by Eloy Lasanta (Kindred of the East | Resources)
Since the Second Age, when the Wan Xian were first created, their children had stood by their sides, but had been largely ignored by their parents. Their role was that of a servitor or messenger, never an equal. They were the Jin Hai, the Golden Children, and were the greatest heroes of humanity, since they existed on the same plain, not above them as gods as the Wan Xian did. When their parents were tempted by the corruption of the Yama Kings and drawn to the draining of quick Chi from humanity, instead of from the moderation of subsistence on ambient Chi from the world around them, the Jin Hai had no choice but to try to stop them. And for their insolence, they were slaughtered like no more than cattle, massacred. Only a few survived this fate.
In 1999, a letter from the late Jin Kai Wai, the oldest living dhampyr to date, circulated throughout the Middle Kingdom, mostly among the dhampyr. It told that they were to be the guides to enlightenment for their parents, but that there was a hidden purpose for them as well. They will soon find out that their purpose was revenge.
Note: Any ST who will be running this scenario should have access to or have read Dhampyr: Half-Damned before. It's written to be played out by a group of Shadewalkers. However, it can be played out by a wu of Kuei-jin as well. Notes will be included in each section on how to run this the other way. Also, any events in the scenario can be changed to better suit your chronicle.
Not every Shadewalker will know the extent of the dhampyr's population explosion, but even your average dhampyr notices that the number of dhampyr on the streets has staggeringly increased. Those who keep track of numbers and the supernatural census will notice that their number has increased tenfold in the last 10 years. This could be a meaningless statistic, but there are those who say that it has a direct bearing on the coming Age of Sorrow.
The Eye of the Demon King has loomed over the Middle Kingdom since 1999, but the dhampyr were never in tune with their mystical heritage enough to see it. That is, until the Chinese New Years of 2004. This is not something to scoff at. Since they are still mortal (they still die eventually), the dhampyr take their lives very seriously. This is a sign for the worse for them. It was easy to write off their parents' ravings about some star no one else could see, but now they realize that their parents were right. Many Shadewalkers go mad with fear. Many others make a break for it, running from their parents, who they believe to be the cause of this ominous star. Characters will hear of gathering dhampyr, trying to stay together for safety's sake, but none last too long before being toppled by their greedy parents' whims. Many dhampyr are put down as they go insane from fright, hearing voices and not believing in their Joss to save them from the end.
At some point the dhampyr suddenly become more aware of the other shen, seeing things they never saw before. Being messengers for the Kuei-jin, the Shadewalkers have had their share of run-ins with the shen, but could never tell what they were without being informed beforehand. This changes quite quickly as they begin to intuitively sense spirits, hearing whispers around them. They also are able to discern, with startling accuracy, if a being is a shen or a normal mortal, especially if they are Kuei-jin. Assume that the dhampyr now have access to the Awareness talent, which they all receive one dot in and can be raised through experience normally. This awareness, however, also allows them to gaze through the guises of the shen, seeing them for what thy truly are. A Perception + Awareness roll (Difficulty 5) is needed to tell whether the being is shen or mortal and Difficulty 8 to tell what type of being they are (Tengu, hsien, Khan, kinfolk, Kin-jin, etc.). And because of their link to their parents and each other, all difficulties are reduced by 2 when trying to sense Kuei-jin or another dhampyr.
Along with the heightened awareness the Shadewalkers receive, the maiko of Japan sense another change. Those born after the senseless ravaging of the spirit worlds during World War II have been scarred since birth. These afflictions were always physical, like blindness or a twisted limb, but on New Year's Day they were suddenly healed. Many believe the Red Star healed them, making them the most committed to the dhampyr cause after this point. Makuro Hiko are unchanged as their deformities were manufactured by the gaki themselves and not simply a byproduct of the twin bombs.
