Wind from the North
Komaru Mikomi releases "Wind from the North" in the theater season of 229. This play is set in Yuriko's Age, like The Four Sisters, but appears to occur closer to the Age's end. It tells the story of Atsuko, a woman with a peculiar inspiration who seeks to destroy the monsters of her Age. The first act serves as a prologue, touching on her early life and illustrating the nature of Yuriko's Age in its final days. The second act covers her encounters in the east. The third act covers her travels in the south. The fourth act covers her visit to the west. Finally, in the fourth act, she returns to her native Duchy, in the north, Chiryoku.
Excerpts from various scenes in Acts 2-5 follow.
Notes
(1) The word "demon", in this play, translates a compound word that could read as either "tainted thing" or "poisoned heart".
(2) The name "Aware" has a Japanese and not an English derivation. One should pronounce it as a-wa-rei, and make no assumptions regarding the relevant character's awareness.
Act 2
This act takes place in the Duchy of Mugoi, ruled by the Duke Hajime. With fine disregard for anyone seeking to place Yuriko's Age in the true history, the play indicates that these Dukes occupy a social status somewhere between that of a modern Duke and an old-fashioned family Duke.
Mugoi lies to the east. In fact, judging by the few landmarks mentioned, it lies slightly further in that direction than the easternmost boundary of modern Minamet lands.
The bulk of this Act takes place around Duke Hajime's dinner table. Characters include Duke Hajime himself, his generals Kyoubou and Yofun, Atsuko, and two animal-headed monsters.
Selections from Act 2
When this selection begins, DUKE HAJIME sits at his table alone.
KYOUBOU and YOFUN enter.
HAJIME: My generals return to me! Kyoubou, Yofun: how fares the battle?
KYOUBOU: The forces of the Twin Pharaohs move ever closer to the castle.
YOFUN: I am sorry to report that our bravest guards have fallen on the field, leaving only the cowardly and the apathetic to defend our family name.
KYOUBOU: And the foolish.
YOFUN: I had forgotten the foolish.
KYOUBOU: Do not underestimate them; they have many virtues.
YOFUN: In addition, our standard rests in enemy hands. I could not recover it.
HAJIME: It is an ill day. But our house shall know a brighter one.
KYOUBOU: This is pleasant news! Whence comes this assertion?
HAJIME: My sources located a woman named Atsuko who has strange powers against demons. (1) Three weeks ago, I summoned her to this keep. I have received her message; she comes, and should arrive within the day.
YOFUN: A thin hope. People expect too much from strange powers and witches. Success comes from careful planning and a resolute determination to accept no failure.
HAJIME: Perhaps this is so. In which manner have you been deficient, my general?
YOFUN: [laughs] The past is a field of sorrows for us all. Look to the future! There, you will see my excellence.
HAJIME: Reassuring.
KYOUBOU: In practice, greater military genius could not have triumphed against this enemy. We have beaten the Pharaohs' troops time and again; it is their lieutenants, and the Pharaohs themselves, against which our forces cannot stand. In essence, lord Hajime, we have no means to kill them; and therefore, they can kill us at their whim.
HAJIME: Then why do they not advance faster?
YOFUN: The foolish, cowardly, and apathetic make poor warriors; but they make excellent dead weight. The Pharaohs do not progress because they must take the time to wade through our army. Our men bog their forces down like mud.
KYOUBOU: In the end, the course of the battle comes down not to the skill of our men but to their corpulence. I have ordered the issuance of extra rations.
HAJIME: This situation does not satisfy me; but I can do nothing more until Atsuko arrives.
...
ATSUKO enters.
ATSUKO: I present myself, my lord Hajime, as you requested.
HAJIME: I face a dire situation, miss Atsuko, and humbly beseech your aid.
ATSUKO: I have seen it. Two monstrous animal-headed creatures batter your Duchy like mad bulls; they leave a trail of devastation behind them.
HAJIME: They have not reached this region yet, for which I am thankful; they might have impeded your travel.
ATSUKO: I have seen signs of them along the way; the crucifixions and staked heads along the road, the burned-out fields, and such.
KYOUBOU: Begging your pardon, miss, but those preceded the invasion.
ATSUKO: Pardon?
KYOUBOU: You came along Traitor's Way, where the lord placed criminals and deserters as a lesson to his realm.
HAJIME: I apologize if you found the corpses misleading.
ATSUKO: The fault is mine, lord Hajime.
YOFUN: I can assure you that those who suffered there merited their fates; my lord is harsh but scrupulously fair.
ATSUKO: My lord Hajime would freely face any amount of personal suffering for his realm; is it not so?
HAJIME: It is.
ATSUKO: Then I cannot fault him for the suffering he inflicts on others, for the sake of his realm. There, I let the matter rest.
YOFUN: You are gracious.
HAJIME: Can you help us, miss Atsuko? We cannot kill the Pharaohs. We cannot kill their Children. A single one of them could destroy this Duchy, though it might take an Age.
ATSUKO: I woke one morning in the mountains of the north, and heard a wind come down from the stars. It said this. Any man, or any woman, can become a herald of change, and fight in honor against the horrors of the world.
HAJIME: I find your answer opaque.
ATSUKO: Take out your blade, lord Hajime, and lay it upon the table.
HAJIME: Is this magic?
HAJIME takes out the blade, and lays it across the table. ATSUKO bends down and kisses the blade.
ATSUKO: This is but a kiss; but magic will come.
HAJIME: Please explicate.
ATSUKO: Remove your armies from the field of battle. Send your servants and generals away. Wait here with the blade. Let the Twin Pharaohs come. You will kill them.
YOFUN: Absurd! I will not leave my lord undefended!
KYOUBOU: Lord Hajime is an indifferent swordsman; let me wield the blade.
ATSUKO: My instructions are precise. Follow them or not; I do not care. However, in either case, I myself shall remain.
HAJIME: How do I know this is not some strange occult betrayal?
ATSUKO: I had a dream the night I received your letter. Peasants lay in piles, unburied and forgotten. Men were tied to pairs of horses and torn apart, or chased down the streets with nailed whips. It was this land; and it had become the home of demons.
YOFUN: [coughs] Actually, such things stopped when the Pharaohs came.
KYOUBOU: The need for harsh discipline remained; but our need for manpower became severe.
ATSUKO: The horrid vision went on; I witnessed women thrown whole into the cookpots, left to burn alive in seasoned stews, with men to shove them back with poles if they managed to climb free.
YOFUN: I recall that party.
ATSUKO: I saw a child turned inside out through sorcery.
KYOUBOU: Ah, yes, that. The Twin Pharaohs are horrid fiends indeed.
ATSUKO: And I resolved to myself that I would see these things end. That was before I understood how the first few parts of my vision served the purposes of discipline. Still, I have no desire to betray you.
HAJIME: It concerns me that you should have disturbing visions that reflect my own policies; I find them irrelevant to the current situation, for right or for wrong.
ATSUKO: You should feel no concern, lord Hajime. The Twin Pharaohs are most likely demons born from the peasants' perceptions of your policies. Thus, the horror I saw becomes relevant. Do not construe this as a criticism of your governance. The suffering you created was equally real whether justified or not; and you have satisfied me on that score.
YOFUN: Indeed! When a man or woman takes up arms against the realm, or against the laws that support it, they prepare their own stewpot; the rest is simply the working out of destiny.
KYOUBOU: A swift and hideous punishment serves as a divinely effective deterrent.
YOFUN: We cannot expect the peasantry to understand the need for this discipline; no more that than the horse can understand the lash.
HAJIME: I need no sycophants to justify my decisions.
ATSUKO: Then you must make the right one; and take up the blade.
HAJIME: I shall. Yofun, Kyoubou, depart; and take my armies from the field.
...
A stuffed MESSENGER BIRD flutters in, suspended from a string, and descends awkwardly to HAJIME's side. He removes the message from its leg and reads.
