#Chapter 4 — Rewards, Domain Changes, and Bridge to Chapter 5

Contents

The yield of Chapter 4. PC growth, domain changes, Return Clues 2 and 3, ending-branch clues, and the road to Chapter 5 Avici.

Core References

- Required: Chapter 4 Overview · Act 4 Climax · Enmadoji Seal · 10th-dan Renown Title

- Reference: premise · ending branches · Chapter 5 · design notes · 10th-dan boundary

- In this supplement: NPCs · Yoma Bestiary · Shonetsu-ryu school

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#Reward Overview

This chapter's rewards fall into 4 categories:

1. PC growth — dan advancement, techniques, imprints
2. Domain resources — cores, Barrier HP, residents
3. Return Clues — Enmadoji Seal map (Axes 2 and 3)
4. School unlock — Shonetsu-ryu initiation becomes available

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#1. PC Growth

#Dan Advancement

#Baseline Advancement (Combat and Check Accumulation)

Across the 4 acts of this chapter, the PCs pass through a cumulative 8~10 combat hours × 15~20 major checks. This accumulation lets most PCs reach 9th dan.

#9th-Dan Achievement Clues (Special)

#10th-Dan Advancement Block (Reconfirmation)

⚠ 10th-dan advancement is deferred in this chapter.

Even if check results satisfy the 10th-dan conditions, the GM treats it as "not yet."

• Related document: design notes — 10th-dan Renown Title boundary
• Related core: 10th-dan Renown Title system

#Narrative Direction for the 10th-Dan Deferral

GM read-aloud example:

"You could have taken one more step. Knowledge lifts you. But — something inside you stops. Not yet."

"You feel it — something almost within reach. It will become yours. But not here. In another place, at another moment. Until then, you hold this prepared state."

A deferred PC unlocks 10th dan immediately before Chapter 5 Act 4. Play up to that point determines the nature of that attainment.

#Techniques · Imprints

#Izanagi's "Sword of Weeping(泣の剣)"

• Acquisition condition: fought alongside Izanagi in Act 3, or reached deep empathy with him
• Effect: whenever the sword is swung, the name of the person being cut comes to mind. +3 to infer Hellfire Soldier names
• Equipment: requires a sword-type weapon

#Atobe Reika's "Ash Sealing Method"

• Acquisition condition: an onmyoji or priest PC spoke with Reika's ash and received "part of the ash" from the Act 2 choices
• Effect: grants reversion resistance to Exorcism spells. Blocks 50% of Exorcism reflection.
• Material: 1 packet of Reika's ash (effect ends when consumed)

#Mirror Imprint(鏡刻)

• Acquisition condition: a PC saw all three streets in Act 3
• Effect: attack damage against the Great Dharma King of Shonetsu +2. Also, before the Chapter 5 Avici "nameless door," the whole party gains mental resistance +2.
• Permanent imprint.

#Ashen Skin Imprint(灰肌刻)

• Acquisition condition: a PC reached accumulated Reversion Residue 16+ but resisted
• Effect: fire and heat resistance -1. Perception +2. Appearance: a faint ash pattern on the skin.
• Permanent imprint. Negative for some players — optional.

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#2. Domain Resources

#Barrier HP Changes

Standard ending: Barrier HP enters at 35 → ends at 70~80 (release ending) or 50~60 (killing ending).

#Core Stock

#High-Purity Core

• Great Dharma King's core 1 — the campaign's highest grade
• Use: major Barrier reinforcement 1 time (+60), or Chapter 5 sealing material
• Caution: consumed on use. 1-use.

#Unstable Cores

• Accumulate from Burning Souls, Ash Soldiers, Hellfire Soldiers, Renshu, and similar enemies
• Total: expected gain of 15~22 cores

#Resident Changes

#Resident Morale

Resident morale shifts greatly depending on how the PCs tell the story of Kitamiyama.

