"One can only hope for normalcy after insanity," Toshiba muses. "Stand your ground. If these are yokai, then we must learn how to kill them if we are to have a chance against Ikishi. And if we can kill yokai, that will certainly convince Nikochi to assist us."

HUMANS!
HUMANS...YOU BETRAYED US, TRICKSTER!
YOU ARE ONE OF THEM!
NASTY, FILTHY...TASTY HUMANS!

"I hope you know what you're doing, friends," Nikochi says as he steps back into the circle that Takao, Toshiba and Kagemaru are building around the old man and the women. Weapons are drawn, hearts are steeled, the gloom settling over the less-than-clear clearing is noticed.

Then...it begins.

(INITIATIVE!

Yokai: 1d20+16 = 33
Takao: 2d20.hi+13 = 32
Yu: 2d20.hi+15 = 30
Toshiba: 2d20.hi+18 = 25
Kagemaru: 1d20+15 = 18)

Takao is still adjusting his stance on the shifting ground when a man-sized shadow leaps up from the ground and flies through him, washing over the entire group as they are cast back into the shadow world and the nightmares within.

(Will Saves vs DC 15:

Takao: 1d20+14 = 25 SUCCESS!)

Takao's steeltrap mind remains unassailable. He may not know the essence of what he saw - if it was genuine or fantasy - but he knows that there is a fight now that demands his full attention, and that is easily enough to power through and keep his head on a swivel for an actual physical attack.

(Yu: 1d20+16 = 18)

Yu's discipline flickers for a heartbeat, but she knows in her heart that this cannot hurt her.

(Toshiba: 1d20+7 = 11 FAILED!

Toshiba gains Shaken I, temporarily losing the ability to Take 10 or 20. He also suffers a -2 penalty to all attacks as well as Wis- and Cha-using skill checks.)

Toshiba's mind is less stalwart. For a moment, the Oni's many deaths catch up to him - along with the certainty that he will, too, suffer one of those, and it won't be a pretty one.

(Kagemaru: 1d20+9 = 12)

Kagemaru's shadow form twists and turns as it tries to escape the effect, but the horror in his mind is no less profound: how much of him is left, and how much more can the shadow take away from him before he disappears and loses himself?

(Yokai flurries Takao:

Bite: 1d20+13 = 21 HIT! Takao ceases to be flat-footed.
Claw: 1d20+13 = 26 HIT!
Claw: 1d20+13 = 31 HIT!

Damage: 1d8+4 = 11, reduced to 3 by Takao's armor
1d6+4 = 5 Negated!
1d6+4 = 10, reduced to 2 by Takao's armor)

Takao's focus pays off immediately when another shadow beast lunges at him, all teeth and talons trying to tear the flesh from his bones! Though he cannot entirely avoid the furious assault, his mail is more than up to the task of protecting him as he cleverly moves to let the demon's strikes meet only his most protected areas.

(Yokai flurries Kagemaru:

Bite: 1d20+13 = 28 HIT! Kagemaru ceases to be flat-footed.
Claw: 1d20+13 = 16 MISS!
Claw: 1d20+13 = 19 MISS!

Damage: 1d8+4 = 6)

As it happens, Kagemaru finds the third shadowbeast paying quite a bit of attention to him, too, as it rises up and tries to sink its teeth into what would be his throat. It's a close shave indeed, as the demon seems to have little trouble fighting shadow with shadow!

(Half action: enter Martial Stance for +1 to hit/ +3 damage
Half action: attack, using think ahead for an attack bonus of +26, -5 for Power Attack (+10 damage)
1d20+21 = 32 d10+15 = 22, plus half of the margin by which I hit; forgot Stance bonuses in the roll, so to-hit is 33, damage is 25 plus half the margin by which I hit;
disclaimer: I don't have the book handy, so details may be off)

Mizu flashes blue as Takao smoothly drops into his fighting stance and retaliates, unerringly striking the vitals of the misty form.

Toshiba shudders as the last vision - a quick but messy death by arbalest, fired by himself - flows past him. His knives are in his hands, as always. Perhaps useless against shadows, perhaps not. If he did not gather himself now and strike, then when? And what help would he then be against Ikishi herself, a being Toshiba was increasingly convinced was as inhuman as the rumors suggested?