HAJIME: The Twin Pharaohs are almost to the gates. If the blessed sword fails me, we are both quite dead.
ATSUKO: I feel no concern.
HAJIME: This reassures me.
ATSUKO: After all, what is death? A shadow, a ghost; compared to dishonor, it is nothing of any consequence.
HAJIME: You tease me, miss Atsuko. On another occasion, I might find it intolerable.
ATSUKO: And now?
HAJIME: We are comrades in battle.
ATSUKO: The battle is yet to come.
HAJIME: I shall not quibble over an hour this way or that. If you wished to desert me, the time was several hours ago; therefore, I name you my sister in arms.
ATSUKO: My lord gives me too much honor. Still, I am pleased.
Thumping noises come from the door at the end of the room. Then it flies open, and in stride the TWIN PHARAOHS. One has the face of a serpent; the other, a boar. HAJIME rises to his feet and takes up his blade. The TWIN PHARAOHS kneel.
SERPENT PHARAOH: Lord Hajime! All is done as you have wished it.
BOAR PHARAOH: We have wreaked your vengeance against the traitors and criminals of your land; against the brave, who would defy you; the cowards, who would not serve you; and the apathetic, who held no loyalty to you.
SERPENT: Do not forget the fools.
BOAR: We have also brought your vengeance to the fools who could not see that your programs were just, fair, and for the betterment of your realm.
HAJIME: These are strange allegations. I had assumed this to be a mortal conflict.
BOAR: Your words puzzle me. Why should we engage in a battle that we cannot win?
HAJIME: Ah! All becomes clear. You see this blade, enchanted to destroy you; and you begin a program of lies, flattery, and misdirection, in hopes of lowering my guard.
SERPENT: That is an excellent plan, lord Hajime, but it is not ours.
HAJIME: How can it serve me to see my Duchy in ruins? It is one thing to exert a firm hand; it is another to water the ground with blood and leave too few alive to bring in the harvest. I am not at war with my people; they are the greatest natural resource of my land.
SERPENT: It does not serve your interests, lord Hajime, but it answers the frustrated unhappiness in your heart.
BOAR: And the wild rage that stirs in you when you contemplate that frustration.
SERPENT: Confess it: it gives you joy to realize that so many men and women who opposed you and your governance lie dead. You had rather rule an empty Duchy than a disloyal one. You prefer poverty to insolence. Had we not come along to serve you, you would have mourned the chains of honor that kept you from wreaking this vengeance yourself.
HAJIME: Understand, both of you, that this was not my will.
BOAR: If you so say it.
HAJIME: That granted, I can see virtues in the service of such capable individuals as yourself.
SERPENT: You gratify us, lord Hajime.
HAJIME: Come forward that I may welcome you into my keep.
The TWIN PHARAOHS approach HAJIME, who slashes viciously across their necks with his sword. They fall.
HAJIME: Vile beasts.
ATSUKO: Your choice does you honor, lord Hajime.
HAJIME: I am lord here, and not these beasts.
HAJIME: In any event, the honor is yours. Without this blessed sword, I would have had no way to kill them; and no choice save to take them into service.
YOFUN and KYOUBOU enter, their faces stained pale.
HAJIME: Yofun! Kyoubou! Your return is timely.
KYOUBOU: You have slain us, great lord. Yet still we cannot rest.
HAJIME: Have you been drinking?
YOFUN: I am yofun, the principle of pent-up rage, the Serpent Pharaoh. With one blow, you struck off my head.
KYOUBOU: I am kyoubou, the principle of frenzy, the Boar Pharaoh. With one blow, you struck off my head. Yet still, I cannot rest.
HAJIME: I begin to perceive why my military defense was of limited effect.
ATSUKO: Their semblance of humanity was exact, and might have fooled any man.
HAJIME: Did they fool you?
ATSUKO: I am a herald of change, lord Hajime, and must be alert to the hidden faces of the demons of this world.
HAJIME: An unsatisfactory answer. Can your sword-blessing dispel these spirits, as well?
ATSUKO: It can.
HAJIME slashes the sword across YOFUN and KYOUBOU, to little effect.
YOFUN: Cease this flailing, lord Hajime. The blade chills me, but I have no flesh to cut.
KYOUBOU: Truly, this is the nadir of my existence.
ATSUKO shrugs.
KYOUBOU: I have served as your general, twice, and slain two armies on your behalf. I have drunk fine wines with you and shared commentary on the women you take to bed. This seems a poor reward for faithful service, my lord Hajime! Destroying my flesh and waving a sword through my innards.
HAJIME: Miss Atsuko, please tell me that I have some means of dispelling these shades. Their conversation is morose.
ATSUKO: As I have said, the sword should dispel them. Failing that, their spirits belong to you. You may name such torments for them as you desire.
HAJIME: By right of conquest? I see. Kyoubou! The Boar Pharaoh! Let chains of spirit wrap about your ghost and drag you to the ground. Let the ague fall upon you and let hooks tear into your soul; and consider this the first measure of your punishment for your deceit.
KYOUBOU cries out and falls to the floor.
YOFUN: Lord Hajime, I have failed you. Please, dismiss me from your service and think nothing more of the matter! You need fear no restraint! You need not consider my distinguished career! I deserve to have it ended of this moment! Cut off my pension and strike free my title; I shall make no objection, and eke out a living as a dead ronin.
HAJIME: I could not do such things to a faithful servant, Yofun.
YOFUN: Then the matter is ended. I shall depart to oversee the battlefield.
HAJIME: Indeed you shall; I bind your spirit into one of the corpses there, to lie unmoving and moldering, unable to blink though your eyes grow strained, unable to breathe though your chest cries out for air, unable to speak or cry out though animals gnaw upon your bones; and when nothing is left of that corpse, you shall take a similar place in the nearest corpse you find; and so on, forever, throughout the duration of your days.
YOFUN: This malison is cruel! But I depart.
YOFUN departs.
ATSUKO: These are fitting ends.
HAJIME sits down, heavily.
ATSUKO: Lord Hajime, are you entirely well?
HAJIME: Indeed not; I feel a strain.
ATSUKO: A comprehensible thing; for have you not relegated two aspects of your own soul to eternal torment?
HAJIME: My ears are ringing; speak your words more clearly.
ATSUKO: They themselves did say it; for they are yofun and kyoubou, the unhappiness and frenzy within your own heart. They are the aspects of yourself that eked out merciless justice and thought nothing of your people's torment. Naturally, you cannot feel entirely well while they suffer so.
HAJIME: Your warning is not timely. I reverse my malisons!
ATSUKO: I cannot consider that appropriate, lord Hajime. As you have said, you are willing to face any torment for the good of your realm.
HAJIME: I feel a touch of the ague. My body seems stiff. I am receiving two punishments and not one --- yet my soul includes more aspects than the demons Yofun and Kyoubou! I have virtue in me, and love, and these things now suffer torments; your judgment is improper!
ATSUKO: Surely the peasants who suffered beneath your rule possessed virtue and love in good quantity, traitors, criminals, or insolent curs though they might have been.
HAJIME: By that argument, miss Atsuko, any punishment at all would be too cruel, and the nobility should let crime and treason flourish.
ATSUKO: You make a valid point, lord Hajime. Pragmatically, however, one can distinguish a harsh rule that makes the peasants hate their lord and awakens monsters from that lord's heart from a strict rule that simply makes them reluctant to break the law. As no force bound you to any law, you did not fear to cross the line; but just and fair punishment has found you regardless.
HAJIME: If you show no mercy, you commit as great a sin as I.
ATSUKO: Granted. But I have already told you how your suffering may end.
HAJIME: Please repeat this formula; I did not take note of it before.
ATSUKO: The blade can end the existence of Kyoubou and Yofun, thus ending your torment.
HAJIME: But I struck them, and they did not die.
ATSUKO: You struck at their apparitions, but those ghosts were simply the image of Kyoubou and Yofun. The true demons live within your chest.
