Hakken

Laughing Daughter of the Night

Even in a time of peace, when the Land of the Rising Sun rested content under the wise rule of shogun Tokugawa leyasu, the Hakken practiced the art of war. Each clan wished to be the best and wisest of all; to this end, th&ferds and ladies carried on quiet battles behind silken screens or in bright gardens. A whisper here, a murmur there, the competition for quality continued.

Yet on the estate of Lord Taira Akio and his wife Taira Kaneko, great Lady of the Hakken, chaos reigned. They had two strong sons, Taro and Jun, who were betrothed to noble Hakken daughters of allied clans. Then there was Sayo, their only daughter, their only child of the moon, bornonanight when Tsuki-yomi had no face. From her birth, Sayo laughed at every thing. Even when she prowled on four feet instead of two, she laughed. Father and mother tried to teach her the ways of the Hakken, but life was a game to Sayo. Her brothers showed her mastery of the sword as befitted a samurai, but even as Sayo bested them, she laughed. Father, mother and brothers despaired. If called to serve the clan, would Sayo stain them all with her lack of reverence? How far would her laughter take her when bushido required straightforwardness?

An answer was not long in coming. The daimyo, hearing of Sayo, sentfor her. While her father and mother trembled inside, Sayo paid graceful honor to the daimyo and brought a smile to his lips with her clever stories. Then the time for business me. "Taira Sayo, I have a task for you to perform." The daimyo held out to her a lotus blossom. "You are to take this to the clan shrine of the Yotomi family and leave it on their steps. Forget not your laughter, daughter of the clan, and your name shall be honored."

Father and mother did not even blink, but they knew the sad tidings: that the Yotomi clan had fallen into the destructive clutches of the Coiled Serpent, the Wyrm of Destruction. They knew their child was asked to give her life for the clan, and they worried not that she would never come home, but that she might die dishonorably. Did their daughter have any idea what her duty was to be?

But knowing or not, Sayo took the blossom with a sweetsmile. That very night, she ran on her four swift legs to the distant temple of the Yotomi, clutching the blossom in her sharp teeth. When the rising sun touched her eyes, she stood two-legged on the threshold of the fallen clans shrine. She laid the blossom down just as stinking, corrupted warriors poured out from the earth's bowels to confront her. Sayo hadnever forgotten the teachings of her brothers, so she felled many with single strokes of her blade .

She remembered the command of the daimyo , and loyally and obediently followed his orders not to forget her laughter. As more and more of the Warm's warriors overtook her, Sayo laughed at them and their foolishness in straying from the path of bushido. The kindly servants of Tsuki-yomi who listened to the fateful battle agreed that never had they heard such perfect laughter, so inspired by wisdom. When Sayo fell dead, they bore her away, just as the magic lotus flower blossomed into a great fire, destroying the entire Yotomi estate.

The daimyo told Lord and Lady Taira of their daughter's noble death, and they were ashamed they had thought so tail of her in life. "Let this be a lesson to you, then," he replied. "For the path of warrior is to strive for quality in all things, not just those which bring us the greatest glory and honor in battle. This is truly the way of the Hakken." 

Description

At first glance, some gaijin werewolves think the Hakken merely to be typical Shadow Lords in samurai guise. Shadow Lords with honor? Many Garou laugh uproariously at such a notion. But the Hakken and their world view go far beyond Shadow Lord stereotypes. To Western eyes, Hakken goals are often incomprehensible, -while their actions make perfect sense in terms of bushido, the way of the warrior (also called budo). All loyal Hakken follow this path and consider themselves samurai in the most traditional sense.

For all intents and purposes, they are a unique group unto themselves with only tenuous ties to the Shadow Lords. In fact, most Hakken consider Western Shadow Lords crude and, distasteful, though they're generaly too polite to say so. It's not the political dabbling or backstabbings that are turnoff these things happen among Hakken, too. No, it's that most Shadow Lords lack any real finesse, polish or code of cons' duct for the whole process that's unappealing to their Japanese cousins.

But where is the wolf in this tale? Why do the howls of Gaia's warriors grow softer each new season? What has caused the human half of the Hakken to dominate the wolf?  The answers lie within the events of the Fourth Age.

As the wars raged between hengeyokai courts, and between shapeshifter and human, the lupus and homid Hakken made a solemn pact: that Tsuki-yomi's lands and peoples would be protected. The Land of the Rising Sun was at that time small, relatively weak and isolated; the Hakken believed that all beings, Garou and human, should work together to preserve the islands. To this end, they began to strengthen their ties with mortals.

The werewolves made alliances with human leaders, fought in their armies and served in their governments. The numbers of human Kinfolk swelled — and the Hakken's society gradually began to drift away from the Garou's tribal structure, instead imitating the way of the feudal Japanese mortals.

