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General Summary

In the aftermath of Kagutsuchi's defeat and the theft of Izanami's demonic amulet, the group began retracing their steps towards the Foundry's exit. Along the way they encountered a battalion of samurai led by Suzuha and Masahige who'd swept into the Foundry just behind them and were now in the process of looting it.   Once outside, they gave a brief report to Tao-Ren about what had transpired before taking a moment to rest. During that time Amaterasu sent an avatar to inform them that Kagutsuchi's defeat had weakened Yomi's hold on the material plane, and that the Monarchs would be able to hold out for another few days, at most a little under a week.   In an attempt to revive Conradus, Benkei turned to Mugen for help. The Leader of the Yonkishi revived Conradus, making him one of his undead thralls. During the down time, Benkei attuned to Onikiri , the Kyotouryu they'd won from the Glimmer-animated Nonomiya Kotomi, sprouting a pair of oni-horns, while Conradus attuned to Kagutsuchi's hammer Homusubi, which aged him nearly 2 decades. Benkei also scryed on Iho and Laxius , seeing the former held captive in a cage and the latter weakened and attempting to cross part of the Flesh Drops Gorge.   After a short meeting with the Daimyo to discuss their next move, it was decided that the group would be responsible for recovering the stolen amulet as well as defeating Hiruko while the army's main force would push on towards the Dark Citadel and the final confrontation with Izanami.    The army departed the following day while the group remained behind to reattune Benkei's tuning fork to the Abyss, after which they teleported themselves to the Gorge to begin their hunt for Hiruko and Laxius. However, Yomi was against them and they made little progress during the first two days of their journey, losing valuable time. On the third day, they came across a peculiar grove of flourishing trees that seemed unaffected by the Abyss' corruption. Seeing signs that warned them to stay away, they chose to ignore them and proceeded into the grove where they encountered a Corpse Flower and a grumpy Lichen Lich.