Turn 2
Well, your mission to purify Japan was off to a… rocky start. Your men were well versed in basic everything. They knew the common sutras, they carried basic seals and they knew basic knowledge of almost every youkai recorded. And, you have an overflow of Lesser Seals and hihi blood, so you can recruit and arm new soldiers with minimal cost. These were all great things, and you were overjoyed to say that your organization had accomplished them. But, there were some downsides as well.
For one, you've yet to do more than react to the youkai attacks. This has the effect of really making you impatient. But you're reckless, not foolish. You'll arm your men as best you can before sending them out to cleanse the boiling darkness that runs deep in your nation. It doesn't help much when you're faced with the rising count of dead Japanese citizens, but everyone has to deal with troubling times. You're going to do this well, or not at all.
You are Kōan 9-ka, and you will purify Japan.
Martial: Your Military advisor is one Okimoto Ieyoshi. When asked what his service record was, he simply handed you a file with nothing but black lines in it. A man in his thirties, Okimoto is covered in various wounds and what seem to be acid burns cover half his face, and he's missing an eye. You were told due to his recent loss of vision; he was being taken out of active duty to assist you. While you had your doubts, he proved himself in how he trained with your troops. The man knows how to kill something, that's for sure. Pick 1
[X] Here Be Monsters-Coast: A big problem with the Kyushu shoreline isn't mundane pollution. Rather, it's the fact that it's swarming with snake women, fish women, and ox spiders. These coastal creatures are typically ones that lure you in and consume you. Now, this would be a problem, if you didn't have a cadre of soldiers totally fine with harpooning the seemingly innocuous woman sitting topless on the shoreline. Okimoto wants to set up a coastal patrol to decimate the blood suckers. Chance of Success: 80% Cost: 40 Upkeep: 20 Time: 1 year Reward: Small bonus to yearly operations. +50 Funding for public protection.
Ok, you'll be the first to admit it, your troops are the fucking bomb. And if anyone has a problem with a priestess dropping the F-bomb in a performance review, you can just show them your troops performance record this year and watch them shut the hell up. When your troops are told to patrol the coast, your troops take that to mean "Find monsters, find their nest, and bomb the ever living shit out of them". Because that's exactly what they did. Apparently the first monster they encountered was a nure onna, who they injured and then followed all they way back to the entire hatchery. Deciding that they should probably deal with that, your troops threw a few grenades in, killing most of them, and then mowing down the survivors as they left. What they didn't consider was the possibility of an ushi oni also being nearby, which became evident when one with the body of a spider crawled into the patrol boat. Your troops of course, gave no shits, walking straight towards it before slotting the entire width of its throat in one slice with a diving knife. You doubt that it was the only hatchery, but you have no doubt it was one of the major ones. The nure onna population is seriously dented this year.
Reward: Coast Patrol created, +50 Public protection funding, +10 to yearly operations instead of +5.
Diplomacy: Your chief diplomat is a woman named Kawayama Kiriyo,a woman with long, braided, brown hair and business wear. She's cheerful, kind and overall a very genuine person. Or so you thought, until she met Okimoto and immediately became a brusque and professional expert. Okimoto grunted his approval and moved on. Kawayama was all smiles again, but she probably wanted you to notice. If there's one thing Kawayama is an expert in, it would be twisting people's perceptions of her. You couldn't ask for a better asset. Pick 1
[X] An Incorporeal Hand, Please?: There are spirits and other creatures that you can ask for help. The problem is actually getting them to help. Put out some divine feelers and see what crazy spirits out there are interested in giving you a hand. Cost: 50 Upkeep:0 Time: 1 year Chance of Success: 100% Reward: Varies depending on how well you roll.
Required: 1 Rolled:65+10(Stewardship Critical)=75
Almost immediately, you send out your priests to ask the kami to spread the word, and you hear it is soon the talk of the youkai realm. You find about what you expect, a decent amount of assistance. For one, the kami are always happy to fight youkai and impurity, even if you did fuck up your tributes. But, benevolent as they are, they're willing to give you a second chance on that matter. As such, there are snow goddesses, river gods and mountain spirits all willing to strike a deal with you. Some of the more heavy hitters lie out of your range, but that doesn't matter too much. They'll come around after a good tribute session.
