#Battlefield and Castle Yoma
Contents
Battlefield yoma do not start the war. They are simply the quickest to find and eat what the war leaves behind.
#Opening Fragment - The Night the Castle Gate Opened
The gate of the ruined castle had long since burned away in fire.
Yet night after night came the sound of a gate opening. Creaking wood, the scrape of iron, the turn of an unoiled axle. Though there was no gate, a gate opened.
On the first day no one went out. On the second day all the dogs fled. On the third day a single suit of armor stood before the place where the gate had been. There was no one inside, and only grass seeds spilled down from beneath the helmet.
The armor held that spot until dawn. When the sun rose, it fell. But the next night, the castle gate opened again.
That castle remembered its orders longer than the army that had been defeated.
#Scent - Battlefield Yoma Eat Orders
The yoma of battlefields and castles are not born from blood and corpses alone. The last order, the castle gate that had to be held, the abandoned banner, the horse that never returned, the armor that lost its master: all become seeds of yoma.
Such yoma react to human words. Words like "Advance," "Retreat," "Close the gate," and "It is not over yet" can work like a spell.
#Law - Battlefield Variant Tags
Attach one of the tags below to an existing yoma to make it a battlefield type.
| Tag | Applies To | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Armored | gaki, onryo, tsukumogami | Defense +1. When [Pierce N] + [Break] applies, stage it as the armor breaking first. |
| Army Order | oni, onryo, nurikabe | In the Lull Phase, allied Minion and Veteran squads gain Cohesion +1. 1 time per battle. |
| Straggler | gaki, jikininki, funayurei | If a human squad has been incapacitated, the first check of the next lull gains +1. |
| Castle Gate | nurikabe, armor onryo, oni | Domination +1 in gate and rampart zones. |
| Banner | onryo, tsukumogami | While the banner remains, recover 1 time at Wounds 1 after reaching Wounds 0. |
#Operation - Using Them Strong
To use a battlefield yoma at Elite grade or above, attach a command structure rather than numbers.
| Structure | Description |
|---|---|
| Last Order | The yoma repeats the same action. Find out the wording of the order and it weakens. |
| Master of the Banner | The banner, the family crest, the helmet ornament are its weakness. |
| Graveless Unit | It does not vanish until the bodies are recovered or the names recorded. |
| The Gate That Will Not Open | Not a battle to break the gate down, but an incident to uncover why it closed. |
#The Gate of the Spirit Realm
A battlefield or castle gate is usually not an open road but an unfinished moment. The time just before the charge, just before the gate collapses, just before the general dies, folds in on itself and becomes a gate.
On a battlefield where the gate is open, use the following phenomena.
- The same sound repeats.
- Corpses change position.
- The road loops back to the front of the castle gate.
- Nameless armor waits for a new soldier.
#Faction Responses
| Faction | Response |
|---|---|
| Kagura Domain | Sees the castle site as a military objective and seals it off. Looks first to the castle's strategic value rather than the yoma. |
| Hiei League | Cuts the battlefield's repetition through funerals and liberation. |
| Enryokan | Investigates the last order and the moment the gate opened. |
| Biu Mountain | Rather than ally directly with battlefield yoma, hides among the stragglers to gather information. |
| Kunitomo Guild | Tries to recover the armor and the spirit core; on failure, makes an even more dangerous armor yoma. |
#Closing Line
The yoma of a ruined castle do not guard the castle. They have simply not yet heard the word that it is over.