Jackals

Jackals

Garrotte This is a strangling cord, about 2 feet long and made of any flexible substance from thin cord to electrical cable. Silk scarves have often been used as garrottes, and so, on occasion, has wire. Wire is particularly unpleasant as it is thin enough to break the skin of the victim’s neck, severing blood vessels and the windpipe if pulled hard.

Difficulty: 6 Damage: Strength + 2 (Strength + 4 for wire) Ability: Melee (the Storyteller may wish to insist on Garrotte specialty for characters using the garrotte) Weight: less than 1 pound.

Cost: Free to $5 Punch Dagger (Katar) This weapon originated in India, and was much-favored by the Thuggee sect. It is a broad-bladed stabbing dagger with a transverse grip, so that the blade continues the line of the forearm rather than being perpendicular to it.

This configuration adds power to the stabbing action, but makes the weapon less suitable for slashing. The punch dagger can be chosen as a specialty of the Melee skill, though characters without this specialty may use the punch dagger with a + 1 difficulty modifier.

Difficulty: 6 Damage: Strength + 3 Ability: Melee Weight: Approx. 1 pound Cost: $5 - $100, depending on age, decoration and where bought Tiger’s Claws (Bakh Na@) Another Indian weapon favored by the Thuggee, this is essentially a set of brass knuckles fitted with four or five metal claws 2-3 inches long, meant to be used with a raking action. They can do about as much damage as a small knife and can also be used to introduce poison into a victim’s system, or to simulate an animal or Lupine attack. An investigator must roll Perception + Zoology or Perception + Forensics against the attacker’s Dexterity + Melee to realize that a faked animal attack was carried out with this weapon.

The ninja of Japan used spiked gloves called neb& as a climbing aid; when used as improvised weapons, these would perform in a similar way to tiger’s claws, though they cannot be used to simulate an animal attack.

Difficulty: 6 Damage: Strength + 2 Ability: Brawl or Martial Arts Weight: Less than 1 pound.

Cost: $10 - $50, depending on where bought.

Leopardshong - Jackals Despite their widespread contempt for the munafiqun, Assamites will occasionally associate with non-Assamites, though they are unlikely to form strong or lasting bonds with them. This section presents a few notes and ideas for players and Storytellers who are wondering how to work an Assamite character into a non-Assamite coterie. It is recommended that the player and Storyteller carefully consider the reasons why an Assamite character is associating with kafir, and the Storyteller should expect the player to play the character in accord with these reasons.

Brothers in Life A common technique for tying a group together is to say that they were friends, relatives or associates in their breathing days, and this may be applied to Assamite characters as well as those of other clans. Assamites tend to be recruited from a very exceptional class of mortals, and that class - assassins, mercenaries, special forces operatives and the like -would also attract the interest of the kafir.

While it is quite possible that a group of characters of widely differing clans could have been comrades-in-arms at some time or another, the Storyteller will have to work a little harder to justify why an Assamite character would continue to associate with non-Assamites. After seven hard years at Alamut, the Assamite’s ties to any former life will have been overridden almost completely by ties and duties to the clan, and the clan will certainly have to find some benefit in the character’s returning to the company of former associates - especially if these associates are now effectively the clan’s enemies.

There will have to be some secondary reason for the group to include an Assamite, such as a contract of employment or some shared goal. The following paragraphs give some examples which may be useful.

False Brothers The Talent of Clan Impersonation is described earlier in this chapter. Assamites have been known to act as members of other clans and insinuate themselves into coteries for their own ends -normally to gain information of use to the clan, or to further the performance of an assassination. Applied to characters, this approach creates a number of problems. None is insurmountable, but they need to be weighed up well in advance or the chronicle may suffer.

Firstly, long acquaintance makes the risk of discovery ever greater. It is one thing to impersonate a member of another clan for a few hours or days, but spending months or years in close proximity to a fixed group of other characters increases the chance of making a fatal slip and giving away one’s true colors. No matter how skilled the character may be at Clan Impersonation, the Storyteller will be demanding (or secretly making) rolls to see if the emerge, who can ever trust the character again?

