True and Stories

Mission Details :

Though time had passed, the information that Yamato and Asahi had found in those ruins still put up residence in the laters mind.  Much of it was difficult or impossible to read, all of it seeming to be incredibly old.  What was more outlandish was, when he had attempted to return to those ruins to retrieve more of the records he had been unable to find it.  Despite being fairly certain he knew where he was going, no matter how long he searched he’d been unable to locate the ruins.  Finally giving up, he had spoken to Yasahiro about it, who had charged him with finding out more.  

The few scholars that worked in Okada castle had translated some of the documents after a number of weeks, and reviewing the information Asahi had found that they were all old folk tales.  Discussing how in times gone by there had been evil spirits that put up residence in the lush fields of Tanbogakure.  Their presence poisoning the water, and ravaging the lands so that nothing could grow.  At the time Tanbogakure had little military strength, and the farmers fought back where they could, though without ever being able to score a victory.

These records would lead him to asking the townsfolk about the stories, as that was were the records he’d discovered ended.  His position in the bar and tea shop made this a rudimentary task thankfully.  Often offering free drinks or snacks for anyone who cared to share a folk tale from their childhood.  Many turned out to be the same cautionary tales one might hear in any village.  The kind that reminded children to be home before dark, not to steal, and never stray from the road in the dark of nightfall.  The themes deviated little from what one might expect, but it was the characters that caught his attention.  

The citizens of Tanbogakure were aided by two factions in warding away the evil spirits Asahi learned one evening while serving tea.  Though the people had developed a strong magic to seal them under solid rock, they lacked the physical prowess or fighting abilities to corner them to see it done.  This job fell to two factions that had warred within the area of rice country.  The mystical Kitsune and horrible Oni.  The evil sprite which was never given a name having taken from both factions had unintentionally United all of them, as evil forces often do.  

Due to his own expierences it was the Oni he placed his focus on.  He learned they were unique here, separate from other Oni clans across the continent.  The spirit had killed one of their leaders, and driven out the game they hunted in the mountain sides on the edges of The land of rice and land of snow.  They formed the front soldiers for the war, and because of this were driven to near extinction over the conflict.  In the end the efforts were unable to decide a decisive victory, and instead the evil spirit is said to be sealed beneath the lands.  Or so the story goes.  

Smoking his pipe, Asahi reflected on this as he wrote down from memory each of the oral histories he had been given throughout the days he’d asked for them.  It was pieces together information, and nothing he had a solid base for, and yet it seemed to fit.  Though he had no proof of Kitsune of any level living in the area, the Oni he was confident in.  A distant bell reminded him of the temple he and Yasahiro had visited some months before.  Perhaps it was time to return there, and investigate those mountains near the land of snow…..

TWC - 617

Claims
Mission rewards - 1k ryo, 5ap
+12ap for max stats
500wc towards Hangover cure

Approved