Created by Alex van Chestein <vanchestein@gmt.ulaval.ca>...


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| U U H H OOO K K || | |
| U U H H O O K K || | |
| U U HHHHH O O KKK |\_/ /
| U U H H O O K K |\__/
| UUU H H OOO K K |
| |
| |
| |
| From the hand of the UHOK delegate for the area surrounding |
| the city of Montfort, |
| Nyvex Quindaar |
| |
| |
| Addressed to the owner and proprietor of the Dragon's Inn, |
| Hugh Rogers |
| |
| |
| Mister Rogers, |
| |
| It has been brought to my attention from the Universal House |
| Of Ki that I am to present the local ruler of the city with the |
| first archive of the Ki Fighting Techniques from the Ki Benders |
| and Focusers living in or near Montfort. Since I'm sure this'll |
| end up in a rusty, old, moth-eaten chest or vault, I'm forwarding |
| you this letter. You are perhaps the local "personnality" as I |
| have been told, and your establishment holds the largest number of |
| Ki users, after the newly-founded Spirit's WEAPON of course. |
| |
| |
| As it's kind of pointless to send something back to ourselves, |
| please accept the archive as the local UHOK Resident Archive |
| Master. Should any harm befall upon the Annex, you will be the |
| backup owner of the archives. |
| |
| |
| The archives hold the records of the Ki Fighting Techniques |
| that have been discovered and created by the ones living around or |
| in Montfort, and thus ensure no moves are being used in fraud. Of |
| course you don't have to remind ever fool that he has to shout the |
| patented name of the KFT when he executes it, but everyone does |
| anyway. |
| |
| |
| The first archive will be sent immediately after a positive |
| reply, and if you refues, please name someone else who would be |
| suited to hold these pages. Anyway, if you accept, you're stuck |
| with them, so clear a shelf for those papers. Also, it would be |
| beneficial to the UHOK, and to my aching back, that you tell the |
| poor shmucks to REGISTER their techniques here at the Annex. That |
| alone'll save me about five or ten miles a day. |
| |
| |
| I thank you for your time, and hope you'll send the reply soon. |
| I'm not getting any younger, you know. Goodbye. |
| |
| |
| Whatever, |
| |
| Nyvex Quidaar |
| |
| |
| | __
| PS: If you can't send a messenger, I SUPPOSE a posting in |/_ \
| the local newsboard in city hall'll have to do. |/ \ \
| || | |
| || | |
| |\_/ /
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"KI: THE FIGHTING SPIRIT IN ALL OF US"

*Description Of Ki*

Best described as the inner energy that builds up when we are doing any
activity that remotely ressembles fighting, our Ki can be used as a very
powerful weapon. One can "master" his Ki, through intense and very
demanding training. Ki Masters are very rare, however, and lessons can
cost up to the equivalent of a small house.

When we battle, our Ki feeds on the powerful emotions we feel. It
grows stronger and stronger, until we either use its power or it fades
away. It can be "bended", if you will, to our own purposes, into what
Ki Masters and other specialists call "Ki Fighting Techniques".

KFTs are each one of us' way of using the output of energy to wipe out
anything in our path, or to help us fight better. Learning KFTs can be
difficult, but designing ones can be extremely demanding, both in time
and energy. KFTs can be executed either armed or unarmed, depending on
each person's preferences.



*Example Of A Ki Move*

An example of a Ki Fighting Technique is the all-popular Ki Blast. It
is quite simple to learn, and very effective. If involves gathering up
all of your Ki in one place, either in your heart, mind, aura or spirit,
and the focusing on it until it becomes solid. Usually, the "ball",
normally a white-yellow, pulsing sphere, appears between the two hands,
if they are put palms facing each other. The sphere grows and grows,
and when it cannot be contained any further, it must be discarded.
Pushing in one direction is one way of doing so if you did the above
while focusing. The Ki Blast has a large scale of effects, ranging from
causing an itch to blasting a six-inch hole in your opponent's chest.

