Needle's Eye Forest, coloquially known as Eye of the Needle, was a sacrosanct small forest just outside of the walls of Kyūden Doji. Along the border shimenawa ropes were hung, and blessing tags hanged from the forest canopy. As logging was forbidden, the forest was full of magnolias and cherry trees. The wood was abundant with deer, boars, goatlike serows, and pheasant. [1]
Sacrosanct[]
In the ninth century, when Hantei XXIII was only a child, the Imperial family visited the Crane at Kyūden Doji. The young prince ran away from his retainers and hid in the forest at night. The Seppun Honor Guard searched the small wood but could not find him. The entire night passed without a sign of the prince, and the Seppun feared the worst. But when the morning came, they finally found him safe and sound just outside the forest's borders. When questioned, the prince claimed that a silver fox had appeared and led him to a hidden grove deep in the woods. There, he ate berries and listened to the fox's playful songs until the sun rose. When he eventually ascended to the throne, Hantei XXIII declared the wood sacred. [1]
Portal[]
Whenever the moon was full for the third time within the same season, the barriers between the forest and the grew weak for a time, allowing one of those realms to overlap with , the Realm of Mortals. The specific Spirit Realm varied each time, with no discernible pattern. The Doji left gifts at the forest border on the third full moon of each season to placate whatever spirit denizens might wander beyond the trees. A well-known dwelling of the mischievous beings of , during the full moon, the trickster spirits became energetic, the force of their presence causing the trees to glow.
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