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Kindred Of The East - Age of Sorrow: Chapter 18

The Jade Hand pressed on into the interior of Tibet.

As they travelled the Wu began to consider their exact destination. Speaking with Hanuman they described their experiences when some of the Jade Hand had seen Kiayanwang's domain, when he first escaped from the ship. After some consideration Hanuman declared that this sounded like the site of the Jade emperor's palace. And so the course was set.

The days passed, and the Wu began to dream of their times in their various hellscapes. And in these dreams they each experienced a new event (memory?) where their respective Yama kings declared that they should be sent back into the world. The narrative seeming to be that the Jade hand itself was a deliberate creation of the Yama kings. Could this be??

The Wu drew closer and closer to their destination, and in the Yin plane they began to see exquisite temples statues and buildings slowly emerging from beneath the sand.

When they drew close to their goal, they abandoned their vehicle and proceeded on foot. Hanuman was keen to check on the status of the celestial realm in this place, and offered to draw the Wu members through with him which of course the curious kue-jin accepted.

The grand architecture of the emperors palace was deserted, but instantly reminiscent of the Wu's memory of Kiayanwang's own palace. With trepidation they entered the ruined palace.

Within the huge frozen form of the August Personage of Jade stood alone and slowly crumbling. As they watched quakes of disruption rocked the palace and the emperor-statue crumbled a little more each time.

Hanuman opened a window into the middle kingdom, revealing the less imposing middle kingdom analogue of the palace. Kyanwang was present there, meditating over the familiar idol. It seemed clear to the wu that Kyanwang's focus and the shock-waves buffeting the remains of the Jade Emperor were connected.

Fleeing from the crumbling plane of the Jade Emperor the Wu returned to the middle kingdom. Battling with their own terror they snuck into Kyanwang's throne room and fought to approach the idol, meaning to snatch it from the Yama king's nose. Just as Seshwayo was resorting to throwing Mei Feng to cross the distance, Kyanwang snapped from his trance and smashed the statue.

Instantly the Wu members were catapulted into Kyanwang's freshly created Yomi realm, arriving in his twisted mirror of the Jade emperor's palace.

Kyanwang indulged in some smug bragging, before assigning the Wu territory in his realm; treating them as his trusted lieutenants. Tentatively the Wu decided with their dreams and Kyanwang's easy foiling of their original plan to play along somewhat but then try to enlist Kyanwang's enemies against him.

They found no great difficulty in leaving and they travelled to their respective hells to discuss the situation.To summarise the various conversations: the other Yama kings mostly regard Kyanwang as a minor player in the wider game and tried to enlist the Jade hand to be their warriors against the west..

Current Mood: nervous
Current Location: Tibet
Current Music: M2 - The Cry Of Morgoth

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Kindred Of The East - Age of Sorrow

Tibet, the Roof on The World, was famous not just for it's ancient monasteries and pious culture but also for it's vast, open, empty spaces, and roads that seemed to stretch onward forever into the steppe.

The Wu of the Jade Hand rested in a village on the edge of the high Platou. They were on their way to try and undo some of the damage that had been wrought by the escape of Kiayanwang, an escape in which they had assisted before they knew his true nature. Now the Yin and Yang worlds of the Middle Kingdom were slowly being corrupted by his presence in the once holy land of Tibet. The village in which they rested was populated by followers of Hanuman, the monkey spirit that been taking an interest in the Jade Hand for some time now. Hanuman had also agreed to join the Wu on their quest to center of the highlands to force a change in the soul not just of an ancient Akuma, but a would-be Yama King. They knew that some if not all of their number might not make it back, and still they pressed on.

Once the Kue-Jin had sated their thirst, healed their wounds, and repaired their vehicle they were ready to move on. Though the still present faith of the land was a powerful obstacle, forcing the Wu into ceaseless battles within themselves. Pongreet was the first to fall, the most accomplished driver of the group he was at the wheel when the faith of the land became too much for him, but he managed to hold his nerve, just about. Minsheo Rim took over the driving but things only got worse from there. The irresistible fear their kind had of all that was truly holy took them in its grip one by one. Misheo stayed strong but Pongreet got worse and was watched carefully by his companions lest he flee into the night, then Seshwayo and even Shinzo were overcome.

A chase began, a bloody night time Wild Hunt down the rocky slopes and through the scarce trees. Seshwayo ran first and fastest, powering onward into the darkness using the arts of the black wind as his Po rose to the surface. Shinzo, running behind fell into the same trap. The slave and the demon ran on, overcome by their darker natures. Meanwhile Pongreet had come to his senses and followed his companions, though when he reached them and saw the savagery that had overcome them he decided to wait for Minseo Rim.

She arrived in winged demon form, soaring through the sky above, enraged at her fellow Wu member's impromptu blood letting. She dived down, kicking them both in face as Shinzo lunged at Seshwayo with his katana. Shinzo was knocked down and Seshwayo ran on once again. Pongreet emerged from the shadows to try and calm the Devil Tiger but it was to no avail and he was forced to fashion a blade from his own arm using the arts of bone shintai. The two fought sword to sword but Shinzo was more experienced and still in the full grip of his Po. He sliced through the Thai detective's forearm then set about attacking his ally with his own severed limb, before regaining control of his senses at the last moment. Unfortunately that was the same moment that Minseo Rim chose to drop Seshwayo on his head. She had caught him as he continued to flee, scooping him up and carrying back to where Shinzo stood facing off against Pongreet. On the ground below Shinzo had in fact just apologized for his lack of control but the Korean above did not know that and dropped the Thrashing Dragon directly down upon him from a great hight. The Devil Tiger's body crumpled beneath the impact, reducing their already wounded companion to unconsciousness as his soul was called back to the halls of Emma-O, the Yama King that once held dominion over him during his time in hell. Emma-O wished for information and servitude from Shinzo, but the Devil Tiger was circumspect, offering neither defiance nor submission and telling him nothing he did not already know. Neither did the Japanese Kue-jin reject an alliance of convenience, stating that he would not necessarily turn away from assistance in taming Kiayanwang if it was offered.

