Myōō Dharani

The Myōō Dharani (明王陀羅尼宗), also known as the Vidyaraja Dharani or the Myō Dha sect, is a holy order which focuses on Buddhism.

The Myōō Dharani sect were a group that learned techniques from various eras and places and specialised in the exorcism of Demons. Almost half of the Kyoto Branch's Exorcists hail from the Myōō Dharani sect.

The current head of the Myōō Dharani sect is Tatsuma Suguro, addressed with the honorific of “Most High Priest”.

History
It was founded by the monk Fukaku, and was originally a separate Exorcist group, but eventually merged with the True Cross Order 10 years ago.

Fukaku is primarily remembered for his victory against the disease spreading Demon, the Impure King. 150 years ago, with the Karura infused Kurikara, he separated the heart of the Demon into two halves, known now as the Left and Right Eyes of the Impure King. For this reason, the establishment and progression of the Myōō Dharani sect was exclusively for the prevention, and if necessary, subjugation of the Impure King, were it to ever be revived again.

Organization
Prior to the Blue Night, the Myōō Dharani boasted over two hundred members spread over eleven Temple Families and at least six individual temples. The Head Priest of the Suguro family headed the sect based in the Fudobu-Shoryo Temple and was attended to by the body of brothers from amongst the Shima family. The previous head of the sect, if still living, takes on the role of Head Preceptor, councilling the Head Priest and having various other preceptor roles beneath them. The previous head of the Shima Temple takes the position of Great Brother, should they still be living, and they council the body of brothers, head Archpriest and younger ranks. The Shima Temple then produced the Head Archpriest and the Hojo Temple produced the Assistant to the Head Archpriest. Below them, eight other Archpriest families existed, the Miwa clan heading the Sanrin Temple, the Kito family heading the temple of the same name and the Hanamaki clan heading the Kakan temple. There were also the Tobusa, Kaji, Mutsu, Fuyudonari and Furofuki clans.

Following the Blue Night, their numbers have dropped to around seventy, with five of the Archpriest families being extinct. The sect itself took on a more streamlined organisation, Tatsuma himself dissolving the body of brothers and the various ranks being conglomerated into a single group rather than across the various families.

Members

 * Tatsuma Suguro - Seventeenth Head Priest
 * Ryuji Suguro - Young Head Priest
 * Yaozo Shima - Head Archpriest
 * Uwabami Hojo - Assistant to the Head Archpriest
 * Hanamaki - Archpriest
 * Kito - Archpriest
 * Gozo Shima - Young Archpriest
 * Juzo Shima - Young Archpriest
 * Konekomaru Miwa - Young Archpriest
 * Mamushi Hojo - Young Archpriest
 * Kinzo Shima - Young High Priest
 * Nishiki Hojo - Young High Priest
 * Ao Hojo - Young Law Master
 * Renzo Shima - Young Law Master
 * Chika Minami - Exorcist
 * Hajime Narumi - Exorcist
 * Haruta Shishamo - Exorcist
 * Masato Chigusa - Exorcist
 * Shigemichi Kumagai - Exorcist

Trivia

 * For rituals and formal affairs, the sect use the Chinese readings of various names, rendering Mamushi as Fuku, Ryuji as Ryoshi and Konekomaru as Subyokan etc.