Factions

At various times throughout the Foreign Legations’ time in China there have been groups ranged against them, in opposition to their presence or activities. As well, there are other secret societies whose purpose is more obscure and deeply hidden, whose members lie waiting for certain mystical events to transpire before leaping into action. The more familiar of these are listed here; Keepers are advised that this list is not exhaustive and these examples can be used as templates to create other groups of a similar nature.

*****

Boxers

 

The I Ho Ch’uan or ‘Fists of Righteous Harmony’ (‘Boxers’ to the Foreign Legations) were, like the Taipings before them, insistent on dispensing with any element that marked them as having dealings with the Invaders. To this end they eschewed guns of any kind and reverted to the weaponry and armaments of the Ming Dynasty era. Boxers were however, in the later stages of the conflict, openly supported by the Imperial troops and this firepower and artillery support made them much more effective than they could ever have hoped to have been in the face of Western technological superiority.

Boxers were identified mainly by their adoption of red turbans and often some other red coloured piece of apparel. The mystic powers attributed to them, and often wholly subscribed to by individual troopers, gave them a swaggering arrogance and they often took ridiculous risks in the face of the enemy. The formal uniform of the Boxer was a hip-length tunic of white - sometimes bearing a Chinese character in red - white silk trousers and the red turban or head scarf. Individuals sometimes adapted this basic ensemble with sashes and red over-tunics to heighten their fearsome appearance.

Many Boxers were appointed as ten-nai or ‘tiger men’ and were despatched to cause fear among the opposition. These figures with their outlandish garb and daredevil behaviour are natural proponents of the t’ai p’ing t’ao of Boxer lore. These warriors were skilled in the use of the grappling hook, used to drag down horse troops and to unseat cannon from their rests. The presence of these wild men, traditionally a part of the Imperial forces, was a clue for the Foreigners as to the tacit support from the Imperials that the Boxers were receiving.

Like the Taipings, whom they strongly resembled, the Boxers used ‘charm banners’  and these are a good focus for the magical powers of these warriors, should the Keeper deem such things appropriate. Unlike the Taipings, they never resorted to the black banner charge, as the Boxers were intended to inspire this kind of terror from their mere presence.

In terms of weaponry, the Boxers never used foreign weapons, but they did revive many ancient weapons of the previous dynasties. They preferred to use spears,

swords and halberds but also used bows, including the crossbow and various gun-powder devices such as hand grenades and primitive mortars and cannon. These were often made of bamboo and discharged metallic fragments or barrages of flaming arrows. A particular strategy for breaking barricades was to tie spears along the flanks of a bullock then tie a bale of flaming hay beneath its tail before releasing it in the direction of the defenders.

Boxer leaders were not above reviving other less than savoury Chinese warfare practises; one of these was ‘chopstick gagging’. This involved putting a chopstick lengthwise in the warrior’s mouth and tying it in place by means of a cord wound around the back of the head. This gag was meant to stop the soldiers talking and revealing sensitive mission details to spies or enemy troops.

The recklessness and wildness in battle often observed by the foreign troops had much to do with strong applications of opium and alcohol before entering a fight. Many Boxers thought they were being given potions that would render them invulnerable and this helped bolster their courage, along with deadening the effects of the wounds that they received. To the Western forces, the seeming imperviousness to harm or fear gave the Boxers a tangible psychological edge.

Average Boxer

STR: 11

CON: 11

SIZ: 13

INT: 11

POW: 11

DEX: 11

Move: 8

HP: 12

Damage Bonus: +0

Weapons: Sword 30%; Spear 20%; Halberd 20%; Bow 30%

Armour: None

Spells: Any or all of the t’ai p’ing t’ao, if appropriate

Skills: As the Keeper requires

SAN Loss: 0/1 (The ferocity displayed during some attacks can be quite unnerving)

*****

Eunuchs

 

One of the more mysterious factions within the Celestial society was, on balance, probably the least mysterious organisation of all. The Eunuchs, the Imperial guardians of the Purple Forbidden City, were consolidated by a sense of fellowship which their origins provided, but they were a fractious and tricky crowd whose alliances were difficult to predict.