When he awoke the group had brought themselves back under control and carried him back to the van. The engine was running and it was time to drive on. With the holy aura of the place still searing their soles the Wu pressed on, deeper into Tibet. They had let Kiayanwang out of the bottle, now it fell to them to contain him.

Current Mood: nauseated

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Kindred of the East - Chapter 16

As a Wu, we decided our best course of action was to travel en mass to the Bone Court. There were many things requiring investigation and this particular court would be likely to yield results.

Mei Feng decided to go to the Great Library to research into the wheel. Shinzo also looked to the vast information contained in the library to shed light upon the statue and rituals that could potentially help us in taking control of the sacred seat now controlled by the insanely powerful devil tiger, and possibly temporarily silencing his phenomenal powers.

Myself, well I first headed to the largest spiders web to find the queen. Knowing me now as little threats to their plans, the spiders let me in easily without interest. I was interested in what could happen if we let the spiders in to the sacred area to drain the corrupted chi. The answer was simple. Yes they could channel the chi and essential refract it, channel the corrupt chi, but this would mean that eventually all the supernatural elements would be overcome, resulting in the destruction of all supernatural creatures. yes humanity would survive but we would be doomed. A plan if all goes wrong, a last stance if you will, but only that - the information imparted would not help us in any constructive way.

Pong grit visited our western shape-shifting ally. to see if he could help us in any way to try to turn the wheel for the benefit of all of us.

After my encounter I decided to join the others in the Great Library, to o my own research into the historical reports of the wheel turning to try to shed some light on what we could expect. It seems like we have a lot to worry about.

Shinzo, thankfully was victorious in his discovery of a ritual that would allow us to change the destructive energy of the devil tiger into a more innocent, less destructive type, as to not corrupt the holy place further. Now armed with the smallest glimmer of hope we planned our journey to the sacred seat in the Tibetan plateau. We determined our best mode of transport was to travel a dragon line to near to the plateau, then acquire a van by any means and travel up to our destination to try to avoid detection.

Pong grit was successful in stealing a van, and while this event was occurring, I purchased the necessary equipment to shield us from the sun, during our sleeping hours, while my associates located enough fuel for the van to ensure we could actually get there.

We were hoping for a smooth uneventful trip at least until we got to the destination. We couldn't have been more wrong.

About half way there, Pong grit was startled by a golden monkey on the road, causing him to take direct action to avoid it. The vehicle crashed, with each of us badly injured succumbed to the dark folds of unconsciousness.

A while later we woke up, safe and healed in a sacred village. Its inhabitants we eventually recognised as the fey, although it took us a while as we had never encountered them before. They asked us why we had crashed, and after explaining the golden monkey - they told us of a legend of their leader who had gone missing who had been rumoured to have been turned into a monkey.

Assuring them we would at least try to help in shedding light on this mystery, we set off to where we had last seen the creature. It was Shinzo that had located him and was able to communicate with him, as he was partly in the spirit realm and partly not. This was the reason his folk could not see him or communicate with him in any way.

Taking him back to the feys' village we began to explain to them what had happened, and in exchange they agreed to help us in some way in our quest. I am glad that Seshwayo was quick and stopped mei feng from stealing the sacred key from the golden monkey, that could have really buggered things up. We shall see if we are able to unseat the new yama king from his throne, iat the very least we will most likely die from it.

Current Mood: stressed
Current Location: the future
Current Music: Inade - Kybalion

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RP Itinerary

Fridays 20:00 - 00:00

Main Games:
Kindred Of The East - Age of Sorrow (GM Greg)
Wraith: The Great War - Dead Air Over Europe OR Numenera (GM Luke)
Vampire: The Dark Ages - Constantinople By Night (GM Joe)
Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade - Unnamed game (GM Karen)
Babylon 5 - Unnamed game (GM Iain)

One Shot Ideas: (in no particular order)
Numenera (GM Luke)
Orpheus (GM Anybody)
CthulhuTech (GM Luke)
Mage: Sorcerer's Crusade (GM Karen)
Demon Hunter (GM Gregg)
Mummy: The Resurrection (GM Luke)

When anyone has other ideas or games they want to run just make it known and they can be added on.

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kindred of the east

[cross-post / grogg] Kindred of the east chapter 15

Group spends a few days healing in Tanegashima before reporting to the bishamon court on Okinawa. From there they visit the Gaki court in Tokyo. The Gaki are surprisingly welcoming and amicable with the group and really appricaite the bishamon sharing information with their traditional rivals. Whilst wondering Tokyo the group finds themselves in the wicked city, treated as guests of honour for a quick meet and greet with the yama king himself.

After Tokyo the group decided to do a small tour of their respective court. As they moved between courts they pick up more and more legends of Kiayanwang.
He was mikaboshi mentor
He is an ancient proto akuma
He is a kuei jin bogey man
He has been hording power and biding his time for millennia.

Meo So rim has her x employer arrested and visits him in jail.

Pongreets brother is leaving the care of tikbalang and heading to Vienna with his salubri friend.

Glass spiders are beginning to breed in japan.

The new stygian aircraft carrier is becoming the banner of the resistance and has many souls flocking to the stygians base from japan and south East Asia.

Eventually the group returns to the bone court of Chongqing. There is much uproar and debate about what is going on and the court are splitting into faction arguing different courses of action.

