#Chapter 1, Act 2 - "The First Step Across the Threshold"

Contents

Session 2 details. The first expedition into the Spirit Realm. Just outside the barrier, on the edge of Reviving Hell. The first encounter with a yoma that revives. PCs 1st~2nd dan. The first harvest of an unstable core.

Core References

- Required: Dice System · Rounds and One Breath · Maneuver System

- Required: Yoma Bestiary: gaki

- Reference: Squad Orders · Non-Combat Checks

References in This Supplement

- Required: Barrier System · Core Economy · Squad Limits

- Required: Spirit Realm Travel Rules · Barrier Boundary Events · Reviving Hell GM Guide

- Required: Young Lord · Retired Onmyoji · 6 Retainers

- Same chapter: Chapter Overview · Act 1 · Act 3 · Chapter Yoma

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#Scent - The Feel of This Session

#Opening Read-Aloud

"You did not sleep last night. The only person who knows that is yourself."

"Dawn. You stand before the eastern castle gate. Four squad members stand behind you. The lord stands inside the gate and nods. Old Gensho, beside him, chants one low phrase - 'Return. Without fail.'"

"The gate opens. Your hand touches the blue film of the barrier. The film is thin. A finger's width. You cross that film."

"What greets you is - the smell of iron. A metallic taste settles under the tongue. And the color of the sky. Not gray, but rusted red."

"This is Reviving Hell (等活). The edge of the first hell."

#Sense Card - The Air of Act 2

• Sound: there is wind. In that wind, the sound of iron shards striking each other is mixed in. A sound like someone walking far away.
• Smell: the smell of iron. The smell of iron mixed with the old smell of blood. Swallowing becomes difficult.
• Light: two moons sit low in the sky. Even by day, the light carries a red cast. Shadows are darker than usual.
• Touch: the ground has a slight spring to it. It feels like stepping on something dead. A faint pulse travels through the soles of the feet.

#Sense Density

The core of this act is the feeling of crossing the boundary. Let the PCs distinguish the inside and outside of the barrier through sensation. For the first 5 minutes after they cross the barrier, the GM should replace every sensory word with the word-family of "iron, red, opening, again."

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#Law - Rules Used in This Session

#Rules That First Appear in This Session

#Rules That Do Not Yet Appear in This Session

• frontal combat against Lord-grade yoma - late Act 3
• Lord-grade yoma appearance - Act 4
• onmyoji emergency maintenance - Act 4
• imprints (印) - none in this chapter

#Target Number Guide (Act 2 Only)

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#Major Encounters - Act 2 Structure

#Encounter 1 · Castle Gate Departure (15 minutes)

• Location: eastern castle gate of the domain
• Appearing: Akihisa, Gensho, a few residents (seeing them off), 4 members of the Slot B squad
• Purpose: ritualize the expedition. Make "going out" sensory.
• Core event: Gensho's liturgy · the lord's silent bow · the castle gate opens

#Encounter 2 · 15-Minute Stay in the Boundary Zone (20 minutes)

• Location: gray corridor one round wide outside the barrier
• Appearing: (optional) 1 barrier boundary d100 event
• Purpose: first application of the Spirit Realm Travel Rules. Reveal the Exposure number.
• Core event: first increase in Spirit Realm Exposure

#Encounter 3 · Enter the Iron-Colored Plain (30 minutes)

• Location: Reviving Hell direction, depth 1 (plain)
• Appearing: terrain survey · squad patrol
• Purpose: first sight of the hellscape. A plain where broken blades are stuck in the ground like grass.
• Core event: enter the iron-colored plain · observe the first lesser yoma (not combat)

#Encounter 4 · Encounter the Reviving Gaki Squad (60 minutes)

• Location: a small basin in the plain. Dry bloodstains (血跡) mark the ground.
• Appearing: 5 reviving gaki (squad) - Minion-grade, see 10-06 Yoma
• Purpose: first Spirit Realm combat. Real use of rounds, maneuvers, and squad orders.
• Core event: possible first casualty (NPC), first successful core harvest

#Encounter 5 · Lone Rusted Oni (45 minutes)

• Location: a low hill beyond the plain
• Appearing: 1 rusted oni (Veteran-grade wandering individual), see 10-06 Yoma
• Purpose: first confrontation with a higher enemy. Choice to engage or evade.
• Core event: the PCs' first chance to "choose not to fight"

#Encounter 6 · Return (30 minutes)

• Location: boundary zone → inside the barrier
• Appearing: Gensho · Akihisa
• Purpose: return rite for the first expedition. Check and report spoils.
• Core event: reveal Barrier HP changes · reveal core grade · fatigue reset

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#Step-by-Step Progression Guide

#Step 1 - Castle Gate Departure Rite (15 minutes)

#Gensho's Liturgy (around 10 minutes)

"One round, one breath. One breath, one step (步). The outside will steal this breath. Guard your breath. May your breath return."

This liturgy can be heard again in Act 4 when Gensho performs emergency maintenance. It is a mirrored device.

