[OA/FR] Rokugan - Updated 12/13/03

[Black Omega]

Much happiness!!

I'm a long-time reader and fan but have been unable to post recently due to some stupidity (on my part) in changing stuff on an old account (Axeboy).

I was saddened by the hiatus, but unable to comment; the summary format has been good to get caught up, but I look forward to hearing some crunchy details!

Thanks, Black Omega (and crew), and keep up the good work!

Thanks for the comments. It was a good game last night. the group has a little chance to rest after the Black Snakes and now they must get ready for their next big challenge. Update will be posted in minutes for last night's game.

 

[Black Omega]

In the aftermath of the battle the firemen were finally allowed in to fight the fire raging over the back of Agnar Glitterune’s House of Foreign Mysteries. In his usual fashion, Volar openly looted the bodies while Mindra and Mir healed up the fighters. It had been a tough fight but as far as the group was concerned the war was over. Ok, not quite. They still felt the need to get Go Go, even more now that she had set a building on fire in Ryoko Owari. Just one more law the girl had broken.

And the group still had a few things to do. Mindra bought a new Iron Monkey statue to use as a focus for his Substitution spell. Kaz checked in with his Thunderguards and found the trouble in the area was growing. More violence, several bribe attempts reported. And who knows if there were some never reported…and to add to it all, the local Scorpion merchant wished to meet with him to complain about how his Thunderguards were treating the merchant’s men.

And there was another person eager to meet Bansho Kishu. Ide Masaaki, their old friend from Mimura. He had compliments for the group on their recent war with the Black Snakes, but really he was there to see Mir. A conversation in private. Mir agreed but when Masaaki snapped his fingers and his servants put up the silk ‘walls’ used by many in Ryoko Owari for such meetings, Mir immediately backed out. Bansho Kishu was feeling very paranoid about now and while Mir danced around insulting Masaaki, she was clear she wasn’t going to meet with him there. Masaaki’s smile turned thinner but he remained polite. He understood their fear, of course. Though was disappointed in their lack of trust for him. And with that, he bid them a good day.

The group returned to their homes to rest and then the next day they traveled to the Crab Caves for one last visit. A meeting with the Ghost Dragons. And some time spent working out the details of a agreement. Verick was blunt in asking what grievance the Ghost Dragons felt they had with Bansho Kishu. Daikubo, the leader of the Ghost Dragons, mentioned Mindra’s attack on the Ghost Dragon who was watching, as well as the child killed by the monkey in the first battle. Mindra was unrepentant. He felt threatened and had acted. He didn’t feel he had anything to be sorry over.

Volar grimaced more than once during the conversation. He wasn’t quite sure why people wanted to bother dealing with criminals like this. When Daikubo mentioned money on exchange for letting the grudge go, Volar could barely restrain his comments. Mir agreed, a token sum of 50 koku paid over. And an additional 50 paid for the child as well, with Daikubo promising “If the parents do not agree to let it go, we’ll toss them out of the Ghost Dragons. We have no use for someone who puts their personal interest above the gang.” He even offered, for an additional 150 koku, to kill the parents, if they did not agree, but the group did not wish to go that far.

The money was paid by Hawk. Daikubo accepted the money easily enough but then looked to Bansho Kishu to confirm that this was indeed the payment from them. With the deal confirmed, the group’s business in the Crab Caves was done. Word was out the Black Snakes were dead down to the last man. The war over their turf was ready to start.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to their normal routine, Verick found himself assigned to write a briefing on the potential threat of the groups he had encountered at the edge of the empire. Volodni, Spiders, and any others he cared to comment upon. It was a task the young Lion threw himself into single-mindedly, getting the report finished in record time.

[GM Note: Though I hadn’t asked for it, the player did write up a actual report during the game to turn in. I might post that later.]