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random puerile tag

Activation

...and behold, there was (another) Dark_rp

No game this week either sorry

ps this is Gregg not a karen

no game tonight

sorry cant escape work. Next week is looking unlikely too

Current Mood: numb
Current Music: Yoshido Brothers - Kodo

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Kindred of the East, Age of Sorrow: Chapter 14

After the capture of our Wu members, a plan was needed to rescue them. Knowing we needed allies I set off to find the Queen of the crystal spiders, to see if they could assist us. It took a while to find the right location, eventually we walked into one of the hanger bays located at the space centre. Seeing the mass web, I knew we had struck gold, luckily the Queen was there. With respect I moved into her presence and asked her if she would grant us the boon of aid in our time of plight. Luckily, fate was kind and she agreed, 3 spiders came forward and she offered to me to choose a champion. Looking at each one in turn, I felt one looked very familiar. Almost certain this was the worker spider who had attached to me from the beginning in China, I accepted his help. It would be good to work together once again.

Next I knew we had to find Shinzo's father, who could potentially help us from the spirit realm side. I found one of his guards, who was informed us the Shinzo San was away on a raid. Desperate now, I pleaded with the guard to relay an urgent message to him and told the guard of the recent events, making great reference to the plight of Shinzo. Knowing we had allies from the other wraith camp I also requested that the same message must be relayed to the Stigians. While the guard could not promise or guarantee, as I was leaving I saw him dispatch messages in the direction of the Stigian camp and what I guessed to be the potential raid location.

Knowing Seshwayo and Etsuko were in the process of acquiring jet ski's for us all. I left to join them. We managed to navigate the sea and eventually saw the air craft carrier in the distance. Carefully and silently we got within range, just enough to see the vessel clearly, but far enough away from their sensor range. I decided we needed to tether the ski's together I used a rope which luckily happened to be in the stash box on the back of the vehicle. Whilst I was doing this Seshwayo dove into the water. Eventually jets tethered, I dove in after him to see what he was doing. Lo and behold I found Seshwayo trying to pull up a heavy rock to weight the ski's down. A plan formed. With Seshwayo lifting the rock i managed to tie the long stretch of rope around it and swam (seshwayo with me) to the surface and connected the ski's to the rope.

Knowing our only course of action was to get closer to the vessel, we decided our best option was for the three of us to sink to the bottom and walk straight under the ship, then swim up to the centre mass. The problem was, when we got closer the ship was surrounded by strange looking mine devices, that looked very active should their sensors go off. Unfortunately, Seshwayo in trying to determine their range set one off, which caused a massive explosion, visibly caused the vessel to shift and knocked out Seshwayo in the process. From this though, we could determine that the mines were tuned to be sensitive to the supernatural. Altering our plan we (whilst swimming with a party member out cold) swam into the figurative eye of the storm and avoided those dratted mines.

Eventually we managed to find a way into the ship, thankfully with a dazed but conscious Seshwayo. Reaching the deck, we knew we had altered them to our presence. What i did expect was to get in the fight of our lives. Our foe was powerful, informed and well armed. A very dangerous situation. We were prepared to fight. What we didn't expect was the insanity happening on the ship. People desperate to escape, helicopters taking off in haste, soldiers fleeing for their lives, a troupe even trying to pass through us, well they wont now. We took care of that nonsense and easily dispatched them with ease. Nor did we expect a huge black ball of weird energy ripping through the ship and swallowing everything inside of it, being removed from time and space.

Feeling a shift in our reality, I gaped. That was all we could do for that moment. I looked from Seshwayo to Etsuko all of us wearing the same expression. The energy ball disappeared, leaving nothing only a sinking vessel, fleeing soldiers, captives and creatures (I'm pretty sure I was hallucinating but there were numerous tigers riding on sharks) of varying sorts, whilst knowing we had nothing left to do, swam back to our jet ski's. We then made our way back to Shinzo's dojo, in the hope our Wu would find their way back to us.

Thankfully, we found them there, grim faced and frazzled. The shift had been caused by a powerful being called Kaiyanwang, who Pongrit and Shinzo had managed to free from his bonds of captivity. He was the source of the fleeing masses and numerous dead. The tales from the vessel sounded horrific, with one side seeming like a version of hell, the energy twisted and corrupt, the other technological terror. It was Pongrit that had managed to infiltrate into their systems causing anarchy on the carrier, whilst Shinzo had been the target and prey of a very intellectually challenged goblin spider. Let us say I doubt that the spider came off well, I must ask Shinzo to relay that story for he seemed far too tired to go much into detail.

The energy ball had teleported the four to another dead dimension, one that was transformed in front of their very eyes into a realm of hell. I have no idea of the discussions that occurred there, but I do suspect it was no small matter. Yet another conversation for another time, for now I am glad enough to have my Wu back in one place, safe.

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kindred of the east

Kindred of the East, Age of Sorrow: Chapter 13

At this point the jade hand were fractured, some were captives aboard the prison ship and others were stranded far from the middle kingdom, with no obvious route of return! Quite a predicament!

Let us start with the Korean duo, Seshwayo and Minseo Rim. They wandered through the yang world looking for a dragons nest, knowing these places can often act as gateways to travel between the worlds. And in due course they did find such a place. Of course there was a bargain to be struck with the guardian spirit of the dragon nest (somewhat fittingly an actual dragon in this case), and Seshwayo was forced to part with his precious jade talisman in order to buy passage for them both to return.

That obstacle overcome, their next problem was to locate their companions. You see not only did they have to free the other members of the hand from captivity, but they also needed to find them in the first place! Here Minso Rim took to the fore scouring the the Internet for clues as to the organisation who had captured her fellows.

Now I think we'd better see what had been happening to the others!

The first thing any of them remembered clearly was being imprisoned in a small holding cell with a transparent window and otherwise white clean walls. Around the room were many other such cells containing a variety of other shen all similarly restrained. But what really drew the eye was the more elaborate structure at the centre of the room and the strange figure imprisoned within. But, more about him later.

