W20 - Changing Breeds.pdf

People visiting Asia and an increasing number of hengeyokaiand their human Kinfolk visiting or immigratingto areas outside Asia. Many come to the United States orCanada, but many areas of Europe, Africa, and Australiaare now home to small numbers of hengeyokai.IndonesiaThe outlying islands of Indonesia number among thewildest places in Southeast Asia and are home to mostof the Changing Breeds that make up the hengeyokai.Unfortunately, some of these remote islands, like WestPapua, are the site of brutal and violent oppressed bythe Indonesian government. While much of this oppressionis rooted in the human urge for violence andconquest, some government officials are under thecontrol of Bakemono who want nothing less than thetotal destruction of the isolated wilderness. The situationis far worse on the densely populated island ofJava, where much of the population works under almostslave-like conditions in giant factories. Some of thesemanufacture goods exclusively for Pentex subsidiaries,including deadly toxins that poison both workers andcustomers, and cheap consumer goods. Everything thatcomes out of these factories carry a spiritual infectioncausing buyers all across the world to crave the cheapgoods coming out of the islands.The Beast Courts on the nation's outlying islandsspend most of their time defending their own territoryand have little time to worry about in pollution in theindustrial centers. Many of the Beast Courts on Java feelthe same way about the outlying islands. Cooperationis made even harder by the Nezumi’s domination of theJavanese Beast Courts, while the wererats are relativelyuncommon on the more remote islands. In those wildplaces, the Tengu and Zhong-Lung make up most of thehengeyokai, and both Nagah and Same-Bito are at leastas common as Nezumi.Worse, the infighting means the Bakemono arewinning. Human soldiers and police officers under thecontrol of the Bakemono slaughter suspected humankinfolk in West Papua, and are planning to use similartactics on other remote islands. All across Indonesia'soutlying islands, isolated tribes that contain large numberof human kinfolk face extinction. At the same time, theNezumi and other hengeyokai living in and near Jakartaare desperate. A growing area encompassing the densestslums and most polluting factories is now too dangerousfor even the Nezumi to spend more than a few hours in.These poisonous zones grow daily, and the local Bakemonohave weaponized toxin-laden smog to get a foothold inmore remote regions.Los AngelesThe Los Angeles Metropolitan Area is now hometo approximately one and a half million people bornin Asia, and many more whose ancestors moved to theUnited States within the last several decades. Thoughvast majority of these immigrants are ordinary humans,several hundred are hengeyokai and their human Kinfolk.Today, there are more than two dozen hengeyokai in LosAngeles. Similar to cities across Asia, the Nezumi are themost common of the urban Changing Breeds, but LA isalso home to most of the denizens of the Beast Courts,with even a few Hakken and Same-Bito.LA is also home to several packs loyal to the GarouNation, as well Balam, Corax, Nuwisha, and Ratkin.Because the city is sprawling and segregated, the membersof the Beast Courts rarely encounter the other ChangingBreeds in the course of their daily lives.Hundreds of small oil wells operate inside the citylimits, and while most are remarkably toxin free, theirpresence draws fomori and Wyrm-elementals whosabotage the wells and spread toxins throughout thecity. The city is also home to one of Pentex’ corporateheadquarters, and the megacorporation often uses thearea to as a test market for its corrupted products. As aresult, all of the Changing Breeds who live in LA regularlyconfront large and dangerous threats. Over the lastdecade, members of the LA Beast Court and the othershapeshifters have grudgingly worked together to defeatsome of the deadliest of these threats.The local Nezumi and Ratkin have a close alliance,but they’re the only Breed with such a connection. Evenwhen dealing with their American fellows, the Nezumikeep the Nagah’s existence a secret. Relations betweenmembers of the other Changing Breeds are far morestrained. The Hakken and Garou have open contemptfor each other, and even the Tengu and the Corax —normally happy to share stories and secrets — distrustone another so close to a Beast Court. The last time theSame-Bito ventured far from the shore, they encountereda slew of Rokea who forced them to retreat onto land. Theonly exception to this culture of suspicion and violenceis the Nuwisha, who are fascinated by the hengeyokai.Most Nuwisha care far more about their own curiositythan about rules or propriety, but their obvious knowledgeof the Umbra has prevented most of the Beast Courtsfrom attempting to kill the overly curious werecoyotes.MalaysiaMany in the human world consider Malaysia to beone of the major Asian success stories — it has rela-APPENDIX TWO: HENGEYOKAI281