Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East (Werewolf: The Apocalypse)

174 Pages·1998·53.95 MB·English

by  Heather Curatola

Authors: Hengeyokai: Brian "Ratkin" Campbell, Harry
Heckel, Heather Heckel, Deena McKinney, Ethan Skemp;
Legene hGdt fosa rod nKua itsune: Kathleen Ryan
Additional Material: Aron Anderson, Ailee. MEn iles
Developer: Ethan Skemp
Editor: Aile. eMEn iles
t rDAirector: Aile. MEeni les
Art: Andrew Bates, Michael Gaydos, Steve Prescott,
Jeff Ry n SSeanopbyRenRdneecr r, e,r, Richard Thomas,
Drew Tucker, Melissa Uran, Kanji yb Kathleen Ryandna
Joshua Gabriel Timbrook
Comic Book Art: Joshua Gabriel Timbrook
Back Cover Art: Andrew Bates
Layou& tT ypesetting: Ailee. nEM iles
Cover Design: Aile. MEen iles
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The tale of one Stargazer's journey to the East
jArre&Ae^fo^'tTie ch^n^inS'^tWi^^'
An introduction to the shapeshifters of the
22
The history of the hengeyokai and the tales of tr||| lands
e Ee hUahstmt Tfbora
e inhdTivie dhuheanltg refaycooes kai
The hengeyokai's arsenal of magic and infamoul||nemies
/22
n iAntrodu ecKhttii ootsnt une
The origin and history of the Kitsune
\Nyfe\~ Se\/e^: "C^e
The werefoxes' society in Asia and around the world
Kitsune character creation
Kitsune templates and heroes
ichael Walks-on-Ashes walked se lhortiw speuly, Michael leaned forward carefully, bracing himself against the
e uhnfdtarmi nnikliiianrg s fmYoeulln snan China, trunk. Throue ghscht ref ebona rs awhnoacsrh te,e hhs unched-
blinke ihlnta ngsi t lie ghath ufot tumn sus nicH.h in over, beady-n ecayrmoedu ched aa lfe arnltloley n tree. Neoxtt
was thick with ss tuwibHirbyl e b.rown hair grew hima , smiling pig-tailed gis rajwlu st standir nehg ,gpaue hzt neo
ragd gneuadn trimms eipHdl. ain blue jedannas handsome features of a youth on the other side of the clearing. He
hiking boots were dustd ynwa ell-worn. Yetn ,i defer- sat tailor-fashion on a carved granite slab, close by two other young
ences ih ot passenger,s ih nut-brown faces aw scrubbed cleandna men — one giant sprawling lazily, one perched lean and hawklike
his white cotton shirt shone spotless, fresh from the wrapper. at the stone's edge. The giant picked up a die, and tried to bite it.
Under one arm he cradled a jar of smooth reddish stone, securely Michael frowned. The Li compound was supposed to be
bound with strips of raw silk and split reed. abandoned. Trespassers. Graduallye h eased back from eht tree.
As the sun set, the Stargazer vaulted a cracked, crumbling Then,s rjahues tlast ouf wnocs efe iirgohhn tt ef clfhaeomg ,e
wald lna landed quiets a feathere sht nwi eede sht noo ther side.A looked back to the man on the tree — to see the tiny black eyes
doorless storehouss reiig hgha top; ertda pd ebsnaerealde y ravaged focused directly on him.
e hsttone floor. Meadow grew where hect ourtyad rabdh eednna, "Spy! Spy!" hissee dhtw atchman.
the main house walls stood rooflessn i tile-spotted ruin. Michael "Haaaaurgh!" growled the sprawling man. He launched him-
slipped quietly through the tangle. self at the tree, neatly uprooting it, attempting to pin the intruder
Behind the house lay the garden. Ancient, barren fruit treee sshpitk yn icrown. Michael twisted ferehen tc, ulfteuorar rnoetd
grew wild her enoet dnw,a ig caughe ht jnti ar's wrappingeh ssa orchard, and found the hawk-faced one blocking the way. Michael
passed by. he eohathrtde r four cln oasrieo r tuiagnjhod t ee tlhhy hHiemltd .