#Onmyoji Weakening

• +1 fixed during this chapter (spiritual pressure)
• At the moment of the Great Dharma King's release, the onmyoji experiences the strongest resonance remotely — possible weakening +2
• Note: by the end of this chapter, onmyoji weakening is 6~7. Chapter 5 entry is possible, but dangerous.

#Lord Akihisa

• Three Ways and Six Hearts Heart(心) axis decided (result of Akihisa's Act 4 choice)
• Appearance change: no longer a "young" lord. His speech hardens.
• Dan: 7th~8th dan, aligned with the PC average.

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#3. Return Clues — Enmadoji Seal Map Axes 2 and 3 ★ Core Reward of This Chapter

#Physical Map Rule

The map gained in Act 4 4.3 is a permanent possession of the PC party. A physical handout is recommended.

#Map Information Details

#Axis 1 — Kagamiyama Mirror Pond (Existing)

• Location: bottom of Mirror Pond at the northern end of Kagamiyama Domain
• State: still sleeping. Connected to the PCs' domain.
• Function: the true form of Chapter 5's "nameless door."
• Information already known from Chapter 3. Reconfirmed in this chapter.

#Axis 2 — Hida Mountain Sealing Site (New · Gained in This Chapter)

• Location: a specific mountain in southern Hida Province. Exact coordinates marked on the map.
• State: already released. This release is the direct cause of the Kagamiyama drift.
• Function: there may currently be another drifted domain at that location. It may be Uta's place of origin (GM discretion).
• Player interpretation: "There may be people there who fell in the same way we did."

#Axis 3 — Unknown Southwestern Region (New · Inferred)

• Location: southwestern Japan in the core setting. Exact coordinates unknown. A question mark is shown on the map.
• State: sleeping. No sign that it has begun to open.
• Function: if this one opens — "it" wakes up (the sealed target).
• Inference clue: on the line connecting Axis 1 and Axis 2, it forms a "triangle vertex" relationship. The approximate region can be guessed.

#Complete/Incomplete Map

The acquisition level depends on the result of the decoding check in 4.3.

#Map Uses (Chapter 5 and Later)

• Option A Return: refer to the map while putting the Kagamiyama sealing stone(Axis 1) back to sleep. On complete decoding, success rate +30%.
• Option B Exchange Return: expands sacrifice-price options. One of Axes 2 or 3 marked on the map can be designated as the direction of sacrifice.
• Option C Settlement: the map is relatively less useful. However, locating Axis 3 is a clue to "finding another drifted domain in the future."
• Option D Transformation: study the map to guard the seal like the Great Dharma King. However, the PCs risk repeating the same failure.

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#4. Shonetsu-ryu(焦熱流) School Unlock

#Unlock Conditions

At the end of this chapter, if two or more of the following conditions are met, the PC party gains Shonetsu-ryu initiation eligibility.

• [ ] Great Dharma King release ending
• [ ] Received Izanagi's technique
• [ ] At least 1 PC saw all three streets
• [ ] Gained Ash of Atobe Reika's "Ash Sealing Method"
• [ ] Gained hellfire sword-fragment materials

#Shonetsu-ryu Overview

• Text: Shonetsu-ryu school details
• Core: the way of the sword that uses anger as fuel
• Traits: hellfire-attribute attacks, externalizing one's emotions, control of "fire that is not hot"
• On initiation, choose one PC — they become the teacher

#Teacher's Responsibility

A Shonetsu-ryu teacher must practice emotion management. Because it uses anger as fuel, failing to control anger causes self-exhaustion.

• Anger management check (1 time per week): Mind Target Number 13
• On failure: exposure +1
• Long term: after 10th dan, adds Shonetsu Renown Title to the Renown Title options.

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#5. Special Acquisitions — Details

#Shonetsu Relics and Materials

#Additional Finds in the Study

In addition to the map, the Great Dharma King's study contains 20 research notebooks. Most have become ash, but a few remain intact.

To carry all of these notes away, reversion resistance +3 or higher is required (the paper has become too fragile). A holder of Reika's ash can move them.

