#Chapter 3 Act 3 - Underwater Wreckage Exploration ★ Discovery of the Core Narrative

Contents

What did the domain cover 100 years ago? This act teaches that. This act changes the spine of the campaign.

GM imprint: this act is the most important session in this entire supplement. Run it only after reviewing the information-release order, emotional staging, and check difficulties.

Core References

- Required: Underwater Zones · Non-Combat Checks

- Reference: Enmadoji Seal

In This Supplement

- Full picture: Premise Spoiler

- NPCs: 12-05 Souls of the Sunken Fishing Village

- Enemies: 12-06 Sinking Souls and Melted Fisherman

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#Act Meta Card

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#Goals of Act 3

Investigate three zones and gradually learn the existence of the seal and the truth from 100 years ago.

1. Zone A - Fishing-Village Outskirts (traces of life, everyday tragedy)
2. Zone B - Village Main Hall (200 sets of remains, evidence of organized "handling")
3. Zone C - Lakebed Daijingu Site (sealing stone body, original records)

In each zone, gain one fragment of the truth. When the three fragments come together, the full picture is revealed.

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#Underwater Environmental Rules (New)

※ New Rule - Underwater Exploration

#Residence Time

• Basic breathing talisman 1 sheet = 60 minutes of residence
• Superior breathing talisman 1 sheet = 120 minutes of residence
• When talismans are exhausted, a return-to-surface check (difficulty 8) is required

#Underwater Movement

• Movement reduced to 1/2
• Melee attack checks -1
• Ranged attacks -2 (except steam bullets)
• Spells and rites function as normal (but "sound-producing spells" are targets for the Screaming Hell surface's response)

#Underwater Damage Amplification

• Fire attacks are negated (heated water cannot be used as fire)
• Bare skin touching boiling water = 1 damage per round (outside heatproof light armor coverage)
• Electric shock attacks deal +2 damage (water conducts)

#Underwater Conditions

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#Act 3 Scene Order

#Scene 1 - Entering Underwater (15~20 minutes)

Situation:

Dawn. The sea is still boiling. On the boat, the PCs entrust themselves to the water-gate talismans. Following the method given by the onmyoji, three PCs or more lower the water-gate talismans onto the surface and recite the spell.

#Check: Opening the Water Gate (Wisdom + Sorcery or Barrier)

• Difficulty 7
• Success: part of the surface becomes a stillness zone (diameter 5m, lasts 5 minutes). Within it, the boiling stops. PCs can dive.
• Failure: 2 attempts possible. If both 2 fail, underwater entry is delayed by 1 session (return, then try again).

#Descent Description (Recommended Read-Aloud)

"You pass through the surface. The red water becomes deep green as you descend. A few steps farther down, below you - the outline of roofs, the texture of roof tiles, the straight lines of roads, and one tree still standing. A fishing village. Exactly as it was 100 years ago."

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#Scene 2 - Zone A: Fishing-Village Outskirts (40~50 minutes) ★ Fragment 1

Location: village entrance. A half-collapsed torii. Inside it, about 10 houses. A road. A small well.

Discovery circuit:

#Discovery 1 - Well

• At the well entrance is an old Japanese-script inscription, neither kana nor Chinese characters(homegaki). "This well is offered to the goddess of water - Keicho 6."
• Inside the well: 3 sets of bones locked together in an embrace. Small ones and large ones. Not a posture of trying to run, but trying to hide.

#Discovery 2 - House 1 (Fisher Family)

• A pot hangs in the kitchen. Fish remains there - time stopped.
• On the table are traces of an interrupted meal. Chopsticks have fallen.
• A child's drawing on the wall: coast, boat, big fish. Everything looks peaceful.

#Discovery 3 - House 2 (Fishing Gear Storehouse)

• Nets hang from the ceiling - unused.
• Fisher registry: 34 names. None of them have the surname "Kamijo" (meaning they were not main-family residents, but immigrants or branch descendants).

#Check: Clue Collection (Wisdom + Perception)

• Difficulty 7
• On success: confirm all 3 discoveries, gain Fragment 1.
• Partial success: only 2.
• Failure: 1. The rest cannot be re-explored later.

#Combat Encounter: Sinking Souls (Household Encounter)

• At the well or House 2, 1~2 sinking souls appear (see 12-06)
• Low-level encounter. Easy for 4th-dan PCs.
• After victory, gain 1 small core. The spirits whisper "why did you wake us" and vanish.