"I'm bored." his side. Without it, he would have broken free and changed to a
He froze. The voice came from just ahead; it was thick, slow, faster form; with what Roadrunner had taught him he was sure he
deep and slurred its Mandarin badly. Michael freed the jar and could outrun anyone...
waited. "I smell wolf, nobles," said the handsome boy. "One of yours ?"
"It won'te b much longer, Shan," someonea —g irl, a little The hawk glared at Michael. "I've never seen him before."
farther — arwepay lied. "Sun's gone home now." .. .almost anyone. The Stargazer narrowed his eyes and drew
"Dice with me." A new speaker: male, confident, young. "It'll in the wind. No taint—close by. He wondered what tribe the hawk
pass the time faster." came from, and what the handsome boy—apparently no Garou—
I"Don't know how." coe duboldi ng ws kiiithnh d ff.oou r
"Oh, we'll teacho QyuoiHyuu .n? Jimi? Hong Tan?" "We yrhoae uoa h?s" ked.
"No. I'll keep watch." The answer — gravelly, curt — was , so"tNranonr t g,euerrroi.t Tosrhyiie , sb"oh syat.i od "Ygou
frighteningly cld ounsnae expected. first."
u ploeayse. "sA"
mMa I" ichael Walks-on-Ashesf oB n,os lood-on-the-Water. Michael's brow furrowedn ic onfusioe hntc tu,bi rcle around
I am Theurge of the Stargazers, bound to the Waking Seals Caern m reihlaxd benrado e khyeTo. un santmrgo lled easily toward him,
of California, packe mhStae ftcoeo nd Seven." and the confrontation seemed to be over.
"Whatu oy era doing here?" "I pass?"
"I'm heo rbteu ry this," said Michael, presente ijnhagtr , "the "For the moment."
mortal rey mtmeaa ficonhs er's oldest, best friena dds, angae "Then it's your turnI b, elieve."
astrold oigdg roehewra t servico etG aia —" "You're an American," said the stranger, returning to the
There was the faint sound of someone spitting, and Michael's tomb. "Our namd lneians es would mean nothino ygt ou."
hackles rose. n befroreu himd g. ee"nMntlhiyn aeptlac e dtaMischa el
"— and to our sept. My teacher charged me with the duty of meant somethino ygt ou."
traveling here and performing the rite." "Fivs i heneo rofa rdly a fair trade."
"Why here, 'Gazer?"e csauhmspte icie owhuastt cv hof-ioce "Ita c's oa ubr atterogsnya ,in."
man.
e e hhyGTton a dluaronnmocaguk ed ed ywneashe, ehnt
"This was his family home. His ancestors are strongest in this
stranger spoke Michael felt he'd passed another test.
pla ecaHsek. o erted st here. This will happen," said Michael, with
"u wI'lhol agyti vn eames we've given each other."
finality.
e hT beady-eyed watchman hissede h sa resumeds ih post.
"Wait a minute... you have the bones of a Li in there ?" asked
"We'rea nhi urry, pretty boy."
the girl.
"Change u awosy ill, nobles. I'll treat wir tguhou est." Absent-
"Yei sLF. eng."
mindedly he gathered up the dice. "Your native tongue is English?"
"My grandfathi e eFbLre hekng ngsaae,n "w.
Michael nodded.
"Sureo .S this rukc nowsa name hb edna roughta vaseeh.T
"They call me Wu Bingshu, the Witch's Sword. My second,
e ePhenoLtpoi sly ew 'sbee I dRre eo et sdnwpu'u tniopbealid c ,
here —" he gestured at the hawk-faced one, "is Huo Qiyun, the
here to vouch for him," snapped the watchman.