HAJIME: Then I shall destroy them.
HAJIME reverses the blade, and falls awkwardly upon it. It pierces his heart.
HAJIME: [dying] Indeed, I feel the pain ebbing with my life. Thank you, miss Atsuko; I would not have been so lenient.
ATSUKO: I agree; death is too light a sentence. Consider that my final criticism of your policies of rule.
CURTAIN FALLS.
Act 3
This act takes place in the Duchy of Gojou, ruled by the Duke Denbe. Gojou lies to the south, somewhere amidst where the Plains of Crystal now stretch.
With a fine sense of economy, the bulk of this Act takes place around a similar dinner table --- out in the wilderness rather than in a formal keep. Characters include Duke Denbe, Atsuko, and the various demons Iroke, Doki, Kietsu, Nikushimi, and Aware.
Selections from Act 3
ATSUKO approaches the table, where all five demons sit. IROKE rises to greet her.
ATSUKO: Good day, lady. I am Atsuko. I have traveled long, and beg a place at your table.
IROKE: Welcome to the Duchy of Gojou, miss Atsuko. I am Iroke. You are welcome to sup with us; but I should warn you, this is a demon feast.
ATSUKO: I keep my eyes sharp for signs of demon presence. I have trained myself to be alert to every warning. It seems rather a waste when you come out and admit to it.
IROKE: I did not mean to disappoint you. Should I retract my admission and pursue a program of secrecy?
ATSUKO: No; you have rather spoiled the matter. Still, take more care in the future.
IROKE: Will you eat with us, then?
ATSUKO: I shall. Tell me, what is the meal?
IROKE: We feast on dreams and desires.
ATSUKO: I had hoped for lamb.
IROKE: The taste is much the same. Please, come and sit; I shall introduce you to the others.
ATSUKO accompanies IROKE to the table. IROKE gestures broadly around at the others gathered there.
IROKE: These are my comrades: Doki, Kietsu, Nikushimi, and Aware. (2)
ATSUKO: Charmed.
IROKE: Comrades, this is miss Atsuko, who has journeyed far from the mountains of the north to destroy us and share our meal.
DOKI, KIETSU, NIKUSHIMI, and AWARE murmur greetings.
ATSUKO: You are uncommonly civil. For demons, I mean.
KIETSU: In the strictest sense, we are not malign.
ATSUKO: Do tell.
KIETSU: We are the demons of primula veris. The Duke of this region claimed the first affections of the women of his realm. This practice produced many bastard heirs. Such folk are we.
AWARE: Sadly, each time he got himself upon our mothers, he left a piece of his soul within their wombs. This is our bastard bloodline. Soon, the Duke had used up all his soul; and now he sits hollowly upon his throne while his demon children frolic and feast.
IROKE: No soul at all! How sad his lot.
KIETSU: You can see right through his skin.
IROKE: But for us, it is just as well.
ATSUKO: A chilling fate for a chilling man.
DOKI: And so well-deserved!
ATSUKO: If you are not malign, then why does Iroke name you demons?
AWARE: In my measured opinion, we are a detriment to this realm. Each of us contains a piece of father's soul and, with it, a piece of his authority. The consequences are dire. Doki taxes his portion of the Duchy fiercely; Kietsu taxes hers not at all. Nikushimi's justice is severe; mine is indifferent. Social order decays. The resentment of the people builds.
ATSUKO: Then it falls upon me, as a herald of change, to bring relief to them.
IROKE: We are each of us servants of change; and it has yielded little benefit so far.
NIKUSHIMI: I counsel you to pragmatism, miss Atsuko. A foolish rebel counts not the cost of her actions, but only their justification. She sees five demons, and launches an attack. Soon, her head sits at one end of the table with an apple in its mouth, while her body boils down in soup. Do not be the foolish rebel!
An impractical idealist considers only the situation before her, and not the world as a whole. She sees five demons, and thinks nothing of the ninety-five more that fill Gojou. Perhaps she defeats the five; she falls before the swarm. Do not be the impractical idealist!
A heartless warrior considers only the interests of her cause; she does not see the souls that are at stake. She murders a Duchyful of bastard children; their spirits wail at the injustice of it all. We did not ask to be brought into the world! they cry. How unfair, to greet their entrance with bloodshed! Do not be the heartless warrior! Instead, sit in peace and sup with us, and let the world remain in balance.
ATSUKO: I find all of these scenarios unsettling.
IROKE: Then we will say no more of it.
...
ATSUKO: It seems to me that the root of the problem lies with the Duke of Gojou. Would you stand in my way, if I wished to speak to him?
IROKE: Indeed no; I shall summon him.
IROKE gestures, and DUKE DENBE shuffles onto the stage. His eyes are blank and his face pale.
There is a short period of silence.
ATSUKO: He is unresponsive.
IROKE: As I have said, he has no soul. Otherwise, he would still be spreading his seed across this land.
DOKI: He is better this way.
ATSUKO: Can you restore any life to him?
IROKE: Perhaps. I carry a tiny piece of him inside me, and so do my siblings. If we put these together, it might be sufficient to revive him somewhat.
ATSUKO: Please do, demoness.
IROKE walks over and pulls on DUKE DENBE's nose.
ATSUKO: Hold --- you pull his nose?
IROKE: I do. It is symbolic. Recall how I mentioned the tiny piece of him that lives inside me? It experiences a torment of nose-pulling at all times.
ATSUKO: A strange punishment.
IROKE: The crime he committed upon my mother merits nothing less than hot pokers. But when I meditated on his punishment, I observed that society extended him the right to take the actions that he did. It offered him the same sanction for primula veris that a soldier receives for murder. I could not forgive him on such a flimsy ground; nor could I assign a harsher punishment, with a defense so strong. So forever I pinch and twist and pull his spirit's nose; and from this I take my satisfaction.
ATSUKO: He is aware, even split among a hundred bodies?
IROKE: Indeed so. This forms the substance of the bond between parent and child. The situation differs somewhat, but only because --- where a normal man has at most a dozen children from his wife or wives --- he has taken a hundred on women unwilling.
DOKI walks over and yanks viciously on DUKE DENBE's hair. DUKE DENBE murmurs a small protest.
KIETSU spits at DUKE DENBE's feet. He shakes slightly, as if waking somewhat.
ATSUKO: Kietsu, you spit upon him?
KIETSU: I am mild of disposition, and incapable of punishments so harsh as my brothers and sisters offer. Still, wherever he is, he knows his children scorn him.
NIKUSHIMI walks up to DUKE DENBE, appraises him for a moment, and then strikes him hard across the face.
KIETSU: Nikushimi is not so gentle.
AWARE walks up to DUKE DENBE, straightens the DUKE's knee, wraps his hand around the kneecap, and twists.
DUKE DENBE's eyes spring open.
DENBE: Where am I? I have been away.
ATSUKO: Your grace?
DENBE: I cannot think of it. I hung amongst a swarm of biting, pinching, poking, horrid things. They left no part of me untouched. There was nothing of me that they did not violate. I had no voice or eyes or hands to keep them at bay. It went on forever.
ATSUKO: Less than six years, your grace.
DENBE: Longer than my life, my lady. Have you rescued me?
ATSUKO: Not yet, I think. Perhaps not ever.
DENBE: How do you mean?
KIETSU: She means, father, that we still hold you within our hearts, to play with as we will. If you feel that you have recovered from your trials, rest assured; this is illusory. You can find no escape save death: your death, and ours.
NIKUSHIMI: If I can, I shall find a way to haunt you even then.
AWARE: It is a terrible world you have brought us into, father.
DENBE: Why do these fiends name me father?
ATSUKO: It matters not. Your realm faces a grave threat, your grace.
DENBE: Then I must put these horrors in the past. Explain your words.
ATSUKO: You have a hundred demon children, your grace. They speak through your empty body, and rule your realm with the cacophonic disharmony of a hundred voices. The lines of command do not hold. The laws buckle. Your realm decays.