Takao and Yu, less affected by the yokai, move in to strike and Toshiba follows a hair later, hoping that ghosts die from stab wounds.

(Takao's Attack hits. Of course it does. Did you ever doubt it would?
Second Yokai's Damage Save vs DC 25: 1d20+7 = 12 FAILED!

The Yokai's Tough quality keeps it in the fight, but if it fails another damage save, it's out for good.)

A trick of light and shadow, psychological warfare - the yokai seem tough, but Takao knows that they are things, and things have forms, and forms have substance - and substance can be cut. Mizu strikes true, its blue edge sliding through the yokai's middle and splitting it in two! The shadow beast howls as it flutters away from Takao, screeching as it pulls itself together once more.

(Yu readies an action - to strike at any Yokai who come close to her.

Toshiba moves to help out Kagemaru and attacks the Third Yokai, using his Shank! trick.

Toshiba's Attack: 1d20+10-2 = 22 HIT!

Third Yokai automatically loses its Damage Save.)

"Hold fast!" Yu cries out from the middle of their defensive circle. "They may bleed darkness, but they do bleed!"

Words to live by - and stab by, as Toshiba sees Kagemaru getting mauled and rocket-boots to his side, sinking a blade into that shadow beast with a little extra helping of Oomph! into what would probably be its vitals - the sweet scream of the creature is its own reward.

"Thanks!" Kagemaru calls out, and then - well, there's no way to say this that would make it sound less fucked up, so: he unhooks his jaw and reaches down his throat, pulling out a longgonne that by all rights never should have fitted inside him. Probably best not to dwell on the alien geometries inside shadow elementals. (Fun History Fact: The earliest surviving text on geometry in China is the Mo Jing, dating back to about 330 BC - just a couple years before Euclid starting teaching.)

(Kagemaru draws the gonne, then shoots at the Third Yokai.

Kagemaru's Attack: 1d20+13-2 = 28 HIT!
Kagemaru's Damage: 3d8 = 9

Third Yokai's Damage Save vs DC 14: 1d20+7 = 26 SUCCESS!

The Yokai gets to keep living a bit longer.)

"Get back!" Kagemaru shouts to Toshiba, who has just enough time to dodge away as the gonne goes off, sending a cloud of shot at the shadow beast. About half of the balls seem to just pass through it, but enough of it strikes true that the Yokai is now looking like, well, Foreign cheese. It's still wheezing along, but the shadow beasts - including the first one, which still prowls some feet away from the circle - are clearly reconsidering the effectiveness of their strategy.

"How do you like that?" Kagemaru shouts, working a large lever on the underside of the gonne forward until it clicks, then back towards the stock.

Takao shakes his head in wonderment as he sees Kagemaru produce and fire the gun, but it apparently he is more amazed at the weapon than the manner in which it was transported. "That Ueki.."

He turns back to the yokai and calls to them: "You have a choice! Come at us again, and we'll cut you apart and be on our way. Or you could help us. A yokai is trying to steal the throne of the human Empire. Her actions have caused great outrage among the humans, and this outrage may turn into a witch hunt to exterminate the yokai once and for all. You may be powerful, but the humans are many! If you show that you stand with the humans against the pretender, then yokai and humans will be able to live in peace!"

(Impress: d20+4 = 12, well, no one ever accused Takao of smooth talking...

Other action will be a hold for more of the same if the yokai are back for seconds)

(We will assume Yokai see the inherent benefit of not being hunted to extinction as balanced out by their general vocal dislike of humans. Fun Fact: Yokai don't actually particularly like how humans taste. But they think eating them is a pretty good way of keeping them out of their grills. Nobody ever accused them of being particularly smart about their isolationism. Or, well, anything.

Yokai Resolve: 1d20+7 = 11 FAILED

I had to pause for a couple of seconds to stop laughing here. Enjoy.)

HUMANS ARE TRICKING US AGAIN!
BUT THEY CAN HURT US!
EAT THEM! EAT THEM ALL!
NO! MORE WILL COME, WITH BIG WEAPONS! THE HUMAN SAYS THE TRUTH!
WE'LL EAT THEM, TOO!

The disarray of the Yokai is palpable, as the shadow beasts circle the group - and seem to be backing off, just slightly.

"What did you do?" Nikochi whispers. "Don't make a deal with them! They want to eat us!"

