
Iron Khan. The more traditional hero schools also offer training in the martial arts: Claremont Academy has numerous super martial artists (including the Martial arts teacher
Sakura), and a few masters from the Shambala vale have taken up residence at Mass Castle. A few Martial artists are self taught;
Lucky Glauber and the rest of the Sports team were Ki sensitive athletes who developed their own unique styles all by themselves. This is very rare and the results are usually sketchy at best, but it does happen.
So, what kind of things can you do with KI? Well, just about anything you can do with magic or metaman powers basically, although more common tricks include:
*Enhancing physical attributes, giving enhanced boosts to attack or defense (Such as a punch which can break through a wall, or a block which can stop a fireball)
*Enhanced movements (Super jumps, air dashes, Flash steps, wall and water walking, and the like)
*Energy attacks: Usually based around some sort of elemental theme which the user as an affinity for, but some of the top tier guys can use just pure energy.
*Manipulation of elements (usually ones they have an affinity for)
* Healing, telepathy, and other miscellaneous powers.
*Shape shifting; Some Martial artists can build up their Ki internally to the point it triggers a physical change, giving them a souped up battle form. (This is favored among the Gorma tribe, many of whom can do this naturally).
Okay, up next, I'm either doing changelings or Crinoverse religions.
by Crinos » Thu May 27, 2010 8:07 pm 
