(RC) Tamano – Ch. 8, part 1

Synopsis: Tenzin discovers that the white fox spirit he had released in the Shadow, was none other than the infamous Tamano no Mae - a malevolent spirit of incredible power. Meanwhile, Kemosiri begins interpreting the Shinwa Taizen.

Recap: Kontonshin, Mori and Tenzin return to their sanctum in Kyoto. Tenzin tends to Duncan’s wounds while Mori dumps Kara’s burnt body onto Ogawa’s desk. Duncan only remembers being hit by Kara with an impromptu flame thrower and ambushed by thugs. After consuming some of Tenzin’s “special tea”, Duncan feels better and tells the Cabal he will “take care of things for them.” He leaves with Toshi’s body and Yumiko. He returns to report that everything was taken care of. A subsequent news report showed Yumiko being examined by doctors and the deaths being blamed on Yakuza.

Meanwhile, Kemosiri is being questioned by Tatsu. Tatsu’s face is hidden behind a hideous oni mask and Tatsu’s voice changes from male to female. Tatsu asks Kemosiri what it was they were searching for and why he was in a forbidden area of the Aetheneum. Kemosiri refuses to answer any questions. Kemosiri thinks Tatsu already knows the answer to those questions anyway and begins referring to the Shinwa Taizen as the worst kept secret in Kyoto.

Kontonshin, Mori and Tenzin visit the Aethenium to get Kemosiri. They find him still alive, but very hurt. Tatsu demands to know what it is they were searching for and provide no answers. Reluctantly, they let Kemosiri go – without his notes.

Kemosiri does not feel that he will be able to get the notes back. So, he decides to steal Professor Wu’s copy of the Codex. Mori helps. They steal it late at night using Magic. It is relatively unprotected (Kemosiri makes a Morality roll and loses 1 Morality point).

When they return to their sanctum, they receive a phone call from Ayame (Sa-an’s geisha girlfriend). Ayame’s master, the Lady Kagawa, is very ill.

They go and visit and find Lady Kagawa in bed. Her soul has been removed. Ayame explains that Kagawa had entered the Shadow through a special portal that they use. They are the Myobu – a Legacy who are all descendents of half-Kitsune spirits and defenders of Japan against ancient malevolent spirits – especially Nogitsune, malevolent Kitsune. The most dangerous Nogitsune is Tamano no Mae. Lady Kagawa and the other Myobu protected Kyoto against Tamano and when Kagawa came back, she said Tamano was gone. Now, Kagawa’s soul is gone and Ayame feels that Tamano is responsible. She asks them if they knew of anything that happened in the Shadow. No one answers – especially Tenzin, the one who freed Tamano. He later confesses to the group that he had freed her and that she had helped him cross Kyoto and found Sa-an.

Kontonshin and Kemosiri derive a plan to track down Tamano. They use Kagawa’s body to find out where her soul is located – it seems to be stored in a storehouse on a shelf with Ningyo – Japanese dolls. They try tracking down Tamano herself. Tenzin tries locating her since he is a bit familiar with her and gets an image of a woman in a business suit.

Kontonshin uses Fate magic to help track down the Ningyo shop containing the soul. Tenzin and Kontonshin track down the shop in a small shop in northern Kyoto. The sign above the door is an old wooden sign and the snow in Kyoto has not been cleared from the doorsteps as the others had.

In the morning, Kemosiri calls Professor Wu. He asks Prof. Wu that he would like to meet and see the Codex. He tries to feign having the Codex. The Professor agrees to see him in the afternoon.

In the morning Kontonshin and Mori attend the shop. Snow has still not been cleared. They knock on the door and are met by a short balding Japanese man with coke bottle glasses and a deathly pallor. Mori tries to use Mage Sight and finds him to be a Mage. They enter the shop and see twisted Ningyo – none of the dolls are traditional dolls. They are twisted visages of children that Uchida claims come to him in dreams. Mori tries to find out if any of the Ningyo are magic and detect a whole bunch of them. They surmise that they are Soul Jars – but none of them contain souls. With a bit of Fate Magic, she convinces Uchida to show her the back room. He does and they find a Ningyo with a soul they believe to be Lady Kagawa’s. Before they leave, Kontonshin gives Uchida her calling card and says to Uchida to “give her regards to Tamano.” Uchida turns even whiter.

Kemosiri meets with Professor Wu. He expected Prof. Wu to simply phone him and tell him the book was missing. He did confess that it had been stolen, but after he had discovered it missing, he was called by University Security and shown a videotape showing two Japanese men breaking in to his office and stealing the Codex. He shows Kemosiri the photos and he sits there stunned wondering who could have done this. Professor Wu really wants to look at the scroll. He is becoming VERY interested in the scroll and wants to study it himself. In fact, he had spent several hours poring over the Codex – even without something to look at. Professor Wu leaves – very excited about learning more about the scroll.

Kemosiri looks at the scroll and discovers it is one of many scrolls. The Codex – written in 1937 by a Wang Ji-ang, is a “Rosetta Stone” – containing 4 different columns and 4 different languages – Ancient Japanese, Chinese, German and the language being translated from the scroll (an unknown language now being referred to as Muvian). This one contains part of a diary about someone living in the 450th year of the reign of Izunami-no-Kami, Queen of the Hells. A second part of the scroll seems to be a grimoire – a spell summoning something – what cannot be determined without other pieces of the scroll.

Detective Imada shows up and asks for help (related to Fox). There is someone out there murdering geisha’s and their guests. The Cabal ventures over to the murder site and discover that Tamano was behind the murders.

Kontonshin gets a call from Ayame asking for assistance after Lady Kagawa gets up and leaves her home with a long blade.

Next: Tamano - part 2