Burning Skyscrapea —rc ousinf o yours,I thinkr uO.l ovely lady
"Enough, Hong. Let her speak," said the youth. friend, Jimi, the Strictly Secret. On watch, Hong Tan, the Red
"Grandfathei FrL' desc anrhog ssed ed ysneeacs ond sigsihHt. Ad llt ntanuaAsebrtv. , er least, She aMhnt, ounty haaeiSnll .o,
branch of the family left in the wake of the Nationalists." Shan."
ehSTtargazer's face fee mHll". ust have beena d ifferfeo niLt "Hello," rumbled an earthquake into Michael's ear. He turned
the same name. The Master had perfect eyes, but could read only to stare into the enormous, spiky maw of a tiger as large as the
booe htk sdnska ye H. wouldn't have granite slab. The corners of the beast's mouth curled slightly, and
knowt a nigh bhi tmoi fs.it" the startled werewolf recognized the slow grin of the giant.
The girl laughed gently behind Michael spe oshufe tttnarrh aceftoens t gers.
him. "That's the one." Eacd hah seno hifted; each helda different shape.eH
sawa raven wheree ht girl Jimd aihb een. HongnaT
stared back evilly a e fger hoifyatmoen s t rat. Across
the great bulk of the Bastet, Huo Qiyun's familiar
wolf-Crinos form aca smae
relief. The Stargazer
nodded to his "cousin"
and turneeht dot
young man.
Michael,
by then, was
hardly sur-
prised that Wu Bingsh al duaah rge fox head. The Kitsune scratched "— cl. Nonseiniitg her side wants t ohce eactmpah teurtrn e.
his claws along his chin, raised a whiskered eyebrow, and shrugged. Our elders arranged these two sentai for the dragon nest's defense
"Ya opu ae cfrkiav?e" Michael nearly yelled. —five hengeyokai, five Kuei-jin. Equal forces. Equal power. Equal
"Yes," saidu W Bingshu. terms."
uBWingshu wn egonra tvely. "You must lear vwoe e,'ll lose
"No!" shouted Hong Tan.
dfpanrcaoebe ,cr ahcuabtloea loyri nmt ."
"Temporarily," growled ouH Qiyun.
"Step sideways, Michael," eht raven whispered. "We'll watch
"It depends on how it works out, really," piped up Jimi.
Master Li for you."
Beside Michael, Shan's muzzle twitched and wrinkled. "What?"
e hTStargazer rose, slowlye nO. huge claw tapped gingerly
e Mhtountain finally asked.
against the side of the stone jar.
"Sentai," said the Kitsune. "I don't think there's a word for it
"I promise,"e sKhaiitdt sune.
in English."
Michael clenched his jaw, stripping the shreds of the clean,
"We're a war party," said Huo Qiyun. "No totem. No bond.
white, funerals tsoihhrisr otf .f oArefe a tme rinf suoiltee enche ,
Tonight ew fight, tomorrowr uo og ew ways."e H leapt acrosseht
spoke:
tomb to stand by Michael. "Burning Skyscraper. Glass Walker.
Ahroun. Seven Sacred Cedar Sepn tiK, unming City pyMa. cski "Master iL wouldt on have wanted a caern losym rtof
dead." teacher's — or my — honor. I don't understand, but I will go."
o uQH iyun clappee ht sndo mhih oulderd nha elda tsuo mall
e RhTatkin hissed. "Yes. Very nio caGehd . esnnaaidf f each
other's asses. How long are we going to dance around the problem mirror.
here?" "Too late," Hong Tan cried softly.
"Oh, Hong," said Jimi. "Be polite." Wu Bingshu rose. Jimi fluttered back, e inshhttoa dows.
"He's right, though." Wu Bingshu sighed. "Michael, I'm "They're here," she faltered.
afraid you're goio nhtga o vltee ave." "I'm sorry," said Micha eesHlo. uge hhFtt ox'sw aesy densa,
"No," se aShittda rgaz efeHlre. xs hiehad nds, watched them ad t hreoenaxanrpaldie zndc—eetdase sdhw t ih aetsehh hroe ck
grow, and looked down on the Kitsune from Crinos height. "I mut osdtinr escatt wheadti h mtai.t
bury Masteri L tonight." uBWingshu's gaze flickered briefly towe aGhrtda rou.
