The Eight Immortals are part of the proud Chinese tradition of humans who transcend their mortality to become something more. They have achieved incredible philosophical enlightenment and possess great spiritual powers as a result, and appear frequently in Chinese mythology, embarking on quests for religious knowledge or granting their gifts to help others who are doing the same. They're not strictly gods, but rather former mortals who became powerful through their own merits; western translations often refer to them as "saints", but they are also worshiped as deities in China with temples and tales of their own.
If you're thinking that "humans who become worshiped as gods through their awesomeness" sounds like Scions, you're right! We would consider the Eight Immortals, who now hang out having rocking awesome parties on a magical island in the sea somewhere, to be fantastic examples of ancient Scions who succeeded at achieving apotheosis thanks to their adventures. A cadre of benevolent, good-time-lovin' Legend 9 former Scions is a fantastic set of Guides, characters or plot motivators for any Scion game that wants to bring in some Chinese goodness.
The Scion books take a different approach as usual; they set Immortals up as a class of Chinese lesser immortals on page 101, which gives you a basic template if you'd prefer not to elevate them all the way up to the level of gods. Personally, we think it's a bit silly to ignore their human origin and claim they were never mortal in the first place, or to keep them at Legend 8 or lower when they're so famous and widely worshiped in China, but it's an option if you're trying to keep the roster of deities down. You know, from the ten bazillion gods China already has besides these guys.
As for what they do... they help people. They grant good fortune and healing and encourage enlightenment and balance, especially for those who worship them appropriately. Including your Scions!
I've heard them called the "Eight Drunken Immortals" before, but that might have been in a movie or in Jackie Chan Adventures... any idea if all of them are drunk, or just that one who actually is drunk? I know one of them is associated with booze... probably.
ReplyDeleteJackie Chan's famous for drunken-style kung fu related to the Eight Immortals in a few movies, so that might very well be where you heard it from, but there is actually a drunken kung fu style that has poses for each of the immortals.
DeleteThe Immortals are sometimes said to be drinkers, and I know I've seen folkloric mentions of Lan Caihe and Lu Dongbin enjoying a good alcoholic drunk here and there, and Han Xang and Zhang Guo both have stories about creating wine. I feel like I remember something talking about how a lot of the most famous Taoist artists of the time were notorious drunks and therefore painted the Immortals as drunks and solidified the idea as part of folklore, but I can't remember where from.
But yeah, they have a reputation as a group that loves to party. So not really sad blackout drunks, more let's have a giant drinking party every other night drunks.
Sounds like they might be the only Chinese group that would get along with the Tuatha and Aesir.
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