Amanotsukai

The Amanotsukai, Japanese for “Servants of Heaven,” stand out in The Circle of the Crone for the nature of the goddess they particularly revere. These Kindred hold that they are the chosen agents of Amaterasu-o-mi-kami, the goddess of the sun.

Myth and Legend

The mortals know the story of Susano-o-no-mikoto’s ascent to the plains of heaven, and how he broke the dykes around the rice paddies, trampled on the crops and broke the laws of heaven. The mortals also know that Amaterasu-o-mi-kami withdrew to a cave for a time. Mortals believe that she did so in disgust, and that she was eventually lured out by the antics of the other gods. In this, the mortals are mistaken.
Amaterasu-o-mi-kami is the ruler of the plains of heaven, and so the actions of Susano-o-no-mikoto made her impure. Disorder in the realm must, of necessity, also disorder the ruler. While impure, she could not go out before the other gods, and so she withdrew to the cave, to purge her impurity.
At a spring in the darkness, she rinsed first her left hand, then her right. But when she rinsed her mouth, she spat out blood, which gathered itself on the ground to become the first vampire. The new vampire was confused about her place in the world, and Amaterasu-o-mi-kami sat down with her to explain her role.
She was to go among the people of earth, always hidden, purging their impurity. As she had been born from the purification of the goddess, she would purify the mortals. The vampire protested that she was too small and weak for such a role, and Amaterasu-o-mi-kami breathed on her, granting her a touch of divine power. Then she protested that she was only one, and could not purify the whole of the world, so Amaterasu-o-mi-kami granted her the ability to reproduce herself. And then the vampire was content.
When Amaterasu-o-mi-kami first emerged, the vampire remained hidden in the cave, creeping out as the gods dispersed. She descended to the earth, and began to cleanse the impure. At that time, vampires could walk in the sun without fear, because Amaterasu-o-mi-kami looked kindly upon her servants.
That did not last. Vampires fed on blood, and the blood on their lips made them impure as it had Amaterasu-omi-kami. She had no choice but to turn her face from them, and the light of the sun began to burn vampires with a terrible flame. After that time, most vampires forgot their purpose, some even coming to believe that they were damned, but a few remembered, and continued to fulfill the role that the goddess had set for them.

History

The Amanotsukai distinguish the history of their faction from the history of Kindred service to Amaterasu-o-mi-kami. They believe that vampires have always been her agents, but recognize that most have not recognized this, seeing the sun as an enemy. The historians of the faction claim that the truth was remembered only in Japan, until the time of Ketsueki-hime, a Dutch Kindred who found herself in the trading enclave of Deshima in the late 18th century.
She had come with one of the trading ships, and the weakness resulting from blood loss was already rousing suspicion. Accordingly, she secretly left the enclave every night, hunting in the city of Nagasaki and using her Disciplines to conceal her European features.
The native Kindred found her within a week, and took her to the shrine of the sun goddess. There, as an intruder, she was condemned to the Trial of the Sun. Staked, she faced the sunrise through the open front of the shrine. As the first rays of the rising sun burned her face,a black curtain seemed to fall in front of her, sparing her.
At sunset, the Japanese Kindred came and found her alive. In accordance with the will of the goddess, they unstaked her, and taught her of the truth of the Kindred’s condition. At this time she took the name Ketsuekihime, Blood-princess, to symbolize what she had learned. Ketsueki-hime studied in Nagasaki for years, but eventually she felt that the goddess wanted her to leave, and bring the truth to the Kindred of the rest of the world. Stowing away on ships, she made her way to the West Coast of North America in the early 19th century.
Ketsueki-hime was charismatic and a powerful practitioner of Crúac, and she gathered a group of Kindred around herself. These vampires formed the basis of the contemporary Amanotsukai.
Soon after Japan opened to the world once more, Ketsueki-hime returned to Nagasaki to seek further teaching. She has yet to return.

The Nagasaki Shrine

Ketsueki-hime is the only member of the Amanotsukai to have visited the shrine in Nagasaki. For decades, none of the other members had a sufficiently strong reason to make the hazardous journey. After the atomic bomb was dropped on the city, one vampire, Yakei, took the risk, in order to search for the founder of the group. He found no trace of Ketsueki-hime or the shrine, or, indeed, of any Japanese vampires.