Wu Bingshu flicked his tongue over the tips of his small, "Stay. Turn. They are here.
pointed teeth. "Come back tomorrow,I dna myself will stand "And the esryae ven."
honor gur hoairfmd ."
"Me, too," said Jimi.
n aas tsraowlo geeHr. "Tonight."
"What's wrong?" mumbled the tiger, lazily. "Why can't he?"
"Oh, Shan, if theyt eg hered na there are sixf o us, they're going
to think we broke truce."
"They?" asked Michael.
"We're here to meet another sentai," she answered.
"Kuei-jin."
"Walking dead," snapped Hong Tan.
"Vampires," snarled Huo Qiyun.
"Yin spirits," temporized Wu Bingshu. "Minor demons of
retribution."
"And you have a...an alliance with them..."
"No," said the Kitsune. "There's a dragon-nest — a caern.
We've been fighting the Kuei-jin over it for centuries. We hold it
awhile, they take it, we take it back. No one wins, but we keep the
war...civil...and the caern itself survives because we value it for
the same reasons. They're not defilers.
"Now there are other things —"
"Bakemono."
"Wyrm creatures."
"Yomi forces."
"Bad meat," murmured the Bastet.
Let your rapide tibthy ae tw hotif nd, your compactness that
of the forest. lnraidingaruiplunderingbeUkefire,inimmovability
Uke a mountain.
t eyLour plane dbs ad inrmak penetrabs lnae igd hwnta, hen
you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
— Sun Tzu, The Art of War
I
sia is not without its stories of the beasts who alien war. They taa kweet ith their enem ditnerase at their
was mlak en. The emrraey ths ape Elheatn snttiy friends with coolness rather than passion. Theyeht era
about those who Change — of where the fox- Changing Phantoms — the hengeyokai.
spirits keep their souls, or how the tigers con- Hengeyokai: Shapeshiftee rhEt sfo asa stsi upplement
ducted their business wh eewhnt os yralowd ung. concerning the werecreatures of Asia, and the courts in
dthnoAse me wyrtrahos ng. which they abide. Unlike the Kuei-jin, who are an entirely
e hTsnowy mountaintopsd na steaming jungles of Asia, different breed than their Cainite "cousins," the hengeyokai
like hwet ild pore thiWto llan ofosr lf doD arkneehts esra, are very me shuacmth e ff osorhma peshs itfahtee rir more
last refuf gGoe aia's Changing children.e CLhti hlklaae ng- widespread relatives. However, centurf ileoifs e wit ash pirit
ing Breee dAhsts ,ian werebeasts obea yc ulture older than world that outsiders would find aa lc dioneaon perative
recorded history and quite unlike human fable. However, court system have led the hengeyokai down a decidedly
here the shapeshifters have grown somewhat... apart from different road.
their cousins from Europe, Afe rAhictma ,ed reincvaaes n The hengeyokai are very different from their Western
eword hT every a likre. esamAaeu tsitmrhaeli tah. eTyheyt obe ya mytsticisam thas tib oth fdamiliaort nabreth ren,
those Westerneo srhwps eak with tht esye osim mdna,e what "Gaia"e hehxte innsgits eyokai's tongd unte-hacsea, y
different. Strang faeolsl, t w eGhhaetrn ou mano aggtae in knowledge that even the First Age was birthed into being by
an audience with these distant cousins and speak urgently of e Mhtother. They undere sThe dtartwhni natfoadot r ,k
the Apocalypse, the Eastern shapeshifters merely shake revere Luna as their Western brethren do. For the most part,
their heads, as if being berated by an arrogant child. they shara e common origin we iht"th Sunset People"
They are like the Westerners, and yet they are different. (although the tales of that origin vary wildly) — it is the
They fight the same battles, and yet they fight in a strangely events folloe wIhimntgp ergium t tethhsaet m arpoaFrt .
