WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK 0033 0033
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Chapter 2: THE STRUGGLE FOR KHITUS
History
There have been Boneshards on Khitus for as long as there
have been Dragon Kings, or so their legend holds. The first were
thought to be slaves seeking vengeance against their overseers,
weaponless but for mundane trinkets, broken pottery, or fragments of obsidian and glass. These, while not deadly in themselves, could be wielded well in surprise, so they were stolen,
collected, sharpened quietly in the dark of night, and hidden
within the only thing slaves truly own: their own bodies.
Slave owners, rulers, and the otherwise powerful have
all been keenly aware of the Boneshards through history. Prince Renaulf of Rhojess fell to a slender glass rod
through the neck, as did the fabled caravan master Yunus
Freck. More than one Watu slaver fell to an unanticipated
assault by obsidian slivers awash in human blood. Only the
careless allow a Boneshard into their presence.
Learning the Bloodsheath
The excruciating Boneshard training and apprenticeship chills the bravest blood. Several months with a master involve all the techniques for devising suitable blades
and needles from common materials. Students must insert
these carefully into their bodies—beneath the skin on their
forearms, the backs of their hands, the high shoulders, or
anywhere they can easily reach. Simple, small items are
first, building gradually to longer, wider pieces. After mastering skin concealment, the student learns to insert larger
pieces into the muscles and beneath them, even beneath
the bones themselves where they hide in the body’s deepest recesses. This education is sometimes fatal.
Key to a Boneshard’s preparation and success is his ability
to mitigate pain, which he accomplishes through meditative techniques learned from his master. At its base level,
the “pain-sheath” technique allows the tolerance of a focused point of pain, such as inserting a needle or glass sliver into the skin. More refined control of the process allows
Boneshards to ignore pain of increasing intensity. Eventually, Boneshards can tune out any selected discomfort or
pain. Such selective pain endurance gives the individual
many options for dealing with an increasingly cruel world.
Hiding the Bloodsheaths
Repeated invasion of the skin by weapons can mark
the Boneshard for what she is. Thus, efforts to conceal
the resultant scars are important for long-term success.
• Salves and Balms: Simple salves and balms help in
the healing process, diminishing the appearance
of scars.
• Disguise: Makeup can also help hide the telltale marks.
• Tattoos: Depending on their ethnicity, some turn to
inkers and tattoos. Many decorate their bodies with
complex tattoos to hide their scars.
• Magical Aid: Magical healing is most valuable to a
Boneshard for its ability to erase scars and marks; a
much-scarred assassin expects to pay a heavy price
for the services of a sorcerous healer.
Unleashing the Shards
A Boneshard’s advantages lie in speed, surprise, and poisons. The more experienced the artisan, the faster they
can extract the exact weapon desired for a kill. Clothing or
armor can slow the process, as can manacles or other restraints, though Boneshards rarely expose their identities
with expansive shows of flesh. Of course, when those in the
vicinity of a Boneshard are unaware, the sudden appearance of a dangerous and already-bloodied weapon can be
surprising enough to throw a target completely off guard.
Boneshard weapons tend to be slashing or piercing weapons than can be exposed and employed at a moment’s notice. Most such weapons are “separate”; once freed from the
flesh, they are just like any other weapon for throwing or
other uses. Some Boneshards prefer “self” weaponry, which
remain part of the user, like claws, shoulder spikes, and so on.
Skilled Boneshards have been inventive over time, as evidenced by a much-fabled but little-seen book. “Nineblade”
Oralk’s Forge of Arms, written in Wani Chereet over 50 years
ago, allegedly details more than 120 ways to craft, use, and
artfully conceal small weapons within a human body.
Theoretically, a Boneshard can prepare an unlimited
number of concealed weapons, but practical limits expand
only with experience. A novice may have only one or two
hidden shards that he can keep track of and use. A master,
however, makes himself a comparative arsenal of lethality,
all part of his person until unleashed as needed.
Beyond any potential cutting or piercing damage, a
skilled Boneshard can add poison to his weapons to ensure death. They restrict themselves to weapons with a
capsule or reservoir to keep the poison separate from the
user’s blood stream while concealed.
Potential poisons run the gamut of those available on
Khitus, though contact poisons are infrequently used by the
Boneshards. The most popular are fast-acting agents that
either slay outright or cause weakness or confusion, as it is
not always their intention to kill—sometimes it is enough to
neutralize a target or prepare him for easy capture.
Rumors & Whispers
Unsuspecting victims are easy prey for the Boneshards,
but their existence is not a complete secret, and the suitably prepared suspect anyone who might conceal weapons
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