by Eloy Lasanta (Kindred of the East | Resources)
The last of the orthodox Dharma in this series is the Path of a Thousand Whispers. I chose to wait for this one, because it is not only the hardest to understand, but also the hardest to explain. Funny, also, how it sort of fits with the whole Halloween thing, huh? Anyway, this won’t be the last of my series; I plan on going into the heretical Dharmas, hopefully shedding some light on them as well. But, here we go, hope you like. This will be a little long winded, because there’s a lot to cover.
When you think about the actual philosophy of the Thousand Whispers, it is hard for some to grasp, especially those fresh from the grave. During the Fire and Water tests, the decision of which Dharma the newly risen will take is still unknown. The Mandarins and teachers look at the stock <> and choose those that should follow their Dharma, but the choice is always that of the student, not the teacher.
So, what would make someone take up this Dharma more than any other? When you think about it, the others are much easier to follow (if you can say any of them are really “easy”). The Song of the Shadow calls forth with its Quiet Song to those who are very introspective and morbid. The Dance of the Thrashing is taken up by those exactly the opposite, as they delve into huge amounts of sex, drugs and life itself. The Way of the Resplendent Crane is for those who enjoy the control of the masses and being the judge, excelling in morality and law. While the Howl of the Devil-Tiger and their intense hatred and anger are the keys to opening the doors to becoming a devil.
The Rootless Trees, however, must be none of these and all of these are the same time. They are creatures of balance, being hot tempered one minute and apathetic the next. They live in a world of extremes, riding the edge of each Dharma but not getting sucked into any of them. They must return to balance; it is where their knowledge lies.
This, of course, can be a hard thing to stay on top of. A particular Kuei-jin might like one extreme more than another (one of the main reasons for the huge amount of defectors from this Dharma to the others). More on this in the Directions section.
So, how do the Thousand Whispers gain enlightenment if they follow no one set path? The answer is that they take on the life of a mortal, learning lessons taken for granted by most humans. This is their way.
How do they gain enlightenment by pretending to be human? This would be where the distinction happens. They do not pretend to be human. By taking on the life of a human, they are now that person. They acquire friends, family, lovers, etc. the same as any other mortal, except that they learn from their life, while the rest of humanity toil away in ignorance. Specific rites were created to aid them, as well, letting them change their spiritual name to that of their life and also ways to change their appearance, voice, and even their sex.
Also, this lesson that they seek in each life is not one they actively search for. Shit happens. Life happens. The Rootless Tree journeys through this life, waiting for that spark of enlightenment. If they jump the gun or try to force this experience, it simply will not happen (a reason why patience is a virtue to this Dharma).
What kind of lessons do they learn? Sadly, this can range quite a lot, depending on the Kuei-jin, as this is the most personal Dharma of them all. A lesson for a Running Monkey might be to just learn patience, a lesson on how to end a relationship or how to keep a job. Any kind of intercommunicative lessons are always good. What needs to be understood, is that the Thousand Whispers is playing out not only the lives that are given to him by his sensei (which they most often are), but also the lives that he wished he could have had.
The life of a struggling actor might yield a lesson of patience, poverty, hunger, begging, faith or any other number of things. Then they will abandon this life in favor of another and repeat the process, learning a different lesson. An important note for STs: they can never learn the same lesson twice. If they learn and squander, that’s their fault.
At the same time that the Kuei-jin must literally become the life they lead, it is also important for them to remember what they really are. This is another point that is hard for followers of the path. They are this person, yet they are someone completely different as well. Their existence as a Kuei-jin is referred to as their Shadow Life. It is important for the Thousand Whispers to live both lives to the fullest, another example of moderation and balance. He must not get too swept up in any one life, even his true one. This is one of the reasons they are regarded as crazy by followers of the other Dharmas. What type of Shadow Life they lead has much to do with their Directions.
This name is synonymous with death itself. The Dark Jade Lover is the representation of the Rootless Tree’s removal of a certain mask and the death (symbolic or real) of their former life. The Second Breath is their first Kiss from the Dark Jade Lover and those followers continue to live life after life, coming back to her for more and more until they may leave this existence and regain their status in the Wheel of Ages.
First, how do you end a life? The obvious way to end a life would be to just walk away from it. But, that rarely works, especially after the Kuei-jin has gained lovers and friends whose ties are just as strong as any family’s. In most cases, the Kuei-jin must make a symbolic and real cut from his life, by taking the life of one of his closest “relatives.” This is called the Ritual of a Thousand Cuts. They must sever every link to that life, selling off all possessions, breaking up relationships, even killing those who are very persistent.
After that is completed, which can take up to a year by itself (once again with timing and patience), the Thousand Whispers embraces the Dark Jade Lover. At lower Dharma levels, he simply lays dormant (similar to Torpor) for several days to reflect on the lessons of the last life. At higher levels (and higher risk), he actually plunges a knife into himself, causing the Little Death. If done wrong, the Kuei-jin just ended his Shadow Life.
