by Wolfgang Baur!PS Legend ghey OD Rve Rings BLOODS?PEARERS A GUIDE TO MAGIC AND CORRUPTION IN ROKUGAN AN ADVENTURE AND SOURCEBOOK FOR THE DEADLY CULTISTS WRITING: WOLFGANG Baur COVER ARTIST RAMON PEREZ Aprrion ms. | nteRI0z RTERIAL: SHAWN CARMEN AND | nensts: PAUL (PROF) HERBERT Ric WoLr f AND RAMON PEREZ B0ITOR: Davip HERNANDEZ i Ty?Esattaz: Victor CHoy DESIGNS ADDITIONAL spiTing: ERIC WIENER cREATWE BRAND MANAGER: RayMonp Lau vrRecToR: Jimny Beck AND NELSON RODRIGUEZ feiss. FROBUCTION | manneses: Hevay Lovez anD ART DIRECTOR: Jy Beck NELSON RODRIGUEZ GRarnic PLAYTESTERS: DANrEL CAREW, Designz: Victor CHoy Desicns, Jason Capp, BASED UPON A TEMPLATE BY Cuts Hort, Cyntiia FLIEGE AND JEFF MALCOLM, DAwN Munn ALAN WHITENBURG, : AND JOHN CLARK To nse the d20 System™ portions ofthis book, a Dungeon Master also needs the Mayers Handoo* the Dungeon Masters Guide™ and Oriental Adventures.A player needs only the Players Handbook and Oriental Adventures™ ‘To.use the ISR RPG 2nd Edition portions ofthis book, 2 GM needs the Game Masters Guide and the Players Guide, A player needs only the Players Guide. { Pood enor av nines ie poded by ABC deren Wan ofthe con he subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc and © 2002 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.All rights reserved \ kad Blondspeakes is produces by Paradigm Concepts, Inc. under license from AEG. paralB rs ° roy 0 ic i a ts s THE OPEN GAMES LICSNS= see cerry , "Dan on een it a tt oer iacerareeeepeacet amare feet tern ae ot par a fgcie neon eames ete rhe iain Seles Sear macnn oe a ey pean pre beet Sessa aan eee gat seiner ataaieal mnie tie ae ec reir cae tah eatie oh cterheada oe a eS cen pages Seats roe taneres ateee See eee eae eee Seth ce tiarar ce comrercctsn ey Maid ofc tatty by the ont of te Bes Hen od lk Head a tgeate cee olay ea pace Semis mneegenian meters Saas Sig Seem pnte or aerate Se halen ae See 2p ep Sy em ee See re tee eerie cocernces cee, actowcnentitccteae eet Wugigee acca anh oduct ors toes ct 2 pm ne pi iomiat! ‘Gn sd Conlon In coer oe sring vo wm it ie, he ‘onmbeten gnaw epee one noel ict with ‘Bere te often wort Ope ome Coto 5. 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COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Open Gane Lene v1.0 Coping 20, Win ofthe ‘ont mn ni Cie ena Rs >We 2 ‘Ste jain Ces Joe Drags Hungry hors 201 Gres hanie Pbis Secret Calg af ecmanty Cato Cin Bonn Fulah lagen O20 ‘Nerc Entrainment Croup in, Srl eno Ase ntreen Gp, ge of Ragen S202 Alen Emeranmen Cup. acs Car Arcane O30, Pel Cases Ine: agen Map es Pig Conce e THE OPEN GAME CONTENT "heaters dir i oni pe Dede des pete eee etches eee tment nat Tt Cn min n a pch e dera Eememgee esau mir is eee Suey weer eee reete Sige take aay ah eee Be See ie ret oa mmatsamtes Sem SF ODT DETTE ey some oy d peat chee gen es Beebe esata dence Tac Seated titteiitretog tem meet sees eee ueeee essing a-aameaaentearet ase Seon ies oeevceraeeoene am ferns store ven map stems the Honcr Sytem nd cegunizations webimaatiieaas Smrinacnn Satan Seigaces came netaeariachereaartene Facer op bat cane mene ann ie nate tae en fans et sapete ac at heroes ros es Seer Neat eed een eer Eospotahecany gsm ulgag et ebro Reged EECA FOTN NT ey eee yn op Serco Ge td ecruman om Si aoe eer ot yumm coms Cn Sm re Sele Sapien eaaeiienreett emia eee ee ee es eee {GOODIES! 