Locks, Keys, and a Surprise Vacation?

General Summary

Sensing Benkei's presence, Tsukuyomi halted her attack and instead questioned the group about who they were and why they'd come. They successfully persuaded the Moon Monarch to grant them an audience with Izanagi. Leading them to the top floor of her pagoda, the group found themselves face to face with the frail and wizened form of Izanagi no Okami- Saiha's former pupil whose story Sutoku Tennō had told you about nearly three years ago. After a brief heart to heart with his "grandson" Benkei, Izanagi bid the group to leave, as he had no intention of telling them how to seal away his wife. The old Onmyōuji deeply regrets his actions and has prolonged his own life in this demiplane out of a sense of guilt and responsibility for creating the monster his wife had become. He wallows in his sadness, believing he doesn't have the right to stop her or even see her again.   However, Benkei and Conradus appealed to him once more and succeeded in persuading him to divulge his secrets. Izanagi revealed that  the only way to free Izanami (that Izanagi is aware of) is to use the "keys" that each of the Monarchs possess. However, her shackles can be weakened after a massive loss of life (tying into her promise to kill thousands of innocents a day). If her shackles are weakened (as they were during the Second Great Yokai War ) it's possible that she can also be brought into the material plane with a strong enough catalyst. The three Monarchs themselves were the "locks" Izanagi used to lock his wife in Yomi. They are portions of Izanagi's power given life. After weeping over what he had done, Izanagi washed his face and formed Amaterasu from his left eye's tears, Tsukuyomi from his right eye's tears, and Susanoo from the tears gathering on his nose. Each of the monarchs then split their power further and created "keys" of their own- powerful regalia that they would then hide around Kōryō to ensure that no one would be able to free Izanami and her first two children. These three regalia would go on to become known as the "Sanshu no Jingi" once they fell into human hands. Together, the three regalia formed the Ame no Nuhoko, the heavenly jeweled spear that was the last "key" to binding Izanami.   After reviving Sora, the group remained in Tsukuyomi's pagoda until twilight came again, shunting them back into the material plane. They returned to Tengoku where they realized that nearly two weeks had passed while they'd been in Tsukuyomi's demiplane. They met with Tao-Ren and relayed the information they'd learned before making plans to return to Feng-Nao. Conradus also visited Kakuzu regarding Bitō's repairs (which would be done in about a week).   The following day the group decided to relax and cut loose and returned to Feng-Nao for the first time since Benkei had immolated himself in exchange for Genji's restoration. They spent the day shopping and enjoying the desert paradise (Conradus commissioned "Cutter" to repair his damaged scythe, and Benkei even picked up a new spear) before facing off against the Sword Jockey's in a team battle. Though they lost to the Sword Jockey's, the group still joined them that night for a raucous bar crawl through Feng-Nao that left Sora and Conradus nursing terrible hangovers the following morning.    They returned back to Tengoku and finally got around to scrying on Laxius, who they saw writing at a desk in some sort of underground chamber made of glass or crystal. Through the scry, they were able to deduce that he was operating in the vicinity of Tochigi Forest from one of the Glasscliffs. Scrying on him later that day, they saw the dark elf seemingly searching/sensing for something back in the Chasm where they'd previously fought Vazrimoth.