The Jade Court is one of the five Courts of the Quincunx, representing the Center Direction. It is located in Changan.
Overview[]
Unlike the Blood Court, which acts as the administratie center of the Quincunx, the Jade Court acts as the center of spirituality for the chinese Kuei-jin. During the upheavals of the 19th century, the Jade Court was often forced to turn toward the Blood Court for aid, leaving them greatly indebted to the northern Court. Members of the Jade Court often act as teachers and gurus to other Kuei-jin, working to keep them on the right side of orthodoxy. Some Jade wus even travel the Middle Kingdom to correct any transgressions against Dharma preemptively.
Center of the Jade Court is the Shaolin Monastery, where a wu of five bodhisattvas studies the texts of Xue and Ki and issues periodic pronouncements on their teachings, clarifying the finer points of orthodoxy and resolving potential dharmic blocks. The word of the Sages of the Fivefold Way has great weight in Kuei-jin society, with numerous younger Kuei-jin making pilgrimages to Changan in order to gain enlightenment. In the past, this was exploited by akuma, who preyed on those who sought easy answers by tempting them to serve the Yama Kings. The local August Ancestor, secretly a servant of Tou Mu, had disseminated texts like The Broken-Winged Crane among the population, turning the majority of it into servants of the Yama King. When the other Courts discovered the corruption, they attacked the Jade Court and scoured it of any akuma they could find. Among Kuei-jin historians, the fall of the Jade Court is seen as one of the beginning omens of the Fifth Age, along with the rise of the Ming dynasty.
References[]
- KOTE: Sunset Empires, p. 24-26
- KOTE: Kindred of the East Rulebook, p. 11
- WOD: World of Darkness: Blood & Silk, p. 43