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Pal ‘ng ozo uch pnts sd cements nis na ep Exh ny ch tine ered rodc tkny)pdi epg 203 Prati Conceal gis esened Sent ofthe porto ofthis tok which debited OCC ont the Sum Releene Deane a at © 99 200 Wa of he Co Te ‘muerte GCC porns ths tok re rely nel te Open ve {apy 0 Pg Carpe In The meton of or releence 1 any company cx pod! in thee page not 2 Benge tthe under or cpyghtcomcened ‘a0 Stn and he bo Sten ogo ae Talents owned by Wiss ofthe ‘aetna eng ote oe Smee 0.8 ete cn be oud sword, nguon& Ergo a Wino Cone rptd derek of Wi ibe cous nd ne wed ws permanent trade Emel Rag ‘hd alleclsed mass se" and © 203 Wau ofthe Coe In ‘roby fn Alona of ho, of designs, copyrighted ya 2003 by Trl Concits all sgh sere. kepoucon oe wou he ween [emiian of te pblaber i xp fen xa oe he porns aTABLE OF CONTENTS ‘Chapter One: Blood Gifts Followers Philosophy ‘The Founder and Pu Leng. ‘Taint and Secrecy. (Organization and Rituals Cals Gatherings Initiation Leadership, The Circle of Five Shahai’s Rule Location and Number of Bloodspeaker Cults Bloodspeakers Outside an Oriental Campaign Blooddspeaker Prestige Classes. Maho and the Taine Prestige Class: Chuda Snake Charmer... Prestige Class: Kansen's Host Prestige Class: Maho Bujin Prestige Class: Maho-Tsulai Prestige Class: Tainted Shadow Chapter Two: Bloodspeaker Magic . tems Anvil of Despair Blood Arrows of Yajinden. The Bloodswords.. Hidden Heart of Tuchiban Four Masks of Tuchiban Porcelain Armor. Porcelain Mask. Raby of luchiban, Scrolls of Asahina Yajinden Shahai’s Fan, Spells Maho and Honor, ‘Variant Rule: Low-Level Maho ‘Complete Maho Spell List New Spells (Chapter Three: History “The Discovery of Maho “The Chuda Blasphemies “The Founding ofthe Cul. Yajinden the Lieutenant ‘The Anvil and the Swords Battle of Stolen Graves Tuchiban Entombed ‘The Four Masks 10 4“ 12 2 3 “4 18 19 2 2s 2s 2s 26 2 2» 2» 30 3 a 32 32 2 2 33 sesh st st st st sa 52 Yajinden the Ruler ‘The Porcelain Army The Return of Tuchiban “The natle of Sleeping River Founding the Temple of Blood ‘The Yogo Rebellion. ‘The Cirele is Broken ‘The Corruption of the Hare Clan. Fall ofthe Temple of Blood Creation of Daigorsu. ‘The Current Day “The Shadowlands and the City of Tears The Tomb's Guardians Chapter Four: Infamous Bloodspeakers. Asthina Yajinden Asako Kinuye Chuda Mishime Daigotsu Doi Adoks, Tuchiban Tuchi Shahai, the Dark Daughter. Jama Suru ‘Suru's Apprentice .. reuse SIDEBAR: Cult of the Blood-Red Moon, Kitsu Norinaga. ‘The Oracle of Blood ‘Typical Bloodspeakers Chapter Five: Written in Blood, Act 1: Discovery and Mayhem! Scene 1: Sign of the Wandering Monk Scene 2: Visiting Grandmother. Scene 3:The Miller's House, ‘Act 2: The Courtly Investigation Scene 1: Credentials Scene 2: Possessions and Exorcisms Scene 3: Clues and Suspects ‘Act 3: Confronting the Boss, Scene t: The Daimyo's Request Scene 2:The Quiet Capture ‘Scene 3: Duel On the Roofline Conclusion Kyuden Asako (Morning Glory Castle) Key to Phoenix Lands Map History Exterior... ‘Tenshu, the High Castle Tenshukaku, fans.net, #rpg-books 82 53 53 53 33 s st 5s 5s 55 56 sé 7 ss 38 «0 ot «a “6s “ « 7 7 73 73 7s 76 7 78 7 80 82 87 87 88 89 89 9 90 90 ot 93 96 en em Telelarc) WAG AWwaAvartnwas—9 gOOrs 1 OU a= a) CHAPTER Ol The Bloodspeakers are the followers of Iuchiban, dedicated to putting their master, or any sulficiently powerful member of their organization, on the Steel ‘Throne. They meet in secret, they practice black magic, and they engage in all the unwholesome habits of an evil underground cult, Human sacrifice is not uncommon during their dark ritual and the ersfying powers they wield are visible in every porcelain-masked zombie they hhave brought to supernatural life. Beyond that, however, lies a deep-set series of belie, which have endured over five hundred. and fifty yeats of active persecution. Rokugan is'a society bound by tradition and rooted in. the belief in karma and destiny. Not surprisingly, his society is not satisfying to all its members. A peasant may dream of becoming a great hero, only tobe told to mind his fields. The younger son of a noble family might yearn for the daimyo's throne, only tobe dismissed by an accident of birth, Such rejection often leads to questions: why must 1 remain where Iam? How can destiny be $0 cruel? Who is to say what I am capable of For most