#shadowfolk

🌿I saw a shadow today. She waved at me.🌿

🌲🌱She told me all about the forest. The trees and the birds, the bugs and the leaves.🌱🌲

The Sheikah (精カ) generally have their own unique style different from all other races in Hyrule. Also, keep in mind that here, in my hc, Shei is spelt more like the real world Sei, but with the Tsuki part of the compound being more pronounced; as such here it means Moon a/o Spirit.

Their styles of fighting are especially unique.

They, as a tribe, have developed an original style of spellwork, specifically runemagy, & swordfighting to reflect their roles within the kingdom.

Their spellwork is referred to as Sheijutsu (精術, Moon or Spirit Method) which is most like Naruto's Ninjutsu & Genjutsu. It, likewise, involves the use of special signs known as Jūyonji-In (十四字印, 14 Hand Seals). It is very similar to the Yiga style of sorcery, but instead of red, the color tends to be more blue or purple. And, they have a variety of techniques available for use. Such as techniques inspired by Shadow Arts, Returning Weapon, Steps of the Brave, & Midnight Shroud from DnD. As well as what is basically the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu & Kawarimi no Jutsu from Naruto. There are also a couple of stealth-based Sheijutsu inspired by Shadow Step & Cloak of Shadows from DnD.

Their runemagic style is called Fūinjutsu (封印術, Sealing Method) which typically involves the creation of charms & tags called Fuda (札, Note) that have spells infused in them via ink, brushes, & calligraphy using the Sheikah writing system. - Again, taking inspiration from Naruto here.

There is actually an ancient style of Fūinjutsu that has been lost by the time of even TotK's past, called Sheishin Fūinjutsu (精神封印術, Spirit Sealing Technique).

Originally taught to the Sheikah by Sheikaku, a long forgotten god of death, spirits, & the moon, who was the deity who created the Sheikah. (Which you can see Sheishin Fūinjutsu featured on both the Depths Set & the Dark Clumps in TotK.)

Sheishin Fūinjutsu is specifically made for the purpose of forging special weapons meant to "kill" Poes, other undead monsters, & even Akuma. Meaning evil beings possessed by On'nen. This is done by engraving the runes into the metal. There's more to the process, but for now, that's enough.

It does this by diffusing or subduing the Malice or On'nen (怨念, a mix of hatred, grudement, malice, jealousy, vengeance, a/o resentfulness that can consume spirits, whether alive or dead, & make them furious or malicious & evil spirits even more so) that fuels them.

You see, when a Poe Soul (the non-combative Poes you find in the Depths of TotK) gains too many potent negative emotions or On'nen, that On'nen will turn into On'nenmaryoku (怨念魔力, magic fueled by malicious intent) or simply Shōki (瘴気, Miasma) & will rise from the Depths & manifest a body of pseudo-flesh made out of pure evil magic or Malice. That's what the Dark Clumps are. And those strips of paper on them are sealing tags using Sheishin Fūinjutsu to keep the flesh from reconstituting into another problem.

Now, something else important to the forging of these weapons is Mourniron, which is a type of iron only found deep underground, beneath where fierce battles have taken place.

This iron is then made into Allaysteel.

Which, at one point, was used by the Sheikah to make the above-mentioned weapons that would help them in laying restless souls to rest. The practice of creating it has long since been forgotten by the time of Wild's Era.

Which is partly why there were so many Poe Souls in the Depths. Wild was the first to begin ferrying them to the Bargainer's Statues in around 15,000 years. It is effective against Poes, Undead, & other such enemies.

Again, there are more steps before these weapons become effective at their intended job. However, I won't be talking about that now.

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Anyway, their swordfighting style is known as Kenjutsu (剣術, Sword Method).

Two such components of Kenjutsu being Iaidō & Yadome no Jutsu.

Iaidō (居合道, Art of Resistance) is the art of being aware of your surroundings & capable of instantly responding to surprise attacks. It is focused on swift & efficient movements when drawing your sword, cutting your opponent, flicking blood from the blade, & returning it to the scabbard. Though, Bokken (木剣, Wooden Sword) are generally only used by beginners, while Iaitō (居合刀, Resistance Sword) are used by Sheikah still in training as they are blunt-edged swords. For the most part, Shinken (真剣, Serious Sword) are preferred by the fully trained. - Practitioners of Iaidō are referred to as Iaidō-Ka (居合道家).

Yadome no Jutsu (やどめの術, Stopping Method) is the military study of arrow-cutting or blocking. Considered a somewhat legendary skill that allows warriors to defend themselves from arrows by either cutting them from the air of deflecting them.

There are also techniques that emulate Flurry Strike, Extra Attack, & Opportunist from DnD, with further training depending on specialization.

There's also Shinjun Tanren (浸潤鍛練, Infiltration Martial Training) which eventually let's Sheikah perform what amounts to Infiltration Expertise, Acculturate, & Imposter from DnD.

Then, there's Kaihi Tanren (回避鍛練, Evasion or Avoidance Martial Training) which trains the body in things like Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, & Elusive, again, from DnD. (I'm taking a lot of inspiration from a 5e homebrew for a Ninja class, here.)

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There is also Kiridō (斬道, Cutting Art), the art of the knife. Which is broken down into 2 branches: Kirijutsu & Santoku. Which are 2 different types of knife styles.

