Chapter 3
A soft scratching came at Saburo’s door, followed by the soothing voice of his mother.
“Saburo-san, it is time for dinner.”
He immediately went to work striping the bedding, changing his clothes and washing his hands and face in the basin underneath his window. When he had finished, he took a deep breath and emerged into the common room.
His father was already seated, serving himself an assortment of rice and fish. His attention shifted to the boy as Saburo entered the room.
“Saburo, how are you feeling,” the man asked.
“Alright father, thank you for asking,” Saburo replied.
“A brave or a foolish thing you did today…though I am having trouble deciding which one it is,” the man said with mock gravity.
Saburo was in no mood for his father’s chiding this evening. Normally he would jump at the opportunity to verbally spar with the man, but not tonight.
“Father, have you noticed anything strange recently,” Saburo said, his voice barely above a whisper.
The playful mood left Nobutaka immediately when he saw his son’s face.
“No, why do you ask Saburo?”
“I just had this terrible dream…it’s nothing I’m sure. Just shook me up is all.”
“With that much sake in you, I don’t doubt it,” Nobutaka said with a roar of laughter.
Saburo smiled and began to chuckle. Maybe he’s right. It’s all in my head I’m sure.
Over dinner Nobutaka reminded his son of the responsiblilities they still had to the Festival despite the recent incident with Boroya. Saburo was to complete the order of 10 gallons in the next week, while Nobutaka attempted to salvage their reputation on the eyes of the Prefect. Saburo didn’t mind, he was most calm during the distilling process. Many said the Samurai were in a state of true enlightment while they practiced their sword kata, but Saburo was at his best when made his father proud.
He worked all through the night, pausing only once during the early evening to visit his friend Jin-qua. Jin-qua had an interesting position in the hierarchy of the town. He was the son of the Prefect Chuukun, but as the woman he had bedded was a concubine he had no rights or privileges from such a birth. This upset him to no end. True; Prefect Ide Chuukun took monetary responsibility for his concubine Ayame and his son Jin-qua…but that was all. Jin-qua felt he was a ghost in the town with no ability to advance himself past his station. Many people politely disregarded him; the fact that they were so nice about it made it even more infuriating for the young man. The two men discussed much over tea: politics, the economy, and how Jin-qua managed to break his leg in a race against Geretsu. Of course, his version of the story was a little more flattering than what Saburo had heard from Ren and Yatsen who had actually witnessed it, but he let his friend weave the story nonetheless.
“So there I was about to cross the finish line and that bastard Geretsu tripped me, sending me sprawling head first into a fallen tree,” Jin-qua alleged while waving his hands about. “I still won though!”
“I bet you did. Tell me, Jin-qua, have you been having any strange dreams recently,” Saburo asked.
Jin-qua’s flashy smile faded visibly under the question.
“Why,” the man inquired suspiciously.
“I had this dream today…well more like a nightmare. It was so real. I died in it.”
“I had a bad dream today as well. I’d rather not talk about it, but it was similarly disturbing. I’m not really sure what it all means, but the voice in the dream scared me as well,” Jin-qua said.
“Well I’ve taken up much of your time I see. You will have to regale me with more of your stories some other time. There is work to be done,” Saburo said trying to sound somewhat cheerful.
“I’m sure I will find more trouble to get myself into before you see me next,” Jin-qua promised with a grin.
“Until next time.”
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Saburo awoke with a start. He had passed out early the next morning from working so hard. It seemed as though he had only sat down for a moment before falling victim to the warm embrace of slumber. The nightmare had returned once again. This time the dream was even more vivid than the last. Saburo looked up at the sky; the sun was suspended high in the heavens. Oh no, I overslept!
Rushing out of the distillery, Saburo ran to his room and attempted to change clothing in a frenzy of motion that threatened to entangle him in wool. Hopping up and down, he made his way to the front door with one pant leg on, while he battled furiously with the other.
