Politics on Pentagrams (Part 2)

Gathering / Conference

Lord Maxim's initial refusal to go to war on the side of the Takeda surprised Takenaka Hanbei. She voiced as much, suggesting that it was strange he would not want to wage battle against a god, particularly one he had as much to begrudge as Bishamonten. Maxim soon clarified that he would be willing to lend his aid in the coming battle, but it was a risk almost on par with what he had encountered in the Palace of the Firebird. As such, he needed more payment than just honor and good service to make it worth risking his men. In exchange for a large number of souls, quality notwithstanding, he would agree fight both the Uesugi and Izanami.

That was a bizarre request, and one which sent ripples throughout the assembled generals. Hashinara Yoshitakatomo pondered for only a moment before suggesting that Maxim could gather all the souls he wished in Yomi. That was a vague promise, but it seemed enough for the Knight Commander, who agreed. Sensing the concern in Yoshitakatomo's words, Maxim offered to share his tale and why he needed the souls, but only in private. The Hashinara Daimyō merely waved the suggestion away, however, uninterested in matters of Gehenna for now. Shigeaki Fujino offered to hear them in her* place, but was rebuffed in turn.   From there, the discussion moved on to a strange, lead bottle on Ryūzaki Sanosuke's person. It bore the symbol of a Demon they now knew to be Shax, based on Yoshitakatomo's Gehennan reference sheet. Sanosuke explained that he had obtained it from a scoundrel called "Crow," who had in turn most likely gotten it from a trade with Studiose.   Indeed, in Kagami's mirror, the bottle did take on the aspect of a crow. Bedraggled and thin, it glared through the reflection with evil, beady eyes. Both that imagery and Sanosuke's description reminded Aotsuki Tsukamoto of a certain "Karasu" who was still on the run after cheating on some gambling debts in his domain of Inabayama. Telepathically, Saitō Dōsan and Fujino were able to confirm his description, as well as that he had said he'd be on his way to Osaka next. If Aotsuki wanted a chance of catching him in Wakigami, it would likely have to be tonight.   They determined to investigate that lead bottle further, but first the Princess-Daimyō wished to raise her* concerns about the Hōjō Clan. They were known to be involved in trafficking Absodium, a metal forged from an alloy of Human souls, inimical to life upon contact. In short, a very dangerous and morally bankrupt metal. Yoshitakatomo had only recently tasked Shibai with investigating their supply lines of the stuff, but, judging by Shigeaki Fujino's immediate and obvious guilty reaction, it seemed another avenue of investigation was open.   A few of the generals probed her with questions, but Fujino would only let on that it was a secret. Under her duties as Hashinara Master of Communications, she couldn't just go around telling those. Eventually it was Ryūzaki Sanosuke who offered an explanation, as it was his secret that she had been guarding. Sanosuke had, for some time, been in occasional Fujino-assisted contact with an architect in the Hōjō Clan. One Nanakuma. Judging by the name, she was one of Hōjō Ujiyasu's biological daughters, and so would not yet be as trusted as his adopted children, who all bore the clan name. This meant she might not be as valuable a source of information, but also that it would be less risky to contact her. Sanosuke promised to do just that and see what he could find out about the Absodium business.   Indeed, Takenaka Hanbei suggested that Ujiyasu's sheer volume of daughters might be a benefit to the Hashinara. They'd had some success dealing with the girls before, most notably in the capture of the Black Galleon from the Dreamlands off Japan's coast. If they could gather allies on that side, it would make gathering information, or even an eventual confrontation, much easier.   Midnight loomed now, but before retiring completely, Sanosuke suggested that they open the Demonseal Bottle. This place wouldn't do, obviously, but Fujino put forth Abe no Seimei's sanctum in the basement of Ōtsu Castle and took them there without delay.   The sanctum was empty, but tidy and already well-prepared for summoning, as expected of a professional like Seimei. Aotsuki telepathically explained the situation, and the onmyōji herself arrived not long later. She was a bit frazzled from the unexpected visit to the very heart of her power, but still poised and very interested in what might be held within that bottle. Seimei bid Fujino to put it in the center of the summoning circle and then retreat. After being briefed on the demon's True Name and sigil, she began to chant. With her own great skill, the demon's sigil, and Kagami's binding mirror, Seimei completed the ritual beyond any doubt of success, binding Shax to the circle.   When the acrid, salty smoke within that barrier finally coalesced, it was not quite what anyone had been expecting. Shax bore the grey skin and white hair of an Envy demon, but in contrast to Raym's six arms, she only had four. A huge pair of ornamental horns on her headdress provided a roosting place for a flock of ratty crows, each of which was as skinny and sickly-looking as Shax herself. The archdemoness at first laughed in glee at finally being free, only to have her mood nosedive when she realized that she had only moved to a slightly larger prison.   