After some time observing, both Shinzo and Pongrit made separate attempts to smash their way out of the chambers holding them. Their captors reacted to this in an unexpected manner, the floor of their cells opened up dropping them down a chute.

When they landed they found themselves in a wider prison complex, largely populated by a variety of hengyokai. After some exploration the two wu members found one another and began to compare their experiences and plot a means to escape.

Separately they questioned prominent members of the sub-groups of hengyokai sharing their prison space. They discovered that the hengyokai were prevented from escaping into the yang realms by some kind of barrier. They also learned that once per day a lift appeared to accept a single challenger to fight against another shen from a different part of the prison. If the challenger wins then rewards of food were sent down.

Sensing an opportunity Shinzo volunteered for the next challenge, and Pongrit cloaked himself in invisibility and came along for the ride.

Arriving in the challenge arena Sinzo found himself facing a Chu-Ih-yu (which is a kind of metal elemental if you aren't keeping up with your fae studies). The Chu-Ih-yu put up very little resistance, informing Shinzo that he was to be contacted in a dream before throwing the fight and making it seem as if Shinzo had defeated it.

After Shinzo returned with his reward to the prison layer Pongrit waited invisibly until he had the opportunity to escape to the wider environs of the ship.

Later both Pongrit and Shinzo were contacted in dreams by the strange figure from their initial holding cell room, the one from the ornate structure at the room's heart. He claimed to have been captured deliberately in order to retrieve a precious artefact, but that he now needs help to escape his restraints. If Sinzo and Pongrit could free him then he had the power to overcome their oppressors.

Upon awaking Sinzo planned his next move, planning to appear to loose his next challenge in order to escape. Meanwhile Pongrit expanded his range sneaking through more security barriers on the upper decks of the ship finding the bridge and a highly secured lab area.

The Koreans had not been idle ether. Seeking out Shinzo's mentor Etsuko who reforged Shinzo's ruined blade. Finally equipped and with clues to the location of the prison ship Seshwayo looked to hire himself some appropriate transport to reunite the wu...

Current Mood: infuriated
Current Music: Yoshida Brothers - Rising

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Kindred of the East, Age of Sorrow: Chapter 12

Seshwayo and I, upon hearing that Shinzo was in need of help, stirred into immediate action and travelled to the Green Court in order to use the dragon lines to Bishamon Court in Okinawa as fast as we could. It took a day but eventually we got there, meeting with Pongrit. Anxious to reach our Wu member we hired a speedboat and left for Tanegashima. It was on the last few miles of our journey to the island that we saw a black, sleek, unmarked air craft carrier, it looked to be easily capable of complex technological requirements. In the sky the air hummed with the activity of search helicopters. Avoiding their search area, we docked at the main port and made our way closer to Shinzo's dojo.

I called the dojo from town to see if I could talk directly to Shinzo, however one of his students imformed us that shinzo had not been seen for 24 hrs and that the search teams had been looking for him. Knowing that it would be difficult to track him, we asked our nushi for help in finding him. Eager to help, the fox showed us the way and led us to his location. The problem was at first he was not in the real world, he was in the yang world. He must have been alerted to our presence though, for with his sword he cut a passage into our world, we followed and the rift closed. He then told us what he had endured and learned of the hostiles currently searching for him, maybe even us.

He had been exploring the island quietly and swiftly, without attracting the attention of the authorities when he came across the ransacked shrine of Amatsu, with no sign of the spirit. Shortly after this, one of his students arrived and informed Shinzo that a significant search operation for him was underway and that surveillance was occurring at his properties.

Eager to see for himself, he found the scouts and snipers first. Taking each out from their hidden locations, he dispatched them, buying time by radioing in for unit verification to command.

He was on another pass of the area when he had spotted the fox, and shortly after, us.
We decided our best course of action was to take out one of the mobile command centres. With our plan to take out the guards as quickly as possible, Shinzo tore a doorway into the world, and we stepped through. We managed to dispatch a few very quickly, but one of the technicians managed to radio into command to inform them of our arrival. This gave our hunters the advantage, using their tech to strengthen the wall, to try to stop us from leaving into another realm.

We managed to kill the last of the threats inside of the centre, but a cyborg, with his dying fury let out flames, in the hope he would incinerate us all. Fortunately both my fellow Korean, Shinzo and myself remains steadfast, but you could see the panic take hold of Pongrit and Mei Feng. Desperate to survive they threw themselves out of the vehicle into a unit of cyborgs, while we, thanks to Shinzo managed to step back again into the yang world. Eager to get our Wu mates from their captors he cut the air to open a gate. The problem was though, this time the sword screeched with a soul piercing pitch as it rend the bridge between worlds with only a small opening. Shinzo grabbed both Pongrit an Mai Feng, with us pulling him back through to the Yang realm, but the force of a unit of cyborgs along with the strength of the wall aided by technology, was enough and Shinzo was pulled through. Leaving myself and Seshwayo unable to get back to the mortal realm, and our Wu members captured, bound in body bags and taken aboard the aircraft carrier.

Current Mood: shocked
Current Location: Tanegashima
Current Music: This Morn' Omina - Ayahuasca (Let's Shift Together)

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Kindred of The East - Age of Sorrow

The Jade Hand, unsure of where to go next, chose instead to go in many directions.
First Minsheo traveled back to her native South Korea on a dragon line to the Green Court. There had been problems with her finances that demanded her personal attention and on this subject the Crane was diligent indeed. Seshwayo, a Dragon born and then reborn in the North, had never seen the South of his country and so traveled with her to see the neon-lit wealth of Seol with his own eyes.