The final letter of Jin Kai Wai has reached just about every dhampyr in the Middle Kingdom and beyond. It is not just a written letter however; Jin Kai Wai's hand would have cramped up before being able to write the amount needed. Instead, it was leaked slowly from dhampyr to dhampyr. First, it traveled by word of mouth, then by photocopy, fax, and then e-mail. The Bamboo Princes, which many dhampyr belong to, have devoted much of their time cunningly distributing it to the Shadewalker servants of the Courts, hoping that their personal awakenings will cause unrest for the Dame-Sama. It is doubly important that the letter (in some form) falls into the hands of the characters, since it sparks their knowledge of their true heritage. Anyone who has read the letter now knows that the Shadewalkers house the spirits of the Golden Children within them, but still do not know their true purpose.
It's important at this phase that the characters begin exploring their possibilities. Storytellers should take their time here, because it is time for the characters to begin questioning their lives so far and pondering on what could be ahead. Dhampyr have had little reason to dream of better lives. They have been forever half-damned, but now they realize that they are also half-blessed as well. Does this change their entire outlook on life? Does the group being searching for others or do they wait to be found? Do they totally walk out on their life as servants to their parents or do they decide to follow the letter, acting as guides to true enlightenment for their parents instead of abandoning them? This is important to explore with the characters.
If a wu of Kuei-jin happen upon a copy of this letter, there are many things they may do as well. Many of the courts openly ridicule the letter, coloring it as a last ploy for anarchy on the part of a bitter, dying fool. Many wu who are lower on the totem pool may follow along with this idea, but those in high places know better. Jin Kai Wai's father was an official in the Blood Court and was held accountable for his son's last actions. He met the Eye of Heaven for his inability to raise his child correctly and for letting such a dangerous document escape his notice. A wu of players may look further into this, searching for the answers to why this seemingly insignificant letter was the root of such a ploy.
No matter what the characters decide to do at this point, a new letter begins to be circulated and goes around much faster than the one before, in much tighter circles. "The Destiny of the Twilight Children is that of the Golden Children. The Two forces are one and cannot be denied. I am Ti Feng and I will show all of you the way. Come to Singapore, know me and know your true selves." These words bring up strange emotions in any dhampyr who reads it, as if the name Ti Feng is as familiar as their own. It is stored in the lost memories of their Jin Hai soul, the part of them that is slowly leaking out into the forefront.
If the characters are not in Singapore, they now have the adventure of getting there unharmed. They will need to coerce their parents (especially if they decided to continue serving) to let them go. They will need to break up anything that could possibly deter them from this. All Shadewalkers are drawn to Singapore with a passion. Of course, if the characters decide to ignore their deep-rooted feelings, there is another plan the Twilight Children have launched.
Those dhampyr already in Singapore (the characters too, perhaps) have already heard of the mystery man. They have even built a yet unnamed temple to him. It is not very large, lying in the alleyway between other rundown buildings, but the followers are insanely devout and have all said to have seen and spoken with the being, Ti Feng, before. They have been given certain orders by the Jin Hai, to gather those dhampyr who have not received the letter, refused to come, or are not being allowed to come. All dhampyr are gifted with another addition to their new uncanny senses and can now sense who has heard the word of Ti Feng. The characters may be from Singapore or may have just arrived, but either way, they should be directly involved in the gathering. The characters will be recruited for the job of fetching the others, which can take several sessions if the Storyteller does it right. While easily walking into the mountains to the home of a dhampyr without communication and telling him of the news is all fine and dandy, that is not what dhampyr are all about and not what the player characters should be doing.
Here are some possibilities:
Why are they doing this? Do they have a leader? These are answers that the courts would pay greatly for. Playing an uji of gaki is even more interesting, as they will be fighting to defend their stock of Makuro Hiko from being stolen from them. This could be stretched out through several sessions as they fight off constant attacks from seemingly separate groups of dhampyr who wish nothing other than to free their enslaved brethren.
When a sufficient number of dhampyr have been assembled (not all of them have to come, but as many as possible is needed for their plans to work), the temple, now named The Temple of the Chalice of Spilt Blood, calls a meeting to collect in it's main hall. By connecting several buildings together and destroying the walls that separated them, the temple has created adequate room to house almost all the dhampyr present.
