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  OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2004
  
  3
  Features
  5 
  The Empty Hand Martial Arts in the new World of Darkness
   
  By Eloy Lasanta Art by Christopher Lee Simmons
  15 Spotlight On: The NecroCyberz A new online Guild for Wraith: The Oblivion
   
  By J. Edward Tremlett 
  Art by Joshua Gabriel Timbrook
  17 
  Of Floating Spirits Tips for playing Yulan-Jin in Kindred of the East
   
  By Eloy Lasanta  Art by Melissa Uran
  20 Justiﬁcation Vampire: The Requiem ﬁction
   
  By Tony Murlin
  22 The Broken Mirror A secret sect and a broken mirror. Fiction for Kindred of the East
   
  By Daniel Acaba
  Columns & Departments
  4 
  Letter from the Editor 
   
  By Christopher Lee Simmons
  Table of
  Contents
  On The
  CoVeR
  A charcoal study of a 
  vampireʼs victim, by 
  Kat Burress.
  
  22
  Mirror
  By Daniel Acaba
   
  A shrill scream of co-mingled pain and pleasure breaks 
  the placid country night, piercing the silence that looms over the 
  darkened temple. Running his hand over his baldhead, the young 
  man walks for the doors to the temple. Feeling the darkened, stur-
  dy wooden door, he sighs heavily before shoving it open. Making 
  his way over some debris, he slowly heads for the back of the main 
  area of the temple. A soft hissing sound is heard from behind him 
  but he barely reacts to it, making his way straight for the doors 
  ahead of him and shoving them wide open, stopping suddenly to 
  look over the sight before him. All around the room are mortal 
  men and women in the throes of pain, pleasure and ecstasy as 
  they writhe and groan under bakemono of both sexes. Sitting on 
  a large chair made of stone and decorated with bits of bone and 
  jade, is a man, slight of stature but with a force of will that can be 
  felt from across the expansive room. Master Whangbo . . .  I hope 
  he doesn’t react too harshly to my failings . . . 
   
  The slight man looks up at the young Devil Tiger’s entry. 
  “Shen Jin, what brings you back here so soon after leaving?” The 
  man asks. The annoyed tone of his voice brings a slight shud-
  der to Shen as he bows to the elder. “Most wise and honored 
  elder, I have come to deliver news of the mission you sent us 
  on.” Spoken nervously. The elderly man sighs heavily and waves 
  a hand idly then. “Speak then, boy. And make it quick. I have 
  more important matters to attend to than sitting here listening 
  to you all night.” Nodding at his words, Shen rises to his feet 
  and looks at the man. “You sent us out to meet with members of 
  the Green Court to obtain the package you asked for. However 
  when we arrived at the small village, there was naught there. It 
  was a ghost town, devoid of any mortals much less Wan Kuei. We 
  proceeded to investigate as per Saimdang’s orders . . .  the Bone 
  Flower leader of our wu. As we split up, I was made aware of the 
  fact I was being watched and I proceeded to assume the Demon’s 
  form, just in case of a Green Court ambush . . . “ Shen trails off, 
  clearly bothered by what he is thinking. “What is it boy? What 
  happened? Do not waste my time with this drivel unless it is im-
  portant.” Taken aback at the outburst from the elder, Shen nods 
  and licks his lips before continuing.
   
  “I heard a scream from one of my wu mates . . .  one of 
  the women. Not sure which one though because almost as soon 
  as that happened I noticed something my senses hadn’t caught 
  before. There were scents in the air that made my P’o go wild; 
  the scent of Yomi was in that place. Realizing something bad was 
  going on here, I ran to the scream but was stopped by demons 
  that suddenly blocked my path. They looked like vulture men or 
  something. Distorted beings . . .  Regardless, I managed to ﬁght 
  them off, but the sight of them had my P’o in a whirl. Memories 
  of time in Yomi and tortures that were suffered came rushing back 
  . . . “ Taking a breath he continues. “By the time I found them, 
  only my leader Saimdang was left. She demanded I leave her to 
  hold them off and report back to you. So I fought my way out of 
  the city and returned here.” It is at this point that Shen moves 
  his hand that was clutched to his ribs, revealing a gaping wound 
  that would have disemboweled any mortal that had taken the 
  wound. For the Devil Tiger however, it is merely something to be 
  overcome.
   
