Scattered throughout Hong Kong are the Ken Dojos, women-only kung fu schools. For a small fee, thousands of young girls train their fighting abilities. The more gifted and hard-willed are selected for a special program and taught valors from an ancient warrior code. Besides, they learn the ancient and secret art of Dragon kung-fu to become Sisters of the Scales. The Sisters are driven by old fashioned ideas of honor and glory, seeking to perfect their fighting abilities, maybe preparing for some future battle.
The legend says that in ancient times, a famous ancestor of the Ken family fought and defeated a dragon lord with her strong kung-fu. The mighty creature offered to teach her a new art of fighting to reward her of her prowess. Many years later, she founded a sect devoted to improve and expand the art. Well, the truth is a bit different. The sisters have a gap of several millenia in their records. Dragon kung fu was indeed transmitted to mankind by a dragon lord -or something akin.
The evil elder god known as the Dragon King hasn't always been confined to his undersea realm. During the time of legends, he freely roamed the land, bringing chaos and destruction wherever he pleased. This was an affront in the face of the Jade Emperor, and the Celestial Court organized a tournament to select a champion who could defeat him.
Many heroes fought for the honor of confronting the raging god, and the one who won was known as Yi Lian. She was as beautiful as she was strong, as clever as she was deadly. She was a fierce independent woman who had taken the oath never to mate to a man, for she loved her freedom dearly. She had come to the tournament to prove she was a match for any warrior, rather than to battle the Dragon King.
Nevertheless she challenged the foul entity, and after a fight that defies all attempt at description, she held the beast at her mercy. The Dragon King begged for his life, promising he would leave the earth and that no one would ever see him again. But as the iron-willed woman was moving for the kill, the god proposed to show her his fighting technique, the only one who had nearly beaten her own. Unwilling to see such a mighty kung fu lost to men, she agreed, provided that he left the world of gods and mortals never to come back.
Yi Lian learned the Dragon King's secrets very quickly and then cast him to the bottomless sea.Then the Jade Emperor put him into an eternal sleep filled with dreams of revenge.
The legendary feats of Yi Lian went on for a long time, but what is important to us is that she eventually fell in love with a fighting monk, and broke her oath. Their love was forbidden and cursed, and it ended dramatically. However they had a son, who learned dragon kung-fu and passed the techniques on to his descendants for many decades.
In AD 69, the only surviving practitioner of dragon kung-fu was Ti Jian-Guo, a ruthless master who had nothing from the goodness and fairness of his ancestor. He was recruited by the Cult of the Red Banner, the worshipers of the Dragon King and began to teach them. Wether this was a coincidence or the will of the evil god, the Cult members were now armed with their master's fighting technique, ironically transmitted to them by his victor's offspring.
The years passed, and during the period of the Three Kingdoms, the Cult encountered its first internal crisis. The splitting of China had made coherence and communication difficult among the cultists. Basically, they split into two groups whose views began to differ. The main group, leaded by the High Priest, was located in the northern realms (controlled by Turks and Huns) and it kept on spreading chaos and war as the Cult had always done.
The smaller group operated in the more peaceful southern China, and without the High Priest, they lost some of the bloodier rituals and folklore. Their leader was a young Claw of the Dragon King named Sun Yumei. Unknown to her, she was a descendant of Ti Jian-Guo (the old man had raped more than one of his students in his time). That fierce woman believed that the Dragon King would return when the land could be reunited in peace. This way of thinking was heresy to the Cult and a faction war ensued. The Southern Cult was soon destroyed and its members put to death on the High Priest's altar.
Sun Yumei barely escaped her former masters. Grievously wounded, she crept into a cave. While in a deep coma, she had the visit of Yi Lian's spirit. The ghost told her sad story, and explained how she had been manipulated by the Dragon King, who was plotting his return long ago. She also revealed to Yunmei that her destiny was to prepare for the confrontation with the god, should he ever come back from his prison in the abyss. But time was on his side, so she had to train other warriors to succeed her.
When Yunmei woke up, she was completely healed. She began to look for young women to train, as she didn't want men to join to avoid accidents like in Ti Jiang-Guo period, and also because she had inherited some of her ancestor's traits. As her sect had to remain in the dark until Yi Lian's ghost appeared again, she chose not to reveal the existence of the Cult of the Red Banner to her followers, telling them that they had to prepare for a great battle to come. In between, they could test their kung fu against the unjust and the evildoer.
Nowadays, the Sisters of the Scales carry on their task. Some 15 centuries have seen quite a few skirmishes between the two sects, but so far their leaders ignored their shared past. If the Dragon King is ready to return, Yi Liang will surely reveal the truth to the Sisters, and the Dragon King will warn his minions about the threat. A battle that stopped millenia ago might be on the verge of raging on again.
Like her mother and grandmother before her, she leads this traditionalist martial arts sect. She has inherited a steelcast personality as well as the family business : the Ken dojos.
Appearance : 1m 65 of feline muscles, jet black hair, black silken dress with serpentine patterns
Quote: 'You're not going to get away of here alive if you mock our warrior honor!'
Bod 8, Chi 1, (Fu 8), Mnd 5 (Int 7), Ref 8
Martial arts 16, Intrusion 10, Leadership 10, Info/history 10
Fu Powers: Path of the Sharpened Scales: Bite of the Dragon (2/3)/Martial Arts attack with +2 Damage
Breath of the Dragon (3/3)/Martial arts attack with +3 to AV
Claw of the Dragon (5/0)/Add 4 to the Outcome of an already successful Martial Arts attack you have just made.
Path of the Selective Master : Signature Weapon (0/0)/+3 damage and the weapon is indestructible.
Path of the Leaping Storm: Prodigious leap (1/1) /Leap twice your Move rate
Damage : Signature flying claw (14)
They are not sisters, but they were raised as such : Suzie was adopted by Chen's family when her father, a british police officer, and the rest of her family where killed by Triad mobsters. They are former students of Anita's and honorary members of the Sisters of the Scales. Now they turned to mercenary jobs, but still give a hand to their friends in time of need. They are lively young women with a taste for the heat of battle.
Appearance : Suzie is a tall and athletic blonde, Chen is a small and athletic chinese girl. They both wear long braids that flow behind them as they move -evoking dragon tails. They dress in matching sportswear clothes, mostly green and yellow.
Quote : 'Beware the burning lead breath of the Dragon Sisters, bozo !'
Bod 7, Chi 0 (Fu 7), Mnd 5, Ref 7
Martial Arts 14, Guns 14, Drive 12, Intimidation 9, Info/gangland 8
Fu Powers: Path of the Sharpened Scales: Bite of the Dragon (2/3)/Martial Arts attack with +2 Damage
Breath of the Dragon (3/3)/Martial arts attack with +3 to AV
Claw of the Dragon (5/0)/Add 4 to the Outcome of an already successful Martial Arts attack you have just made.
Gun Schticks: Both Guns Blazing/Can shoot opponents with both pistols doing: (Total Damage of Both Guns - Toughness X2) + Outcome. Fires at a penalty of 0
Unique Shtick: Co-ordinated Attack (aka Twin Lara's Syndrome)/They can elect to attack one adversary using the same means (usually their guns). Make one test with a +2 bonus and apply twice the damage.
Damage : Twin S&W Sigma (10/1/14+1), Dragon sting (blade hidden at the end of their braids) (10)
Appearance : young athletic women, mostly chinese. White kung-fu uniforms or sportswear clothes
Quote : 'Mug them, sisters !'
Bod 6 Chi: 0 Mnd 5 Ref 6
Martial arts 9, Intrusion 7, Info /chinese history 7
Damage : Staff 9
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