Recently, a pack of nogitsune have moved into and laid claim to a portion of the Kitsunemori in Akaki. This pack, under the leadership of Take-Odoriko ( Bamboo Dancer), has been sowing chaos and mischief throughout Akaki, as well as neighboring Sairyuukoe and Yamaken. For reasons yet unknown, this nogitsune pack has been left unharmed by logger and onmyouji alike. While myobu, bakemono, and other denizens of the forest are being murdered by the score as the loggers sweep through the forests of Akaki, these nogit-sune continue to operate unabated. They seem to take great pleasure in bringing embarrassment and disgrace unto Buddhist and Shinto monks throughout the provinces. Through their elaborate tricks and illusions, they have already wrought such scandal and humiliation among the ranks of the religious orders that many prominent monks have been forced to resign their posts and retreat to the mountains to live out their lives as hermits.
Though myobu in Yamaken have been making efforts to locate and deal with Take-Odoriko’s pack, they have been unsuccessful. Take-Odoriko is a sly and insidious adversary, and some diviners among the myobu believe that her uncanny ability to evade detection is categorically not kitsune magic, but from another as yet unidentified source.
choked rivers. The patriarch of the clan, Sairyuukoe no Dayu, saw great opportunity and profit for his clan in the new provinces, confident in his families ability to survey the uncharted rivers and streams of the Yonhosu Valley. Members of the Sairyuukoe clan gathered from all corners of the empire to voyage down the Ketsueki-Kawa, ready to reap the benefits of the reportedly fertile valley.
Before the clan embarked on the journey, Sairyuukoe no Dayu was visited in a dream by a great and powerful kami. In the dream, Kawa-No-Kami (God of the Rivers) appeared to Dayu in the form of a raging white-water rapid, and warned him that his clan would meet certain death in the marshes and streams of the Yonhosu Valley. An enemy lurked in the swamps, and without the protection of Kawa-No-Kami the Sairyuukoe would fall to a man. Kawa-No-Kami commanded Dayu to offer a blood sacrifice to if he wished to ensure his clan’s safety. When he woke on the morrow, Dayu called the elders of his clan together and shared with them his remarkable dream-vision. Many dismissed the dream away as a fear-induced nightmare on the eve of a dangerous journey and encouraged him to pray to Baku to eat dreams like this in the future. Most of the clan, however, were convinced that Dayu had been visited with a true-dream from Kawa-No-Kami.
Fathers offered their daughters for sacrifice, touting their virtue and grace. Dayu surveyed the young girls, all of whom looked terrified at the prospect of giving their lives to the Kawa-No-Kami. Disgusted by the cowardice of his clansmen, Dayu declared that no daughter would be forced to be sacrifice by her father and called upon the men of his clan for a volunteer.
No man stepped forward. Appalled once again by his clan, Dayu offered himself as sacrifice.
Elders of the clan tried to dissuade Dayu, but he was adamant.
At dawn on the day of the Sairyuukoe clan’s journey to the Yonhosu Valley, Dayu’s blood was ritually spilled into the Ketsueki-Kawa until he drew his final breath.
Emboldened by the bravery of their now deceased patriarch, the Sairyuukoe clan set out down the river towards their new home.
The clan reached the Kokoro-Mizuumi without serious incident, and brought their ships unto the shores of Kokoro-shima where they began to build a great city.
From their new base of operations on Kokoro-shima, the Sairyuukoe began the painstaking process of charting the many rivers of the eastern Yonhosu Valley.
Rivers and streams were explored and named for prominent members of the clan, and the Sairyuukoe celebrated the success of their new endeavor.
Danger lurked near, however, and within less than a year the Sairyuukoe explorers had ventured deep into the swamps and marshes. There they first encountered the malevolent kappa, vicious turtle creatures whose very touch would completely rot objects and disin-tegrate the living. The Sairyuukoe were ill-prepared to combat these creatures, and human losses were devastating in the initial confrontations.
The new patriarch of the clan, Sairyuukoe no Hideo, begged Kawa-No-Kami to provide the promised protection offered in return for Dayu’s great sacrifice.
Kawa-No-Kami appeared to Hideo and told him of a stalk found in the swamps, a plant whose sap would offer protection against the kappa’s touch. Hideo ordered a group of men to scour the swamp for this plant, harvest the stalks and bring them back to Kokoro-shima so that a poultice might be made. Once the men returned with the mysterious plant, Shinto monks reduced the sap of the stalks down into a thick paste, which was then applied in copious amount to boat-bottoms and of the skin of Sairyuukoe explorers.
The paste did provide remarkable defense against the kappa’s touch, and the Sairyuukoe spread through the eastern Yonhosu Valley to settle along its many rivers.
Within a few decades, the Sairyuukoe successfully mapped and settled most of the eastern Yonhosu Valley, land previously claimed by the Akaki Han. The Akaki had been unable to penetrate too deeply into the swamps, for they had no protection against the Domains: Water and travel
Alignment: Chaotic neutral
Kawa-no-kami, the patron kami of Saityuukoe, is the god of rivers. Though individual rivers might have kami of their own, Kawa-no-kami is their leige.
