Ghostwalker Ryu

Ghosts in the machine, the Ghostwalker Ryu have an almost mythical reputation, for they drift the Hells and Heavens, and commune with Oni and Kami. They are Spirit Walkers.

Little of any substance is known of this elusive ryu, save that the fate it can inflict goes beyond the boundaries of death. They can erase your existence both past and present. They can delete your stored memories so you may not reincarnate. They can make you little more than a shadow.

The Ghostwalkers have been known to make an accidental death permanent, deleting a reincarnating samurai’s memories, but this is the least of their creative assassinations. In extreme cases, and with sufficient payment, they will undertake a Wraith Contract on the unfortunate victim. Working in conjunction with a more physical ryu (usually the Steel Claws with whom they have a strange affinity), they will gradually and painstakingly have everyone who knows the victim assassinated, often falling afoul of apparent ‘accidents’. As the victim falls to despair, the Ghostwalkers erase all records of his existence, leaving him utterly along and without identity. After suffering this fate for a short while, the tragic soul will become a real ghost as he falls to the final termination.

Strangely, the Ghostwalkers never participate directly in a killing, and few possess any of the martial skills that make other ryu feared. However, people whisper their name with anxiety, and cold-running fear slithers in their wake. They can kill without a touch. They can make you suffer. They are the Ghostwalker Ryu; ghosts in the machine.