The culture of the Ivory Kingdoms has its own martial arts tradition, dating back to ancient times before the land was unified by the Maharajah. The tradition was maintained by the gurus, wise men drawn from the brahmin caste, who saw it as being as much a religious devotion as a fighting art. They taught some of their techniques to the kshatriya caste, from which they eventually migrated into the Cult of the Destroyer, but the gurus retained the true secrets of their arts.
Since the fall of the Kingdoms, Sainika has been fading away as the remaining gurus age and die without students. The handful of surviving gurus are deeply concerned about this and many of them are actively seeking students to preserve their techniques; it is possible an open-minded Rokugani might be able to take on this role
Rank One: Harmony
Through a rigorous program of physical training and intense meditation, the beginning student of Sainika learns physical flexibility, spiritual harmony, and the basics of defense, making himself more difficult to harm both physically and mentally. You may add your Void Rank to your Armor TN. You may also add your Void Rank in unkept dice to any Contested Roll you make to resist Social Skill Rolls, Social Techniques, and Fear effects.
Rank Two: Vision
The sainika fighter studies his opponent, gaining insight into his strengths and weaknesses so as to exploit them in action. During a skirmish, you may spend a Void Point and take a Simple Action to assess your opponent. For the remainder of that skirmish, you gain a +Xk0 bonus to your attack rolls against that opponent, where X is the opponent’s lowest Trait.
Rank Three: Understanding
At this level, practitioners of sainika gain an all but supernatural awareness of their surroundings, rendering them impossible to surprise. You roll additional dice on all Perception-based rolls equal to your Void Rank.
Rank Four: Unity
The advanced sainika fighter moves fluidly from one target to the next, as both offense and defense become a single integrated action. When fighting unarmed or with a knife, you may make attacks as a Simple Action.
Rank Five: Purity
True masters of sainika can deliver blows that cripple not only the body but the spirit. When attacking an opponent with an unarmed blow or a knife, you may spend a Void Point to also strike at the opponent’s spiritual being. If your attack hits, you make a Contested Void roll against the opponent. (The GM may substitute Willpower for creatures which do not have a Void Ring.) With a success, the opponent suffers a -Xk0 penalty (where X is your Void Rank) on his Skill Rolls. This lasts until the third Reactions Stage from now.
Your attack still does normal physical damage in addition to this effect. The spiritual effects of this Technique cannot be stacked, although the duration can be extended by using it again on later Rounds.