Chang "Kaji" Jin

Promenade of Light
Da Yen Mao of the Shang Tien Kuei
First Interrogator of the Court of the Ebon Flame

Description


~Kaji swaggers onto the scene without a trace of self-doubt. He moves to a wall or tree and settles back against it with a quirked grin on his grill. One leg rests comfortably over the other and both arms fold across his chest. His right hand is kept busy by incessantly flipping a small, gold coin up into the air. He bears himself in black slacks, shoes, and suit jacket. A white dress shirt peeks beneath the open jacket, and a black tie hangs from his collar. Tiny tattoos of four claw shreds mark both temples. With his head lowered and unruly, black hair covering his slim handsome face, it doesn't seem like he's paying any attention. A quick, closer look, however, tells otherwise. It becomes obvious when you see that crooked, charming grin and those cruel, black eyes promising ten thousand different hells of endless torture. His Canton-accented voice is one of affable but lethal intent, marking him as the epitome of animesque baddies.~

OOC: Appearance 3; Style 1; Soothing Voice

(Demon Form) ~When assuming his "true" identity, Kaji evokes a sensation of terrible, heavenly fear and awe in those who see him. Indeed, the unAwakened tremble and cower at sight of this Celestial Devil. The average girth of the Chinese man increases to an imposing, towering figure over ten feet tall of giant-like mass. Nearly all clothing fades, replaced with onyx-black skin that seems to shine in natural light. Powerful muscles ripple with every motion. The man's hair lengthens to a shaggy state, loosely framing a terrible visage of righteous wrath and hellish fury. Brown eyes lose the pupils and glow an electric blue, making it all the more difficult to look the demon in the eyes. A smooth, black leather loincloth embraces his waist, pelvis, rear, and hips. Emblazed on the front flap is a red design in the shape of the Devil Tiger emblem. Peeking out of a hole in the rear flap extends a long, sinuous tail. The sleek appendage is four feet long, prehensile, and devilishly forked. Clipped to the left side of the loincloth is a simple, four inch iron rod. What it may serve is revealed only when he tugs it free. But the extensions from his back are the most strange, terrifying, and awesome. Reaching out up to twelve feet long in either direction when spread are wing-like apparitions. They vaguely appear to be bat-like pinions, but there is no flesh present -- not even demon-flesh. Instead, millions of tiny sparkles dance within the intangible parameters of the bizarre appendages. These beads of light shimmer and brighten, flash and darken, assuming colors and hues all depending on the mood of this Da Yen Mao. But they prove quite functional when needed, lifting this fallen angel up above the sinners.~

OOC: Appearance 0; Awe

"Joy is empty without pain and vice versa. The day does not dawn without night. Wickedness is not a state, but a means to an end. Past all sin and all righteousness looms the purity of truth only the unfettered may reach. We must burn away all false anchors and find peace in death.”

History


Life

The year 1821 witnessed the birth of Chang Jin, the oldest son of a prominient farming family in Canton. From youth, he grew accustomed to the hard labors of life. And he learned early on that sometimes despite all effort, the labor bears only bitter fruit. As a boy, he was sent into the city of Hong Kong for a mercantile education in preparation to assume his family trade. Jin was not ecstatic about this life-style, but he was content enough not to seek another trade. Unfortunately, the Opium War gave him another, unexpected purpose: the duties of a soldier in service to the Imperial Army.

Jin fought for his homeland against the capitalists, heretics, and criminals. He developed a great dislike for illegal drugs like opium, even though the opium trade was only one reason for the war. Much like other citizens and soldiers, Jin was affected by governmental influence. Opium was the scapegoat and he became a staunch opposer of its use and trade. But his service to the army would prove short-lived. In 1842, while stationed in the easterly Jingsu Province, Jin reserved solemn word from the military that his family had been killed by foreign troops back in Hong Kong. The farm had been razed, his parents hung, and his sisters kidnapped. Overwhelmed with fury at this unwarranted assault and insult, Jin’s hatred became his downfall. He took up his rifle and rushed, alone, into Nanking. As armies clashed, he fought a personal vendetta with urban guerilla viciousness. But it did not take long for British troops to corner and ventilate the angry young soldier. Jin fell with a scream of rage and pain.

