Basho Genji's Call to Action

I had traveled north and stopped to sit before the shrine near Tou-Tou, when I was struck with a vision. It was no enlightened scene or insight, no satori, but rather a vision of frightening portent.

Some of you know that I trained under the famed Murasaki Tanka in Ispar, and that I fell into Dereth while defending him from attack. The details are not important, but know that Murasaki Sensei ran afoul of a corrupt merchant house, one of the most corrupt among the Sho. It was against skilled assassins sent from this house that we fought that day. I know not if he survived.

This particular house has forged strong connections with a frontier cult among the Gharundim. This desert cult, a band of insane dervish, count among their arcane skills the ability to summon strange demons to possess weak-minded humans and use them as vessels in which evil deeds might be done. It is said that they capture wayward, lost souls in the desert and corral them for this purpose.

Now, to my vision. A clock bearing Isparian time, strangely enough, struck 9:30PM EST, Sunday. A gaunt Gharun woman, eyes blazing with an impure fire, descended from mountains into a town of Sho architecture. I am not sure which town, but the mountains were taller than those just near Shoushi. As she stumbled down the slope into town she clawed at rabbits and ate them as might a crazed animal. She wandered among the people, through the streets, begging in a raspy voice for scraps of food, raw meat, vegetables -- anything.

Then, she said my name.

I approached Tacitus the Scholar, the learned Alluvian, with this vision. His interpretation is frightening. He guesses that a demon summoned by this Gharun cult, and working toward the desired ends of this corrupt Sho merchant house, has arrived in Dereth to seek and kill me. If so, it is empowered by some object of sentimental value to me; such an object would have been taken from me or someone close to me. As long as the demon possesses this unfortunate Gharun woman, and as long as it bears this object of mine, I am powerless against it. Its magic is too strong for me to even face.

Tacitus promises to contact us soon with instructions for how one other than myself might disarm and dispel this demon, and recover the object it carries. There is, apparently, a ritual to be performed. I call on you all to canvas the mountainous Sho towns and to stand in ambush, prepared as Tacitus will outline to face this creature, at 9:30PM EST this coming Sunday. This is apparently when it will again come out of the wilderness to feed and tend to other needs of its human host. We are not clear of the demon's power until the object it carries is delivered to me.

This marks the beginning, to be sure, of a campaign against Jojii's Sword and its friends. For now, I am the target. Ultimately, none of us will be safe.

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