Kindred of the East (interest check)

Started by Rook Seidhr, April 29, 2014, 06:12:54 AM

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Mnemaxa

Quote from: RubySlippers on October 03, 2015, 02:51:56 PM
I'm thinking someone positioned and happy to operate around mortals, whose respected as an artist (its considered a very respected profession) and educated maybe self-educated but educated. And who would support the group along those lines. Well I don't think a diplomatic sort is in the group.

At this point I am not sure if there is or not; I am much more interested in the Dharma and Direction your character is going to be portrayed as.  There will be varius sorts of diplomats in the group from the concepts I'm seeing so far.

The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Braioch

Besides the 10 resource points, since I assume being at 2 Dharma to start, there's been some going ons for our characters in their development, are there any extra freebie points as well?
I'm also on Discord (like, all the time), so feel free to ask about that if you want

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Mnemaxa

I am planning to give extra freebie points after I have given everyone a more sold look at the current situations and people they are working with and around, and after we have finalized their characters. This will represent their growth to dharma 2 as well as their familiarity wil the current situation, allowing the players to further tailor their characters to the setting proper.

I am working on the write ups, and hope to have something posted in an OOC thread by wednesday evening/morning.

The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Braioch

I'm going with a "previous introverted intellectual eventual occultist" for the human days (haven't pondered up the rest of his life, including to his death and afterwards though) Going primary with the brains and tertiary with social, and I'm aiming for leaning towards a strong streak of demonlogy in the guy, and freebie points may be the final say in how far along he is or isn't.

So I'll hold off on what precisely imma do with him until after you've got your decision made.
I'm also on Discord (like, all the time), so feel free to ask about that if you want

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Mnemaxa


The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Mnemaxa

I'm finishing up the background information for Beijing, The "Shadow Court", and the Political Flowchart for the Kuei of the Blood Court for you (it will be incomplete, because your character do not yet know everyone and everything). 

Please excuse the delay.  I will have them posted here, then post them in an OOC thread if they are acceptable to everyone.

The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Pumpkin Seeds

Sorry if I've been quiet.  Doing a lot of trauma training stuff.

Braioch

Same, between a shit ton of work and long training hours done separate yet for work, I've been both busy and exhausted.
I'm also on Discord (like, all the time), so feel free to ask about that if you want

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Mnemaxa

If it makes you both feel better, it isn't going to be a high 'pressure to post' game.  I much prefer thoughtful posts and less stress in my life.  Once a week would be enough, as long as they're good posts. 

The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Braioch

-gasps and clutches pearls-

As if I give anything but quality posts!

My lawyer shall hear about this!
I'm also on Discord (like, all the time), so feel free to ask about that if you want

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Mnemaxa

My assassins will negotiate with your lawyer on the morrow, good sir.

The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Mnemaxa

#86
Okay.  Here is the first of three write-ups for the Shadow Court Warriors KoE game.  If there are questions, please ask, it will help me cement things in the other two.




Most Notable Factions (Each has 3-5 wu following their sect; there are more, but these are the current movers and shakers.)
*Society of Wise and Virtuous Magistrates, a conservative group with many Northerly wu.
*Jade Brush Brotherhood, a fairly progressive group, currently held to be in a favorable position despite the Bestowed Ancestor's affiliation.
*Grave-Polishing Caretakers, a West and Yin aligned group that is currently embroiled in dealing with both the Kindred issue and the spiritual unrest in China's mirrorlands.
*Devils of the Black Lantern, less a political group than a group dedicated to ensuring the blood court remains free of Yama King influences. 
*Auspicious Scattering of Tiles, a Center leaning faction that is trying to achieve a more moderate stance between progression and conservatism.


