W20 - Changing Breeds.pdf

hengeyokai believe that foreign shen, even westernmembers of their own Changing Breeds, are not protectedby this Mandate.Honor Your Ancestors and Your EldersAll hengeyokai should honor their living eldersand their dead ancestors. Rituals honoring and blessingHENGEYOKAI AUSPICESIn the Beast Courts, auspice refers to oneof the fives roles a hengeyokai fulfills withinher sentai.LanternThe Lantern acts as the sentai’s heart. Shedirects the actions of the sentai and binds themembers together into an efficiently functioningwhole. The Lantern may allow other membersto lead in specific circumstances, but she alwaysacts as the sentai’s chief decision maker.FistThe Fist is the sentai’s primary war-leader.He makes plans and adapts the sentai’s tactics inbattle. The Fist cannot just strike at enemies, butmust also excel at defending the other membersof his sentai.MirrorThe Mirror is the voice and the face of thesentai. He is in charge of negotiations with bothallies and enemies, where he cements alliancesand defuses tensions. He also serves as the sentai’sprimary contact with spirits, and is in charge ofsummoning and bargaining with them.LeafThe Leaf is the sentai’s primary spy and scout.Using a mixture of infiltration, blackmail, andoccasionally assassination, the Leaf acts in secretto further the sentai’s goals.PillarThe Pillar is a generalist who supports thesentai and backs up its other members. Sheprovides everything from inspiration to physicalassistance. A good Pillar should also be able totemporarily act as any other auspice, should thatmember be captured or incapacitated.their ancestor-spirits are an important tradition in theBeast Courts.Honor the Pacts with the Spirit WorldThe Emerald Mother forged pacts between thehengeyokai and their spirit kin, and even more ancienttreaties between spirits and animals. The hengeyokai areexpected to respect and maintain these pacts.War Not Upon Human nor BeastThis Mandate calls upon all hengeyokai to accept andhonor both their animal and their human natures, andto avoid declaring war on either humans or any speciesof animal. They are free to attack individuals or smallgroups, but not entire nations or species.Let No One or Nothing Violate the Sacred PlacesLike the First Mandate, this rule defines what itmeans to be hengeyokai. The Dragon Nests nourish theinhabitants of the Mirror World and keep the fabric oflife intact. Protecting them is the most essential duty ofthe Beast Courts.The Modern EraAsia is changing rapidly, and the hengeyokai ofthe Middle Kingdom must adapt to these changes. Inthe last 30 years, South Korea has become a modernindustrial state, and China has re-invented itself as oneof the world’s leading centers for manufacturing. Evenformerly bucolic Asian nations are modernizing — andtheir cities are growing exponentially larger as a result,spreading pollution and corruption at an unprecedentedpace. The Beast Court members who make their homesthere are thus dealing with a similarly unprecedentedspawning of Wyrm-things produced by the same.Another challenge to the Beast Courts is the ongoingconflict between the Nagah and the Nezumi. The wereratsdrove the Japanese wereserpents to extinction severalcenturies ago, and are eager to repeat that feat throughoutboth China and Korea. While both are still a part of theBeast Courts, tensions are rising. More and more Nezumiare leaving the highly formalized constraints of the Courtsto pursue their goals of serpentine annihilation. Likewise,as their safety becomes more and more threatened, moreeastern Nagah are following in their western cousin’sfootsteps and taking their leave of public life altogether.The ill will between these independent groups sometimesboils over into open violence, but so far relations betweenthe two Breeds within the overall Beast Courts are tense,but not yet uncontrollably violent.The wealthier and more cosmopolitan regions ofChina, Japan, and South Korea have attracted outsideinvestment and immigration — and foreign shapeshifters,who bring with them alternatives to the Beast Courts.These new groups, often spearheaded by Changing Breeds38CHANGING BREEDS