#Handout #4 - Fragment 1 (Fisher Registry)

"Mizuura fisher registry, Keicho 7, end of summer. 34 names. All born in our village, or brought here by storm winds. No one in the domain has ever spoken these names. Not one character. Not once."

Lead player interpretation: "Why are these names absent from domain records?"

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#Scene 3 - Zone B: Village Main Hall (50~60 minutes) ★ Fragment 2

Location: central village plaza. Medium-sized shrine(神社). The door is locked from the outside - old wooden bar, horizontal beam.

Movement: 5 minutes from Zone A to B. Breathing talisman consumption check.

#Check: Inspecting the Bar (Wisdom + Perception)

• Difficulty 6
• On success: many sword marks on the outside of the bar. Traces that someone inside pounded outward from within.

#Inside the Shrine - 200 Sets of Remains

Open the door. Inside is a pile of bones - roughly 200 sets if counted.

Most are gathered toward the inner wall. Postures that show they were trying to flee toward the door. In several cases, fingernails are embedded in the door planks.

#Discovery 1 - Broken Door

• Marks from pounding from the inside. Several fingernails embedded. People locked in while alive.

#Discovery 2 - Central Altar

• On the altar rests one black stone. About the size of a human head. Its surface is packed with ancient characters.
• The stone is 1 fragment of the sealing stone. The players do not know what it is yet.

#Discovery 3 - Stone Chamber Below the Altar

• A hidden stone chamber beneath the altar floor. Found with a search check, difficulty 7.
• Inside the chamber: one 100-year-old scroll, 1 bronze seal, one ritual text.

#Check: Searching the Stone Chamber (Wisdom + Perception)

• Difficulty 7
• Success: obtain scroll, seal, and ritual text
• Partial success: scroll only
• Failure: blank (no later re-exploration)

#Combat Encounter: Melted Fisherman Chief (Fixed Combat)

When the PCs approach the altar, 1 Melted Fisherman chief + 3~4 remnants appear. See 12-06.

The chief was once this shrine's shaman. He shouts "intruders" and attacks. But sadness is mixed into his attacks.

#Negotiation Alternative

• Check: Personality + Empathy, difficulty 8
• On success: avoid combat. The chief asks, "Do you forgive us?" The PC's response is imprinted.
• "I forgive you" → the chief scatters and provides 1 additional clue about the sealing-stone fragment
• "I do not forgive you" → the chief turns to attack (combat)
• "Why were you locked in?" → chief's monologue scene (read Handout #5)

#Handout #5 - Fragment 2 (Ritual Text)

"Keicho 7, full-moon night of the 8th lunar month. Under the supervision of domain Hoshino Ugen(星野有源, ancestor of onmyoji Gensho), the Mizuura sealing rite is performed. Led by seven ritualists. Offering: 200 village residents. The nature of the seal is not recorded. However, there is a phrase stating that 'one of the stone's three axes' is buried in this land.

After the sealing, the village is to be treated as never having existed. Families will be told that it sank in storm winds. All records will be burned."

Player shock points:

1. 200 residents were used as offerings
2. The supervisor was the ancestor of onmyoji Gensho
3. "The stone's three axes" - hint of the Enmadoji Seal (name does not appear yet, X)

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#Scene 4 - Movement Between Zones + Brief Council (15 minutes)

Situation:

The PCs are still shocked from Zone B. Half of the breathing talismans remain. Choose whether to keep descending or return.

#Check: Choice Council (Roleplay Among PCs)

GM intervention:

• If they choose to return: re-enter the Daijingu site at the start of the next session. However, if they have Kasakura's Negotiation eligibility, his guidance gives approach speed +1 day.
• If they press on: enter Zone C. Talisman consumption accelerates.

Recommended: pressing on fits the session volume. But respect player choice.

#GM Line (Recommended Monologue)

"(NPC Gakuten) 'Merchant, if you return with this discovery, can the young lord's heart endure it? But if you continue... there may be something worse.'"

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#Scene 5 - Zone C: Lakebed Daijingu Site (60~80 minutes) ★ Fragment 3 + Sealing Stone Body

Location: vertically deeper from the center of the fishing village. The abyss of the lakebed. Depth 150~200m.

Movement difficulty: Mental Save Target Number 8. On failure, 1 character enters Panic.

#Arrival - Shrine of the Abyss

A huge structure that was not visible from the fishing village. At the deep bottom, where a mountain should be, there is a shrine. It looks like a mirror image of the core-world Hoshino Shrine on the surface. It is exactly that place - directly below the surface shrine.