Secondly, the player and Storyteller will have to agree on a suitable pretext which will justify the character spending a long period in deep cover among the enemy. A starting character will probably be a fairly junior rufiq, low on both Rank and Skills, and therefore not well suited to such a dangerous mission, so there will need to be a very special reason. As a junior operative, the character will answer to a more senior Assamite; probably the silsila who is Castellan of the nearest base.

If handled well, this kind of situation offers many opportunities for avery demanding and rewarding roleplaying experience for the player of the Assamite character, as the young rafiq has to balance obedience to orders with maintaining cover, and loyalty to the clan and devotion to the teachings of Haqim with the growing comradeship which inevitably springs up between members of the same coterie.

However, by focusing on the Assamite character, the other characters -whether they (or their players) know it or not - are in danger of being overshadowed and reduced to the role of extras in their own chronicle. It is a fiendishly difficult balancing act to handle a situation like this while ensuring that all players have equal opportunities to contribute to the progress of the chronicle.

Finally, the player’s own motives must be questioned before accepting this approach. The thought of playing an Assamite character can be a very beguiling one, since they have the mystique that attaches itself to assassin castes like the hashhiyyin, the Thuggee and the ninja. If the player is interested in playing such a character for its own sake, and is prepared to deceive fellow players as well as their characters in order to do so, then there may be trouble ahead.

The Assamite character will have the opportunity and the motivation to manipulate, deceive and even destroy members of the coterie in pursuit of personal goals, and while this may be a perfectly logical thing for an Assamite to do, it does not make a good game for the other players and can lead to friction within the gaming group. It is tor this reason that many Storytellers restrict Assamite characters to all-Assamite coteries or to Black Hand warbands.

The world of the Kindred is a complex and deadly one, and the machinations of the Jyhad are such that mortal minds can scarcely comprehend them. Wheels turn within wheels, and the conditions of this secret war can beget strange bedfellows. Thus, it is not unknown for a hired Assamite to join a coterie ofmunafiqun, and such associations cansometimes last for years or decades. This kind of arrangement would suit a gaming group which prefers action to talk and enjoys working together to achieve common goals.

Though the notoriety of the rafq springs mainly from their activities as hired assassins, the skills developed by the clan over the centuries also make Assamites ideal spies, mercenaries and operational advisors. Princes, anarch leaders and other powerful individuals often set up elite coteries for special operations, and it is not unknown for a hired Assamite to be added to such a team to add fighting strength and undercover skills. Many rafq find this kind of duty distasteful, demanding as it does a long period of close proximity to a band of kafir. However, their duty of asabiyya overrides their personal feelings, and they will work toward the group’s goals to the best of their considerable ability, provided the terms of their employment are adhered to and they are not called upon to violate the khabur.

Before an Assamite character is introduced to the group on these terms, the player and Storyteller must draw up the terms of the character’s association with the group. It is important to know who has hired the rafiq and upon what terms.

The rufq’s client will normally be the group’s patron: a prince, elder, anarch leader or some other powerful individual who has collected the characters together for some purpose and who issues the group orders from time to time.

Only powerful and respected Cainites would have the confidence and resources to deal with Clan Assamite, so it is highly unlikely that an Assamite character would join a coterie as a hireling of one of the group’s members.

Common Goals An Assamite character may also join a group of munafiqun in order to pursue a common goal, and this is commonly supposed to have been the origin of the prominent role of the Assamite antitribu in the Black Hand.

From the outset, such alliances of convenience are often fraught with mistrust and suspicion, and on more than one occasion the group has been torn apart by internal dissension and has failed in its purpose. However, this has largely been due to the attitude of the kafir, who have been unable to tolerate the presence of an Assamite in their midst. The rufiq . _ are expected to act with complete professionalism when on assignment, and lapses are invariably punished.