of these issues, Rokugan society has but one answer: honor to your ancestors, respect for the Celestial Pattern, and obedience to your betters, And that answer does not always sete a restless soul, Driven by feelings of injustice and 2 social system that binds most to life of drudgery, they search for N} BLOOD GIFTS other roads to falfillment. Iuchiban’s path of bloodshed and easy power can be very tempting to those who feel that life has treated them unfairly and who are on the Jookout ‘tw exact their vengeance upon the world, FOLLOWERS ‘Mest of Tuchiban’s followers come from the lower classes - poor merchants, disgruntled peasants, and Eta or other ‘Hinin. The few members of the samurai caste who join the Bloodspeakers tend to be in rough strats, either by birth, political circumstances ot bad luck, All of them, however, are motivated by a desire for power-to seize for themselves what fate would deny them. ‘Tothis wide variety of people, luchiban offers a way to escape from their suflocating existence. Unfettered by the Empire's laws or Fu Leng'’s overt corruption, they study their own form of power without regard for the ‘consequences. Joining the Bloodspeakers expresses a ‘ovisted sort of rebellion against everything the Emerald Empire holds sacred: the majesty of destiny, the power cof one's ancestors, and the supreme authority of the Son of Heaven. This rebellion is particularly stong amongst the Eta, thelowest ofthe low in Rokugani society: Some Eta see great value in what they do, Afterall, without ther, the dead would rot in the steets, the condemned would receive no justice, and battlefields would be ritually impure for generations. In return for these vital services, the Eta are subjected to scom, rejection, even arbitrary execution at the hands of cheir rulers. luchiban’s teachings take root here more casily than anywhere else, for none store up resentment like socal outcasts. Besides, the Eta are already comfortable withthe handling of dead flesh - often a barrier for more cultured and educated converts to the Bloodspeaker cause PHILOSOPHY At the heart of Bloodspeaker philosophy lie the teachings of its founder. Tuchiban's research contains a great deal of philosophy, as well as justification of his unholy rituals To the cul, the human body contains the greatest resources of all, for no other medium, not even jade, so perfectly combines the five elements of nature into one cohesive unit. Unlike followers of bushido, the Fortunes, or Shinto, the Bloodspeakers believe that only drastic measures can bring out the body's tue, penal. By oe Py properly sacrificing a part of the body, through bloodletting, murder, or the rising of the dead, they can convert flesh and blood into tangible energy. Exch display of maho, each abomination they commit in the name of their art produces magical effects to rival the greatest shugenja For those who have lived all their lives below the worse, for those who do not wish to yield to the whim of spirits, such practices hold great allure. This promise of power has always been enough to keep the cultalive uh power comes the ably eo weld it nd Bloodspeakers are dedicated to making the moet of their dark magic. For now, they try o expand their membership | by explain their philosophy to those who might sympathize and occasionally strike gains the instruments of iapard eubacey de lng aaa ey nothing less than the destruction ofthe Imperial dynastic spemot re The curent wei of competing clams 's the throne isa good start, but they like to see the entire | dn of heredtaryrlenbipsbluhed By overtrowing che current system and replacing t with one based on their own philosophies, they will gun revenge for centuries of pencation while simstneosy proving he upeconiy | of their beliefs. This overriding goal keeps the Bloodspeaker's individuality from overwhelming their }