Country of Origin: Avalon (Inismiore)
Salon: Lochcuan (Average)
Founded: 1651

Description: Lucille “Lulu” O’Sullivan is a proud Swordswoman, an even prouder Inishwoman, and a staunch supporter of Arghyle O’Toole. Even so, she would have gone unnoticed among the thousands of other supporters of the O’Toole in Carrig had she not taken the initiative to travel to Avalon and study at the Robertson salon. Once she had mastered the School, she returned home to instigate duels with prominent Royalists and cut them down using the School, as few Inishmen were trained in the rapier-and-cloak style. Eventually, Lulu came to Arghyle O’Toole’s notice, and he commissioned her to develop her own Swordsman School: one that was uniquely Inish and not tainted with the stink of Avalon. The O’Sullivan School was the result.

The hallmark of the School is speed: a Swordsman who can attack (and attack, and attack) quickly may be able to eliminate an opponent before he has a chance to strike back. The Swordsman also learns to use his cloak in creative ways, making his attacks more effective and defending himself from the strikes of his enemies. For now, O’Sullivan remains a “simple” rapier-and-cloak School, but when certain of the O’Toole’s other plans come to fruition, he plans on having the cloaks of O’Sullivan Swordsmen edged with MacEachern blades to turn the School into a Sidhe-killer.

Unfortunately, a fast School can also be an impetuous School. In their desire to strike fast, strike often, an O’Sullivan Swordsman may launch a sloppy attack that is easily defended, and once the Swordsman has spent himself and his energy, he is easy prey for a counterattack.

Basic Curriculum: Cloak, Fencing
Knacks: Blur (Cloak), Disarm (Cloak), Exploit Weakness (O’Sullivan), Feint (Fencing), Sidestep

New Swordsman Knack: Blur. Your cloak is an ever-present blocking device, obscuring your footwork and your exact position from your opponents. If you have not attacked yet this Round, then each Rank of this Knack increases your TN to be hit by two if you use Footwork to determine your Passive Defense.

Revised Swordsman Knack: Feint. When attacking an enemy, you can declare a Feint. You roll Wits + Feint and must declare a number of Raises equal to your enemy’s Wits in order for your Feint to be successful. If you are successful, he cannot avoid the attack using any Active Defense. The Raises taken on this roll add Unkept Dice to your damage roll as usual.

Apprentice: In the early stages of his training, an O’Sullivan Swordsman learns to swirl his cloak about himself to obfuscate his true position and to use his cloak as a tool for subterfuge in combat. He suffers no off-hand penalty when using a cloak alongside a rapier and may add his Rank in Blur (Cloak) to the attack roll for any Feint he attempts.

The O’Toole does not wish to submit this School for Guild sanction, preferring to keep it exclusive to his personal army. As a result, its students receive a free Rank in one of their Swordsman Knacks in lieu of Guild membership.

Journeyman: Journeymen of O’Sullivan have mastered the art of striking their opponents with blinding speed. His Action Dice are always considered to be two less than their actual value for determining if they are “legal.” An O’Sullivan Swordsman with an Action Die showing one or two may use it to attack or Actively Defend when he is Surprised.

Master: An O’Sullivan Master has perfected the Techniques he picked up throughout his training. He may add three times his Rank in the Blur (Cloak) Knack to the attack roll for any Feint he attempts instead of simply adding his Rank to the roll, and his Action Dice are considered three less than their face value for determining whether or not they are “legal” (which means an Action Die with a value of three can now be used to attack or Actively Defend in the surprise Round).

In addition, whenever the Master benefits from his Sidestep Knack, he may choose to distribute the total amount of that benefit among as many Action Dice as he likes. He may choose to spend it all on one die (reducing it from, say, a nine to a four), distribute it among three dice (changing a five, six, and seven to a three, five, and five respectively), or any other combination he wishes.