HEIRS TO THE SHOGUNATE Kickstarter Backer Manuscript Preview PART I © 2020 White Wolf Entertainment © 2020 Onyx Path Publishing Introduction “You must learn, child, that what would be wrong for you or for any of the common people is not wrong in a great Queen such as I. The weight of the world is on our shoulders. We must be freed from all rules. Ours is a high and lonely destiny.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew The Dragon-Blooded Shogunate born with the Second Age’s dawn has long since crumbled and collapsed — weakened by internecine conflicts and ultimately destroyed by the twin tribulations of plague and fae invasion. But from the Shogunate’s corpse arose the great Dragon-Blooded lineages and polities that still shape the face of Creation today, including both the vast powers of the Scarlet Realm, Lookshy, and Prasad, and more parochial societies such as the Grass Spiders, the Cult of the Violet Fang, and the esoteric Forest Witches. From the lone outcaste wandering the Hundred Kingdoms to the Great Houses of the Scarlet Dynasty, all carry the flame passed down by the Shogunate. For the rules necessary to play a Dragon-Blood, setting information on the Scarlet Dynasty and the Realm they rule, and an introduction to other Dragon-Blooded polities, you’ll need access to Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought. The book you’re now reading, Heirs to the Shogunate, is a companion volume funded through Kickstarter. It delves into more specialized topics, such as how to run games in the Realm’s secondary schools and the details of regional outcaste groups. It also includes new Charms and artifacts created with the help of Kickstarter backers who submitted their custom concepts. Thank you to everyone who made this book possible by backing the Dragon-Blooded Kickstarter! This Book at a Glance Chapter One: The Realm details the Dragon-Blooded cadet houses dwelling in the Threshold that have tied themselves to the Scarlet Dynasty through allegiance and marriage. It also goes into greater depth on the Realm’s secondary schools, where young Dynastic Dragon-Blooded receive an education fit for a demigod and have their first adventures. Chapter Two: Lookshy explores the Seventh Legion, including greater detail on Lookshy’s Dragon-Blooded gentes and the Seventh Legion’s military might. Chapter Three: Prasad details this Dreaming Sea empire — once a Realm satrapy, until its governing houses went renegade and established themselves atop Prasad’s society as the ruling Dragon Clans. Chapter Four: The Forest Witches introduces a mysterious group of Dragon-Blooded outcastes whose esoteric secrets transcend life and death and draw back the veil of reality. Chapter Five: Outcastes discusses a variety of other Dragon-Blooded lineages, polities, and societies. These include the Wanasaan exorcists, the Cult of the Violet Fang that quests against its fae ancestors in the Wyld, the Temple of the Reverent Whisper’s courtesan-priests, the deadly assassins of the Grass Spiders, and more. Chapter Six: Charms supplies new Dragon-Blooded Charms, expanding on the legendary prowess and elemental power of the Terrestrial Exalted. Chapter Seven: Heirlooms of Power offers heirloom artifacts from a variety of Dragon- Blooded societies: Great Houses, Lookshyan gentes, cadet houses, and more. It also showcases Seventh Legion gunzosha armor, a First Age relic usable by mortal heroes at great cost. Chapter Eight: Blood of the Dragons presents Quick Character write-ups for a number of Dragon-Blooded from the Realm, Lookshy, and beyond, ranging from youthful scions to Great House matriarchs. Chapter Nine: The Center Cannot Hold provides Storyteller guidance for including the Realm civil war in their games in a variety of different ways. It also covers the War in the West, a scenario detailing one possibility for how civil war might unfold. The Appendix contains two-page sheets intended for new players of Dragon-Blooded characters of various origins, summarizing the setting details relevant to their characters. The gala was a beautiful sham. Nissar Udar stood on a secluded balcony above the grand hall of Peleps Belina’s seaside estate in Voice-of-the-Tides Prefecture. His hosts had thrown the veranda doors wide, letting the chilly ocean breeze swirl through the room. Below him, Haltan acrobats clad only in jewels flew through the air, Dynasts and other honored guests marveled at the exotic and ephemeral prodigies from the far West on display, and attendants scurried about, carrying trays laden with paper-thin slices of salted siaka, hybroc balut, and crystal flutes of the most expensive wine jade could buy. Over the last