Kindred of the East

Kindred of the East is a campaign supplement to Vampire: The Masquerade, focusing on the supernatural denizens of the Exotic East, particularly the native blood drinkers of that land, the Kuei-Jin. Superficially similar to the Get of Caine, the Kuei-jin are a very different kind of supernatural indeed, and one who is more in tune with the world of the Spirits.

Not-so Exalted Anymore

In ages past, what would become the Kuei-jin started out as the Wan Xian, the Ten Thousand Immortals. Chosen by the August Personage in Jade (God essentially), these were mortals who passed various tests of worthiness, and were granted the ability to absorb and use ambient Chi (the energy that infuses all things). They were then tasked with safeguarding the Middle Kingdom (a term used to refer to BOTH the territory of Imperial China at its historical height AND the Mortal Realms in its entirety) against the forces of the Yama Kings and other supernatural threats. In their service many amassed great power, reached enlightenment, and eventually gained passage into Heaven.

Due to the threats they faced, its inevitable that Wan Xian would fall in the line of duty. As such it was tasked to the Ebon Dragon and the Scarlet Empress to seak out worthy replacements.

Some of this, particularly the personalities involved, sounds suspiciously familiar, doesn't it? Don't worry, it's not your imagination.

Eventually all good things come to an end. The Wan Xian eventually became corrupt, partly due to the influence of the Yama Kings (creating the first akuma), partly due usurping the Dragon Nests (nodes where lines of Chi converged) from their Xiong Ren (Eastern Shapeshifters) owners, and partly due to simple hubris that led to them slaughtering their half-vampire children (the Jin Hai) when the latter politely asked them to stop being such assholes. The August Personage cursed them for their perfidy, and only four Wan Xian were spared.

Left with the inability to breate, the rest were forced to feed on the Chi of others to even survive. With even their rituals of Rebith corrupted by the tortures of the Hell realm, it more or less ensured that only those with the blackest of hearts would be return to Unlife.

And so it was that the Ten Thousand Heroes would become the Ten Thousand Demons, and the Wan Xian became the Wan Kuei, the first of the Kuei-Jin.

Before we begin: About Chi and the Duality of the Soul

A lot of the design choices behind Kindred of the East rely on being familiar with the concepts of Chi and the Hun and P'o parts of the soul, which are all grounded in real-world classical Chinese philosphy, so it's better we get that out of the way before discussing the Kuei-Jin proper.

Chi is the energy that infuses everything. Being unliving beings, Kuei-jin don't have Chi naturally, and have to gain it from the living, initially via feeding on the flesh, then blood. There are a myriad variety of Chi, but Kuei-jin mainly deal with the Yin and Yang chi. Yin chi is usually cold and stagnant-seeming, while Yang chi is warm and vibrant. Having too much of the former makes one look like a shambling corpse; too much of the latter and the Kuei-jin will seem a little too alive, to the point where they can sire (or bear, for the ladies) mortal children.

Preferring one type of Chi over the other influeces a Kuei-jin's vulnerability, by the way. Yin-leaning Kuei-jin are vulnerable to the traditional wooden staking (as they are more "dead"), while Yan-leaning Kuei-jin are more vulnerable to getting shanked by anything made of Metal (because they are more "alive").

The more enlightened a Kuei-jin becomes, the more proficient they become in drawing chi from other sources, with many eventually able to get chi from breath or ambiently from the environment itself.

Kuei-jin are somewhat aware that the soul is made up of two parts: Hun, which is the "higher" soul that governs intellect and logic, and P'o, the "lower" soul that governs baser instinct and passion. Vampires who have high Hun are honorable and people of temperance; conversely, those with high P'o are wild, unruly, and savage.

Incidentally the p'o bears mentioning, primarily for two reasons. Firstly, it's partly the cause of the Kuei-jin "condition", as during their mortal lives, more often than not, a Kuei-jin had been in thrall of their baser emotions. When they finally died (likely suddenly, violently, or both), the p'o part of the mortal's soul dropped straight into Hell... Then clawed its way back out to its body, usually around two months after death.

Secondly, having one's soul imbalanced towards P'o means that a Kuei-jin is in very real danger of the Shadow (roughly equivalent to the Cainite "Beast") taking over. Having a high hun means that a Kuei-jin is able to stay in control. Most of the time.

Out of Hell, and the Road Back

Unlike Cainites, Kuei-jin are "born" when a strong-willed soul manages to fight its way back from what is (in essence) Hell, and crawl back into its body. In this regard, they are similar to the traditional "Revenant" of folklore. Having died denying one facet or another of their lives before falling into despair, depravity, or sudden violence, these damned souls now find themselves in the living world once more. Now they seek to find meaning to their new Unlives, repay their Kharmic debt, and either enter Heaven or exit the Great Cycle.

