The cursed grounds surrounding the location of the destroyed Kinuran spirit furnace are known as Desolation. Located by the 71st habitation district and surrounded by a series of Soshi-maintained wards and watchtowers, the area beyond the wards and warning signs is technically off limits to unauthorized personnel, and the Scorpion security is more than happy to arrest anyone found there without the appropriate paperwork. However, the long, heavily-warded fence surrounding the 120 square mile region has mainly been constructed to keep the hungry spirits within and offers little resistance to a cunning and determined intruder. This has allowed several criminal gangs to tuck hideouts into relatively ‘safe’ areas inside the fenced space, creating one more hazard for crews attempting to reclaim artifacts from the Desolation. Soshi security forces occasionally patrol the region near the fence, both to keep an eye on any dangerous spirits they might come across and to apprehend any thugs found within.
Location rules:
Desolation cannot be accessed without appropriate paperwork. However, a savvy character may spend a time slot to hunt down a corrupt magistrate by rolling Lore: Underworld / Intelligence against TN 20. Should a character succeed, they may purchase one or more 'Excavation permits'. Permits note the name of the person allowed access to the Desolation and cost 5 koku for Scorpion and ronin characters or 10 koku for everyone else.
Brotherhood characters offering to perform rites to placate the restless spirits can usually acquire such papers for free, though they do need to spend a time slot acquiring the paperwork.
The Desolation is haunted by hungry and vengeful spirits. Characters with Cursed by Gaki-Do Disadvantage are likely to garner unwanted attention from the spirits lingering around. Other characters wandering into the location are subjected to random encounters. These random encounters have potential to be lethal.