The Hell of Flesh-Razing Flames

All was swept into a wet darkness as he died. Ironically, he perished on his own birthday, though he had forgotten that time with his mind for vengeance. As his corpse was tossed into a mass grave and ineffective Christian rites read over his lime-covered shape, Jin’s soul plummeted straight down to hell. The Hell of Flesh-Razing Flames was no picnic. Jin’s memory of his time in this realm remained hazy, but he recalls the darkness suddenly becoming a starkly bright atmosphere. Only a pair of vast crimson-red eyes penetrated the acrid, gunpowder-scented haze. Those eyes seemed to focus on Jin personally, eyes of a Yama King Jin could never name.

Then the haze became a painful impact of landing on blasted, cracked, and dry ground. All Jin could see as he struggled to his feet were blasts of fire and explosions as if he were standing in the middle of an artillery battlefield. He ran for cover, but found none, and his body was tossed about like a ragdoll. Shrapnel pierced his flesh all over. Monstrous hellions dragged him off that battlefield, only to tie him to a pole and use him as rifle target practice. When not hit by modern bullets and shells, Jin found himself being slow-roasted over open coals, or having a hot poker applied to tender areas of his excruciated soul.

What had he done that was so wrong?! Jin could not understand what he had done to deserve this! He had been a faithful son, an attentive apprentice, and a dutiful soldier. About the only straying he could recall was his vicious, hateful vendetta in which he engaged in Nanking -- and futilely, he thought bitterly! And if such a personal matter was so sinful to be sent to Hell, Jin became spiteful of the concepts of righteousness. What tripe! Still, the agonies did not stop.

But even a soul can only take so much punishment. It was during one of many “down-times” that Jin’s exhausted but undefeated mind plotted escape. In a classic display of shrewdness and desperate charisma, Jin compelled some of his fellow prisoners to rise up in revolt at the same time. When the jailors returned to punish Jin and two others once again, they suddenly flailed out in wild fervor. Jin managed to break free, swiftly freeing a number of other prisoners. Soon the guards of hell had a massive riot on their clawed hands. Even as some of the souls that joined his rebellion were put down or subdued, Jin slipped away unnoticed. He fled through the barren, cannon-blasted plains.

Battered by the concussive blasts, Jin’s tattered and tired spirit stumbled down the Scarlet Path. He collapsed off the main road just as a squad of goblin-demons trooped by. There in the tangled, twisted underbrush he found a small golden coin. On instinct, he picked it up and hurried on the path. He had no clue how long the trip would be to return to his body, to fight for life. And it took probably weeks before he reached the Mirror Lands. With a scream of need and pain, Jin’s soul leapt through the Wall and into his body, buried under mounds of soil, beside many other bodies.

Second Breath

So his hands clawed his rabid, hungry corpse out of the earth, howling in revitalized agony. The newborn chih-mei pulled himself free, maddened eyes seeking food to sate his need for unlife. Jin naturally assumed his primitive, undeveloped demon form, a long forked tail trailing behind as he loped from that mass grave in the outskirts of town. Fortunately, the Gui Ren harvesters kept an eye on all known graves in that region. With a war having not long past concluded, many new vampires and ghosts were expected. Thus, Jin was subdued by a Devil Tiger instead of a far less tolerant Shih warrior…

Unfortunately, the Mandarin that caught and subdued Jin, named Zudai, was a “dog-handler”. The elder enslaved and trained chih-mei to be the equivelent of supernatural attack dogs. The unfortunate souls remained forever in a primitive, flesh-hungry state, rabid and near-mindless. For a full decade, Jin lived this half-life of degradation and bestiality, living off scraps, living for the next “hunt”. A jade amulet given to him by his parents before leaving to the army so long ago was stripped away as a prize. But over time, his demon form developed further. And Zudai noticed within his form an eloquence unmatched by the other chih-mei in his ferocious “pack”. So Zudai pulled Jin aside and performed the ritual of Restoring the Dharmic Balance.

Ré

Immediately, Jin returned to some cognitive sense. Panting and drooling still, ever-hungry for the chi torn directly from flesh, the young vampire begged for help. Zudai informed him of his new existence, and how he owed Zudai for the performance of that rite. He began to explain the tenets of the path of the Howl of the Devil Tiger. He was somewhat cautious in explanation, as he desired Jin to follow the same path. But it was not necessary, for Jin immediately gobbled up the dogma. Tempered by years of pain and degradation, Jin’s mind and soul were both pliable and ready to follow such a dark road. Jin even agreed to Zudai keeping the red jade talisman, in exchange for the boon of the rite.

