#Sengoku Yoma Ecology
Contents
The baseline era of this volume is the Sengoku. Heian, Edo, and the modern age are all auxiliary mirrors for interpreting this central axis.
#Opening Fragment - The Grass After War
In the field below the castle, the grass grew late even when spring came.
The farmers said it was because the soil was steeped in too much blood. The monks said it was because the funerals had been delayed. The foot soldiers said nothing. For night after night, they had heard a voice in the field calling their own names.
One day, young grass sprang up all at once. But at the tips of those blades, instead of dew, small teeth were set. When an ox grazed that grass, a sound of breaking spears came from inside its mouth.
From that year on, that field would not eat horses. It chose only human footprints to eat.
#Scent - The Sengoku Is Far Too Good an Era for Yoma
The Sengoku era is a calamity for humans, but for yoma it is an age of overflowing food. War makes grudges, famine summons gaki, and ruined castles leave armor and nameless death. Mountain paths and borders grow unstable, villages go unprotected, and the Gate of the Spirit Realm has no chance to close.
But there is an important boundary. War is something humans waged. Yoma exploit war, react to war, and eat what war leaves behind, but the cause of a historical war is not laid on the yoma.
#Law - Sources of Sengoku Yoma
| Source | Yoma Aspect | Recommended Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Battlefield | gaki, onryo, armor onryo, battlefield oni | Minion-Elite |
| Ruined castle | armor, nurikabe, tsukumogami, castle-site master | Veteran-Elite |
| Mountain path | tengu, yamauba, kamaitachi, path-losing strangeness | Minion-Elite |
| Famine village | gaki, jikininki, dorotabo, bakeneko | Minion-Veteran |
| River and ferry | kappa, funayurei, umibozu, name-eating water demon | Minion-Elite |
| Shrine, temple | onryo, sealing yoma, tatarigami-type corruption | Veteran-Lord |
#Operation - Divide the Battlefield from the Village
Sengoku yoma are easy to use when divided into two kinds.
| Kind | Trait | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| Battlefield yoma | Bound to violence, corpses, armor, orders, and stragglers. | combat, pursuit, gate defense |
| Daily-life yoma | Bound to wells, paddies, storehouses, mountain paths, family, and names. | investigation, negotiation, resolution |
Use only battlefield yoma and the campaign keeps growing dark. Mix in daily-life yoma and you see how close the yoma are to people's everyday lives.
#The Gate of the Spirit Realm
A Sengoku gate is closer to torn cloth than to a well-tended altar. A castle gate where the fighting ended, a river where corpses piled up, a mountain path stragglers passed through, a shrine where the rites have stopped: these become small gates.
| Gate State | Effect |
|---|---|
| Leaking gate | Minion and Veteran yoma appear repeatedly. |
| Torn gate | An Elite-grade yoma makes a domain. |
| Named gate | A kaidan attaches to it and it does not close even with time. |
| Guarded gate | Tengu, kodama, and guardian yoma block human approach. |
| Eating gate | Onryo and gaki eat the names and corpses around the gate. |
#Faction Responses
| Faction | Attitude Toward Sengoku Yoma Ecology |
|---|---|
| Kagura Domain | Makes battlefield yoma a pretext for subjugation. Seizes ruined castles, ferries, and battlefields militarily. |
| Hiei League | Sees onryo and gaki as the karma of war. Values funerals and sealing. |
| Enryokan | Asks, "Why does it repeat only here?" Attempts to stabilize gates and to negotiate. |
| Biu Mountain | Makes human war a refuge and a food source. Yoko slip in among stragglers and merchant caravans. |
| Sakai Guild | Sells supplies and talismans in yoma-stricken regions. Sometimes grows the kaidan to profit. |
#Closing Line
The Sengoku night begins after the war ends. Where the blades have stopped, the yoma choose a name to eat.