Kusari-Gama
- For another meaning of "Kusari-Gama", please see Kusarigama.
The Kusari-Gama is a secret organization of cells of monk warriors spread across Golarion. The Kusari-Gama are dedicated to perfecting their fighting arts as they prepare for a hidden war they believe will fall upon them in an unknown future.1
Origin and history
Centuries before prophecy failed in Golarion, a collection of celestial archons known the Sha'u approached an ancient human monastery known as the Tsu Zau Na. The Sha'u shared with the Tsu Zau Na that the survival of the world would one day hinge upon their ability to produce an army of perfect warriors. The Sha'u explained that the Tsu Zau Na would have many generations to prepare their army of perfection. To assist them and archons further taught the monks of the Tsu Zau Na a series of eight signals that would mark the coming of the final battle (the eight Signs of Ending). In response, the members of the Tsu Zau Na dispersed, each member seeking to plant the seeds to build the perfect army. A thousand years later, their diverse visions of the diaspora have evolved into the Kusari-Gama, a federation of hidden cells, each secretly preparing for a war they know very little about. The individual cells of the Kusari-Gama are all very different in character, training with different arts and styles. Some are devoted to the perfection of naked warfare without mercy or restraint, while others pursue perfection through honor and self-sacrifice.1
Leadership
As of 4710 AR, the monks of the Tsu Zau Na were the modern incarnation of the monastery first visited by the Sha'u archons. Each guides a separate cell of the Kusari-Gama spread throughout the world. Of the Tsu Zau Na monks, they themselves answer to a leader: Grand Master Fallen Sword, the Empty-Handed Shogun who resides in the Jade Pagoda of the Tsu Zau Na. The warriors that the Grand Master judges as "perfect" are invited to enter into an ageless stasis. The warriors in stasis form part of the Kusari-Gama's perfect army, ready to emerge along with their perfect brothers and sisters when the eighth Sign of Ending at last manifests. Selection into the Tsu Zau Na's army of perfection is the highest honor of the Kusari-Gama.1
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 . “Kusari-Gama” in Faction Guide, 24. Paizo Inc., 2010