And Zudai’s aid did not stop there. He taught Jin all the beliefs, ways, and practices of the Crimson Devils. For several years, Jin sat as patiently as he could, isolated from most of the world, resting at his teacher’s feet to learn all he could. Though submissive to his sifu, the flame of desire for more burned in his breast. Zudai was not ignorant of that either, and had little illusions that Jin would move on soon. He administrated examinations testing Jin’s physical skills, cognitive facilities in regards to Dharmic responsibilities, and left Jin with a riddle to ponder: what was fire if it did not burn?

While pondering that riddle, whether it was a trick question or not, Zudai was drawn into a deadly duel with a rival mandarin. Zudai was slain, ashes scattered in the river. Guanxi settled, Jin collected the jewel with which his family once gifted him, and returned home to Hong Kong. In 1857, Jin switched from the Flesh Court to the Flame Court.

The Koa

In the Flame Court, Jin proved himself to be a quiet, introspective vampire. This behavior came as a result of his years in a subservient state. But it proved well, and he managed to avoid the untimely ends many Running Monkeys suffer. Jin avoided the intrigues of human and vampire alike. He learned his lesson about the danger of politics from life, from the bullets that ended his humanity, and from the mirroring agonies suffered in that brutal hell. Now, he believed, was the time to build himself, to grow stronger and ready for a more purposeful existence.

Indeed, Jin managed to maintain harmonious chi in these nights. His experiments in torture and physiology were almost strictly an investigation of limits and twisted creativity. It was not until he began to study the Shintai of Ghost-Flame did his energies and behavior tilt from balance to Yang. As he became adept at summoning the goblin fire, Jin pondered advanced applications and abilities. And as he became more extroverted in learning and behavior, Jin gradually came to accept and perform certain minor duties in his place as Da Yen Mao (East-Directed Devil Tiger).

And within the Court of Flame, Jin became known among his brethren and peers as a well-studied, ambitious vampire. Invitations from the Thousand Embers Societies came once a year, and he was once even approached subtly by the Black Talons. In all cases, Jin declined. He did not hold any particular tenets of the path in higher esteem than others. Nor did he hold any political agendas or interests in common with his path’s splinter-sects. In fact, the only interest Jin was developing was a desire to master Ghost-Flame. He requested permission to study abroad. Due to his low-level usefulness to the Flame Court, the mandarins saw no real problem with a brief interlude in his time in Hong Kong. So in 1890, Jin traveled to Nippon, where were rumored the greatest hima warriors and guru teachers.

Thus, Jin voyaged through the archipelago. He traded information and news for the word on where to find just such a master. Several months later, Jin found his way to a mountain lair outside the town of Koriyama. Jin introduced himself to the master, Samukaen. A test of physical skill and endurance ensued, and Jin was sorely wounded, but he survived the hima’s attacks without flagging in body or, more importantly, courage.

So Samukaen accepted the young vampire as a student. For decades, Jin trained under the reclusive master. They strayed only from that cavern lair to hone those deadly skills of fire and soulflaying on bakemono and other demonic forces prowling the countryside. Finally, in 1921, Jin mastered the Godbody of Ghost-Flame. He was accorded guru status and nick-named Kaji (“conflagration”). Sadly, the tumult of global conflict compelled Kaji to leave the militant nation of Japan behind for his homeland’s defense. Samukaen and Kaji parted on good terms, though he’s never spoken to or heard from his old master since that year.

Upon return to China, Kaji received a request in letter from a Mandarin of the Flesh Court of Shanghai. His renown as a master of Ghost-Flame traveled far and wide. It was the slayer of his first mentor Zudai that summoned the budding jina to the coastal city. But after so many years, Kaji held no animosity. Indeed, the Mandarin was a Devil Tiger like Zudai and Kaji both, and the duel that ended the former’s life was honorable. So Kaji accepted the invite and moved to Shanghai. There he began a training regimen of Flesh Court warriors, augmenting their impressive Flesh Shintai lore with deadly Ghost-Flame techniques. After all, war was coming, and they all had to be prepared.

In exchange for his tutelage, Kaji learned more about the easterly functions of the Gui Ren. He learned practical advice on how to manage, maintain, and cull the human “herd”. He eagerly devoured this knowledge, wanting to truly better his usefulness to his fellow Gui Ren. But the lessons were cut short with the invasion of gaki alongside the Imperial Army of Japan. Kaji fought alongside his Chinese brethren, and was confronted many times with the wickedness of a brutal midnight war. He personally extinguished three Japanese vampires who were clearly lesser akuma or leaning towards becoming them. With the fall of the Flesh Court’s Ancestor and the rise of the Silent Mandarins, Kaji found himself less welcome in the region. His skills were too flashy for a post-war Shanghai.

