Status Updates From Kindred of the East (For Va...

.

Ok, the names for the Changelings are not that impressive, they are called Kamuii (I guess they are elementals), Cats (no idea what these are) and Tanuki (which is a Japanese term so why is it in a book mostly dealing with China?). Also is it so difficult to get the translation right? A tanuki is not a badger, it is a racoon dog, Google was definitely around when this book was written, a picture is all you need.

As such, Western culture seeps into the East
and is slowly but surely saturating the region.
Groan... I know the power of the US is pretty strong but there is some exchange of culture going on, all the "Asian" food in the US is testament to that. They seem to really overdo it sometimes in the storytelling section.

The Cathayans, like other vampires, are static creatures, resigned to roles of relatively lirtle change.
Ok they already mentioned that in the other vampire titles but here it really makes no sense at all, the book mentioned so many things that can influence a Kuei-Jin and their alleged reason for existence is based on change (reaching Dharma), so calling them static does not seem fit in my eyes.

In the Dragon King's place rules his seneschal, Gajyra, a brutal and towering dragon-spirit whose flaming breath can
vaporize white jade and metal alike.
They forgot the "Not Godzilla" sign.

In the Dragon King's place rules his seneschal, Gajyra, a brutal and towering dragon-spirit whose flaming breath can
vaporize white jade and metal alike.
They forgot the "Not Godzilla" sign.

Ah the Realm of Fighting Spirits, I think I know who the three great forces in it are. Among the cosmology if the game line Werewolf the Apocalypse they are known as the three "aspects" (as I would call them):
The Weaver (Originally Order, now cold mechanical stiffness)
The Wyld (Creation, pure creation without order, this one hasn't changed much)
The Wyrm (originally Balance, now Corruption and Destruction)

Unbeknownst to the American pilots, both bombs detonated over major dragon lines, killing the spirits congregated there. The celestial balance of Japan was forever upset by these acts of destruction.
I said it once and I say it again: By the books own rules this means that Japan should be in serious trouble, which it doesn't appear to be, as the book states. Mass hauntings would be believable but not this.

Unbeknownst to the American pilots, both bombs detonated over major dragon lines, killing the spirits congregated there. The celestial balance of Japan was forever upset by these acts of destruction.
I said it once and I say it again: By the books own rules this means that Japan should be in serious trouble, which it doesn't appear to be, as the book states. Mass hauntings would be believable but not this.

Did some people really think that Mao's wife Jiang Qing was a fox spirit? I mean I wouldn't deny it in general, not considered what ridiculous concepts are considered acceptable in the Western world (like the claim that the one drop rule of POC are totally valid and undeniable facts and strictly defined). So the question for is not if, but rather: did it happen?

Perhaps most shocking of all to the traditionalist Quincunx, however, is the matriarchal nature of many of the Golden Courts.
Yeah I guess that makes sense for organizations of Kuei-Jin so drenched in various chinese schools of thought to be shocked by matriarchal structures.

Ok, this corrupted Chi permeating Japan after the bombings in 1945 is pretty ridiculous. Based on the books own rules the Japanese human population and other life forms should feel the effects too. It would make way more sense if Japan was severely haunted, since at the two bombings thousands upon thousands died in mere minutes, the aftwer life must have been chaos and so many ghosts may have fleed in the chaos.

Ok, this corrupted Chi permeating Japan after the bombings in 1945 is pretty ridiculous. Based on the books own rules the Japanese human population and other life forms should feel the effects too. It would make way more sense if Japan was severely haunted, since at the two bombings thousands upon thousands died in mere minutes, the aftwer life must have been chaos and so many ghosts may have fleed in the chaos.

The Azure Dragon and Scarlet Phoenix Courts, ensconced as they were among strange peoples (southerners, Koreans and Japanese), were summarily disowned and their populations reviled as akuma.
Well these others are not Chinese and so they cannot be trusted. Yep good old xenophobia and arrogance never dies, not even among the undead.

Seriously, who consulted these people in terms of geography? They state that the "Middle Kingdom" comprises over a third of the world's land space but at the same time they state it as being China, Japan, Korea and the countries of Southeast Asia. That is not a third, that is not even a quarter, all of Asia would maybe be between 1/4 or 1/5 of the global landmass but not this.

These effects of permanent Yin and Yang balance are interesting. E.g. Permanent Yin:
ignore wound penalties, even fire but become very stiff, pale and corpselike.
Permanent Yang: The Kuei-Jin seems to breathe looks very human, but it's P'o nature threatens to be overwhelming and ignite the "fire soul" much more quickly, e.g. due to lust for sex or mortal food.