Kaz met with Lord Shinjo Jyaku to set a few things up. He was bringing in some people he knew from Bugaisha to use as ‘undercover’ in his area to try and track down the real dealers in opium. He also let Lord Jyaku know about the trouble with the Scorpion merchant. No specifics, just a heads up he was investigating and expected political trouble if it went too well. Lord Jyaku agreed with the assessment and told Kaz to act as he would with any normal criminal.

Mir received a gift, a golden hairpiece that mimicked rain clouds. And a simple note from Kaz expressing his remorse for attacking her, even though he was under a spell. The note clearly was note written by Kaz, nor the gift selected by him. But the gift was accepted in the spirit it was offered. Kaz was almost more comfortable getting help from their little old lady in matters like this.

Hawk made sure to get letters of introduction sent around to the Scorpion merchant to help him open relations with the Centaur Nation.

The group attended a preview of an upcoming play to be shown during the theater season in Ryoko Owari. Written by Emerald Magistrate Bayushi Sakura, the play was a historical piece about the Battle of White Stag, an event from far in the Empire’s past when Hantei VI was killed in a treacherous attack by gaijin traders. The play contained all the usual characters. A noble Emperor. Honorable and Fierce Lions. A somewhat hapless Crab samurai pawn. And dishonorable Gaijin, who are inevitably wiped out after their treachery is revealed.

About midway through the kabuki play Toshiro leaned over to Mir and asked, “So, should we be insulted here?”

Mir watched the play a few more seconds then admitted “I’m really not sure yet.”

Despite this, the group had some very polite praise for Bayushi Sakura, especially Verick. Clad in the emerald green of a magistrate and her usual white mask that showed a rather lovely face of a young woman, Sakura was quite friendly with the group and never once openly suggested there was any connection between her play and Bansho Kishu.

Mir found herself in the awkward position of trying to emphasis that like the Moto, many in Bansho Kishu were from outside the empire but could be trusted. A position the Ide were taking as well. The Unicorn are Rokugani, and so of course, they agree completely that such a treacherous attack had to be annihilated.

There was also more in depth analysis that wondered if this was a further sign of a growing Lion-Scorpion alliance, as well as more pretentious discussions on the true meaning of the play from an artistic sense. It had been well written and superbly acted, so was certain to be popular in the upcoming theater season.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toshiro had slowly noticed things were changing in his area. The commoners, who had been so eager to stay on his good side, were even more servile about it now. But the samurai as well were more stiffly polite and less friendly toward him. In some fashion, Toshiro didn’t mind this. He felt he was finally getting more respect and so perhaps the Scorpion had done him a favor.

What sort of favor was unclear. The rumor was that Toshiro was a coward who let his lackeys do the killing for him while he fled from a direct battle with Black Snake. The rumor of Toshiro and Mir had also grown, to the point where Toshiro was even confronted by O-Hisa, her hammer in hand. She had heard the rumors. More to the point, a friend of her’s said she had seen an amorous encounter between Toshiro and Mir. O-Hisa put it bluntly “You can’t lie for $#!^, so I’m asking you directly. What’s going on between you and Mir?”

Toshiro was perfectly honest and it was true. He really could not lie convincingly. O-Hisa believed Toshiro’s denials that there was anything other than friendship and the fact that Mir was useful because she was a courtier and could speak much better than he could. For the moment, peace was restored.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mir experimented with her circle dance, first in Ryoko Owari then at the grove in Bugaisha, and was able to determine that Nezu was someplace to the north of the City of Lies and to the east of Bugaisha. No place close by they could easily get to.

Mir was also visited at the grove by her old friend, Yoenki. She was in the area to work on a few things and wanted to stop by and chat again like old times. Mir was guardedly pleased to see the eerily cheerful young lady, and did hope things had not gone to badly for her since the defeat at Kuzo.

“Oh, no.” Yoenki cheerfully commented “We later won a great victory. Oh, speaking of battles. I understand you are having some trouble with the Moto. Simply terrible. I’ve been thinking about things to do to them. I won’t give the details, it’s best if you do not know. I promise it’ll be memorable. It might even get you in good with the Moto.”