  “I see. Sister Bone Flower was wise to send you back 
  here. This is troubling news.” The elder says softly, rubbing his 
  white stubble on his chin. “Did you see or notice anything else? 
  Was there anything that stood out?” Shen thinks for a moment 
  before shaking his head negatively. “No elder, I did not. Every-
  thing was rather cut and dry there. The horde of creatures going 
  through my combat wu like a hot knife through butter was all 
  that really stands out to me . . . “ It’s clear that the thought of hav-
  ing lost his wu is troubling him greatly. “Shen. Go home to your 
  wife. Rest. You have dealt with much trouble this night. I think 
  you for bringing me this message and I will take this information 
  to those who will put it to best use.” Nodding, Shen bows again, 
  but is interrupted by Whangbo speaking again. “However. If I 
  should ﬁnd out that you were a coward there and deserted your 
  wu to die, you would be lucky to get off by only greeting the Eye 
  of Heaven.” Shen tenses a bit at the threat, knowing full well 
  that the elder’s words ring true. Bowing once again, Shen makes 
  a hasty retreat from the temple, knocking over a bakemono in his 
  rush. The frightened creature skitters away from the Devil Tiger, 
  not wishing to upset its superiors.
   
  Whangbo sits in his chair for a long while, thinking over 
  Shen Jin’s words before slowly rising from his chair. His bones 
  crack and twist as the old man moves for the ﬁrst time in decades. 
  The gathered creatures around him stop their fornication and 
  look to him, curious what has brought this man from his chair. 
  Making his way down the steps, he moves toward a room in the 
  corner, throwing the door wide as he enters. Inside, two snake-
  like bakemono are lying on the ﬂoor next to a dresser where a jade 
  bowl rests. “Move.” Said sharply in Korean as the creatures both 
  slither out of the way rapidly. Walking over to the bowl, he con-
  centrates on his inner Yang before pricking his ﬁnger on a sharp 
  edge of the bowl, letting drops of his Yang-charged blood mingle 
  with the water in the bowl. Letting the blood ﬂow cease, he leans 
  over the bowl and watches the water for a moment before he be-
  gins to speak in low tones. “Emerald River of Fire, appear before 
  me. We must talk.”
   
  The mixture of Chi and water shimmers and ﬂows, turn-
  ing into an image of a savage, but beautiful female face. “Whang-
  bo. I hope this is important. I will not be pleased if it is not . . . “ 
  The man licks his lips before speaking. “It has been found. The 
  Broken Mirror has been found and it is not more than two hours 
  Broken
  The
  
  23
  travel away from here. They took over a small village and have 
  stripped it of human life and killed at least seven Wan Kuei. Only 
  one has survived the attack, one of my dharma.” He explains. 
  The woman’s face gets interested suddenly at the mention of the 
  Broken Mirror. “Really now? Have you? And what do you think 
  of the area? How populated is it?” She asks looking away as she 
  says something softly in Korean, presumably to one of her aides. 
  “It is in a now deserted area due to them taking the humans. 
  They’re likely food and hosts for bakemono now.” Whangbo adds. 
  The woman nods to that.
   
  “And if we were to bring out the weapons, how much 
  danger would there be to other humans?” He thinks for a mo-
  ment and reaches for a piece of paper. Looking over it closely, he 
  analyzes the writing on it before speaking. “If we make a thorough 
  assault on the area as our elders have dictated, we will likely de-
  stroy four small villages and destroy part of a larger city.” Said eas-
  ily as if he were discussing the weather. “I see. Send a messenger 
  with all the relevant information and let us gather our troops to 
  be mobilized. We will set up a perimeter before we devastate the 
  area with missiles. Once we have ﬂattened the demons we will 
  send in our forces to ﬁnish it off and seal the Broken Mirror.” He 
  nods to her words and grins. “As you wish. I look forward to this 
  momentous event. The Thousand Embers Righteousness Society 
  will no longer have to hide away from the masses. We will seize 
  our destiny and annihilate all that oppose us.” He grins and the 
  woman laughs a girlish laugh.
   
  The sound of rapid movement suddenly distracts him. 
  Whirling around Whangbo looks at the bakemono. “Why were 
  you listening in on my conversation?” The two serpent creatures 
  look over to him. “It was not us, master. It was Shen Jin. He was 
  just here.” Whangbo’s eyes widen at that. “He heard . . .  Get 
  him!” With a hiss, the bakemono slithers out of the room calling 
  for others to come with them. Walking out to watch the small 
  horde of bakemono race out the temple, Whangbo makes a ﬁst. 
  He can ruin everything. He must not be allowed to live to pass on what 
  he has seen and heard.
   
  Breathing heavily, Whangbo runs as hard as he can. The 
  cries and screeches of the bakemono behind him, he moves as fast 
  as his demon powers and Yang Prana will allow him to move. He 
  has to warn someone . . .  has to ﬁnd help. I can’t let them do this. I 
  cannot . . .  those innocents . . . 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Storyteller [multi]/EXTRA/Fiction/The Broken Mirror - KotE (fiction)(Ex Libris Nocturnis #1 Excerpt).pdf