Nikink/YieldingWillowBladeStyle
Yielding Willow Blade Style
A style studied by Beggar In Draconic Glory
Some stylistic similarities with MartialArts/YieldingWillowStyle which might be good for ideas if this was ever to be fleshed out...
As you would probably expect by Beggar's very high Dex and Athletics scores, his fighting style cosists of flowing, graceful maneuvers, rather than simple hacking through flesh and bone. His standard tactic at the moment is to split his dice pool 5 ways (Dex + Melee + Whispering Truth should give 5(+2 Enhanced by Armour) + 5 + 4 = 16 dice), using the first 2 actions for attack, the second two for parries, and the final action to throw Whispering Truth at an enemy (generally when everyone has acted for the turn).
His melee style is based around a graceful, artistic flowing dueling style developed and used mainly by House Cynis mortals, called Yielding Willow-blade style. The style emulates a willow in a storm, constantly moving, deceptively slow with bursts of speed where the lithe branches of the willow will sting your flesh and draw blood. It is practiced by some Dragon-blooded using their incredibly swift Jade Daiklaves, but many of them abandon the rudimentary teachings they receive during childhood in favour of styles more suited to wearing heavy armour. The athletic ability required makes fighting using Yielding Willow-blade while heavily armoured problematic at best. (Mobility Penalties will affect this style, whereas they usually do not apply to Melee actions.) Caranon's early teachers discovered the boy's aptitude for this fighting style and were secretly delighted when he did not exalt, as they were able to take him beyond the basic techniques and begin him on the path to mastery. It wasn't until his exaltation that Beggar was able to completely master the style, and has now begun supplementing and improving on its use when combined with Charms.
Beggar's actions involve a lot of spinning, turning on his feet as Whispering Truth slices through the enemy defenses. There is a lot of follow through in Beggar's style, keeping his momentum moving in a whirling vortex of death. The speed of the spins alters deceptively, sometimes appearing as if his is turning slowly, only to have Whispering Truth explode out of the turn in a lightning flash. Enemies can often assume that the style makes Beggar vulnerable when his back is turned, but his mastery of balance and speed soon reveal this idea to be mistaken.
Visually, picture Beggar as an ice-skater, his legs and arms will often be extended for balance and performing slow turns, then pulled in for speed. His graceful displays are an art form that he often uses during periods of inactivity for meditation and training.
At the current level of experience, Beggar will generally supplement his defense by using his dodge charms throughout the turn. Eventually he will develop scene long defenses and will be able to concentrate more on attack and flow.
Mechanically, Yielding Willow-blade style may gain a bonus to take into account that Mobility Penalties effect users of the style. The bonus could take the form of +1 Speed when using the style (because the flowing motions make it easier for the user to act), or could be a -1 penalty to the Defense pools of enemies fighting a user (as the whirling, flowing movements make it difficult to know when an attack will come and at what speed). Personally, I would probably prefer the latter.
You do not have to give any bonus or penalty to the style though, it's mostly just descriptive flavour I thought would add something nice to the character.
