The Arbiters

"When the refined parlors fall silent with tension, we Arbiters echo their disputes in the pits, answering with force what words can no longer resolve."

– Lorian "Sage of the Sands" Malor

"I just like hurtin' people"

– Piglord
The Arbiters

The Resolute Order of Arbiters stands as the living embodiment of brutal justice, a grim testament to the perversion of nobility's whims in a world unmade. Their role is singularly harsh yet fundamentally ironic: they are the champions of the nobility, fighting not for their own cause but for the squabbles of those who would never stain their hands with the reality of their disputes. The noble's word becomes the Arbiter's action, their feuds resolved not in gilded parlors, but in the makeshift arenas where sweat and blood serve as the ultimate resolution.

Like the grave dancers of old-world courts, they perform a savage ballet of bone and sinew, trading velvet words for iron blows. They're marionettes in a theater of violence, serving as the living embodiment of noble feuds, fighting their battles on a stage of dirt and dust.

Every scar etched on their skin is a silent testimony to the conflicts they've settled, their roughened knuckles the calloused quills that pen the history of this brutal epoch. In their crude yet steadfast nobility, there lies a mirror to the world itself - raw, relentless, but resolute.

Borne from the ashes of the old world, the Resolute Order of Arbiters sustains the grim pantomime of a society clinging to its semblance of order amidst chaos. Through them, the nobles partake in a grotesque dance of dominance and submission, the silent strings of power being pulled in an arena where might is the only right. In the Arbiters, the world beholds a spectacle as stark as it is tragic: a lineage of honor scribed in blood and dust, where the jesters are crowned and the kings wear scars.

OOC Notes - Please Read: In Gethsemane Brawling isn't intended to be a viable combat style in most combats. If you take a fist to a knife or gunfight, it's implied that you'll lose, but we think Brawling is an important part of the setting and so we've given the Arbiters a mechanic to arbitrate close quarters combat via playing a game of Hand Sumo. All players who choose to play Arbiters must take a brief class with an ST and will learn the game and they're expected to adjudicate any Brawls that break out in play to be sure everyone is safe. This is a pseudo-IC responsibility.

Starting/Trained Equipment: Boxing Wraps

RP Cost: Short Tempered. If you get insulted and don't escalate to violence, you suffer from Shame.

Achievements

  • Dead-Arm: When you strike an unarmored limb with an attack you may call Disable Limb. You may rework feeling into your own disabled limbs with 10 seconds of roleplaying. (Unlocked By: Knockout 3 people in 1 event)
  • Monkey Arms: You may wield up to 30" unarmed boffers. You may now parry Melee attacks with Unarmed Boffers but at the end of combat you suffer a limb wound. (Unlocked By: You have to be a little insane to block a sword with your hands. Enter a brawl (Win or Lose) with real stakes. Do it while suffering from an Insanity)
  • Tough: You're used to getting punched in the mouth. The first time you'd take the Unconscious Status in a combat you can instead roleplay taking a knee, shaking it off, and getting back up to your feet. You may ignore any hits you take during this roleplay. (Unlocked By: Take out the Toughest guy in town, in a fair brawling match. Once you do, you're now the toughest guy in town. Don't let some chump take it from you)
  • Hold 'im Down: You can place a hand on someone's shoulder and you both gain the Grappled Status, this doesn't work on opponents significantly larger or stronger than you. (Unlocked By: 30 minute RP mod of being taught this skill by someone who has it)