Blade priests of the Vaasa are some of the most skilled swordsmen alive.  they perceive the divine to be perfection, and they believe that they can become gods by perfecting the art of the blade themselves.  Each year a new class of Blade Priests is taken in.  Students train for this honor for years (learning lesser weapon arts since only Blade Priests may carry swords) and those that win this nonlethal tournament are taken into a class of thirty or forty at most. Losers may return to their old lives and may never try again.

Each year of training ends with another tournament, and the students face off against one another with live blades.  The fights are often to the death and each class shrinks each year.  In the second year there are usually fifteen to twenty students.  In the third year there are generally around ten or twelve.  At the end of the third year there is another round if fights.  Those who come out the other side are blade priests.  Students in this year are not required to fight to the death, but many choose to.  Often, classmates would rather die than face the dishonor of losing such a fight.

This skill can be taken by anyone who has passed the first round of training (the first contest) and begun their training as a Blade Priest in earnest.  There are not technically any prerequisites, but a high Hands Attribute is helpful and some basic combat skill is expected.  The skill has many generic uses such as the lore and meditation techniques taught by the Blade Priests.  It must be successfully rolled to enter the Circle and can be used to spot another Blade Priest, even if they are not engaged in a fight. It also has the uses listed below at the specified levels.   These abilities only function for the Blade Priest if he is wearing light armor or no armor and using no shield larger than a forearm buckler.  His style is based around freedom of movement and a focus on the sword, not armor and shields. 

1. Enter the Circle.  In this state the Blade Priest is aware of his surroundings accutely, but only inside his Circle.  He knows automatically if anything breaches it and may react first.  This is a type of focus akin to meditation, and he needs to maintain focus on it.  If the person who entered his circle is an attacking Blade Priest, then whoever has the highest level of Blade Priest skill strikes first.  Speed in the draw and cut is the primary focus of this style. 

3. The Mountain Charge:  The Blade Priest may employ this maneuver, which allows him to come at a foe with such force that he is moved backwards (or to teh side) out of the blademaster's circle.  This is a technique taught due to one Blade Priest's combat with a foe on the side of a mountain.  the foe had higher ground and used it to his advantage, so the Blade Priest settled upon a way to push forward with the same manner of power, but from a weaker position.   Blade priests often use this technique to frighten opponants without killing them, but this maneuver also forces an enemy to enter the Blade Priest's circle again, subjecting them to a fresh attack upon entry.
   

5. Perfect Circle.  The Blade priest need make no roll to assume the Circle, he simply wills it.  He is assumed to be in the Circle anytime he is not otherwise occupied by distractions (he is likely not in it during dinner, theatre, intercourse, etc).
   

7. The Best Attack is Not to Attack.  The Blade Priest now knows that he need not attack to be deadly.  He simply waits for the enemy to come to him and lets him take what death he desires.  Approaching the Blade Priest is death.  Mechanically,  the blade priest now gets an attack on anyone entering his circle.  this attack is taken without thought or care (and sometimes could be turned on an ally if they are not careful).  This attack does not count as an action.  It is more of a reflex. 

9. Godhood.  The Blade priest has attained what his people think of as perfection and thus, godhood.  He is always assumed to be in the Circle, no matter what the circumstances (though if he is chained or otherwise bound he may not be able to make good use of this fact).  He always reacts first in a fight (his action hapens before an enemy) and if he misses an attack, he may reroll once (gods do not miss).