To begin, one needs to examine the nature of becoming a Eunuch. The process begins with the selection of an appropriate pre-pubescent boy-child of the age of six or older; this in itself was fraught with problems regarding the connexions of the selection committee, involving bribes and coercion of many types: being a Eunuch was a position of great honour and bestowed much favour upon the family whose child was chosen. Once the selection was made, the child underwent a specialised form of surgery: their testicles would be removed and preserved; once again, the Confucian prohibition on leaving an incomplete corpse prevailed, and the Eunuch would take their testicles through life with them, in a special box, to ensure that they would be buried ‘whole’.

The physical effects of becoming a Eunuch are primarily inhibitive of physical development and the results were thought aesthetically pleasing in the Imperial courts. To begin with, Eunuchs were tall, as befitted a bodyguard of the Emperor: normally, testosterone floods the child’s system and retards growth by the age of 25, channelling this energy into sexual development; in the case of Eunuchs, this process does not occur and their upward growth continues into their 30s, with the result that Eunuchs were often topping six feet (of course, nutrition also plays a great part in this process). Eunuchs were also lacking in body hair and their voices were generally high and occasionally shrill. This meant that the Eunuchs were of no particular threat within the harem and were generally intimidating in the face of outsiders.

The Eunuchs were in charge of the daily running of the Imperial household; they oversaw the Emperor’s education, his food and daily health routine. Invariably, the Eunuchs established a complex chain of corruption with the suppliers and servants of the Imperial household, salting away millions of taels of silver and commanding authority across the nation. In times when the Imperial Dynasties began to topple, the Eunuchs were often the first to feel the effects of an Imperial purge...

Average Eunuch

STR: 11

CON: 11

SIZ: 14

INT: 11

POW: 11

DEX: 11

Move: 8

HP: 12

Damage Bonus: +0

Weapons: Sword 15%; Dagger 30%; Garrotte 30%; Bow 10%

Armour: None

Spells: None, unless required by the Keeper

Skills: Bargain 50%; Accountancy 45%; Persuade 25%; Gamble 50%; Chemistry (Brew Poisons) 30%

SAN Loss: 0/0

*****

Imperial Troops

 

The Imperial forces consisted, in the main, of the Baiyang Army, a standing force comprised of troops from the banner houses of the Manchu Imperial households. Their role was to support the Dragon Throne and rally to the Emperor in his time of need. This army was administered by a complex hierarchy of mandarins and other bureaucrats and was often plagued in its effectiveness by the corruption of these and other regional governors.

For the most part, the Imperials wore a tunic jacket - usually blue edged in red, or red edged in white – over their everyday clothes. Occasionally, a division would be supplied with trousers and a shirt but this was fairly rare. The tunic jacket had a large (25cm, or 10 inch) white circle on the front onto which was written the details of the wearer’s unit: many jokes were made by Foreigners as to whether this feature was intended to be some kind of target. Troopers were supposed to provide their own shoes but were supplied with weapons, chopsticks, an umbrella, a pipe and a fan. They were also issued with a ‘dog-tag’, a piece of bamboo inscribed with the owner’s name, age, region of origin and date of enlistment, which hung from the belt.

 

The headgear of the Imperial troops was the traditional Manchu cap, a low conical silk hat with a broad turned-up brim. The brim was invariably black while the crown was red and topped with a bead. The sumptuous quality of this bead, plus the attachment of any tails or feathers, indicated the achievements or rank of the individual. Some provinces eschewed the Manchu cap for regional variants, such as the straw coolie hat or the turban; in all of these latter cases, the colours of these items, representing individual units, were kept uniform.

As far as weapons were concerned, the Imperials were not too shy to adopt the Westerner’s technology: Imperial troops were issued with muskets and rifles and had access to cannon. To these armaments they added rockets (gunpowder-fired lances or arrows), repeating crossbows and stinkpots – clay jars filled with substances that gave off reeking, asphyxiating smoke.