Mir wasn’t quite so sure about that and put all her diplomatic persuasiveness into turning whatever plot Yoenki had toward the Ide. It wasn’t easy but then Yoenki seemed to get positively enthusiastic over the things she could to the courtiers of the Unicorn. As always, their meeting ended with well wishes and a promise to meet again soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hawk had been busy over the previous days as well. He could not buy land in the Ryoko Owari area, but a place could be provided for him to set up a sort of ‘embassy’. Hawk finally convinced Mindra to teleport him back home so he could get a little help for the embassy from his own people. Mindra and Hawk teleported in, only to find themselves immediately surrounded by guards. Though the guards relaxed when they saw it was a Vanara and a centaur, they held the two there until the Captain of the Guard could be summoned. The Captain of the Guard turned out to be Lord Lionheart “As brave as a lion and twice as strong!” he boasted.

The new security was his idea. The king was very sick and shut away from the others. By his own orders, no one was to see him. Hawk was liking the sound of this less and less. He didn’t know Lionheart and wasn’t sure how this arrogant jerk had gotten to be the Captain of the Guard so fast.

Mindra was more interested to find that indeed there was another Vanara present. Many in fact, though most were what Lionheart called ‘Warrior Vanara’, something Mindra had never heard of. Mindra quietly requested to see the other Vanara and was taken to their house. The door was guarded by a nine foot tall gorilla looking creature he snarled loudly “Who are you?”

[GM Note: This was fun. Describing everything quite calmly and quietly, then when the gorilla spoke it was a loud snarl that made Mindra’s player jump. It’s a lot of fun catching the players off guard.]

Mindra was so taken aback he didn’t answer right away, but finally he managed to convince the gorilla to take him to the master of the house. Misura. A black furred Vanara with a white face and only half a tail. It took a moment for Mindra to remember him, but Misura remembered Mindra –very- well indeed. The Naga attacking him. The chase.

It wasn’t long before Mindra feared the Vanara was totally insane. From the way he went from talking about having Mindra’s arms ripped off to prevent him casting spells, then calling Mindra his friend and suggesting they both teleport to Ryoko Owari so he could see the great city.

“Do they let you carry weapons around in Ryoko Owari, or do you have to be unarmed?” Misura asked.

“Unarmed.” Mindra replied.

Misura’s eyes lit up “And they think if you don’t carry a weapon you are unarmed? I’m going to LOVE this city.” He rumbled happily.

Even so, Mindra kept digging himself in deeper. Barely remembering the Vanara he had set up with the Naga. Then simply saying it was a mistake, without any sign he felt bad about it. He finally said he could teleport Misura back with him to Ryoko Owari, all the while planning to only teleport Hawk and himself back. But obviously they could not go back right away, so Mindra accepted the offer of a room to sleep in, and was given a ‘Warrior Vanara’ to act as his bodyguard. Certainly the room was very secure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hawk spent some time with Lord Lionheart, who...had some bad news for Hawk about his parents. Sicked with the same wasting illness that had struck the king. “But it’s ok, I’ll look after you. Just call me your uncle Lionheart!” he said.

There was much drinking, an arm wrestling contest that Lionheart won but Hawk acquitted himself well, and as Lionheart put it “Being in the company of humans so long, you must miss females you can spend some time with, if you know what I’m saying. Grrow!”

As friendly as Lionheart was, Hawk wasn’t trusting him a bit. To much had changed in the time he was gone. When he had the chance he looked up a royal adviser from before. There had been an attack on the Centaur Nation by the Shadowlands. Zombies and other undead. Lionheart had brought warning of the attack, as well as his allies, Misura and the warrior Vanara. Lionheart was then in the middle of the fight to defeat the Shadowlands. The advisor admitted Lionheart was an arrogant buffoon at times, but also a very powerful warrior. In this battle, the Captain of the Guard was found ripped into pieces, no doubt by zombies.

Hawk suggested the King might have been struck down by ‘taint’ but could possibly be healed by the right healing from a Rokugani shugenja. The adviser wasn’t so sure but did comment there was Rokugani human staying as a guest of the palace. That got Hawk’s attention and he immediately asked to meet this human.