instanf ocR raWe aeh,t ge never burney aawd scti ross Asia
— instee aAhdt, sian shapeshifters lost manf toyh eir num-
Hengeyokaia si book about unityd na sacrificeeht ni
ber in great battles with the Bane-lords called the Yama
face of oncoming disaster; about spirituality both exotic and
Ka ri nesgsAe uhsh .lettn ,geyokai cooperate amongst each
universal; aboe vuhtit te achltoi f tduloyin rfaae go reti ;stki
other as do the Western Garou tribes — with all the
about traditiod nnca hange, dutd nypa aranoia, despadinra
politicking and caution that implies.
the dim light, however impossibly faint, of hope.
Interestingly enough, the hengeyokai have been slightly
Although the hengeyokait lodonoo k upe cohont ming
less particular about keeping their existence secret fromeht
Apocalypse in quite the same manner as do their Western
local human populationsa s.Ar esulte h,t Kitsune, Tengu
counterpartse ,ht sense fo impending doom shouldo n elb ess
and the rest all appear frequently in Asian myth, although
present in hengeyokai chronicles. The Sixth Age is not the
ehhetngeyokai have been careo fauts lsure te hhhautt mans
s l liita nht if oeitu nvdbng i—ets saai ltbim dlneoa, st here.
learned little of the werecreatures' true nature. Those who
e hcTycle will ture nhET. arth wie lpbl lungedfo iegna tnoa
think they knowa Kumo's taboos because they knoweht
evil, crueld tcnyah ao dunsAn. lee sYhst ama Kind gtnhsa eir
human cultus ihtr efeo rritoryr o,t hoso hbew elieve thaat
minions are prevented from chewing through the Wheel's
Hakken is bound by a strictly human code of bushido,
axle, the Wheel will stop in this Age for all time, rather than
typically leave the dust of the earth knowing no more of the
proceeding e t aiTshg hstwaa ooi eeutn lglfdAth.
truth than thed yiwd hen they were born.
Hengeyokai therefore do not fight to stave off the
Apocalypse — in fact, some seek to hasten it, all the better
o tencourageo t pti asss aq uicklyt i sca ame eh.Tc omingegA
Shapeshifters are of many species, but of one spirit. must come eWh o ittfto asplil d pHnleae, ad vEneaaenr rtah
They are not affected by humans' beliefs, nor are their to be reunited once more. The desperate struggle of the
powers derived from their culturA e. Basa t Besit astet, East's shapeshift setihrs ee pre berthf euootpr rtnare -orefd
whether a Pure Lands felinef o lynx stock na Ar,o frican e Whth eo fteohsla ,y pgtea tnrhmfioeyr m their duntieis
human-born lion-changero .S what makee shth engeyokai o tc eogAmn im esehAto. st Werewolf gamee shpt, layers
different from their brethren? should feel dread for the future — but some measure of
Long ago, the hengeyokai policed the world as did the acceptance and duty as well. However dark their fate, the
Sunset People. Howevf eoR raWr ea,ht ge never fully spilled hengeyokai will meet it with proud souls and sharp talons.
over into the East — and when the Eastern shapechangers -JteW -far V&zt *TCt\L&*$vv&.
did tue rnoan no nothed rnsa pill thein wcro ousins' blood,
their war was a war of courts, of multiracial septs making war Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East is a book in two
n eoach other. parts. The first part deals with the Changing children of the
What's more, the hengeyokai, though territorial as any East in general, and the particulars of their setting that have
other Changing Breed, owe much of their social structure to shaped them into their slightly unfamiliar formt dsI. iscusses
the precise court system that they claim was given them by e Bhetase tE hCmto efuroarltds Moe trhhaetcre ,s that
Heaven i— tsmele far nmeeihnhing ti ds GttneAaraisa . populate those courts, and adds both character creation
beginnie nhtw gfo orld lla,s upernatural creatures werneo w aernf uat ladengas onisr ptosfl ayed Snrast orytellers alike.