One exception to the staid and otherwise prosaic Imperial forces was the presence of specialised shock troopers within their ranks known as ‘ten-nai’, or ‘tiger men’. These individuals had the daunting task of cavorting in front of the troop lines and attempting to scare off the opposition. To this end they were dressed in yellow-and-black striped outfits with eared hoods that resembled tiger heads. They did not employ guns of any kind as these would be ruined by their antics; however, they did utilise fireworks in an attempt to frighten horses and superstitious soldiers. Their main weapon was a grapnel, with which they sought to drag opposing soldiers from horseback or to pull enemy cannon off their trolleys. As a limited means of defense, they carried massive wickerwork shields painted with grotesque tiger faces, used largely to draw fire away from the regular troops.

In many places, villages and some larger habitations fielded their own civil defense forces, usually at the behest of a local headman or regional governor. These troops - called t’uan lien - strongly resembled the Imperial forces after which they were patterned but were guided mainly by the whims of the local government. They were reported to often attack Imperial and Taiping forces alike in defence of their home village.

Average Imperial Soldier

STR: 11

CON: 11

SIZ: 13

INT: 11

POW: 11

DEX: 11

Move: 8

HP: 12

Damage Bonus: +0

Weapons: Sword 30%; Spear 25%; Halberd 20%; Bow 30%; Flintlock Rifle 25%

Armour: None

Spells: None

Skills: First Aid 15%; Navigation 30%; Wilderness Survival 45%

SAN Loss: 0/0

Average ‘Tiger Man’

STR: 12

CON: 11

SIZ: 13

INT: 11

POW: 11

DEX: 13

Move: 8

HP: 12

Damage Bonus: +0

Weapons: Sword 30%; Spear 30%; Halberd 20%; Bow 30%; Grapnel 40%

Armour: Shield: 4 points

Spells: None

Skills: Demolition 30%; Chemistry 30%; Throw 45%; First Aid 25%; Wilderness Survival 45%

SAN Loss: 0/1 (The ferocity displayed during some attacks can be quite unnerving)

 

*****

The Iron Foals

In centuries passed, the King Kou Chien caused to be built a grand temple to his god K’un Wu. This ancient, warlike deity rewarded this act of worship with a gift of eight copper swords each of which commanded a strange, unearthly power. With this power, Kou Chien raised an army and set about conquering first China and then the rest of the known world. After a mighty struggle lasting many years, Kou Chien was overthrown and his dark temple razed to the ground. In the aftermath, a group of dedicated warriors came together and swore that the threat posed by Kou Chien’s spirit was too great to ignore: they formed a secret society dedicated to watching over the lost temple and ensuring that no-one would ever allow K’un Wu’s spirit to be unleased ever again.

In the time of Kou Chien, his defeat was brought about by the efforts of a group of Mongol warriors who swore an oath to his destruction. They abandoned their families and homelands and left for the heart of China vowing not to return until he had been vanquished. After his death, once they realised that his spirit could potentially re-emerge to cast its blight once more, they chose to adhere to their vows and to maintain their vigilance. Thus, every member of this sect considers itself as a person displaced, one raised in exile. Conversely, they all have a surprising facility with the skills of horsemanship and are rigorously trained in the ways of archery and falconry, holdovers from their Mongol ancestry. To this day, they still use the written and spoken forms of the Mongol language as a means of covert communication.

A majority of the members of this secret sect are based in Chengdu where the Temple is hidden; however, other members of the society devote themselves to guarding other locations where Kou Chien was known to have lived – his palaces, his tomb, the battlefields of his victories. Other society members take a more academic line and watch for the emergence of omens which would herald the return of Kou chien or K’un Wu. Particularly, they wait for news that copies of a certain book – the Shih I Chi – have been located: this work discusses the history of Kou Chien and the mysterious temple in some detail and members of the sect especially target them and their owners for removal.

The Iron Foals have a particular horror of floods and of famines which they regard as signs of K’un Wu’s displeasure at the defeat of his champion. They have a prophecy that Kou Chien’s rebirth from the Karmic Wheel will be heralded by a massive earthquake and a season when the dead will rise from their graves. They also fear both solar and lunar eclipses as these indicate that some of the copper swords could have been discovered and utilised.

During the Yuan Dynasty, the sect was able to make many consolidations under the auspices of the Mongol Chinese rulers, including a waiving of the road tolls which some districts observe even today; during the overthrow of the Mongol dynasty, they suffered incredible hardships and were almost completely eradicated. Since then they have learned to lie low and keep their secrets close.