Pongreet, having found and freed his mortal brother with the help of the Wu, now had to deal with the fact that he had been turned by the Kin-Jin* and so sought the best advice that the Golden Courts possessed on the matter - a distant bodhisattva hidden among the islands of the Philippines. After informing his companions of the plan he set of with his brother via plane and boat on a journey into the sea of a thousand islands. On his journey however they were watched by a Kin-Jin with three eyes, indeed she followed them all the way to Tikbalang's island far from civilization. Once there he found the ancient and inhuman bodhisattva, a master of the flesh and bone shintais, and beseeched him for help in reigning in his brother's new nature.

In Seoul Minsheo and Sehwayo hired a mortal investigator to uncover the truth of what was happening to her business interests while exploring the varied night life of the Korean capitol. After an audience with Minsheo's old mentor they brought their excursion to a close and made plans to find and meet up with the rest of the Wu.

On an unnamed island somewhere in the Philippines Pongreet had reached an accommodation with the creature that was Tikbalang, he would allow the young Kin-Jin to stay on his island for a time to allow him to focus on retaining his humanity, while Pongreet's brother had himself also expressed a wish to stay in the wilderness claiming his own visions had led them there. With the arrangement agreed the Song of Shadow made to leave the area, but as he did so he spotted the three eyed vampire watching him once again, this time he approached it directly and challenged it as to its intentions. She responded that her purpose was to save his brother's soul. It was, apparently, part of the purpose of her 'clan'. They talked and he came to believe her, eventually leaving his brother to whatever awaited him on the island with the bodhisatva and the three eyed woman.

Meanwhile back on Tanegashima things had once again taken an extremely violent turn for Yamamoto Shinzo. Upon returning home from Bangkok he was ambushed by a team of well equipped mortals, seemingly intent on capturing him though for what purpose he did not know. All he knew was that yet more dangerous intruders were present on the island, and this time they had come right to his front door. Relishing the righteous bloodshed to come the Devil Tiger instantly threw himself into the fray with the intruders. This time however they were ready for him, using debilitating electrical weapons they sought to wear him down but the son of a samurai was not to be defeated with such things, not yet. These were men of flesh and steel however, they fought hard and fought bravely and though Shinzo took pleasure in their deaths at the point of his katana he also could not fail to acknowledge their skill and commitment to their cause. He had fought true soldiers that night, perhaps for the first time since his mortal days, and though he had been victorious the fight had been far too close for comfort.
The female sorcerer that led them escaped with the surviving members of her team after leaving a bomb behind to clean up the evidence of their encounter. He tried in vain to pursue them but doubted it would be long before the peace of Tanegashima was once again broken by their return.

The next night Shinzo was grateful to hear from Pongreet that the Wu of the Jade Hand was once again converging on Tanegashima. He knew he would need them when the strange soldiers showed themselves once again.

*Kin-Jin - Western vampires.

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Kindred of the East: Age of Sorrow, Chapter 10

Notes from a future bone court historian of the seventh age.

How little the scholars of the day understood what was going on. The mark of fate was on the Jade Hand but no one knew how instrumental they would be in the changes to come follwing the age of sorrow.

It seems in that distant age, the trinity accord had been all but forgotten about, but the Jade hand, aware or not are almost certainly responsible for the breaking of the yin pillar. By inviting the sygians to settle in the middle kingdom, the balance was shattered as the ideologies of mortals collided in the shadow lands.

It seems it was around this time, that Strike Force Zero first became aware of the jade hand as Shinzo interupted a raid against a technomancer on tanegashima. The mage is of little concern to my work. It seems he was a talent scout for the metal dragons of Japan, with an interest in space exploration. I have been unable to discern if he was ever heard from again after being taken by the japanese special forces.

Shortly after the events on Tanegashima the group turned up in Thailand. Pongreets brother was turned by Kinjin. This was at the start of the mad kin jins defilement of the ancient jungle sites of south east asia. I am still trying to discern what that was about. It seems all the kin jin where behaving unsually around this era, but only lose fragments have survived to modern nights. The Malignant shadow of new york, and the blood mage cults of vienna implosion warrant furthur investigation though.

Anyway I digress, this is a study of the Jade hand not kin jin, or the reforming of the yin realms. There is one useful lead i intend to follwow. As soon as i purchase passage past the weaver to the celestial heavens, i intend to seek out the fillipino Araht Tikbalang. Even in the age of sorrow, Tikbalang was a bodisatva, master of shintai and already completely embeded in the mythology of the Philipines. Unlike most bodisatvas of the era, Tikbalang was still involved in court affairs to a small degree. Anyway i have come to beleive Tikbalang met the Jade hand and if accesible will be of great help to my work. What will i learn from this ancient master of the thousand whispers?

So that is the vague outline I have learned so far of the Jade Hand, but what of the indivuals? The Kueijin that formed this force that shaped the ages to come?

Well Pongreet (The Lawman of the Wang Prophecies) as discussed earlier was the leash by which destiny dragged the Hand around at the start of their journey. Bound as he was to his family and his sense of justice. He could not help but drag the group into the dealings of wraiths, shades and creature of yin. Even his brother and that strange 3 eyed girl were pivitol in the western Kinjin Gehenna that brought the rest of the world crashing into the middle kingdom.

And Shinzo, the cantakerous devil tiger more stuborn than most conservative crane when it comes to his beloved home. How i wish i could of been there to see his face when the restoration of japan began. He was at this point the wild card of the group, sometimes the vailiant "Warrior" defending his wu, at other times making enemies and indulgng in suffering like you would expet of such a young devil. His relations to both Chin'Ta and Hsien at this point were pretty poor. Although i only have the briefest anecdotes about his encouters with Amatsu and that Japanese metal dragon.