#Sealing Stone Body

At the center of the shrine is a black megalith. The size of 3 people. Its surface is carved with thousands of characters. Some are glowing. Some have been scratched - traces that someone tried to erase them.

Around the stone pillars, threads of sealing energy still turn. But they have weakened. Proof that one of the three axes has come loose.

#Check: Decoding Sealing-Stone Records (Wisdom + Sorcery or Barrier)

• Difficulty 9 (highest difficulty in this chapter)
• Up to 3 participating PCs (group check)
• Success: obtain complete record. Full text of Handout #6.
• Partial success: 2/3 of the record. Enmadoji's name is missing.
• Failure: 1/3. Name, date, and numbers are all estimates.

Possible assisting elements:

• Study Handout #5 (ritual text) carefully → +1
• Gakuten NPC accompanies them → +1
• Bring the "black stone fragment" from Zone B → +1
• Successful Kasakura Negotiation (Act 2) → +1 (information connection)

#Handout #6 - Fragment 3 (Sealing Stone Body Inscription)

"In Keicho 7, ancestor Hoshino Ugen placed one of the three axes of the Enmadoji(閻魔堂寺) seal here. The target of the seal is not specified. However, to maintain this, a village of 200 people was covered as the price.

Cover this place with a shrine on the surface, and let no one know.

Once every 100 years, a direct Hoshino descendant shall perform the confirmation rite. If this inscription fades, one axis of the seal has come loose.

If two of the three axes come loose - it awakens.

Do not write its name."

Immediate imprint points for players:

1. "One of the seal's three axes" - two more exist besides this sealing stone. Somewhere in the core world.
2. "A village of 200 people was covered as the price" - the ancestors of the domain used the entire village as an offering.
3. "Awakening condition" - because one axis has already come loose, this seal weakened and the domain was "dragged" into the Spirit Realm.
4. "Do not write its name" - the target of the seal, the being the players will face in Act 4.

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#Scene 6 - First Encounter with Kyoukan Daiou (20~30 minutes, Session End)

Situation:

The moment the sealing stone's records are decoded, some of the glowing characters on the stone pillar suddenly light up. As if someone has awakened.

The underwater floor begins to vibrate. From the deep darkness behind the sealing stone, the outline of something enormous appears faintly. A form over 30m long. It opens six eyes.

#Boss Preview: Kyoukan Daiou (12-06)

Do not start direct combat, X. Preview only.

Kyoukan Daiou is still bound, restrained by the final two axes of the seal. But it senses the PCs' presence. It speaks - in the voice of one PC. The GM chooses the target PC, and recites words tied to that PC's past pain and regret.

#Selecting the Target PC

The GM chooses the PC whose Heart is most easily shaken among the players. Quote the "most painful memory" from that PC's character sheet.

#Kyoukan Daiou's First Words (Examples)

"[PC name]... you covered it too. That thing."

Or:

"100 years have passed. Do you still do the same thing?"

This line should induce player panic. The GM calls for a Heart wavering check (difficulty 8) from that PC.

#Check: Heart Wavering Resistance (Mental Save)

• Difficulty 8
• Success: safe return. Heart wavering +0.
• Failure: Heart wavering +2. At Act 4 start, that PC's Heart is unstable.

#Emergency Return

Kyoukan Daiou's binding is not yet broken. The PCs make an emergency return with the sealing-stone records. Re-enter in the next session, Act 4.

#Return Check: Emergency Ascent (Endurance + Calm, group)

• Difficulty 7
• Success: safe ascent.
• Failure: spend 1 additional breathing talisman, or 1 PC enters Panic.

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#Scene 7 - Return to the Surface + Return to the Domain (15 minutes)

Situation:

They rise to the surface. Steam swirls around you. The boat is still tied to the ruins. Kasakura's ghost ship floats at a distance - he keeps silent.

The PCs hold the original sealing-stone records(or fragments). The truth of 100 years.

Return voyage to the domain - takes 1 day with no event. Brief narration.

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#Scene 8 - Report to the Domain (20~30 minutes) ★ Emotional Center

Location: domain meeting hall. Night. Lord Akihisa and onmyoji Gensho sit facing one another.

Situation:

The PCs report what they found. What the players say, and how, is the PCs' choice. Core information:

1. Mizuura fishing village existed (Keicho 7)
2. It was covered by the domain
3. 200 residents were offerings
4. There is a sealing stone - one of the three axes of the Enmadoji Seal
5. One axis of the seal has already come loose (the cause of the domain's drifting)
6. The seal's target still sleeps (Kyoukan Daiou)

#Young Lord Akihisa's Reaction (GM Performance ★)

"...You are saying our ancestors did this."

