Masters of the Nine Swords [IC]

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The Master of Autumn's wish is soon granted. The controlled chaos of the practice session below gives way after a few minutes, the clusters of adepts parting to let a small party of perhaps a dozen warriors pass by and leave the Temple. They enter one of the many small tunnels branching off from the main basin and disappear; the tunnel is facing away from your own Temple (at least you think so, you're still a bit turned around), but given the labyrinthine nature of these caverns, who knows what their final destination is?

Your captive, seemingly eager to be as helpful as possible to persuade the more bloodthirsty among you to let him live, quickly volunteers an answer to Belcor's question. "We have three Grandmasters, just like the original Temple and, I assume, your Temple. We have seven Masters: Dawn, Tierce, Noon, Vespers, Dusk, Night, and Vigils. Our Masters don't just focus on a single discipline; we don't limit ourselves like that." A note of arrogance creeps into his voice as he expounds on the virtue of the Unconquered Sun way, sounding as if he's reciting a long-memorized creed. "Where you focus only on one discipline, our adepts and Masters focus on either three disciplines or two disciplines and a form of magic, since we believe that we should seek self-improvement in any way possible and that combining blade forms with magic can unlock even greater understanding."

"Not like your Temple. I don't see why you have only four Masters, named after the seasons, focusing on only one discipline each. I mean, the symmetry of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and...Winter...would be...." He trails off, looking from Torog, to Abd, to Four, to Belcor with widening eyes. That note of arrogance? Gone. "Oh. Oh. That...oh. Oh sh*t." The adept cringes and shrinks in on himself at the gaffe; he obviously isn't the sharpest sword in the armory. When he continues speaking, he does so in a rapid monotone, using short choppy sentences and not looking any of you in the eye.

"The Master of Noon was unusual. He focused on only Tiger Claw and leaned more on magic. Two magics. He trained to take on many enemies at once. The other Masters are more varied. You would probably have more luck against them, four on one. Well, maybe. Don't know much about them. I was apprenticed to Noon, I haven't really seen what the others can do. I can guess, though. Each Master trains their students in similar styles to their own."

Since no one has killed him yet for impertinence--though Adept al-Wazra looks like she dearly wants to--he relaxes slightly. "As for the Grandmasters...only the Masters are allowed to speak with them, so I don't know anything beyond their titles and what I've heard. Our Grandmasters are the Grandmaster of Blades, the Grandmaster of Strife, and the Grandmaster of the Void. Grandmaster Mesker is Blades and, well, he's scary. I haven't been allowed to watch him fight anyone, but he oversees the advancement ceremonies for adepts to become Masters, and by his rules either you're worthy to advance to Master or you die. One time, seven adepts were testing for Master at once. They all went into the arena, and Mesker walked out thirty seconds later...alone." The adept actually shivers at that. "Good luck facing him."