Purity

The Amanotsukai believe that vampires were created by the sun goddess to purge impurity from the world, but that they were not properly made, and thus became impure themselves. This forced the sun to turn away from them, but they retain their role, and the sympathy of the sun. If a vampire could, somehow, become pure, he could walk unharmed in the brightest sunlight.
Purity is not the same as moral virtue. Rather, purity is a measure of the clarity of someone’s relationship to the world. Many sins do, in fact, cause impurity, but they are not the only possible cause. Victims of disease, accidents or natural disasters also have a tainted connection to the world, and thus are impure. Crimes render the victims impure, just as much as the perpetrators. Even simple physical dirtiness is a form of impurity.
Removing impurity, then, is nothing like absolving from a sin. Removing impurity is much more like cleaning up after a flood, or repairing a broken gutter. It restores the relationship between a person and the world to its pristine form.
Contact with blood and contact with death both cause impurity. Obviously, this puts vampires in an awkward position. Amanotsukai believe that Amaterasu-o-mi-kami made a mistake when forming them from her blood, so that they were dead and required blood to survive. In some stories, the noises from outside the cave distracted her at a crucial moment. Whatever the cause, vampires are almost always impure.
The mandate of heaven does not specify how the Kindred should remove impurity. An Amanotsukai who preys on the homeless might organize a place where they can shower and bathe free of charge, for example. However, the Amanotsukai believe that, in their impure state, they can take a mortal’s impurity onto themselves by drinking some of the mortal’s blood. The vampire then undergoes the traditional rites to purge his own impurity. This is by far the most common means used.
Accordingly, Amanotsukai feed on victims who are impure in some way. Almost all mortals are impure most of the time, so this is not limiting, but most Amanotsukai specialize. One might feed on criminals, another on the victims of crime, yet another on the victims of accidents and other such ill-fortune. Some feed on other vampires, who are clearly impure. Members of the faction do not interfere with each others’ choices in these matters.
The Amanotsukai believe that some mortals are so impure that they can only be cleansed by draining all of their blood, thus killing them. The Amanotsukai believe that it is their sacred duty to kill such people. Opinions differ as to the point at which such extreme measures become necessary, but some cases are clear.
All Amanotsukai agree that a woman who has suffered a miscarriage is so tainted by the combination of blood, death and failed life that she can only be cleansed by being killed. Most believe that the same applies to women having abortions, but some feel that the voluntary nature of the operation, along with the sterile procedures, lessens the impurity significantly. Serial killers, the severely disabled, people who have lost their whole family in a natural disaster: these are also strong candidates for final purification.

Creation Is Power

The faction believes strongly that Kindred should create to offset the mistake made in their creation. A few occult scholars seek ways to create less-flawed life themselves, although none have yet succeeded in producing more than a homunculus.
This energy is more commonly directed toward art. Three types are particularly common.
The first is the construction of Shinto-style shrines to Amaterasu-o-mi-kami. The main hall of the shrine faces east, and is open. Within, the goddess is represented by a mirror. In a mortal shrine, food and alcohol are offered to the deity, but the Amanotsukai offer flowers instead. Blood, of course, is impure and cannot be offered. These shrines are always constructed so that the light of the rising sun falls on the mirror; those that are underground or inside have windows facing the sunrise.
All Amanotsukai are expected to construct their own shrines quickly after joining the faction, but it is permissible for the shrine to be very small, or even portable. Portable shrines must be set up to face the sunrise every day, however. Many vampires continue working on their shrines for years.
A second popular choice is a garden, if possible surrounding the shrine. This garden is normally Japanesestyle, with pine trees a particularly common motif. Japanese maple is also popular, as the vivid red of the autumn leaves is reminiscent of blood. The best of these gardens may become part of Elysium, and are customarily fine places from which to view the moon.
Finally, many Amanotsukai learn Japanese and shodo, Japanese calligraphy, and write haiku and tanka in praise of the sun goddess or reflecting on their condition. These poems may be offered in the shrine in place of, or in addition to, flowers.
It is worth noting that Amanotsukai never have their havens at their shrines. In part, this is because the location of the shrine is often general knowledge. The main reason, however, is that the vampire is impure, and the shrine should not contain impure things.

Amanotsukai and Foreign Barbarians

For all the Japanese roots and trappings, the Amanotsukai are only known to exist outside Japan. The continued existence of the group that initiated Ketsueki-hime is open to doubt, and no other word has been heard from Japan.
On the other hand, the Amanotsukai are keen to recruit Kindred of Japanese origins, offering to put them back in touch with their roots. While some small groups are a bit Japanese, most know a great deal about the land of eight million gods, and it is very common for Amanotsukai to learn Japanese if they do not already speak it. Those Amanotsukai who create progeny generally choose to Embrace mortals of Japanese descent.
The faction tends to regard itself as somewhat outside Kindred society. The other Kindred have forgotten their purpose, and wallow in their impurity. Even other Acolytes are lacking in a true understanding of their purpose, but they are closer than most.
Many other Kindred think that all members of the faction are insane; they worship the sun, for crying out loud. That does not stop other Kindred launching crusades against the Amanotsukai, and has reinforced the group’s isolationist tendencies.

Rituals

The Amanotsukai have a number of unique rituals and observances. A few of these have an associated Crúac ritual, but the rituals are practiced even by those Kindred who cannot back them up with mystical power. All Amanotsukai rituals are performed at a shrine, which is another reason most members of the faction construct their own.

