summary of last game before the holidays.

[Bella]

The group continued their decent in the pagoda. They fought many hobgoblins along the way. One member of the party found a terible secret in regards to his family while there. They group decended to the last level and fought the last remaining Oni, Munasukaru. After killing her, they discovered a gate that was used by the Oni to escape. The gate used traped souls to power it. Through out the Pagoda the group found clues that may help them in their fight against the Oni of the Five Storms.



The Five Storms, while powerful, are disorganized and easily distracted, and the oni who make up the organization are constantly at odds with each other. Yet despite these internal conflicts and disruptions, the leader of the Five Storms has always been the same—a powerful wind yai oni named Anamurumon, with power over storms and lightning.

• The Five Storms, long trapped in their prison-palace at the heart of the Forest of Spirits, have always lusted over the lands of Minkai, intending to remake that nation into an empire of excess and horror in which to indulge their twisted pleasures and appetites.

• The Five Storms can’t just simply conquer Minkai. Just like the kami, the gods set in place strict laws preventing the oni from taking direct action to seize worldly power. In order to create their private empire, the oni need to do so subtly, infiltrating all levels of society.

• The linchpin to the Five Storms’ plan is the extinction of the five imperial families of Minkai. If no one can claim descent from the divine line of emperors, then no one can challenge the claim of the pretender the Five Storms place on the throne.

• Many different varieties of oni make up the Five Storms, but all of their best warriors escaped the House of Withered Blossoms many decades ago, taking most of their resources with them.

• Munasukaru was one of the weakest oni of the Five Storms, known as Munasukaru the Least among her peers. To keep the kami in the forest outside from learning their plans, Anamurumon commanded her to stay in the House of Withered Blossoms while the other oni
fled using the kimon, a magical demon gate powered by living souls. This gate used the blood and sould onyone the oni could get their hands on to power it. (the PC’s found it at the bottom of the temple they wer ein after the final battle with Munasukara.)

• While the oni of the Five Storms are powerful, Anamurumon also commands mortal agents. The oni often promise mortals great rewards for their service, and the Five Storms are well known to honor those promises.

• Beyond relying on hired mortal agents, Anamurumon was also obsessed with siring half-human progeny. He needed the “perfect” grandchild— Someone who would not only be unquestioningly loyal to Anamurumon, but could also pass as human. Such a child would be the perfect agent to infiltrate the imperial families of Minkai, but all of Anamurumon’s descendants were deemed “unsuitable” and killed by the oni. He eventually found a suitable one in a half Kitsune half Oni.

• Despite his power, Anamurumon has an unusual weakness to weapons imbued with royal honor—such as the ancestral weapons of the five imperial families of Minkai, including Suishen, Guardian of the Amatatsu.

The oni took a female prisoner with them because of her “possibilities” and “compatibility” in pregnancy.

[Bella]

The Kami instruct the group to continue their journey into Minkai to retake the thrown. But to do so, they will need to create an army to go against the Jade Regents forces. They mention a ronin they should talk to. He does not have the forces necessary, but the people trust him and he would be a powerful ally.

Miyaro (the ninja that helped in the city during the Ninja ambush) escorts the group the rest of the way through the Forest of Spirits. Kit (williams character) asks her to stay with the group and she agrees.

They meet the ronin Hirabashi Jiro, but he does not believe the group. He tells them of an encampment in the mountain close by that is controlled by bandits loyal to the Jade Regent. If the PC's wish to show they are who they say they are, they will take the fortress and open a vault that can only be opened by one of royal blood.

If they do so and retrieve an ancestral sword to him, he will believe them.

His forces will attack the bandit forces marshaled outside the walls, allowing the party less resistance inside.