DENBE: My body is not empty. Or do I have a second?
ATSUKO: Your current awareness is transitory, and hangs upon your children's whims. Then you shall have an empty body again, and your realm shall pay the price.
DENBE: Then you must kill me, so that they have no such option.
IROKE: That is not possible, your grace. You have no heir.
DENBE: I shall name one.
NIKUSHIMI: We have removed your legitimate family and children. It seemed only just.
DENBE: Then I shall name one of my bastards, tangled though their bloodline may be.
IROKE: Your bastards are the ones that give you torment.
DENBE: It would not be the first time that a man has been tortured or slain by his heir.
ATSUKO: Your choice does you honor, Duke Denbe, but it cannot be. I will not let a demon rule this land.
DENBE: Then what choice do I have?
ATSUKO: When you return to your torment, do not let the horror of it control you. Instead, take command. Let your voice dominate in your children's hearts. Let it guide them to honor. If you labor hard, you shall purge the taint from them; and then your torment itself shall end. Your flesh will die. Your eldest bastard, demon no longer, will take your throne.
DENBE: You cannot expect me to remain sane in those conditions. I hardly think I am sane now, when I have emerged from them.
ATSUKO: Taken in the whole, your plight moves me to sympathy; but when I reflect that you suffer but the smallest penalty for each specific violated woman, I feel no inclination to relent.
DENBE: You mistake me, lady.
ATSUKO: Do I so?
DENBE: Why did I indulge in the right of primula veris? Lady, it is a sacred bond between noble and commoner. It ties a lord to his land, even as marriage seals a man to his wife. It was my decision to make, as the ruler of Gojou. When I make such decisions, as the Duke, I accept that these choices have consequences, for Gojou and myself. I hope for exaltation; I accept the risk of suffering. I do not refuse this burden. I do not beg you to shield me from the demons born from my actions. I do not protest my fate, though I will fight against it to the end.
My objection differs. I do not believe I can accomplish what you ask of me, lady. I expect my will to break half a second before my return. A blind swimming panic rears up in me at the thought of it. I will fight, yes, but I will dissolve into the horror of it. Conquer them? Lie in a dark and empty space while demons make you their own, lady, and tell me again that I could emerge the victor. One second becomes forever.
ATSUKO: Then the situation becomes more difficult.
IROKE: Enough. I withdraw my blessing; let the Duke fall still.
The DUKE slumps.
ATSUKO: My lady?
IROKE: I will not watch while you speculate endlessly on possible methods for my destruction. It is dangerous; and more to the point, it is dull.
...
IROKE: Well, Atsuko? You have dined with us, and seen into our souls. Have you found your solution to our existence?
ATSUKO: The problem is difficult.
IROKE: That is good! I enjoy confounding others.
ATSUKO: I think, in part, that you have been too lenient.
NIKUSHIMI: Pardon?
ATSUKO: Your torments. They do not suffice.
NIKUSHIMI: Again, I must beg your pardon. I beat his spirit regularly.
ATSUKO: Your unwillingness to exact proper vengeance for his actions has led to his current sad state. In your mildness, you do not allow him to face up to the suffering he caused. You cheat him and yourselves both.
KIETSU: He is in unimaginable torment!
ATSUKO: You spit in the general direction of his feet with great regularity?
KIETSU: He said it himself.
ATSUKO: You cannot have it both ways. Does he deserve unimaginable torment, or regular expectoration?
IROKE: We cannot each punish him to the full measure for all his crimes. This would multiply justice beyond reason.
ATSUKO: Can one multiply justice?
IROKE: I feel I stand on unsteady metaphorical ground. What do you suggest?
ATSUKO: Make up your mind. Punish him for the suffering he has caused. Forgive him, on the basis of the social policy underlying his actions. Do not do both; this is unworthy of you.
AWARE: One must often face difficult decisions in life. The best solution we know is compromise.
ATSUKO: Then you are a coward. I will find your brothers and sisters and persuade them to implement my proposal. One by one, they will increase his torment or cease to provide it. Either way, your decisions become irrelevant.
IROKE: Taunt me no more; I unleash the full measure of my wrath.
AWARE, DOKI, KIETSU, NIKUSHIMI, and AWARE: And I.
ATSUKO: I seem unharmed; I presume you direct it inwards.
IROKE: I do. Well, then; what have you gained?
ATSUKO: Nothing, at present.
IROKE: What do you hope to gain?
ATSUKO: What actions are your siblings taking, from afar?
IROKE: They sense a sea change. Slowly, the anger, joy, hatred, desire and grief within them uncoils, and plays across the surface of Denbe's soul.
ATSUKO: And forgiveness?
IROKE: One or two back off. They are too soft, and statistically insignificant.
ATSUKO: Then I am satisfied.
IROKE: Explain yourself.
ATSUKO: One can only flay a man so many times before he dies. When his soul dissolves, you will have severed your own bloodline.
IROKE: Then we will cease his torment!
ATSUKO: What? And forgive him?
IROKE: We can resume his torments once we have brought them back to a normal level.
ATSUKO: I think not. First, you are too poisoned to rein in your hate, once giving it voice. This is the consequence of his actions. Second, if you five should hold back --- well, six or seven is more than one or two, but remains an insignificant number.
IROKE: This is unfair. Our acts were simple justice. You yourself encouraged them!
ATSUKO: I woke one morning in the mountains of the north, and heard a wind come down from the stars. It said this. Any man, or any woman, can become a herald of change, and fight in honor against the horrors of the world.
IROKE: Yes?
ATSUKO: I fight with honor. You do not. Duke Denbe has earned his torment. So have you.
NIKUSHIMI: Are you strong enough, miss Atsuko, to weather our hate?
ATSUKO: No. Instead, I hope to keep you engaged in conversation until all is resolved.
NIKUSHIMI: A foolish queen baits a tiger, thinking: I rule this land, and the tiger dare not harm me. It bites off her hand, spits blood on her face, and rends her throat. Do not imitate the foolish queen.
A poisonous serpent takes offense at a horse's leg. It bites! The horse, in its death throes, crushes the serpent flat. Seek not to imitate the poisonous serpent!
A maiden named Atsuko c---
THE EYES of the five bastards go blank.
ATSUKO: Which of you is the oldest?
IROKE: ... I ...
ATSUKO: Come now, Iroke. You have only lost a small portion of your soul.
IROKE: ... I ...
ATSUKO: I shall take that as an identification. Come, then. You are heir to Gojou. I must escort you to the keep.
IROKE: ... I ...
ATSUKO: Do not tell me that all sense of duty has left you, now that the Duke's spirit is dead. Did your mother have none? Were his actions so justified as that?
Sanity returns, slowly, to IROKE's eyes.
IROKE: Bitch.
ATSUKO: Better. Repeat after me: I accept the burden of rule.
IROKE: I accept the burden of rule.
ATSUKO: Very good.
CURTAIN FALLS.
Act 4
This act takes place in the Duchy of Aki, ruled by the Duchess Nahoko. Aki lies far to the west; evidently, within the play, the ocean's borders are not quite so close to the capital as they are in truth.
The unfortunate stage hands must lug the dinner table away for the space of this Act. In the first portion of it, the stage is empty, save for Kara, Chuukuu, and later Atsuko. The second portion resembles a throne room, with Duchess Nahoko seated upon her throne. Other personages featured in this act include Duchess Jukuchi, Duke Futettei, a soldier and commander from the "legions of emptiness", and a cameo by the spirit of Duke Hajime.
Selections from Act 4
KARA: Once, crops grew here.
CHUUKUU: Now, there is dust.
KARA: Once, brave and noble men and women lived upon this land.
CHUUKUU: Now, there is dust.
KARA: Once, there was the sound of children's laughter.
CHUUKUU: Now, there is silence.
There is a pause.
KARA: Once, crops grew here.
CHUUKUU: Now there is dust.
KARA: Once, brave---
CHUUKUU: Hold, Kara. Someone approaches, to fill this empty land.