[GM Note: A generally fun scene that took the players off guard. A few are wondering if Mindra and Hawk will ever make it back to Ryoko Owari. For Lionheart I was channeling Lord Flashheart from the Blackadder series. Misura was a little Jack Palance and a little General Thade from the Planet of the Apes remake, with frequent baring of teeth to get the feral effect.]

 

[Black Omega]

And a listing of NPC's to help the new comers keep score.

Dramatis Personae

We don't need no social graces
We don't need no fine silk clothes
No darkest magic in the Crab lands
Demons leave those Crabs alone
Hey! Demons! Leave those Crabs alone!
All in all you're just another Crab on the Wall

Bansho Kishu
Hiruma Toshiro (Sam 13)– Crab Samurai in the service of Lord Shinjo Jyaku, Officer of the Thunderguard, married to Shinjo O-Hisa

“You know, being feared and hated is kinda nice.”​

Mindra (Sha 14)– Monkey Shaman helping Toshiro, Humble Carpenter

“Hey, I felt threatened!​

Mir (Cleric 3/Bard 2/Mystic 8)– Bard/Cleric of Silvanus/Vassal of Lord Shinjo Jyaku

“In the name of the Oak Father, be turned! Be Turned!! Go away, dammit!”​

Toritaka Kazuyuki (Sam 12)– Crab Samurai, Honest officer in the Thunderguard

"Look kid, fight when you have to. Don't start the fights."​

Verick (Rog 4/Ftr 4/Sam 5)– Lion Samurai, Akodo Diplomat, half foreign, in -way- too deep with the Scorpion.

“Actually, I thought her play condemning the dangers of foreigners was excellent.”​

Volar (Wiz 14)– Elven Wizard with a fondness for rats

“-Why- are we talking to them?"​

Hawk (Centaur 5/Ranger 6) - Representative of the great Centaur Nation, still has some growing to do

Unicorn
Shinjo Jyaku – Lord of the Heigen Yuki, Governor of Ryoko Owari, honorable samurai of a despised family.
Shinjo O-Hisa – Girl with a big hammer, daughter of Lord Jyaku and wife of Hiruma Toshiro.
“Hard for a Scorpion to lie with his head mashed between his shoulder blades.”
Shinjo Yuji – Assistant of Lord Jyaku, left in charge of Bugaisha.
Shinjo Toru – New officer in Ryoko Owari’s Thunderguard, friendly with the group.
Shinjo Nihao – Officer in the Thunderguard, the ‘Bad Cop’.
Ide Tadaji – Family Daimyo, Lord of the Ide
“I knew you’d like that lesson in Unicorn history, since you are a Crab.”
Ide Masaaki – Diplomat, the velvet glove for someone else’s steel fist
Moto Chagatai – Unicorn Clan Champion, Ally of Akodo Kaneka
Moto Subatai – Gunso of the Moto White Guard, Unicorn Barbarian
Moto Kiyomasu – Gunso of the Moto White Guard in the Bugaisha area
Utaku Manami – Unicorn entrant in the Topaz Championship

Lion
Akodo Setei – Master Sensei of the Akodo, semi-retired.
Akodo Jusho – Lord of the Akodo Estates, Ryoko Owari.
Matsu Shorisuro – Lion entrant in the Topaz Championship, owes Verick
Ikoma Ichiro – Lion Samurai, Imperial Magistrate and historian

Crab
Hiruma Tetsuo – Toshiro’s dad, old rival of Lord Jyaku
Hiruma Fujizaka – Crab clan entrant into the Topaz Championship
Hida Toshiaki - Samurai with a lust for life

Crane
Doji Shiima - Samurai with a taste for gossip and a good game of Go
Daidoji Suwa – Crane clan entrant in the Topaz Championship
Yasuki Hachi – Daimyo of the Yasuki family and Emerald Champion