From behind a raised golden pedestal in the center of the room comes Ti Feng. He begins to tell the dhampyr their history again. Very little new information short of specific names and places is initially given, but the excitement of hearing it from the mouth a survivor of the whole ordeal himself. The biggest surprise is when, during his impassioned speech, he reveals his true self, his history and what he has been doing all this time. He has stood back, watching the Kuei-jin destroy his family, then the rest of the world. As the Wheel of Ages rolled forward, he watched as the Yama Kings did all they could to corrupt the world, but he could do nothing to stop them. To reveal himself would have been to doom all of his kind to extinction, until now.
He then goes through each dhampyr in the gathering, spouting off the name and origin of the spirit inside them. With their true natures brought to light, a realization strikes the dhampyr, their true purpose: Revenge. The Kuei-jin of Singapore know nothing of this meeting. However, a wu that has been following the dhampyr's activity may be able to get notice of it time and location. They can either choose to sit back and listen, learning of the true nature of the dhampyr spirit or they can alert the local courts, letting them know of the dhampyr threat (what if Ti Feng was killed during a surprise attack?). Either way, it will be exciting.
There are a few different approaches to using these old and powerful beings in your campaign. They may have appeared for different reasons already in your chronicle or not, but listed here are a few examples on you can use them, either way:
After the meeting is over and the final name of the final Golden Child spirit is spoken, there is silence in the Temple of the Chalice of Spilt Blood. Each dhampyr feels energy rush from within, pulsing through every pore and nerve in his or her body. They feel invigorated with power the like they've never imagined. Then, their eyes open, they look at their brothers and sisters as if for the first time. They still look the same, but now they all have a golden halo that surrounds them. It is not visible to mortals, but the dhampyr can definitely see it in each other. They have never felt closer; they are like true family now. Pure elation fills them. The dhampyr then travel out of the temple to the nearby market area. They begin to see into each mortal's soul, feeling their lives and loves and losses. They won't even know the person's name and yet they will feel every emotion, every experience that person has had for their entire lives. And when they look up, the Red Star has transformed itself into a golden orb. There is a celebration in Singapore that night; the dhampyr feel the power from the orb, which is dubbed the Second Eye of Heaven.
All is not as joyous for the rest of the shen. They also notice that the Red Star has changed. Philosophers from all courts, from Li Shen to Bone to Beast, begin debating over the cause of it transformation. The Kuei-jin, more than any other shen, feel the coming of the Sixth Age much stronger at this moment. A wu that has been following the dhampyr activity will probably choose to depart the scene and report to their superiors at this point. If they let the ritual of Naming happen right under their noses, they are in for a world of hurt when they return. If they tried to stop it by alerting the local courts, their punishment will be much less severe. At least they TRIED to stop it, right?
The sun rises the next day, filling the dhampyr with more energy and hope for an optimistic future. The Eye of Heaven has shone bright on the Half-blessed and will help them to take their revenge on those who have wronged their ancestors, but not yet. The remainder of the dhampyr must come together; only with their full numbers can they even hope of surviving the war they are about to attempt. There were many who refused to come or who were held against their will, but heaven will help this process along as well. When a Kuei-jin gazed upon any dhampyr, they would feel an instinctual tingle of fear and guilt pass through their undead spine. This being the physical reaction to their repressed memories that are liked to the actions of their predecessors, the Wan Xian. But that small shiver turns into outright terror after the sun sets on the day following the Naming Ritual. Those souls inside the dhampyr who did not attend cry out to be named and will stop at nothing to get to Singapore.
Most Kuei-jin who see a dhampyr from this point forward lapse into Wave Soul (make normal check at a +2 difficulty, max 10). Those who succeed in their roll are still filled with fear, yet are able to hold back those feelings enough to take on the dhampyr. Those who fail scream in terror from the sheer horror of seeing the faces of those Jin Hai killed in the Third Age.
This effect applies to all dhampyr, not just the ones not named, but it is most crucial to them at this point than the others. There are many, like the Makuro Hiko, who aren't allowed to leave, made slaves by their fathers/creators. The Terror will be their main chance to escape, but even that alone won't set them free. It will take a hard effort from other dhampyr (and characters, of course) to rescue their tainted brothers and sisters from the demented gaki once and for all. This may seem daunting, since the Makuro Hiko are created throughout all of Japan, but the characters should be involved in a few of the strike squads, while others do some of the work as well. We are working together, after all.