(Silence for 3 seconds. His hand trembles. But his posture does not break.)

"Then with what must the name of this domain be washed?"

"Tomorrow morning, I will decide. Rest tonight. I will... I will ask my ancestors."

#Onmyoji Gensho's Reaction (GM Performance ★)

"...The journal of Founder Ugen(祖師) was left to me. I did not read it. My master's master said, 'do not read it.' Now I know why."

(He kneels. The Barrier trembles for an instant.)

"Did this Barrier I have maintained all this time know? That its descendant was covering the seal over and over again."

#Player Choice in This Scene (Important)

• "We will bear this burden" → Akihisa's Heart → 義・眞. Helps the return ending.
• "This is not our responsibility" → resident morale -1. Room for transformation or settlement.
• "We will take another path" → toward the settlement ending. The will to build a new land.

Record this choice. Reference it in Act 4 and Chapter 5.

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#Act 3 End Conditions

• Sealing-stone records (full text or fragments) obtained
• Kyoukan Daiou's existence confirmed
• Report to the domain complete
• Akihisa's reaction recorded

All satisfied → enter Act 4 Huge Being at the Lakebed.

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#Act 3 Failure Branches

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#Act 3 Main Check Summary

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#Act 3 Handout Summary

It is recommended to print each handout on paper and place it on the table. The tactile act of players touching and reading them imprints the importance of this act.

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#Tone and Atmosphere of Act 3

#Keywords

• Time stopped - the fishing village has been stopped for 100 years. The moment the PCs enter, 100 years begin flowing again.
• Traces of choice, not traces of violence - the horror of this chapter is not bloodshed, but a bar. "Someone locked it from outside."
• Faces of ancestors - Gensho's ancestors, the ancestors of the Kamijo family. They have no faces, but their decisions pushed you here.

#Staging Tips

• Prepare all 3 read-aloud materials. Stage the truth so its weight increases three times.
• Change background music 2 times: Zone A (calm underwater sound), Zone B (tension), Zone C (low-frequency rumble).
• Catch the moment when players begin asking "why?" After that, the GM should speak less and answer with handouts.

#Avoid

• Immediate full reveal - giving all 3 fragments at once is forbidden. Give a steady shock in each zone.
• Over-explanation by NPCs - if Gakuten explains everything, discovery loses its taste. Secure time for player inference.
• Immediate start of battle with Kyoukan Daiou - delay it to Act 4. Here, give only foreboding.

#Caution on Onmyoji's Line Timing

Gensho's reaction must come after information is revealed. If he says "I know" in advance, the shock of discovery weakens. Gensho collapses under ancestral responsibility after hearing the PCs' report - that order matters.

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#Act 3 Ending Read-Aloud (For GM)

Immediately before ending the session:

"Night is deep. The lanterns in the meeting hall sway without wind. The young lord turns his back and looks somewhere. The onmyoji lowers his head and chooses one long breath. In your hands are three sheets of paper. One of them is written in blood from 100 years ago. Outside is a spring night, but in the middle of the room you keep hearing the sound of boiling water. Perhaps you will keep hearing it from now on. That is the new sound of this domain."

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#GM Checklist - Act 3 Completion Conditions (★ Most Important in the Whole Campaign)

• [ ] The concepts of sealing stone, Enmadoji, and three axes reached the players
• [ ] The fact of 200 offerings was delivered emotionally
• [ ] Akihisa's first reaction was recorded (one of 3 patterns)
• [ ] Gensho's ancestor's involvement was recognized by the players
• [ ] Kyoukan Daiou's existence and foreboding were conveyed
• [ ] Heart wavering check was made for the target PC
• [ ] Players are both afraid of and looking forward to the next session

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#How the Campaign Changes After This Act

1. Collapse of domain pride - the "peaceful land that never fought even one war" was in truth "peace built on one great sin."
2. Acceleration of Gensho's fate - after this discovery, he weakens faster. He believes he must carry the sin of his ancestors himself.
3. Akihisa's growth - his Heart begins to be decided. Will he become not a child, but a lord? Or something else?
4. Connection to the core world - of the three axes of the Enmadoji Seal, the other two axes are in the core world. Players gain one more reason to return: to protect the remaining seals.

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"What lies below the water is not the past. It is something not yet ended." — Hoshino Gensho, monologue immediately after decoding the sealing-stone records

"Do not write that name yet. When you meet it, that name will find you." — One line from the oldest inscription on the sealing stone