ATSUKO enters.
ATSUKO: Good day, sir and lady. I am surprised to encounter you; I have seen no life in several days of travel.
KARA: This is the Duchy of Aki, and there is no life in it at all.
ATSUKO: Saving ourselves?
KARA: No. There is no life here. If you travel here, you are no longer alive. Perhaps your body has not yet fallen over. Perhaps your mind has not yet noticed its passing. Still, you are dead by definition. This is the Duchy of Aki, and there is no life in it.
ATSUKO: Peculiar. How did this condition come to pass?
KARA: The Duchess Nahoko refused this land her love. She did not wish to trouble herself with its governance. She did not care about the lives or prosperity of her people. She did not care for the management of the land, or the administration of justice, or the protection of its borders. She made no effort to strengthen its economy or make its people happy. The Duchy offered her all it had; but she gave it nothing at all. So it withered and died.
ATSUKO: Then why do you remain? Dead though you may be.
CHUUKUU: We remember what once was.
KARA: That is our role.
CHUUKUU: We are puppets on the fingers of the demon Munashii, who swallowed this land when the Duchess turned it away.
ATSUKO: Where can I find this Munashii?
KARA: That question has no simple answer. Munashii is a spirit of nowhere and nothing. Look to the west: if you see anything at all, then Munashii is not there. Look to the east, north, or south; the same applies. Reach out your hand: you shall not find her. Search as you like: she is not there.
CHUUKUU: Yet there is hope for a demon-hunter.
KARA: Indeed. You are in Aki, and you are dead. Therefore, you live in Munashii. Look to the west: there is only Munashii. Look to the east, north, or south; the same applies. Reach out your hand: there is only Munashii. You see nothing but Munashii, touch nothing but Munashii, taste nothing but Munashii.
ATSUKO: If I draw my blade, can I cut Munashii?
CHUUKUU: One cannot cut emptiness. At least, not in any practical sense.
ATSUKO: I have poisons.
CHUUKUU: Poisoning emptiness presents similar practical difficulties. Please, do not let us stop you from flailing at nothing --- but do not expect success.
KARA: I am kara, the spirit of emptiness.
CHUUKUU: I am chuukuu, the hollow man.
ATSUKO: Will you accompany me as I seek out the Duchess of this land? I grow lonely in this emptiness.
KARA: Wherever you go, you will find us.
...
This excerpt takes place in Nahoko's throne chamber. ATSUKO, CHUUKUU, KARA, and DUCHESS NAHOKO are present.
CHUUKUU: Look, we have come into the Duchess' very throne chamber; and yet she notices us not.
DUCHESS NAHOKO: You do not interest me in any fashion.
KARA: She sits as still as a stone, looking out into emptiness.
NAHOKO: I regard things of great import.
CHUUKUU: You can see why her land died.
ATSUKO: Your grace ...
ATSUKO approaches the throne, but stops before an invisible barrier.
ATSUKO: I cannot approach.
CHUUKUU: You are dead, and she alive. You can expect nothing less.
KARA: If you like, you may trouble her dreams. We often do so, as a form of protest.
NAHOKO: Indeed, I often dream of empty things.
ATSUKO: I wish to beg your grace to reconsider your policy with respect to your realm.
CHUUKUU: I do not think she noticed that.
KARA: Not that it would make much difference. Her responses are enigmatic, when she does choose to issue them.
ATSUKO: If I were alive, I would shake her into sensibility. I mean, if she were alive. I mean, if the conditions that governed this Duchy differed.
CHUUKUU: Your frustration is understandable. Still, she is happy enough; why should she change?
ATSUKO: She is alone.
KARA: She no longer notices such things. Her land is herself. When she refused to notice her Duchy, she ceased to observe her own existence. Now, she exists in a state of absence. She is caught in the moment of the void.
CHUUKUU: She knows no loneliness.
ATSUKO: Munashii is a troublesome demon.
NAHOKO: Munashii is a kindly queen.
From offstage, a BELL begins to ring.
ATSUKO: What clangor is that?
KARA: You have captured Munashii's attention. The demon senses your false desire for life, and rallies the legions of emptiness.
ATSUKO: Let me express the hope that these legions are insubstantial and of no account.
CHUUKUU: They cannot harm you.
ATSUKO: This pleases me.
CHUUKUU: They will simply remind you of the truth you have forgotten: that you no longer exist. Reminding you that you do not breathe, they will stop your breath. Reminding you that you do not move, they will stop your motion. Reminding you of your death, they will cease your peculiar perambulation and return you to your proper rest. You may object to these revelations, but you cannot consider them harmful.
ATSUKO: Where are these legions?
KARA: They surround the castle, and make to move orderly inside.
ATSUKO: I should have barred the doors.
KARA: It would have had no significant effect. You are but a dream compared to the solid structure of this keep. You can bar a door, but the door does not stay closed. Tear down a tapestry, and it remains upon the wall. This is part of the destiny of your death.
ATSUKO: I could destroy Munashii, had I but a means to touch her.
KARA: Could you so?
ATSUKO: I woke one morning in the mountains of the north, and heard a wind come down from the stars. It said this. Any man, or any woman, can become a herald of change, and fight in honor against the horrors of the world.
KARA: Then it is fortunate that you cannot touch emptiness, for so powerful a message might indeed be true.
ATSUKO: I will hide behind the Duchess. The legions of emptiness will destroy her first, and then I shall be safe.
CHUUKUU: This seems an admirable plan. What if they approach from multiple directions?
ATSUKO: I could attempt to climb atop the barrier.
CHUUKUU: Suspending yourself in the air above the Duchess?
NAHOKO: Miss Atsuko, I can hardly consider that proper.
KARA: A polite young woman does not dangle herself in the air above her elders.
ATSUKO: I shall pray to the Light for inspiration.
ATSUKO closes her eyes.
NAHOKO: In some respects, that is even more vulgar.
...
A dull pounding begins at the door. The legions of emptiness seek their entrance. ATSUKO opens her eyes.
ATSUKO: Who ruled this Duchy before her grace Nahoko took her place?
KARA: His grace Futettei.
ATSUKO: And before him?
CHUUKUU: Her grace Jukuchi.
ATSUKO: And before her?
CHUUKUU: No one. The Duchy was as the void.
ATSUKO: Then they must suffice. Describe them.
KARA: His Grace Futettei was just so tall, and just so wide; his hair was its characteristic color and his eyes were theirs. His rule had an indefinite quality; he was not thorough.
CHUUKUU: Her Grace Jukuchi was somewhat smaller, but possessed greater energy. She was truly dedicated to this land.
ATSUKO: I call upon them.
NAHOKO: Will they answer? They are dead.
ATSUKO: So, I am told, am I. They have the same qualities I do; the same reality; the same appearance. Come, your grace Futettei, your grace Jukuchi! Remember what it is to live!
NAHOKO: Your program irritates me. Rest, foul spirit.
The thumping at the door grows louder.
ATSUKO: Remember what it is to breathe. Take inspiration from me: I am dead, yet I draw in breath. It enters my lungs; I hold it there a moment; then phuh --- I expel it! You may do it just as I.
CHUUKUU: I do not find this invitation seemly.
ATSUKO: Remember what it is to move. Take inspiration from me: I am dead, yet my limbs flail in the mortal fashion. I step; I wave; I spin. You may do it just as I.
From outside the door, the LEGION COMMANDER speaks.
COMMANDER: Cease this folly!
ATSUKO: Your graces! Observe my peculiar perambulation! Surely you would wish to try it. Surely you have not forgotten the joy of life, in all your years of silent death?
JUKUCHI and FUTETTEI step out from behind the stage.
JUKUCHI: Enough. We are here.
FUTETTEI: This is most strange. I am sure that death did not feel like this a moment ago.
JUKUCHI: Peace, Futettei. We now remember life; that is all.