In the turbulence of the Modern age not many succeed, and as the Sixth Age approaches, there might not even be time to do so anymore.

We All Start Somewhere

All Kuei-jin start out as a chih-mei, a feral thing in thrall of its P'o and with a bad case of munchies for human flesh (as this is the most readily-available source of Chi). Many Kuei-jin never get past this state, and their eventual fate is to either be used as undead guard dogs by the local Court, or destroyed by by Witch Hunters after they've eaten one villager too many, shapeshifting Hengeyokai, or other shen.

In rare instances, a Kuei-jin breaks free of their animalistic state of their own accord, but most of the time a Court will seek out and collect chih-mei, to test and see if any would return to sapience (meaning their rational Hun manages to subdue the bestial P'o). Those that do proceed to the next step in their unlife's journey.

New Meat for the Courts

The newly self-aware Kuei-jin are not immediately absorbed into the Court that found them. Instead they are considered as hin, or non-persons, and will remain so for the duration of their initial training (called re). As hin have no rights, they can be arbitrarily cut down if they even annoy more established Kuei-jin, so it's no wonder that many learn to be mindful of social etiquette and be very civil.

Hin will be trainged rigorously, not just by an assigned sifu (teacher), but most of the Court members that can spare the time. They are instructed on things that will aid them in navigating Kuei-jin society, from calligraphy, to martial arts, to the etiquette of the Unliving and that of the Spirit World. Here they also learn their Disciplines and supernatural arts, as well as the manipulation of Chi. They also learn to come to grips with their vampiric nature: sating their hunger, mastering their wave and fire natures, and avoiding the sun. As their Shadow finally manifests, they are also trained on how to confront their inner Demon, and use its power, lest they be consumed by their P'o.

This is also the time where a Kuei-jin begins their path along a Dharma, the way to enlightment. Representatives of each Dharma study the hin, then consult with each other to see which student fits which Dharma best.

During this time the hin's every word and action is scrutinized by the community as a whole. They may catch the eye of an established member of the Court, who may take them on as a student or petitioner, and in the process gets introduced to the politics of a Kuei-jin Court.

Eventually every hin will experience a final "exam", essentially a big community party where they will have to prove themselves to the Court. As there are also mortals among the gathered, the hin have to be able to conduct themselves with poise, courtesy, and subtlety. At the same time, hin will also have to show expertise in their selected Disciplines, control over their wave and fire natures (frenzy), or their Chi. One bad screw up, and a sign of displeasure from a Court Ancestor, will see a hin is swiftly escorted out of the proceedings, never to be seen again after.

Those that manage to survive this social gauntlet are formally welcomed by the Ancestor and Mandarins, and join the Court as disciples. They are now considered full members of the community, with all the rights and social expectations that entail. The Kuei-jin at this point will be assigned a "direction" based on the day the vampire arose to Second Breath, and inducted to a wu -- a group with (usually) four other vampires that will become a Kuei-jin's second family.

In previous ages, the period lasted as long as twenty-four years; in the current age, the equivalent training is squeezed into about five. As a result, masters normally don't have the patience to spare, and students who don't show the emotional and spiritual fortitude to survive the time to come are usually dealt with harshly and lethally.

Unlife Debut

Upon joining a wu, the formally-accepted Kuei-jin enter the period normally called Koa. Usually lasting the period of a human lifetime, this is when a Cathayan begins to explore his new nature as well as find his place in the world. For many, the Koa is a time to indulge in sensual pleasures, and settle old scores among the living. For others, it's simply the first step on the long road to enlightenment.

To the shock of many Ancestors, new Kuei-jin usually spend this time making their marks on the society of unliving, putting their own ambition over the good of Kuei-jin society as a whole.

Naturally, this is the point where many a new campaign for Kue-jin start.

Dharma, And You

Each Kuei-jin has a Dharma, a path through the unlife used to determine what their purpose is in the Great Cycle, with the eventual end of reaching Enlightenment. Part philosophy, part code of behavior, part lightning flashes of insight and clarity, a Kuejin grows in power and understanding the further they journey along the dharmic road.

Incidentally the further along a Kuei-jin is on their Dharmic journey, the more likely it is for a Cathayan to be eligible for a higher position in a given Court's ladder of influence (due to the accumulated wisdom and experience their Dharma implies). Court Mandarins and Ancestors are usually the wisest, most cunning, and deadliest members of their community for good reason.

