Iron Monkeys

Description:  There have always been peasant rebellions against the empire; when times get tough, it is usually the peasants who suffer first.  The Iron Monkeys trace their lineage to one such uprising, known as the Red Eyebrow Rebellion.  This revolt took place during the reign of Chaoshi and was organized by disgruntled peasants who painted their eyebrows red in protest.

The rebellion was successful for a time, but eventually the full weight of the army was brought down upon the rebels, and the Red Eyebrows were crushed.  Those who survived went underground and changed their name to the Iron Monkeys.  To escape fierce retribution by the army and the gentry, the group's leaders dispersed across the empire.  Over the years they recruited peasants in the countryside and trained cadres of rebels and saboteurs.

When Emperor Jianmen ate the tainted lotus, leadership of the Iron Monkeys were certain their day had come.  The emperor had clearly become evil incarnate; surely the broad mass of the peasantry would rise up and support them.  Uprisings did occur in a number of provinces, but fear had paralyzed most citizens.  The expected recruits never materialized, and the premature rebellions were crushed.

Since then, the Iron Monkeys have been more careful.  They believe that the land is due for a just emperor, but that the nobility is corrupt and useless.  They are willing to ally with other secret societies in the hopes of overthrowing Jianmen.  The emperor himself pays them scant notice--they are nothing but peasants, after all.

Organization:  While the Iron Monkeys are active throughout the empire, they tend to be more locally based than other secret societies.  For every three villages or so, there is a small active group with an elected leader.  In theory, these groups report to a higher leader who directs all activity in a province; in practice, the society's resources are so strapped that the provincial leadership can exert only minimal control.

The provincial leaders elect one of their own to head up the organization.  The current leader is Suling, a woman from Tui Province.  She has tried to make the Iron Monkeys more effective by improving communications and ordering large-scale operations.  Despite opposition from the other provincial leaders, she agreed to work with the other secret societies in the hopes of furthering the group's goals.

Requirements:  To become an Iron Monkey, a character must have a minimum Dexterity and Charisma of 9.

Benefits:  Since they are normally outnumbered, Iron Monkeys make frequent use of ambush.  Because of their training, they can make a backstab attack with missile weapons such as bows; as always, the target must be unaware of the attack.  Being peasants, Iron Monkeys have learned to improvise weapons wherever they can, and are able to use small everyday objects as lethal missiles.  In their hands, mundane objects such as coins and acorns have the same effect as throwing spikes.

Iron Monkeys are less concerned with killing than Ghost Eaters and so learn a special knockout blow.  An Iron Monkey in position to backstab can instead attempt to knock out the foe, receiving the same +4 bonus to hit.  If a hit is scored, the character has a base chance of 25%, plus 5% per level, to render the opponent unconscious.  The target makes a fortitude saving throw with a DC of 15 to resist, but suffers double damage even on a success.

At 5th level an Iron Monkey learns the Trackless step.  Three times per day the character can cross any type of terrain, including snow and mud, and leave neither footprints nor scent.  Using this ability is an Acrobatics stunt; the result of the die roll is the duration in turns.

Due to their great agility, Iron Monkeys make excellent martial artist.  They begin the game with the following martial arts maneuvers: Crane Stance, Grace of the Crane, Iron Palm, One Hundred Eyes, and Wuxia.  Subsequent maneuvers are at the character's discretion.

Hindrances:  The Iron Monkeys are a product of the countryside, and most of them come from a peasant background.  Monkeys don't belong in the city, so they say.  To reflect this, Iron Monkeys suffer a -2 penalty when using any thief skill in an urban environment.

The Iron Monkeys have been a rebellious organization from the start, so members cannot be of lawful alignment.

Starting Equipment:  Any three weapons, two different disguises, assorted picks and tools, 2d6 tael.