Kuei-Jin Clans

Devil Tigers: Some souls scream when they reach Yomi. Others enjoy the trip and bring the torment back with them when they return. To these souls, the Howl of the Devil-Tiger is a mantra of hope. Pain is a cleansing thing to these vampires; it roots out imperfections and applies the healing torch. In the shriek that follows, a higher Truth appaears.

According to The Blood Sutras, Xue discovered the Mantra of Pain after the destruction of Mount Meru. Weeping, he lashed himself with nettles and tore gashes in his sides. As his blood poured to the ground, it burst into flames. Xue ripped off his own face and threw it into the flames. It was then he became enlightened.

Despite misconceptions, the followers of this path are not demon-worshippers. Oh, they appear to be, to the unenlightened observer: Devil-Tiger temples crawl with atrocities - from skewered babies to maimed slaves - and ring with obscene chants and discorant music. Unclean spirits frequent such places, and the Chi that boils in Devil-Tiger dragon nests is corrosive and foul. The outsiders miss the point, however: Devil-Tigers do not worship devils, they want to become devils. And that is a far greater purpose than servitude.

To the Searing Wind (another name for the Devil-Tiger sect), pain is instructive and purifying. A devil, in the grand scheme of things, is the doctor with a cauter-knife and bone-saw. By cutting off the rotting limbs and burning out infections, a devil makes creation health. It is Heaven's wish that Devil-Tigers fulfill this task on Earth - both on others and upon themselves.

These vampires epitomize sadomasochism; they enjoy tormenting other creatures mentally, emotionally and physically, but revel in the same treatment, too. Each tear is a new lesson, each cry a vision of truth. Just as a sudden flash of light leaves a deeper darkness, so the lash of pain creates a greater calm. Restraint comes from the fear of pain; hence, welcome pain and banish restraint. Agony should be savored for the insights that it brings - insights that turn to higher joys, if you understand their meaning.

The Searing Wind tries to help other find those joys; paradoxically, it also seeks to destroy people who understand the truth too well. These devils are surgeons too, after all, and destined by Heaven to cauterize disease. Like the goddes Tien Mu, Devil-Tigers are the lightning that illuminates the wicked; like Le Kung, they are the thunderbolt, which strikes down sinners. The Sixth Age, so they say, will be the brightest strike, the flash that will burn a wicked creation to ashes. Like the lightning, the Devil-Tigers will fade when their task is done, and a new, wiser creation will rise from the embers of the old.

Replendent Cranes: The earth is a chaotic shadowshow of unruly imperfections. Heaven, by contrast, is ordered, secure and settled.

Shouldn't earth be more like Heaven!

When imperfect souls are returned to earth, Heaven must have some task for them. Some Kuei-jin recognize that they died wreathed in sin; Yomi was not enough penance — they must make bent things straight. Xue recognized this need. Pride had slapped the face of Heaven, and Heaven had responded. The unworthy, he noted, had not been destroyed, but were left to ponder their curse. Perhaps, he reasoned, if they could return to their former glory, Heaven would forgive them and the hunger would be eased. Xue meditated for a thousand nights beneath the Falls of Tong. His arms bloated and his skin turned green, but no enlightenment would come. At last, hunger drove him from the water and he wandered naked in the snow. Nothing could be found and Xue despaired. At the edge of a frozen pond, he saw a white crane pluck a frog from the ice. The bird set the frog aside and the frog became a butterfly. At once, Xue understood.

Like Legalists and Confucianists, Resplendent Cranes see suffering flow from imperfection. If enlightened rulers can set examples — and laws—for their people, those people should prosper. The key lies in the purity of the lawmakers; if the leaders are enlightened, their laws carry Heaven's blessings. The Wan Xian disgraced their posts; their heirs, the flawed souls returning as Kuei-jin, are likewise shameful. To alleviate their shame, the vampires must serve as the Correctors of Heaven, as enforcers and exemplars of the Harmonious Way. The path is not easy — the Demon chews at one's honor and the hunger gnaws at one's resolve. Resisting these distractions, however, provides salvation: salvation for the lost souls of the vampires and for the continuation of the mortal world.

