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Ninja Hero/Asian Bestiary


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Depends on what you mean by "demon."

 

I mean, I'm putting in everything I can find a decent amount of information on. So far, I have (demon wise), the Chiang-Shih, the Pishacha, the Rakshasa, the Oni, and some other strange creatures (still trying to pin down the Kuei...).

 

The book will also have dragons, serpents, ghosts, ghouls, vampires, 100-foot-long centipedes, foo lions, 700-mile-long catfish, flesh-eating horses, fish-elephants, flying heads, shape-shifting sorcerers, and beastmen.

 

Oh, and one enormous [deleted by sysop].

 

Oops... :D Guess you'll have to read the book to find that one.

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Kuei

 

Susano, are you aware of the approach taken to the kuei by Dean Shomshak in The Super Mage Bestiary? If you're interested, these would seem to be the items from his bibliography most pertinent to his research on the subject:

 

Cavendish, Richard (ed.) Man, Myth and Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural.

 

Thompson, Stith. Motif-Index of Folk Literature.

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Re: Kuei

 

Originally posted by Lord Liaden

Susano, are you aware of the approach taken to the kuei by Dean Shomshak in The Super Mage Bestiary? If you're interested, these would seem to be the items from his bibliography most pertinent to his research on the subject:

 

Cavendish, Richard (ed.) Man, Myth and Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural.

 

Thompson, Stith. Motif-Index of Folk Literature.

 

No, I haven't seen the The Super Mage Bestiary (maybe I should???). But I'll look up these other two titles. Thanks!

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There are a few beast of intrest to me.

 

1) The Baku, also known as Dream Eaters. I asume that thay "eat" dreams via Transformation (prehaps a major one, since thay only "eat" one night of dreams, not take your dreams away forever).

 

2) Anything on Youma? Great sourse for them is the anime called Youma (better know to us in the US as Cures Of The Undead Youma, and another title). By the way, a flesh eating horse shows up in Youma. Oh, and who can forget the first seasion of Sailor Moon.

 

3) There was this lion headed eagle with a snake tail in the book Sandman: The Dream Hunters, but I can not remember the name of the beast. Anyone know?

 

4) And, finaly, there should be the Draconous Oriental, better known as the oriental Dragon.

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Originally posted by steriaca

There are a few beast of intrest to me.

 

1) The Baku, also known as Dream Eaters. I asume that thay "eat" dreams via Transformation (prehaps a major one, since thay only "eat" one night of dreams, not take your dreams away forever).

 

The eat bad dreams. I'm still working on this one.

 

2) Anything on Youma? Great sourse for them is the anime called Youma (better know to us in the US as Cures Of The Undead Youma, and another title). By the way, a flesh eating horse shows up in Youma. Oh, and who can forget the first seasion of Sailor Moon.

 

Youma/Yoma is a generic name for all sorts of Japanese creatures from "yomi," the netherworld. So... in effect... yes.

 

3) There was this lion headed eagle with a snake tail in the book Sandman: The Dream Hunters, but I can not remember the name of the beast. Anyone know?

 

That's a nue.

 

4) And, finaly, there should be the Draconous Oriental, better known as the oriental Dragon.

 

There are around 3300 words on the kioh-lung alone.

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Originally posted by Susano

Depends on what you mean by "demon."

 

I mean, I'm putting in everything I can find a decent amount of information on. So far, I have (demon wise), the Chiang-Shih

 

Is that the Hopping Vampire, also known as the Jiangshi?

 

If so, are you going with their actual feeding practice (stealing breath), or the cinematic version of drinking blood?

 

I saw later in your post you mentioned vampires. I take it that means other vampires from asia, like the detached head fliers (Pennagulan I think is the name?) and others?

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Re: ?

 

Originally posted by Fur Face

What a teaser! I have been waiting for years for a book like this! :D And to have Mike do it guarantee's quality and authenticity! When is the projected completion date"?

 

Jan-Feb 2003.

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Originally posted by urbwar

Is that the Hopping Vampire, also known as the Jiangshi?

 

If so, are you going with their actual feeding practice (stealing breath), or the cinematic version of drinking blood?

 

Yes it is the Jiangshi, no, it doesn't hop.

 

And I give several options for the vampire.

 

I saw later in your post you mentioned vampires. I take it that means other vampires from asia, like the detached head fliers (Pennagulan I think is the name?) and others?

 

Oh yes indeedy. And man, some of this stuff is very, very, cracked... :D

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Uebwar asked, if it dosen't hop, then what's the point. Well, some oriental vampiers don't hop. Some float around in the air, and can never touch the ground at all.

 

And I remember other monsters.

 

Will we see the Yamato No Oricih, the infamous 8 headed giant snake which your screen name namesake killed in legends? How about lesser Orichi?

 

There is also a japanies monster/demon of war called Ashura, which also never touches the ground (if what I read is true).

 

Oh, and Susano, while you proably don't NEED my permition to do so, I give you the permition to mention, as an option to the Tengu, the Tengu Ryu Kenjustu. Or, at least, mention it.

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Originally posted by steriaca

Uebwar asked, if it dosen't hop, then what's the point. Well, some oriental vampiers don't hop. Some float around in the air, and can never touch the ground at all.

 

And I remember other monsters.

 

Will we see the Yamato No Oricih, the infamous 8 headed giant snake which your screen name namesake killed in legends? How about lesser Orichi?