Shax, it turned out, possessed a flippant, rude manner and no love for others of her kind. She explained that she was only summoned when the invoker wanted to steal something from an enemy, and give the target a real bad day while they're at it. Reasoning that the reason for her current appearance on Earth must be the same, she offered to steal anything for the mismatched group of generals who had summoned her. Anything to get out of this circle, stretch a bit, and have a bath.   The summoners, Hashinara Yoshitakatomo in particular, had no such designs. Shax's offer was tempting, but they needed to learn more about her first. Slumping down to sit on the floor, the demoness proved quite willing to answer their questions, so long as she could pepper insults and complaints within the responses. She had been tasked by someone to steal Solomon's legendary ring, she explained, but had not succeeded. The "King of Demons," whom Shax had a few choice names for, had sealed her up in a bottle and dropped her to the bottom of the ocean. How her prison had gone from there into the possession of Studiose was a complete mystery at the moment.   Intrigued by her tale, Yoshitakatomo went on to ask what other kinds of things Shax had managed to steal throughout her career. Particularly, she* was interested in supernatural thefts. The other pondered for a moment, then explained that she'd once stolen a child's laughter. To Yoshitakatomo, this meant torture, but Shax explained that she'd literally taken the child's voice for her master to listen to whenever they wished, leaving the victim mute for the rest of their days. When that didn't seem to impress, Shax went on to reminisce about when she had sneaked into Heaven to steal a seed from the holy garden, burning down much of it in the process. The client for that order, apparently another demon, wasn't nearly grateful enough for Shax's liking.   When it became obvious that her summoners didn't know who she was, why they'd summoned her, and barely even knew where they were, Shax suggested that they just let her go. She wouldn't steal anything from them. She promised. Unfortunately for Shax, that didn't seem to fly.   Meanwhile, Maxim was growing increasingly bored with the proceedings. Nobody seemed to know what to do with the demon, and he had no interest in furthering his relations with that type. So, he sat upon a reading desk and hailed Abe no Seimei in telepathic communication. The onmyōji had previously suggested that he could have a Sheele of his own, similar to Kagami and Tama who accompanied Aotsuki. He was cautiously interested, and began working out the details of how he'd provide the magical energy. With that in hand, Seimei would charge nothing more for the summoning service. The two already had some deals in place, and Maxim saw this as payment for another service, but Seimei suggested that it would place him in her debt instead. Those details could be worked out later, however. For now, Maxim took twenty-one sheets of mystically treated parchment and promised to fill them with magic for the ritual.   Back at the circle, Yoshitakatomo had determined how to move forward. She* declared that Shax would be bound to her* command, and then would be released from the circle. She could operate in the human realm, within Yoshitakatomo's limits, and maybe even get back at Solomon. Otherwise, Shax would have to wait another thousand years for a chance to escape. The demon took only a short time to consider this before agreeing.   Yoshitakatomo was no summoner, but she* still possessed ways of placing other creatures under her* control. Mustering a great amount of magic, she* cast Dominate Life on Shax, bending necromantic energy to enslave the demon. Being a demon, an archdemon at that, Shax shrugged the spell off as easily as water passing over a duck's back. She snickered, and asked Yoshitakatomo to try again, which the Princess-Daimyō did. Again, Shax resisted, claiming that her "soul had slipped" with a sneer. Offering that perhaps the third time would work out, she sat back and waited. This caused Yoshitakatomo to hesitate, but eventually she* did muster energy for a third attempt. This time, for reasons unknown, Shax didn't resist at all. The spell shackled her successfully to Yoshitakatomo's control, and was bound in place by Abe no Seimei. The demon's new container would be the furious mask upon Yoshitakatomo's abdomen, the link between the two keeping Shax's soul frozen just as it was: under the Daimyō's control.   Understandably sensing a trap, Yoshitakatomo invited Shax out of the circle, but made sure to test her newfound control. First verbally, then silently, she had the demon go through a variety of foolish motions, such as putting her arms in the air and jumping around like a Kyonshi. Shax, being pretty far from healthy and fit, crashed to the ground at the latter, expressing her acid annoyance at the humiliating display. Yoshitakatomo was still wary for not knowing why Shax had chosen to allow the spell, but this seemed to confirm that the demon was fully under her control.   The matter of the Demonseal Bottle had thence been handled. While Sanosuke, the original holder of the bottle, took an almost entirely passive role in events, Yoshitakatomo gained a powerful new ally(?) and perhaps a weapon against the likes of Bishamonten and Solomon.