Reimian Empire

Yamagami Aiyano

"Well, this is the perfect place to enter the forest," grumbled the peasant, pointing with a gnarled finger at a narrow path on the edge of the woods that led between the trees.
"Please be careful!" clucked his wife. "There are only bumps and stones and branches here; don't tear your shirt."
Ignoring her, the miko entered the forest. After a few dozen steps, she stopped and gestured for the peasants behind her to quiet down.
"What is she doing?" whispered the man, nudging his wife with his elbow. "Is she scared?"
The girl slowly turned around, took out a stack of paper talismans from her clothing, and handed them to the woman.
"Attach one inside and outside all doors, windows, and walls. And no one is allowed to leave the house until dawn. If you go out, you will die, and your soul will be forever cursed and trapped in this forest."
The peasant scratched his ear skeptically and crumpled his hat in his hands.
"Uh, what's this? What if the neighbors see it and laugh? I don't need these papers in my house..."
"You aren't needed," snapped the girl, giving the man a scathing look.
"Come on, let's not interfere with the holy maiden and her rituals. We'll do as we're told, that's all. Thank you very much, we'll wait for news," said the wife, dragging the disgruntled man back towards the edge of the woods.
Left alone, Aiyano calmed her irritation, took a deep breath, and focused. The forest clearly emanated a very evil influence. At least it was clear that the villagers' complaints were not just drunken ramblings. According to them, a child had gone missing in the forest, and three adults who went looking for him had not returned either. There could be many reasons, but during all the time she spent in the forest, she hadn't heard any birds singing or animals rustling, nor seen a single insect.
The path turned out to be quite convenient – it led deeper into the forest, and the further Aiyano walked along it, the stronger the feeling of danger became. The sparse, sickly vegetation gave way to dry, twisted trunks and branches; there was a hint of mustiness and death in the air. Although she entered the forest before sunset and hadn't been there for long, it grew so dark that she had to light a lantern. Crooked, bare trees absorbed the light and distorted the perception of time, but this didn't bother the miko. What interested her more were the sudden noises: the rustle of decaying leaves and the snapping of twigs outside the path, in the thicket. You didn't have to be a hunter or lumberjack to understand that these sounds weren't natural.
Finally, the path widened and opened onto a wide clearing. The faint light from the lantern, which had previously illuminated the outlines of trees and bushes on both sides, was swallowed by the surrounding darkness. In addition to the rustling and cracking, a barely perceptible hum could be heard at the edge of hearing, and indistinct sounds came from far ahead. After a few more steps, she stumbled upon a body. It lay face down, wearing tattered rags, heavily gnawed, and emitting a disgusting smell of decay.
Despite its terrible condition and the impossibility of identification, one thing could be said with certainty – the body was small, belonging to a child.
Aiyano placed the lantern on the ground, creating a tiny island of weak light, laid out the ofuda around it, and prepared the rest of her tools. A short chant and several waves of bells caused the lantern to shine brighter, and close to its edges, distinct shuffling sounds could be heard.
Closing her eyes, the girl immersed herself in the ritual dance, ignoring the screams of the unholy creatures surrounding her, filled with rage and pain. With each movement, each chime, the ominous hum she had felt earlier grew stronger.
Finally, after completing the ritual and opening her eyes, the miko saw about ten charred bodies on the borders of the greatly expanded circle of light. Some were already crumbling into dust, while others still showed remnants of clothing similar to what most villagers wore in the forest village. But this was only the beginning - now the real work awaited her.
"Soul Eater. You can stop hiding. Kamisama's patience has run out, and with His power, I will erase you from our world."
The bone-chilling hum reached such intensity that Aiyano could barely hear her own words, and the darkness at the edge of the circle stirred, merged into a single stream, and began to contract. After a few moments, it became clear that the island of light was completely surrounded by huge, poisonous, spiky tentacles, on whose surface hundreds of eyes appeared, and the flesh opened into dozens of toothy mouths emitting pus.
The girl said a short prayer, concentrating her spirit for an attack, waved the gohei, and fired several shots into one of the mouths. The attack tore through the demon's flesh; poisonous splashes flew in all directions, and the creature emitted a chilling scream. The ring of tentacles began to constrict faster; gnarled hands of corpses emerged from it, reaching for the miko. Somewhere nearby, a long female cry rang out. Aiyano didn't pay attention to it; all she could do at the moment was to get rid of the disgusting creation as quickly as possible. After a few more attacks, the demon went mad; human faces – men and women, children and old people – began to appear on its skin. They tried to say something, opening their mouths and adding their sounds to the general cacophony.
The ring of vile, constantly moving tentacles finally reached the original boundaries of the circle; another moment, and the dead hands would grab the girl and tear her to pieces. Aiyano put down the gohei, knelt, closed her eyes, and invoked Kamisama. After a few seconds, everything fell silent.
Opening her eyes, she saw dawn illuminating the clearing and revealing traces of many repulsive things. Only circles of black stone remained on the ground where the demon had been – this time, the talismans placed beforehand worked; the evil demon was so enraged that it didn't even feel the trap. Gathering her belongings, the miko headed towards the exit of the forest, but when she reached the path, she found a depressing scene waiting for her.
Under a dilapidated bush lay a broken and mutilated body, and next to it sat an old woman, clutching what used to be a straw hat in her hands, staring blankly into space.
"I told him not to go out."
The woman muttered without looking away:
"He drank... he didn't believe me. I tried to stop him... his grandfather fought with the slant-eyed ones; he wanted to call the priest, but I wouldn't let him... he wanted to say everything he thought... he drank, he didn't believe me, I couldn't stop him... he... he said it was a lie, that he wouldn't sacrifice a single coin..."
Aiyano looked at the peasant woman and walked along the path towards the exit.
"Anyway, the forest is safe," she said over her shoulder. "For the burial, contact the abbess; family rituals are not my specialty."

Strength: 10
Intelligence: 10
Willpower: 40
Agility: 20
Perception: 5
Wisdom: 50
Charisma: 5

- Purification/Exorcism
- Inner Barrier
- Outer Barrier
- Bonds

Equipment: Gohei, ofuda, kagura suzu, demon masks.