The Ki Blast is perhaps the only KFT that does not require anything
more than Ki. Almost every other techniques needs a certain pattern of
emotions, or it will fail. Some of the most powerful ones require an
intense focus of anger or rage, the latters being very powerful emotions
themselves. The range of possible emotions is limitless, for every one
can be used one way or another. For example, compassion can help focus
a technique that will perhaps heal or protect others, confidence can
fuel precise and deadly moves, and fear can provoque the most defensive
KFTs. Ki is a wild power, but it can be controlled.



*Ki User Classes*

There are two distinct classes of the ones that can use Ki. The first
ones are the Ki Benders, the ones that have bended Ki to their will on
their own, without the aid of training. The second are the Ki Focusers,
the ones that have learned to focus their Ki by taking lessons from the
masters. While the two classes are different, one is not particularly
more powerful than the other: they are both equal.



*Ki User Ranks*

There are different ranks in the ones who seek to master their Ki, and
they are both the same in either class. The ranks go in this order,
from least able to most. The ranks are:

- Apprentice - Initiate - Able - Expert - Master

The skill level needed to attain a rank is as follows:

- Apprentice: The student has grasped the general use and purpose of
Ki.

- Initiate: The student has learned to focus his Ki into a stable power
source.

- Able: The student has learned and used a Ki Fighting Technique.

- Expert: The student has designed his own KFT, and used it properly.
He can also learn KFTs with ease.

- Master: The student-no-longer can design an unlimited number of KFTs
with ease.
The master can also learn KFTs simply by seeing one executed.
This last skill is the true marking of a Ki Master.

While Ki Focusers earn a colored wrist-bandanna with each rank, Ki
Benders have no such marking. But, as seen on the above chart,
identifying a rank withing the KBs is easy. Some wear the bandannas,
but others choose not to. The colors are:

- Apprentice -> White - Initiate -> Green - Able -> Purple - Expert ->
Blue - Master -> Red



*KI Fighting Techniques: Names*

Each move needs a name. Moreover, every time a Ki user designs a
technique, he usually patents it. That is why the Universal House Of Ki
(UHOK) has became a reality: to keep track of every single Ki technique
ever created. Delegates from the UHOK live in almost all of the remote
parts of Ifreann, linked by magic portals much like the Elven ones (hey,
Ki's not magic, but who says you can't use both?). It is required to
yell the patented name of a KFT every time you use it, so the copyright
laws are not infringed. The UHOK doesn't really watch everyone who uses
the moves, but it's on the safe side to respect their laws.



********Montfort UHOK Annex*******************************************

A small building right on the Eastern edge of Montfort holds the
Montfort UHOK Annex, where the UHOK delegate lives to patent new KFTs.
With Ki users becoming more and more numerous, the necessity for a link
in the Montfort area has become too big to ignore. The Annex is just a
few minutes' walk to the north of the Dragon's Inn, where the new Ki
users normally hang out. It is a small wooden building, where an aging
old man named Nyvex Quindaar lives in the midst of mountains of
paperwork. His job *is* his life, after all. Nyvex can be annoying
and obnoxious at times, but he does his job right.


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*Ki In Montfort*

Some Ki Masters and Experts live in Montfort to teach the ways of Ki.
They are a little in the dark for now, but gain more and more popularity
by the day. Some Ki Benders also teach, but to a smaller extent. Lance
Trueblade's Lighting Strike shop has a gym in the basement, where the
owner, a Bended Ki Expert, sometimes teaches his own moves. The prices
vary, but range in the two-digit gold numbers for each week of
training (20 golds seems average).



*Conclusion*

So, Ki is a force that dwells inside all of us. Some may confuse the
Ki Fighting Techniques with magic, but this is not so. Ki is a power
that resembles magic very much, but it is slightly different. When Keng
Tsew, a Focused Ki Master, was asked the following question: "What is
the difference between Magic and Ki?", he politely changed the subject.
So, what is the real difference? Perhaps the world shall never know...

Even so, Ki Techniques are still a cool sight to behold.




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