Aside from the obviously benevolent spirits willing to assist you, there are more surprises. You receive a message from a kotengu, a lesser youkai that takes the form of a mix between a man and a crow, who delivers a message to you from the Daitengu themselves. According to the message, the Daitengu are extremely bored. Daitengu are fearsome birdmen spirits that rule as tengu kings on top of various mountains. The High King of tengu, Sōjōbō, is famous for having taught one of the greatest Japanese swordsmen how to wield a blade. Unfortunately, the High King has no interest in moving from the top of Mount Kurama. Luckily, he has no interest in fighting you either. But some of the other Daitengu, who have less power than Sōjōbō but still rule over the local tengu, do have interest in aiding you. According to them, they wish to take on disciples of their own, preferably in the form of your men. They apparently don't actually rule over the tengu in the traditional way, content to sit on their mountain top so long as the kotengu acknowledge their superiority. A Daitengu willing to take a disciple is a rare moment indeed.
Another notice you get appears in your office that day. It was apparently left by a clan of fox spirits. Unfortunately, you're unaware if the spirits are kitsune (good fox spirits) or nogitsune (Malicious fox spirits). They extend an invitation to you to contract them out for work as assassins and spies, so long as you repay them with tribute every year. While a clan of infiltration spirits can only help you, you'll admit to be worried about the possibility of them turning on you if they prove to be malicious.
Rewards: Contact Made with lesser kami, daitengu, and one clan of fox spirits.
Stewardship: Your manager is an old man who looks upon you with an undisguised sneer. Ito Yoson is an expert with finances and policy, which just barely makes up for his irritable and asshole personality. His entire views on women, youth and even race just kind of makes you want to beat him. Despite this, he's already planning ways to make you money, so you, as many already do, manage to drown your moral issues with lots of cash. Pick 1
[X] Industrial Revolution: When Ito heard about the mass production of seals, he was overjoyed. Then he learned about how exactly they were going about it, and almost tore his hair out in frustration. According to your finance manager, your acolytes and other more minor positions among the priesthood were essentially devoted interns. While you fail to see the significance of that statement, he tells you that you can maximize production tenfold by simply having the acolytes and the rest do the complicated calligraphy, while the priests bless them to activate it. He even believes that you could sell it to your more religious population in order to generate more income with your surplus. They're sure to be a hit in Kyoto, he thinks. Cost: 50 Upkeep: 0 Time: 1 year Chance of Success: 75% Reward: No more upkeep for Mass Produced Seals, +100 Commercial income, troops won't run out.
Required: 25 Rolled: 98
You were expecting a lot of things, but it sure as hell wasn't this. You were looking at a room floor of one of the many Shinto temples that you were managing. There, innumerable acolytes were mass producing the basic seals that your soldiers were now equipped with. There, it seems like the acolytes and miko were drawing the seals... for fun. If that wasn't strange enough, all you had to do was look at the sales recorded for the commercial seals. Apparently they weren't just a hit on Kyoto, but everywhere in Japan. Hell, the high schoolers already had urban legends about how the seals grant wishes or some such nonsense. Regardless, half of Japan is buying seals, and it's earning you a small fortune. Once Ito stops cackling, he tells you that between the scale at which people are buying and the semi regular replacement of the seals, you're able to meet the projected income easily. A side effect of people buying seals everywhere is that people get more religious. More people pay attention during prayer, and the kami tell you shrine donations are picking up for the first time in years. You ruffled their feathers last year, but this and your diplomatic efforts makes up for it in their eyes. They will still absolutely destroy you if you mess up the next appeasement, but there's no longer any malus attached to your interactions with them.
Reward: +100 Commercial income, upkeep removed, nature spirits are neutral towards you again.
