#Spirit Gate

Contents

Summary. Entrance to the ex3 Chapter 02 folder.

#Opening Vignette — The Sealed Well

The well in the temple's rear garden had been blocked with stone three years ago. Even so, at every dawn the sound of a bucket rang out, and though no one had drawn water, the courtyard held wet footprints. The abbot did not call it a ghost. Call it a ghost and the villagers would come; let the villagers come and the shogunate would follow.

"Did you hear it again today?"

The young novice asked. The abbot turned his prayer beads. "I heard nothing."

"But the courtyard is wet."

"Say it rained."

At that moment the inspector's voice came from outside the gate. "It did not rain."

The inspector stood before the well with two attendants. An old seal-paper barely palm-sized held writing blurred with age, and below it new characters continued as if scratched by a fingernail. Do not close it. This is the way back.

From inside the well came a child's voice. "Reverend, did you remember my name today?"

The novice swallowed a cry. The abbot closed his eyes. The inspector did not re-affix the seal-paper. Instead he pressed his ear close to the gap between the wet stones.

"It hasn't been closed." He said. "It has merely been maintained."

That is how the gates of Edo open. Not by tearing wide — but by letting the sound of water, and names, and old grudges seep through a small crack. This chapter covers what that crack is called, who covers it, and in what moment it opens again.

#Scent — The Administration of the Crack

The gates of the Warring States opened in blood and fire; the gates of Edo remain in paperwork and censorship. They appear closed because someone covers them every day.

#Law — Handling Spirit Realm Incidents

Spirit Gates are treated as not fully closed, but manageable in scale by default.
Concealment is part of the incident structure; both success and failure generate follow-up scenes.
Incident grades determine authority to intervene and the intensity of record manipulation, not combat difficulty.

#Detailed Documents

The Gate That Would Not Close — The Edo Spirit Realm model.
The Shogunate's Concealment and Management — Exorcism, sealing, and record erasure.
Yoma Incident Classification and Handling — Shogunate-style incident grades.

"Edo's gate was not closed. It is merely managed as though it were."