Yokai Invasion: Heiwa Valley and the Restless Emperor
Yokai Invasion: The Valley's Dead
The road to Jaaku's fortress passes through Heiwa Valley. War has left bones on the ground and restless spirits where peace once held. Koro stops Miko's company at the village, unwilling to let a second army finish what the first began. Miko insists that they have come to liberate the people, not conquer them. If they can end the suffering, Koro will support them; first they must help those who live here.
Some of the threats have grown from the remains of battle itself. Abumi Guchi form from fallen soldiers' stirrups, and the Hero reduces their numbers enough to give the village relief. Koro also wants weapons and armor taken from the Shadow Samurai. With the rest of the village armed, his militia can oppose Jaaku's soldiers instead of being expected to fight beside them.
The fallen need attention as well. Koro asks the Hero to gather spectral flames and cremate the bones scattered through the valley, hoping to keep their restless ghosts at bay. When the last of the work is done, a gust extinguishes the companions' torches. The smaller spirits are not the only force haunting the land.
A powerful Onryo appears wherever fighting draws it, bringing more ghosts with it. Koro describes it as anguish made into a being, lashing out at every side. Miko asks the Hero to banish the Goryo so the village can have some respite. Removing Jaaku's soldiers alone will not settle what their war has left behind.
To face the Onryo's cold, Miko prepares protection from spectral heat and wasabi obtained from the vendor Kyo. Fur from the Abumi Guchi holds the paste, allowing it to be worn around the neck. The materials make an immediate confrontation possible; they do not explain or resolve the spirit's pain.
Finding it takes another preparation. The Hero brings the howl of an Inugami, ghost flowers and spirit eyes. Miko makes incense that reveals otherwise hidden parts of the spirit world. Its trail leads the companions through the valley toward a voice still calling for resistance, protection and battle.
Yokai Invasion: Protect My Daughter
From the fog comes a plea to protect a daughter. The Onryo draws closer, but Miko notices that it is not attacking. She speaks to it instead. They are not Jaaku's men, she says; they want to defeat his army and bring peace to Yokai. She recognizes pain and confusion in the spirit because Jaaku has taken so much from her, too.
Koro and his soldiers arrive in alarm. Miko protests that she was getting through to the Onryo, but the chance to settle the encounter without violence passes. The Hero believes the spirit is now too far gone to calm and prepares to fight. Miko agrees, placing the village's safety before the fragile peace she had nearly made.
The Onryo knocks the Hero back, but the struggle weakens it enough for Miko to act. She directs her magic at the spirit until its terrifying form falls away. Daisho's ghost appears before them. The warrior crying out to protect his daughter is her father.
Daisho thought Jaaku had killed Miko. She tells him that she wounded Orochi and is still going after the shogun. Then she blames herself for what became of him: in her urgency, she neglected the fallen's funeral rites. Daisho refuses to condemn her. Had she not pursued Jaaku, he says, there could have been many more dead. Her choice to act was right, even though grief and anger left him unable to rest.
Now she has brought him peace. Daisho trusts her to protect their people, and she promises that she will. His spirit fades. The encounter has not restored his life or made his death harmless; it has allowed father and daughter to understand one another beyond the fury that concealed him.
Koro thanks the companions. Freed from the immediate threat of the Shadow Samurai and restless spirits, the village can spare warriors to join them. Miko still wonders whether the other fallen will forgive her as her father has. That answer, and the peace she has promised Yokai, depend on work that remains ahead at Jaaku's fortress.