Alt: Onin Session 3: A Brother's Grave

Kingoro, Unlucky Ko, and Sato no Kai parted company with the Kozakana samurai to attend to a family matter in Hida Province. Hida Province is governed in the Shogun’s name by the Kyogoku Clan, who are aligned loosely with the Eastern Court despite taking orders from Kyoto - this is of course an awkward situation. Their hold on local clans is tenuous, as their mainlands are further west and the nearby Toki Clan is making inroads into Hida. Mino Province is firmly in the control of the Toki Clan, a fiercely anti-Mongol clan leaning towards the Eastern Court. They regard the Kyogoku as fair game, despite the wishes of the Eastern Court. Like much of Japan, regional politics are extremely complex.

Yamayoshi Sadamaru, while traveling south for the vendetta against Lord Michitaka, lost his temper at the crossing checkpoint between Hida and Mino. While crossing into Mino Province, he grew irrationally angry at the delay and questioning by the guards. Sadamaru gave an insult to a captain at the border crossing, one Toki Shigeaki. The two men fought, leaving Shigeaki minus an arm, and Sadamaru dead alongside two villagers and one of Shigeaki’s men. This happened in the village of Kashimura, southeast of Mt. Kurai at the confluence of the Hida and Kosaka Rivers (modern Gero, Japan). He was buried nearby, but his possessions and any further details never made it back home. This was around six years ago.

“One-Armed Shigeaki” is now the lord steward of the local area near the crossing. Shigeaki remembers the fight and Sadamaru well; in addition to his injury, Sadamaru seemed quite ready to battle the entire dozen-man garrison. “He was a mad beast,” the samurai said, and locals will corroborate his description of events. Shigeaki arranged to have Sadamaru buried and sent a notification to the Yamayoshi. He kept Sadamaru’s sword, but the other belongings are in the possession of Honkatsura-Ji, the small temple where Sadamaru’s ashes remain.

Because Sadamaru died in a state of spiritually malign agitation, his spirit was still tormented and restless despite the best efforts of the well-meaning but ineffectual local priest, Brother Chimon. Funerary rituals quiet things for a time, until the anniversary of the death when the cycle begins anew. Shigeaki’s family has been plagued by illness and death, with all of the family’s children stillborn since then, and he is without heir or issue. During their stay in Kashimura, Santo no Kai performed an exorcism ritual in hopes of sending Sadamaru's spirit away to the next world, to trouble the living no more. Afterward, Toki Shigeaki gave the sword back to Kingoro with the matter concluded. The PC's departed for the nearby castle town of Kiyosu, where they plan to reunite with Tatsuzo and Kazu.