KITSUKI AKANO<br/><br/>I listened intently to the conversation while studying the room and what was in it. I stepped in, sheathing my<em>katana</em>and went around outside the circle ending near Doji-san. I looked carefully at the candles, the bowls, the irregularity of the circle and the man called Chizaro-san. He was not<em>shugenja</em>that much was plain, or if he was, he was out of his depth.<br/><br/><strong>"This <em>maho</em> was cast by an amateur. All the layout of the circle, the preparations, the story we are being told. This was not planned, it was done quickly, badly, and perhaps by the wrong person."</strong>I looked at Chizaro-san and knew I was looking at a man already dead. I felt no anger towards him, merely sadness,<em>poor fool.</em><br/><br/><strong>"I have had teaching about this."</strong>I pointed all round the circle.<strong>"When the candles are lit, there is no simple way to break down the barrier they create. But Chizaro-san has given his name to the <em>oni</em> he has summoned, so he has given his life. I think when the <em>oni</em> is destroyed, he will die. In addition the <em>oni</em> will want the person who named it, so if the circle is broken, the <em>oni</em> will come, enter and devour the caster."</strong><br/><br/>I looked from Doji-san to the tall Dragon who seemed to be the leader of this group, and then to the slender Crane<em>shugenja</em>.<strong>"Once the <em>oni</em> has a name, it will become <em>far</em> more powerful and the city will perhaps suffer terribly."</strong><br/><br/><strong>"That is all my knowledge of lore can tell me here. The rest is my opinion."</strong><br/><br/><strong>"The <em>oni</em> must be destroyed while the circle is still unbroken. We need to find it or entice it here. We need to find the three cultists. If the <em>oni</em> has been summoned by Chizaro-san to find the porcelain masks then my belief is it will return here when it has them, or take them to the cultists."</strong><br/><br/><strong>"The task will be easier if we can lure the <em>oni</em> and the three men here."</strong><br/><br/>I turned to Doji-san,<strong>"<em>Bugyo-sama</em>, you know this city. Can you add anything?"</strong>