#Chapter 1, Act 3 - "On the Blood Plateau"

Contents

Session 3 details. Deep exploration of the Reviving Hell wilderness. Blood Plateau → discovery of collapsed shrine ruins. PC 2nd dan. Close encounter with an Elite-grade yoma + the first clue to return.

Core References

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

- Required: Yoma Bestiary: oni

- Reference: Non-Combat Checks · Military Science and Perception

References in This Supplement

- Required: Spirit Realm Travel Rules · Spirit Realm Topology · Reviving Hell GM Guide

- Required: Core Economy · Barrier System

- Required: 6 Retainers · Young Lord

- Same chapter: Chapter Overview · Act 2 · Act 4 · Chapter NPCs · Chapter Yoma

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#Scent - The Feel of This Session

#Opening Read-Aloud

"This is the second day outside. The first night was spent inside the barrier. The second night - you do not know yet."

"The domain is behind you. Beyond two hills. This morning, those two hills are now far enough away that you cannot see them. The Spirit Realm makes the domain more distant with every step."

"Ahead lies the Blood Plateau. The plain rises once, and in the raised place something red has pooled. It is not water. It is what remains when water dries into a thin film. Step on it, and the soles of your feet turn red."

"At the center of the plateau - something stands. A ruined shrine. The torii (鳥居) leans halfway over, and one line of kanji (漢字) still remains faintly in the grain of the wood. It is Japanese. Someone was here before."

#Sense Card - The Air of Act 3

• Sound: the sound of chains swaying from far away. Small breaths that seem to rise from the ground. Now and then, the sound of someone laughing softly (it may be a hallucination).
• Smell: the smell of blood has mixed into the iron smell. Old blood, the smell of blood that clotted and then melted again.
• Light: the two moons are in the middle of the sky. Their light touches the ground and casts red shadows. Each PC's shadow is one finger-width redder than usual.
• Touch: the soles of the feet are sticky. The taste of blood seeps into each breath. The tip of the tongue grows a little numb.

#Sense Density

This act is the feeling of "a place far from the domain." If Act 2 taught "outside the barrier," Act 3 teaches "a place where the barrier cannot be seen." The GM should plant the question "can we return" through sensation.

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#Law - Rules Used in This Session

#Rules That First Appear in This Session

#Rules That Still Apply in This Session

• Spirit Realm Exposure
• squad order Energy
• round combat

#Target Number Guide (Act 3 Only)

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#Major Encounters - Act 3 Structure

#Encounter 1 · Second Step on the Iron-Colored Plain (20 minutes)

• Location: 10 rounds beyond the point where the party turned back in Act 2
• Appearing: description of terrain changes · Blood Plateau visible far away
• Purpose: intensify the feeling of being far from the domain. Reveal accumulated Spirit Realm Exposure.

#Encounter 2 · Blood-Spraying Lesser Spirit Group (40 minutes)

• Location: the approach to the plateau
• Appearing: 6~8 blood-spraying lesser spirits of the woods, see 10-06 Yoma
• Purpose: first confrontation with a Reviving Hell-specific yoma (a different pattern from the reviving gaki in Act 2).

#Encounter 3 · Center of the Blood Plateau (40 minutes)

• Location: center of the plateau. Collapsed shrine.
• Appearing: environment · rubble · 1 regenerating oni (chieftain · Elite-grade), visible from a distance
• Purpose: show the existence of an Elite-grade yoma first. Engagement is still a choice.

#Encounter 4 · Ruin Deciphering (50 minutes)

• Location: inside the shrine
• Appearing: ruins · Cadence of Revival triggers · clue fragment
• Purpose: discover the first clue to return. The first thread of the campaign-wide plot.

#Encounter 5 · Face the Ancient Oni (60 minutes)

• Location: altar inside the shrine
• Appearing: 1 ancient oni (Elite-grade, intelligent yoma, can converse), see 10-05 NPCs and 10-06 Yoma
• Purpose: first serious conversation with a Spirit Realm intelligence + choice among combat, negotiation, and agreement.