Seshwayo the Deserter was still learning of the world beynd the Kim mythos. But was already becomming the the guardian protector of the group. And from what i can tell, the only one with a shred of control over his po. The few anecdotes i can find of him this early in the hands journey all talk of martial prowess and childlike innocent humour.

Maifeng(the wonderer) was true to her namesake at this point. I have little understanding for the tempest, but perhaps the fog of the storm that creates the mystery is the point. She was the centre of the group, but was like a non entity in a holding pattern at this point. If i didnt know of the her martial and gymnastic prowess, from future, more well known tales i really wouldnt think much of her at all from what i have learned so far. There have been hints tho. Her po provokes the group to action when they are distracted, and she did ride the Bakunawa aswell as Shizo.

Min-Seo Rim (the rebel) shes is my favourite, always a paper trail or social media history. The only one of those primitives to embrace technology. She was very distracted with her business. Her book keeping was pretty sloppy then, or atleast her choice in book keeper. Still she didnt make that mistake again after the audit.

(no subject)

it is I! Seshewayo!

North Korean defector says female soldiers are used as 'sex tools' for men

I like Okinawa.. it has nice trees

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kindred of the east

(no subject)

So now Shinzo and the others have suggested that I, Seshwayo, should an-know--tate our travels.

We were upon a boat in the Yin realm, after a hard battle which went no as well as we had hoped. Nor though, did it go as badly as it could have. Mostly, It is important that *I* am here. No special reason, it’s just that I am very biased towards my own continuation

Kron and I were on one of the two Jade Empire ships we had liberated. I regret we could not have done the same for the third,

Kron found his sister. PIm in the storm and they talked. Or she found him.. They talked and she was angry but Kron got her to go and hide in the hold and stop her leading dark spirits against us. I believe that she told him his brother had turned in the west.

More boats could be seen and as they got closer, we talked with them and they too were fleeing the filthy corruption

It is then that the demonic wind of the Tempest (that is what I am saying it) and the hostile winds began assaulting us with more dark spirits riding the winds. Fortunately we were assisted by rebels of the kingdoms as it got worse.

And then, after it had gotten worse, it got worse worse. Including having to cage our growling demons.

A leevi…. A Levee- a big giant very large snake thing attacked us. I fired many bullets and Shinzo used power to stick himself to the Lavitan..(No, Shinzo, stop telling me how to spell it! I must learn four myself!)

(Try reading the notes then, Seshawayo. It is what they are for! -Shinzo.)

Sigh. While we attacking the Levifen, the worse worse got… worsey(?) One of our ships was torn in two and our Wu had to abandon it. Shinzo, the Samurai that he is, attached himself to it and kept up his assault.

But the thing was too tough and found a way to knock him off. We were in trouble but then planes came from a new flotilla. The otehrs called them Stijian that, although not caring for us, wanted to fire on the ‘Levafan’.and their aircraft did it much damage.

And then a Dragon swooped it up and made it go away.

Once we got to shore, we found that some of the new ships were ‘leejonairs’ with hidden weapons. Shinzo challenged them about their foolishness and I challenged their leader to one to one fighting.

He could either accept (and lose horribly) decline (and look scared) Or make his soldiers continue fighting, and look scared AND when Shinzo or myself got to him, still lose horribly.

Shinzo though, managed to create a compromise and whilst no one is happy, no one is fighting anyone else for now. I almost thought I could see a DMZ…

And Pongrit now wishes to go to Bangkok. I find myself wondering about fecal matter and air conditioning!

Current Music: Dizraeli and the Small Gods - The Istanbul Express | Powered by Last.fm

Entry tags:

kindred of the east

Kindred of the East, Age of Sorrow: Chapter 8 - Battle off okinawa

The Jade Hand confronted the agent of the Five Metal Dragons, seemingly a scientist of some sort, at his home. Shinzo struck an aggressive tone, defending his home territory where the other members of the Jade Hand were more consolatory. In the end outright conflict was avoided with the sacred places of the island being declared off-limits to further "scanning" by the Metal Dragons flying devices.

In response to the scientists claims of trouble in the islands spiritual realm the Jade hand peered through into the yin and yang worlds to try to understand what might be at issue. And indeed in the yin realm they saw organised bands of what appeared to be soldiers moving with purpose.

Sensing that their intervention was required, the Jade hand cut through to that plane to investigate directly. Talking with the soldiers the wu were directed to their leader. Entering his command tent the wu discovered this was none other than Shinzo's father.

The unquiet spirits were massing for an attack on a convoy carrying prisoners for the emperor. Many from the homelands of the wu meeting a cruel end in soul forges or worse. Seeing Shinzo's fathers cause as just the Jade Hand agreed to lend their strength to the attack.

The raid itself was a daring strike with the wu spreading their number between the small attack boats which attempted to overhaul the larger slaver ships. The fighting was hard and one of the ships was lost to bale fire, but even in that case the wu were able to rescue many of the slaves.

When the smoke cleared the rebel force, and the Jade Hand could call the day theirs with many prisoners saved from the dark fate intended for them.

Entry tags:

kindred of the east

Background

(I can edit this as needed But i thought something has to go up)

I am Seshwayo, and I grew up in the Democractic People’s Republic of Korea. It is known to much of the world a North Korea.

(Why is it that anything that has the words ‘Democratic’ and ‘People;s Republic’ often turns out to be an authoritarian Dystopia?)

And I have been to hell. This is not some clumsy western metaphor either, i have truly been to the hells

It began, and ended, with a student protest. I do not understand why that they A0 thought they could change anything and B) took their children along in a country where the ruler is happy to dupe young women into murdering his very own brother for criticism Murdering protesters.

As it happens, I was one of the security personnel tasked with quelling the ‘riot’.