During periods of flood or drought, the Sairyuukoe continued for a time to practise human sacrifice to appease the angry kami. Though the human sacrifice is no longer performed, the Sairyuukoe still regularly give offerings to Kawa-No-Kami in the form of animal sacrifice and foodstuffs sent adrift on rafts along Sairyukoe’s many rivers and streams.
vicious kappa, but still the Akaki insisted that all land settled by the Sairyuukoe was property of the Akaki Han and therefore its residents must pay taxes. The Sairyuukoe flatly refused to pay taxes to Akaki, and numerous bloody conflicts ensued. Eventually, the Sairyuukoe were able to petition the emperor for recognition as a province separate from Akaki. History is unclear as to whether the Sairyuukoe used bribery or blackmail to ensure a favorable result, but the emperor did acquiesce and granted the Sairyuukoe Han official status as a province and appointed the patriarch of the Sairyuukoe as kokushi (provincial governor).
Unlike in the early histories of the Toukai and Akaki Hans, the Sairyuukoe did not come into conflict with kitsune. Instead, kitsune were worshipped in some villages and prayed to for protection from the kappa.
Recent History
Today, the Sairyuukoe clan absolutely dominates river travel and trade. Over the centuries, they have amassed incredible wealth from the many exotic plants and
substances they exclusively produce and ship through the Yonhosu Valley and the empire beyond.
A great city now flourishes on Kokoro-shima and is the provincial capitol of the Sairyuukoe Han. A grand castle stands on the Kokoro-shima, the palace of the provincial governor, Sairyuukoe no Dayu, named for his honored ancestor. From his fortress-capitol, Dayu governs with an iron fist. Obese, physically repulsive, zealously religious, cruel and rude; Sairyuukoe no Dayu shares only the name of his proud ancestor. He is much despised by aristocrat and peasant alike, but is tolerated because of his keen mind and extraordinary business sense. Under his guidance, the Sairyuukoe Han has accumulated unimaginable wealth and enjoyed unprecedented prosperity. Despite the affluence enjoyed, the people of Sairyuukoe live in fear of Dayu’s
thugs, called Kouken-agensuto-Zaigou (Guardians against Sin), a branch of the province’s Jingikan (Office of Deities).
These Guardians patrol even the most remote villages to ensure obedience to the Han. Dissenters are summarily executed and behavior deemed immoral can receive extreme and often unjusti-fied punishment. One of the most feared among the Guardians, Sairyuukoe no Taizo, cousin to the provincial governor, regularly wanders the rivers and streams of the Han to root out wickedness and depravity wherever it lives. His tactics are legendary and brutal. One unconfirmed tale warns that Taizo once had an entire village put to the torch and all of its residents slaughtered for their treason-ous support of rebels in the Han.
Social Unrest and Growing Discontent Rumblings of discontent are being heard from deep within the Sairyuukoe Han, and full bellies and jingling coin purses seem to no longer satisfy some the populace who are disgusted by Sairyuukoe no Dayu, his government and his Kouken-agensuto-Zaigou. A growing resistance movement is swelling in the remote villages and mountain monaster-ies of the Sairyuukoe Han. At the vanguard of the resistance movement are the sohei, Buddhist warrior monks, who can no longer tolerate the blatant abuses of power by the provincial government. The sohei are a brotherhood bound together by a deep religious To this day, the formula for Hideo’s
Poultice is a closely guarded secret of the Sairyuukoe, and their exclusive use of the sub-stance provides them with a monopoly on river travel and trade in the Yonhosu Valley. The recipe is never written down, but part of a long oral tradition kept by practitioners of hearth magic on Kokoro-shima. The stores of Hideo’s poultice are heavily guarded, and villages in Sairyuukoe receive regular shipments to protect them against kappa attack and sabotage. The stalk of a special species of bamboo is used in the creation of Hideo’s poultice, which can only be found in certain swamps. The location of these swamps is also a closely guarded secret known only to the provincial governor and a handful of officials.
Hideo’s Poultice can be brewed by anyone knowing the recipe, the rituals, and obtaining the requisite materials with a suc-cessful DC 25 Hearth Wisdom check. For every mature stalk of the special bamboo, one dose of Hideo’s Poultice can be produced. One dose of Hideo’s Poultice, if smeared over one Medium object or creature, will protect it against the kappa’s rot for 1d3 days. For each size category above Medium, an additional dose is required to protect the object or creature.
Conversely, one dose of Hideo’s Poultice can protect two Small creatures, four Tiny creatures, eight Diminutive creatures or sixteen Fine creatures. Using more than one dose of Hideo’s Poultice simultaneously will not extend the duration of protection, as the effects do not stack, but application may be renewed for a new 1d3 days.
faith and belief in spiritual egalitarianism. The warrior monks share religious zeal and a commitment to social equality. They are easily recognized by their wooden Buddhist prayer beads, shorn heads, and their characteristic white head cowl.
Sohei have moved into villages to stir up dissent and galvanize the peasantry and merchant-class into a fighting force to oppose Sairyuukoe no Dayu and his Guardians against Sin. Support for the resistance and the sohei is strong, but many fear that their villages will be marked as seditious and put to the torch for aiding the rebellion. The sohei have sent numerous emissaries to villages throughout the Han, but the vast majority of the warrior monks remain in their mountain temple in the Toryama Mountains.
Their temple is well known to the Yonhosu Valley at large and to pilgrims from the empire at large, for it is considered a holy site where many important relics are housed, and the famous Stone Tortoise stands vigil. The sohei’s zasu (leader), Zasu Kondo no Ukyo, commands the sohei from within the mountain temple. Many in the resistance movement look to the day when Ukyo leaves the mountain temple on his march towards Kokoro-mizuumi, signaling the beginning of the true revolt.
Even yakuza gangs, which out of necessity must operate clandestinely, have begun to emerge from the shadows to join in the coming rebellion.