In response to the craziness, the Quincunx and the Golden Courts, who prided themselves on their children, recreate the tension that appeared after the fall. They call a Midnight War for all dhampyr, not matter their affiliation, to be cut down, annihilated, killed. The Green Courts, who rarely practiced the ritual of birth, have very little issues, having most of their children just disappear beneath their noses. Japan tries to keep things as they always have been, with dhampyr below the Kuei-jin, but tradition is made to be broken. All available wu are called to the cause to exterminate the Shadewalkers with extreme prejudice. This is a perfect opportunity to call in a player group to play a part in the Midnight War (staking out, launching attacks, etc.).
After the rest of the dhampyr are either destroyed or gathered in Singapore, the Golden Star disappears, with disastrous affects. All hell breaks loose in the Middle Kingdom as the shen freak over the star's absence. As soon as the orb leaves the sky, numerous Kuei-jin, believing correctly that the end of the world is coming, go power hungry and mad. Hoping that the effects of Golden Chi will not only make them stronger, but also deter any effects the "Golden" star may have on their kind, they hunt down, kill and drain as many hsien as they can find to fill themselves. This not only gives them a major high, but make them much more powerful than they ever could have gotten before the Sixth Age. Most hsien who possess Jade Keys retreat to the spirit worlds, leaving those less enlightened hsien to their deaths.
In just under a month, 60% of the remaining hsien are either devoured or contained for later draining. Keep in mind that not all Kuei-jin succumb to the lure of the Golden Chi. Ancestors and bodhisattvas who can leave this plane, ascending beyond Earth and back into the Great Cycle to reach the Hundred Clouds. Those who have not gained enough wisdom to follow, however, must attempt to maintain their un-lives in the Middle Kingdom. But those who pass on the free surge of power offered by Golden Chi soon discover that they are being challenged again and again by those who haven't. Those who were once weak now topple their teachers and masters with the might borrowed from the Little Gods.
The hengeyokai, and the last surviving hsien, begin a series of crusades to take down the Kuei-jin all around the Middle Kingdom. However, because of the Kuei-jins' earlier heightening of security when the Golden Orb appeared and the boost is raw power from their present hsien reservoirs, the changer strike squads are taken down with little effort. Seeing the Middle Kingdom in such disarray, the Yama Kings and forces of the Centipede (the Wyrm) choose this time for their final attacks. The remainder of the Dark Kingdom of Jade is vanquished by hordes of Yin Banes and the Beast Courts of the Emerald Mother are left shattered, as are the already fragile courts of the hsien, overtaken by the forces of Yomi.
All that remains are the forces of Kuei-jin, who are making hundreds of deals with the Yama Kings, never wanting their rush in power to wane. With no more allies to gather and no other shen to call upon for assistance, the dhampyr have no other choice but to take on the Hungry Dead themselves. This will be the last stand of the Kuei-jin, the reason the Jin Hai have returned.
During the prior hellish period, Ti Feng hushed his temperamental children to wait. The chaos that surrounded them did not make Singapore a stranger. And yet, the wise Jin Hai bade the dhampyr to stand their ground, not moving, not giving evidence to their existence to the shen. They are begged to watch as the world crumbles around them and people die before their eyes and cannot help themselves. Many did not heed the wise one's words, leaving to never be heard from again. Ti Feng spoke true and said that it was not the dhampyrs' time, but it would soon be. The Kuei-jin have gained a foothold on the Middle Kingdom like never before and have to be stopped.
The signal to act comes from the nearly completed construction of a very large throne in the middle of Beijing. It is being built from the bones of the victims of the recent wars and ravaging of the land, mortal and shen bones alike. It is the Demon Emperor's Throne and the Kuei-jin do not intend to stop it (they are the ones constructing it!). The dhampyr must act before its completion and the ascension of the Emperor or their quest is finished before it started. Ti Feng assembles the dhampyr one last time in the Temple and performs the final rite, held on to since the Third Age for this very reason. It involves 24 hours of continuous chanting and meditation on the part of any dhampyr who wishes to receive its gifts, but it will be well worth it. After it is over, each dhampyr ascends to their true selves and become a Jin Hai. With this new title comes new abilities.
