Part II Long ago, in the days of the priestess Midoriko, existed a secret society of mortal priests known as the Brotherhood of the Temple. Their mission was to discover a way to defend their people against slaughter by demons, but a way that relied less on the skill and power of miko and taijiya—a way all people could defend themselves.

After many weeks of decision making, the Brotherhood decided that the best way to do this would be to learn how to harness demon power, and make powerful weapons infused with that essence.

They experimented with this for years, to no avail. Still, they continued to harvest demon subjects to test and experiment with—and their perseverance paid off in the end.

A powerful monk by the name of Akihiko Daichi discovered a way to extract the yôkai aura from the demons, and transfer it into objects—mainly weapons. It was also discovered then that the power of the object depended on the power of the demon that the aura once belonged to.

In the end, there were seventeen of these weapons made, one for each remaining member of the brotherhood. By this time Midoriko had lost her final battle with the great demon, and the Brotherhood kept order over the land with their new weaponry, but the peace would not last for long.

One by one, the members were driven mad by their discovery. Some lusted for more power, while for some their weapons literally drove them insane. By the end of this, not a single member of the brotherhood remained, and the weapons disappeared, and passed out of knowledge and into legend.

For years they lay hidden, in the far reaches of the mountains, where few dared venture. Their cavern home once belonged to the Yourouzoku, but had since been taken over by a very powerful, nasty mountain dragon. For years and years he horded the weapons along with his other treasures, until his final destruction, just recently, by a group of taijiya hired by a village he had taken to terrorizing.

The mountain was a many days walk from the nearest village, but after the dragon’s death his trove was divided and sold to people across Japan, weapons included. Without knowledge of the great power these items hold, they pose a great danger to themselves and everything around them. What shall come of it?


Part two: Weapons of a Forgotten Age