The Shadow Dragons


The reclusive leaders of the Black Serpent organization, the Shadow Dragons rule from their fortress on Lothos, an ancient temple known as the Temple of Shadows and Light, whose existence was one of the reasons for their choice of Lothos as a home for the Black Serpents. They have traveled far from their roots as the Jhemadan, a scholarly breakaway sect of Jedi. Now a ruthless organization of Dark Jedi, the Shadow Dragons have been the only known force users in the Yaeger sector for thousands of years, though rumors of a surviving Jhemadan Master have been floating around the organization for years.

The Shadow Dragons are an exclusively human and near human organization, making it their business to kill any non-human force users that they can find, and they are very good at finding things. They recruit their members mainly from the Black Serpent organization, though when they find a natural force user elsewhere, they make it their business to either turn and recruit them, or kill them.

They have a very strict hierarchy, with the rankings being Acolyte, Disciple, Initiate, Student, Knight, Lord, Master, and Grand-Master. A member of one rank is completely subservient to the members of the higher ranks. The only way that a Shadow Dragon can reach a higher rank is by passing the requisite tests, which vary from level to level, and receiving a promotion by a member of Lord level or higher. In order to achieve the level of Lord or Master, the Shadow Dragon must pass the tests in the presence of all members of the level above the one he is striving for that are not on active assignment, and receive their approval. To achieve the level of Grand Master, a candidate must pass the tests, and if there is a sitting Grand Master, he must immediately defeat him in mortal combat.

The Jhemadan prided themselves on their simple, almost monastic lifestyle, and that ethic is still part of the Shadow Dragon ethic. All members below the rank of Student are restricted to the outer court, where they own nothing other than a coarse grey robe, and perform eight hours of backbreaking labor a day, in addition to their long and tiring lessons. A Student moves into the opulent Inner court, though he is still allowed no personal property other than his robe. Each student is made the personal servant of a Knight, who is also that student's instructor (another carry over from the Jhemadan). The Student will now leave the Temple of Shadows and Night for the first time since his arrival there, accompanying his master on his assignments. When the Knight judges him as being ready for his test, he is taken back to the Temple, and if he passes his test, he graduates to the opulent lifestyle of the higher ranking Shadow Dragons.

Generally speaking, the Shadow Dragons have around five Masters, ten to fifteen Lords, around a hundred Knights, and an equal number of Students (no Initiate is raised to Student unless there is a Knight without a Student), two hundred or so Initiates, four hundred Disciples, and nearly a thousand Acolytes. Around once every tenth generation, a Master attains the rank of Grand Master. The Shadow Dragons currently have a Grand Master, Iridian Soh, but Grand Master Iridian is almost two hundred years old, and beginning to become feeble and incoherent.

The relationship between the Shadow Dragons and the Black Serpent organization started as being a very close one, but the two organizations have drifted apart somewhat, with the Shadow Dragons viewing the Black Serpents as tools that will be used to serve a purpose, and if necessary to be left by the wayside. The Serpent Tooth assassins are much closer to the Shadow Dragons than the rest of the organization is, and they serve as the Shadow Dragon's contact with the rest of the Black Serpent.

One of the facets of the Jhemadan that the Shadow Dragons have maintained is their devotion to the art of hand to hand combat. In fact, the school of martial arts that the Shadow Dragon's practice is still called the Jhemada school, though it a somewhat debased and formalized reflection of the original. The Serpent Tooth practice this form as well, but without the Force manipulations that the Shadow Dragons include.

The force powers of the Shadow Dragons are connected to those of the Jedi by a very tenuous thread, a thread that has been strained a number of times. Therefore, they do not have all of the powers that most Jedi know. They do not know: Absorb/Dissipate Energy, Enhance Attribute, Instinctive Astrogation Control, Short Term Memory Enhancement, Instinctive Astrogation, Force Lightning, Lightsaber Combat, Accelerate Another's Healing, Return Another to Consciousness, Doppleganger, Force Harmony, Telekinetic Kill, Transfer Life, or Transfer Force. However, they have an entire battery of powers that they developed on their own, which are unknown in the rest of the galaxy.

Control:

Cloak of Darkness

Control Difficulty: 30 -total Dark Side Points, to a minimum of 5, may not be attempted by an individual with less than 5 DSP.

Effect: When this power is called, the jedi calls upon the palpable essence of the Dark Side, turning himself into a silhouette so dark that the eye recoils from it. When this power is invoked, it grants a +3D bonus to the Hide and +2D to Sneak, and the jedi holding it will not register on electronic sensors of any type (although the space he is in will register as being completely empty, and some sophisticated systems will be able to detect him due to the lack of normal air in his space). This is a power that can be kept up.

The Dragon

Control Difficulty: Very Difficult

Required Powers: Emptiness, Control Pain

Effect: This is the power that proved the undoing of the Jhemadan, and it remains the cornerstone of the Shadow Dragons. The Jhemadan had been experimenting with essences, and the Dragon was the image associated with the essence of Power. When the power is invoked, the Jedi's physical Strength doubles, for as long the power is maintained. In addition, the thought processes of the invoker increase 33% in speed, enabling much more efficient retrieval of information (KNO skills).

