Wen Shen
WEN SHEN (Chinese: 瘟神) is a deity or group of deities responsible for illness, plague, and disease in Chinese folk religion. In some belief systems, Wen Shen is identified as a single entity who commands wen spirits; in others, the term is used for a grouping of several distinct deities. According to Wikipedia's opening thesis.
The term Wen Shen is used to refer to the Five Commissioners of Pestilence 五瘟使者. The Five Commissioners, who governed Heaven's Ministry of Epidemics, were Zhang Yuanbo 張元伯, Liu Yuanda 劉元達, Zhao Gongming 趙公明, Zhong Shigui 鍾仕貴, and Shi Wenye 史文業. he first four are associated with the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, and winter respectively) while Shi Wenye is associated with the center and was the superior god of pestilence.
In modern terms, Wen Shen is a whisper in the Chinese mainland. A rumor of a terror cell made of metahumans who come to wreak havoc on society for their ways. Led by 'fate' and karmic cycle, by their admission, the Five Ministers move in ways unknown to exact vengeance upon mankind. Supposedly.
The term Wen Shen is used to refer to the Five Commissioners of Pestilence 五瘟使者. The Five Commissioners, who governed Heaven's Ministry of Epidemics, were Zhang Yuanbo 張元伯, Liu Yuanda 劉元達, Zhao Gongming 趙公明, Zhong Shigui 鍾仕貴, and Shi Wenye 史文業. he first four are associated with the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, and winter respectively) while Shi Wenye is associated with the center and was the superior god of pestilence.
In modern terms, Wen Shen is a whisper in the Chinese mainland. A rumor of a terror cell made of metahumans who come to wreak havoc on society for their ways. Led by 'fate' and karmic cycle, by their admission, the Five Ministers move in ways unknown to exact vengeance upon mankind. Supposedly.
Mythology & Lore
THE COMMISSIONER, GOD OF PESTILENCES
The foremost of the organization is Shi Wenye, Central of the Compass, the Centipede Venom with the Elemental Pole of Earth. Though unable to herself do much, she holds command over the lives and fates of all those under her with the karmic bond she shares.
ZHANG YUANBO, PLAGUE OF SPRING
Cí Shǔ holds the current title of Zhang Yuanbo, Eastern Serpent of the Element of Wood, a Fauna Aspected Telempath whose connection to rats makes her an espionage threat to most urban society. Even surveillance networks have trouble matching the sheer informational flexibility she can express with her power.
LIU YUANDA, CALAMITY OF SUMMER
Long Xiaoran is the current Liu Yuanda, Southern Toad of the Element of Fire, a recent recruit and one who replaced the most historically volatile role of the five. Prior to his appointment, the previous three Liu Yuandas were rebellious misanthropes who went out in blazes of glory to strike against the omnipotence of the mainland's surveillance state. As a result, Zhong Shigui and Zhang Yuanbo both worry for their current Calamity more often than they like to admit.
ZHAO GONGMING, CAISHEN, GILDING AUTUMN
Azure Abrams is the only non-Chinese member of Wen Shen and his role is one that had been vacant since the death of the prior Caishen along with the penultimate Liu Yuanda. As a result, since his own inception, Long Xiaoran spent his years being promised that Caishen would return and bring prosperity to Wen Shen as they did before. The prior title-holder was, according to Zhong Shigui, a figure who incurred deep debts upon others to lavish his allies with riches. He believes Azure Abrams is a proper fit for this role, as all in Wen Shen do. Zhao Gongming's element is Metal, befittingly. Their venom is that of the Gecko, though thanks to associative belief with Caishen and money worship, the Western white Tiger also comes associative with the role.
ZHONG SHIGUI, CONSUMING WINTER
His original name and identity either a mystery or forgotten in his dysphoria, Zhong Shigui, the Northern Spider, Element of Black Water, is nothing short of a true monster of a metahuman. His ability to 'devour' and hold onto the metahuman projective abilities of others makes him a danger to any and all, firmly labeling him as the utilitarian powerhouse of the organization, and formerly true powerhouse until Long Xiaoran took mantle of Liu Yuanda. When threats of Wen Shen existing is mentioned, it is Zhong Shigui alone that comes to mind as a boogeyman, a devil, a stalking shadow.
Tenets of Faith
The unifying goal Wen Shen holds is simple: Obey The Commissioner when she contacts you, gives you visions, reveals your fate. Their faith in their leader must be absolute, as only with faith in her system of fate-reading can Wen Shen's unifying goal be realized. Whatever it may be.
Ethics
The common ideology of Wen Shen among the masses is that they're a group of evil hitmen who act to weaken society for the sake of their metahuman brethren.
The truth is, in pursuit of their goals, they more or less see moral scruples as a secondary trait of observing nature. Animals don't express remorse when they consume other life so they might live. So long as they perpetuate, they see no need to label their actions as just or malicious. They only continue to work for their ends.
The truth is, in pursuit of their goals, they more or less see moral scruples as a secondary trait of observing nature. Animals don't express remorse when they consume other life so they might live. So long as they perpetuate, they see no need to label their actions as just or malicious. They only continue to work for their ends.
Political Influence & Intrigue
Wen Shen's existence as a rumored organization in Mainland China is one that's been publicly decried as having no effect on the government's operations or influence.
Which is basically a public declaration of them as a menace in the eyes of society.
Which is basically a public declaration of them as a menace in the eyes of society.
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