Country of Origin: Vodacce (any of Marco Vestini’s Hands may learn the style for 25 HP, regardless of nationality)
Salon: Elena (Small)
Founded: 1644

Description: In late 1645, a group of students from the University of Elena staged a rebellion against what they saw as an impotent and vice-ridden rule by Prince Edorado Luciano Vestini. After the students engaged in several weeks of public declarations, distributing pamphlets, and general rabble rousing, the Prince sent in a squad of troops to break up the rebellion. This squad was routed by the students, using a new technique of knife-throwing that debilitated the soldiers and allowed the students to dash to new locations to launch their next assault. Shortly thereafter, Prince Edorado dispatched a number of his Hands to deal with the insurrection. They infiltrated the students and took them down from within, slaying the leaders and dragging the rest to the dungeons below the Prince’s palace in Serine.

Upon Prince Dorado’s death, those students who had survived the deplorable conditions in the Vestini catacombs were brought before the new Prince: Edorado’s son Marco. The young Prince told the students that he sympathized with their cause (and indeed, the crushing of the small rebellion and subsequent treatment of its survivors was one of the factors that spurred young Marco to challenge and kill his father) and that they were now free men. However, the Prince displayed a genuine curiosity regarding the knife technique they had used to defeat his father’s men. A young man named Enrico Florentini, now the de facto leader of the students, claimed responsibility for the development of the fighting style and explained its basic philosophy to the Prince. Delighted and impressed by the man’s creativity and commitment to a better Vodacce, Prince Marco awarded the young man a parcel of land in Elena and gave him funds to build a small training school there. The Prince dispatched one of his most trusted Hands to assist in Enrico’s efforts, and to this day, one of the Prince’s Hands always serves as an instructor at the salon and as an advisor to Enrico (who has become close friends with the Prince).

The Florentini style relies on finesse and agility. Its main stance consists of a low, crouched position, with one’s body balanced and one’s knives held parallel to the ground. This stance enhances the Florentini fighter’s mobility and allows for quick reactions. It is a hit-and-run style; it is not intended for hand-to-hand combat, so evasion and escape (even if only to hit one more time from a distance) are the keys when forced into that situation. Typically, a dagger is used with this style, though a few Florentini fighters have adapted it to utilize throwing knives to great effect. Most fighters trained in this style carry a number of daggers so that they always have a replacement handy after one is thrown.

The primary weakness of the Florentini style is that, aside from a couple of tricks (e.g., feinting in combat by tossing a knife from one hand to another in mid-attack), it is not designed for close combat. Simply charging at a Florentini fighter will put him off his game and make it easier to block or parry his attacks…to say nothing of striking with greater ease once one has closed to melee range.

Basic Curriculum: Athlete, Knife
Knacks: Exploit Weakness (Florentini), Feint (Knife), Pin (Knife), Pommel Strike (Knife), Throw (Knife)

New Swordsman Knack: Throw. When you throw a knife as an attack, you must use this Knack instead of your Attack Knack. The Range on a Knife is 5, plus two times your Brawn. This is the same as the Throw Knack found in the Knife Skill, but it is considered a Basic Knack for students of Hewitt.

Revised Swordsman Knack Feint. When attacking an enemy, you can declare a Feint. You roll Wits + Feint, and must roll 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: Students of Florentini learn to wield daggers in either hand, and may do so without penalty. They may also benefit from the Left-Handed Advantage if they make a melee attack with a dagger in their left hand. Finally, they learn to throw their daggers in such a way that the hilt, and not the blade, strikes an opponent. A Florentini fighter may make use of his Pommel Strike Knack with a thrown dagger.

Florentini is not the sort of style to be approved for sanction by the Swordsman’s guild, nor is it likely to interest the Duelist’s Guild. As a result, the Apprentice receives a free Rank in one of his Swordsman Knacks instead of free Membership in either Guild.

Journeyman: Journeymen of Florentini have learned a few more tricks to help protect themselves at close range. Most notably, they learn to evade attacks from multiple sources, weave between secondary threats, and focus only on their intended target. While in melee combat, any opponent attacking or being attacked by the Florentini fighter cannot gain any benefit from Brutes that may be assisting him. In addition, the range of a knife thrown by a Florentini Journeyman increases to 5 + three times his Brawn.

Master: A Master of Florentini is capable of finding spots to stick a thrown dagger that are particularly inconvenient for his opponents. To do this, the Master must make a called shot to the left leg, right leg, left arm, right arm, or torso and roll Brawn + Pin (Knife) for his attack roll. If the attack roll is successful, the dagger inflicts ordinary damage, but remains embedded in the target, restricting his movements and causing him considerable pain. This translates to a -3 penalty on all his rolls (except Wound Checks), to a maximum penalty of -15 if the target has been pierced by a dagger in all five locations.

It takes one Action to remove an embedded dagger. It can be done safely by rolling Wits + First Aid vs. a TN of 20; otherwise, the dagger may be yanked out, but it inflicts standard damage on the target (typically 1k2 for a dagger, indexed as usual for the Florentini fighter’s Brawn). In either case, the weapon may be removed by another party or by the target himself.