Inmoecnon
INTRODULTION
This night of no moon
There is no way to meet him.
1 rise in longing —
My breast pounds, a leaping flame,
My heart is consumed in fire
—Ono no Komachi, Kokinshu
Wetcome To THE
Fourth AcE
‘As Christians would reckon it, the year is 1197,
European kings wage their wars and embark on their
cerusadesutterly unaware that civilizations olderand greater
than their own rule the day —and the night — in distant
lands. Farto the East lies the Middle Kingdom, or China
and the many cultures that surround it. For millennia, this
area has been a centerof culture and empire, its influence
spreading far and wide
However, itis now atime of change and chaos, Great
‘China stands reduced in the form of the Southern Song
dynasty, which rulés but half of the empire's traditional
Jands. Nihon (what we would call Japan) i just emerging
from a bloody civil war whose wounds have yet to heal
‘And in thenorth, the Mongol horde is bua few decades
from riding forchand lashing outatthe neat totality ofthe
known world.
For mortal men and women of the Middle Kingdom,
uvese troubled tintes axe but another shi ix fortunes avd
dynasty —troubling perhaps, but not unprecedented. For
the shen — the vampires, shapechangers and spirits who
inhabic the Asian night — these troubled times herald the
turning of the Age, the end of their era and the beginning
of another, more terrible time.
Tht Hungry Dean
Millennia ago, in the legendary Third Age, the
August Personage of Jade elevated men and women to
divinity. These Ten Thousand Immortals — or Wan
Xian — were warrior-poets and philosopher-kings,
battling demons and creating a golden age. But the
‘Wan Xian became greedy and fell from grace, feeding
from their mortal charges in order to gain ever more
power. At the end'of the Third Age, the August
Personage cursed the Wan Xian forall time, shattered
their legendary home on Mount Meru and turned his
back on them.
Now, they are the Ten Thousand Demons, the
Wan Kuei. Mortals who have earned a sojourn in Hell,
but who are strong enough to escape it, return to their
bodies as Wan Kuei. They live by night, feeding on the
blood and breath of humans. In theory, they seck
enlightenment and redemption but, all too often, play,
power games and indulge in corrupt practices, just like
their predecessors.Ae AB REE aS UR Pe SBS
Orners
The Wan Kuet are pethaps the pfedominant force
among the shen, but they are hardly alone. Far from the
urban homes of these vampires, theshapechanging Xiong
Ren — the Ferocious People — rule. Betrayed by che
Wan Xian in ages past, they do not trust the demons and
blame them for the turning of the Age. The hsien,
descendants of the August Personage’s agents aban-
doned on Earth, also hold a mighty grudge. Magi —
known as chi'n ca — and. ghosts also move about the
Middle Kingdom.
‘And deep in the shadows lurk the Yama Kings, who
rule the Thousand Hells, and their agents, Many are those
willing to sell theirsouls to the masters of Hell, including
the Kumo Goblin Spiders, the depraved Kura Sau of the
hsien and the hidden akuma of che Wan Kuei
Tue Turning Ace
The Fourth Age — known as the Age of Beautiful
‘Sadness — has been one of melancholy and growth. As
human society burgeoned around them, the HungryDead.
developed their courtsand Dharmas, finding glimmers of
hope. Now the Great Wheel ispreparingtotum againand
bring the Age of Darkness to bear. Wavesof fearand worry
flow through the night courts, What will the new Age
bring? Who will come out on top?
It ig.a time of change and anxiety, when the young
‘grab what they can and the old hold on to what they have.
Away from the eyes of man, the night is covered in silk...
and bathed in blood.
How ro Use Tujs Boor
World of Darkness: Blood & Silk opens up the endof
the Fourth Age and the medieval Asian night as a setting
foryour chronicles. Itprovidesyouwith the toolsnecessary
to tell stories in this faraway time, including historical and
geographical information, many new and adapted game
systems, character creation tips and much more,
Principally, Blood & Silk is a historical supple
ment for Kindred of the Bast. It focuses on the Wan’
Kuei — Asian vampires — and their activities and
assumes they will be the characters players portray.
Although Blood & Silk can, be read alone, where
material is unchanged from Kindred of the East we
have not repeated it (there are only so many pages in
the book!). So to get the full Disciplines, Iraits and
game mechanics of the Wan Kuei you will need a copy
of Kindred of the East. As with that book, you will also
need a copy of the core Storyteller gaine mechanics,
preferably (but not necessarily) Vampire: The Mas-
querade or Vampire: The Dark Ages.