We had people on the inside to agitate so that we could blame the ‘dissidents’, As it happens, now that I have seen my former nation’s reputation from the outside, I know that what we do does not fool the other nations even for a minute.

We opened fire when the order came and the people fell. Oen crying child for some reason caught my attention and I turned... Only to see her pick up a gun. Then the words reached me and they were monster. Next to her was the fallen body of woman and I realised that the fatality was her mother just as the little one pulled the trigger.

The gun had been picked off the corpse of one of our own agitators. We had shot him.

* * *

The hells are truly that and I suffered in many forms. Somehow the fates smiled upon my tormented soul and there was a chance to escape and the demons were out tasked. Many fell back but I ran for the light with dozens of others.

When I returned to this world I knew that I could not remain in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, so I made my way south ( which is where I learned that line striking through thing I have used.

Edit: I have been told that it is called ‘Strikethrough’.

* * *

I was but a senseless fiend until the court’s agents found me and took me to learn what I required and what, in time, would be required of me. It was here that I learned how to harness my new abilities and so man wondrous terms that even now I am slow to understand.

The time came for me to prove that I had learned enough about being a Kuei Jin (what a curious mix! of words).

I was sent then to join four others. One is Korean, and that does aid in our bond. Another is Japanese, but acts with actual honour. Another is Thai and seems obsessed by cars (or at least wanting to brutally murder anyone who damages his) I seem to recall that the las is chinese and she habit of pressing buttons (and manages this with both metaphorikal and physical acts

So far I have joined these four, gone to dam, fought strange beings, destroyed strange beings working for evil forces ( i think they pretend to make cameras)

Two years have past since I died and I believe that it is because, at the end, my eyes opened enough to see the corruption and realise it should be fought. Fortunately I have no family left to speak of, so that is not a problem

Current Mood: geeky
Current Music: Yoshida Brothers - Storm

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Kindred of the East, Age of Sorrow: Chapter 7 - Setsumei dekinai ibutsu

Entry 34

We arrived in Okinawa. I booked the groups accommodation, save for Shinzo-San who left immediately for his home and dojo in Tanegashima.

The next day we decided to take advantage of Shinzo-San's hospitality and met with him in his village, a beautiful and surprisingly interesting place even for an enthusiastic city dweller like myself.

Firstly, on reunification with Shinzo-San he seemed aggravated as he met us, apparently he was dismayed at his first rate student becoming too over confident and careless by succumbing to his anger. Secondly, he is at odds with the local Kami, who goes by the name Amatsu. It is obvious even at first glance that Shinzo-San has no time for Amatsu and seems deeply troubled by the cult like following the kami has gathered.

I must confess meeting Amatsu awoke the dark side of my being, as it was the thrall of his wisdom that left me subservient to him. We spoke at great length and I am certain I have met a true master of knowledge. Our meeting was so long, that the group had finished their meeting at the dojo and met me outside the building.

A very enthusiastic Seshwayo recalled the events of the rest of the Wu's evening, a tale in which he was very pleased, having been the victor. It was on the walk back to our host's abode when I noticed a strange humming sound emanating from the sky. Looking closer it seemed to be a strange, almost UFO-like construction. With a few of the others unable to see the damned thing, I threw my arm up in its direction, and a bolt of lightening from my fingers hit the target, removing its camouflage and exposing itself to the entire group. It then sped off into the night sky.

With fire in our bellies, we set off in different directions to gather information about our strange encounter. Shinzo-San met with his mentor Etsuku, who not only confirmed that he had seen this type of drone before, but had destroyed it too. Pongrit decided he would converse with Amatsu who told him that the machine was technology created by the Technocracy.

Myself and Seshwayo decided our best course of action was to try to find information at the Space Port Research Labs. We carefully made our way through the building until we found a scientist, who gave us directions to the Director's office, but before we set off there, the crystal spider was more than helpful, as it uploaded all of the information on the Director to my phone. It may take me some time to sift through the information, but as a start I was at least able to find his home address, which I am sure we will utilise soon. While I was busying myself with this task, Seshwayo actually found hard copy files of similar information, this data too, will be useful once we get back to the rest of the Wu.

We made our way to the Director's office, however as soon as we had crossed the threshold I noticed that we had broken wards put in place in there. Whomever this man is, he is aware of the existence of our kind, and would surely arrive soon and know that a kindred had been in his domain. This is definitely a man we need to investigate, either he is working against us, or is knowledgeable enough to warrant talking to.

Unbeknown to me, it was roughly around this time that I lost the spider, that or it wandered off of its own accord. At any rate, I didn't have it on exit of the Space Port site.

We arrived safely back at our meeting point with the rest of the Wu, however the same familiar buzzing was soon apparent, leaving us no option but to capture it. From out of the darkness Shinzo-San leapt onto it from a great height, shortly followed by Seshwayo. While they had the full frontal assault on it, both myself and Pongrit shot at it from a distance. yet again the lightening showed that it is an effective weapon against this foreign technology. However, it was the two madmen, ahem - brave warriors, that dealt the most damage, and it was the pure vigour of the two that eventually brought it down.

Current Mood: shocked
Current Location: Beijing
Current Music: Siamgda - Indian Opium Bazaar

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Kindred of The East - Age of Sorrow

Honoured ancestors of Bishamon, a mysterious corporation from the West is trying to corrupt the Middle Kingdom and I fear there is little we can do to stop it.
For now I have returned to Nippon with my Wu, the Jade Hand. Allow me to explain how this has come to pass.