SILENCE, TRICKSTER!
YOU ARE TRYING TO CONFUSE US!
THERE ARE NO YOKAI LIVING AMONG HUMANS!

Nikochi reaches into his clothes to produce a crude mask approximating an Owl's face.

"Scree! Screeeee! You are not telling the truth!"

THE OWL SEES!
THE OWL KNOWS!
IT'S THE TRICKSTER AGAIN!
HE WEARS THE FACE OF THE OWL!
HE KNOWS!
HE KNOWS!

"Find the Little Fox, Master Sinan said," Kagemaru mutters. "Find him and kill him. An easy mission for a novice." He clutches the scattergonne tighter. "Yeah, right."

IF WE TELL YOU THE TRUTH, WILL YOU LEAVE US ALONE?
TAKE IT AND LEAVE US!
DON'T COME BACK!
DON'T TELL ANYONE ABOUT US!
IF YOU DO WE'LL EAT YOU!

Nikochi strips off the Owl mask and rummages around in his coat for another, producing a birdlike mask with blue-stained feathers and a bright red beak.

"Oh, we would be so grateful!" he says. "Tell us what you know and we promise, promise, promise to keep you safe!"

THE MAGPIE ACCEPTS THE BARGAIN!
LISTEN WELL, WE WON'T REPEAT IT!
NO YOKAI LIVES AMONG HUMANS, BUT MANY YEARS AGO A HUMAN CAME HERE AND KILLED ONE OF US!
SHE KILLED HIM! SHE KILLED HIM!
AND SHE RAN AWAY WITH HIS BODY! BUT SHE DID NOT EAT IT OR BURY IT!
NO, NO, NO!
SHE STOLE HIS POWER!
STOLE IT!
STOLE IT!
HIS POWER!

"Oh, that is so helpful!" Nikochi croons, adding a birdsong-like trill to his voice. "Thank you, thank you! Do you know anything else?"

NO, THAT IS ALL WE CAN SAY!
WE CANNOT SEE BEYOND THE SWAMP!
NOW HONOR THE BARGAIN!
HONOR IT!
GO AWAY!

"Seems as good a time for it as any," Kagemaru opines.

Takao rises and sheathes the blade. "Fair enough. Let's go."

As they leave, he asks Nikochi:"Any bright ideas what they might have been talking about? If there is a body that Ikishi draws power from, can we perhaps destroy it or something?"

Nikochi grins. "Well, friend, we're moving into spiritually uncharted territory here," he explains, leading you out of the swamp by some internal reckoning that seems impervious to the mist and blocked-out sun. "I'm not saying it can be done or that it can't be done, but we won't know until we try. The real trick is finding the body. I suppose Ikishi has it hidden deep within her mansion, but I have no idea how we'd ever get in to find out."

"Uh," Kagemaru points out, "we were in there about a half hour ago. If there's a yokai body hidden in there, it's well-hidden."
"You didn't see the entire mansion," Yu throws in.
"Well, no, we didn't," Kagemaru says. "Care to fill us in?"
"I will," Yu says. "But all of you."
"Oh, yeah," Kagemaru muses. "It's been a while since we had the gang all together, hasn't it?"
"You're in a gang, friend?" Nikochi asks.
"No, Sir," Kagemaru says. "Our...team? Group? Band of brothers and very big sisters?"
"Ah!" Nikochi says. "You'll have to forgive me, friend, I'm a bit out of touch with today's hep cats and their fly lingo."

Five minutes of trying to catch up Nikochi-sama on the big picture of the events and linguistic developments of the last ten years later, you clear the main thrust of the swamp and end up in a riverside meadow. It's a nice little place, quiet and peaceful...and then a dead hare drops in the grass in front of Toshiba. Nikochi and Yu look up just in time to see Konoko circling overhead, letting out a very happy "Kiiii!"

"What is that bird doing?" Yu asks.
"Eh, you get used to it," Kagemaru says.

"Used to the Oni, used to uncannily well-trained birds, used to yokai," Toshiba mutters to himself. "We truly live in the future." He starts cleaning the hare. "We need to tell Lord Shira that we have Himiko, and we should meet back up with Kirika and the others. After we eat, though."

A little while later, there's a bite or two of rabbit for everyone and Toshiba writes down a message for Konoko to ferry to Kirika.

Need a meeting spot
We ain't afraid of no ghosts
Who you gonna call