Kiridō being the overall use of knives.

Kirijutsu (斬術, Cutting Method) specifically being the martial or self-defensive use of knives & is easily adapted to the use of sickles. Meanwhile Santoku refers specifically to the use of the knife in the kitchen.

Santoku (三徳, Three Virtues or Uses) refers to the 3 uses for kitchen knives: slicing, dicing, & mincing.

While one can learn Santoku separately from Kirijutsu if they so desire, it is thought in Sheikah culture that in order to get the full understanding of all that a Hōchō (包丁, Kitchen Knife) is capable of, one must also know how to defend oneself with that hocho. Which, while Hōchō are not designed with the thought of fighting specifically in mind, they are designed to be able to be used in such a way & be effective at it if necessary. This is due to it being said in Sheikah culture that the best knifefighters know how to use a Kiri to cook just as easily as to fight & vice versa.

As a result, the best Sheikah chefs are also skilled in knifefighting.

Hōchō come in a variety of styles.

Including, but is not limited to Gyuto-Bōchō (Beef or Chef's Knife), Yanagiba-Bōchō (Sashimi or Sushi Knife) & Kiritsuke-Bōchō (Executive Chef Sashimi Knife), Santoku-Bōchō (3 Virtues or Multipurpose Knife), Sujihiki-Bōchō (Slicer, Carving, or Meat Knife), Nami-Bōchō (Bread or Cake Knife), Kikusumi-Bōchō (Petty, Utility, or Fine-Detail Paring/Peeling Knife), Honekotsu-Vōchō (Boning Knife), Usuba-Bōchō (Vegetable Knife) & Nakiri-Bōchō (Home-use Vegetable Knife), & Chuka-Bōchō (Cleaver).

While each design has its uses, the Gyuto-Bōchō is considered the most versatile as it is able to dice veggies, slice meat, smash garlic, & chop herbs & nuts. It is most often used to prepare non-Sheikah dishes & can often replace most any non-Sheikah kitchen knife.

The Santoku-Bōchō is likewise very useful as it is used for the 3 virtues of kitchen knives: slicing, dicing, & mincing. It is perfect for slicing, dicing, & mincing fruit, vegetables, fish, & boneless meat. It is thought to be able to accomplish just about anything a non-Sheikah kitchen knife can. It is considered a multipurpose Home Chef knife.

Honekotsu-Bōchō is an all-around meat, fish, & boning knife that can be used for anything from delicate filleting & detailed boning, to larger cuts of meat, & even heavy boning depending on the sharpness. It can specifically be unsharpened for heavy work or sharpened for fine detail work. (In terms of meta-narrative, Honekotsu-Bōchō are sort of a fusion between the real world Honesuki-Bōchō & Hankotsu-Bōchō.)

Anyway, when knives are worn or become broken, they are not merely disposed of as, much like any tool & especially swords, the Sheikah believe that over the years of use that knives become inhabited by spirits. When this happens, it's thought that the Knife becomes a very personal part of the chef & an extention of themselves.

As such, just like with swords, knives are often given burial places, or Hōchō-Zuka (包丁塚, Kitchen Knife Mound).

These Hōchō-Zuka monuments are often used to pray for improved Knife & cooking skills.

It is partially due to this reverence that the Sheikah are well-known for having the least wasteful kitchens in Hyrule. As they have a culture of diligent tool maintenance. Meaning resharpening blades, replacing handles, & reviving knives & swords many times over.

As a result, Sheikah blades, both knives & swords, tend to last for lifetimes.

A knife block was a Hōchō-Kaku (包丁角, Kitchen Knife Square), but the knife set itself, especially if it was fully stocked with everything a chef needs, was referred to as a Kamado Nakama (かまど仲間, Oven Companion) as the Sheikah refer to their kitchen as Kamado.

(Much of this is based on actual Japanese concepts.)

Hōchō-Kaku & Kamado Nakama generally come in 2 types: Katei-Yō (家庭用, Home) & Mamena (まめな, Diligent). As you can likely guess, one is for home-use & one is for professional-use.

Interestingly enough, it is a tradition for a woman's first Hōchō-Kaku to be gifted to her by her husband for their first house together. Generally, those tend to be Katei-Yō unless the man is either marrying a chef or is a chef himself.

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The hand signs that they use to form their Sheijutsu are different from Silent Shadow Hand (SSH), also called Sheikah or Seeker Shadow Hand. Which is a type of sign language that the Sheikah use on missions when they need to remain silent.

What the Sheikah use to form Sheijutsu instead are Jūyonji-in (十四字印, 14 Hand Seals) or, colloquially/casually, Kōkan (交換, Exchange).

These are crafted after the 14 animals in the Sheikah Zodiac: Ryū (竜, Dragon), Ōkami (狼, Wolf), Nezumi (鼠, Rat), Ushi (牛, Steer), Tora (虎, Tiger), Usagi (兎, Rabbit), Hebi (蛇, Snake), Uma (馬, Horse), Hitsuji (羊, Sheep), Saru (猿, Monkey), Tori (鳥, Bird), Inoshishi (猪, Boar), Neko (猫, Cat), & Kitsune (狐, Fox).

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Sheikah Arts