Wind from East

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Summary: Another Great Book for the Dark Ages
Review: Following on the steps of Wolves of the Sea comes this source book for adding Mongol vampires to your Dark Ages game. Although originally written for Vampire: the Dark Ages, it was so close to revised that there is no real need to change anything for Dark Ages: Vampire.
This is an excellent book, intended for both Cainites and Kuei-jin. After a nice little work of opening fiction, the book gives us some basic ideas of the theme, mood and the like, including a brief primer on Kuei-jin and the Middle Kingdom (helps to have Kindred of the East here). There is also a Mongolian lexicon, some recommended books, magazines (pull out those back issues of National Geographic), films (including Aleksander Nevsky! Woohoo!) and even websites. All useful if you want more info about the Mongols and their doings.
The next chapter is the good stuff, covering the history, geography and culture of the Mongols. Theres lots of juicy tidbits on mythology, food and drink and all that other stuff that better helps you understand the Mongols as an actual culture rather than as a "horde of barbarians". Brief notes are even made about various Mongol tribes! There is also a timeline of the Mongol invasion, and even a map of the Mongol empire, compared to some of its contemporaries. A good chunk of this covers Ghengis Khan, but theres other stuff as well. Beyond this, there is also some information on other empires such as Russia, Persia and China; all of whom are threatened by the Mongols.

The next chapter covers things from a vampiric perspective. A brief overview is given of all the Cainite clans (and some bloodlines) and how they react to the Mongols. Some clans, like the Assamites in Khwarazm and the Tzimisce in Russia find their territories threatened by the Mongol horde. Others, like Gangrel and Ravnos, find wandering with the Horde to be to their liking. Next we are given some notes on two other bloodlines exclusive to the Mongol empire. One is the Anda, a bloodline of Mongol and Central Asian Gangrel that has wandered the Steppe for milennia. The other, the Wu Zao, are forgotten Salubri that Salout abandonned in Asia.
Also in this Chapter are details on the Kuei-jin. The Kindred of the East have long claimed all of Asia as their domain and do not take kindly to outsiders, like the Anda, in their midst. This section covers the traditions and beliefs of the Black Tortoise Court, including some prominent corpse families and their interesting relations with the Hengeyokai and spirits of the earth. Following this is a chapter on mechanics and other juicy stuff. Some unique Animalism powers are given for the Anda, and some unique Mongol rites are given for the Black Tortoise Court. Also given are some new Merits and Flaws and a new path, focusing on Mongol concepts of honor and warfare. Some information is also given for combat and the like as well.
The book closes out with some pre-made characters, some of which are quite interesting like the yam courier and the wise woman. Some sample NPCs are given in the back as well. However, there is a definate focus on Cainites over Kuei-jin here.
All in all, this is an excellent source book for including Mongol characters. Enough stuff is given where you could even use this for playing other supernaturals like Mongol Dreamspeakers, Sons of Tengri, Hengeyokai, Shadow Lords, hsien, Eshu and who knows what else. The possibilities are really endless. If you want a historical game with Mongols, you really should get this book.

Rating:
Summary: White Wolf does it yet again
Review: Wind From the East is an interesting and informative addition to White Wolf's hugely popular World of Darkness books. Giving information about the Mongol Hordes, it allows you to expand and enrich any of the games you play in the Dark Ages setting. It adds new possible plot elements, as well as loads of new character ideas, and some stuff that, like any White Wolf RPG Sourcebook, just generally makes for a good read.

As I stated earlier, Wind from the East focuses on the Mongols, but also allows for other easterners, namely the Kuei-Jin and a werewolf tribe called the Stargazers, to be added into your stories. It also gives you some insight into what the east was like in the Dark Ages and allows for whole chronicles there. This book is great and keeps White Wolf's tradition of awesome Sourcebooks going.