Another Teaser

If I am going to write with eastern mythology, folklore, traditions, philosophies, and religions in mind; I can't ignore the subject of strange beings.

Now, I can write them all off as Aliens, which would work for my scientific premise, but I think that's a blatant act of bad writing and imagination nowadays. Sure a few could have been alien astronauts, but it does not do the ancient stories justice.

In my novel, some monsters and demons are results of ancient Taoist experiments on human animal hybridization. Chinese literature is full of demons with animal attributes, so genetic engineering isn't that far out in terms of my premise.

The most famous demon of them all is my primary antagonist. It has existed in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Asian literature for centuries as an entity of pride, arrogance, and sexual lust I am speaking of the "Gau mei wu", Kitsune, or in english the Nine Tailed Fox demon. In classical Chinese literature, it is credited for seducing the king of Shang Dynasty and bringing about its collapse, when it committed atrocities, murdering the innocent, and usurping the throne for itself in its human female form.

In modern media, due to the success of Naruto and other Japanese Anime, the Nine Tailed Fox has reached even wider acknowledgment. It is the best and most famous antagonist of Eastern literature, but I will put a spin on it for my novel.

As for other beings like Gods, I will mention them and maybe make a few cameos, but as in classical Taoist tradition most of them are merely ascended human beings. Gods have rules of engagement with mortals and Taoist masters;

1. They cannot interfere with normal human interactions, including falling in love human beings, but they break it as they are still very much human beyond their power.

2. Their ascended state may give them a non-linear understanding of reality, but they cannot reveal those secrets to regular humans. Even their fellow taoist are limited in what they may ask based on what they could themselves accomplish over time.

3. Their immortality is only due to their nonlinear existence, if they descend to earth, they are mortal once again.

The enforcing agent is something far higher than they are, Tao or a Supreme God or the clock if you're a Deist, it's all the same in principle anyway

It's basically a boring existence to be a God in eastern pantheon, you live by strict rules and have strict punishments. Even in my novel, I take the idea of ascension as merely a state of life rather than power itself. It's a reason why many Gods break the rules in Chinese mythology and are punished with mortality. It's why most Taoist stopped trying to ascend into this level of existence.

As for other creatures and beings:

1. Vampires do exist in Chinese mythology, they Are not Twillight type vampires, I need to make that very clear. Chinese myths hold that Vampires are soulless corpse roaming the earth living off human blood. They resemble western Zombies rather than Vampires.

In my novel, I will probably mention them

2. Zombies exist in Southeast Asian customs, not Chinese really. These creatures are re-animated corpses that do the bidding of powerful shamans and wizards. They are connected with some extremely black magic according to myths.

They are really interesting and underdeveloped in horror, so they need some fine strokes by a writer

3. Ghosts are a staple in every Asian Culture with varying degrees of identities. Some are benevolent and guard their lovers and family after death. Others are vengeful and will kill anyone that crosses their path, then absorb their souls to remain in existence.

In my novel, Ghosts are a form of human consciousness, not ascended to a higher level such as godhood or even a personal "heaven", nor able to reincarnate into the life cycle due to too much attachment to some person or event.

I am going to write extensively about different classes of ghosts.

4. Werewolves, they are mentioned in some traditions as half human and half wolves. The Mongols believed that they were descended from a wolf goddes in their mythology, which is quite interesting if you ever read into its.

In my novel, werewolves exist because dogs and wolves were the earliest domesticated animals, they were the earliest to be experimented on. Not quite human and not quite animal, they appear human by nature, but hosts a different consciousness and innate abilities.

I have a soft spot for pups

5. I am not going to use concepts of God or Devil of Judeo Christian religion, but Zoroastrian God is going to be mentioned. It's prototype of Judeo-Christian theology,, so in a way, I am going to the roots of Monotheism for reference material.

Sure there will be malevolent and benevolent entities, but that's Zoroastrianism first

Buddha as in the original Buddha will be mentioned and the religion of Buddhism of course is going to be mentioned. Buddhist ascension is kind of different than what the Taoist are aiming for in my novel and in real life. Taoism is aimed toward outer knowledge, i.e. scientific development in my novel. Buddhism is aimed towards inner knowledge, i.e. psychological and internal understanding.

You will also meet an old familiar buddha from Classical Chinese and Indian literature, who is as playful and powerful as the stories surrounding him have been passed down.I will give you a hint, he has a tail and a was a Taoist before he followed a monk.

6. Some interesting mystical items will come around: If you watched or read "Fengshen Bang" or other things like it, you'll probably remember which Items these are

A lot of the technology that the 5 elemental schools have been passed into myth and collector items with dangerous results. This is more Warehouse 13 territory, but it's also quite fun to think about these items in a scientific context.

7. Last, but not least, I am including some human based special abilities in this story. Nothing massive, but simple little things like Telepathy and Empathy. There will not be telekinesis or pyro-kinesis though I have an idea on how to make it work with tech.

I am laying down a lot of things for people familiar with eastern literature and those who are not.

So that's a little more detail