The Sixth Age is the coming age. According to the traditions of the shen, it will be the darkest age within the cycle.
Overview[]
The Kuei-jin call the coming age the Sixth Age of the Great Cycle, also referred to as the Age of Sorrow. It is the nadir of the Wheel, where the August Personage of Jade steps down from His throne and one of the Yama Kings will ascend to become the Demon Emperor. However, most Kuei-jin see the Age of Sorrow as a necessary part of existence. Likewise, the Hengeyokai believe that the coming Age of Sorrow will pose their greatest challenge. Their enemies, the Yama Kings, seek to enthrone themselves over the Wheel and keep it trapped in the Sixth Age forever, while the Great Centipede seeks to undo the wheel itself. The duty of the children of the Emerald Mother, therefore, will be to protect the Wheel from all who seek to corrupt it. The Chi'n Ta likewise believe that the Wheel will soon turn again, but are divided how it will affect them. The Hsien instead speak of the Age of Joy, where the Wall between the worlds will break and allow them to return home. Others have taken up the stories of other shen and secretly worry if this as good as it sounds.
To multiple Shen, the Red Star and the Sixth Maelstrom have been the first omens of the fast approaching turn of the wheel.
The Sixth Age is roughly analogous to the Cainites' Gehenna, the Apocalypse of the Garou, Armageddon of the mages, the Endless Winter of the Kithain, and the Doomsday feared by wraiths.
References[]
- KOTE: Kindred of the East Rulebook, p. 14, 45
- WTA: Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East, p. 29
- MTAs: Dragons of the East, p. 45
- CTD: Land of Eight Million Dreams, p. 29
- WOD: World of Darkness: Time of Judgment, p. 146