1Credits

By Bryan Armor, Christine Gregory, Ellen Kiley, Steve Long and Malcolm Sheppard

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2 Dragons of the East

CreditsAuthors: Bryan Armor, Christine Gregory, Ellen Kiley, Steve Long and Malcolm SheppardDevelopment: Jess HeinigEditing: James StewartArt Direction: Aileen MilesInterior Art: Leif Jones, Melissa UranCover Art: Christopher ShyFront and Back Cover Design: Becky JollenstenLayout and Typesetting: Becky Jollensten

© 2000 White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the purposes of reviews, and for blank character sheets, which may be reproduced for personal use only. White Wolf, Vampire the Masquerade, Vampire the Dark Ages, Mage the Ascension, World of Darkness and Aberrant are registered trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Werewolf the Apocalypse, Wraith the Oblivion, Changeling the Dreaming, Hunter the Reckoning, Werewolf the Wild West, Mage the Sorcerers Crusade, Wraith the Great War, Trinity, Dragons of the East, Dark Kingdom of Jade, Ends of Empire, World of Darkness Blood and Silk, Book of the Wyrm, World of Darkness Bygone Bestiary, Guide to the Technocracy, Kindred of the East, Kindred of the East Companion, Hengeyokai Shapeshifters of the East, Land of Eight Million Dreams, Half-Damned Dhampyrs, A World of Rage, World of Darkness Hong Kong, Infernalism the Path of Screams, Demon Hunter X, Freak Legion A Player’s Guide to Fomori and The Thousand Hells are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. All characters, names, places and text herein are copyrighted by White Wolf Publishing, Inc.

The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned.

This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. Reader discretion is advised.

For a free White Wolf catalog call 1-800-454-WOLF.Check out White Wolf online athttp://www.white-wolf.com; alt.games.whitewolf and rec.games.frp.storytellerPRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

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3Credits

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ContentsIntroduction 4

Chapter One: Ancient Scrolls 7

Chapter Two: Sutras 23

Chapter Three: The Lightning People 39

Chapter Four: Bounteous Diversity 73

Chapter Five: Five Elemental Dragons 103

Chapter Six: A Thousand Things of Magic, A Thousand Places of Power

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4 Dragons of the East

Introduction

Mage has long acknowledged the influence of Asia, but never in the detail deserved by two billion people. To understand Asia’s mages, you need a grounding in their history, their beliefs and their practices. Dragons of the East opens the door on these topics. With this volume, you have the tools to understand Asia’s mages. They aren’t just high-kicking martial artists or Confucian sages; such elements are simply

pieces of the larger culture. Ever since Marco Polo’s fanciful tales of China

filtered back to Europe, the denizens of the West have seen Asia through a veil of mystery and misunder-standing — and perhaps a little fear. Though diplomats and rulers from Europe scorned Asia as a backward, crumbling collection of petty kingdoms, the dizzying complexity of Chinese society and its inventions pro-

voked numerous superstitions. The Chinese invented gunpowder but used it only for firecrackers. They studied forms of war that allowed an unarmed man to kill armed attackers, yet preached nonviolence in concert with these techniques. The Asian mind was entirely foreign — of course — to the European attitudes of the day. Considering that the “Westerners” who studied Asia could hardly comprehend what Asian society took for granted, how much more mysterious were the elements that hid under the surface where the common man of Asia could not see them?

Of course, speaking in such broad terms is useless. There’s no “Asia” any more than there’s a “Europe” — geographical conventions, nothing more. What’s true for a small part of China may be vastly different in another province and totally unknown in Laos. The underlying factor is that these cultures were all tremendously different from anything that Europe had

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5Introduction

to offer. France, Spain and England all had kings, but in Asia, theocracy and Confucianism, warring states and “barbarian suppressing generals” made for a to-tally different social structure. In turn, the habits and superstitions of the people, in conjunction with their indigenous religions were a far cry from the Christian crusaders from Europe whose descendants went on to trade with Asia.

One can hardly talk about Asian societies on the same page with Europe. The Council of Nine forced the Akashic Brotherhood into the “Tradition” mold, and the Technocracy accepted their counterparts among the Five Metal Dragons, but neither group truly understood the mindset of its partners — because they never un-derstood the history and society of their counterparts. That history is here.

The Chinese calendar stretches back over five thousand years; these people developed “civilized” in-novations like the compass, gender equality and holistic living long before Europe dreamed up such wonders. Yet the very character of the civilization, so focused upon the greatness of the Middle Kingdom, brought a different attitude to discovery.

Among the supernatural side of Asian cultures are the Chi’n Ta, the Lightning People, the Dragons of the East — call them what you will, they are innovators and discoverers like their cousins in the West. But their discoveries carry an entirely different weight than those of their counterparts. They posit an entirely different structure of the world from the model shared by the Traditions. Those secrets, too, are here.

What AwaitsWithout further ado, here’s a quick look at the

mysteries revealed in Dragons of the East:Chapter One: Ancient Scrolls discusses the devel-

opment of culture and civilization in Asia. Here you’ll find the history of China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cam-

bodia and their neighbors. Witness the development of magical society in conjunction with Asian civilization and some historical turning points that bear special notice in the World of Darkness.

Chapter Two: Sutras explores the powerful forces of religion. Familiarize yourself with Buddhism, Shinto, Taoism or Hinduism; then see how to incorporate these beliefs when creating characters (Asian or otherwise) and ponder their effects upon mages.

Chapter Three: The Lightning People focuses upon the prominent Chi’n Ta of Asia: those families and houses foremost among magicians there. Discover the places where Akashic Brothers, Wu Lung and Wu-Keng developed, and how they’ve fared in the long struggle to the modern age.

Chapter Four: Bounteous Diversity turns to the other supernatural denizens of Asia. Some magical heritages remain hidden away in corners that the Traditions overlook. Descriptions and rules cover the various remaining disparate groups, or other mages whose existence has been hinted at but remain other-wise unknown. Here, too, are discussions of how mages deal with other creatures in the supernatural courts that mirror the structure of Heaven (or hell).

Chapter Five: Five Elemental Dragons looks in to the Asian Technocracy. While the Technocracy of Europe and the Americas encompasses a rational, scientific world, the Five Metal Dragons fuse high fi-nance and bleeding-edge technology with traditions and rituals so ancient that they’ve become habit. Complete information for everything from the Dragon’s history to character creation.

Chapter Six: A Thousand Things of Magic, a Thousand Places of Power suggests some ideas for po-tent artifacts or locations that could be found throughout Asia. Incorporate these items into an existing chronicle or explore the legacies of important places where mages might congregate — or from which they might flee.

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