Editing Kindred of the East (section)

==Let's Talk Politics: The Kuei-jin Courts==
The governing body of Kuei-jin in particular region is called a '''Court''', which oversees all ''wu'' in that area.  In China there are five August Courts, descended from the Ancestral Courts of old, though there are other Courts located in different parts of Asia.  While they are mostly concerned with the goings-on of the unliving, if they see the need to influence the world of mortals the Courts do so through the so-called '''Scarlet Screens''' -- secret societies, big corporations, even street gangs -- that act as their intermediaries.

Each court is led by an '''[[Ancestor_(KotE)|Ancestor]]''' (Dharma 7-8), whose rule was legitimized by the so-called '''Mandate of Hell''' after a rigorous screening process by senior Kuei-jin. He is in turn advised by the Court '''[[Mandarin]]s''' (Dharma 6), and served by the '''[[Jina]]''' (Dharma 4-5).  All wu usually defer to the Court's mandates, though in practice most wu see to their own business, though the elder members of the various wu often confer with each other on larger matters.  And while politics is unavoidable in any given Court, most of the time it is often genteel, especially when compared to the literal cut-throat rivalries prevalent in the Domain of a Cainite Prince.

===The Five August Courts===
* '''Blood''': Based in Beijing. Aspected North, the Blood Court has been the seat of authority of the Five August Courts ever since the drafting of the Treaty of the Quincunx. It passes laws and dictates policy for all ''wu'' under the Quincunx's authority, which means all Kuei-jin in the Middle Kingdom. It remains a steadfast bastion of tradition, and puts a premium on correctness and harmony with the Great Cycle.
* '''Bone''': Based in Chongquing. Aspected West, the Bone Court busies itself in trying to find a connection back with the past, primarily through recovering potent artifacts and relics from the time of Mount Meru and the Wan Xian.  This is a side-quest though, as most Kuei-jin of the court primarily want to find a way back to Mount Meru itself.  The Court itself is very insular as a result.
* '''Flame''': Based in Hong Kong. Aspected South. Defunct for the entirety of British rule in Hong Kong, the forces of the Quincux are fevereshly trying to rebuild its strutures in the wake of the territory's return to Chinese control.  Loyal ''wu'' are trying to root out pockets of Cainites still in the city, and it is said when the situation stabilizes in the Court's favor, the region will then be used as the focal point for striking at their enemies' heartland.  
* '''Flesh''': Based in Shanghai. Aspected East, the Flesh Court was originally created as a stopgap against the ''akuma''-infested Court of the Azure Dragon, to purge the eastern reaches against divergent thought and rebellion. The going has not been easy, not helped by the Japanese invasion of 1937, which brought a host of ''akuma'' with them.  As a result, the "Court" is embroiled in a nightly battle to repel foreign invaders.
* '''Jade''': Based in Changan. Aspected Center, the Jade Court is the spiritual center for the entire Kuei-jin population.  Kuei-jin from this Court are considered some of the wisest and intellectual of their kind.  Representatives from the Jade court as always welcome in any of the smaller regional Courts as a result.