Scorpion
Bayushi Kaukatsu – Imperial Chancellor, currently residing in Ryoko Owari
Bayushi Ogura – Shugenja, son of Kaukatsu, devious
Bayushi Sakura - Scorpion, Emerald Magistrate, Topaz Champion


Others
Toturi Sitha – Monkey Clan entrant in the Topaz Championship, practical joker and monkey spirit.
Nezu – Former peasant, trouble magnet, former bandit leader
Isawa Oroko – Phoenix Entrant in the Topaz Championship
Itoshi – Ryoko Owari Torturer
Whisper – Crane clan vassal merchant, devious
Stavros – Half Orc Bandit Leader, Son of Rodrigo, Wizard
Grond – Human appearing bandit, Son of Rodrigo, Monk
Viktor – Half Orc-Half Elf Bandit Leader, Son of Rodrigo, Warrior
Taka – Slippery archer with a double sword, leader of Guren-tai
Misura – Vanara with an axe to grind
Black Lotus – AKA Go Go, Former Black Snake psycho, disappeared
Lord Lionheart – Captain of the Guard of the Centaur Nation, very loud
The Lord of the Barren Lands – Lich, whereabouts unknown
Poison Sawada - Powerful spellcaster, mercenary
Yoenki – Bloodspeaker championing chaos.
“Don’t worry, I promise what I do will be…memorable.”

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Notes from Mir

Things are getting complicated again. We resolved the problem of people attacking Mindra for now at least. The Blacksnakes are defeated to the point of making it not worth while tracking down the remainders. Black Lotus is dangerous but has both a price on her head and the Thundergaurd after her too. If she plans on living she will be deep underground or somewhere out of town. Now we just have: Scorpions undermining Toshiro, Red Wizards plotting our assaination, Verick acting strangely, and now Verick's girlfriend writing plays that attempt to discredit me, Volar, and Mindra.

The Scorpions, including Verick's girlfriend, may be our next major push. The Red Wizard problem is a long term problem with Nezu our key to it so far away and incomunicado. I have put some effort into putting some positive spin in Toshiro's neighborhood but it doesn't seem to be doing any good. More importantly someone is now disguing themselves to foster this impression. Kaz's gift may be the key to putting down the rumors of Toshiro and myself. His inability to do stuff like this himself required him to get some help so this information should be out thier. With soome reciprocation on my part and dragging him to a few public events it might seem at least that I have moved on.

As for the play it is not to difficult to work with. While I don't like the Ide they are doing the hard work for me because they have to defend the Moto who are foreigners but completely trusted by the empire both officially and by decree of Lady Shinjo herself who put them in charge of Unicorn Clan. Having sworn an oath to the Shinjo myself I am now in the same general position as the Moto, and to insult my position publicly would be tanamount to claiming the Moto are untrustworthy. And I would hate to see the result of anyone chalenging the Moto. Volar and Mindra however are going to have a slightly more difficult time, but we each make our own beds.

As for my meeting with Yoenki, well I have my reasons. So far she has not acted against me and has been quite civilized. I know who she is involved with but that realy is not my problem, there are others who are tasked with fighting the bloodspeakers. I am not strong enough or prepared to take on the bloodspeakers and turning on her would only make more enimies for me without any real benefits. As long as we remain friendly I have an inside connection to the bloodspeakers should I ever need it in the future either to use against them or for my own purposes. Knowing their reputation however it is probably best that I keep this from everyone else though and keep my reputation cleen so I have a better chance at spreading the word of the Oak Father. Now this time around when I learned that the bloodspeakers were plotting against the Moto I saw an opportunity to make use of this connection. The bloodspeakers are going to act against all parts of the Empire no matter what I do, so why not take this opportunity to direct this action (which will occur anyways) to those who most desrve it. Right now that is the Ide. When someone acts against me it goes on my list and I may act on it soon or long after the fact when they arn't expecting it and I can remain above suspision. The Ide brought this on themselves with the head of thier family acting against us and the kidnapping of me and plans to sell me into slavery by another Ide noble. The Ide will pay eventually for this and now I have my first chance to get some of this revenge.

