Secrets Beneath the Throne

Discovery, Exploration

As the end of his audience with Empress Genmei came to an end, Knight Commander Maxim had but one more question. If he were to run into one of the Empress' lost retainers, say, Isonokami no Maro, how would he recognize them? It would be of great assistance if she could provide a description. Lady Genmei, however, could do something even better. She directed Maxim to traverse the labyrinth beneath Wakigami Castle, in the dungeons. At the end of the maze, he would find her self-imposed sepulcher, now empty, but still guarded by realistic depictions of Isonokami no Maro and Fujiwara no Fuhito.

Maxim thanked the Empress, then stood and attempted his best at a formal Japanese bow. When he straightened, the expression on Genmei's face told him that he had not been successful. Indeed, the Empress looked much as though she'd bitten down on a particularly rancid old lemon, but the expression soon passed. Prince Hozumi, too, showed his disdain for the failed bow by slamming his head into the floor and lying there, prone and destitute. Graciously, Empress Genmei offered to teach him some more etiquette on his next visit. That seemed to be his cue, so Maxim gathered Evaine to his side and departed.   The entrance to the labyrinth below was not hard to find. The mistress* of the castle was currently away on some other business in another plane of existence, but Tōdaisen Nobuhara did not hesitate to give permission on her* behalf for Maxim's exploration. That only left how to actually navigate the maze. Maxim had once claimed that he was an experienced dungeoneer, among the other skills he had brought with him from Albion. As the mighty knight stared at the labyrinth stretching before him, however, a neutral observer would not have guessed the same. Finally, he settled for sticking his right hand out, touching it to the wall, and walking forward deliberately. By following the same wall all the way through the maze, he could not but eventually end up at its other side.   A great stone door awaited Maxim at the end of the labyrinth. Fully twenty spans high, the Imperial Crest of Japan showed carved deep into its rock. Flanking each side of the portal, a pair of earthen Oni stared down at the interloper. On Maxim's left side, a towering, muscular man held a hammer in his ferocious grip. On the other side, a slender, wan oni enjoyed a much more relaxed and serene pose. Beneath each statue was a clay bowl laid as though in offering. With his trained eye, Maxim could identify the red stains which marred each vessel as blood. Old, dried blood.   Maxim knew what to do with bowls. Without hesitation, he walked to the bowl beneath the leftmost oni, surely Fuhito by Genmei's description, and slit his finger. When his blood dripped into the bowl, Fuhito's stony countenance seemed to come alive. The left half of the Imperial symbol lit up with a golden glow. The rightmost side, however, remained dull. This state continued even when Maxim crossed the room and allowed his blood to seep into Isonokami no Maro's cup. The serene oni seemed to care not for Maxim's blood, nor for Evaine's when she made the attempt. At least that was not wholly unexpected. Technically, she and Maxim were the same person.   It seemed, then, that Isonokami no Maro was looking for a quality that Maxim did not possess. Curiosity had gotten the better of him now, and not only because of the strange noise, metal and rhythmic, that he could now hear echoing behind the closed door. Maxim called upon his perennial ally, Tōdaisen Nobuhara, and requested that the smartest person in the castle be sent to aid him. That turned out to be an issue, as the smartest person in the castle was not currently in the castle. Nobuhara promised to send another fitting candidate as soon as he was able.   Soon, far too soon, a shadow detached itself from the shadows of the labyrinth and slunk its way over to Maxim's side. It was none other than Shax who, with her mistress* away, was no doubt looking for trouble. Although the demoness claimed to have the same interests as he, Maxim was not about to indulge her. When Shax refused to turn away, his demeanor grew threatening. Finally, like a kicked possum, she hissed and creeped back into the darkness and was not seen again.   Maxim waited a while longer, then was surprised by the arrival of another from the labyrinth. This one, who introduced herself as Mosutoki in a single word, was confirmed by Nobuhara to be the one he had sent. This girl was a bit odd, and needed more prodding than usual to help, but she did so without complaint. Maxim almost said something when Mosutoki nearly cut her own finger off when providing blood for the statue, but restrained himself when it seemed to do the trick. The other half of the crest lit up. With a grating sound of stone on stone, the great door slid to either side to reveal a morbid sight beyond.   It was as though an entire blacksmith's shop had been moved into this admittedly spacious chamber. A great forge dominated one wall, while the other was a forest of discarded blades. Indeed, well-crafted, nearly identical katana seemed littered on almost every possible surface, including the floor within. At the center of the steel chaos, a languid young man sat at a forge, methodically pounding away at another sword. He seemed not to notice the newcomers, perhaps because of the blindfold wrapped tightly about his head. Behind all of this, as if built into the rear wall itself, a great opening seemed to lead into impenetrable blackness. Around the portal were arrayed bones of indeterminate source in a structure reminiscent of a great rib cage or a pair of grasping skeletal hands. Whatever that was, it probably wasn't good.   At this point, Komono Mosutoki, apparently unperturbed by what they'd just discovered, asked Maxim if he needed anything else. The Knight Commander had to admit that he did not. As Mosutoki left, he relayed the details of his discovery to Nobuhara. The clan administrator, well shocked by the report, took a moment to convey the information to Hashinara Yoshitakatomo. Finally, the Daimyō's orders came through. Maxim was to wait there and stand by until the clan's greatest minds could be assembled to study the rift within the Empress' vacated chambers. As for the boy smith, they would leave him be. For now. Although Maxim had been about to confront the lad, he held back on the Daimyō's word. He would wait.