Masked Priests

This small order numbers five clergymen, all of them elderly, whose robes mark them out as practitioners of a Shinto tradition. They conduct their rites at a shrine, though age has robbed them of the stamina to carry ceremonies out unaided, leaving them dependent on younger people brought in to assist. What sets the group apart is custody of the Uchide-no-Kozuchi, a relic they put to use when undoing the curse that had been steadily shrinking Momo Ayase. Because the artifact belongs to Izumo Taisha and their shrine echoes that site's main hall, they are widely taken to be the clergy attached to it, though that link is never formally stated.

Word reached the priests, most likely through Seiko, that Momo had fallen under a curse and would need to journey to Shimane for a cure drawn from the Uchide-no-Kozuchi. They made ready for her, including the recruitment of younger hands to help run the ritual. When her affliction shrank her even smaller, they tracked down where she was and carried her to their shrine, where the relic returned her to full size. Hidden from them, a follower of Saint-Germain slipped into their ranks disguised as a priestess so she could approach Momo and steal her power.

Once the rite was finished, the priests called on Seiko in the hospital, where she gave them her thanks for healing her granddaughter. The lead priest waved off her gratitude, confessing the group had blundered by bringing in young assistants, one of whom carried a troubled history, and that they were now hunting that person down. Told that Seiko and her associates were marked by the Black Paladins, he laid out who the enemy was: a bloodline of thirteen aristocratic houses operating abroad with designs on conquering the world, and warned that Vlad of the Delacroix Family had reached Japan to plunder yokai powers. Before leaving, the priests offered counsel and revealed they had dispatched a strong ally to her home, vowing to show off the strength of the Yatagarasu.

The order is led by a head priest who speaks for the group, delivers their warnings to Seiko, and personally operates the Uchide-no-Kozuchi during Momo's restoration. Beside him stand four further elderly clergymen, the five together forming the entire active membership. Their reliance on outside helpers, rather than any named successor among themselves, is a defining trait, and it is one of those borrowed assistants who secretly turns out to be an infiltrator working for Saint-Germain.