Ofushikai and reincarnation

By DSalazar, in Lore Discussion

Probably last thread before the forums closing and not sure who is going to pitch in here. But I finally finished the Phoenix novel “The sword and the spirits” and something made me wonder. Does it mean that Ofushikai keeps “trapped” the souls of previous Phoenix Champions in Ningen-do in a way pretty much similar to Traitor’s Grove where it prevents them from joining the cycle of reincarnation? Or they are sent to Yomi and the sword acts as a gateway for them to appear when needed?

My understanding is that the sword allows the wielder to channel anchestors from Yomi. The cosmology of Rokugan is weird and contradictory on purpose, because they have two main religions with opposite afterlives (souls stay in Yomi in Fortunism, but are reincarnated in Shinseism), but because a Hantei declared both religions as true, they have to be both true, even if that is not possible. So anchestors staying around to guide their children does not mean they are somehow torn from the wheel of incarnation. It means that it's a wonder and mortals cannot really understand it.

Reincarnation are a complicated things in Rokugan, but yes, as far as I understand it, it is a gateway.