[This was the first yokai I posted to tumblr, originally on my demiurge account. I’ve changed it a little since then, adding a weakness equivalent to that of other oni.]
Oni, Kijo This filthy creature is shaped like a woman,
but her countenance is that of a devil. Long horns jut from her brow and
her hands are twisted into talons. A mane of matted hair falls over her
shoulders.
Unlike most oni, the hag-like creatures known as kijo are not
created from a disincarnate spirit building itself a body in order to
make mischief and feed its desires. Rather, a kijo is created when these
spirits, especially ones devoted to envy, spite and revenge, fuse with
the body of a mortal woman. Some of these women invite the oni spirits
into themselves in order to fulfill a grudge or by accident tampering
with powerful spiritual forces, but some are transformed unawares when
their own emotional pain and hatred attracts the attention of
like-minded souls.
Most kijos are hermits, living alone in remote cabins and caves
in order to nurse their sinister plots. Some surround themselves with
sycophantic mortals who serve as their agents or pose as mortal
soothsayers, healers or herbalists in order to manipulate the desperate.
Despite their nature as incarnate souls, they count as hags for the
purpose of forming covens, and may ally with either other kijos or with
true hags in order to orchestrate truly grand schemes.
A kijo’s spiritual nature makes them natural witches, drawing on the
power of their own spite and hatred to gain their spells. Although the
sample kijo shown here focuses her spells on stealth and weakening her
enemies, other kijo may have very different spell selections indeed. All
kijo have a spirit oni familiar, which serves as loyally as is possible
for these sullen, wicked things.
Kijo Covens Only rarely will a kijo join a coven without
being its undisputed leader, and they maintain their positions with a
mastery of physical and emotional abuse even hags find cowing. All the
members of a coven that contains at least one kijo can use the
spell-theft ability once per day so long as they are within 30 feet of
the kijo.
Kijo are most common in the wilds of Munab, where they are especially fond of preying on nomadic elves. They usually team up with u’tlun’tas to form covens, using the brawny hags as enforcers.
Shores of Swords 