The second Dark Ages supplement to tackle a specific region and culture, Wind from the East expands on the primary setting both geographically and temporally, detailing the full extent of the rise and fall of the Mongol Empire and providing background and material for running a campaign at any point during its span. Further, it does an admirable job of tailoring the existing setting to the new culture without a lot of new rules and exotic bloodlines, something which I appreciate but which might leave others feeling let down. Lastly, it has remarkable focus and refreshing continuity, possibly attributable to the fact that it had but a single author.
The short opening story does a nice job of illustrating a bit of the feel of the Mongol vampires without becoming overburdened with unrecognizable terms and concepts and the Introduction goes on to lay out the time period being treated, some notes on themes and mood, and the lexicon and reference list. I am very happy with the trend of putting web sites into the last and wish they'd add a few more in future supplements.
Chapter One is the big one and contains all of the mortal reference material. Starting with a bit of detail on Mongol culture, lifestyle, and religious beliefs, it wedges in a short bit on the supposed history of the local Gangrel bloodline and a list of major tribes before launching into a detailed history of the rise and fall of the Mongol Empire, divided into rough sections and copiously footnoted with sidebars adding further detail or supernatural relevance where needed. A timeline is included, which is very helpful to follow the flow of things, and a small inadequate map which shows the empire at an arbitrary point in its growth. The latter required me to go dig out my historical atlas and annoyed me by continuing this trend in White Wolf supplements. Nonetheless, the material here is very detailed and has just about everything you need to run a game during the period.
Chapter Two goes on to deal with the supernatural side of things, starting with a bit on the problems of being a Mongol vampire and a quick summary of each clan's presence among them. Next are the two bloodlines, one of the Gangrel (called the Anda) and one of the Salubri (called the Wu Zao). Neither deviates greatly from their base clan, most of their difference being in attitude and cultural context. The Anda suffer only weakly from the bestial weakness of the Gangrel but have the added penalty of being unable to stay in one place for more than a few days. The Wu Zao, on the other hand, believe themselves to be continuing Saulot's work of trying to root out the secret of the coming apocolypse and share the duality of their Western brothers, except that it is a scholar/thief split rather than a healer/warrior split. Neither bloodline gets along with the other as the Anda are hunted by the kuei-jin while the Wu Zao cooperate with them. My only gripe is that I didn't really see anything particularly Mongol about the Wu Zao and they seemed very 'tacked on' and unnecessary to the supplement.
The rest of the chapter is dedicated to the Black Tortoise Court, the kuei-jin of the northern steppes, including information on their structure, prominent wu, relations with the other courts, and the current state of affairs and how it works in with what is presented in Blood & Silk and the modern Kindred of the East supplements. This segues into the last bit, which details their fate and that of the Anda and Wu Zao.
Chapter Three covers character creation, though rather than adding a lot of new rules and powers, mostly it just details how the established elements can be tailored to fit the milieu. Backgrounds, for example, are each gone through with their relevance or equivalance in Mongol culture detailed (Resources 1, for example, is a horse and hunting gear). Three powers are presented which tailor the clan disciplines to the Mongol lifestyle and are all pretty damn cool. The latter two, in particular, as they allow you to bulk up your horse with blood and meld it into the earth with you. Also included are a number of Mongol-specific rites for the Black Tortoise kuei-jin which take into account their traditions and religious beliefs. Always nice.
Next is the Road of Yasa, a Mongol specific Road which combines elements of Chivalry and Beast but is very unique. It is well done and fits the culture. My only gripe here is that the level 10 sin is the same as the clan weakness, which I find a bit redundant. Next there are two merits and a flaw. Nothing really new here, there is Inoffensive and Offensive to Animals, which we've seen before but which are very relevant to the Mongol lifestyle, and one called 'Sense of the Stock' which gives the player an animalistic sense for unnaturals (like vampires, ghosts, fomori, etc). This one is appropriate to any Gangrel.
Spirits specific to the Mongols and their lands follow, leading into a large section just on system mechanics and how they are tailored to a Mongol campaign. This is very useful. It goes over the horseback combat rules scattered among the other supplements and gathers them in one place, as well as dealing with specific problems for vampires on the steppe (like the lack of prey). True Faith is addressed, with the nice touch that the ger (or yurt) may have a rating like a Western church because it is considered sacred space. I love little culturally-specific elements like this, as it really keeps the players on their toes. Stats for a typical Mongol and his pony are provided, both for quick reference by the Storyteller and as a guide for players on what Mongol characters should look like, stat-wise.
The last part of this chapter is about Storytelling and deals with the sorts of campaigns you can run around the Mongol expansion, as well as the general problems of using a history as a context for a game (like how to keep them from looking up what happens next, or feeling helpless because their city is 'destined' to be sacked and burned). There is a lot of good advice here as well as a thorough treatment of the many perspectives a game in this setting can take. You can play it from the Mongol side, the Chinese side, or the Western side, just to name the three big ones, and there are countless permutations within these.
The Appendix offers only the templates and a short detailing of a few notable figures. Unlike many supplements, the former are actually a good sampling and adhere to everything read prior, offering up a Ravnos, a Wu Zao temple robber, and three Anda of very differing flavors. They are unique while still being true to their context. Fine work. The notable figures are also quite well done, offering more in the way of plot hooks than any sort of comprehensive look at the movers and shakers of the Empire. The last one, a kuei-jin who died as a sacrifice to Genghis Khan and who is the only person who knows where his tomb is, is a campaign all her own.
I nabbed this book on something of a whim, having just read Dragons of the East and being in the mood for more Asian material and being a fan of the Dark Ages line in general, and I am quite pleased with the purchase. I'm now motivated to go out and actually get a copy of Kindred of the East and Blood & Silk. Prior, I never thought I'd be motivated to run an Asian campaign. This book has helped change that. In addition, I am very happy at the fleshing out of the World of Darkness. The Dark Ages line is doing a particularly good job at this. With Ashen Knight, Ashen Thief, The Cainite Heresy, Wolves of the Sea, this book, and the upcoming Veil of Night (focusing on the Arabic world), the setting seems much fuller and richer, with more complexity than the often shallow and homogenous modern line (taken on its own). I hope that they continue to put out supplements of this quality.
Eric Christian Berg
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