 

There is also a japanies monster/demon of war called Ashura, which also never touches the ground (if what I read is true).

 

As I said, I'll be including write-ups for anything and everything I can get a decent amount of information on. Nothing is too big or too small to be included in the book.

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Originally posted by Susano

As I said, I'll be including write-ups for anything and everything I can get a decent amount of information on. Nothing is too big or too small to be included in the book.

 

Nice to see our anime god Susano on the job. Good boy. Hears a Pockey .

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Originally posted by steriaca

Uebwar asked, if it dosen't hop, then what's the point. Well, some oriental vampiers don't hop. Some float around in the air, and can never touch the ground at all.

 

Which had nothing to do with my comment. I asked Mike if the Chiang-shi were the Jiangshi, who are hopping vampires. Mike said they don't hop, so I asked sarcastically, what's the point. If they are hopping vampires, and you include them, but don't have them hop, why include them as non hoppers? That's my point.

 

I know that some oriental vampires don't hop; I did mention the ones whose heads detach. I was specifically asking about the ones who do hop. I figured that was obvious by my asking specifically about the Jiangshi. Sorry I wasn't clear enough on that

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Originally posted by urbwar

Which had nothing to do with my comment. I asked Mike if the Chiang-shi were the Jiangshi, who are hopping vampires. Mike said they don't hop, so I asked sarcastically, what's the point. If they are hopping vampires, and you include them, but don't have them hop, why include them as non hoppers? That's my point.

 

I know that some oriental vampires don't hop; I did mention the ones whose heads detach. I was specifically asking about the ones who do hop. I figured that was obvious by my asking specifically about the Jiangshi. Sorry I wasn't clear enough on that

 

Heh, I'd hate to come back to unlife like that...

 

"What? Oh, CRAP! I was bitten by one of the dang hopping vampires! Why couldn't I be one of those cool floating ones. Now everyone will laugh - here comes Peter BloodyTail - hoppin' down the vampy trail..."

 

Of course, I know very little about Japanese Mythos, but eh, it struck me funny.

 

"EEK! A vampire! Run away!"

*hop* *hop*

"What the???? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

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Originally posted by MarkusDark

Heh, I'd hate to come back to unlife like that...

 

"What? Oh, CRAP! I was bitten by one of the dang hopping vampires! Why couldn't I be one of those cool floating ones. Now everyone will laugh - here comes Peter BloodyTail - hoppin' down the vampy trail..."

 

Of course, I know very little about Japanese Mythos, but eh, it struck me funny.

 

"EEK! A vampire! Run away!"

*hop* *hop*

"What the???? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

 

Actually,

 

These are Chinese, not Japanese vampires (though they do exist in Japanese myth too, but it originated in China) :P

 

Also, depending on which legend you follow, they don't have to bite you. They can infect you with what is known as "Corpse Poison" through their clawed nails.

 

As to why they hop, it might have to do with the fact that they would bind the legs of the corpses prior to burial.

 

If you really want to see Jiangshi in action, check out Mr. Vampire. It started a whole slew of movies with Hopping Vampires in it, and they can be pretty nasty if portrayed properly (of course, the cinematic versions drink blood, but normally they don't. One type steals a person's breath, and there might be other types as well, kind of like the Gaki).

 

I actually did a setting for All Flesh Must Be Eaten/Enter the Zombie (their Hong Kong add on) based around Jiangshi. I think they're almost as cool as ninjas myself

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All the material I could find on the Chiang-Shih (also known as a ch'ng-shih, jiang-shi, kiang-shi, kyonshi, kyuketsuki, or a qing-shi) mentioned nothing about them or any other vampires hopping. At least one reference said the HK film industry started the whole "hopping vampires" look.

 

So, based on what I could find, in various references, I wrote up the Chiang-Shih the best I could.

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Originally posted by Susano

All the material I could find on the Chiang-Shih (also known as a ch'ng-shih, jiang-shi, kiang-shi, kyonshi, kyuketsuki, or a qing-shi) mentioned nothing about them or any other vampires hopping. At least one reference said the HK film industry started the whole "hopping vampires" look.

 

So, based on what I could find, in various references, I wrote up the Chiang-Shih the best I could.

 

I copied an article I found online into an email, and it has a paragraph that covers this part. I'll post it here, since it was the only info I found on why they hop:

 

I've asked several people why Chinese ghosts hop and I've yet to receive a definitive answer. My guess is I probably won't. Best guesses yet: the tradition of burying the corpse in a standing position suggests that it would hop. Some people believe that it's the nature of the burial garments (usually of the Qing - Ching- Dynasty) that essentially bind the legs together making it impossible to walk. Some people believe that it's because rigor mortis has set in and the joints have lost all flexibility making a hopping motion the only possible option for mobility. Others maintain that the hopping motion is symbolic of the ghost's attachment to the physical plane and the inability of the soul to move on. Really, what it all boils down to is this: more often than not, Chinese vampires hop.

 

I don't have the url for the site, but it was a site covering various types of undead, eastern and western.

 

Still, it doesn't matter if the book has them hop, though I would suggest you should at least mention it. I mean, even if it's cinematic, wouldn't you want to mention that for people who want to run cinematic games? It does fit.

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Originally posted by urbwar

Still, it doesn't matter if the book has them hop, though I would suggest you should at least mention it. I mean, even if it's cinematic, wouldn't you want to mention that for people who want to run cinematic games? It does fit.

 

I've done so. Thanks.

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