TECHNIQUES

The martial arts of the nekotai are employed through the use of individual kata techniques within combined kata forms. Although you will rarely have reason to use a kata technique in isolation, it is essential to understand each type of technique when developing kata forms. There are four principal types of kata technique:

Leg Action: A technique which makes use of the leg to attack. While a nekotai hopefully has two legs, only one may be used for leg actions - the other is required to remain standing.

Arm Action: A technique which makes use of one arm to punch or, more commonly, attack with the nekai. If the nekai used in an arm action is envenomed, an arm action may transfer the venom to the victim.

Grapple Opener: A technique which makes use of both arms to establish a grapple. Grappling does not transfer venoms under most circumstances, and is not as damaging as arm actions, but instead forces the victim to writhe in order to escape the grapple.

Grapple Ender: A technique which uses both arms to exploit (and release) an existing grapple. If the victim escapes the grapple before you employ the grapple ender, it will fail to do anything and your efforts will be wasted.

Punch, Kick, Hold and Throw are respectively the most basic examples of these four types. All other kata techniques are expansions or variations upon these four. Kata forms are created through the combination of these kata techniques. A kata form may contain one Leg Action and then either two Arm Actions, one Grapple Opener OR one Grapple Ender - any other combination would require more limbs than a nekotai has.

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STANCES

In use, kata forms progress through a cycle of five stances: base, twist, center, surge and killer, then back to base. The Twist and Surge stances have two variations on each - a low variation and a high variation. When studying a kata, one must specify which variation of the stance will be used - Twist Low, Twist High, Surge Low, Surge High.

As you study kata, you will learn to derive certain passive benefits simply from being in a certain stance. For example, once a nekotai has learned enough kata to understand the Centipede, she shall be more difficult to injure while in the Base stance. Twist Low is the Cavefisher, a stance which enhances damage, while Twist High is the Spidion, a stance which enhances speed. These benefits are enhanced if you progress through the cycle of stances swiftly. If you move from Base to Twist to Centre within 8 seconds, you will gain briefly be aided by an even stronger version of the Centipede's blessings, even when outside of the Base stance. Furthermore, it is possible to derive multiple benefits from a single stance. For example, both the Manta (affliction avoidance) and the Scorpion's Tail (extra venom) are benefits of the Center stance and both will automatically be applied upon entering Center.

In addition to the passive benefits, the progression into the higher stances makes possible more advanced variations on the base kata techniques. For example, the Ootalangk grapple opener requires that the nekotai be in the Center stance or higher. It will not work in the base stance and it will not work in either variation of the twist stance. It will work in center, surge or killer, however.

It is possible to travel the cycle of stances in reverse. The Urchin and later the Kaife are Stance Regressions. They may be applied to any kata form in order to move to the prior stance. Urchin extends the balance of the form, while Kaife requires power. Stance Regression allows one to maintain more advanced stances without cycling back to base, and to repeatedly exploit the benefits of a given stance. A practical example of this is given later on, with the Bramble/Vine forms, two sections further on.

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FORMS

Enough theory! It is time to develop a form. Forms have names. I like names drawn from the natural world, so I will use the Mole Form as my example here. It undermines enemy shields, razing protective circles and pentagrams. Very useful when hunting and of niche importance when in battle.

KATA STUDY MOLE BASE

This will establish that your new form, the Mole Form, will do something at the Base Stance.

KATA DEVELOP MOLE BASE ACTION 1 RAZE RIGHT
KATA DEVELOP MOLE BASE ACTION 2 KICK CHEST LEFT
KATA DEVELOP MOLE BASE ACTION 3 PUNCH CHEST LEFT

These specify that the first action to be taken in the Base Stance of the Mole Form is to raze shields with the right hand; that the second action to be taken in the Base Stance of the Mole Form is to kick the foe in the chest with the left foot, and that the third action to be taken in the Base Stance of the Mole Form is to punch the foe in the chest with the left fist.

KATA REVIEW MOLE

This will review the Mole Form. Reviewing the form should list all of the above actions, note that the minimum stance for the form is Base (it can be used in any stance of Base or higher, which is the same thing as being usable in all stances) and that the form is valid. If you try to include an impossible combination of actions in a stance (two kicks, two grapples, three arm actions), review will show that the form is invalid and you will know to fix it.

KATA PERFORM WEEVIL MOLE

This will perform the Mole Form on a weevil. Because the weevil does not have a magic circle protecting it, the raze will do nothing. The kick and punch, however, will kill the verminous thing outright. Swampghast approved!