Misogi

Misogi is the simplest purification ritual, one that Amanotsukai Kindred perform before entering their shrines to perform any other rituals. In preparation for misogi, the vampire must refrain from killing for three nights, and he must not feed between sunset and performing misogi. (Thus, misogi and other rituals are normally performed early in the night.)
The vampire dresses in white, Japanese-style clothes for the ritual. Many wear a karate gi, but some have kimono, or even, in this age of Internet mail order, a full Shinto priest uniform. The vampire enters the shrine, and bows once to the mirror. Next, he washes his hands in cold water, before pouring a bucket full of cold water over his head. Finally, he bows twice more to the mirror.
This simple ritual makes the vampire sufficiently pure to perform further rituals, but there is no Crúac ritual corresponding to it.

Harai

Harai is a purification ritual performed on behalf of an impure mortal from whom the vampire has drunk. It cleanses the impurity from the Kindred’s blood, and thus from the mortal.
The Kindred stands in front of the main hall of the shrine, and bows twice. He then cuts the palm of his hand with a sharp Knife, and allows one Vitae to flow into a paper cup, which is set on a metal table, with a raised rim. The ritualist then recites a fixed prayer, in Japanese, calling on Amaterasu-o-mi-kami to purify the blood. He then lights the paper cup, so that it burns away. The ritualist must resist frenzy in order to successfully complete the ritual. The fire is only equivalent to lighting a cigarette, and is at a safe distance, so most ritualists can do this. Once the fire goes out, the ritualist bows twice more to end Harai.
After that, the blood and ashes are cleaned from the Altar. Drinking the Vitae would be deeply improper.

O-Harai

O-harai, “great Harai,” is a ritual designed to cleanse the vampire himself of his impurity. This ritual can never be fully effective, because the fundamental nature of the Kindred is impure. The ritual is particularly sacred, and a vampire must refrain from killing for at least one lunar month before performing it. As always, the ritualist must perform misogi before entering the shrine where o-harai is to be carried out.
At the beginning of the ritual, the ritualist drains all of the Vitae he has into a vessel, which is normally air-tight to keep the smell of blood away from him. The ritual fails if the Kindred enters frenzy before finishing it. In principle, the vessel of blood should be placed outside the shrine, but many vampires are unwilling to take that risk, and keep the vessel to hand.
The vampire then bows twice to the mirror, pours water over himself three times and recites a fixed prayer to the sun goddess. This takes at least a minute, even for Kindred who have practiced repeatedly, and so the vampire can only succeed if he actually overcomes the frenzy. The ritual ends when the vampire bows twice more, and leaves the shrine. Most ritualists drink their own Vitae back again at this point.
This ritual must be performed after the vampire becomes particularly impure. Spending the day in a shrine, taking on the impurity of a particularly impure person by killing him and using a Crúac ritual without performing misogi first are the most common causes of such impurity.
There are rumors of a Crúac ritual corresponding to this ritual. It is said to make the vampire truly pure, and thus remove the need for drinking blood and the vulnerability to the sun. Some believe that Ketsueki-hime used that ritual in Nagasaki, and now watches over the faction.

Hi-No-Mairi

This ritual’s name means “paying one’s respects to the sun.” It is very simple. The ritualist Bows twice to the shrine mirror and repeats a fixed prayer while letting a Vitae flow from his arm to the floor, bowing twice more at the end. The whole ritual takes 12 seconds: one turn for the first two Bows, two turns to repeat the prayer and one turn for the final two Bows.
The ritual starts as the sun begins to rise.
Standard ritual clothing covers most of the vampire’s body, and facing the mirror means that he has his back to the sun. As a result, he loses only one Health point to aggravated damage every turn. All sensible ritualists establish somewhere to hide within the shrine; after performing this ritual, the vampire is worthy to sleep within the shrine for one day. If the vampire enters frenzy before completing the ritual, it fails. That requires him to undergo o-harai the following night, to purify himself and the shrine.
Any vampire who wants to take up a leadership position within the faction must perform this ritual at least once.

Hi-No-Mon

The “Gate of the Sun” is a re-enactment of Ketsuekihime’s entry into the faction. The subject is staked in a shrine, facing east, and left to face the sunrise. The subject and the ritualists must perform misogi on entering the shrine, but beyond that there are no common elements.
A vampire who survives this ritual is guaranteed admission into the faction, having been chosen by the sun goddess herself. If he was already a member, he is guaranteed a leadership position, almost certainly the leadership position within the city. It is almost impossible for anyone else to oppose the authority this ritual grants.
Of course, the subject takes one point of aggravated damage every turn as the sun rises. Ghouls, cameras and any other precautions that the ritualists can think of are taken to prevent cheating, although carefully staking the subject renders many possibilities moot. This ritual is effectively suicide, and most subjects see it as such.
However, the subject does, occasionally, survive. The survivor is invariably badly burned and without any memory of the day, but his Requiem continues. The Amanotsukai attribute this to the intervention of Amaterasu-o-mi-kami.
Hi-no-mon in Play
There are no rules for Hi-no-mon. Normally, the vampire is utterly destroyed within 30 seconds of sunrise. Sometimes, he is not. This is not a matter for game mechanics or dice pools. This is a chronicle-changing event that happens at the will of the Storyteller.
Survivors gain the following Merit: Hi-no-ko (•••••)