speaking terms—there we oevanraef e mE hepahtsi rntt ,eis The second half of this book is essentially the Kitsune
spoke oftn eTne e ChwhoThiuatt h-n egihngt Cdonurats , Changing Breed e BKhooittks ;une have been heavily
sand Immortals were friendly ot alle h.T Umbra itself influency etbhd eir settd innthgae, ir fas itier revocably
hummed we ihattchs tptl isliaavh d tiferntonyoa , n spirits intertwined with thae ht otfo ther hengeyokai.t I contains
— the Dragon Princes, Ministers of Heaven and more — full rules for playing the clever werefoxes, as well as a study
grew powerful from the focus of belief and loyal service. As n toheir socd oinertaiyg ins.
e hMt iddle Kingdom grew, subtle changes bega ontc reep
over its Changing denizens. The Mokole began to tap into
the dreams of the great dragons and were themselves shaped
A word of warning: Although hengeyokai characters
by the dreams' power. The hengeyokai drew up courts of
e bb naclended into groupsf oW esternersu so,y houlosd od
cooperatid obnneag, ao fnot llow ac ommon law. Even some
very carefully. If hengeyokai immediately start popping up in
of the reclusive Rokea were brought into the courts, and
sed ppnatasc ks acre oWhsts ee fshltat, vore bhootf ok—the
learned a measure of civility quite different from the primal
flavf eooxr otis lcioi —ssmt. Afterw e shapotlhe ln, caiacl
life to which they were accustomed.
Kitsune be when every group of players has at least one in
f Ocoursr eacw, amo ett his plae hcmt denai, nionfso their ranks?t I also tends ot stretche ht plausibiliethty fo
the Wyrm began to work their corruption before long. But game world; althe ohhuegnthg eyokai work well together,
as the history of the Middle Kingdom unfolded, it molded they don't care for the company of Westerners, who they
e shhapteshifters there einhto tw h—e attor dtahaye y find foolish and misguided, little more than cubs.
changing phantoms; the hengeyokai.
dftfofc EAST
Hengeyokai travel bee yMhointdd dle Kingdom very Age of the Dawning — The First Age; the time when
rarely, if they do so at all. Although it is tempting to md asntptiaerr it were still whole, wl htlehani ngs ewneore
immediately throw them into your usual Werewolf game, with Gaia.
we strongly recommend you wait until the moment is right. Age of Legends — The Third Age; a time before
Remember, most Garou never see so much as a Western history, whe ehhnte ngeyokai first r waawgea onitent hstt
Bastet in all their lives — meeting a hengeyokai should be Wyrm's forces.
an even more specid anmal emorable event. Age of Shadows — The Fifth Age or modern age;
believed to have been heralded by the coming of the
Westerners.
Age of Sorrow — The Sixth Age, the age yet to
The following phrases are in common
come. The hengeyokai's name Aeh pfoot rcalypse, which
use among hengeye hoBtk feoaai st
they beliel la fo dtnve eht heb ton yeam roi yam ngs.
Courts; although some Breeds have
n TehTous eaenhhdT tT hfA—iongge s
their own slangs and dia-
Second Age, when matter and
lects, these terme srra ec-
lla o ygbnized spir-itn sapl iet nfroom
other. The
shapesheihftt efors
hengeyokai claoitm
East.
have been born in
this age.
Age of Testing — The Fourth Age, which began in prehistory and continued until the present millennium. A time of
ward na strife.
BakemonoA —f omor; fomori.
Beast Courts of the Emerald Mother — A formal term for hengeyokai society; all
Eastern shapechano gfhoewlrlso w Ge ahraioa norary members, while some
pledge themselves entirely to the Courts'
law. Often shortened to Beast Courts.
Centipede, centipedes
— Slang eht rof Wyrm
s tsie rorvants; probably
inspired by battles with the
noisome Mukade.
mt^\