#Yoma Allies and Accompanying Squads

Contents

A yoma ally stays with you not because it obeys orders. It stays because the name, the feeding, the taboo, and the place have not yet been severed.

---

#Opening Vignette — Little Footsteps

As they climbed the mountain road, little footsteps kept following.

At first they thought it was the sound of fallen leaves underfoot. Then they thought children were hiding and following. As the sun sank, a small eye opened on each stone along the road.

The woman walking ahead stopped and drew dry chestnuts from her pocket. She set down only three. Setting down four, she said, makes one more road appear.

The little eyes ate the chestnuts. After that, the mountain road never once forked.

But the woman counted three at every pass. Two, and the road vanishes; four, and the things that follow multiply.

---

#Scent — Recording the Reason for Cohesion Differently

In raw combat numbers, a yoma accompanying squad still follows the squad rules in co. But where a human squad's Cohesion comes from discipline, loyalty, and morale, a yoma squad's Cohesion comes from binding.

Binding is not a new attribute. It is the narrative condition that records why the Cohesion holds.

---

#Law — Yoma Ally Grades

#Sources of Binding

---

#Operation — Departure and Backlash

A broken binding does not require immediate hostility. Choose one of the following.

---

#Sample Accompanying Squads

A yoma accompanying squad follows the co squad format. The defaults are: no autonomous action, tactics activate only through the commander's squad-order, and volley attacks use the hit-strength table. The "yoma-specific trait" below is a narrative/racial trait that replaces the faction trait; it is not a separate right to act.

A tactic's activation cost is always squad-order cost + tactic additional cost. If the commander's Wisdom is +2 or higher, the squad-order cost is 1 Energy; otherwise it is 2 Energy. An additional cost of base means there is no extra Energy beyond the squad-order cost.

#Name-Tag Foxes — Minion Squad

A lower-tier yoko squad. The yoko Minion-grade data from co, arranged for accompanying-squad use.

Tactics:

• Binding: They follow the one who hung the name-tags around their necks.
• Backlash: Losing a tag gives Cohesion -1. At Cohesion 0, they follow the nearest rumor and vanish.

#Mountain-Road Kodama — Mob Support Pack

Kodama are Mob-grade by the co standard. In peacetime they are not a combat squad and have no Domination contribution or attack tactic. When bringing them along, use them only as a mountain-road guidance support pack.

Tactics:

• Binding: The appointed offering must be placed at each pass.
• Backlash: If the offering is wrong, they make you walk the same road twice.
• Combat exception: If a fire attack or harm to a sacred tree occurs, the kodama pack may transform into a hostile Veteran-grade being. In that case they are no longer an accompanying squad and follow the co post-transformation effects for kodama.

#Little Kappa Pack — Veteran Squad

River-combat support. The kappa Veteran-grade data from co, arranged for squad use.

Tactics:

• Binding: Away from water, Cohesion caps at 3. If promised cucumbers, the next Negotiation check is +2.
• Backlash: If promised cucumbers and not given them, Cohesion -1. At Cohesion 0, they steal an object and return to the river.

#Tsukumo Tool-Throng — Veteran Squad

Storehouse/workshop support. A throng of Minion-grade tsukumogami from co, strengthened with a bundle of old objects into a Veteran squad.

Tactics:

• Binding: The promise to repair rather than discard.
• Weakness: Burning or breaking the original bundle of tools gives Cohesion -2 instead of Wounds. If all the important tools are destroyed, they are wiped out.
• Backlash: If the promise is broken, they move the baggage elsewhere each night. At Cohesion 0, they scatter into storehouses and workshops.

---

#Examples of Elite-Grade Allies

An Elite-grade yoma is not a squad but a major NPC. Rather than controlling it every breath in combat, give it one act of help per scene and let it demand its own taboo and domain.

#Border Tengu — Elite-Grade Ally

Wounds 4, Defense 15, Energy 8. An Elite-grade yoma strong on mountain roads, passes, and scouting.

• Binding: Travels with you until it reclaims the name of its mountain gate.
• Help: 1/scene, +2 on Perception or tracking checks on mountain roads, high ground, or windy places.
• Combat intervention: 1/combat, push 1 target into an adjacent zone. The target may resist with 2d10 + higher of Physique or Finesse >= 13.
• Taboo: Do not idly speak the inner name of the mountain gate.
• Backlash: If the taboo is broken, in the next mountain-road scene it guides you down the strictest road instead of the shortest.

The Border Tengu is not a convenient flying mount. Treat it as a judge who knows the road. If the heroes demand only the fast road, it becomes an enemy; if they keep the mountain's rules, it becomes a powerful guide.

#Storehouse Bakeneko — Elite-Grade Ally

Wounds 3, Defense 13, Energy 9. An Elite-grade yoma strong at storehouses, merchant quarters, and night watch.

• Binding: A promise not to idly sell off discarded objects.
• Help: 1/scene, +2 on Perception of infiltration, concealment, and theft traces inside a building.
• Combat intervention: 1/combat, -2 on the equipment-use check of 1 enemy in the same zone. A masterwork or Divine Treasure requires a separate condition before this applies.
• Taboo: Do not kick over its food bowl. Do not burn the master's belongings without permission.
• Backlash: If the promise is broken, it hides an important object. It will not hand it to the enemy, but recovering it takes a full night of bargaining.

The Storehouse Bakeneko is less a "cute helper" than the house's old rights-holder. Because it knows the memory of objects, its information is plentiful, but it does not accept human ownership as absolute.

---

#Spirit Realm Gates

A yoma accompanying squad carries a small gate around. That gate is not a real rift but a cord of habit, feeding, name, and place. Take them too far and the cord stretches; if it snaps, the squad tries to return to where it came from.

---

#Faction Response

---

#Closing Words

A yoma ally does not light the road for you. It merely knows first which taboo, once stepped on, makes the road disappear.