Tekura
The skill of Tekura was perfected centuries ago during the Wars of Succession. It was devised by the Sentaari Grandmaster of Flowers as a means for his Guild to fight against Castomira's Royal Elites on Judgement Mountain following their confiscation all of the monks' weapons. Tekura involves control of the body to kick, punch, and throw the opponent, and it is practised solely by members of the Monk class.
An adventurer's proficiency in Tekura is measured by the belt colour he or she has attained. To obtain a new belt, the martial artist must first learn the required lessons for that skill rank and then master the appropriate kata. Upon successful demonstration of the kata to a monk ranked at least three belts higher than the performer, that person will be awarded a new belt. Below are listed the belts a Tekura practitioner may achieve, as well as what kata must be demonstrated to obtain it. For reference, the skill ranks and abilities are listed alongside the belt colour to which they correspond.
Tekura users may purchase special armbands of the Fist artefacts, which allow them to hit more often.
| Belt Level | Skill Rank | Kata to Demonstrate |
| White | Inept | N/A |
| Grey | Novice | Jakata |
| Yellow | Apprentice | Lisagi |
| Green | Capable | Rhee |
| Blue | Adept | Philos |
| Orange | Skilled | Tykorima |
| Red | Gifted | Opha |
| Purple | Expert | Nexus |
| Bronze | Virtuoso | Kali |
| Silver | Fabled | Do-san |
| Gold | Mythical | Rhythos |
| Black | Transcendent | Krull |
Abilities in Tekura
| Ability | Description |
| Horse | The most basic stance. |
The first stance any practitioner of tekura becomes proficient in, the horse stance is ideal for striking. This is demonstrated in the fact that in this stance alone, you are able to perform standard strikes in conjunction with the slam and wrench throws. Additionally, due to the firm grounding of your feet in this stance, you are able to leap over obstructions in a given direction, although this will naturally break your stance. Note that usually entering a tekura stance consumes and requires balance. However, those skilled in tekura are able to transition into a new stance immediately following a tekura kick or punch, although this will make your recovery period slightly slower. | |
| Combo | Combo attacks together. |
This ability allows you to perform tekura combos. You may choose to omit or include any of the limb targets, but must always specify a full combo (one kick, two punches). The combo can only be executed if you possess balance on both arms and legs. | |
| Hook | A curving punch. |
The hook punch is a punch aimed at the opponent's torso. | |
| Snapkick | A straight-forward kick. |
This low, and easy-to-perform kick attacks the legs of an opponent. | |
| Jab | A straight-forward punch. |
A quick strike with the fingers. When targeting the head, this will restore someone's hearing. When targeting the arms, it will disable the target's ability to parry for a very short time. | |
| Eagle | Stance of the soaring eagle. |
The stance of the eagle is geared towards flexibility and speed. Your kicks and punches will be faster when performed from this stance. Furthermore, you are able to perform the highkick ability from this stance, bringing down someone who may be above you in the trees or the skies. This ability will prone the unfortunate individual. | |
| Sidekick | A powerful thrusting kick. |
This kick drives your leg straight into an opponent's torso. | |
| Uppercut | An upwards hooking punch. |
With the uppercut punch, you will attack your opponent's head. | |
| Bodyblock | Using your body to block blows. |
At the cost of a constant mana drain, this block attempts to stop or reduce physical damage aimed at your body. With any block, you may UNBLOCK <block> to lower it. Alternatively, you may UNBLOCK ALL to lower all of your blocks. | |
| Palmstrike | Striking your opponent's nose, rendering him blind. |
This blow will attack the sensitive areas of your opponent's face. It will deliver impatience if they do not have it, or stupidity if they do. | |
| Hammerfist | A strike with your fists to the legs. |
The hammerfist attack brings your fist down on an opponents leg. | |
| Cat | An agile, defensive stance. |
The primary purpose of the cat stance is for facing those with formidable offensive capabilities. It grants superior defence, allowing one to block far more often than in other stances. However, you will find that it is more difficult to attack, and your attacks will be slower. | |
| Roundhouse | A twisting kick. |
This powerful kick shall shatter any magical shield surrounding your target. | |
| Evade | A block that attempts to completely avoid attacks. |
At the cost of a regular mana and willpower drain, this will increase your effective avoidance skill. This block will convey a greater benefit when in the eagle stance. | |
| Sweep | Attempting to sweep your opponent off his feet. |
A specialized kick that attempts to sweep the legs out from under your opponent. | |
| Bear | A highly specialized stance, designed for punching. |
One of the most dangerous offensively orientated stances, those in the bear stance perform both more damaging throws as well as finding themselves able to intercept their enemies from fleeing on occasion. However, both kicks and punches will be somewhat slowed. | |
