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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Meridian" data-source="post: 46239" data-attributes="member: 1603">The roster consists of 3rd level PCs, each originating from a family branch of the Lion clan:Kitsu Shirogitsune, a shugenja of bone-white, almost oni-like appearanceAkodo Kenji, a samurai/ranger/fighter whose unorthodox demeanor is as unsettling as his height (tall for a Rokugani)Matsu Rhogen, sohei (spiritual yojimbo); orphan of a cadet branch of the Matsu decimated by the Scorpion clanThis first part is the assemblage of the characters in a two-hour introduction.  The concept for the campaign is that these characters will eventually be chaperones for young samurai on a circuit of the clan territories as part of their gempukku (coming of age).  The circuit ride is also an opportunity for the characters to assess the political climate of all the other clans and relay that information to their elders for the benefit of the Lion clan.-----They journeyed in silence under the unseasonably hot autumn sun toward the mountains in the west, the shugenja and the samurai.   Each unused to prolonged interaction with others and mainly preoccupied by thoughts that strayed only a few times to linger on the company they kept, they traded words sparingly.  However, what lay between these young men went deeper than social niceties.They rode during the day, and rested at night, stopping at each village and town along the Daimyo's Way, unperturbed by the reactions of the heinin who greeted them with varying degrees of obsequiousness, servility and distrust.Had it not been for the presence of the Akodo samurai, Kenji, the white-faced kami tsukai named Kitsu Shirogitsune might have been greeted with farmers' tools brandished as weapons and fire.  Some peasants who thought of themselves as cultured sorts opined among their coarser fellows that the bone-colored one was a courtier used to journeying heavily painted with rice powder as the decadent western lords were wont to do in their lavish palaces.  Despite the oni-like appearance that earned him the sobriquet "Ghost Demon Fox" whispered long after his departure, it could not be disputed that he wore the robes of one of the Divine Speakers, ochre fabrics festooned tastefully with golden lions in pursuit of white owls.  His wrath would not be lightly tempted.Akodo Kenji was equally as much an enigma as the sorceror.  His height was disconcerting enough for a Rokugani, almost an affront to heaven, the way his brooding brow seemed to brush against the clouds.  His face revealed so little one might wonder if it were the visor to his helm.Some speculated that he shared his spirit with those of the animals that accompanied him; his warhorse, his large akita, and the falcon that rode hooded upon the pommel of his saddle.  Akodo Kenji had no room in his wa (heart-soul) for the kami of the communities; his harmony lay with the animals.One such entity riding alone through the land would have been fodder enough for gossip to last a month at least.  But two...?  The villagers would not forget.For who knew the purpose for which the shugenja and the samurai rode?  Only Heaven and Earth...and the one destined to join them.They arrived at the monastery at sunset, the last ray of light from Lady Amaterasu-sama's imminent repose reddening the horizon in crimson fire. The distant peal of the bell tolling evening prayers reached their ears across the grasslands, yet the Abbot Akodo Tenjisu stood outside with the elder monks, waiting to greet them at the gates.  Kenji recognized several of the monk, as he had expected he would when he was assigned this mission; retired generals of the Akodo, all.  Here lay the secret heart of power for the Lion.  These grizzled warriors had not retired from shame or dishonor, nor did it seem as if they had lost any of their readiness for battle.  Kenji felt as if he gazed upon the Great Kaiu Wall itself, though that monument was hundreds of miles to the south, so resolute was the strength resonating from the men before him, through the edifice melting into the shadows of the mountain under the waxing mood-god.Meeting the golden eyes of the Abbot with his own pale gaze, Kitsu Shirogitsune mouthed the appropriate pleasantries in token acknowledgement of tradition.  But the Abbot effectively waved away any attempt at courtly pretense, stating with wry apology: "Forgive us should our brethren offend, as we have become set in our ways, as coarse old men often do, having become unaccustomed to the presence of those who regularly move through the courts of the great daimyos.  We do not provide ideal examples to the younger monks.  We intend no insult."Shiro bowed.  "I am honored that the monastery has opened its gates and granted the service of the holy defender promised to the Kitsu school on my behalf.  I would be most grateful for any advice the Abbot could provide for the care of such a gift and honor as has been bestowed in the form of this bodyguard."The Abbot's reply was hesitant and terse all at once.  "Your destinies are intertwined in large part due to a convergence of fates willed by the movement of the kami," he said slowly.  "It is a most auspicious occasion when the families of the Lion move as one in their children with the blessing of the spirits.  Yet harmony of movement does not assume harmony of thought.  If he is to be your shield, then instruct him in the ways of your spirit, and allow him to instruct you in the ways of his."Shiro pondered this for a moment, then nodded in acknowledgement of the Abbot's advice, if not in agreement."He who has pledged himself to your protection awaits you in the shrine of the Bright Lady.  Once the first light of sunrise touches his face, assuming he is acceptable, he will be in your service."  The Abbot left unsaid that Shiro would be in service to the yojimbo (bodyguard) as well, but it was implicit in his tone.  "We have readied rooms for you and your escort.  The brothers will show you the way."In the morning, Shiro and Kenji departed the monastery, joined by Ishikawa Rhogen of the Matsu family line, a thick-shouldered, broad-chested sohei whose devotion to his new responsibility soon became obvious in his hovering near Shiro from the beginning.  The state of his readiness for combat even took Kenji a little by surprise.  Armored from head to toe with a naginata strapped across his strong back, Rhogen looked ready to take the Shadowlands on by himself.They traveled toward the village of Seiden, where Kenji would fulfill his other standing order to escort a courtier from the Ikoma cadet branch of the Lion back to the ancestral home.  Shiro hoped to take advantage of the travel time to unlock the secrets of his two companions, but these attempts began as several false starts to start conversation.Finally, eight days into the journey, with a full moon bathing the grassland prairie in moonlight, Shiro had just successfully initiated conversation with his companions for the first time when a rumbling caused Shiro and then Rhogen to look toward the eastern horizon. It was as if a molten silver river had begin to pour its purifying light from an unseen point in the night sky onto the earth, parting the grass like an unstoppable force and moving directly toward the three companions.Kenji faintly realized that the horses were reacting to the sound not with panic or fear, but with anticipation.  The noise resolved itself into hooves.  Hundreds of hooves, it seemed.  The river suddenly split into a shower of shooting stars across the ocean of grass accompanied by rising thunder.Horses. Perhaps only 30 or 40 of them, but horses of a kind and quality even Shiro, journeyman of spirits, had never seen before.  Their coats resolved themselves in all the shades of grey and silver, mercurial, wraithlike, but still very powerful.  They ran along the ground as if a touch of their hooves would propel them into the Celestial Courts.It was the lead stallion that caught Kenji's eye.  He led the horses in a running circle around the companions, kicking up dirt and the smell of grass and overturned earth as the overture.  Then the stallion reared, his hooves striking the air in challenge, his eyes fixed on the samurai, clearly inviting Kenji to come and ride---if he dared. Surprising his companions with the suddeness of his movement, Kenji spurred his horse on after the stallion.  To his credit, it did not take Kenji long at all to discover the intelligence that was clearly characteristic of this unusual animal.As he pulled parallel to the silver-streaked stallion, Kenji unhooked his feet and braced them against the saddle, lining himself up for a jump, trusting his own steed not to bolt or deviate at least for a few seconds.  When he saw his chance, he took it, leaping for the stallion's back with the deadly intent of a leopard.  He missed.Rhogen and Shiro were not idle.  Before they could marvel too long at Kenji's daring, Shiro's horse, a tawny light-framed palomino of a skittish nature, suddenly bolted toward the herd, whinnying with excitement.  In his time at the monastery, Rhogen had concentrated more on his fighting skills than his ability to ride, yet Rhogen managed to chase after Shiro with alacrity and snag the bridle of the shugenja's horse while maintaining his own place in the saddle, no mean feat for a novice.They rode back to where Kenji now stood, chagrin written in his stance as he gazed after the departing herd.  Though Kenji appeared unhurt, the look in his eyes was one bitter with longing as the mystic herd went the way they came.Their hearts and minds full of the celestial vision they had just witnessed but whose significance they could not decipher, the sentai walked into Seiden village the next morning. Guided by the local yoriki (police), Shiro stormed his way into the magistrate's courthouse to announce his own arrival, interrupting the trial in progress.  Magistrate Youshi did not look pleased at the disruption, but nevertheless treated all with courtesy and respect as he greeted the sentai with cool aplomb.  Kenji noted silently that Shiro might have considered a different approach for a town in which they were expected to stay at least a few days, and as if he had picked up the stray thought, Shiro respectfully acknowledged the hospitality of the magistrate to smooth the ruffled feathers of the older man's dignity.(to be continued)</blockquote>

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