“Saburo, the gift for Ren’s family is on the floor next to you…I suggest you run the entire way if you are going to make it in time for lunch,” his mother said with a hint of amusement in her voice.
How could I have forgotten?! Ren invited me yesterday evening after I got home from Jin-qua’s house. I mean she even did it in front of my parents! By the Fortunes, this is bad.
The boy raced down the path at a dead run. He nearly tripped a few times, but did make it to the house in record time. Ren’s parents were caretakers of the horses of the village; a great honor. Horses were praised as noble creatures for the Unicorn Clan and to have the responsibility to care for them was seen as a dignified position in the hierarchy of the clan. They were a little distance from the village itself, making his timely arrival that much more difficult.
As Saburo rounded the bend, he could see Ren chasing after one of her horses. A beautiful mare named Blaze. She would try to approach it, but every time she would do so the horse would flee from her grasp. This continued for some time, until Saburo finally arrived.
“Sorry I’m late Ren,” he said trying to regain his breath.
“Finally decided to show up huh,” Ren chided.
“I overslept. What are you doing,” Saburo replied in an attempt to change the conversations direction quickly.
“Blaze got out of the stables and doesn’t seem to want to go back.”
“Maybe I can help,” Saburo declared.
Always remain calm. Control your breathing. Don’t let them think you are a threat.
Saburo approached slowly, allowing his hands to brush over the mare’s face before gently patting it down. He slowly turned towards Ren as he patted down Blaze and whispered comforting sounds to her. Ren handed him the harness and with a quick fluid motion, Saburo ensnared the horse. She immediately reared up and tried to escape, but it was futile with both Saburo and Ren holding the harness. Eventually after a few bucks, Blaze gave up and allowed herself to be lead back to the stables.
“What’s that,” Saburo asked as he pointed to a spot on Blaze’s forehead.
It was a small scratch in the direct center of the horse’s head with blood caked over the wound.
“Must have gotten a nick when she escaped this morning,” Ren said with a hint of irritation in her voice.
“You mean to tell me that you have been at this all morning?”
The look Ren gave Saburo could have cut steel. Recovering quickly, Saburo attempted to smooth things over with his already annoyed host.
“I just got luck is all. I’m sure you tired her out, making my job easy. Why don’t we check the other horses to see that they are OK.”
The two childhood friends inspected the remainder of the horses and found them all to be healthy, without any evidence of laceration. Strange.
The remainder of the evening went well. Saburo was extremely polite and tried not impose any of his views on his gracious hosts. Ren’s irritation was lost as soon as dinner began. It was a great time. Saburo excused himself for the night and was on his way home with his lantern in hand when he paused halfway to ponder something that he was bothering him. I forgot the gift! In his exuberance to please both Ren and her parents, he had forgotten to give them the gift his mother had carefully wrapped. It was an exquisite sake bottle she had made herself. Muttering curses to himself, Saburo began to trudge back to his house. I’ll just give it to them tomorrow. One more day won’t hurt. Thankfully when he arrived home, his parents were both asleep; allowing him to smuggle the gift into his room undetected. He fell asleep as soon as his face hit the pillow.
The nightmare came upon him almost immediately once again, he was at the part when his father was about to release him and send him hurtling towards his doom when something shook him awake.
“Saburo, get up!”
Bleary-eyed, he opened his eyes to see his father shaking him and Yatsen kneeling in the corner of his room. Both men had somber looks upon their faces. What is Yatsen doing here at this hour?
“Son, there has been an accident…it’s Ren…her-“
Saburo didn’t hear the rest; his fear blocked out all other voices. Fortunes, no…
). The PCs actually are members of the town, so it was an interesting twist in terms of DM'ing it. I found that it added more dimension to the game than if they had simply wandered into the town. The last little alteration I made was having the characters start off as commoners. It allowed them time to roleplay with their surroundings and built the realism of the events up in their mind before they actually got a "level" in a class. I've made a note of who the PCs are below. Well, I hope you guys enjoy!