Although the Wan Kuei are the “stars,” Blood &
‘Silk appears under the “World of Darkness” banner and
contains material for other games. Chapter Six deals
explicitly with using Blood & Silk with other World of
Dans
Some 6fithe dates that appear in Blood &
are given as “the XXth year of the Foo
dynasty,” which becomes rather cumbersome for,
the Western reader. However, it is equally im-
plausible for the Wan Kuei'hatrators of the his
torical sections forgive dates: in years CE and
BCE. Therefore, consider the following table of
dates: >
Event
Xia Kingdom begins
Shang dynasty begins
Zhou dynasty'begins
Qin dynasty begins
Han dynasty begins
“Three Kingdoms era begins
“Fin dynasty begins
‘North and South dynasties begin
Sui dynasty begins
Tang dynasty begins
Five Dynastiesand Ten
Kingdoms-era begins
Song dynasty begins
Southern Song dynasty begins
The present day
“c.1750.BCE
Darkness games and goes into the status of the various
shenof the Fourth Age, including A sian changing breeds,
mages and changelings. Both Chapter One (the setting)
and Chapter Four (the systems) are also useful for non-
vampiric chronicles.
Wuar Broop & Six js Nor
Most importantly, Blood & Silk is not an academic
text on medieval Asia. Although we have done our very
best to make things as accurate as possible, this is a work
if fiction about vampires and other monsters. With lim-
ited space, we also could cover only somuch of the Asian
night. Those who want or need more information on the
realities of the:time should look to the recommended
reading list,
Blood & Silk is also nota standalone product that
provides the final word on the Asian World of Darkness at
this time. Blood & Silk deals almost exclusively with
‘Chinaand Japan atthe endofthe Fourth Age. Korea, Indi
Tibet and Southeast Asia all get passing references (some
longer than others), butspace limitations meant we had to
‘concentrate on the core of the Middle Kingdom.
CHapter BY CHaPTEeR
‘Chapter One: Hungry Dead of the Middle Kingdom
isthe meat ofthe book from asource material standpoint
Through a Series of documents written by Wan Kuei anderopucrion
others, this chapter explores the world of the lace Fourth.
Age. The basics of the Wan Kuei, the mortal history ofthe
Middle Kingdom, the various courts of the Hungry Dead.
and the lands of spirit are all part ofthis chapter.
Chapter Two: Many Roads Back explores the
beliefs of che Hungry Dead atthe time of Blood & Silk.
Each of the five Dharmas defined by Grand Arhat Xue
gets a new treatment for the period. The chapter also
examines the Fivéfold Way and the role of heresy at
this time.
Chapter Three: Taking the Second Breath cakes
you through the process of character creation in the late
Fourth Age. Of course, many of the ba the same as
‘onsare only briefly
There are differencesin the dead of this Age,
however, and they get the most attention.
Chapter Four: Ways Under Heaven is a grab bag of
‘Traits and game systems useful forthe Fourth Age. These
include (among other things) new Abilities and Po
Natures, a new set of Disciplines and new guidelines for
spirit travel. This chapter also includes a wide variety of
systems useful for representing mundane and supernatural
situations typical ofthe period. New weapons and combat
systems also,appear here.
Chapter Five: Tales of Silk builds on the storytelling
material in Kindred of the East and provides you with
ways to evoke the atmosphere and themes of a faraway
time and place.
7
Chapter Six: Barbarians and Shen explores the
other inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom and the World
cof Darkness in general. Xiong Ren shapechangers, Asian
hosts and mysterious hsien all get coverage. These sec
tions servé booth as tools for those running chronicles
featuring Wan Kuei and as historical appendices to other
modern Asian supplements like Hengeyokai, Land of
Eight Million Dreams and Dark Kingdom of Jade."This
chapter also provides guidelines for bringing Western
characters (and, through them, Vampire: The Dark
‘Ages and Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade chronicles) into
the Middle Kingdom of the late Fourth Age
Appendix: Cities of the Dead provides details on a
series ofities scattered throughout the Middle Kingdom.
Each ean serye asthe center ofachronicleoraplace worth
visiting during its course
LExjcon
The following brief lexicon includes terms used
throughout Blood & Silk and provides a quick reference.
You can also consult the much larger lexicon in Kindred.
of the East, most of which is equally appropriate to Blood
& Silk.
Age of Beautiful Sadness: The Fourth Age in the
Great Cycle, and the one coming to an end at the time of
Blood & Silk.
Age of Darkness: The Fifth Age of the Great Cycle,
and the one on the horizon at the time of Blood & Sil