Forgotten in this plan, though, were the wolves. Their Kin became fewer and fewer every passing year. Finally, the lupus werewolves also dwindled in number; now, most live only in the extreme northern islands. A few homid Hakken realize loss of the wolves will cause dire consequences, but they're puzzled about what to do.

One solution, of'course, is simple: the Hakken must resist their intolerance to change and bring in new lupus blood. While the overly human customs of the Hakken repulse the lupus of some tribes, others are intrigued by Japan's beauty and mystery, both natural and supernatural.

Possibly, lupus from Siberia or the Pacific would be willing to move to the Hakken's islands, especially to strengthen the blood of the wolf. But at least for now, the Japanese werewolves will have none of it. Other tribes are gaijin, foreign, inferior. What do they know of the highest demands of honor, family and duty? But sooner than later (it is hoped), the Hakken will have to face the terrible truth: they are losing the wolf. Without that lupus connection, they are losing touch with the primal side of being shapeshifters, instead aping their preferred human society in a manner most would associate with the parasitic vampires.

For the Hakken, the way of the warrior has several key tenets (though some would be loath to admit Outsiders could grasp these concepts). Some Hakken believe that human warriors learned these codes from the werewolves; others believe that the human and Garou codes developed simultaneously. Whatever the truth, homid Hakken follow the tenets closely; they adopted these customs to successfully interact with humans during the Fourth Age, and now, these tenets are a way of life. Lupus Hakken are less inclined to take the code as seriously.

• Benevolence and unselfishness — The Hakken's two swords, katana and wakasashi (collectively called the oai-sho), are the symbol of his authority and rank. To the Hakken, using a sword (even a finely crafted blade like a katana) is a sign of mercy among his fellow werewolves; although drawing a weapon is a sign that the Hakken intends to shed blood, the dai-sho are far less lethal (to other hengeyokai) than the tooth and claw that are still the primary weapons in a Hakken's arsenal. Wearing the dai-sho reminds the Hakken that the warrior should remember to check his power and show mercy as appropriate; as a result, the Hakken never bind spirits into their blades. Power is a serious responsibility; to use it judiciously is a wise thing. A true warrior wouldn't turn away those hungry or in need of his help, nor would he strike without provocation. (Note that provocation has a different meaning among werewolves!)

• Straightforwardness — This is a tricky concept that understandably leaves a lot of gaijin scratching their heads in confusion. The idea behind this notion is appearing to be straightforward, unruffled or forthright; however, this facade may or may not penetrate into the layers of a warrior's soul. In truth, most Hakken are deft politicos; a typical outsider would never realize she'd been brutally insulted, thanks to a Hakkeijks use of straightforwardness. After all, the Hakken are still S|hadow Lords to some degree. The symbol for this tenet illjjfewel, somehow appropriate since it appears to be simple onffieOMtside but has infinite depths.

• Wisdom — The mirror; is symbol of wisdom, for it is a tenet that begins with knowleageof the self. A Hakken must know her own strengths and limitations. MoreoVjjUras a famous Hakken once said, "Others are merely mirrors of the self. How can ycmtove or hate something about another unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself?" Together, benevolence, straightforwardness and wisdom complete shintoku, the divine virtues.

• Loyalty (chushin) — Allegiance and constancy to one's sworn daimyo are extremely important to the Hakken. Faced with a choice of either death or betrayal of the daimyo, most Hakken will gladly accept death. To forswear loyalty is to lose face and honor almost irredeemably. However, unlike human samurai, Hakken are far less likely to commit ritual suicide over minor infractions such as this; a race cannot be quite as strict if there are to be any future generations.

• The maintenance of  quality in all things — From personal appearance to politeness at social gatherings, the Hakken strives for perfection. Vengeance, art, war or love — no matter what the task, a Hakken seeks to practice it to the highest level of distinction.

• Eternal obedience — A Hakken knows his lord will not make demands that are unjust or not in accordance with the wishes of the Emerald Mother — to the Hakken, the daimyo is chosen, imbued by Gaia with all the wisdom necessary to uphold his responsibility. Therefore, the warrior will follow the daimyo's dictates to the utmost of his abilities. If a Hakken feels that she cannot meet his daimyo's orders, she may choose to become Ronin. Usually, this is not done because the Hakken fears a loss of personal honor; such things are expected as part of his obedience and loyalty to his clan. Hakken often choose the Ronin's path because they don't wish to contribute to the clan's loss of honor, or because the daimyo has lost her ability to be a just and strong leader. In spite of romanticized notions of Ronin in film, this isn't a path to choose lightly; being apart from the group

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