Asia (WOD)

Map of Asia from Kindred of the East (book)

Asia is the Earth's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. Though it covers only 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area, it comprises 30% of Earth's land area, and has historically been home to the bulk of the planet's human population.

Overview

To many of the supernatural denizens of the World of Darkness, Asia remains distant, not only in a geographical sense but also in a cultural and cosmological sense. Where the west is more Gothic-Punk in design and outlook, Asia is more of a supernatural John Woo movie - neon lights, slick rain, midnight duels between supernatural creatures. The paradigm of much of Asia differs from that of the Western world: Here, the Wall between the material world and the spirit world is often thinner, and the supernatural world is often thrown into contrast by forces of yin and yang. The Asia of the World of Darkness has distinctive supernatural capacities influenced by the culture and tradition of its inhabitants; for instance, Kuei-jin only rise from those who lived and died here.

Classically, the Middle Kingdom refers specifically to China, but modern shen (supernatural beings) often use the term to refer to the entirety of eastern and southeastern Asia — especially in cases where the shen themselves draw inspiration heavily from Chinese cultural or mystic tradition, as is the case with the Kuei-jin and the wraiths of the Yellow Springs.

Prominent Regions

Prominent nations and regions here include:

• China: Home of the courts of the Kuei-jin Quincunx and of the Akashic Brotherhood. Hong Kong is described in a number of sources, chiefly WOD: World of Darkness: Hong Kong .
• Japan: Home of the uji courts of the Kuei-jin. Tokyo is described in WOD: World of Darkness: Tokyo .
• India: Home of the Chakravanti mages and the Sahajiya mages.
• Other prominent but less thoroughly-described nations include Vietnam, Korea, Tibet and the Philippines.

Supernatural Denizens

Prominent supernatural denizens of Asia and the Middle Kingdom include:

• The Kuei-jin vampires and their bastards, the dhampyrs.
• The Beast Courts of the Hengeyokai: the Hakken werewolves (Garou descended from the Shadow Lords), the Khan weretigers (a tribe of the Bastet), Nagah serpent-people, Nezumi wererats (a branch of the Ratkin), Same-Bito shark-men (civilized kin of the Rokea), the Stargazers tribe of Garou, Tengu were-ravens (a branch of the Corax), and the Zhong Lung dragon kings (a stream of the crocodilian Mokolé). Their enemies include the Kumo goblin-spiders (Wyrm-tainted Ananasi) and the bakemono (fomori).
• The Chi'n Ta (mages) and their Technocratic counterparts, the Five Elemental Dragons. The Akashic Brotherhood Tradition hails from the Middle Kingdom, and the Euthanatos and Cult of Ecstasy originated in central Asia. Prominent Asian Crafts include the legalist wizards of the Wu Lung and the demon-tainted Wu-Keng, as well as minor groups such as the Go Kamisori Gama, the Toc Faan, the Tai Hoi Li, and the Sons of Tengri.
• The wraiths of the Yellow Springs (the Dark Kingdom of Jade).
• The hsien: changelings attuned with the alchemy of the elements.
• The two immortal Dynasties of the Wu T'ian, servants of the Eight Immortals
• The hunter organizations of the shih and Strike Force Zero, as awell as a number of individual imbued hunters.
• The Danava, Daitya, Nagaraja, and Ravnos bloodlines of the Kindred hail from the Indian subcontinent, and Ravnos and Danava mythologies suggest that the Ventrue and Gangrel may have also originated in that region.  A handful of smaller bloodlines also hail from central or eastern Asia: the Wu Zao, and the long-extinct Anda, as well as minor branches of other clans. The Tal'mahe'Ra originated in central Asia, and drew on traditions of both East and West.
• And the demons and bane-spirits that serve the Yama Kings and Queens.

Timeline

• Pre-Ice Age: Garou, nature spirits, and Fae fight Wyrm corruption in Eurasia.

• Prehistory: Garou fight the Talons of the Wyrm, eventually binding them.

• 1.75 million years ago-100,000 years ago: The Ice Age. Gaia attempts to root out Wyrm-corruption on her body by using glaciers. It is not as effective in Eurasia as it was in the Americas, as the Wyrm had no direct access to the Western hemisphere.

• Prehistory: Maru-Dikleh War. Two rival Khan Bastet kings decimate the tribe.

• 10000 BCE: The Zi Guang claim to have been founded, influencing and warping the Chi in rice plants to make them more productive.

• 8000 BCE: The oldest signs of human habitation in Japan (the Jomon) date to roughly this time.

• 4000 BCE - 2800 BCE: Thanatoic and Ecstatic cults arise in India. The Akashic Brotherhood takes form in China and Tibet. Babylonian priest-scientists discover principles of geometry and astronomy, harnessing the power of mathematics and the heavens to the human will. Druidic priests and practitioners of magic raise Stonehenge in accordance with the movements of celestial bodies.

• 3120 BCE: The latest Kali Yuga, or Age of Iron, begins, according to Buddhist and Hindu reckoning.

• 2333 BCE: Dan Gun establishes the first Korean kingdom, Choson ("The Land of the Morning Calm"), in this year.

• 2000 BCE: The Wu Lung are founded around this time.

• 1000 BCE: The Wu-Keng enter the Sam Chin Ak, which binds them into Infernal service for the next three thousand years.^{[citation needed]}

• 1000 BCE: Beginning of the Iron Age in Europe and in East and Southeast Asia.

• 1000 BCE: The first Polynesians leave southeast Asia and settle Tonga and Samoa.

• 965 BCE-300 BCE: Himalayan Wars begin. Misunderstanding between Akashic missionaries and Hindu magi sparks feud. Reincarnation Arts ensure the feud is long and bitter. Ends through Akashic withdrawal and seclusion.

• 950 BCE: The Akashic Brotherhood enters India. They choose to stay in their northern camps, but are interested by the Handura, Dacoits, and other proto-Thanatoic sects.

• 900 BCE: The White Coumatha begins the Himalayan Wars. Plague strikes an Akashic camp. Smoke Tiger kills the Dacoit Ranjit and accuses the Dacoits of murdering those destined to oppose the sect. Dacoit Acarya Natadeva and Vajrapani Chan Ng halt hostilities.

• '900 BCE - 600s BCE (or -400 BCE, or -300 BCE): Himalayan Wars.

• 679 BCE: The beginning of the Himalayan Wars, although this is contradicted by other sources.^[1] Note: This year was established by taking the date mentioned for the Night of Fana (165 years after the beginning of the War) on page 14, using other sources to determine when the Night of Fana took place, and then backdating from that point.

Gallery

From Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition

From Kindred of the East (book)

From World of Darkness: Hong Kong