FUTETTEI: I find this all confusing. How could I have forgotten life? It was a colorful thing.
JUKUCHI: You have a short memory, dear nephew.
The pounding on the door grows louder, again.
CHUUKUU: You are fortunate that that door was well-sealed before we came.
ATSUKO: Your graces, I must beg a favor of you.
JUKUCHI: You are not one of the humble citizens of my realm.
FUTETTEI: Mine, dear aunt; I have inherited.
ATSUKO: I am a traveler; but I must beg a boon.
JUKUCHI: Very well; I have little occupying my attention. Speak.
ATSUKO: His grace Futettei speaks the truth; he inherited, upon your death; and her grace Nahoko upon his. But she cares nothing for the realm. She has excluded it from her thoughts.
JUKUCHI: I suppose the blame is mine. I would never have selected such a woman as my heir; but for lack of alternatives, I settled upon a man who would himself choose such a woman.
FUTETTEI: I did not mean to disappoint you, your grace.
JUKUCHI: Disappointment is a natural function of time.
KARA: May I remind your graces that it is not the place of the dead to interfere with the living?
ATSUKO: Does one's responsibility to one's realm, then, end so simply with one's death?
JUKUCHI: This is a distraction, and the memory of my death hammers at the door. Speak your request. Be quick.
ATSUKO: I ask that you withdraw your support from her grace Nahoko. I ask that you apply the weight of your titles to tearing down her place.
CHUUKUU: Do not be ridiculous. To attack another noble's place exceeds their authority.
JUKUCHI: Silence, hollow man. I find the legal situation uncertain. After all, she does not have another noble's place.
FUTETTEI: She has ours. That is our throne. Or, rather, mine.
The door slams open and a heavily armored soldier enters. The COMMANDER remains offstage.
COMMANDER: Seize these restless spirits.
NAHOKO: Yes. Remove them. They disturb me.
The soldier moves rapidly to JUKUCHI. He reaches out with the tip of his blade; she hisses at him and it stops short.
JUKUCHI: I am the Duchess of Aki, and I will sleep again when I choose to do so.
There is a short pause.
JUKUCHI: Still, this life is wearisome and violent. I do not wish to return to it. Miss, you have my support for your proposal. Brave soldier, you may claim my soul.
The blade touches JUKUCHI, and she falls.
The soldier advances towards FUTETTEI. He backs up, warily.
FUTETTEI: I have no opinion on this life. Still, I cannot approve of a Duchess who would have soldiers take her own predecessor! The whole has the unwholesome taint of insurrection and usurpation. Miss, you have my support as well.
The soldier lunges, blade outstretched. FUTETTEI falls.
ATSUKO: This does not suffice? They lacked the power to take her title down?
KARA: Munashii is a powerful backer.
ATSUKO: Duke Hajime! Will you reward my mercy?
The soldier advances towards ATSUKO. She pauses, then backs away.
ATSUKO: Hajime! Recall what it was to live!
HAJIME emerges from backstage.
HAJIME: You did not serve me well, miss Atsuko. Do you truly expect me to serve you now?
ATSUKO: You cannot approve of her grace Nahoko's governance.
HAJIME: Your assertion is correct. I would never govern as the lady Nahoko has done. Still, I cannot squander my authority opposing every noble whose conduct I criticize. This would yield no end of trouble.
ATSUKO: You are dead! What else would you use it for?
HAJIME: When she herself dies, I may need her as an ally.
The soldier passes HAJIME, and nudges him with the sword. HAJIME vanishes.
ATSUKO: I ought to have left him in direr straits. Duke Denbe! Honor calls!
The soldier comes closer and closer to ATSUKO.
CHUUKUU: I am perplexed. There is no Denbe in this land of emptiness.
ATSUKO: Ah. A point. He no longer exists, even as a soul.
CHUUKUU: A peculiar question. Is a destroyed soul more foreign to the land of emptiness than a person simply dead?
KARA: It does not seem it should be so.
ATSUKO: The demon Munashii has her limits. Still, I do not think I can take advantage of this one.
COMMANDER: Prepare to rest, spirit.
ATSUKO: Nahoko, what will society think of you? Your soldiers striking down two Dukes and a Duchess --- right within these walls?
NAHOKO jumps to her feet. The soldier freezes in dismay.
NAHOKO: You will damage my reputation!
ATSUKO: It cannot be repaired.
NAHOKO: Surely you will not spread stories. You are a shade.
ATSUKO: I shall visit your contemporaries in their dreams.
NAHOKO: You must not!
ATSUKO: Then you must acknowledge my life; and with it, the lives of those within your Duchy.
NAHOKO: Ridiculous. I cannot make a thing matter simply by deciding to treat it as important.
ATSUKO: Duchess, it is so simple. Take up the reins of governance; your land shall flourish! No one shall think the less of you.
NAHOKO: You have a petty and simplistic mind. It is small and closed, to boot.
ATSUKO: Have you an alternative proposal?
NAHOKO: I shall surrender my title, in a dramatic and romantic gesture. Then I will exile myself to my cousin's lands. All shall shed a tear in honor of the much-grieved Duchess, and in no time at all I shall recover my fortunes.
ATSUKO: Then do so.
NAHOKO: I do.
The SOLDIER falls to the ground.
ATSUKO: Kara? Chuukuu? You do not disappear?
KARA: I hold out hope.
CHUUKUU: Perhaps her heir will hold the Duchy in the same disregard she did; and we will remain dead.
ATSUKO: What were you in life?
KARA: The people of the Duchy.
CHUUKUU: And its wealth.
ATSUKO: And you prefer death?
KARA: The living prefer life; the dead, nonexistence. This is the nature of the world.
CURTAIN FALLS.
Act 5
This act takes place in the Duchy of Chiryoku, ruled by the Duke Jurobei. Chiryoku lies far to the north, amidst the Shielder Mountains; referents indicate that it is slightly beyond modern Yuasa lands.
The dinner table returns for this final act. Characters include Atsuko, Duke Jurobei, the crown investigator Shusa, and the demons Koroshi and Senken.
Selections from Act 5
In this prologue, neither ATSUKO or SHUSA are present.
KOROSHI: Lord Jurobei, I have a report to make.
JUROBEI: Proceed.
KOROSHI: The crown investigation into the murders in this Duchy seems stalled. Shusa, the chief investigator, has this to say: the villain is diabolically clever; he leaves no traces, and no man may oppose him. He is a veritable demon.
JUROBEI: An acceptable outcome.
KOROSHI: Sadly, the matter does not end there. Shusa has summoned miss Atsuko, an itinerant hunter of demons. Shusa vows that Atsuko shall track the murderer down.
JUROBEI: I feel no concern.
KOROSHI: Lord, I recommend that you suspend your activities while she remains within this realm. You cannot profit from her presence.
JUROBEI: Koroshi, you speak of matters outside your expertise.
KOROSHI: Your pardon, my lord.
JUROBEI: When miss Atsuko comes, invite her to this keep.
KOROSHI: I shall, my lord.
...
ATSUKO: Thank you, your grace, for inviting me here.
JUROBEI: My Duchy has a difficult problem.
SHUSA inclines his head.
ATSUKO: Someone has committed a string of vile murders, so that the peasants live in terror. Your guards prove ineffectual. Even the crown investigation has borne no fruit.
JUROBEI: And why should this be?
ATSUKO: The men that sit at your left and right; may I have their names?
JUROBEI: These are Koroshi and Senken.
ATSUKO: The problem seems straightforward. You invite demons to your table. Most likely, you committed the murders yourself.
JUROBEI: No; I permit this.
SHUSA: I apologize for her insolence, your grace.
JUROBEI: She is quite correct.
SHUSA: But my lord, why?
JUROBEI: At first, I killed from the knowledge that I could. I found it a grand jest. I was more clever than my guard! But if they did track the murders to my door, what could they do? I define the law. Sadly, I accidentally slew a slumming Baroness.
KOROSHI: Sympathy, my lord.