Futher along the path still are the Bodhisattvas. Even the intrigues of Court unlife have lost their colour to these Kuei-jin, who have long discovered that these are distractions to the attainment of Enlightenment. Many of them retreat from the world almost entirely, to meditate on forlorn mountain hideaways about the vagarities of existence. As they stand on the cusp of attaining heaven, the power these enlightened beings radiate can often be overwhelming, even painful, for younger Kuei-jin, yet at the same time they are examples of what the lowest disciple can eventually attain.

The final step of the Dharmic journey is that of the Arhat. The Kuei-jin finally becomes Enlightened; the process often takes millennia, but when that moment clarity happens, the cares of the Mortal World falls away, and they enter the Thousand Clouds. Their kharmic debt was paid, and they are finally free from the Great Cycle. Canonically there are no Arhats left in the waking world, though the Bodhisattvas say that they still regularly receive visions and messages from these great personages.

Now, with the fluff out of the way...

Mechanically, levels in Dharma are almost the same as Generation is for Cainite vampires, though you deduct your Dharma level from 13 to figure out what your equivalent "Generation" is. Interestingly enough, the main KoTE rulebook explicitly says Dharma scores should not be used to figure out Power Levels. While a Bodhisattva is the rough equivalent of a Kindred Methuselah, it does not mean that a Bodhisattva can take a Methuselah one on one (though if you munchkin it, it's certainly possible). Not helped by how much expensive everything is points-wise for a Kuei-jin...

It's best to think of it as an Apples and Oranges situation. That said, there are stuff that the more Spiritually-attuned Kuei-jin can do that your run of the mill Methuselah (who are often blind to the Spirit World) can't, like travel thousands of miles in the blink of an eye, step sideways into the Spirit World ala Garou, or summon storms to blot out the sun.

(To see a canonical example of this at work, several Ravnos Methusaleh were little more than quick snacks when their Antediluvian woke up during the Week of Nightmares. By comparison, a trio of Bodhisattva managed to pin down Zapathasura in Bangladesh for a night and a day, before the Technocracy decided to ruin everyone's fun by nuking all of them)

The higher your Dharma, the higher your Attributes, Disciplines, and Chi use limit can get. Unlike Cainites, where a player will have to eventually do Diablerie if they want to get anything above five dots, advancement in Dharma is a mostly story-driven affair; you either experience a flash of enlightment over the course of a gaming session (depending on your chosen Dharma), or you don't.

Choose Your Own Dharma

There are five "Traditional" Dharma, universally called the "Fivefold Path" (called that way because these were the ones created by the first Arhat, Xue as he wandered the Middle Kingdom after God cursed the Wan Xian) that a Kuei-jin can follow, each representing one of the Virtues that a Cathayan seeks to embrace, each a different path on the road to Enlightenment.

There are also so-called "heretical" Dharmas, which either represent different interpretations of the way to Enlightenment, or spit on the concept on Enlightenment entirely. Because of the fact that none of them have ascended even a single Bodhisattva, followers of the Fivefold Path see them painfully deluded fools or, as in the case of the Scorpion Eaters, dangerous traitors that need to be put down for good.

The Dharmas of the Fivefold Path:

• Howl of Devil Tiger: Experts in dealing and enduring pain, and who seek to replace the (in their opinion) corrupt Devil servants of the Yama Kings. Represents P'o.
• Way of the Resplendent Crane: Those who believe that through virtuous behavior, respect of the rules, and proper action, this rotten World can be saved and renewed. Represents Hun.
• Song of the Shadows (Bone Flowers): Melancholic scholars, who have even closer ties to Ghosts and the Spirit World. Represents Yin.
• Dance of the Thrashing Dragon: Thrillseekers and hedonists, they seek to experience all of life's colors, especially since they missed out on it before their Second Breath. Represents Yang.
• The Path of a Thousand Whispers: The rarest Dharma, where one seeks to find their place in the Great Cycle by living through a countless identities. Represents Balance.

The Heretical Dharmas:

• Spirit of the Living Earth (Cerulian Veils): Shamans and travelers of the Spirit Realms, they're not picky about who they traffic with, which includes evil sprits that typically hunt down Kuei-jin. Represents Yin and Yang.
• Face of the Gods: Believe that they are Gods cast out of Heaven, Represents Hun and P'o..
• Flames of the Rising Phoenix: See their new Unlives as a simple continuation of their old Mortal lives, and a second chance to set the kharmic scales straight. Represents Hun and Yang.
• Tempest of Inward Focus: Represents Balance.
• Scorpion Eaters: Represents P'o.