Emma-O Seido
Emma-O Seido is a small temple, deep in the Taru Mountains, perched on a high peak constantly battered by cold winds. The sisters, for all of the monks here are women, are united in grief. All have suffered loss and been unable to find peace. Many say that they can often hear the lamentations of the dead in the frigid air whistling and gusting around the monastery.
Nearby villages provide the sisters with food and necessities in exchange for help with funeral rites. Few outsiders ever visit the temple, for it is a cold and unwelcoming place with little room for visitors. An old suit of O-Yoroi, the lacquer and all decorations worn away, serves the temple in lieu of a statue. Legend has it that the armor belonged to a sister's dead husband. As Emma-O is often depicted as an empty suit of armor, the sisters of Emma-O Seido find this fitting.
Architecture
Cold, forbidding stone and dark, heavy timbers. Snow piles up in corners and under eaves almost year-round.