| Slam | The first of the throws. |
This throw target's the head of the subject. When executed, it shall cause their brains to be scrambled for a time, removing their ability to naturally reject your mental locks. It can only be used against a prone opponent, and the effect will last longer if the target's head is already damaged when the slam is performed. | |
| Moonkick | A powerful, curving kick. |
This kick, so-called because the foot travels in the arc of a crescent moon, attacks the arms of your opponent. | |
| Spear | A jabbing punch with an outstretched hand. |
This punch is used with a rigid hand. With your knowledge of musculature, you're able to hit just the right spot in the target's arms to damage his arms. | |
| Rat | A well-balanced stance. |
This stance is geared toward superior accuracy, and is favoured by many for the purposes of facing those with superior avoidance. It also allows the tekura practitioner to block more often, granting superior defence. However, that accuracy comes with a cost. Kicks and punches performed from this stance will be slower than many other stances. | |
| Thrustkick | A kick designed to push your target away. |
Using your great leg power, you will attempt to kick your opponent away in the specified direction. | |
| Wrench | A nasty throw that breaks the target's limbs. |
This specialised throw can only be targeted against a limb that is already damaged. Unlike the other throws in tekura, this does not require the target to be prone. Depending on the limb targeted, various different effects will occur: Head: after wrenching someone's head, they will periodically suffer from epilepsy for a time after the injury. Torso: the target's ribs shall become bruised. Either arm: you shall yank the target off balance and throw them to the ground. | |
| Axe | A slow but powerful kick. |
This powerful kick is highly inaccurate and can only be landed against a prone opponent. However, it does extremely high damage to the target's head. If used against a target who suffers from a concussion, it shall deliver a severe blackout. | |
| Guarding | Guarding a body part and counterattacking. |
This ability is similar to, but an improvement on, the parrying ability that those with sufficient skill in weaponry can use. It allows you to not only guard a single location on your body against attack, but counter any attacks made to there by automatically throwing your opponent from his mount and stunning him. When in the cat stance, you may switch which limb you are guarding while off balance. | |
| Scorpion | A devastatingly powerful attack stance. |
A truely lethal stance, the scorpion sacrifices defence for offense. Punches and kicks will both deliver enhanced damage(*), and your kicks and punches will be executed at the fastest possible speed. You will however find that you are able to block far less often in this stance. (*) Note that this does not change how quickly you may break a target's limbs, only how much health damage they take from your attacks. | |
| Whirlwind | The most powerful kick. |
The most impressive of all kicks, this one is essentially two spinning crescent kicks aimed at the head of an unlucky opponent. | |
| Bladehand | Attempting to disarm your opponent. |
A quick strike to the side of the neck, this punch inflicts dizziness. | |
| Pinch | A special and powerful block. |
A very special block which is capable of stunning your opponent if he or she is already weakened sufficiently. | |
| Backbreaker | The ultimate throw. |
The ultimate throw, this attack will deliver significant damage. The damage is increased the more that an opponent's torso is damaged. This attack only works against prone opponents. If you are able to perform four(*) backbreakers in quick succession, a subject shall find that their spine shall give way, and they shall perish instantly. (*) If the target suffers from the bruised ribs affliction, this number is reduced to three. | |
| Jumpkick | Attack someone in an adjacent room with a flying kick. |
With this ability, you are able to demonstrate your ability to combine style and power in a single move, the jump kick. Starting in an adjacent location, you will fly in, slam your outstretched foot into your unlucky victim's body, knocking him to the floor, stunning him, and doing a fair amount of damage. | |
| Path | Switch to a new school of study. |
You have reached such mastery of Tekura that you are now ready to advance to a new school of martial study if you so desire. Be warned. Doing so will put you back to inept in your primary skill and you will need to learn the new skill again. Additionally, Shikudo is a far more complex school, and should only be considered by the advanced. You will be able to return to Tekura and retain your skill investment, but there is a cooldown on switching of 24 hours and a cost of 100 lessons. | |
| Dragon | The superior state of mind. |
More of a state of mind than a stance, this is the ultimate expression of tekura. While in this stance, the true master shall recover from utilising mental equilibrium far more swiftly, as well as being able to turn aside many blows with their blocks. | |