Additional Celestial Bureaucracy

Confucius
A.K.A.: Kong Qiu, Kong Fuzi, Zhongni
No one was more surprised than Confucius to learn Confucius had become a God. After all, he
had spent a lifetime as an underemployed philosopher whose education and refinement never
netted him a decent job, with a passel of students he encouraged to spend as little time as
possible thinking about Gods and spirits. It was only after his death that he really blew up,
kicking off a scholarly tradition — the Rújiā — known by various English names, most
commonly Confucianism. This system, which recommended a government centered around a
charismatic and perfect gentleman and structured like a family, dominated public life in China,
Korea, Japan, and elsewhere, even to this day. During the Neo-Confucian period, wires got
crossed somewhere, and to his consternation, Confucius was deified. Confucius’s philosophy
extolled family’s sanctity and primacy. When a duke told Confucius how one of his subjects
snitched on his own father for stealing sheep, Confucius famously replied, “Where I come
from…sons cover up for their fathers and fathers cover up for their sons.” Law and government
were of little use to him if family didn’t come first. His relationships with his Scions are
predictably demanding. Confucius’s incarnations tend towards the erudite and high-class, but
never quite the highest: non-tenure-track professors of hard-sell topics like literature or
philosophy, second-string socialites, government apparatchiks. He’s inevitably followed by a
train of students and hangers-on, which Laozi and other Daoists frequently try to sneak into to
piss off Confucius, since Confucius’s temper tantrums are inevitably hilarious and often
enlightening. A strict Confucian would never presume to describe the Master as a God, or
anything more than a revered sage or ancestor; but that hasn’t stopped thousands of supplicants
over the course of history from earnestly and devotedly worshiping him. Confucius frequently
deploys his Scions to disabuse Cults in his honor of his divinity. Sometimes, it doesn’t even
make things worse.
Associated Epics: Charisma, Perception, Intelligence
Associated Purviews: Justice, Mystery, Taiyi
Associated Abilities: Academics, Art, Awareness, Command, Integrity, Investigation
Erlang
A.K.A.: Li Erlang, Yang Jian, Governor Zhao Yu
The True Lord and Illustrious Sage Erlang is the Jade Emperor’s nephew, but his legendary
pride keeps him from spending much time in Heaven, where he feels like he wouldn’t get the
respect (read: attention) he deserves as Heaven’s finest warrior; instead, he hangs around a
temple dedicated to him in east China’s Jiangsu Province. During his most famous visit, he
mustered an army of heroes to smack down Sun Wukong’s primate host. The clash between
them started out as a field engagement which Erlang won, developed into a kaijū duel which
Erlang won, and degenerated into a transformation battle which Erlang won. It ended when the
Monkey King disguised himself as Erlang himself to infiltrate Erlang’s own temple and finally
succumbed to Erlang’s forces, aided by Laozi. Monkey has been cool with Erlang since then;
Erlang does not return his amity. Erlang’s a good shot with any bow or crossbow, but his f
favorite weapon is his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade. With this polearm and his faithful
Howling Celestial Dog, he subdues any demon who takes up arms against the Shén. His third
eye can pierce truth and falsehood or discharge thunderbolts, his body is immune to nearly any
attack, and his transformations are innumerable. No wonder he’s got an ego. Erlang loves to
play hero. Were he a player at your table, he’d probably turn in a stack of bluebooks of
Erlang (cont.)
character backstory and expect everyone to read them and compliment his creativity. His mortal
Incarnations undertake elaborate adventures, overcoming villains, rescuing damsels in distress,
and generally doing their best to upstage anyone and everyone nearby. He relishes competition
with his own Scions, turning simple Visitations into climactic duels or tests of their puissance.
It’s always gotta be a whole thing with this guy.
Associated Epics: Strength, Stamina, Perception
Associated Purviews: Guardian, Taiyi, War, Water
Associated Abilities: Athletics, Awareness, Craft, Fortitude, Melee, Survival
Laozi
A.K.A.: Li Er, Lao Dan, Boyang, Taiqing, The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord, The Universally
Honored Virtuous One, The Daoist Ancestor
Eighty-one short poems plus commentary, originally written on bamboo strips and organized
into two books called the Way Classic and the Virtue Classic, comprise the ancient Chinese text
now called the Daodejing — “Way and Virtue Classic” — or the Laozi — “Old Masters.” The
Daodejing is the second-most-translated text into English, after the Bible. It ostensibly concerns
political theory, but fans have expanded its applications to disciplines as disparate as martial
arts, medicine, and magic. Through comparisons to natural phenomena, it advocates a social
and political approach to life centered on exerting as little effort as possible to achieve greatest
efficacy, in accord with things’ true nature. Few know for sure the true personae of the Old
Masters who wrote it, for they obscure their identities as much as possible. Some say the Old
Master was a court official, an archivist or astrologer perhaps, who wrote down his wisdom
before riding a water buffalo into the west. Others call him an Incarnation of the Heavenly Lord
of Way and Virtue, one of the Three Pure Ones who created the Universe. Laozi is happy to let
these stories propagate, for their favorite Incarnation throughout the ages is actually a large
number of grandmas, dressed however grandmas dress in China at the time, who constantly
bicker amongst themselves. Laozi’s Scions tend to be of humble birth, rarely male. They excel
in positions which require subtlety: not president or king, but the power behind the throne, the
campaign manager or chief of staff. Traditionally in China, many of Laozi’s Scions wound up in
the Daoist priesthood based out of locations like Wudang Mountain. Laozi’s most notorious
Scion is the White Eyebrow, a Shaolin monk whose research into Daoist black magic
(apparently that’s a thing) got him expelled from the Monastery — and who subsequently
betrayed Shaolin to the government, resulting in one of the temple’s many destructions.
Associated Epics: Stamina, Intelligence, Wits
Associated Purviews: Chaos, Darkness, Health, Justice, Taiyi, Water
Associated Abilities: Academics,Awareness, Command, Integrity, Larceny, Stealth
Doumu (Same as Marishiten of the Amatsukami/Scion Companion)