False Lantern Grove

The False Lantern Grove was an apparent oasis of spiritual purity in the Shadowlands. The sorcery of its keeper allowed it to masquerade as a shrine kept safe by the kami during the night, when the inviting glow of its paper lanterns drew in the foolish and the desperate. Under the blessed light of Lady Sun, however, its truth was revealed: the “lanterns” were the hanging skulls of those who had fallen victim to the oni who dwelled within. Shadowlands: The Essential Guide to the Dominion of Fu Leng, p. 24
== Appearance ==
The grove was fashioned as a shrine to the glory of Fu Leng and Jigoku by a devoted lesser oni, the Skull-Cleaving Oni. The oni fancied itself a pious shrine keeper and treated all who approached as honored guests, until they refuse to surrender their jade and submit to the Shadowlands Taint. Some samurai succumbed to its offers, joining the ranks of the Lost, and maintained a twisted parody of their old religion. They sometimes returned to the grove to receive the oni's blessing again, as if it were an honored monk. At night, it appeared as a thicket full of beautifully blossoming trees. The trees surrounded a simple but elegant pagoda hung with prayer strips beseeching the spirits for their blessing. At day, the trees were shown to be withered and dead. Daylight also revealed the trapdoor beneath the pagoda that led into the oni's den. In these hours, the oni's true form was revealed: that of a thickly muscled monster with a bluish hide and curving horns crowning its head. Shadowlands: The Essential Guide to the Dominion of Fu Leng, pp. 24-26
== Discovered ==
In the tenth century a Crab patrol reported having encountered a fearsome oni who slew many of its number, only to retreat toward a shining light in the distance. A scout made it far enough after the creature to see a number of hanging lanterns amid a copse of trees. The next force to travel past the reported grove found nothing. Over time, similar encounters were reported across the Shadowlands, although rarely near each other in distance or time. 
== External Links ==
* False Lantern Grove (Under Fu Leng's Shadow)
Category:Shadowlands Holdings (TCG)‎