We left the lair of the wolf-men and retreated to the Bone Court. Fate seems to have put the aforementioned Pentex corporation in our way, and in our sights, but has provided us with few means to act against them. Thus far we had found but one name, Zhou Enlai. The only decision-maker we had been able to identify and he was not even in the direct employ of Pentex. Zhou Enlai was a Communist Party bureaucrat, the Provincial official for Planning & Construction. We would pay him a visit in Beijing, perhaps we would learn more, but if he was guilty he would die. After some deliberation we decided to tell the Bone Court as little as possible to avoid entangling them directly in the business of our Wu. Few questions were asked of our request to ride the dragon line between the Courts and soon after the ritual began.

We arrived in the Blood Court of Beijing, paying our respects to the Ancestors there upon arrival and stating our business as personal in nature. Soon after we ventured out into the great city of Beijing, the very centre of the Middle Kingdom according to the ancients of our kind. Much had changed since I last passed this way, and as we exited the old Forbidden City I saw that towers of steel and glass had sprang up as far as the eye could see rivaling even Tokyo in its modernity. Still, there was no time to waste and Pongreet set to work with Minsheo's spirit spider tracking down our target.
First we found his place of work, a tall building in the government district, but our nushi reported that his office seemed empty. Next came his home where the rest of his family lived. We watched it for a time deducing that our target must indeed be mortal man albeit a corrupted one. It emerged that Zhou was away on business and would return in a few days time. We made our plans accordingly.

After much discussion our plan, in the end, was a simple one. We would await his return and watch his movements, then when the time was right, we would strike without warning. We rented two vehicles, the first of which, driven by Meifeng, would appear to crash into Zhou's chauffeured car as he was seen exiting the building. Then, myself and Seshwayo would quickly and forcibly bundle our man into the second vehicle, driven by Pongreet, who would pull up in front of the building only seconds behind Meifeng. All went to plan at first and Zhou was thrown into the van, but we had failed to spot the building's armed guards who soon realized what was happening. We fled the scene under a hail of bullets as Pongreet was forced to lose a pursuing Police vehicle through the winding streets of old Beijing.

When we reached our appointed destination, an empty warehouse we had identified the previous night, Zhou Enlai was thrown in side and the doors locked behind us. He cowered on the floor in what appeared to be honest fear. He just took the bribes and asked no questions, he said. Naturally this was not enough but when I raised my sword for the killing blow he presented his phone to us, pointing to a number he had been told to call if anyone ever asked about their arrangement. I paused, we were curious.
Claiming he knew nothing further I instructed him to make the call and ask for a meeting. A way to draw out another another agent of Pentex and move further up the chain. It was not to be however. As soon as he put the phone to his ear and the line connected his head exploded. Literally.
A sophisticated explosive device must have been implanted inside his skull, and from his manner at the time I would guess that it must have been done without his knowledge. I am convinced that Zhou Enlai placed that call in an attempt to save his own life rather than end it as a Kamikaze for his cause. But the number was no lifeline, instead both it and the bomb in the corrupt bureaucrat's head were just another method for Pentex to cover their own tracks. There was nothing to do but dispose of the body and leave the scene.

Knowing that if the Police were looking for us they would not stop with single car chase, we decided to leave. We resolved to return to Chongking if called in that direction, but first decided to leave China for a time while the heat from our actions died down. Slipping over the outer walls of the Forbidden city to avoid detection by the mortal authorities we returned to the Blood Court and from there rode the dragoon lines out of the city and to the relative safety of Okinawa.

Faithfully,
Yamamoto Shinzo of Tanegashima

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KIndred of the East, Age of Sorrow, Episode 5: The Demon and The Slave

And so the Deserter and the Rebel have joined the Lawman, Warrior and Wanderer. The wu is complete and balanced, but its members are young. With thier first taste of sucess, they must be careful not to become overconfident as they prepare to meet their destniny.

After witnessing the handiwork of the omnipresent Pentex, the wu spends a day chasing shadows and false leads around Yichang, like a dog snapping at fleas. Pentex thrives where corruption is rife, but is always hidden, operating through cell like subsideries with only the thinniest links traced back to dubious goverment officials.

During their investigations a strange monkey crosses the wu's path on several occasions. As they leave Yichang Pongreet notices that it wears a small jade key.

When they return to Chongqing the court is full of talk of Pentex and D.N.A., but the younglings are told to tend to dharma and wu. "They should leave the important battle to their betters".

The lawman begins to forge a mutal respect with fox spirit now named Kitsune. They spend the day sniffing out the halls of the bone court and exploring the Sky Mountain yang realm that exists along side the city under the mountain.

It is, when one has most to gain from exploring ones dharma, the favoured time of the Po to lead us to distraction. This most auspicious wu is no exception.

And so they find themselves in the wolfs lair. The visit was pleasant and welcome at first, until the Po seized its chance. The Monkey was first, easily distracted by the western novilties, she soon offended the wu's host. As the centre of the the wu crumbled. Tempers rose, and an offand insult from the Warrior awoke the Slave. It was time to leave.

Barley seconds into the privacy of the lift, the Monkeys antics infuriate the Demons. Only the Deserter can control his Po to defend the mischeivious monkey from the Warrior Demon. As the slave throws her self at the feet of the Lawman Demons feet. But the deserters valient efforts are not enough. The Warrior Demon rearms himself and runs the Monkey through, as the doors open.

yang realmThe Hundred-Mask Clowns, referring to Clan Ravnos

The Shameful Path of the Ghost Bully, referring to Clan Giovanni

The Silent Tiger Brotherhood, likely referring to Clan Assamite

The Rut of the Pretentious Geisha, likely referring to Clan Toreador

The Way of the Insufferable Flesh Gardners, likely referring to Clan Tzimisce

The Inauspicious Order of Blood Devils, likely referring to Clan Tremere

The Thousand Charming Company Men, likely referring to the Clan Ventrue

During the Victorian Era, the Bone Flowers also studied the Paths of Enlightenment under the umbrella term Dharmas of the Unexamined Horizon, before declaring them hoaxes.^[2]