Maturity

But to be honest, Kaji was glad to return to his homeland of Canton in 1950. In Hong Kong, he rejoined the Court of Flame fully. The renown he earned in the Flesh Court battles granted him a sure place in a celebrated new Wu. The Clarity of Flames was formed in 1951, with a purpose much like the far more renowned Victorious Whirlwind. Indeed, Kaji’s corpse-family’s duties mirrored and supported the Victorious Whirlwind. Kaji and his Wu-mates confronted and schemed against the Kowloon Devils and Kin-jin alike.

For decades, Kaji enjoyed the companionship and camaraderie of his Wu-mates. There were counted two other Devil Tigers, while a Bone Flower and Rootless Tree helped to balance the devilishness of the Wu and ground its purpose more distinctly. During this active and often dangerous period, Kaji’s sense of duty was refined. His comprehension of the Road Back grew with such comrades to help guide one another. Plus, the Wu’s duties helped him keep his mind on the reality of existence rather than mere isolated experimentations and training routines.

But with such directed purpose, the inevitable was bound to happen. The schemes of the Western vampires were coming to bear. The Clarity of Flames rushed forward to fill the hole while the Victorious Whirlwind dealt with a plot of the so-called Righteous Devils of Kowloon. The battle was wild and flashy, with exotic magics clashing on corporate tower rooftops in 1997. Kaji and his Wu battled the Tremere Elder, Oliver Thrace, as well as five of his personal brood. The vicious fight ended with the destruction of all of Oliver’s coterie, though the regent escaped through his warped magics. The Clarity of Flames, however, was shattered. Only Kaji and the Rootless Tree, Guang Yaodai, survived and not unscathed. The guanxi of the Wu shattered, Kaji and Yaodai decided to part ways. The Rootless Tree was definitely ready to move onto a new life.

So Kaji remained with his former Wu-mate for two years, giving the follower of that strange Dharma time to recover and adapt to a new identity. They parted as strangers. Kaji spent that time well, though, contemplating his next move in unlife. He decided he wanted to participate in the Quincux’s Great Step Outward. He appealed to the Mandarins of the Flame Court, who agreed to allow Kaji’s travel to America to establish further footholds in the West.

The promising jina skipped over the West Coast for a middleland vicinity of Kuei-jin influence: Kansas City. Kaji joined the budding Kuei-jin Court in that city’s Little Asia. There, he soon joined a new Wu with another Hong Kong Devil Tiger, and a Japanese Rootless Tree. The Shadows of Scarlet Dawn demonstrated the endeavor in that Kuei-jin Court to intermingle vampires of differing ethos and cultures peacefully. And it seemed to work well! Unfortunately, Kaji learned firsthand of how dangerous the “Jyhad” was. In late 1999, a powerful Kin-jin elder struck Kaji down, grievously injuring the Celestial Devil.

And more than his body was injured. His confidence and sense of purpose were both disturbed. He ritually broke the recently established and there undeveloped guanxi with the Wu. Kaji returned to Hong Kong to rest from the wounds and reconsider his unlife’s path. Kaji voluntarily entered the Little Death in a Flame Court sanctuary to dream of a new path. And while in that deep, deathly sleep, his budding Dragon Tear brought him terrifying, prophetic nightmares. Kaji dreamed of the dawning of the Sixth Age and the rise of the Demon Emperopr. He saw how the Kin-jin were nothing but pawns and hardly worth the directed effort for which the Resplendent Cranes cried.

So Kaji decided that the only thing more important than fighting the enemy was preparing one’s allies to fight the greatest adversaries. He finally awakened in late 2002 -- three years later. Kaji reaffirmed his road with the aim to attain a Mandarin status and understanding. Once he fulfilled these duties and rank in Gui Ren society, he could better guide his Dharmic comarades and indeed all Gui Ren. And he would help guide his people and the world to a state of true readiness to confront Yomi and the Demon Emperor.

Recent Years

Yet despite his rise to a more mature, elder-sense of purpose and traditional fidelity, Kaji was still Yang-balanced and desired company. Furthermore, if he were to take a more active sense in any kind of politics, he would need bodyguards. He scouted martial arts circuits in Hong Kong. Luck had it that he encountered a pair of girls -- twin sisters -- who lived in Kansas City, no less. Even more unusual were the young women's strange psychic abilities that, uncontrolled, were accidently unleashed in Hong Kong, killing several people. Kaji knew he had to intercede anyway, in his place as Da Yen Mao. But through guile and Arts, he swayed their allegiance to his banner, taking Haima and Hasina Tate under wing to serve his whim and need. For now, Kaji was ready to return to America with grace and power, to earn the titles and respect he deserved, and to seek out the wisdom he desperately needed to help the Sixth Age be as transitory as it should and must be.

