A Year & A Day: Btsan

Changeling: the Dreaming

Homebrew Rules

Character Creation Guide Download: Btsan.pdf

Quoth the Btsan:

“What did you say about the Buddha? All the wrath of a bloody-red Heaven will fall on you like a flood for your insult. Say it again, I dare you…”

Kith Excerpt:

Angry Gods from the tops of – and above, the mountainous country, the Btsan were feared as both Bon-Po and Buddhists spirit-monsters. But the Btsan’s origins differ for each. To Buddhists, the Btsan were angry monks in red robes, who weren’t cut out for the rigors of monastic life and were reborn as vengeful ghosts of warfare. To the indigenous Bon, the Btsan were Red demon-gods of the hunt numbering 110 million, darkening their sky as they chased down their quarry. Unfortunate mortals out and about on nights of the hunt would fall prey to their sport- not unlike stories of the Keltic Wyld Hunt.

Two navel-gazing Faiths of Mortals arguing about the Btsan’s true genesis is simply a distraction and their own origin never mattered overmuch, at least not to their own numbers. The only thing relevant was justice be served swiftly, harshly, and hopefully, with as much Blood as possible. The Btsan Zo-dor (Kith) are a militant group, the only Werma (Seelie) family to serve that role, even more-so than the Demon-half of the Gyalpo, and the Btsan weren’t made for peaceful negotiations. Though it would be unfair to paint them as four-color anti-heroes (or one color at any rate) the stereotype exists for a reason.

Astride their beloved Wind-Horses, also red, the Btsan plow the skies above their mountain in search of demons, monsters, needy mortals, anything to keep them busy. Some whisper that these actions – the Btsan’s ceaseless search for swift, harsh, justice – are also a distraction, a self-fulfilling means to keep them bound to constant reincarnation as angry gods with no hope of ever escaping the cycle. Perhaps there is some truth in this, but the Btsan’s are too busy to hear it.

Flavor

“Power deities, for all their strength, are very much like humans, they are subjects to periods of despair and are not free from the crippling consequences of emotions. For over two decades Tibetans were forbidden from holding any religious ceremonies or prayers. No prayer flags, incense or ceremonies were offered to the deities and demi-gods of the region. This neglect broke their hearts, and they became bedraggled and weak.”
― Tsering Wangmo Dhompa