Bestowed Ancestor of the Celestial Realm, leader of the Kuei as a Whole:  The Mandarin Bai Guan Yun, White-Hat Cloud, a Resplendent Crane associated with the Society of Virtuous Magistrates.
The Five August Ancestors (Responsible for the Five Court regions in their entirety):
Blood Court:  Jan Pen Wu, East Directed Thrashing Dragon (M)
Bone Court:  Bar Mei Tong, North Directed Bone Flower (M)
Flesh Court:  Ba Yan Huan, Center Directed Rootless Tree (F)
Jade Court:  Ba Bi-Shou, West Directed Devil Tiger (M)
Flame Court:  Ah See Mun, South Directed Resplendent Crane (F)

Five Hidden Ministers (Oversee regional scope duties, all are mandarins)
Minister of Jade:  Guan Yao Te, Northern Resplendent Crane (M)
Minister of Rites:  San Yin Zhu, Westerly Thousand Whisper (F)
Minister of Shen:  Qi Zhong Jian, Centered Thousand Whisper (M)
Minister of Gardens:  Huang Fei Fu, East Facing Trashing Dragon (M)
Minister of War:  Shun Li Nu, North Directed Bone Shadow (M)

City Ancestor:  Currently, none; assigned only when needed to oversee overwhelming issues.  Part of your duty is to see this doesn't happen due to the Kindred presence.

Yin Ambassador:  Tieh Tieh, the Iron Butterfly, West Directed Bone Shadow (F), jina
Yang Ambassador:  Er Wa Guei, West Directed Devil Tiger (MtF), jina

Five Ministers (Local scope duties, all but Mo Ku Jen are jina. Mo Ku is a mandarin).
Jade:  Nai Meng, Northern Bone Shadow (F)
Rites:  Mo Ku Jen, the Demon Bone Nun, Centered Devil Tiger (F)
Shen:  Wan Bai She, Center Directed Resplendent Crane (M)
Garden:  Mi Mei, East Directed Thrashing Dragon (MtF)
War:  An Mei She, North Directed Devil Tiger (M)

First Oni:  Er Yin Dao, South Directed Thrashing Dragon (M) (mandarin)
Infant Devil Civilizer:  Yung Yin Hsi, East Directed Devil Tiger (FtM) (jina)

Local Ancestor:  Tiao Quan, Center Directed Rootless Tree (M) (mandarin)
Ancestor's Wu (All jina)
North – Pao Ying, Resplendent Crane (M)
East – Tu Mei, Thrashing Dragon (FtM)
West – Yung Yue, Bone Shadow (F)
South – Yung Bi Chen, Devil Tiger (M)

You have (relatively) easy access up to the Yin and Yang Ambassadors; for those two you always require appointments.  Above them, you know who is who, but have no access outside of emergencies or incidental access without appointments and (traditional and regulated) bribery. 

As a side note, the FtM/MtF gender tags may not always indicate transexuality – in some cases it can mean an unwanted or unexpected body-swap.

The Minsters of Jade are treasurers, and sometimes literally handle acquisiton and distribution of jade to those who need it (the Ambassadors or ministers of Shen for example, get their jade for the shen they meet and to travel to the Yin and Yang Realms). 
Ministers of Rites ensure all appropriate rites are performed, locally or regionally as appropriate.
Ministers of Shen are diplomats between the Wan Kuei and other shen, and are overseers of Dragon Nests the Wan Kuei are responsible for.
Ministers of the Garden take are of the human world as it related to the Wan Kuei, and oversee the disposition of chi resources outside of jade and dragon nests.
The Ministers of War are more logistics and resource control – the First Oni serves as General and overseer of warfare.
The Yin and Yang Ambassadors are literally ambassadors to the spirits and spirit worlds, as opposed to other shen.

It is important to remember that direction and dharma are only two of the aspects of a given kuei's appointment to any given position.  For instance a North Directed Bone Shadow might seem an odd choice for the local Minister of Jade, but Nai Meng's firm hand and cool temper keep things moving in a timely but consistent manner in the turmoil ridden Beijing economies of chi, jade, and commerce both spiritual and physical.  Likewise, a Centered Devil Tiger seems like a bizarre choice for the Minister of Rites, but enforcing the spiritual duties of the city upon the human populace is a difficult task that requires aggressive tactics as well as sideways thinking at times, especially in a conflicted place like Beijing.

It is also worth noting almost none of the appointees are wu-mates, with one notable exception:  Tieh Tieh is part of Mo Ku Jen's wu, but her qualifications for the position of Yin Ambassador were far higher than the potential risk of corruption or conspiracy.  It does mean that there are many eyes of varied sorts on both of them, from several quarters.

The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Miroque

Is this game still looking more players? Its been ages for my last KotE game.

Mnemaxa

I think you will b the last - that puts us at 6. 