#Step 2 - Stay in the Boundary Zone (20 minutes)

#Boundary d100 Roll (optional)

If the GM wants extra density, roll once. Since 61~100 is No Event, it is usually No Event. If an event occurs:

• barrier sealing opportunity → Heart tendency +1 opportunity
• lesser yoma at the barrier edge → quick removal (compressed first combat)
• sign of someone coming from outside → tension rises

#Step 3 - Enter the Iron-Colored Plain (30 minutes)

#Meaning of the Broken Sword Event

If a PC pulls out the sword:

• Take it: sword +1 weapon slot, but while carried inside the influence of the "Cadence of Revival," wounds repeat (learned after Act 4). 魔 tendency +1.
• Discard it: one PC declares, "I will not take the remnants of this land." 眞 tendency +1.
• Set it upright (in its original place): a mark of the residents of Reviving Hell. 慈 tendency +1.

This choice foreshadows the ruin discovery in the late part of Act 3.

#Step 4 - Encounter the Reviving Gaki Squad (60 minutes)

#The Reviving Gaki's "Revive 1 Time" Rule

The reviving gaki is Minion-grade, so see 10-06 Yoma for details. The core points:

• The first time its Wounds reach 0, it stands after 2 rounds with Wounds 1 (1 time).
• If its Wounds reach 0 again in that state, it is permanently destroyed.
• A core can be harvested only when it is permanently destroyed.
• "You must drop it 2 times" is this yoma's core learning point.

#The Drama of the First Core Harvest

Celebrate the first success openly. The GM must describe "the thing in your hand is warm."

#Step 5 - Lone Rusted Oni (45 minutes)

#The Rusted Oni's Role

This oni is not "an enemy that came to kill the PCs right now." One of the residents of Reviving Hell is simply passing through this area by chance. That fact creates the PCs' moral confusion.

#Step 6 - Return (30 minutes)

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#Success / Failure Branches

#What "Success" Looks Like

#Response on Failure

Unlike Act 1, from Act 2 onward failure remains as numbers. However, there is no fatal failure yet.

• No cores acquired → provide 2 additional chances in Act 3.
• Squad Cohesion -1 → temporary +1 increase to Command Target Number in Act 3.
• Accumulated Exposure → minor effect on Barrier HP changes in Act 4.
• Squad member killed by the rusted oni → one NPC's name goes onto the memorial list (remembered in Acts 3 and 4).

#Barrier HP Changes (Act 2 Settlement)

Note: The timing of the weekly decrease is chosen by the GM: either reset weeks on Monday of week 1, or follow the actual session order. If this chapter's 4 sessions are treated as a 2-week story spanning weeks 1~2, the end of Act 2 falls between Wednesday of week 1 and Monday of week 2.

#Onmyoji Weakening Changes

#Resident Morale Changes

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#GM Controls - Act 2-Specific Cautions

#Demonstrating Reviving Hell's "Cadence of Revival"

In this session, PCs learn that the Cadence of Revival exists, but they do not suffer it directly (because this is depth 1). Through the reviving gaki standing 2 times, the GM should show this rule through a yoma first, then apply it to PCs when they enter depth 2 in Act 3.

#Staging the First Exposure Increase

At scene end, raise Exposure once. Handle this calculation quickly. During the scene, describe signs of exposure such as "one more stick of incense burns down" or "feeling dulls at your fingertips."

#Weight of the First Combat

• Keep rounds short. This is the first combat for 1st-dan PCs. Do not let one round take more than 5 minutes.
• Use a squad order at least once. The moment when the commander PC first pays squad order Energy is the learning point.
• Stage the 1-time revival dramatically. When the fallen gaki rises, give 1~2 seconds of silence, then "it stood again."

#Intentional Tension of the Rusted Oni

The rusted oni is designed as an enemy the PCs can evade. Do not force combat. If the GM treats this NPC as "a boss that must be fought," the session collapses.

#Pacing Adjustments

#Crisis Management - Avoiding a Party Wipe

A wipeout of 1st-dan PCs is not the purpose of this session. If 1 PC's Wounds reach 0:

1. Treat that PC as "losing consciousness." No death check.
2. 1 squad member dies instantly (as the narrative of a reviving gaki charge).
3. Gensho triggers an emergency event to "recover the PC" with a remote barrier (cost: Barrier HP -5).
4. The expedition is forcibly ended. Act 2 ends early, but the story continues.

Use this device only 1 time. The 2nd crisis allows real death.

#Avoiding Tone Traps

• Do not overuse the smell of iron. About 1 time every 2~3 rounds. If it is mentioned every round, the sensation goes numb.
• Do not make reviving gaki into horror monsters. They are "enemies that must be killed one more time," not "the terror of monsters."
• Do not treat the rusted oni only as an object of fear. It hints at a being the PCs "may someday be able to speak with."
• Do not turn the return scene into a simple loot announcement. Put emotion into Gensho's and Akihisa's gazes.

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#Session-End Declaration

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#Next

• Session 3 (Act 3): 10-03 Act 3 - On the Blood Plateau
• Yoma details: 10-06 Chapter Yoma
• Spirit Realm Travel Rules: 03-02 Travel
• Reviving Hell Mirror Principle: 03-06 Hell Guide

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"After seeing it fall once, and then seeing it stand again - the one you see again is yourself." — A fragment from an expedition member's diary, drift day 3, foreshadowing a sentence to be found in the Act 3 ruins.