Haven Fallen - Speciality Profile - Shinkana

This Speciality Profile is provided to expand gameplay and further options for Character creation.

Some of the background lore for the Speciality is provided, but the nuances of culture and tradition may be further refined by the Storyteller (or the Player in conjunction with the Storyteller). The Known Universe is an almost unimaginably vast space, therefore truths and new pieces of information are constantly being brought to light. 

As with all Original Frontiers systems the Storyteller has the final word on all matters pertaining to gameplay. If a rule within this book comes into conflict with the good of the story, the Storyteller is free to bend, amend, or ignore that rule to their discretion.

Above all I wish you a fun, expressive and creative roleplay experience.

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Shinkana is the art of channelling Sky Spirit  for the purpose of bolstering Unarmed Combat Techniques. As a martial art form, Shinkana has it’s roots in ancient ritual combat practices which date back to the founding 

of the first kingdoms of Formaria. A legendary custom held that no weapons were permitted in the presence of the Lightning Court, and that the Virzana ruling class of the time were permitted to punish anyone who broke this (or any other) rule by inviting transgressors into a dual under the Sign of the Heavens (Shinkana). The first death blows of Shinkana were dealt as single bolts of lightning against opponents hailing from an unwitting and untrained peasantry. This was until the day a young 

mine-worker by the name of Dyana stood her ground in the combat pit against the most renowned Virzana of the time - Korla Rider Of Storms. According to the legend Dyana turned away Korla’s onslaught as though fighting at the eye of the storm itself. The more elaborate Korla’s technique became, the more Dyana pushed onward, finally landing a crescent kick with the swiftness of a hammer’s fall upon his head. This blow literally brought Korla to heel and extinguished his life force in the process. In this act, the people saw that the Virzana were not the invincible deities they had once claimed to be. Far from it. As well as the ensuing revolution Dyana inspired, she was also singlehandedly responsible for Shinkana being reclaimed in the name of the people. As with so much of Galactic history – Civil war followed revolution, and Dyana retired from the public eye. Many visited with her in the hope of learning her secrets. Over the course of her short life only three emerged worthy of carrying forth her legacy of Shinkana. These three practitioners would become known as Heaven’s Dragons and would 

each represent one of three schools of Shinkana. Under Dragon Ulnur the school of Razor Talon would flourish, furthering ideals of the purity of aggression without fear. Dragon Krysto guided his students in the ways of the Shielding Wing, and promoted the defensive nature of Shinkana. Irina, the most feared of the Dragons (and a powerful Virzana in her own right), taught advanced tactics and mental disruption to the students of the school of the Serpent’s Eye.

 Over generations each of the schools splintered down into nuanced revisions of the original arts. Rivalries emerged – some friendly and some fatal. As new Species encountered Shinkana practitioners it became clear that any with a natural propensity for close combat and the Magical arts could utilise Shinkana to a potentially devastating effect.

 In current times Shinkana may be witnessed in practice in professional tournaments or wielded by the hands of street enforcers. The delineation between schools no longer exists, though there are many who call for the schools to be re-established. Though all Shinkana requires an advanced mind for the spiritual as well as the physical, it’s pursuit may be manifested as peacefully or as destructively as the will of it’s practitioner.

 Since the dawn of it’s inception Shinkana has always invoked the elements of lightning, wind, and thunder. When a Shinkana manoeuvre is performed these elements enshroud the practitioner’s extremities at the point of impact. It is a sight to behold even for onlookers with the most passive of interests of the arcane.