Sneak Peek: Fist and Fang
by Rayf Drayson

Deep in the moutains south of MetalFace's lair, near where the mighty chain laps up against the Great Sea, there lies, locals claim, a temple of sorts. High atop a cliff overlooking a ravine, it is said to have a waterfall pouring out of its base. This temple is dedicated, so it's told, to the study and practice of an esoteric form of combat. Combat without weapons, at least in the conventional sense. These warriors hone their minds and bodies until they themselves are weapons. These warriors are martial artists.

When most adventurers think of combat, they think in terms of weapons of sharpened iron and steel, of mighty bows and crossbows, or of arcane magicks capable of bending the very elements to their wills. For centuries, however, there have existed a group of warriors who have followed a different path: that of unarmed, hand-to-hand combat. For these martial artists, every part of their body is a weapon that competes with the finest sword smithed or bow strung, and the highly trained martial artists can even channel their own inner essence, or chi, into devastating attacks.

Over the centuries, as master has passed on instruction to student, several regional variations have sprung up, usually pioneered by an organized training institution and spreading from there. These developed into distinct schools of martial arts, each school consisting of a different philosophy and a different set of techniques. Study and practice of a martial art is a very serious and intensely spiritual discipline, often focusing on using the martial art as a method of attaining some form of enlightenment. At the very least, the deep meditation and contemplation of the universe and the world around them made the martial art master keen students of nature. It is no wonder, then, that most of the school of martial arts seek to emulate something from the natural world.

Amongst the Scholars of Lore, it is believed that there are currently five schools of martial arts still in existence. The martial arts as a whole are esoteric orders and very difficult for scholars to properly study, but those five schools are reasonably certain to still exist. Or they should, at least. In all probability. These five schools have been practiced for generations now, and all emulate a certain powerful creature of Lore.

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The easiest of these five schools, at least in terms of how to learn, is the school known as "Crouching Frogzard." This school emulates the adaptable Frogzard, the master of evolution. It is supposedly one of the oldest of the existing schools of martial arts, and so has oddly enough become a bit rigid in its teachings and techniques, but still emphasizes adaptability. Thus, it is considered a fairly balanced school in its approach to combat, teaching a set of techniques that most commonly include maneuvers such as the "Claw Slash," "Chi Blast," and "Zard's Bite."

One of the key advantages to the Crouching Frogzard school, however, is that its focus on adaptability makes it ideally suited as a gateway into studying the other four, more advanced schools of martial arts. These are all more specialized in their approaches to combat. Discussion about these schools, however, will have to wait until Scholars unveil more details.