few years, Peleps’ soirees had grown less frequent, though they maintained their opulence. Udar wondered how much this whole affair had set the Great House back, though he’d never be so gauche as to ask. House Nissar’s galas in Wu-Jian might be more modest, but at least they stayed within the cadet house’s means. Peleps Belina stood beside Udar. The cadet house scion had commissioned a new silk coat for the occasion, in Peleps blue and black to subtly signal the house had his — and therefore House Nissar’s — support. His first mistake. Wearing house colors had gone out of fashion on the Blessed Isle, it turned out. Rather than looking the savvy courtier, sending messages to his hosts via his sartorial choices, Udar came across as the country cousin borrowing clothing ten years out of date, or an overdressed servant in house livery. Perhaps that was why Belina insisted on having their discussion up here, where his appearance couldn’t embarrass her. Country cousins or not, Peleps needed Nissar, or so Udar hoped to convince her. He pretended not to notice the way her eyes kept slipping toward the party below, as though watching for someone important to pass by. As if to emphasize Udar’s inferiority. “If it comes to war,” Udar said, “Sesus and V’Neef will move to secure Wu-Jian’s harbors and restrict the shipping lanes. But they’ll be focused on your ships, not ours.” That snapped her gaze firmly back to him. “Go on.” “House Nissar can deliver you the West. And from there...” From there, the Realm. Belina gestured, a complicated flutter of her fingers Udar couldn’t interpret. Was she signaling assent? Telling him to elaborate? Scoffing? Was the movement a warning that he’d overstepped, or that someone was eavesdropping? This wasn’t the first time in this conversation that Belina had left Udar to flounder over her meaning. Turns of phrase and idioms exclusive to the Scarlet Dynasty’s elite littered her speech, none of which Udar had context for. He was a Prince of the Earth, same as Belina. He could trace his lineage back to the Empress, just as she could. And yet she seemed intent on putting him firmly in his place — one well beneath her. He breathed in the salt air, willed his anger to dissolve like footprints washed away by the tide. “Peleps can’t take the Imperial City by itself. Your house’s navy and reputation will be a boon, but the money will run out.” Belina drew a sharp breath. His candor had thrown her off-kilter, but intrigued rather than insulted her. “I’m listening.” “Peleps needs an ally willing to do the dirty work, someone who knows which throats to cut and which pockets to fill. House Nissar keeps Sesus, Peleps, and V’Neef in check in Wu-Jian. It can put a Peleps on the Scarlet Throne.” Belina took his arm. “Let’s speak somewhere more private,” she said, leading him away from the balcony. Udar matched his gait to hers, careful not to break the fragile rapport he’d finally established. It’d be no small feat, convincing her to take his offer, and placing Peleps on the throne would take effort enough to shake the heavens. But to see the Great Houses struck from the Imperial ledgers by a new Empress’ hand and House Nissar elevated in their place? It would all be worth it. Chapter One The Realm Cadet Houses The cadet houses exist on the Dynasty’s periphery. They’re no mere Threshold nobility, for they trace their lineage back to the Scarlet Empress and are blessed with the blood of the Dragons. But compared to the Great Houses, They’re lesser in almost every respect — status, holdings, numbers, wealth, military strength, and proximity to the center of power on the Blessed Isle. But while their position might confer fewer advantages, the cadet houses’ scions are still Dragon- Blooded heroes. Their deeds have forged legends across Creation, and may yet shape the course of the Realm’s future. House Ferem Air Cradled in the Jaws of the Sea Greatness came so very close for House Ferem’s ancestors, yet was not to be. Bagrash Köl’s ambition and hubris ruined the dream of a Grand Cherak. Now the house rules a rump state, their war machines battered into plowshares, their only saving grace marriage ties to the Dynasty. Even that sufficed only to become a cadet house, not a Great House. But Ferem’s scions have worked since their defeat to ensure that Cherak rises once more — that the lands once theirs shall be theirs yet again, and beyond. House Ferem’s history is one of conquest and power, and its scions haven’t forgotten it. Raised on stories of naval battles and games teaching principles of naval warfare, Ferem scions are taught never to forget that the Cheraki spirit is as indomitable and fierce as the northern winds.