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#6. Bridge to Chapter 5

#Core Message to Carry Forward

The single narrative core carried into Chapter 5:

"This drift was not an accident. Wherever a seal opens, a domain falls."

— Great Dharma King of Shonetsu, final words.

This sentence plants the direct statement of the Enmadoji Seal in the PC party. The PCs can connect that the true form of Chapter 5's "nameless door" is a sealing stone.

#Delivery Method

• After the PCs return to the domain, they deliver this sentence to Akihisa and Gensho at the domain council
• Gensho's reaction: collapse. He connects that his ancestors were the ones who built the seal. "I... feel the weight of my role fully for the first time."
• Akihisa's reaction: resolute. "We must return in order to guard this seal."

#Chapter 5 Entry Conditions

• This chapter complete ✓
• Enmadoji map acquired ✓
• Great Dharma King's final words received ✓
• Domain council complete ✓

If all are met → enter Chapter 5 — Avici.

#Chapter 5 Ending-Branch Clues (Presented)

At the end of this chapter, each PC's ending tendency can be estimated:

GM Caution: this tendency is not fixed. In Chapter 5, PCs can reverse their choices. This chapter is only foreshadowing.

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#7. Domain Changes Summary Table

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#8. Next-Chapter Preview Hook

#Session-End Read-Aloud (GM)

Immediately before the final session of this chapter ends, read the following:

"You are seated in the domain council hall. The map is spread before you. Three points. One of them is your domain. The other two are — places you have not yet seen."

"Night is deep. Onmyoji Gensho kneels before the Barrier. His hands tremble. But he says — 'I can still do it. One more time. Just one more time.'"

"Young Lord Akihisa — no longer young — looks at you. He says, 'We go to find the nameless door. Together with you.'"

"Your Barrier can hold one more time. Your onmyoji can stand one more time. Your lord has decided."

"What waits behind that door — you already half suspect. And that suspicion frightens you."

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#9. GM Checklist (Chapter End)

#Chapter 4 Completion Check

• [ ] Great Dharma King confrontation result fixed (release/killing/defeat)
• [ ] Enmadoji Seal map acquired (record decoding level)
• [ ] Great Dharma King's final words delivered
• [ ] Domain council/report complete
• [ ] Akihisa Heart axis decision fixed
• [ ] Onmyoji weakening updated
• [ ] Each PC's dan, imprints, and techniques updated
• [ ] 10th-dan deferral processed (applicable PCs)
• [ ] Uta's whereabouts decided
• [ ] Shonetsu-ryu school unlock checked
• [ ] Resident morale updated
• [ ] Chapter 5 hook read aloud

#Information Revealed to Players Check

• [ ] Players have heard the name Enmadoji
• [ ] They know the seal has a 3-axis structure
• [ ] They know Axis 1 has already opened (cause of the Kagamiyama drift)
• [ ] They know "it" is the sealed target (name still unknown)
• [ ] They know there is a sealing stone beneath Kagamiyama Mirror Pond (since Chapter 3)

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#10. This Chapter's Place in the Overall Campaign

Chapter 4 is the campaign's psychological apex. Chapter 5 is its narrative apex.

In this chapter:

• PCs see their own futures (three mirrors)
• PCs learn Enmadoji (the map and explicit statement)
• PCs stand just before 10th dan (deferral)
• PCs' Three Ways and Six Hearts tilt decisively

Chapter 5 is the conclusion of all this. A PC who has passed through this chapter is a different PC in Chapter 5.

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#Links

• This chapter: Chapter 4 Overview
• Related acts: Acts 1~4 · 13-04 Climax
• NPCs: 13-05
• Monsters: 13-06
• Next chapter: Chapter 5 — Avici
• Core reference: Enmadoji Seal · 10th-dan Renown Title · design notes
• School: Shonetsu-ryu

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"You left Kitamiyama. But Kitamiyama does not leave you." — GM closing read-aloud.

"Three points on the map. One of them is your domain. The other two call to you." — Final sentence before entering Chapter 5.