===Regional Courts===
* '''Golden''': Descendants of the Scarlet Phoenix Court and based in the countries that make up Indochina and a good chunk of Southeast Asia, the Golden Court isn't so much one Court as it is a loose grouping of disparate domains, united under powerful ''penangallan''-queens. The court is [[Black Furies|violently matriarchal]], with the ''penangallan'' and their attendants ruling the roost; while men are allowed in the Court, questioning a female three times will see them exiled (if they're lucky) or very painfully executed (if they're unlucky). Home to shitloads of Devil Tigers, and known to be much more diverse than the others, with influence from Chinese, Indian, Polynesian, and many other cultures. Aspected South.
** ''Very'' unpopular with the Same-bito (Asian [[Werewolf:_The_Apocalypse|Rokea]]) courtesy of the Golden Court's past taste for their kinfolk's flesh and chi. The big five Courts also don't like them very much due to the way they buck tradition, the way they killed Blood Court members sent to reign them in, and the fact they have one of the highest rates of members (key and otherwise) becoming ''akuma'' in the Middle Kingdom - this is mostly their own fault, [[derp|since only the Penangallan-queens are ever tested for taint]]. Unsurprisingly, this leaves them on the knife-edge between being true Devil Tigers and falling to the akuma entirely.
* '''Golden Lions''': Based in Singapore, the Golden Lion Court is made up of expatriate male Kuei-jin from the Golden Court, and other outcasts from the matriarchy.  Since most of them were kicked out of the Golden Court after becoming too powerful for the Penangallans' liking, they're [[Ventrue]]-tier paranoid schemers with an obsession about order and control; ''wu'' are taught to obey their leader no matter the circumstances, and there's an abundance of Scarlet Screens in the city. Unsurprisingly, the Way of the Resplendent Crane is the biggest Dharma here.
** Though they really want to secede from their on-again off-again abusive girlfriends in the Golden Courts, they're located bang in the middle of their territory, so any attempt at fleeing [[FATAL|would go badly]]. The Golden Courts themselves generally consider the Golden Lions a bunch of overconfident, but amusing fools, as they know they're more than capable of crushing any uprising that occurs; the Golden Lions themselves are unaware of this, and are consequentially becoming ever-more paranoid as they build toward their intended secession.
* '''Green''': Based in the Korean peninsula, the Kuei-jin of the Green Courts are known mostly for their necromancy and their trade in Jade.  Caught between the Quincunx in China and the Uji in Japan, the Green Court has learned to lie low and play both sides against each other, to its own benefit. They run what's basically the Underground Railroad of the East, known as the Parallel Path - a network of safehouses where a Kuei-Jin can be sheltered then sent on somewhere else when they need to disappear from sight (in exchange for Jade and other favours, of course).
** Their big secret is that their Jade reserves are near-depleted, with most of their Dragon Nests running completely dry of the stone. Making matters worse, their only way to get it is finding new Dragon Nests, most of which are in the hands of shapeshifters from [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]] due to being Caerns; surprisingly enough, they do ''not'' very much like the idea of Kuei-jin raiding their sacred sites for Jade and are more than willing to send intruders back in several pieces.
* '''Uji''': Based in Japan, the ''gaki'' of Japan are currently experiencing a period of turmoil, with two of its most powerful houses pitted against each other as the country itself rushes headlong into modernity and Western influence.  Matters are complicated by the deteriorating health of the reservoirs of Chi running through the country, a consequence of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
* '''Infinite Thunders''': Based in Sri Lanka, the ''Bijali'' is only given cursory acceptance by the Quincunx due to the prevalence of the heretical Flames of the Rising Phoenix Dharma in their ranks. Located at the crossroads of trade and culture, the Court makes its own way philosophically, integrating elements of Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic practices into their own. Despite their similar origins and diversity to the Golden Courts, they do ''not'' get along due to the ''akuma'' infesting the latter's ranks; the way that the IT Court heavily prefers stability and debate over intrigue and internal violence probably doesn't help. The court had, for the longest time, had a cold war with the native [[Ravnos]] of India, which exploded into the conflict that led to the [[Week of Nightmares]].
* '''New Promise Mandarinate''': Based in San Francisco in California, this was founded in the wake of the Great Leap Outward, to take the fight to the Cainites on their home turf. Unfortunately for them, things didn't quite go as planned; while the New Promise Mandarinate still has a foothold in the Americas, they've taken a fairly hefty beating and are currently re-considering their strategies against the Cainites. The ''wu'' shown in the comics of the Dharma books have moved here as of 2002.

===Defunct Courts===
* '''Five August Courts''': The predecessors to the Quincunx, founded in the wake of their ousting from Mount Meru by a group of Kuei-Jin known only as the Five Emperors. These groups became the bedrock of Kuei-Jin society during the Fourth Age, but gradually began to drift in purpose after the Five Emperors paid their debts and ascended to the Hundred Clouds. They collapsed some time after the Mongol invasions, which bought Cainites and other Western supernaturals to the Middle Kingdom alongside the mortal invaders; in the aftermath, the Quincunx was founded to pick up the slack.
** '''Scarlet Phoenix Court''': Aspected South. They were like a hybrid of the Flesh and Golden Courts, colonising the jungles of the south and getting into bloody nightly battles with the demons, spirits, and ''shen'' already present there. The rest of the courts didn't much like them either, with the Court of the Yellow Emperor in particular pressuring them to [[meme|RESPECT MAH AUTHORITAH!]] and openly warring with them when they refused. The SPC eventually fell after the twin pressures of the August Courts and the nightly battles drove its Ancestors into becoming ''akuma'', with the corruption spreading until the Quincunx flatly disowned  and then wiped them out.
** '''Black Tortoise Court''': Aspected North. These guys were relatively liberal and free-spirited, wandering around the Middle Kingdom and debating the nature of the Kuei-Jin state among themselves in-between hunting down Kuei-Jin heretics. They were one of the first Courts to encounter Cainites, with their reaction being politely describable as "Fuck you all," swiftly followed by getting into a long and bitter war with the Western vampires. Ultimately, they were done in by ''Akuma'' infestation within their ranks; the Court had few ways of detecting demonic corruption, which resulted in many members (knowingly or otherwise) feeding from corrupted Dragon Nests until they went the way of the [[White Howlers]].
** '''White Tiger Court''': Aspected West. Fell apart when their Empress wandered off to Tibet in search of holy sites and artifacts, only to vanish without a trace.
** '''Court of the Azure Dragon''': Aspected East. Formerly based in Korea and Japan, they eventually broke up into small bands under different warlords as the two countries' history progressed, laying the ground for the Green and ''Uji'' Courts. The newborn Quincunx, already pissed at their isolation and increasingly divergent practices, promptly disowned them and deemed all surviving members of the Court to be ''akuma''. 
** '''Court of the Yellow Emperor''': Aspected Centre. The precursors to the Jade Court, with much of the same practices, they claimed official dominion over the other members of the Five August Courts. In practice, the other Courts managed to get away with paying lip service to them outside of a few noticeable punch-ups, like that time they went to war with the Scarlet Phoenix Court and inadvertently caused the foundation of the Shih demon-hunters. They collapsed some time in-between the Sui and Song Dynasties, broken by civil war between their ''wu''; a few ran off to become the Jade Court and help found the Quincunx.