The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Rook Seidhr


Mnemaxa

Seven is a good number too.  It's auspicious.  Six is less auspicious, but anything is better than four. 

That said I'm still working in this thread to make sure everyone is okay with what gets presented.  Tomorrow you'll have information on the so-called Shadow Court, the Kindred who live in the Beijing undercity.  I will still have to review players and make sure they're going to be okay with what I have cooked up and will tolerate the slightly slower than average posting speed I am prone to. 


The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Rook Seidhr

Quote from: Mnemaxa on October 16, 2015, 07:56:41 AM
Seven is a good number too.  It's auspicious.  Six is less auspicious
Huh. I thought it was the other way around.

Quote from: Mnemaxa on October 16, 2015, 07:56:41 AM
but anything is better than four. 
That, I knew.

Mnemaxa

Quote from: Riveda on October 16, 2015, 08:29:30 AM
Huh. I thought it was the other way around.
That, I knew.

Six is young yin which changes to yang; seven is older yang, which remains stable.  Stability>Change, numerically speaking.

The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Rook Seidhr

Quote from: Mnemaxa on October 16, 2015, 08:41:22 AM
Stability>Change, numerically speaking.
OK, and 9 moves to 8, so 8 is more auspicious than 9? (Well, I already knew 8 was more auspicious than 9.)

Mnemaxa

Quote from: Riveda on October 16, 2015, 08:47:03 AM
OK, and 9 moves to 8, so 8 is more auspicious than 9? (Well, I already knew 8 was more auspicious than 9.)

Yes.  I Ching numerology is based on the auspiciousness of the numbers. 

The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Mnemaxa

#95
Writeup number two:  Shadow Court.

I had to do extra research.  Read over it and see if everything makes sense and sounds agreeable - as the game style was requested to be more diplomatic, bot human and shen relations, and investigative, I have arranged the situations to be as close as possible to fostering that kind of adventure for our strange wu.

FEEDBACK IS CRITICAL.  Without it, you won't get a game you like!




The Shadow Court:  Kindred of Shanghai.

Antonio de la Passaglia paved the way in the 1500's, and the Blood Court of the Quincunx allowed it.

It was one thing to be forced to cope with foreigners, but the kindred were another abomination entirely.  But Antonio was careful, and clever.  He humbled himself, and he understood the languages of China's Imperial City – but most importantly, he understood the customs.  This last saved his unlife, and those of his companions.

So began the 'Shadow Court', called so not because of its placement in the Underground City of Beijing, but because of its nature as the merest echo of any court of the Quincunx.

Antonio de la Passaglia exists in the depths of the Black Market of Beijing, where he maintains the passages from East to West in careful and strictly controlled conditions.  While his son and childer Martino della Passaglia is the current face of the kindred in the so called Shadow Court, it is very well known to the Blood Court as a whole that Antonio is still unlive and well.  The Della Passaglia who live and work in the Beijing Foreign Quarter are deeply connected to their unliving family in the same, and as many legal business ventures are controlled as illegal by them or their proxies.  Though the Giovanni do not intrude too closely into the Della Passaglia, they keep nearly as close an eye upon their Eastern based kin as the Wan Kuei themselves do. 

The trouble is, of course, that the Della Passaglia are necromancers as well as Kindred.  Only the purchase of the Wan Kuei's grace through offers of jade, True Jade, knowledge, and secret arts has allowed the kindred to maintain any kind of hold at all.  The ideological investigations of the Wan Kuei into the nature of the kindred are over; only the fiscal and spiritual currencies the Della Passaglia can provide have any meaning now, and those must be dispensed both carefully and somewhat liberally, lest the Ancestor of Beijing begin to suspect that it is no longer worthwhile to allow the maintenance of the kindred in Beijing to continue.

While the Bone Flowers approve of the close familial ties and great fidelity the Della Passaglia maintain amongst themselves as a general rule, they are careful to ensure that their tacit approval does not become permissiveness.  It is one thing to maintain a Scarlet Screen using ones family; it is another thing to use one's family as a source of necromantic power, blood, or entertainment.  The Devil Tigers also watch the vampires carefully, knowing that the influence of Hell would love nothing better than to slip inside the walls of Beijing through a third party.  The Della Passaglia understand and accept this careful watch, and shower those that watch with humble thanks and minor – and carefully vetted – gifts in their appreciation. 

