#Temple and Shrine Sealing Network
Contents
Canon. An organization network that handles grudges, standing between the shogunate system and popular faith.
#Opening Scene — The Night of Reading Names
Three coffins sat in the temple courtyard. A shogunate doshin held out a ledger marked "drowning," but Head Priest Myokaku did not strike the wooden bell.
"This name is wrong."
"The record says otherwise," the doshin said.
Myokaku looked at the woman seated before a coffin. The woman knew her husband's name, but a different name was written in the ledger. If the funeral is performed incorrectly, the soul loses its way — and a soul that has lost its way knocks on someone's door.
Then the shrine's young miko handed a talisman to the PCs.
"The shogunate wants to close this incident. We must ensure that the dead depart under their own names."
One of the coffins knocked twice from inside. Not meaning it was still alive — meaning it had heard its name.
#Law — Using the Temple-Shrine Network
- This network is strong at settling grudges and closing doors rather than cutting down yoma.
- It cooperates with the shogunate but often conflicts with the shogunate's record erasure.
- Provide the PCs with purification and protection resources, but attach constraints: proper funerals, sacred ground, and observance of taboos.
#Faction Card
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Surface | Temple registration, funerals, shrine rites, village sacred-ground management |
| Hidden | Onryo purification, seal maintenance, Spirit Realm gate monitoring |
| Leadership | Head priests, shrine priests, onmyo advisors, shogunate liaison monks |
| Field | Exorcist monks, miko, cemetery caretakers, talisman couriers |
| Strengths | Purification, sealing, public trust, funeral standing |
| Weaknesses | Sectarian conflict, shogunate surveillance, funding issues, ancient taboos |
#Leadership and Structure
| Tier | Key Figure | Role | How to Run |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head priest | Shoren-in Myokaku | Funerals and grudge resolution | Has him worry about the soul's name before the shogunate |
| Shrine priest | Hayami Nobutane | Sacred ground and shimenawa management | Use as the figure who explains a location's taboos |
| Onmyo advisor | Tsuchimikado Sanehira | Interpreting ancient seals | Accurate but politically powerless specialist |
| Field practitioners | Exorcist monks and miko | Purification, talismans, civilian evacuation | The hands and feet that reduce civilian harm |
#Faction Trait
[Aptitude] Purification of the Name (名の浄化)
Temples and shrines call the name correctly before settling the grudge. Only when the dead depart under their own names does the door close.
Effect: +1 to purification, funeral, sealing, and name-verification checks against onryo, spirit-forms, grudges, and possession. Increases to +2 if the name of the deceased or the grudge is known precisely.
If a PC acquires this: 1/session, +3 to a purification or resistance check involving onryo or spirit-forms. After use, one of funeral rites, memorial offerings, or sacred-ground clearing must be handled as an actual scene. If skipped, the same grudge becomes fallout in the next scenario.
Applies to: Minion through Elite units and companion squads belonging to the Temple and Shrine Sealing Network treat this as an innate trait. When a Lord-grade NPC appears, place it in 1 General Trait slot.
#Companion Squads
All squads below apply Faction Trait [Aptitude] Purification of the Name.
#Talisman Couriers — Minion
Scent: Young acolytes who carry talismans between temples and shrines and lead frightened civilians to safety. They take paper and their hands, not a blade, for weapons, saving people first and closing the door afterward.
Wounds 1, Defense 11. Domination +2 (squad of 5).
Techniques:
- Talisman Distribution [Upkeep] — During the lull phase, 1 allied unit in the same zone gains +1 to its next spirit-form defense check.
- Evacuation Guidance [Kata] — When commanded. Move one civilian witness to a safe zone.
#Purification Practitioners — Veteran
Scent: Practitioners who bind an onryo's feet with nembutsu and shimenawa and open a path by calling the dead by their true names. They are hands that soothe a grudge rather than cut it, so when the sound of their wooden bell stops, the door opens again.
Wounds 2, Defense 12. Domination +3 (squad of 4).
Techniques:
- Nembutsu Barrier [Stance] — Sustained. The first attack check by an onryo or spirit-form in the same zone suffers -1.
- Name-Calling [Kata] — When commanded. 2d10 + Presence(+2) >= 13. Delay one grudge gimmick's effect by 1 breath.
#Leadership NPC: Shoren-in Myokaku — Elite
Scent: An aged head priest who worries about the name of the dead before the shogunate's ledger. He knows how to stop his wooden bell before a name written wrongly, and that single stubbornness gathers the network's practitioners in one direction.
Shoren-in Myokaku (照蓮院明覚) — Elite
Wounds 3, Defense 13, Energy 10
Courage+0, Finesse+1, Physique+1, Wisdom+3, Presence+3, Fate+2
Domination +4| Technique | Type | Energy | Check | Effect | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passage Nembutsu | [Kata] | 3 | 2d10+Presence vs target 2d10+Courage | Failing onryo or spirit-form suffers -1 to its next attack | 1/round |
| Shimenawa Raising | [Stance] | 2 | — | While sustained, the cost to enter or exit the same zone increases by +1 Energy | Stance sustained |
| Talisman Wall | [Technique] | Reservation 2/Improvised 3 | 2d10+Wisdom >= enemy attack | Negates hit. If the attack was spirit-form, on success the next purification check gains +1 | — |
Special:
- Does Not Forget the Name: If Myokaku knows the name of the incident's deceased, the first check in the grudge-resolution scene gains +2.
- Faction Trait: Myokaku holds [Aptitude] Purification of the Name as an innate trait.
#Light and Shadow
| Light | Shadow |
|---|---|
| Guards the boundary between the dead and the living | Temple registration can become a tool of control and discrimination |
| Resolves grudges to create outcomes without combat | Ancient taboos may silence victims |
| High public trust | Can be swayed by shogunate and merchant money |
#As PC Affiliation
A PC affiliated with temples or shrines sees incidents not as "what to cut" but as "whose name to properly send off." Investigation, funerals, purification, and civilian protection naturally become the campaign's center.
#As Primary Adversary
When used as an adversary, portray them not as corrupt religious power but as "people who cover over grudges to preserve order." The PCs must not destroy the sacred ground — they must expose the truth it conceals.
"Temples and shrines close the door. But before closing it, they must ask who was left outside."