The Mark



The Mark is a tattoo made with the ink distilled from the petals of a toxic flower. These toxins augment the senses, reflexes, and mental acuity of the Marked individual, but at the cost of the individual's sanity slowly slipping away. Some of the Mark's abilities include the ability to perceive and react to situations with supernatural speed and precision as well as the ability to move at superhuman speeds (albeit in short bursts).

Individual Marks
The tattoos that make up the Mark are not given all at once; the mind and body cannot take so much of the Sumi's toxins all at once. With each new mark added, the bearer gains new, preternatural abilities.

First Mark
The first Mark grants the user incredible focus and mental acuity. The bearer is so in tune with his surroundings that he appears to be able to freeze time to better select his target. The Marked Ninja uses this to find the optimum placement to throw his darts and other weapons.

Second Mark
The second Mark expands the bearer's senses, allowing them to see the unseen, hear the unheard. It allows them to see through walls and detect movement, heat, and even electric current from a great distance away. In so doing, the world washes out so that everything appears indistinct. The Marked Ninja can see tripwires and switches that set off traps, as well as detect enemies from a great distance away.

Third Mark
The third Mark - known as the "Mark of Serenity" - is the final Mark given to the bearer. It unlocks the body, allowing the bearer to attain a speed so fast that they seem to disappear and reappear elsewhere, as though by teleportation. The preternatural speed is even beyond that which can be detected by high-tech sensors such as motion detectors and laser tripwires.

Being the Bearer of the Mark
The Mark is only given to a single member of the Hisomu Clan, one chosen to be their champion in times of great need. The bearer receives the tattoos one at a time over the course of a few days. The toxins from the ink slowly seep into the blood, causing a great deal of pain.

However, the bearer of the Mark has only a short time before the side-effects start kicking in, both positive and negative. The bearer often shows signs of headaches as his abilities start to manifest. However, almost as soon follow the primary negative side-effects.

Hallucinations
The toxins of the Sumi, as they improve one's mental acuity, start reducing one's grip on reality. The bearer starts seeing hallucinations that seem real. The first hallucinations are simply audio-visual in nature, doing little more than affecting the way the bearer sees the world.

Later on, the hallucinations turn more serious. The ninja will begin seeing enemies at every turn, even those that cannot possibly be there. These are more than audio-visual illusions; they are lethal. These enemies, if they manage to harm the ninja, can prove as dangerous as flesh-and-blood enemies.