Intrigue: Your spymaster is Wakai Munoto. He's also batshit insane. Ironically, about half of his delusions are real, which has the added effect of not being able to tell if he really is crazy, or just sees spirits and kami that even you can't. A question to ponder. For now, Munoto is just interested in making sure you know what you need to know. And a few things you really didn't need to know. Pick 1
[X] Scouting-Japan: Given half a chance, Wakai could tell you all about Japan, down to the name of the fifth right turn when you enter Nagisaki. What he can't tell you is the spiritual contents of those areas. Wakai wishes to fix that. Showing up at your office wearing a dead raccoon on his head, Wakai asks you for permission to scout out Japan and construct an idea of the factions with the spirit world of your home country. Cost: 50 Upkeep: 0 Time: 1 year Reward: Information on the factions present within your country.
Rolled: 78
Wakai is happy to learn about all the bad things in your backyard. You are somewhat less enthused. Still, you recognize that your land is the most important, and that knowledge has the priority in this situation. Sure you know all the details of the youkai and spirits in Japan, or at least most of them. But you don't know where they are or what they're doing, and that could very well be a threat. So, you tell Wakai to find out, and get that raccoon corpse out of your office goddamnit. Wakai gets back to you at the end of the year with a file containing all you need to know about.
The mountains have always been a hot spot of youkai and monsters. Chief among these are the
oni and the
kijo. Oni are the quintessential shock troopers, powerful and hardy wielding giant clubs. An oni with his club could bust open a bunker in record time. This fact is the primary reasoning for why no one wants an oni. Unfortunately, Wakai tells you that not only do you have oni, you have a warband forming. Warband a are notoriously dangerous. This collection of oni are known for depopulating entire villages at a time, given the speed at which they ravage the land. Kami knows what they'll do to a town or city. Still, when a warband forms, the oni typically spend a few years beating the shit out of each other until they decide who the boss is. At this rate, it'll be four years before they start moving. The other major force in the mountains is a kijo coven. Kijo are a type of mountain ogress that's only a little bit stronger than the human maximum ability, but are masters of dark magic and sorcery. What this means for your troops is nothing good. Covens tend to stay where they are, and Wakai confirms with some of the mountain kami that this particular group has been there for decades. Kijo are cowards at heart, and won't be moving to attack you until you've backed them into a corner. The final force in the mountains are
kotengu. Unlike their more powerful counterparts, kotengu do not sit around harmlessly. Embodying the phrase birdbrain, a kotengu's only interests is rape and murder, with pillaging on the side. Despite this, they are easily tricked and are rather weak to guns. The best description of a kotengu is a numerous pest, since they tend to gather in flocks to make concentrated attacks. Wakai confirms that there are entire roosts of kotengu in the mountains, potentially numbering in the thousands.
The other large source of supernatural power in your lands is the coastline. Well, the sea to be more specific. There, you have a lot of blood suckers primarily. The three primary predators there are the
ushi oni (ox demon),
nure onna (wet woman) and
iso onna (coast woman). The three of these, the first a bull headed monster, the second a snake woman and the last a ghost woman, tend to team up. The iso onna or nure onna draws the prey in, where the ushi oni pounces on them and rips them apart. The nure or iso onna drains the blood, while the ushi oni takes the flesh. Other than their marine nature, none are immune to conventional weaponry, which is why your patrols are able to fight them with only some difficulty. The real powers in the sea are two types of youkai. One is the infamous
umi bozu, a powerful sea giant. He is rather sedentary, but will occasionally rise up to sink a ship for his amusement. The other is the
Funayūrei, or ghost ships. When a ship sinks, there's a possibility that the crew will rise as onryo and continue to sail in a ghostly version of their own vessels. After World War Two, you have a veritable fleet of them sailing around your islands. The fact that they all possess artillery and firepower in the same vein as when they were alive is worrying. Wakai even hypothesized that one of the giant shapes he's seen in the fog is actually a flagship of some sorts. The ghost ships like to sink vessels as well, and tend to do so more often than the umi bozu does.
