A Demon-Plagued Meeting (Part 1)

Gathering / Conference

Aotsuki Tsukamoto and Saitō Dōsan were among the first to arrive in the meeting chamber of Owari Castle that had been set aside for their purposes. Maxim, too, was in attendance, and soon Hashinara Yoshitakatomo arrived with an unknown stranger in her* company.   The opposite side of the wide, low table was filled with the Oda Clan’s greatest remaining representatives. Oichi took the head, her position cemented by her relationship to Oda Nobunaga, previous Daimyō of the clan. Beside her stood Shibata Katsuie, her bodyguard and a proponent of this meeting. Then, along the side were Ishida Mitsunari, Azai Nagamasa, and Mori Ranmaru. Only Nagamasa’s presence between the two others seemed to be preventing them from attacking each other right there. Petty complaints and snappish insults were tossed about above the weary-looking Azai Daimyō’s head.

As the meeting moved toward a start, Mori Ranmaru immediately began to complain about the number of people on the Hashinara side. It seemed difficult for him to see this as anything but a forceful takeover of his clan, although he might well have good reason for thinking such. His rage was only exacerbated when Ryūzaki Sanosuke arrived with Takayama Ukon, Ryūzōji Ryōka, and Takenaka Hanbei in his company. These new additions brought the Hashinara side to nearly twice that of their counterparts.   Ranmaru stood in a rage, demanding that such a sensitive meeting not go ahead until their groups were even; five on each side. Maxim stood in turn, wordlessly challenging the furious general should he wish to escalate things further. Sanosuke, completely ignoring the situation, took a seat opposite Oichi with his companions. Mitsunari begrudgingly agreed with Ranmaru, but they succeeded only in removing the mysterious stranger from the room. That unknown figure instead headed down into the castle proper, seeking the company of Akechi Mitsutoshi. In the newly-vacated seat, Kōyō remained, feeding information to her absent master.   It was Aotsuki who first noticed that the Oda side seemed on edge for reasons beyond this semi-hostile gathering. With a few questions, he and Yoshitakatomo prompted a dark and ominous tale.   Conscious of the presence of his daughter in the room, Ishida Mitsunari was slow to break the news that Takayama Tomoteru had died that very afternoon. Overwhelmed with sudden grief, Takayama Ukon fell into Sanosuke’s arms, wept, and eventually excused herself from the room. Once she had left, the Oda generals continued their tale.   They had found Tomoteru alone in his quarters, bloody, butchered, and dead beyond any doubt. The man’s arms and legs were gone, severed and missing, and a curious symbol had been drawn on the floor in his own blood. Oichi dipped her hand in red paste and drew out, almost perfectly from memory, what this pattern had resembled. Mori Ranmaru claimed it to be the calling card of an assassin, but Maxim, Sanosuke, and others on the Hashinara side recognized it as a demonic sigil.   Meanwhile, the shadowy stranger below was receiving a similar tale from Akechi Mitsutoshi in the latter’s rooms. Mitsutoshi believed it not to be an assassin, but a summoning gone wrong. Further, he suspected that the demon was still within the castle, and that they all were in danger by its presence. The unknown figure, which had already revealed itself to the other as Matsumoto Ooawagaeri, shared in this concern. Calling upon the stranger’s companions, the two began to work their way to the entrance of the castle, keeping both naked and mystic eyes aware for anyone who looked as they shouldn’t.   Above, the meeting had turned to the original purpose for which it had been called. Although still on edge from the murder in their midst, the Oda generals were keen to discuss who should rule the clan after Akechi Mitsuhide's demise.   Mori Ranmaru and Ishida Mitsunari both had strong claim to the position, but neither would let the other take it without a war between their supporters. This was a worst-case scenario that few except possibly those two wanted to see come to pass. Azai Nagamasa himself had the most right to take over, according to Takenaka Hanbei, as Oda Nobunaga’s brother-in-law by his recent marriage to Oichi. The former King of Heroes, however, showed no interest in promoting himself for the position.   Aotsuki and Katsuie recommended Saitō Dōsan as a man of great stature and reputation with previous ties to the clan. Mitsunari supported this motion, but Ranmaru violently opposed it on the grounds that an outsider should not be given control before a veteran and elder of the clan. He proved a skilled and aggressive debater, and used Dōsan’s own doubts to match, if not best, Aotsuki’s own arguments. Eventually, the Lord of Livin’ Large decided that it would not be just for him to split his attentions between Mino Province and Owari Province, and so put his support toward Ishida Mitsunari instead, thus muddying the waters further.   Azai Nagamas put his head in his hands. Aotsuki felt like doing the same.   While this discussion raged around her*, Hashinara Yoshitakatomo tapped into the Hashinara Mental Network to ask the former Daimyō for her opinion. It did not take long for Oda Nobunaga to grasp the situation. She had clearly foreseen that Mitsunari and Ranmaru would become embroiled in such a struggle should Akechi Mitsuhide meet his end. Bluntly, she stated that neither was fit for the role, and that they should use this opportunity to absorb the Oda into the Aotsuki and create a contiguous string of provinces, Ōmi, Mino, and Owari, as a strong step toward unification of the country. If Ranmaru were to object, which he certainly would, challenging him to a duel with a champion would bring that hound to heel.   