Under certain circumstances, the Rootless Tree may take on the mask of a being that really does exist, instead of creating a completely new life. The mortal must have been an affront to balance itself, leading a life in one of the extremes. If the Kuei-jin decides that life must be corrected for the greater good, they may take it and become that person. They will adopt all the family, friends, and other relations of the being, as well as his memories. Freaky, huh? There are of course certain rites they must purchase to be able to perform this feat (found in Dharma Book).
Thousand Whispers are creatures of balance. It creeps into every aspect of their life. Even when they might be going to an extreme, they will eventually return to the center again, readying themselves to go to another extreme. A quick glance at the Tenets of the Dharma will quickly let you know that the Rootless Trees are a focused bunch.
If they see something that is out of balance – a corrupt man embezzling money, a younger man addicted to drugs and sex or a woman unhealthily wasting her life in books – the Thousand Whispers’ first thing to do is to attempt to correct the imbalance. Getting the man to admit his failing and give back the money or helping the woman to get a social life beyond her local library are both examples of correcting that subtle, yet potentially destructive imbalance. Even though they will one day resemble each of those people, there will be actual purpose and enlightenment when they do it. It is pointless for a mortal, for they cannot understand like the Kuei-jin can.
If they do not understand the imbalance, they have the second option to question it. Finding out why something is imbalanced is the quickest way to know its weakness, as well as a quick spark of enlightenment. This is one of the reasons why the Rootless Trees will often ask questions of the other Dharmas, trying to find out why they chose their path. They will stump many, and still others will know exactly the right answers. This divides the true followers from hapless wannabes. Those wannabes will no doubt be converted to the Path of a Thousand Whispers soon after, if the Kuei-jin did his job correctly.
Their final choice to take is the utter and final destruction of the source of that imbalance. This does not always mean the death of the person however. Using the examples above, the Kuei-jin has the choice to either murder the corrupt embezzler or get rid of the money, destroying his credibility in the city, making him loose his job and the prospect of ever doing it again. The Kuei-jin could go on rampage killing the addicted party man, or they have the choice of making deals with the local drug lord, making sure the young man never gets his hands on another ounce of drug. This might lead to the suicide due to withdrawal, but then again he could have just killed him in the beginning right? Killing the closeted woman is a bit extreme. In her case, the destruction of her livelihood (i.e. the Library) could do it, or arson to her home and all her earthly belongings, while at the same time taking on the mask of a man to sweep her off her feet and get her out of her shell. You have to be creative. It’s not all about death.
There are those Rootless Trees, however, that hold onto balance like a crutch, instead of using it to empower themselves. They will balance their Chi, their Hun and P’o will be in strict competition with each other, neither winning wholly. Most will also choose the center direction. This will eventually create an imbalance of Balance. They are creatures of extremes. To cling to the balance, is to take up the Tempest of Inward Focus, which will have a Thousand Whispers falling from their ladder to heaven quicker than a jack rabbit running from a wolf.
Although the Center Direction is obviously the Wise Centipede’s rightful course, remember that they are creatures of extremes. They must journey from the Center to find their way back again. They must learn to play all parts well, as they are all a part of a balanced spirit. The Path of a Thousand Whispers is not separated into various Sects as other Dharma. However, they do share gatherings of like Directions that could rival any secret sect meeting.
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.
The Thousand Whispers is definitely the hardest to play and understand. During character creation, player and ST should get together to gather the pieces of the character’s first life. And there are two ways to handle this.
The first way is the simplest. Because the Rootless Tree is encouraged to separate his Mask and Shadow Life from each other, you can simply do just that. During the sessions, the character will be mingling with their wu (or uji). In this method, the Mask is kept to e-mails between the ST and player, with only mild actual playing of the Mask with the group. The second way is to make the Mask part of the story. This forces the player to act out both roles (Mask and Shadow Life) at the same time, which can be very challenging.
Also, I might suggest that when leaving a life that had a strong impact on the character, they should be forced to make some sort of Willpower roll vs. Depression. That sort of thing is not easy to get over and will probably hover of the Kuei-jin for a while. However, don’t make it last too long, as they will not be able to Embrace the Dark Jade Lover until they are at ease with leaving that life behind.
By creating a link between the Kuei-jin personal Chi and an item that he holds in his hand, it can be assured that it does not leave it until he wishes so. He will not drop his weapon or be disarmed. Neither will he fall from a great height as long as he has a hold of the ledge. This one is very handy.
System: Using a reflexive action, the character can create a hold on something that cannot be broken. Nothing can be taken from his hand unless he wants to let go. It requires no Chi points or Willpower expenditure.
Few Kuei-jin can disassociate themselves from their undead bodies. But in some cases, it is very important for a Rootless Tree to do so. With the use of this discipline, the Wise Centipede may cut himself off from his body, while still being able to control it. He can walk over hot glass without pain and fight for unimaginable lengths of time.
System: After one complete turn of concentration, the Kuei-jin can roll a Willpower check (difficulty 7) and may ignore one die of Wound penalties per success.
After writing this, I feel confident that STs will have a better chance to have workable Whispers in their groups. I had the most fun writing this one, as you can tell by my rants and long explanations. Like always, email me with suggestions, comments or complaints. : P See ya!
