Poisoned Shadows - Swordsman Schools

Cesáro

Country of Origin: Eisen/Vodacce

Founded: 1651

Description: The Cesáro style of fencing was developed by Angelo Cesáro, a Vodacce Swordsman and a direct descendant of the Lorenzo bloodline. After founding the style and secretly teaching it to a number of Vodacce’s most unscrupulous duelists, the man was exposed and subjected to Vodacce justice. Although he was executed, his teenage daughter survived and went into hiding in Eisen. It is unknown whether the Princes are unaware of her, or simply too wrapped up in their own affairs to hunt her down. Either way, she has remained safely in Eisen for three years, slowly spreading her father’s rapier-and-main-gauche style among her adopted countrymen and the occasional Vodacce expatriate who makes his way to her salon in Prachtig.

Cesáro is unpopular not only for its infamous founder, but for its technique: a powerful defense with little capacity for precise attacks. Its students are trained to face the opponent mostly with their sides, presenting the smallest possible target. Their feet are kept widely spaced, their sword arms straight or bent slightly at the elbow, and their knife hands held up near the ear. By keeping his rapier between the opponent’s body and his own, the duelist presents an impenetrable defense: the opponent cannot attack without addressing the blade that stands in his way. Even if the sword is neutralized, a Cesáro duelist still has his main-gauche available for a quick defense. Cesáro attacks, on the other hand, are often wild and undisciplined, as a student’s training is almost exclusively dedicated to perfecting his defense.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, elements of the style’s defensive stance serve as its primary weakness. While it is effective at keeping an opponent at bay, it also prevents the Cesáro duelist from striking without lowering his defenses and shifting his own position. These adjustments scream to the cautious observer that an attack is coming, allowing him to prepare a defense or launch a counterattack when the Cesáro duelist is most vulnerable.

Basic Curriculum: Fencing, Knife

Swordsman Knacks: Bind (Fencing), Double-Parry (Fencing/Knife), Exploit Weakness (Cesáro), Lunge (Knife)

Apprentice: A Cesáro Apprentice trains with a rapier and main-gauche simultaneously, learning to use them effectively in combination. He suffers no off hand penalty when wielding a main-gauche, and receives a Free Raise on all Active Defenses using such a weapon.

Cesáro has not been (and probably never will be) sanctioned by the Swordsman’s Guild. Instead of gaining Guild membership, students of the style receive a two-point “Infamous Teacher” Background for free.

Journeyman: A Journeyman of Cesáro has learned a technique called “anima dell’acciaio,” or “soul of the steel,” which keeps his blade in constant contact with the opponent’s and allows him to sense the changes in blade position that indicate an attack is forthcoming. The Journeyman must make a standard rapier attack against the target, taking two Raises on the roll; success inflicts no damage, but indicates that the technique has been initiated. The blades will remain in contact until the opponent retreats out of range and the Journeyman chooses not to follow, the opponent successfully inflicts damage on the Journeyman, or the Journeyman chooses to withdraw the blade by attacking or making use of any Defense Knack other than Parry (Knife) or Footwork (he may also maintain the technique while using Parry (Fencing), but only against that opponent). While their blades are in contact, the TN for that opponent to strike the Cesáro duelist is increased by 5, and the Cesáro duelist receives a Free Raise to any Active Defense rolls he makes against the opponent’s attacks. In addition, the Journeyman receives two Free Raises to his next attack against that opponent, whether it is a standard attack or a Lunge, although either will disrupt the technique.

Master: A Master of Cesáro has taken his teacher’s lessons to heart: know your opponents and exploit their weaknesses at every opportunity. Once per Scene, if a Cesáro Master is facing an opponent in single combat (the chaos of a larger melee disrupts the Master’s concentration), he may spend a Drama Die to immediately gain one experience point for every full Round (10 Phases) the combat has lasted, up to his Mastery Level. These experience points are immediately applied towards the Exploit Weakness Knack for any fighting style used by his opponent during the combat. If this causes the Master’s Rank in that Knack to go up, he may immediately take advantage of the increase.

A Master may spend additional experience points, if he has them available, to gain more than one Rank in the chosen Knack during a single battle; however, he may not gain experience points in more than one Knack, even if more than one Drama Die is spent. The opponent does not have to use the same style for the entire battle to allow the Cesáro Master to receive a full allotment of experience points; he learns as much from situations where a school is not used as he does from the times it is specifically used against him.