One of the most fundamental agreements between the Shadow Court and the Blood Court is that the slave trade must stop.  Beijing is rife with it, and it poisons the culture and livelihood of Beijing.  Martino della Passaglia works very hard to ensure that no slave trade occurs in the Underground Market, and the merest whisper of it is enough to ensure a quick reaction, thorough investigation, and summary execution of those involved even before the Wan Kuei themselves become involved.  This, despite the fact that such obvious and violent situations often merit their attentions anyways. 

While the use of Scarlet Screens is commonplace and closely regulated among the Wan Kuei, those used by the kindred are far less effective and stable; the very nature of the kindred most closely associated with the Della Passaglia often requires effort to conceal their depredations.  As a result, another institution that requires kindred and kuei cooperation is assisting the Della Passaglia in maintaining some measure of their 'herds' and controlling their comparatively lackluster Scarlet Screens.  It is a tragic truth that the kindred are singularly unchanging and stilted species, hardly meriting the word 'predator' in association with their kind.  Still, as long as they maintain their usefulness, so their unlives must be maintained. 

Finally, there is the matter of corruption.  The arts of necromancy and the abiding interest in the Yin world are paramount to both the Della Passaglia and many of the Wan Kuei.  It is critical to be aware that the arts each practices are fundamentally different and approach the worlds in different ways.  Maintaining the balances between the Mirror-lands, the Middle Kingdom, and the Yellow Springs is a must, not only because it fosters respect and keeps the Dragon Lines clean and uncorrupted, but because disharmony in any of those places attracts the attention of the Yama Kings.  Further, information and knowledge and magic transferred from one place to another, or even one person to another, is yet one more avenue for corruption and unwelcome interference to arise. 

The duty of the wu, then is really threefold. 
1:  Serve as intermediaries between the Blood Court and the Shadow Court.
1.A:  Ensure tribute is appropriate and flows properly between the Shadow Court and the Blood Court.
1.B:  Ensure the dictates of the August Ancestors of the Blood Court are being followed by both sides.

2:  See that decorum, propriety, and the rites are being observed and maintained.
2.A:  Ensure the Scarlet Screens are intact and being used properly.
2.B:  Correct and redress any flaws or inappropriate behaviors on any side, Wan Kuei,
Mortal, or Kindred.
2.C:  Ensure no corruption emerges from either side of those Screens to taint Beijing.

3:  Maintain vigilance over the Shadow Court, the Mirror-Lands, and the Middle Kingdom that all may continue to work towards enlightenment in harmony and peace.
3.A:  Ensure that no exchange brings shame to the Blood Court.
3.B:  Investigate and report all corruption noticed within the Shadow Court to the appropriate authorities.

PLAYER NOTES: 
1.A:  Your primary duties are diplomatic, but that does include the collection of tributes in the name of the Blood Court in all forms.  These are to be delivered to the Minister of Jade.
1.B:  This includes maintaining vigilance in the Black Market for slave trade fostered by any faction of shen, including Xiong Ren and Yin World ghosts.

2:B:  This includes the creation of kindred without sanction by the Della Passaglia, as well as inappropriate creation of kindred by them (those under wan Kuei protection, for instance), or the instigation of spiritual unrest in the Mirror Worlds by kindred.

3.B:  Bear in mind that while you are diplomats and mediators, this does not exempt you from dealing with emergencies with force.  If a situation arises where simply informing the appropriate authorities is impossible or inadvisable (or fruitless) then you are expected to act upon the tenets of Direction and Dharma.

The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Braioch

I'm always eternally amused by the idea of a Devil Tiger diplomat ::)
I'm also on Discord (like, all the time), so feel free to ask about that if you want

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Mnemaxa

Sometimes how you say something is more important than why you say something, and sometimes saying it hard is better than saying it nice.

After all, it took the Sand Priest beating the crap out of the Monkey King to get Sun Kong to realize you can't always hit a problem to death.

The Well of my Dreams is Poisoned; I draw off the Poison, which becomes the Ink of my Authorship, the Paint upon my Brush.

Braioch

MC: ...I can still torture the problem...right?
I'm also on Discord (like, all the time), so feel free to ask about that if you want

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Marie Reynolds

Sorry i have been a bit quite real life has had me running around like a chicken with my head cut off.