I was a bit hesitant going into "The Tale of the Heike", thinking it was going to be possibly tedious, and it's totally NOT.

This is good stuff. I can see why it's considered a classic.

The Heike, through various series of events, including a big fight between the monks of two big temples over who was going to get to emplace the dead Emperor's memorial plaque before whom and the subsequent burning-down of a THIRD temple, are getting out over the tips of their skis.

A fairly highly-placed member of the Imperial court hired a monk to do what amounts to black magic on his behalf to get himself a promotion, until the priests of the local shrine beat the hired monk to a pulp with sticks, chasing him out of the province.