W20 - Changing Breeds.pdf

282CHANGING BREEDStively high income, a greater degree of freedom, anda reasonable standard of living for most residents. Thelocal Beast Courts know far too well the price of thisprosperity. Malaysia now has fewer than 500 tigers andno habitat for more. Humans have cut down almost athird of the local jungle, and loggers are cutting moredown every day. Because of this destruction, the BeastCourts are determined to protect the half of Malaysiastill covered by old growth tropical forests. These forestsare home to a wealth of animal life, as well as severalpowerful Dragon Nests.Malaysia is currently one of the major battlegroundsfor the hengeyokai. The Kumo and Bakemono launchregular attacks the local Dragon Nests, while the BeastCourts stage daring raids on their enemies when notdefending themselves from attack. Beyond open warfare,the Beast Courts are also working on longer-termstrategies for victory. Nagah have started assassinatinghuman leaders who serve the Bakemono — or are theirunwilling pawns — while the Nezumi foment urbanunrest to disrupt the local industry, while pushing forthe chance to turn plagues on their foes. Meanwhile,the Tengu are attempting to identify enemies, allies,and potential dupes of their own among the humans,while the Khan simply kill loggers and other humanswho trespass on their territory.Some Same-Bito have turned to piracy to aid theBeast Courts. They capture cargo ships passing throughthe Strait of Malacca that separate Malaysia from Indonesia,kill the crew and passengers, destroy the cargo andscuttle the ships. Recently, the Zhong-Lung prevailedupon the Same-Bito to steal valuable cargoes ratherthan destroying them; the Tengu and Nezumi sell thecargo on the black market to fund freedom fighters andterrorists throughout Malaysia and Indonesia.The Bakemono, in turn, have deployed similarWyrm-tainted smog in Malaysia as in Indonesia in anattempt to control the human population. At its worst,this smog and smoke can kill the elderly and infirm,and transform a few humans into monstrous Bakemonothemselves. Many people suffer a mild form of taint fromthe smog that leaves them inured to the strange appearancesand actions of the Bakemono. Zhong-Lung sagesand diviners predict that if the Beast Courts cannot stopthis smog soon, as much as a quarter of the population ofseveral large Malaysian cities could succumb — eventuallytransforming whole cities into mutated agents ofthe Corruptor.MyanmarIn much of Asia, the hengeyokai covertly aid localhuman freedom fighters and environmental activists.These humans are working to halt pollution and environmentaldestruction, and forcing an autocratic regimeto become more accountable to its populace. For manyhengeyokai, Myanmar is a very different — and far lessethically comfortable — situation.For 50 years, a brutal and repressive military dictatorshiphas ruled Myanmar, but within the last three yearsthe dictators have instituted some democratic reforms.The regime's repression prevented Myanmar from industrializing,which kept the populace far poorer thanany of the other Southeast Asian nations. The lack ofindustry kept Myanmar from suffering from the samecombination of pollution and burgeoning populationas the rest of Southeast Asia. The sudden upswing infreedom enticed outside industry into the nation. Thesudden start of industrialization has split the country’shengeyokai.Myanmar currently has more tigers than the rest ofSoutheast Asia, and the Khan fear that industrializationand modernization will lead to their deaths, but theirties to their human kinfolk mean that they also wish tosee the people become safer. Unlike many of the otherBreeds, including the Nagah, Tengu, and Zhong Lung,most of the country’s Khan were born among the tigersand put the needs of their animal Kin above those ofthe country’s human population.In this they have unlikely allies: Myanmar’s Nezumiare universally opposed to the changes occurring throughoutthe country. They want to prevent industrializationand the population growth that is almost certain to follow.Some wererats advocate sabotaging the increasingdemocracy and openness by attacking the government,hoping to provoke a backlash of government repression.Heated and often somewhat violent discussions nowfill most local Beast Courts. Some of the Nezumi want totake matters into their own hands, killing every importantofficial from a transnational corporation who sets foot inMyanmar. Meanwhile, several Nagah nests are carefullywatching these wererats and the Khan who speak up forthem. Some of the more extreme Nezumi have receivedambassadors from the Kumo who have offered to helptheir efforts. After all, violent chaos would allow thewerespiders a chance to feed on humans more openly.VietnamBefore the American War, most of the central andnorthern highlands of Vietnam were untamed junglesinhabited by isolated groups of humans, an abundanceof animals — and the hengeyokai. The war broughtsoldiers, napalm and poisonous defoliants like the infamousAgent Orange that devastated the jungle and theshapeshifters who lived there, displacing Khan, Tengu,and Zhong Lung alike. The Blights created during thefighting last to this day, long after the war has ended.