The P'o


Kaji’s Demon is a foul-tempered beastie that Kaji carefully drives into submission through both acceptance and temperance. Kaji has lasted this far without giving into the Demon and stumbling too far on the Road Back. His skill for channeling the rage of the P’o into more constructive (or just not self-destructive) activities has kept himself sane for decades. The Monkey is frustrated and leaps at any new activity Kaji dares to try with vigorous attempts to distract and mislead the Celestial Devil to follow and revel in the activity for the wrong reasons. Often, Kaji sees right through the deceptions. But he is not immune to the Demon’s deceit always…

Magic Artifacts


Wealth of Aggravation
Level: 3
Origin: Kaji found this coin on the way out of Yomi -- the Hell of Flesh-Razing Flames. It compelled his notice as his soul screamed its way back to his body and it transferred over to his physical body upon the Second Breath. His first sifu taught him what it does and how to use it.
Description: This small, shiny coin may be made of gold, but it is no nation’s mint young or old. On one side, ancient kaja glyphs are inscribed. On the other, an image of a serpent consuming its own tail, encircling demon eyes, is engraved.
Effects: 1) incite fire soul/berserk frenzy in a target (+2/-2 to resistance roll), once per scene per target
Chi Costs: Artifact: 0; Effect #1: 1 Yang
Activation: Kaji just simply flips the coin with intent towards a target with an "awakened" P'o (vampire, shapeshifter).

Jade Talismans


Red
Level: 1
Chi: 1 Yang
Origin: Kaji acquired this piece from his own grave, as a gift from his parents when he left for war.
Description: This small creamy red jade piece is carved in a teardrop shape and hung from a leather cord, worn around the neck.

Significant Others


This vicious old Devil Tiger adopted the Tate twins in 2003. Haima and Hasina both served Kaji as bodyguards and, as it amounted to, sex-toys. The Da Yen Mao enjoyed exploring often violent expressions of lust in both sex and battle. However, Haima’s concern for her less sensible twin made Haima disinterested in Kaji’s explorations. And Hasina didn’t have quite the stomach for the Devil Tiger. So Kaji released Hasina from her duties, perhaps to be adopted by some other vampire (a Thrashing Dragon perhaps). But he kept Haima, and deepened and darkened their relationship by exchanging soul-oaths of bonding. Haima’s twisted and violent delights were fueled as she came to serve Kaji solely. Now the pair are often inseparable, as Haima gladly learns the life of pain and extremes that Jin lives. Her psychic talents of bodily control help her survive what Hasina and most other humans cannot. She is a highly valuable pawn to Kaji. They do not swear love to each other or have plans to marry -- silly sentiments to their likes. But Kaji knows Haima is an Urn -- sure to rise as Kuei-jin. He harvests her now as best he can. It’s that or leave her to the possible fate of being picked up by Kin-jin and turned into one of those freaks! Kaji helped seal Haima's fate by impregnating the young woman and letting her give birth to fraternal twins -- both dhampyrs, of course -- on May 25th, 2008. The boy Kaji named Jianju, and Haima named the daughter Jinita. Ah, what a devilish family indeed.

Only months after that wondrous birth, however, Haima and her sister celebrated as they once did. But this time, their powers soared out of control and caused a terrible accident that claimed their lives, too. Kaji was stricken, and their children were returned to Hong Kong to be raised in a proper environment for dhampyrs. But finally, the Tates did take the Second Breath! Haima returned to him almost as expected: she did Howl the Devil Tiger path, but far more extreme than he expected. She was still quite the rebel, this Golden Court-birthed Brilliant Coal.

Haima

Kaji has entertained numerous ladies over the years. Most of them have been quick one night stands, especially because he usually just eats them afterwards. Haima has been one of his only long-terms.

Weakness
Hima Doom


Kaji is a danger to himself and everyone around him in both the practice of his Disciplines and beliefs. He's a S&M psycho, and that is easily exploited by those in the know. Besides the flaws inherent to his dharmic dogma, Kaji has a sore spot for drug dealers, particularly abusive ones.

Likelihood of Corruption


High.

He's a Devil Tiger. Nuff said.

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