This kind of arr a n g e m e n t requires that with each '"., player on their character's goals and motivations and ensures that the shared goals provide sufficient motivation tohold thegroup ta together. This arrangement would suit a gaming group with a strong interest in character interaction within the group itself. n Contract terms are agreed between the client and the clan, so the individual rafiq very seldom has any say in the matter; however, for gaming purposes it is a good thing to have the player agree on the terms with the Storyteller, and ensure that both player and Storyteller are clear on the main provisions of a contract. Common elements of a contract are as follows: Therufiqshallneverbe calledupon toviolate the W a r and may legitimately refuse any command which would lead to such a violation. The rafi4 shall be the judge of when a command may be refused for this reason and need not explain such refusal to any non-Assamite, beyond the fact that it concerns the clan's laws. As a part of this condition, the rafiq "4 shall not be called upon to reveal any clan secrets or to instruct others in any clan Disciplines or rituals.

I The rufiq is at the command of the client and is pledged to carry out the client's orders. However, it is for the rafiq to decide how these orders will be carried out. The client shall permit the ruf9 to operate freely.

The agreement shall last for an agreed term, which may be afixed period of time or may be conditional upon the achievement of an objective, such as the downfall of a named target or the crushing of an enemy group. The client may negotiate further agreements with the clan for the services of a rufiq who has completed an agreed term of employment.

The clanshall appoint asilsila to act as a liaison with the client, and to oversee the r a h on behalf of the clan. In game terms, this gives the Assamite character a sympathetic contact with whom to raise any complaints. Players should be discouraged from overusing this arrangement; it is intended mainly to let clients know that the clan will be aware of any abuses on their part and not to simply make life easier for the rah.

Assamites in the field are expected to take care of themselves.

The silsila may also provide the rafiq with equipment lining from time to time, in the case of a prolonged period of employment, though this is entirely at the discretion of the Storyteller. The silsila is also responsible for punishing any rufiq who violates the khabar or the terms of employment, or brings the clan into disrepute by some other means.

In payment for the services of the rafi4, the client shall hand over to the silsila an agreed amount of vit;E, of an agreed generation or range of generations.

One payment IS normally made to seal the agreement, one on its completion andone or more o t h e r s course ot P l o y - ment. Occasionally other forms of payment may be accepted in lieu of Blood: I n f o r - mation, magical training and fragments of the Book ofiVod have all been traded in this way. The silsila is responsible for ensuring safe transit of the payment to Alamut or any other destination required by the clan.

Everything fades away To the color of blood.

Hollyfaith, “Color of Blood”

For all their seeming unity, the Assamites are riven with factionalism and discord. Devotion to the teachings of Haqim, the khabar and the Path of Blood are about the only points on which the various factions agree, but it is the interpretation of these laws which lies at the root of most of the disagreements. However, all factional differences are forgotten when dealing with munafiqun - no one forgets who is the true enemy.

It is quite possible for a character to support more than one faction, since most of the factions represent a point of view on a single issue. Players may like to note a character’s faction loyalties on the character sheet, to give an idea of how the character fits into the clan as a whole.

Traditionals The Traditional faction, as its name suggests, is composed of the more conservative members of the clan and includes some of the oldest Assamites. The Traditionals disapprove of the relaxing of traditional restrictions on recruitment in recent decades, and look down upon female rufiq and those not of Middle Eastern ethnic stock. They have a great love of formality and hold the clan’s rituals and social structure very dear. Many refuse to speak any language other than Arabic unless taqiyya demands otherwise; some go as far as to eschew any weapon other than the traditional dagger. The Traditionals are among those closest to the Assamite antitribu, and work constantly to bring about reunification while maintaining the clan’s ancient neutrality. The Traditionals oppose the Progressives, seeing in their questioning oftradition the potential for ananarchlike movement to develop within the clan.

Progressives Opposed to the Traditionals are the Progressives, a faction composed mainly of younger Assamites. They believe that changing times require a change in the clan’s approach, and welcome the lifting of ethnic and gender restrictions which have hampered the clan’s effectiveness by makingrufiqeasy to recognize among a group of munafrqun.

Among themselves, the Progressives whisper that some of the older Traditionals are seeking refuge in anachronism because they can’t handle the present, which surely calls into question their suitability as leaders. Progressives are more likely to make use of anarchs in their work than are other Assamites; some have even infiltrated anarch cells, Iiving among them in the guise of Caitiffs.