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 Night. 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
(that 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, Lightsaber Combat, Accelerate Another's
Healing, Return Another to Consciousness, or Transfer Force, as
wellas many other powers (I only list the ones from the rulebook,
as these are the only ones I know.) 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 used, 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
Injure/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 impermeable
to visible and electronic imaging, making ideal for making an
escape in. 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
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.
text
geocities
index