 

Average Iron Foal

STR: 12

CON: 13

SIZ: 12

INT: 11

POW: 11

DEX: 14

Move: 8

HP: 12

Damage Bonus: +0

Weapons: Sword: 45%; Lance: 50%; Bow: 75%

Armour: 10 points of lamellar armour

Spells: None

Skills: Ride 95%; Art: Falconry 50%; Read/Write Mongol 60%; Speak Mongol 80%

SAN Loss: 0/0

*****

Nameless Guard

 

The Hsi Fan is a shadowy organisation sunk deep into the fabric of China. It has many layers and hidden cabals leading into Western China and ultimately to the Great Old One, Hastur. The lowest rank in this dark web is a group called the Order of the White Peacock and it is this organisation that directly implements the stratagems of the Great Old One. The arms, hands and feet of this cabal are the Nameless Guard.

Members of this sect are hand-picked by members of the Order and are usually selected on the basis of sought-after skills or potential benefit to the Order. There is also a preference for the selection of those afflicted with albinism or other pigment-based disorders, such as birthmarks or distinctive eye-colour. Recruited individuals are taken to the Order’s fastnesses in Western China and rigorously trained in the group’s ideals and methods.

Training of these individuals is undertaken in a remote lamasery and the instruction is entirely based upon the teachings of the Emerald Lama. Martial training is observed and each adept is taught the fundamentals of the Martial Arts along with various other combat skills such as infiltration and shock tactics. Life at the lamasery is particularly hard and designed to winnow out the weak and unfit.

In the latter phases of training, the trainees are groomed for particular positions within the wider Chinese community: the roles that are chosen are those that will give the Order the greatest influence in the nation’s affairs. Trainees become educators, police officers, customs officials – anything that can grant the Order a significant advantage. Once training has been finished the polished ‘Guard is ready to begin covertly spreading the word of the Emerald Lama.

The Nameless Guard has many strong links to the various Tcho-tcho communities throughout China and are able to command their assistance in times of need; these communities revere the Nameless Guards as favourites of Hastur and are usually willing (devotion to other deities aside) to lend whatever help they can; conversely, members of the cults devoted to the Bloated Woman avatar of Nyarlathotep take great pleasure in discovering these individuals and offering them as sacrifices to their obscene deity.

The Nameless Guards are truly nameless, having forsaken their own identities in the pursuit of serving their masters. None of them remember their early life before their conscription or even consider themselves to be individuals; at best, they acknowledge their adopted roles as masks, useful in the service of the ‘Nameless One’, believable as long as they serve their purpose but easily shed if another role takes a higher priority. It need hardly be pointed out that these individuals are all hopelessly insane; 1 in 5 of these individuals become Unspeakable Possessors if ultimately thwarted in their goals.

Average Nameless Guard

STR: 13

CON: 14

SIZ: 12

INT: 14

POW: 12

DEX: 13

Move: 8

HP: 11

Damage Bonus: +1D4

Weapons: Dagger 40%; Pistol 40%

Armour: None

Spells: Contact Deity: Hastur (in Its avatar as the Emerald Lama); Summon Deity: Hastur (in Its avatar as the Emerald Lama); Contact Tcho-tcho

Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 95%; Speak Chinese 60%; Martial Arts 40% Sneak 60%

SAN Loss: 0/0

*****

The Purple Yang School

 

“Associations of scholars for literary purposes seem to have been numerous...”

-E. T. C. Werner, Myths of China, 1922

The School of the Purple Yang is a covert society hidden among the academics of China. For thousands of years they have worked in the background primarily to thwart the machinations of Hastur through its works as the Emerald Lama.

The efforts of this society are focussed upon ridding the effects of the Emerald Lama’s presence from among the literati of China’s elite. To this end they scrutinise books and their publishing houses for instances of the Emerald Mandala (q.v.) or similar toxic enchantments as well as policing the Bureaucratic Examinations for evidence of the ‘Lama’s influence. At times, they have advocated and enacted wholesale destruction of books in order to prevent the circulation of knowledge which they have deemed dangerous: the last time this happened was in the Song Dynasty, although some attribute the destruction of the Hanlin Library during the Boxer Rebellion as evidence of their continued presence.