#Encounter 6 · Return - The Distant Domain (30 minutes)

• Location: plateau → plain → boundary zone → domain
• Appearing: Gensho's remote sensing response
• Purpose: close the 2-night, 3-day expedition. Handle accumulated Spirit Realm Exposure.

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#Step-by-Step Progression Guide

#Step 1 - Second Step on the Iron-Colored Plain (20 minutes)

#Step 2 - Blood-Spraying Lesser Spirit Group (40 minutes)

#Special Traits of the Blood-Spraying Spirits

This yoma does not revive. It contrasts with the reviving gaki of Act 2. This teaches that "not every yoma in Reviving Hell revives."

Instead, they attack by spraying blood from range. If hit, the target adds Exposure +1 at the end of this combat.

#Step 3 - Center of the Blood Plateau (40 minutes)

#Meaning of the Oni Visible Far Away

The PCs cannot attack this oni immediately. The distance is too great (3 rounds on foot), and the shrine lies between. The PCs must investigate the shrine first, then meet the oni in that process.

This staging creates the tension of "the boss is visible, but not yet met."

#Step 4 - Ruin Deciphering (50 minutes)

#First Personal Application of the Cadence of Revival

When an injured PC (injured in Act 2 or in Act 1 of this session) enters the shrine interior:

• 1 round: the wound opens again. No damage · only the sensation repeats.
• 2 rounds: the sensation becomes clearer. mental -1 (temporary).
• 3 rounds: acknowledgment check, Target Number 11. On success, released. On failure, repeat.
• 3 repeated failures: Exposure +1 · maintained until the PC leaves the scene.

Because this is the first personal application during the session, the GM should explain it calmly while proceeding.

#Deciphering the Inscription - First Clue Fragment

On success, the PCs read:

"Keicho eight (1603), Ganan Nanguk (加南難国). Our domain also fell. Two moons stand. The barrier is - gone. We walked through several layers of hell and saw the Forest of Black Threads. What came next - I do not wish to write."

Meaning of the clue:

• "Ganan Nanguk" → a domain somewhere in the core world. The GM can connect it to any region in their own campaign.
• "Keicho 8" → 4 years ago. The owner of this shrine came here 4 years ago.
• "Forest of Black Threads" → foreshadowing for Chapter 2, Black Rope Hell.
• "I do not wish to write" → there is no record of what happened to them (=annihilation or transformation).

This clue is the first thread of the campaign-wide plot. At this moment, the PCs realize, "It is not only our domain."

#Step 5 - Face the Ancient Oni (60 minutes)

#Identity of the Ancient Oni (GM Only)

This oni's name is Nishima Hosei (西間 鳳栖). In life, he was the commanding onmyoji of the Ganan Nanguk domain 4 years ago. After the domain fell into the Spirit Realm, his domain was annihilated, and he transformed into an oni (core rules) and remained in this shrine. He is both the shrine's master and the one who left its records.

He has no malice toward the PCs. If anything, he wants to pass on what he saw and learned. However, because he is now an oni, conversation is difficult (Negotiation check, Target Number 15 required).

#Choice A: When Conversation Succeeds

What the oni tells the PCs:

"Your domain also fell. ... Beyond this plateau - there is a Forest of Black Threads. There - there is an answer. Not an answer - a possibility that may become an answer. ... Your onmyoji is - dying. Your lord - has not yet decided. One side - will have to be chosen. I also - could not choose. That is why - I became this."

After this conversation, the oni self-destructs. The PCs can harvest this Elite-grade yoma's core, but the moment they harvest it, a Three Ways and Six Hearts tendency branch triggers:

#Choice B: When Combat Happens

The ancient oni uses the "regenerating oni" template (see 10-06). Even if its Wounds reach 0, it recovers after 2 rounds with Wounds 3 (1 time).