SHUSA: These things happen when one murders indiscriminately.
JUROBEI: Indeed! And it drew the crown's attention, and brought you to my door. This made the matter more complex. If I were caught, I might actually suffer some small measure of censure.
SHUSA: Small?
JUROBEI: In all, a Baroness is of little account, compared to a Duke. I do not deny it! I would face a severe scolding! But prison is not for such as I.
SHUSA: I am ashamed to sit at your table, sir. I am also amazed. Why did you not cease the murders when I came?
JUROBEI: It transpires that murder is addictive.
SHUSA: I am dead, am I not?
JUROBEI: A crown investigator is also of little account, compared to a Duke.
ATSUKO: But I am another matter.
JUROBEI: Indeed. You have experience disposing with demons, and their Dukes.
ATSUKO: Perhaps, then, you should stop threatening people in my presence.
JUROBEI: I have said that you are another matter; but that does not mean I find you intimidating.
ATSUKO: I woke one morning in the mountains of the north, and heard a wind come down from the stars. It said this. Any man, or any woman, can become a herald of change, and---
JUROBEI: ---fight in honor against the horrors of the world.
ATSUKO: You know the speech?
JUROBEI: Senken wrote it for me.
SENKEN nods modestly.
ATSUKO: Pardon?
JUROBEI: When I acquired my demons, I realized the distinct competitive advantage they offered me. Koroshi, the principle of murder, gave me immense prowess and skill. He also improved my governance; for murder is an excellent tool of state. And senken, the demon of foresight, proved more valuable yet. With these twin demons, knowledge and power, I could claim the crown of this realm. Except.
ATSUKO: Except?
JUROBEI: Why, so many other demons remained in the world! Demons of hatred, fusions of man and beast. Demons of chaos and disarray, bastard children of a Duke. Demons of absence and consumption, born from a Duchess' rejection of her people's love. The other nobles are nothing to me; but these demons, they were worthy rivals.
SENKEN: So I called a wind down from the stars, and made a champion for my lord Jurobei.
JUROBEI: You have great powers, Atsuko. I have extended them to you. Your heart burns with my message: but now it becomes hollow. I do not think you can oppose me.
ATSUKO: I reject your assertion.
JUROBEI: Senken, fill her ears with the wind.
ATSUKO goes still.
SHUSA goes still.
KOROSHI: It is done.
JUROBEI: Koroshi, chain Atsuko to her chair. I shall have her as a dinner guest until such time as she expires.
...
Before this excerpt, the demons removed SHUSA's body and chained ATSUKO to her chair.
JUROBEI rises, and departs the room.
ATSUKO: How long will lord Jurobei torment me like this?
KOROSHI: Until you starve; this is his stated intention.
ATSUKO: I do not feel hungry.
SENKEN: I felt that it would please my lord Jurobei if I removed your need for food, water, and the generation of waste.
ATSUKO: Then I will never starve.
SENKEN: When I sense his interest begin to flag, I shall restore your natural biology.
ATSUKO: At least this has a finite duration.
KOROSHI: Take heart! In your captivity, you provide amusement to Jurobei.
ATSUKO: Is it true that Jurobei made the wind?
SENKEN: In a manner of speaking. He asked me to provide you with a compelling reason to hunt down demons. I then did so, choosing a lie to appeal to your heart.
ATSUKO: And granted me my powers?
SENKEN: Yes. And granted you your powers.
ATSUKO: Perhaps all of this is a trick. You seek to muddle my mind, confuse my purpose, and entrap me with your wiles.
KOROSHI: In truth, I find the chains more effective than our wiles.
ATSUKO: You divine my mission and seek to corrupt my will. Perhaps I retain the ability to destroy you.
KOROSHI: Then proceed.
ATSUKO: I proceed.
KOROSHI: Oh! I feel a great and yawning absence of pain, weakness, and other assorted baleful influences.
SENKEN: I too feel no effect. Perhaps miss Atsuko should concentrate with greater force!
ATSUKO: Pah. I do not destroy demons through sheer force of will in any event.
KOROSHI gets to his feet, walks over to ATSUKO, pulls free a knife, and begins to draw with its tip on her chained arm. She stiffens and bites her lip.
KOROSHI: You are confused about your place in the world. The question is not: can you oppose lord Jurobei? The question is: are you still so foolish as to try?
JUROBEI returns.
JUROBEI: Koroshi! Leave her be.
KOROSHI: I cease my activity, but feel no remorse.
ATSUKO: I will not cooperate with your plans, Jurobei.
JUROBEI: I do not mind. You have already implemented my program.
ATSUKO: Then why do you leave me alive?
JUROBEI: How can I kill you? You are the ultimate expression of my genius. Your position now is an eloquent testimonial to my philosophy. When facing a man of determination and power, such as myself, the desires of others have no consequence. Do you wish to change the world? Or do you wish simply for your freedom? You shall have neither. Against idealism, all my enemies fell; but I shall not. This is my greatest triumph.
ATSUKO: Then Koroshi is the demon that dominates your soul.
JUROBEI: Not so. My pride lies in Senken.
ATSUKO: Does it?
JUROBEI: I enjoy murder. But its rewards are transient and emotional. The rewards of foresight are eternal and temporal. Of the two, my choice is clear.
ATSUKO: Senken is your manservant; and Koroshi, then, your dog?
JUROBEI: You have named it precisely.
KOROSHI: My lord.
ATSUKO: You order him this way and that. Kill this man! you cry. Cease to harm that woman! you demand. And all the while, he means nothing to your heart?
JUROBEI: You seek to turn him against me? Pah. He has no will of his own.
KOROSHI: My lord!
ATSUKO: No will of his own? Why, he is not your dog; he is your latrine.
KOROSHI: My lord!
JUROBEI: That is correct.
KOROSHI: I shall---
KOROSHI goes still.
JUROBEI: I have taken precautions against my demons turning against me. See? I can play him like a marionette.
JUROBEI extends a hand, twiddles his fingers. KOROSHI's limbs flop this way and that.
JUROBEI: Senken came to me some months back, and told me that you would make this attempt. In response, I studied the arts of self-discipline. I learned to control the demons inside me. See: Koroshi feels outrage.
KOROSHI jumps to his feet.
KOROSHI: My lord, cease this sinister affair!
JUROBEI: Now he is pleased.
KOROSHI: Well, all in all, it is not so bad.
JUROBEI: Now he has forgotten the matter.
KOROSHI returns to drawing on ATSUKO's arm. She winces.
ATSUKO: Have you the same control over Senken?
JUROBEI: I do not wish to experiment.
ATSUKO: Do you fear him?
JUROBEI: Senken has never done anything to displease me. Koroshi, on the other hand, carves my dinner guests.
KOROSHI puts his hands, and the knife, behind his back, looking sheepish.
ATSUKO: What do we eat tonight?
JUROBEI: I shall be eating venison; you, I believe, will have crown investigator.
ATSUKO: That is perverse!
JUROBEI: In fact, it is a jest. You shall simply observe my meal; then I shall retire to meditate on the affairs of my realm.
...
ATSUKO: I have reached a conclusion.
JUROBEI: Then speak, gentle Atsuko!
ATSUKO: It does not matter whence the message came. Any man, or any woman, can become a herald of change, and fight in honor against the horrors of the world.
JUROBEI: Perhaps you are right. I care not; you have no resources left to oppose me.
ATSUKO: It does not require special powers. I defeated demons not through magic but through my own honor and my knowledge of their nature.
JUROBEI: I tremble in the face of your honor.
SENKEN passes JUROBEI the salt.
JUROBEI: Senken, pass the salt?
JUROBEI salts his dish.
ATSUKO: I pity you.
JUROBEI: Koroshi, give her the lash.
KOROSHI approaches ATSUKO, pulling and unfolding a thin whip from his belt. He raises his hand: there is a loud crack. ATSUKO rocks back, murmuring something. KOROSHI adjusts his hand. There is another crack. ATSUKO rocks back again. Again, she murmurs something. This happens a third time, and a fourth.