As a society of scholars, the School has access to a huge amount of arcane knowledge and an understanding of Mythos and other magicks can readily be assumed. However, the School considers itself a quasi-military strike force against the evil powers against which it is arrayed and thus has a significant martial component to its training. All members of the School are proficient in some form of martial art and many are practitioners of herbal and other medicines; many are capable of creating virulent poisons along with their antidotes. The weapons most often encountered being wielded by the School are those which are innocuous or easily concealed such as chopsticks, daggers, fans and staves.

The Purple Yang School is keenly aware of the presence of the Tcho-tcho peoples throughout China and much of their time is spent in neutralising their influence in the country. As such, the School is one of very few secret societies in China which does not conform to the rigid Triad structure that has developed over time. Rather, the Purple Yang adherents respect each other as equals in a secret fraternity, each sworn to defend their patch and inform their associates of developments. They communicate in highly abstruse codes and meet annually in hidden locations.

Average Purple Yang Scholar

STR: 10

CON: 10

SIZ: 9

INT: 16

POW: 14

DEX: 12

Move: 8

HP: 12

Damage Bonus: +0

Weapons: Dagger 40%; Fan 40%; Staff 55%

Armour: None

Spells: Any, as desired by the Keeper

Skills: Occult 70%; Read/Write Chinese 85%; Speak Chinese 85%; Martial Arts 50%; Library Use 65%

SAN Loss: 0/0

*****

Taipings

 

The main identifier of the Taiping forces was their rejection of everything relating to the Ch’ing Empire and a re-adoption of Ming attitudes and dress. Taiping warriors usually abandoned the queue and wore their hair long and wild, sometimes wound in braids around their heads and with a dangling side tassel. Other troops chose to wear turbans, usually red, although female troops often wore yellow.

In terms of dress, the Taiping forces tended to be a motley crowd. Some troops preferred to dress in the captured silks of their enemies and wore a harlequin garb designed to inspire fear in their opponents; other forces were instructed to adopt a standard outfit: the choice depended on the ‘wang’ or leader of the troop in question. In all cases, the tunics worn by Taiping troops opened down the front rather than down the right-hand side in the Manchu style.

The standard Taiping soldier wore a red turban or head scarf, black silk trousers a close-fitting hip-length red tunic and a sash around the waist; in battle, they often went unshod with their trousers rolled up. In summer a straw coolie hat was often added. Taiping forces were usually armed with halberds, spears, swords and bows but regularly employed captured match- and flintlock rifles whenever they could source them.

The Taipings utilised a range of highly colourful banners to indicate their forces: these were generally a motley pattern although many of them were ‘charm banners’, covered in mystical symbols designed either to confer magical blessings or to instil fear in enemies: Keepers may wish to use these items as a source of t’ai p’ing t’ao effects in various engagements. The most feared banner of the Taipings was the black banner used in all-out charges: when charging under a black banner, the troops would be slain by their own commanders following behind if they deviated in their purpose; most Imperial troops would flee before a black banner charge.

The wangs (literally, ‘kings’) of the Taiping troops affected a much more elaborate style of dress. They wore full-length red robes of fine silk, under a yellow, patterned, waist-length tunic buttoning down the front. Over this they wore a sort of cowl, covering the head and shoulders and tying under the chin; this too, was usually red in colour. In formal gatherings the wangs wore a particularly ornate headdress or crown, called the ‘dragon hat’. This was, as described thus by R. J. Forrest in 1861, “made of pasteboard, gilt, with amber beads and pearls suspended, and a little bird on the top”. In accordance with the implied status that such a headpiece provides, the wangs always wore the most sumptuous fabrics, including the yellow silks normally reserved only for members of the Imperial households.

Average Taiping Warrior

STR: 11

CON: 11

SIZ: 13

INT: 11

POW: 11

DEX: 11

Move: 8

HP: 12

Damage Bonus: +0

Weapons: Sword 30%; Spear 25%; Halberd 20%; Bow 30%; Flintlock Rifle 25%

Armour: None

Spells: None; a few may know some of the t’ai p’ing t’ao

Skills: First Aid 15%; Navigation 30%; Wilderness Survival 45%

SAN Loss: 0/0