>Does this sound like the Yamabushi we know?
>"And the others?"
>You'd be hard-pressed to imagine them doing that sort of thing nowadays. But then again, the Yamabushi ARE the magical caste. To your knowledge, study of magical artifacts is one of their areas of expertise, and it's not that big a stretch to imagine one of them arrogant, or powerful enough, to try just what Celes said happened. A Dai-tengu certainly would have if she thought she had cause, or even just wanted to. A Yamabushi could have as well, especially at a time when Gensokyo wasn't as civilized as it is now.
>Celes' face darkens. "The second encounter we had with a Yamabushi tengu, about three months after the first incident, was an assassination attempt on the Countess." Disbelief crosses your mind instantly. The Yamabushi are a lot of things, but you can't imagine them ever undertaking an assassination. The Keep's steward nods slightly. "Aya had much the same expression when we told her about it. But it is true. However, thanks to Aya, we now know that this was no official act on the part of your people. The assassin claimed, when she was confronted, that she was doing it to avenge the loss of her lover, who had been killed by a vampire on Youkai mountain. She harbored a vendetta against all vampires; the Countess was merely her next target."
>The door opens again, and the smell of hot chocolate wafts across your nose as Celes continues, "At the time, we didn't know if she had been acting alone, or if the tengu leadership had assigned her the task. The woman was neither overly talkative nor coherent, once the Countess confronted her. Aya was familiar with the story, however, and was able to fill in the parts we could not know."
>"Talking about that white-winged assassin?" Sabine asks as she comes around the table, carrying a silver tray loaded with two mugs of fresh hot chocolate, a plate of brownies and fried egg sandwiches.
