Session 11. (22/3/06)

The Troubleshooters decide to sent Sung back with the latest news to Mariko, then resume their southerly pilgrimage, calling at temples 20 to 22 before arriving at temple 24, "Cape Temple". The temple is situated on top of a hill at the tip of Cape Muroto, a long day's ride from temple 22 and far from the nearest village. It appears to be deserted so Sugiyama sneaks up to investigate. He can see no-one on the outside but when he gets close enough to see inside he spies an elderly monk sitting in quiet contemplation. Sugiyama steps out of the shadows and announces himself to the monk. The monk, whose name is Uchikina, greets Sugiyama and asks if he is on the Pilgrimage. Sugiyama says, "Yes, we are," and the monk realizes there are others. He invites them up to the temple and stamps their pilgrim's books. Uchikina asks what they are seeking from the pilgrimage and Komako tells the story of the Buddha statues, Lord Chozo's family history and the threatened invasion of the island by the Shogun. The monk is happy to help and directs the Troubleshooters to a path leading down the cliffs to a cave near the sea, where he says the statue is kept. They thank the monk and set off, but, suspicious as ever, get Emiko to foresee the future before they go.

The path follows a narrow ledge sloping down the cliff to a small beach and along to one of a number of caves on the eastern side of the cape. They check that the cave is above the high tide mark and go in. While their eyes are adapting to the darkness, only Sugiyama notices a huge Bakemono-kunshu (ghostly goblin lord) coming out of the cave, so they are shocked when the words "Are you after my Buddha?" come rumbling out of its mouth. The Troubleshooters back out to the cave threshold. The seven-foot tall goblin continues, "Do you want a fight? I'll take you all on." With that the giant takes out some nunchaku, looking more like two logs connected by anchor chain, and swings them at the nearest intruder, who happens to be Emiko. Emiko sees seven stars. Kimori draws his big chopper and uses the Beast Killer okuden to some effect, but notices that the amount of damage the beast is taking is much less than the sword should be doing. The bakemono swings again and gives Emiko another six tweeting birds. Sugiyama's sword connects for a 10 point hit but only does four damage. The goblin swings at Kimori and misses. Komako kicks at it but misses, falls and dazes himself. Kimori lands a critical blow on the goblin for 18 (12) damage just as the nunchaku collect Sugiyama's head for five damage but he responds with a blow for eight (two) damage. Emiko sweeps her fiery bo staff but misses. The goblin has one final swing at Emiko but misses.

In the next round of fighting the bakemono-kunshu first hits Emiko and knocks her out. It then has a go at Kimori but misses because Kimori lands another critical, this time for 14 (8) damage. Sugiyama uses his Taisabaki skill to get behind the monster and into a favourable position. It lands a heavy blow on Kimori. Komako gets up and lands a kick on the goblin but the damage is absorbed by its hard, warty skin. Kimori scores again for 12 (6) points of damage. The goblin lord flails his rice-flails and scores a 12-point critical hit on Sugiyama on the backswing. Sugiyama responds with a 9 (3) point hit. Komako has a second successful kick and this time manages a nett two points damage. The goblin has another reverse swing at Sugiyama but misses.

The tiring bakemono swings at Kimori but misses. It has another go and scores six points, but Kimori's simultaneous strike gets a maximum 17 (11) points and the monster collapses, barely alive. Sugiyama quickly finds the Buddha statue - it is made of sandstone, quite heavy and quite badly worn - and they carry it and Emiko back up to the cliff top. They look in on the monk and he seems very surprised to see them. He excuses himself and retires to the back of the temple. A few moments later Sugiyama notices the monk scampering off down the path to the cave. Leaving Kimori to carry Emiko and the statue back to the horses, Sugiyama and Komako set off after the monk. They see him go into the cave and up to the goblin, fussing round the creature and trying to heal it. The creature's wounds are quickly repaired and Sugiyama realises that at this rate the goblin will come round before Emiko. Sugiyama says he could try giving it a narcotic poison, but Komako protests that he is against testing drugs on animals. Instead he goes up to the monk and asks what he is doing. The monk jumps up and shouts at Komako. "Who will protect the temple if he dies?" he demands. Komako says angrily, "But you sent us into a trap!" The monk simply replies, "But I didn't think you'd get it." At this point the monster starts to stir and the two heroes return to the others as quickly as they can. They get back to the horses to find that Kimori has loosened Emiko's clothing to make her comfortable and tied her hands and feet ready to be attached to her horse so they can proceed. Sugiyama manages to find a herbal remedy that revives Emiko and they immediately set off. Eventually they untie Emiko's hands and feet as well.

After a night of rest and recuperation at temple 25, Emiko examines the latest statue. In her trance she determines that it causes a target person to be made fearful, insecure and nervous if candles are lit around it. Checking their memories, the Troubleshooters determine that there were no candles around it when it was in the cave. They discuss the bakemono's motivations but reach no conclusions.

A week later, having visited temples 26 to 37, the Troubleshooters arrive at temple 38, "Temple of Everlasting Happiness" on Cape Ashizuri at the western end of the south coast. They go in, pray, get their books stamped and meet the small staff of priests. The head priest is very friendly and, after Emiko has skilfully related their story, he is very happy to help them out - in fact he almost giggles with delight. The mood is infectious, and when he presents them with the solid jade figurine they spontaneously burst into two verses of "The High Priest Has Only Got One Buddha". Later, in a quieter moment, Emiko determines that the power of the statue is to make the target happy, confident, and immune to the effects of injuries.

The party continues and soon after reaches temple 39 and then 40, "Temple of Kannon", the last in their quest. The temple is quite busy, with many worshippers, priests and acolytes in evidence. However the high priest seems to be staying out of sight. Eventually Emiko manages to catch sight of him in his private apartment and realises why - he has a huge nose, shaped like a sausage and almost as long. An acolyte is helping him by using a wooden board to hold his nose out of the way as he eats. Emiko asks the acolyte when he next emerges from the room if she can see the head priest. The acolyte checks and confirms that the high priest is happy to have visitors. Emiko goes in and the priest is indeed happy, but she can sense that he is deeply troubled. He tells his story. He is content with his life as a priest - after all, what else could someone looking like him do? He is pleased to help people, and they are very kind to him, but he sees once he is out of their sight that they laugh about his nose. How he wishes his nose was smaller! If only someone knew how it could be shrunk. Emiko promises to help if she can and returns to the others. They rack their brains but come up empty. Then Komako says he vaguely remembers reading a story once and there was some tale of mouse urine being able to reduce the size of body parts, or something... if only he could remember.

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