The Sixth Age is not set in stone. It can be averted by virtuous behavior and right action. With a powerful effort, the Great Cycle can be turned back and a new Age of Heaven can begin. The Shining Ice Guardians — as some Resplendent Cranes call themselves — want literally to save the Middle Kingdom from itself. It's a mighty task; never before has the world seemed so corrupt. Still, Chi, the power of Heaven, flows through all Kuei-jin. They have one last chance to redeem themselves, and the Cranes are resolved to do just that.

The Eight Lotus Path (a collection of analects and koans) gives a formula for salvation: The First Lotus offers the recognition of hope. The Second Lotus demands virtuous existence. The Third Lotus involves nurture — rewards for virtue, correction for recklessness — and the Fourth calls for the purgation of the wicked. The Fifth Lotus encourages instruction, while the Sixth demands law. With the Seventh Lotus, mortal law gives way to harmony; the Eighth Lotus transcends the living world and unites it with the spirit. By meditating upon the Eight Lotus Path, a Crane discerns what must be done.

ShinThousand Whispersing Ice Guardians recognize that the entire world cannot be saved. Things have gone too far out of balance; dead wood will have to be cut away. Most sages set their hopes on the redemption of the Golden Fields — of the Eastern lands and their peoples. The misery in the Orient has been caused by foreign invaders, from the Mongols to the Americans. These invaders carry disease like plague-dogs, and their sickness must be purged. If that requires a blood-cleansing, so be it. Heaven will deal with the dogs in its own way; the Kuei-jin have been sent back to make the Golden Fields pure again.

Thrashing Dragons: Like trees, the Laughing Rainbows of the Thrashing Dragons Dharma rise out of the fertile ground and unite it with the raging sky. These Keui-jin are as alive as the undead can be. Bursting with life-energy, the followers of the Green Way resemble the forces of nature - too powerful to be silenced, too vivid to be real. As far as they're concerned, creation is a rainbow - illusory, but too colourful to ignore. In its colours, they see the unity and symmetry of Heaven. The idea, as the Dragons see it, is to experience each of those colours as vividly as possible. As a result, Laughing Rainbows are in general messy and vulgar, indulging themselves with wild feasts and drunken orgies - celebrations that usually feature living "entertainment," too. The lands of the Golden Courts hide Rainbow temples so infamous that even vampires avoid them. In their calmer moments, a Thrashing Dragon can be gentle and compassionate. Like wood, they grow tall and strong, yet bends before snapping. They nurture life, yet feed on it without remorse.

Shunning society's restrictions, they explore life's lush infinities through martial arts and Tantrick practices. Since life assumes ten thousand forms, most Thrashing Dragons master shapeshifting arts. The Thrashing Dragon way is highly animistic. Looking deep into nature, each Rainbow sees the spirits beneath life's skin, and they honours them with thanks, gifts and rites. Truly skilled Dragons can move beyond the Wall and speak to the spirits in their own tongue; a younger one simply recognises the kami and grants them respect. Thrashing Dragons are also known for their willingness to involve others in their lives. Life is not a solitary game - it requires lovers and rivals and romance and danger, if it is to keep the Thrashing Dragon on edge and awake. Such an exciting life requires a strong cast of supporting characters, and Thrashing Dragons as a group are perfectly willing to entangle others in their affairs. Among Kuei-jin and other shen, they typically observe decorum, since giving offence might lead to a duel or hard feelings.

Bone Flowers: There is life, there is death and there is the bridge between the two. Xue recognized this truth when he romanced a ghost from the forests of Hing Fang. To be with her, he entered the Yin World. He was not welcome there, however; at length the Ebon Dragon breathed on him, and Xue turned to dust.

"Would you swirl in my air forever and a day?" asked the Dragon.

"If doing so would bring me closer to my love," Xue replied.

"We have no use for love," the Ebon One sneered. His snort whisked the dust into the air. Xue scattered to the five directions and settled like fine ash. Behind the Dragon, Xue's lover wiated, her eyes as cold as stones. Yet the ghost was not unmoved. A single tear slid down her cheek and spattered into the dust. Xue sprang full-formed from the spot of mud and the Dragon was enlightened.

The Midnight Jewel (an important Dharmic sutra, from which the name "Bone Flowers" comes) compares the spirit realm to a glittering web and the living world to the dew upon its strands. Drifting across that web like spiders, the followers of the Shadow Song Dharma taste the dew, pluck the strands and occasionally feed on unwary flies. Like the Dragon, the so-called "Bone Flowers" learn from the song of mortality. Wreathed in the dust of death and the wind of life, they dance slowly to the rhythms of both. Like autumn leaves, these Kuei-jin glide between the Jade Kingdom and the living world. Along the way, they comfort the grieving, shepherd the ghosts and punish disrespectful mortals. In the Middle Kingdom, there are plenty of all three.

