Shadows of Nanking – Ch. 11, part 2

Summary: The Cabal tries finding Dr. Wu and ends up speaking with Kwannon who says he has knowledge concerning the Shinwa Taizen.

Recap: Kontonshin tells the rest of the Cabal what she has seen and reveals that Dr. Wu must either be the mortal face of a cannibal cult or a very powerful mage. They even speculate as to whether he is a member of the Seers of the Throne. Kontonshin, remembering her post-cognitive vision, finds an amulet in the dirt that Dr. Wu had used in the ritual. It is severely scorched, but still recognizable.

The Cabal formulates a plan to meet with Dr. Wu, but play down the knowledge they have of him. Kemosiri phones Dr. Wu’s office but has to leave a voicemail message. They visit his office, but his secretary tells him that he has not attended classes for over a month and has all but disappeared. The secretary speculates that he might have gone on sabbatical, but cannot confirm his whereabouts.

Dejected, but undeterred, the Cabal contacts the only member of the local Consilium they trust – Daishi of the Kodoshigisha. They try and get more information about the Shinwa Taizen by first confirming one of the stories written on the scrolls. The Cabal does not reveal that they have any scroll of the Shinwa Taizen, they simply relate one of the stories Kemosiri had translated. They share the story about the Hatare rebels (The 16th Aya). Daishi is somewhat confused. He informs the Cabal that the story he knows is vastly different and does not include cannibalistic references. The Cabal then realizes that what is written on the Shinwa Taizen scrolls is not history or legend as is known to the rest of the world. They wonder what nefarious purpose the Shinwa Taizen has and what magical secrets does it hold?

Kemosiri decides that the only way they are going to get any information about who is behind the cannibal cult and where they can be found is if he summons the ghosts of the dead. He returns to the mass grave and attempts to summon Koya’s ghost. Kemosiri prepares and enacts a powerful ritual and although he performs it perfectly, neither Koya nor any of the other ghosts appear. Kemosiri is at both mad and puzzled at why Koya didn’t appear. The ritual should have worked. Why didn’t it?

In the meantime, Kontonshin takes the amulet and tries finding Dr. Wu using fate and space magic to find a sympathetic link. Her magic works and appears to point in the direction of the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine where the Insane Asylum is located.

Before they can leave, the Cabal receives a phone call from Daishi. Kwannon, Daishi’s superior who has been infirm since they arrived in Kyoto, wants to see them. They decide to go to his bedside, but just as they are leaving, Larva, one of the Bunny Warner cabal from Osaka, approaches them. Hachi-ko runs upstairs saying she does not want to see him and that he is the reason she left the Bunny Warners. He had apparently come into her room when she was changing and he saw her naked. The Cabal leaves their sanctum. Larva approaches them and meekly asks them if he could speak with Hachi-ko, but they refuse him entry. When Larva says he would like to speak with the rest of them, they just tell Larva to go home. He does.

The Cabal attends Daishi’s shrine. Daishi leads the Cabal into the shrine’s inner sanctum and to Kwannon’s large, but sparse quarters. Kwannon is lying on a hard wooden bed surrounded by candles with only a pillow and spare blanket to keep him warm. Daishi informs Kwannon of the players arrival and Kwannon slowly turns his bald head to face them. He weakly greets the Cabal and then Kwannon tells them that Daishi had told him of the tale they related to him earlier that day. He said it sounded familiar and that he wanted to find out if they knew anything about the worst kept secret in Kyoto – the Shinwa Taizen.

Somewhat taken aback, but not completely surprised, Kemosiri tells Kwannon they do not know very much and that they have only recovered six of the scrolls. Mori reads Kemosiri’s aura and sees that Kemosiri is being sincere (even though Kemosiri is lying – he had obtained a seventh scroll in his dreams). Kwannon warns them about the power of the Shinwa Taizen and that it is not to be treated lightly. The Cabal ask Kwannon what he knows about the Shinwa Taizen. He tells them that he will reveal everything to them at dawn after he has had enough rest. Daishi quietly ushers the Cabal out of Kwannon’s residence and shows them to rooms for the night.

As the Cabal retires, they talk about what they have learned up to this point. They now know what they have suspected for quite some time – that the Shinwa Taizen must be destroyed. Since nothing they have done to the scrolls up to this time has had any effect on them, they do not believe they can simply destroy them. Until they can figure out how to destroy the Shinwa Taizen, they decide that the scrolls must be kept under lock and key.

However, Mori does not believe that Kwannon knows anything of value and that waiting for him to reveal all is a waste of time. He leaves telling the rest of the Cabal he’s had enough of this nonsense.

Next: Shadows of Nanking, part 3