The PCs must drop it twice. In this process:

• 1~2 squad members may be killed
• 1~2 PCs may be severely wounded (Wounds 1 remaining)
• Gensho's remote-barrier extraction trigger may be met (Barrier HP -5)

When defeated, stable core harvest check, Target Number 15. On success, gain a core worth +30 recovery.

#Choice C: When Evasion Is Chosen

Withdrawal check, Target Number 13. On success:

• leave the ruins but keep the clue
• Exposure +3 additional
• the ancient oni does not pursue (he is bound to the shrine)

On failure, combat is forced (switch to Choice B).

#Step 6 - Return - The Distant Domain (30 minutes)

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#Success / Failure Branches

#What "Success" Looks Like

#Barrier HP Changes (Act 3 Settlement)

When Act 3 ends, Barrier HP may be close to full. This is intentional design - so Act 4 can create the story of a Lord-grade yoma cutting it down at once.

#Onmyoji Weakening Changes

#Resident Morale Changes

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#GM Controls - Act 3-Specific Cautions

#Drama of Delivering the Clue

The inscription-deciphering scene is the narrative core of this whole chapter. In this single scene, the PCs learn that "it is not only our domain." The GM should:

1. Not make the deciphering check too easy. On failure, provide a detour through another check (read it as a "feeling" with Perception or Exorcism).
2. Read slowly. Pause 2~3 seconds after each sentence.
3. Read "I do not wish to write" the slowest.

#Staging the Ancient Oni Nishima Hosei

Nishima is not an enemy. The GM must clearly understand this. When the PCs grasp this fact, the emotional center of the chapter stands.

• The oni's speech is short and broken. Like "Your - domain also - fell."
• His body slowly breaks apart. The longer the conversation continues, the more fragments fall away.
• His eyes are clear. They are not oni eyes. They are human eyes.

#Staging the Cadence of Revival

• Do not overdo the description of wounds opening again. Keep it to the level of "color returns to the blood."
• When an acknowledgment check succeeds, ask the PC what they acknowledged. The answer reveals the character's Heart (心).
• If acknowledgment check failures repeat, the GM asks the PC, "What are you afraid to face in this moment?"

#Weight of Squad Deaths

If a squad member dies in Act 3, they must have a name. If up to Act 2 they were only "four squad members," immediately give the dead one a name. Example: "Uchida Kogiro, born a farmer, father of two children."

This name is remembered through Act 4 and into the next chapter.

#Pacing Adjustments

#Crisis Management - Preventing a Second Wipeout

For a 1st~2nd-dan PC party, an Elite-grade yoma is dangerous. If 2 or more PCs fall to Wounds 1 or lower:

1. The ancient oni says "enough" and withdraws (but this scenario is possible only after at least 1 successful conversation).
2. A squad member charges in their place · 1 person dies instantly to save the PCs.
3. The ruins collapse and force an escape (only half the clue secured).

#Avoiding Tone Traps

• Do not explain the clue too explicitly. Do not have the GM directly say that the "Forest of Black Threads" is Chapter 2; let the players infer it.
• Do not overuse Nishima as a symbol of tragedy. He exists for one scene. Emotional excess makes the weight lighter.
• Do not treat the Blood Plateau like horror. The center is sorrow, not fear.

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#Session-End Declaration

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#Bridge to Act 4

After the session ends, the GM previews one sentence before the next session:

"That night, the barrier shook hard once. Someone - from outside - knocked on the barrier."

This one sentence foreshadows the crimson kooni siege in Act 4.

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#Next

• Session 4 Climax (Act 4): 10-04 Act 4 - Night of the Barrier Raid
• Ancient oni details: 10-05 Chapter NPCs
• Elite-grade yoma stats: 10-06 Chapter Yoma
• Reviving Hell depth 2 effect: 03-06 Hell Guide

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"I do not - have - the answer. What I have - is only this body. I will - show you - this body." — Nishima Hosei (西間 鳳栖), the last onmyoji of a domain that fell 4 years ago, final words after transforming into an oni.