Most clans and families maintain a highly skilled force known as an Elite Guard or House Guard, usually tasked with protection of the Clan Champion and/or of key clan holdings. Appointment to such a force is a privilege and reward, a mark of great trust from the clan’s rulers. The Scorpion Elite Guard, however, is a very different sort of force. Each member of the Scorpion Clan’s Elite Guard trains to adapt his fighting style to that of a specific enemy clan, becoming an intimidating opponent to any members of that clan - and also gaining the ability to pose as one of that clan’s samurai if necessary. Of course, this is a secret largely unknown outside of the Scorpion Clan, and most opponents believe the Scorpion Elite Guard is merely a highly proficient bushi unit like the comparable force of other families and clans. Within the ranks of the Scorpion Clan itself, the warriors of the Elite Guard are sometimes called "Violators".
Historical Note: In the twelfth century, the Scorpion Clan is exiled for a time in the Burning Sands. During that period, a warrior named Bayushi Eiyo encounters one of the legendary Ashalan and learns a fighting technique that also disrupts the enemy’s fighting style; Eiyo later teaches this technique to a number of successors, and the members of this group also call themselves "Violators". Mechanically, the GM can use this Path to represent both the Elite Guard and Eiyo’s later group.