#The Gate of the Spirit Realm, Yoma Desires, Faction Responses
Contents
A good yoma does not move because it is "evil." It is frightening because it pushes its own law to the very end.
#Opening Vignette - Before the Gate That Will Not Close
The gate was not made of stone.
It was the mist at the riverbank, the black well at the castle ruin, the sound of a bell behind the temple that no one struck. Yet people called it a gate. Because something came from that side, and something vanished from this side.
The spearmen leveled their spear points toward the gate. The monks pasted talismans. The scholars drew lines and recorded the direction of the wind. The woman wearing the fox mask smiled and did nothing.
From within the mist a voice was heard.
"Do you think it has opened?"
No one answered.
"The places where you called us were already, all of them, gates."
With those words the mist lifted. The gate vanished. In its place remained only one verse of a song the children used to sing.
After that day, no one sang that song to the end.
#Scent - Desire Makes a Yoma Walk
A yoma moves by forces such as hunger, resentment, repetition, protection, homecoming, mimicry, and rumor. A human villain leaves orders and ambition, but a yoma leaves traces and taboos. Therefore a yoma's aim is usually expressed in a single sentence.
- "I eat the names that enter this river."
- "I take back the road of this mountain."
- "I repeat until the name that killed me is called again."
- "I return before the gate closes."
- "I live like a human in a human house."
When desire is clear, a yoma remains even after the battle ends.
#Law - The 8 Axes of Yoma Desire
| Desire | Explanation | Expression Outside Combat |
|---|---|---|
| Devour | Takes flesh, blood, dreams, fear, memory, name, and rumor. | The victim has not vanished but is emptying out. |
| Guard | Guards mountain, river, grave, bridge, house, and sealed ground. | Cruel only to intruders, regular toward residents. |
| Repay | Repays death, betrayal, insult, and being forgotten. | The object of resentment does not change. |
| Repeat | Continues a last action or a sequence within a kaidan. | The same sound, number, road, and line return. |
| Gain a name | Fixes its existence through more sighting accounts. | The more the rumor spreads, the wider its range of appearance. |
| Be released | Escapes a seal, contract, place, or season. | Asks for help, but after release can become a calamity. |
| Imitate | Mimics love, family, occupation, faith, and art. | The most human scene is the most ominous. |
| Roll back | Restores an old era, an old mountain road, an old throne. | Tries to erase human settlement and records. |
#The Gate of the Spirit Realm - Meaning by Type
| Yoma Type | The Gate of the Spirit Realm |
|---|---|
| Oni / battlefield yoma | A supply line. A road where blood and violence circulate. |
| Tengu / mountain yoma | A boundary line. Punishes humans who cross it; becomes a calamity when yoma descend. |
| Onryo / undead | A drain and a backflow vent. Unresolved death flows out or returns. |
| Tsukumogami | A breath. The energy of the Spirit Realm enters an old object and it awakens. |
| Yoko / shapeshifting yoma | A stage. Gains a mask to blend into the human world. |
| Sea / river yoma | A tide. Becomes a gate when waterways and the Spirit Realm overlap. |
| Ancient-god-rank yoma | A seal and a throne. Returns when the gate opens; lies hidden when it closes. |
| Modern yoma | More a transmission passage than a physical gate. Stations, tunnels, screens, message boards, and anonymous rumors serve as the gate. |
#Gates by Era
| Era | How the Gate Appears |
|---|---|
| Heian | Interpreted as court taboos, yin-yang omens, and the directions of the night. |
| Sengoku | Control collapses through war and ruin, leaking and tearing. |
| Edo | Becomes the object of administration, Blockade, and censorship, and bypasses through alleys and kaidan. |
| Modern | The manner of transmission becomes more important than place. The rumor network becomes a small gate. |
#co Faction Response Table
| Faction | Oni / Battlefield | Mountain / Nature | Onryo / Undead | Shapeshift / Rumor | Application to Modern Yoma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kagura Domain | Subjugation / Blockade | Build a mountain-castle defense line | Isolate by military law | Track as an intelligence target | Handle as a public-order incident |
| Hiei League | Exorcism battle | Recover the holy ground | Liberation / sealing | Define as a cult | See it not as superstition but as contamination |
| Enryokan | Dangerous but studied | Negotiation first | Investigate the circumstances | Classify and record | See it as folklore / parapsychology material |
| Biu Mountain | Drinking parties and alliance possible | Share the mountain boundary | Use but keep at a distance | Handles it best | Make the rumor network a hiding place |
| Sakai Guild | Trade in yoma material | Distribute mountain produce | Relic trade is dangerous | Circulate rumors | Spread through media and commercialization |
| Kunitomo Guild | Weaponize spirit cores | Capture devices | Develop sealing devices | Develop Perception devices | Combine with screens, telegraph, and machines |
#Operation - The Mastermind's First Sentence
When making a yoma mastermind, do not look at values first; write the first sentence.
| First Sentence | Result |
|---|---|
| "He wishes the war would never end." | Goes toward battlefield oni, an onryo general, and a castle-ruin organization. |
| "She punishes the village that forgot her name." | Goes toward an onryo, a guardian yoma, and a resolution-type ending. |
| "It dies if the gate closes." | Goes toward a seal-breaking conspiracy and both faces of pity and calamity. |
| "They make humans keep telling tales of them." | Goes toward a kaidan organization and an Edo / modern rumor campaign. |
#Closing Words
To stop a yoma, before the blade you must know through which gate its desire comes and goes.