KOROSHI: My lord?
JUROBEI: She murmured something. What did she say?
KOROSHI: She said that Senken was the ultimate prey, my lord.
JUROBEI: Curious. Atsuko, you know he is both unwilling and unable to betray me. Or did you think he would act in stealth?
ATSUKO: I am wounded; you cannot expect me to respond to interrogation in this state.
JUROBEI: I can resume the whipping.
ATSUKO: I can resume the fearful murmuring.
JUROBEI: I see that recovering your faith has restored your courage, if nothing else. Well, fear not; I am pleased to see a livelier spirit at my dinner table.
ATSUKO: In any event, my message was not for Koroshi's ears. He was simply the medium.
JUROBEI: Oh?
ATSUKO: The message, lord Jurobei, was for your heart.
JUROBEI: You murmur to my heart that Senken is the ultimate prey?
ATSUKO: You befuddled the guards; confused the crown investigator; and even defeated me. You are, in this respect, a truly magnificent murderer. But Senken operates at a higher level yet. He has already demonstrated his absolute dominance over the principle of murder. You cannot kill him.
JUROBEI: You cannot honestly believe I would accept this proposal.
ATSUKO: It is easily discovered.
JUROBEI: How so?
ATSUKO: If Senken allows me to die, then you will know that upon the next day, I would have persuaded you. If Senken does not allow me to die, then eventually I shall persuade you.
JUROBEI: I have no interest in harming Senken.
ATSUKO: Indeed you have not, your grace; but murder is addictive.
JUROBEI: You assert that I cannot control my own destiny?
ATSUKO: I do.
JUROBEI: Then why does Senken not object to your words?
ATSUKO: Senken fills my head with wind; but I do not choose to listen.
SENKEN: Lord, I do not.
JUROBEI: Senken, I rely on you to predict and avoid any circumstances that could lead to trouble between us.
SENKEN: My lord.
JUROBEI: What troubles you?
SENKEN: Addiction often proves an impediment to foresight.
JUROBEI: But she has not persuaded me. I have no desire to see you dead.
SENKEN: Of course not, my lord.
JUROBEI: Then kill her.
SENKEN: I cannot. You would then say: Senken, why have you let me kill her? It must be that she spoke the truth, and would eventually persuade me.
JUROBEI: And if I leave her alive?
SENKEN: I foresee some similar difficulty.
JUROBEI: This is absurd.
SENKEN: My lord, it was only a matter of time. You could not remain a man of foresight and a man of murder forever. Now that she has exposed the core contradiction, it is only a matter of time before it festers, and you must make your choice. I could not prevent this outcome; nor have I the necessary desire to change your choice.
JUROBEI extends his hand, and SENKEN goes silent. JUROBEI reaches out his other hand, and KOROSHI rises, jerkily, and plants his dagger in SENKEN's chest.
JUROBEI: It does not matter. I have one remaining demon.
ATSUKO: Whom you wield as a puppet.
JUROBEI: Yes.
ATSUKO: And you no longer have any means to predict when that demon shall escape your control.
JUROBEI: Why should he seek to escape my control?
ATSUKO: Your grace, you have slain his brother.
JUROBEI: Woman, you are chained.
ATSUKO: When a man or woman allows taint to enter their heart, they in that moment choose the ultimate expression of their destiny. They choose the means of their own destruction. There is only one question: how many others will they take down with them?
JUROBEI: Bah.
JUROBEI's hand jerks, and KOROSHI's dagger sinks into KOROSHI's own heart.
JUROBEI: I find this situation unsatisfactory. Still, I can create more demons.
ATSUKO: I think not.
JUROBEI: You cannot oppose me.
ATSUKO rises, the chains snapping.
ATSUKO: Indeed, I cannot.
JUROBEI: You have no special powers.
ATSUKO: Indeed, I do not.
JUROBEI: In what fashion did you snap the chains?
JUROBEI waves his hands. The demons rise to their feet, although their heads hang to the sides and their hands are limp. They move jerkily to stand between ATSUKO and JUROBEI.
ATSUKO: I used your special powers, my lord. It seems that Senken provided me with additional strength, when he removed my need to eat or drink.
JUROBEI: Ridiculous.
ATSUKO: Who can speak to the mind of a demon? Perhaps he did not wish you to live, without murder or foresight in your heart.
ATSUKO brushes the dead demons aside, and they fall to the floor. She advances on JUROBEI.
JUROBEI: Senken, you have my apologies. Retract your strength; I embrace you once again into my heart.
ATSUKO hesitates, but SENKEN does not move.
JUROBEI: Your wind is strangely potent. Perhaps I should embrace your proposal, and become a herald of change.
ATSUKO: If you turn yourself in to the crown, I shall let you live.
JUROBEI: Koroshi gave me a gift once; a device to incinerate a single mortal's flesh, leaving nothing save ash.
ATSUKO: Do you have it on you?
JUROBEI: I do.
JUROBEI pulls a small device from his belt.
ATSUKO: So we shall see which strength is greater: Senken's, or Koroshi's?
JUROBEI: No.
JUROBEI presses the device into his chest.
JUROBEI: I leave a final mystery for those who hunt the Chiryoku killer down.
JUROBEI falls.
ATSUKO: I woke one morning in the mountains of the north, and heard a wind come down from the stars. It said this. Any man, or any woman, can become a herald of change, and fight in honor against the horrors of the world.
There is a pause.
ATSUKO: A peculiar message, to come from so damaged a creature. Still, I stand, and they do not.
CURTAIN FALLS.
Epilogue
A NARRATOR emerges from the curtain to recite the following.
NARRATOR: These events unfolded as Yuriko's Age progressed:
The Duchy of Mugoi remained desolate.
Iroke proved a competent, if troubled and emotionally mercurial, Duchess of Gojou.
The heir to Aki rejected the tradition of her predecessor, cultivating the land.
The heir to Chiryoku embraced Atsuko as his councilor.
The Chiryoku murders were never solved, and Atsuko remained silent on the matter.
Two further demons emerged at the very end of Yuriko's Age. When the Duke of Chiryoku asked Atsuko to use her powers to destroy them, she answered: I have none.
Still, the demons died.
CASTING DETAILS
The original run of Wind from the North starred ...
Michelle Calmette as ... the determined Miss Atsuko, and
Hiroji Hachirobei as ... the sinister Duke Jurobei,
as well as:
Leila Ardant ... the mercurial Iroke,
Lance Desjardins ... the bold Duke Hajime,
Artemis Gery ... the desolate Kara,
Kyoko Ieyoshi ... the cunning Crown Investigator Shusa,
Saimei Jukodo ... the languid Duchess Nahoko,
Kamatari Kijimuta ... the tormented Duke Denbe,
Masaaki Kijimuta ... the vigorous Doki,
Kazusa Maita ... the fiendish Senken,
Giles Manoury ... the brutal Kyoubou,
Kinji Okada ... the ineffectual Duke Futettei,
Alberic Rouviere ... the meditative Aware and the monstrous Koroshi,
Osei Sasaki ... the long-winded Nikushimi,
Armand the Sensible ... the nimble Yofun,
Ii Tsuyoshi ... the hollow Chuukuu,
Olivia Veyron ... the compassionate Kietsu and the just Duchess Jukuchi!
The program lists prior roles for the various actors --- including Michelle Calmette's work as Nyoko, Hiroji Hachirobei's performance as Genjiki, and Artemis Gery's near-starring role as Sei in The Four Sisters. Lance Desjardins and Olivia Veyron have distinguished careers; Leila Ardant and Kyoko Ieyoshi are newcomers to the stage. It also describes the lighting and stage work of such luminaries and artists as Desiree Burville and Namie Hiranuma. Mikomi's name is listed only as playwright, although it is considered understood that she participated in the organization of the play, the direction, the casting, and the stage design.