W20 - Changing Breeds.pdf

arbarians who have spurned their place in the EmeraldMother's great plan by refusing to work with the otherChanging Breeds.The Hakken are the hengeyokai's foremost warriorsand protectors, often acting as the first line of defenseagainst the dreaded Bakemono. They get along well withKitsune and Tengu, but find the Khan to be troublesomerivals and regard the Nezumi as dishonorable and unclean,if also occasionally quite useful.In the midst of the long ago wars between both differenthengeyokai courts and between mortals and theChanging Breeds, werewolves in Japan sought to endboth types of wars by strengthening their ties with mortalsociety. To accomplish this, they infiltrated Japan's classof elite warriors, the samurai. Within a few generations,their descendants felt more of a connection to the cultureand customs of Japan than to Garou traditions. Thisconnection to Japanese culture increased as the localwolf population declined, as the tribe found it harderand harder to locate wolf Kin to breed with. Humansbelieve that wolves died out in Japan in 1905, but theHakken keep a small number of wolf kinfolk in remoteand protected wild areas, hiding them from human sight.OrganizationThe secret packs of Japanese wolves help keep Hakkenpopulations from declining, but the vast majority ofHakken are homids who lead extremely human lives. Theystill follow a warrior code clearly derived from the Samuraicode of Bushido, adapted for a werewolf’s thoughts anddeeds. The Hakken organize themselves in clans basedon family lineages and in battle they adorn themselveswith their clan's crest. The few lupus Hakken are theonly members of this breed who retain a traditional packstructure. Without the pressure of a family expectingthem to hold to ancient (and, to a Kinfolk, nonsensical)traditions, they’re free to be more spontaneous. LupusHakken are also more likely to join the sentai of theBeast Courts than their homid cousins. Within their ownclans and packs, Hakken settle disputes in single combat,usually with swords or in some other form of one-on-onecompetition, like poetry or storytelling contests. Despiteall of their differences from other werewolves, in a fewways the Hakken clearly show their connection to theGarou. Their clans and packs regularly hold moots attheir caerns that closely resemble the moots of Garouelsewhere in the world.Hakken Traits and GiftsExclusive Gifts of the Hakken can be found on page189 of W20. The Hakken make use of the same broadarray of rites as their Western counterparts, as well aspartaking in the rites of the Beast Courts.KhanA few other werecats live in Asia, but none belongto the Beast Courts in the way that the Khan do. Theother tribes of Bastet are far too clannish to waste theirtime with other Changing Breeds. The Khan, however,believe the Emerald Mother gave them a sacred duty asher protectors, and as the protectors of the Beast Courts.Because the Hakken are rare outside of Japan, thepowerful and deadly Khan are the premier warriors in mostBeast Courts. These weretigers are exceedingly proud ofAPPENDIX TWO: HENGEYOKAI 273