#Heian Archetypes and Edo Kaidan Forms

Contents

The Heian is the era in which yoma gained names, and the Edo is the era in which yoma were sold as stories. In fc08, both are used as supplementary mirrors that reflect Sengoku yoma.

#Fiction Intro — Two Pictures of the Same Fox

On an old scroll, a fox sat beneath the eaves of a palace. Its tail was single, and its eyes were quieter than a person's. Beside the picture, in red letters, was written, "Be careful with your words."

On a new woodblock print, a fox laughed inside the window of a pleasure quarter. Its tail was unseen, and its eyes counted the price before the guest did. Beneath the picture was written, "That woman lives nowhere."

A scholar who saw both pictures together asked.

"Which is the real one?"

The old painter said as he washed his brush.

"Both are real. Only what people feared has changed."

#Scent — The Era Changes the Face of a Yoma

The same yoma gains a different face in a different era. Heian yoma are bound deeply to the court, onmyo, taboo, and the directions of the night. Edo yoma spread through the city, woodblock prints, theater, the Hundred Tales, and the rumor market.

The Sengoku is in between. The names are old, and war gives fresh prey. So Heian and Edo material is best used as a way to reinforce Sengoku yoma.

#Law — Era Variant Table

Era	Yoma Variant	Application
Heian archetype	formality, taboo, court language, onmyo directions	Target Number for Instead of checks +1, knowing the taboo allows a large bypass
Sengoku base form	war, famine, ruins, mountain path, castle	Combat, investigation, and negotiation are in balance
Edo kaidan form	city names, woodblock prints, theater, rumor	The rumor phase before combat is long, and an ending that erases or relocates the name is possible

#Heian-Form Adjustment

Not knowing the taboo or the direction, first Negotiation check -1.
Knowing the exact name, direction, and rite, first response check +2.
A yoma is more sensitive to face and form of address than a human.

#Edo-Form Adjustment

With three or more sightings, the yoma's first-appearance check +1.
Cut the rumor or change it into another story, and the yoma's Domination -1.
Connected to theater, the pleasure quarter, or woodblock prints, the number of witnesses grows in the next scene.

#The Gate of the Spirit Realm

The Heian gate is interpreted. Stars, directions, taboo, dreams, and court rites point to the gate. The Edo gate is managed. The shogunate and city society hide the gate, and yoma bypass it through the gaps of kaidan and entertainment.

Era	Reading of the Gate
Heian	Asks "why this night, this direction, this name."
Sengoku	Asks "why it leaks at this battlefield, this village, this mountain path."
Edo	Asks "who spreads this story and who tries to erase it."

#Faction Response

Faction	Heian Form	Edo Form
Kagura Domain	Recognizes it as old authority while prioritizing a practical solution.	Sees it as a matter of city security and censorship.
Hiei League	Values classical rites and sealing.	Sees kaidan as the spread of karma and seeks deliverance.
Enryokan	Treats Heian records as precious material.	Compares sightings with printed matter.
Biu Mountain	Boasts of the lineage of court yoko.	Uses the rumor network of the pleasure quarter, merchants, and theater.
Hundred-Tale Society reference	Not applicable.	Not a Sengoku-standard canon faction, but a good comparison when handling Edo-form yoma.

#Operation — Three Faces of the Same Yoma

Yoma	Heian	Sengoku	Edo
Yoko	court taboo and prophecy	battlefield information broker and charmer	pleasure quarter, merchant house, theater kaidan
Onryo	the grudge of name and rank	the war dead without a grave	multiplies through theater and rumor
Tengu	transcendent of the mountain	judge of the pass and the battlefield	strange ascetic tales and mountain-gate kaidan
Tsukumogami	the corruption of an aristocrat's tool	discarded war goods	the procession of hundred-year-old household tools

#Closing Line

It is not that the yoma changed. The way people fear yoma gave it a different face in each era.