But, that's not the end of it. There are also the youkai that inhabit your cities. One of the most prominent is
Tesso, the Iron Rat. Tesso was once a well meaning abbot named Raigo, who found himself being asked for help from the Emperor himself. Raigo agreed, and prayed for the Emperor to have a son, until a child was miraculously born. In his gratitude, the Emperor asked Raigo for anything his heart desired, and he swore by his honor that he would see it done. Raigo wished for a new ordination building so that he could train new priests, and the Emperor promised it to him. However, a rival temple named Enryaku-ji wielded much more political power and told the Emperor to refuse his promise. And so, the Emperor reneged on his promise. Raigo held a hunger strike, but died on the 100th day with his heart filled with rage. So great was his anger that he rose again as an onryo, who took the shape of giant rat man. His spirit, now named Tesso, raised an army of rats that terrorized the city, as well as killing the child of the Emperor. His spirit was appeased by the building of the ordination building and his shrine faced towards Enryaku-ji, so he could fully indulge in his rage. However, his spirit remains, and hangs over the city like a hammer above an anvil. There are countless spirits like this, of powerful men and women who died with rage and hatred on their hearts, and stay at their shrine with their anger barely appeased. Reward:
Knowledge of threats in Mountains, Sea and cities.
Piety: You actually have two religious advisors. Imai Denbe, a Buddhist monk, is a kind and unobtrusive individual. In his mid-thirties, his primary features are a shaved head and a patient smile for everyone. Inokuma Toju, the forty year old Shinto priest, is rather different. He's not scornful like Ito is, but he has a sense of severity to him. He mandates that whenever you meet him, you purify your hands, for one. Whether this is him telling you you're impure or his way of protecting you and himself from impurity, you aren't sure. Still, he does his job eagerly, and so you can't begrudge him for that. Pick 2
[X] Sealing Is An Art: Now, you and the other priests can get quite uppity about the details of sealing, you'll admit to that. Of course, when someone refers to it as "magic scribbles" they deserve the kick to the crotch they get. You will admit that most of sealing is simply a special form of calligraphy. The problem with sealing is that many of them are specialized. Once you get into the stronger spirits, they require seals tailored to them and their abilities. With your rapid response teams, you won't always have the time to painstakingly craft a seal for an oni or other such powerful spirits beforehand. So, you should set up teams that carry one large scroll, upon which they start writing the seal for any powerful enemies you encounter. Cost:50 Upkeep: 30 Time: 2 years Chance of Success: 70% Reward: Mid-Tier Sealing Squads
Required: 30 Rolled: 12
This did not work out. You aren't sure why this happened, but the priests who were trained to begin sealing work was unexpectedly bad at it. It appears that after generations of making low level charms and basic civilian protections, the priests were ill trained to do this. Now you have to start all over again, and kami did that sting.
Time until Completion: Two Years
[X] Back To Basics: Well, the kami already showed them how absolutely foolish your priests had been. Some of them were still nursing their wallets in pain, or trying to get their significant others to call them back. Now, it's your duty to remind them how to show respect to the kami. They have been so busy focusing on how to fight youkai that they've been slacking in their study of the kami. Well, you're going to make sure that they know every river and hill god from Okinawa to the tip of Japan! Cost: 0 Upkeep: 0 Time: 1 year Chance of Success: 90% Reward: Priests won't fuck up with the kami. Massive boost to Appease The Spirits action.
Required: 10 Roll: 47
It's not a difficult process really. Just teach the priests how to be more proper and respectful when dealing with the kami. In the end, you don't even have to beat it into them. No, you just let Inokuma deal with them Your head of the Shinto section is practically raging with fury. The fact that the impious Ito was able to appease the spirit's rage while your cadre of priests fucked it up lit a fire in his heart. And who better to unleash that rage on than the foolish priests who caused the problem to begin with.
Initially, you planned to have them memorize every river and mountain god from coast to coast in Japan. He makes them learn every single kami in every single prefecture, not even caring whether or not they were large or small. By the end, the priests are dead on their feet. Still, you can trust them to do their job adequately, if not with excellence.
Reward: Massive boost to next Appease The Spirits action.