First, their supernatural awareness now acts automatically, not requiring any rolls. They can see all spirits and ghost at will and can tell the shen for what they truly are. Second, and the most drastic change of all, heaven favors the dhampyr by gifting them with more Joss than ever before. Every dhampyr who undertook the ancient rite now quadruples their current Joss. Also, all actions receive one additional die and all actions have the effect as if they had Bound Joss attached to it (which does not cost the dhampyr any of their new stock). Dhampyr with Binding Joss can bind additional Joss to any skill they want as well. During combat, the dhampyr's Joss may also be used to negate damage as normal, but the cost to negate Aggravated is lowered to 2 Joss, instead of 4. Lethal still costs one. Bashing damage is totally negated now, with no need for any roll. Before, their Joss was just luck. Now, it is divine power. Chi rules stay the same for the dhampyr, however. They lose their P'o at this point in the scenario, which negates any Wave, Fire or Shadow Soul checks that would ever need to be made. They also lose their craving for flesh or blood and any restrictions on the levels of Disciplines they may possess. Those frugal players that have saved up a lot of XP can put it to good use at this point; all XP costs remain the same, however.
The dhampyr are the last to stand against the forces of the combined forces of Yomi and the Kuei-jin. It may seem like a wholly impossible task and it may very well be in your game. It will end in one of two ways:
It is very likely, due to the amount of end fighting that has gone on between them, that the Kuei-jin will be easy targets. They may have the powers of the Golden Chi at their disposal, but their reserves will run dry eventually. And when it does, they will be easily swept away by the legions of dhampyr that now call to one banner. The key to winning this scenario will not come with the simple death of the Kuei-jin, however. If they meet final death, their souls travel to Yomi, but the dhampyr cannot allow the Yama Kings to grow any stronger. Each dhampyr is given an amulet to absorb the souls of the Kuei-jin they slay, stealing away the source of the Yama Kings' power. When the Kuei-jin are defeated, the Jin Hai use the souls of the Kuei-jin in yet another powerful rite, this one given to them by the August Personage himself. This rite seals the Realms of Yomi from Earth forever more. No more souls will go there and no spirits or demons may leave them.
The dhampyr are triumphant, they have won the day and the undying favor of the Eye of Heaven. The dhampyr at this point retain their power and become demigods, helping man rule itself and protecting Humanity in the case of any other problems that may come up. The power of the Jin Hai flows through their veins, allowing their children to carry on their legacy. Or the ST can have the same limitations for the dhampyr apply: their kids are not dhampyr at all. That would mean that it is only a matter of time before the last dhampyr passes to the Cycle. What would become of Humanity without someone to watch over them?
The powers of the Kuei-jin have surpassed their wildest dreams due to the Golden Chi flowing through their veins and the help of the more powerful and influential of the Yama Kings, Mikaboshi, Rangda and Tou Mu. It is very likely that the dhampyr wouldn't survive a head to head intense battle against the Kuei-jin, even with the help of their awakened Jin Hai spirits. You can handle this ending similar to how epic battles are portrayed in the media. Make the eventual deaths of the characters matter in an important way. Maybe the group is able to destroy a mystical supply portal that the minions of Yomi use to support the Kuei-jin warriors. Maybe they have the opportunity to ambush a major player in the war, the First Oni of the Kuei-jin armies perhaps. The list can go on and on, but make it count. The majority of dhampyr know they are fighting a fight they may very well lose, but how do the characters take it? The terror of discovering that you are on the losing side of the battle is enough to send some people into a homicidal (or suicidal) rage. Do the characters still fight with all their might or do they give up entirely? Or do they decide to make deals with the enemy and join against their brothers and sisters? Let the characters decide their own actions; they will be their last. And as for what happens to the world after the dhampyr are defeated... They'll never know; they're dead.
The dhampyr have always been one of my favorite aspects of KotE and I hope I did them justice. I'd love feedback on this scenario. Shoot me any ideas, comments, etc., to [kote@nocturnis.net](mailto:kote@nocturnis.net).