This tampering with the essential nature of the invoker is not without it's penalties, as the Jhemadan discovered. When a Jedi is under the influence of the Dragon, he sees everything through the amoral and arrogant view of unbound power. In addition, the power is somewhat addictive in nature, and once experienced, the Jedi will find himself desiring to repeat that experience whenever possible. Finally, frequent use of the power diminishes the power of it's effects, and starts to cause a physical transformation of it's user into a six limbed, reptilian creature of some sort, but as the partial transformations have always proved fatal somewhere along the line, the exact nature of the creature that the Jedi is on the road to becoming is unknown.

In game terms, the first time the power is invoked, the invoker must make an easy willpower roll to avoid committing an evil act when the opportunity presents itself when the power is up. Each additional time that the power is invoked, the difficulty of the check increases by 2. Secondly, once the power has invoked the power once, they must make an easy willpower roll to avoid attempting to call on that power when the need arises. Each subsequent time the power is called upon will increase the difficulty of that check by 2. This number will decrease by 2 for every month that passes without the power being called upon, until it no longer exists. However, each time the power is called upon after that, the check will reappear, at the highest level of difficulty that it reached, +2. Thirdly, every third time the power is called upon, it's power decreases by 10%. Finally, if the wild die comes up with a mishap any time the power is called, a minor physical change will take place in the invoker. 3 changes will be noticeable, and 10 will be fatal. This is a power that can be kept up.
Hands of the Jhemadan

Control Difficulty: Medium

Effect: This is one of the powers that have carried over from the Jhemadan times. When called upon, this power causes the Jedi's hands to be encased in a glowing blue field of Force. This field is impenetrable, and extends up to the users elbows. The power protects it's users hands from extreme heat and cold, but that is not it's primary function. When used in conjunction with Jhemada school martial arts, the Hands of the Jhemadan add 2D+2 to the damage caused. When invoked by a Dark Jedi, the field is red. There are rumors that the Jhemadan had a more powerful version of this power, but they have never been proven. This is a power that can be kept up.

Sense:

The Clouds, Parting

Sense Difficulty: Medium

Effect: Another of the powers that was also practiced by the Jhemadan, The Clouds, Parting is designed to sweep away all the obstacles blocking clear sight and Sense powers. When invoked, all powers in effect designed to obstruct or confuse the target must immediately make opposed rolls with the Jedi who invoked The Clouds, Parting. Failure causes those powers to be dispelled instantly, and even a near miss will causes them to waver slightly.

Alter:

Crimson Burst

Sense Difficulty: Targets Control or Perception roll, modified by distance.

Required Powers: Life Sense, Telekinesis

Effect: This power is the Shadow Dragon's version of the Telekinetic Kill power. In game terms, it has the same effects as that power, except it can be used from a distance, as long as line of sight is maintained. In actuality, the power is far more gruesome, as it's effects are achieved by altering the pressures on the various areas of the targets bodies. The result is that blood starts to flow from the target's pores and orifices as soon as he starts to take damage. Eyesight is lost immediately, in addition to the damaging effects.
Shadow Mist

Sense Difficulty: Difficult

Effect: When this power is called upon, a thick layer of mist will pour from the ground around the Jedi calling it up. This layer will produce a ground hugging layer around one meter thick, and around twenty meters in diameter. The mist will dissipate after an hour, but until that time, it is impenetrable to visible and electronic imaging, making it ideal for concealing retreats. The Jedi that produces this mist can see through it as though it was not there. This power can be negated by "The Clouds, Parting."

Control and Sense:

Jhemada Combat

Control Difficulty: Moderate

Sense Difficulty: Easy

Effect: This power is handled in the same way as lightsaber combat, except that it is used to amplify the user's skills at Jhemada school unarmed combat instead of Lightsaber combat. It can be used in conjunction with the "Hands of Jhemada" power, and the blaster bolt deflection can only be done when that power is up.

Control and Alter:

Shadow Split

Control Difficulty: Easy

Sense Difficulty: Moderate

Effect: When this power is called upon, the Jedi invoking it appears to split into four copies of himself, each of moves away in a different direction. In actuality, only one of the images is real, the others are merely shadows, created by the portioning out of some of the invoker's life force. Each time the power is invoked, the Jedi must expend a character point. These images do not take damage, and are completely insubstantial. As all forms of matter and energy pass right through them, they can be detected in that manner. This power can be maintained from round to round, costing a character point every 10 rounds. The images can attack, although they cause no damage on a successful hit. The two ways in which this power is commonly used are to aid in flight, with the various images running away as well, drawing off enemy fire, and to aid in combat, where they draw fire, and distract opponents, making them dodge or parry illusionary attacks. This power can be dispelled by "The Clouds, Parting"

Control, Sense, and Alter:

Mind Sand

Control Difficulty: Easy

Sense Difficulty: Target's Control or Perception Roll (whichever is higher)

Alter Difficulty: Medium

Required Powers: Affect Mind

Effect: This power is designed to cripple the abilities of opposing Jedi. When invoked, and the target's roll is lower than the sense roll, the target can no longer use the force skill of Sense, and any powers based on that skill. When he tries to do so, all he will see is a featureless grey field. If he tries, he can make an opposed roll every round to break the control, though that does count as an action. All other Force Powers can still be used normally. This power can be kept up from round to round. It is particularly vulnerable to "The Clouds, Parting" as a successful invocation of that power will not only negate the effects of this power, the person holding the "Mind Sand" power will still believe that the power is up, and can expend effort trying to keep it up with no effect.
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