When asked about the demon that may have found its way into the castle, Nobunaga expressed concern, but could not offer much advice. Her contract, she clarified, only had any effect on demons she had spoken to personally. Any others in the deeper regions of Gehenna were surely beyond her influence.   Just as things became most chaotic, Yoshitakatomo related Nobunaga’s message.   Meanwhile, outside, the mysterious stranger and Akechi Mitsutoshi met up with Aka no Kitsunebi, Taira no Tokuko, and the demon Phenex at Owari Castle’s gate. They discussed the situation, and Phenex recognized the victim’s loss of his limbs as a signature move of Envy Demons. They habitually steal humans’ limbs, she explained derisively, and graft them onto themselves to steal the mortal’s power. It seemed strange that such a demon would target Takayama Tomoteru, whose greatest strength was perhaps his severe expression, but any further explanation was precluded by what the guised Ooawagaeri saw through Kōyō.   As expected, Mori Ranmaru had stood in renewed fury at the suggestion that the Aotsuki Clan absorb his own. It was just as he had feared most; the Hashinara were taking advantage of the clan’s weakened state to seize control. Maxim rose threateningly in response, his hand resting on Hokkuken’s hilt. Yoshitakatomo, safely to the side, remembered Nobunaga’s words and suggested to Aotsuki that this was the point where they would need a challenger to face Ranmaru and subdue him. Maxim, already poised for combat, seemed a good choice. Was this perhaps why Abe no Seimei had suggested he come along in the first place?   Before any such duel could take place, however, the room was suddenly shrouded in all-consuming darkness. Yoshitakatomo, with her* vision beyond that of any mortal, could still see quite clearly, as could Maxim thanks to his connection with a powerful Binbōgami. All the rest, however, were left in total darkness save for the soft glow cast by Kagami.   Even those who could pierce the darkness, however, could hardly see a grey, spidery form slip out of the darkness and slash at Mori Ranmaru with one of many knives. Trusting what senses he could, Sanosuke was there in an attempt to intercept the attack, but could not quite interpose himself, handicapped as he was. Thanks perhaps to some warrior’s instinct, his considerable physical size, or sheer luck, Ranmaru received only a shallow wound. His assailant, however, moved quickly on to Azai Nagamasa and Ishida Mitsunari, neither of whom were so fortunate. With that, the attacker was gone.   In the soft light of Kagami’s mirror, the gathered generals could see Nagmasa and Mitsunari both slain, the former missing a leg and the latter an arm. Yoshitakatomo, Maxim, and Ryōka were all able to describe a grey-skinned humanoid with six arms, each one holding a wicked knife. None of them, however, had seen where the creature had gone with its victims’ limbs.   Sanosuke got to work then, kicking Ranmaru bodily into the center of the table where Aotsuki stood. Blind in the sheer darkness, his target was shocked when another general’s body flung itself out of the darkness and landed on him. In a tangle of limbs, both went down. Without pausing, the Silver General moved on to Oichi and delivered her to the center, followed by (with her permission) Shibata Katsuie, before arriving there himself.   Yoshitakatomo mystically seized control of the darkness, banishing it to swirl around the corners of the room. With the torches and lanterns suddenly functioning once again, the grisly scene was laid out for all to see. The stranger arrived then, magically teleporting to the room without their companions, and quickly moved to touch Nagamasa and Mitsunari’s mangled forms. Amaterasu’s blessing did its work, and the two were returned to life, if only just. They soon joined the others in the circle where Aotsuki prepared to defend anyone who came under attack.   It was not they, however, but Saitō Dōsan who was the demon’s next target. Though surprised and struck from behind, the mountainous man somehow managed to bring his axe to bear and counter. Now facing his assailant, that spidery woman was only able to land a few glancing blows in place of the killing shot she was clearly trying for. Before anyone could react, however, she slid nimbly between Dōsan’s legs and into the darkness beneath the table.   Calling out with a bit of the language Phenex had taught him, the guised Ooawagaeri was able to effect some rudimentary communication with their opponent. He learned, at least, that it sought to kill them and take their limbs, as well as its name: Raym.   Now, all the generals but Dōsan and Maxim stood hesitantly on top of the table. It was clear that their adversary was beneath them somewhere, but as dark as it was and quick as she moved, there was no way to tell exactly where. The two on the outside blocked as much as they could while Takenaka Hanbei conjured a series of fiery mines to surround the furniture’s edges. Should the demon come out now, it would be met with either a warrior or an explosion.   All they could do now was wait for it to act.