The Court of the Ebon Flame
Dharmic Selection
The five traditional Dharma are accepted in the Court of the Ebon Flame. The Great Leap Outward is mainly a scheme of the Way of the Resplendent Cranes and therefore many Kuei-jin in this Court will adhere to that Dharma. Followers of the other four Dharma may also be found, just not quite as commonly.
Naturally, any Heretics if discovered would be at the very best blackmailed back to Yomi Wan, and at worst exposed, excruciated, and executed. It's not worth the risk for any followers of a Heretical Dharma to try their luck in such a small Court, where they can be observed more closely. Though the distant American city may be tempting to some of these heretics, the news that the local Wan Kuei scene is largely controlled by "dogmatic Cranes" would deter even the boldest. In short, Heretic Dharmas may not be played in the CoLA game.
The Enlightened
Though there are a number of administrative positions within the Court of Ebon Flame, members are also acknowledged due to their dharmic rank. Naturally, there are only a few such tiers of enlightenment. And before one can take one of these ranking titles, one’s enlightenment must be proven to the Court’s Ancestor. This normally takes place in a ritual ceremony some time after the Kuei-jin reports his auspicious occasion. The test is generally administered via a broad question a follower of any Dharma can answer, depending on his newly heightened understanding. One this examination is passed (administered simply to insure no one is lying about their success on the Road Back), one of the following titles may be attached to one’s name and other titles, according to the new Dharma level (listed in parentheses):
- Disciple (1-3)
- Jina (4-6)
- Mandarin (7)
- Ancestor (8)
Note that in many cases, the leading elders of the Court are called mandarins even if
their Dharma levels have fallen or risen from 7. In this case, it is a general term being applied to Court leaders, not actual title, and thus the lower-cased spelling.
Also note that the title of Ancestor is also applied to the leading Court position.
In the event of Dharmic loss and diao, a similar examination is administered as soon as it is suspected that the vampire is behaving below his expectations. Since such loss of wisdom is often evident in short time even for the ancients, it’s very difficult to pretend to be wiser than one is for long.
Due to the age limitation, no player character will ever be able to rise above the highest-ranked jina (Dharma level 6). For more about losing and gaining Dharma levels, see below under “Interesting Occasions”.