KATA DEVELOP MOLE BASE ACTION 3 NEKAI CHEST LEFT

This replaces the third action (a punch) with a nekai strike. Once you have nekai and know how to use them, this will make the form more powerful. But unless you take care to revise the form, you will still default to punches. Such is the nature of muscle memory.

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EXAMPLES

These are forms which I have personally found to be of use as a nekotai, presented in the form of a Kata Review. Included is my commentary, in parenthesis. (Like so.) See if you can't reproduce them on your own, or improve upon them:

Form Worm
(A basic combat form which uses Angknek to attack both legs.)
Minimum stance Base
    Action 1: kick gut left
    Action 2: angknek lleg left
    Action 3: angknek rleg right
    Form is valid.

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Form Toad
(A more advanced combat form, intended to indirectly support mana the kills of allied wiccans. An example of an 'ice stack', a form which uses exclusively those afflictions cured with restorative ice. Largely identical to Worm at base, but then shifting into damaging organs (making venoms more effective) and damaging the throat (preventing sipping). It should be noted that this is not a full replacement for Worm - sometimes what you really really want is to simply keep someone's legs broken as much as physically possible! If combined with Chansu (afflicting with anorexia, and Senso (afflicting with slickness), it will make it extremely difficult for the opponent to cure.)
Minimum stance Base
    Action 1: kick chest right
    Action 2: angknek rleg right
    Action 3: angknek lleg left
    Form is valid.

Minimum stance Centre
    Action 1: kick chest right
    Action 2: angkai gut right
    Action 3: angkai chest left
    Form is valid.

Minimum stance Surge Low
    Action 1: sprongk rarm left
    Action 2: angkhai head left
    Action 3: angkhai chest right
    Form is valid.

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Form Bramble
(A seemingly useless grapple form, pointless without...)
Minimum stance Base
    Action 1: None
    Action 2: None
    Action 3: None
    Form is invalid.

Minimum stance Surge Low
    Action 1: sprongma gut left
    Action 2: ootalangk head
    Action 3: None
    Form is valid.

Minimum stance Killer
    Action 1: sprongma gut left
    Action 2: ootalangk head
    Action 3: None
    Form is valid.

Form Vine
(...this series of apparently unremarkable escalating grapples! There is a trick here. Perform Bramble Kaife, then Vine (no Kaife) all at once. If you are in the Killer Stance, this will spend power to regress you to SurgeLow, triggering the benefits of the Shocree Surge Low stance and superseding the use of Vine. If you are NOT in Killer, Bramble will fail (you cannot regress into an invalid form), causing Vine to be used instead and advancing you toward and eventually into Killer. The net effect is to rapidly increase bleeding and broken blood vessels in the victim. Excellent for primary mana kill support.)
Minimum stance Base
    Action 1: kick gut left
    Action 2: choke head
    Action 3: None
    Form is valid.

Minimum stance Twist High
    Action 1: kick gut left
    Action 2: oothai head
    Action 3: None
    Form is valid.

Minimum stance Centre
    Action 1: kick gut left
    Action 2: ootalangk head
    Action 3: None
    Form is valid.

Minimum stance Surge Low
    Action 1: sprongma gut left
    Action 2: ootalangk head
    Action 3: None
    Form is valid.

Minimum stance Killer
    Action 1: None
    Action 2: None
    Action 3: None
    Form is invalid.

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Form Moth
(A dust stack. Attempts to overwhelm the victim's ability to process internal afflictions. Each performance afflicts with at least two such afflictions, plus whatever you can get from the poisons Botulinum, Crotamine, Haemotox, Mantakaya, Mactans or Saxitin)
Minimum stance Base
    Action 1: kick chest left
    Action 2: angknek gut left
    Action 3: angkhai head right
    Form is valid.

Minimum stance Centre
    Action 1: kick chest left
    Action 2: angkai larm left
    Action 3: angkai head right
    Form is valid.

Minimum stance Surge High
    Action 1: sprongk gut left
    Action 2: angkhai chest left
    Action 3: angkai rarm right
    Form is valid.

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Form Ice
(A variation on the dust stack which sacrifices raw dust afflictions in favour of trying for equilibrium disruption. Useful primarily as a supplement to another monk performing ice/dust stacks, rather than as a solo tactic.)
Minimum stance Base
    Action 1: kick gut left
    Action 2: angknek head left
    Action 3: angkhai chest right
    Form is valid.

Minimum stance Centre
    Action 1: kick gut left
    Action 2: angkai gut left
    Action 3: angkhai chest right
    Form is valid.

Minimum stance Surge High
    Action 1: sprongk gut left
    Action 2: angknek head left
    Action 3: angkhai chest right
    Form is valid