Learning: Your resident scientist is fairly excitable. Apparently, Kaibara Tamaki had already theorized on the existence of youkai, and had gotten laughed out of her laboratory for it. Now, she not only had verification that they existed, she got to dream up new ways to kill them! Really, it was a dream come true. Pick 1
[X] Leftovers: Every year, you kill a variety of youkai and monsters. What about what's left though? The remains of youkai are supernaturally strong, and have the ability to do astounding things. Have your researchers look into new ways to use these hides, teeth and claws, hopefully increasing your effectiveness by leaps and bounds. Cost: 20 Upkeep: 0 Chance of Success: 60% Reward: Learning options unlocked to re-use youkai parts
Required: 40 Rolled: 106 Natural Hundred
This goes brilliantly. You can't even start to explain how happy you are with their work this year. For one thing, Wakai got involved and organized Harvester teams who skin and collect the youkai parts, allowing you for maximum harvest. With so much to work from, the teams are already putting together amazing items. For one, they're taking the hides of chimi and moryo to create cloaks that allow for illusions. Nothing large, but they can use camouflage and shape shifting to either blend in or pretend to be wildlife. Another creation was made by amassing kotengu feathers, which they believe will allow for flight. Overall, you're very interested in your future capabilities.
Reward: Youkai part research unlocked, Harvester teams provide bonus to future youkai part research.
Personal: Now there's you. You're definitely in a busy position, but you don't need to oversee everything. That's what your department heads are for. So now you need to decide what to do with your time. Pick 1
[X] You're Only Somewhat Crazy: Wakai is tormented by delusions due to having seen rampant spirits throughout his youth, and believing that they weren't real. After years of living like that, he eventually had a mental breakdown, and lived life as a broken man until he was picked up by the intelligence community. Now he has confirmation that the spirit world is real, and you can tell that is pushes on him. Despite this information, he still suffers from occasional bouts of dementia. Walk him through his life and try to part the real from the fake. Perhaps it will help him come to terms with it? Cost: 0 Upkeep: 0 Chance of Success: 60% Reward: Wakai can put his personal bonus onto Intrigue actions.
Required: 40 Rolled: Natural 1 Oh boy.
Someday they'll write about the early days of Kōan 9-ka, and how it struggled greatly. When they do, you are absolutely sure that this will come up. The plan was to help Wakai cope with his delusions by affirming for him which ones were delusions and which ones weren't. This plan came under fire almost instantly. The first problem was when you told him so and so was real. He just kind of nodded in acceptance. The second problem was when you told him that everything else was fake. Then he tried to stab you. Then you tried to beat the shit out of him in retaliation. And now you and him kind of hate each other. Well shit.
Reward?: Wakai hates you, and his delusions are more rampant. Negative ten to future intrigue actions until fixed.
Yearly operations roll: 46+5+5+10+5=71
Your troops do great this year. As usual, monsters from the mountains are killed, and spirits in the cities are exorcised, but the real victory is at the coast. The coastal areas, and Kyushu in particular, are celebrating one of the lowest missing persons count in years. It cheers both you and your men up immensely. And your higher ups are quite pleased. In the end, they approve another +100 unit bonus, to be added to this year only. They do tell you to keep up the good work.
What's Waking Up Roll:33+10(Baku Bonus)=43
You hear reports of a few kijo attempting to move near the city, but backing up once they feel the Baku inhabiting the region. Unfortunately, that isn't enough to dissuade other spirits, like the sickle weasels. God you hate the sickle weasels. These spirits are three weasels who travel so fast you can't see them. The first cuts off one leg, the second cuts off the other, and then the third stitches them up behind you. You can be walking home one day, and suddenly you're on the floor without anything below your knees, and without a single drop of boos to show for it. Horrifying. Your troops solved it by having your priests find the nest, then filling it with nerve gas and closing the exits. Disgusting little creatures, but easily dealt with.
AN:So, I rolled a nat 100, then a 1 and a 2. Confused and horrified at my luck, I asked my beta to roll, and he got a 100. Fuck the dice, man.
