La Malaguena:
Ziccarra Liafador was born in Malaga, Spain to a middle class family. Her mother was a well-known wedding planner in the city; whilst her father owned his own vineyard. Ziccarra’s eldest brother Kane, was an established member of the Bravehart Order that had set up in England. Early in her young life Ziccarra pursued a career in public speaking; as well as a minor in political science. Her academic career begin to plague the family with school debt; so the young beauty took up a job in exotic dancing. Even though her exotic dancing job profited, (Much to the dismay of her father) Ziccarra still needed more money. Giving in to her brother’s will Ziccarra joined the Bravehart order as an informant; it was here that she learned how to fight, as well as phish for information. The War between the Braveharts and Cardinals took a substantial turn with the Liafador siblings on the side of the Braveharts. Ziccarra sought up better training, and was refined by the White Lotus master, Pai Mei; her skills as a combatant were often overshadowed by her serene demeanor.
Ziccarra’s position as an exotic dancer aided her in the capture of many Cardinals; the turning point in her life came when Wesley Weston III moved in on the city of Malaga. Weston brought with him an unlimited amount of resources and more Cardinals than Kane and Ziccarra could take out. The Liafador duo proved to be more than effective in the Cardinal assault, keeping them from taking the city for months. Ashley Mooreland was brought in to help the assault; however Ziccarra betrayed the Bravehart order and offered many of her friends to slaughter. Following her treason, Z became the “Black Cardinal” as a member of the Red Cardinals. Her time as the Black Cardinal was spent carrying out key assassinations; as well as making sure her members infiltrated key governments over Europe. She ascended to the rank of “Mistress Mirage” after locating and finding key Bravehart strongholds and murdering the members. The Rank of Mistress Mirage, grants Z sole leadership of the Cardinals and it’s operations, within the Red Cardinal organization she only answers to Wesley Weston III.
The Red Cardinals
In an effort to fully facilitate her physical excellence and martial arts dominance the Cardinal Contessa, Ziccarra Liafador, embarked on a pilgrimage to one of the World's earliest and culturally rich civilizations in Asia,China. The birth place of the Snake-Crane style otherwise known as Wing Chun, affluently immersed in the deadly arts of combat, which offered the Spanish Mamba an unparallelled martial arts education that would serve as the future foundation for an entire philosophical orthodoxy. Traveling from small village to small village, Ziccarra was reluctantly shown the forbidden techniques of the infamous fighting style, in-exchange, the lovely aristocrat began influencing the poor and the destitute through Machiavellian style sermons of dogmatic ritualization. Offering hope to those who had given up and heart to those who had lost it. Building an architectural masterpiece of discipline, loyalty, integrity, and faith from the mud huts and fish shanties of the region. This unified congregation quickly rose to be a symbol of the La Malaguena's credence, her gifted influence constructing a tactically brilliant force of hand to hand elitism that would never give up, never surrender, and never betray their authoritarian leader. Intellectually motivated martial arts progressions of continual psychical and philosophical evolution engineering a secret army unlike the World has ever seen. Establishing one of several secret societies in Tibet, the Red Cardinal Queen has brought together a diversified unification of ethnicity. The original ancestors of the Tibetan people as represented by the six red bands before the birth of the Red Cardinals were the Se, Mu, Dong, Tong, Dru and Ra. Other traditional ethnic groups with significant population or with the majority of the ethnic group reside in Tibet (excluding disputed area with India) include Bai people, Blang, Bonan, Dongxiang, Han, Hui people, Lhoba, Lisu people, Miao, Mongols, Monguor (Tu people), Menba (Monpa), Mosuo, Nakhi, Qiang, Nu people, Pumi, Salar, and Yi people.
Beyond the skills customarily associated with the martial arts teachings of the East, rumors of mystical almost supernatural practices have drifted down from the mountain side temples instilling a level of fear in the superstitious civilians along the valley. Whether or not this fables hold a measure of authenticity, nobody knows. Taught to embrace death as a sacred honor the Tibetan Cardinals face each confrontation with an instilled hope of death. To be killed by an opponent of greater skills is the highest achievement a Cardinal can obtain. In fact, in the Tibetan Cardinal religion to be killed by the La Malaguena is an honor reserved for the Gods. The mind is the Cardinal's greatest weapon. Training mind, body, and soul, daily, adhering to the strictest schedule of purifying the soul in search of combat perfected proficiency.
Various Techniques:
Mind-Set - is a form of hypnotism that requires extreme concentration and focus. It is perhaps the most powerful and dangerous of the Cardinal secrets, granting a warrior unshakable resolve and tenacity. The Mind-Set will cause a warrior to ignore pain and fear, and has proven capable of casting off the effects of brainwashing.
Cloak of the Chameleon - using extreme physical control, the Cloak of the Chameleon alters breathing and circulatory patterns, in order to perfectly mimic the sounds of another person.
The Ear That Sees - is an exercise that concentrates hearing, to compensate for loss of sight and allows a warrior to identify a foe through sound alone, with cues such as heartbeat, the sound of cloth against cloth, and the patterns of breathing and other movement.
The Sleeping Phoenix - technique mimics death, by exerting extreme physical control over involuntary bodily processes. It has proven valuable in fooling enemies, and in extending survival, such as when a Cardinal grandmaster used the technique to preserve his life, after the being stabbed by a Ronin shinobi.
The Blind Sword - a lesser sword fighting technique that allows the practitioner to defend them self in no visibility conditions, consisting in just extending the sword using its scabbard for touch and compensate loss of sight.
The Training Ground:
Rigorous disciplines are practiced daily with repetitive ferocity intuitively melding the motions into the very muscle memory of each Cardinal, until action is a matter of instinct as opposed to thought and reaction. This allows for instantaneous maneuvering and adaptability.
The Tabernacles:
Inside the oversized mountain temple of the Red Cardinals resides three unorthodox Tabernacles. Each one serving a different tactical purpose of combat instruction. However, since no outsider has ever been permitted inside, the depths of their true function remains a mystery.
The Rock:
The rock is a religiously worshiped artifact in the center of the Red Cardinal temple. It is said to contain the fist words of the Mirage Mistress upon creation of the temple.
Rules
- No godmodding
- You can destroy some minor buildings etc. but if you do anything overly chaotic ask permission first.
- Sell the Cardinals
- Anyone can visit, but it would be good if your character has a good reason to be here
- Have fun
Log in to comment