The Dance of the Thrashing Dragon
Virtue: Yang
The breathing cage set one bird free.
It nestled in the bars and shat on the straw.
The bird's wings were mountains
And forests covered them.
---TheBlood Sutras
Like the trees, the Laughing Rainbows of the Thrashing Dragon Dharma rise
out of the fertile ground and unite with the raging sky. These
vampires are as alive as the undead can be. Bursting with
life-energy, the followers of the Green Way resemble forces of nature--too powerful to be silenced, to vivid to be real
Those forces inspired Xue to put down his staff and meditate. While a thunderstorm fed the rivers and the grass, the Arhat put aside his misery and took comfort in the rain. Around his feet, ants crept; at his back, insects scurried. Shrouded by ten thousand leaves, birds called to one another. Try as he might, Xue could not shut out the overwhelming pulse of life, At last the rains subsided and a rainbow curled across the sky. Xue laughed as birds crossed through the colors, and at that moment he awakened.
Moved by the life-force too potent to be caged, these Dragons thrash around like restless serpents. Their insights come through flesh-vigils and forest musings. As far as they're concerned, creation is a rainbow--illusory, but too colorful to ignore. In its colors, they see the unity and symmetry of Heaven. The idea, as Dragons see it, is to experience each of those colors as vividly as possible. As lovers of the Scarlet Queen, they embody her life-force; as cousins of the Ebon Dragon, they beat him into submission or perish trying.
As a rule, Laughing Rainbows are messy and vulgar, indulging themselves with wild feasts and drunken orgies--celebrations that usually feature living "entertainment," too. Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia hide Rainbow temples so infamous that even vampires avoid them. The Thrashing Dragon path isn't evil per se, but the Way's aggressive approach to life usually includes fucking it from every conceivable angle, willing or otherwise.
Naturally, these Kuei-jin do more than just copulate. Shunning society's restrictions, they explore life's lush infinities through martial arts and
Tantrik practices. Since life assumes ten thousand forms, most Thrashing Dragons master shapeshifting arts. To run with the animals, you must become one first. Study requires suitable subjects. While the remote Bone Flower drifts across her graveyard, the Thrashing Dragon capers across in the cities, forests and seas. His ferocity draws other creatures to his side, and many willingly join his dance. Charismatic as a tiger, this vampire
reveres his victims even as he drains their living blood. The vessel is divine to the Rainbow path--more divine than the Demon who consumes it. When the feast is over, he performs a thanksgiving rite. It's important to honor the keepers of Yang, even as you escort them to the other side.
The Thrashing Dragon Way is highly animalistic. Looking deep into nature, each Rainbow sees the spirits beneath life's skin, and he honors then with thanks, gifts, and rites. Truly skilled Dragons can move beyond the wall and speak to the spirits in their own tongue; a younger one simply recognizes the kami and grants them respect. In his calmer moments, a Thrashing Dragon can be gentle and compassionate. Like wood, he grows tall and strong, yet bends before snapping. He nurtures life, yet feeds on it without remorse. His Way is to keep the Cycle fresh.
Before their deaths, many Thrashing Dragons denied the flesh. All their repressions blow sky-high when the karmic debt come due. Some ferociously carnal people do return to finish what they started in life, but most Laughing Rainbows learned to laugh only after they died. Tantrik postures feature prominently in Dragon rites. By coupling with a living partner, the vampire shifts her energy to his own, then refines it into potent Chi--the life-force many once denied.
As could be expected, Thrashing Dragons are shameless, impulsive, lusty, and violent. Most go naked, or nearly so, and delight
in smashing social customs. Confrontation is enlightenment to these vampires, and they go out of their way to enlighten everyone
in the vicinity.
This voraciousness doesn't end with sex; the hunger takes a literal turn in the Thrashing Dragon philosophy. Greedy for Yang, these creatures often eat their prey raw (and usually alive). Although it has been said that Laughing Rainbows are cannibalistic, they stop short of eating vampires. The Average Dragon would find diablerie as repulsive as eating a bloated dead cat.
Beneath
the revelry, however, many Dragons hate themselves. In a way, their hunger is a denial of what they have become. By consuming life-force they secretly hope to undo their curse; it doesn't work, but they keep trying. Needless to say, these appetites have not made the sect many friends; Buddhist vampires find the Thrashing Dragons especially repulsive and often bar Laughing Rainbows from their courts.
Tenets
-
Attune yourself to life in all its forms.
-
Meditate upon passions; do not shut them out, but experience them, learn from them and encourage them in others.
-
Use your power as a farmer employs his threshing-tools: break the stalks, gather the rice, scatter the seeds, help them grow.
-
Help all living things grow. When something appears to be dying, consume it and send it back to the Cycle.
-
Half-life is an abominable state. Be as alive as you can be.
-
Guide the sun up each morning. Sleep when it is risen.
-
Laugh often and help others to see the humorous shadows.
-
Protect the spirits. Without them, the life-dance stops.
KOTE pgs. 72-73
|