Aware of their immortality, these Kuei-jin share a thirst for discovery. From libraries and mass media, they gather stories about the living world; from the spirits they collect memories and news. To bind the two together the vampires record their insights in works of art or scholarship. The Second Breath stimulates their curiosity, and the hunger to learn rivals the hunger to consume.

Learning seems to be the only passion these creatures have. In all other matters, Bone Flowers seem distant and precise. Every fact must be dissected for significance, and each event becomes a symbol for a much grander thing. This curiosity brings them into the company of other shen; there, they act as ambassadors, mystics and lorekeepers. With their talent for enigmas, such vampires understand the spirit paths as well; an elder makes an excellent guide to Yin and Yomi Worlds alike. During her instruction, the average Bone Flower visits both.

In life, these vampires tended to be melancholy. Not surprisingly, most committed suicide, neglected their families or never married. Art or academia took the place of love, and these souls often died unfulfilled. When they return, these Kuei-jin feel both longing and a void. The Scarlet Queen calls from across death's mists; the winds steal her words but the feeling remains. Perhaps the Bone Flowers find their Hundred Clouds in the Queen's embrace - in discovering the love they avoided for so long.

Thousand Whispers: The Hollow Reed (one of the most important sutras of Dharma) praises moderation; while the other paths describe themselves as storms or fires, the Reed speaks of emptiness given form. The sutra's title comes from the Dharmic ideal: To be like the reed, fed by water but filled with nothing, rooted in the ground but reaching to the sky. The Way's name comes from its practice of living multiple lives to gain multiple insights. To maintain balance, the so-called "Rootless Trees" walk a thousand roads, each under a different name. It's a long path to enlightenment, but then, they have nothing but time. The Whispers don't believe that the Sixth Age is the end of creation. To them, it's a ritual death, one of many. Like the reeds rising from a riverbed, the Rootless Ones trust that when the storm ends, their flexibility will carry them through. Other Dharmas won't survive. The cricket is drowned. The wasp is blown away. The centipede remains unharmed. The hollow reed still stands. This path's disciples love riddles and couch everything in symbolism. Some vampires claim that the Thousand Whispers write sutras for each blade of grass, and, while that's an overstatement, it captures the Way's perspective. These Kuei-jin love to look at old things through new eyes, and do so literally at every opportunity. Talented shape changers, the Rootless Trees shift gender, alliance, lifestyle, and temperament with bewildering speed. Each change, claim the sages, teaches a Whisper a little more.

The Whispering Way is the rarest of Dharmas, and with good reason: It's the hardest to maintain. Kuei-jin are neither balanced nor temperate. To offset their destructive natures, Whispers cultivate the Broken Mask technique -- a multiple-personality path to enlightenment. While most people cling to their identities, the Rootless Trees take on different personas, then kill them off when all lessons appear to have been learned. Since most lives tend to be full-time affairs, many vampires take on one or two personas at once, then stage tragic deaths and enter new roles. Immortal as they are, the Whispers can experience the full range of human perspective and thus rise above any single view. Naturally, such insight takes time. In the early stages of the path, a Whisper is pretty much like any other Running Monkey. Her elders scold her and offer koans that demand a wider view. As she moves through many lives, the vampire's vision broadens. In time, she becomes like a fine jade carving -- precious in the rough, but smoothed into exquisite form by the sculptor's steady hands. The key to the path is to be both sculptor and jade, to craft yourself into a work of art. This Dharma does have a special affinity to the Yulan-jin, those Kuei-jin’s whose souls have been warped by Yomi. These beings cannot hold onto a body for very long and with every Little Death they encounter, they are hurled to another body where they are left without memories. The Yulan-jin find it easier to follow the Path of a Thousand Whispers, as you are supposed to leave the old behind holding only onto the lesson learned. However, they will often forget that lesson as well. Yulan-jin become Wise Centipedes more than any other Dharma.

In addition to these five dharmas are several heretical dharmas which may or may not succeed. The ultimate goal of a dharma is to liberate a Kuei-jin from their undead state and there are recorded kuei-jin, bodhisattvas and arhats, who have done so.