Now once Mindra and Hawk get back we can start making our plans about what to do next.

 

[Black Omega]

Mindra was guided to his specially prepared room. Just short of it, Misura stopped him to emphasis “We’re all together in this right?” his eyes so bright and intense. That feral growling growing more pronounced as he spoke “Give me your word, Vanara to Vanara. Tommorrow you’ll teleport me to your city.”

“Of course, I swear it.” Mindra replied.

“Excellent.” Misura growled, “I’m sure you’ll find the room to your liking.”

Mindra entered the room but he knew instantly something was wrong. He could not see any spirits. None at all. No tainted, friendly, hostile spirits. This was something he’d never encountered before. He puzzled over it for several seconds, until he heard the door close behind him, the locks efficiently slamming into place. The room was obviously built for a Vanara, places to climb and swing and even a lost for sleeping. But a fast test revealed Mindra’s magic was not working at all.

Mindra started calling out for Misura and pounding on the door until the feral Vanara returned. A small section of the wooden door slid aside, just enough to show Misura’s eyes, the Vanara obviously hanging from the ceiling by his feet, swaying.

“I can’t take you back to my city if I can’t pray to the spirits for my spells. I can’t do that in here.” Mindra explained.

Misura’s eyes squinted then the Vanara gave a short laugh “Oh, that’s true! How foolish of me. I suppose, since you can’t do it, Hawk will need another Vanara to take him back. Don’t worry, I’ll help your friend out.”

Just as the place slide closed on the door Mindra could hear Misura’s chortling “Vanara to Vanara, can’t believe he fell for that.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While Mindra was spending an unpleasant day in the Centaur Nation, Toshiro was swaggering around and enjoying the reaction his reputation was giving. Many samurai were rigidly polite with him. Most commoners scurried to do whatever he wanted. And today while on patrol he was stopped by a scruffy ronin. The master less samurai walked right up, bowing deeply “Lord Toshiro. I’ve heard many things about you. It would be a pleasure to serve with your Thunderguards. As a token of my sincere loyalty, I’ve brought you this.”

The box contained the head of a local merchant. “I overheard him saying you ran into his shop and hid there during the battle with the Black Snakes. Obviously a commoner telling such lies doesn’t deserve life. I swear to always be this attentive to your honor, Lord Toshiro.”

Toshiro considered it a moment. But then nodded “Very well. I accept you into my service. We’ll go back to Thunderguard headquarters and get you set up. What’s your name?”

The ronin’s name was Kuma. Toshiro resolved to keep the ronin close. He was a little suspicious. But not half so suspicious as some of the other members of Bansho Kishu when they heard about it. They knew the merchant was probably foolish, but had also been telling the truth. It was at this point Mir gave up on her charm offensive to try and win the merchant’s of Toshiro’s area back over to him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Verick was also having a good day. His report had been well received. And during a break in training, his master said he had good news.

“You understand, it’s been a difficult year for the Lion. We have few allies. Many enemies. And we find ourselves on the same side as the Scorpion Clan when it comes to Akodo Kaneka. During a conversation with Bayushi Kaukatsu, your name came up. You’ve been making something of a reputation for yourself. And as you know, with your father dead it falls to me, your sensei, to negotiate for your wedding.” Akodo Setei said, his emotions carefully hidden.

This news was a little worrisome. Not as much as it would previously, Verick had been growing very close to Bayushi Sakura. But Setei was being very serious and that usually meant trouble.

“So, it was decided to begin negotiations with the Scorpion Clan. The lady it was suggested you would marry is Shosuro Yasuko. A very devious and cunning courtier, I’m told, with quite a reputation.” Setei-sensei didn’t elaborate on the reputation, simply going on “It’ll be a while before this is resolved. Negotiations like this always take months to finish. It’s our hope you will have a chance to meet your fiancé before the wedding.”

Verick had always known he was going to be involved in an arranged marriage at some point. But he had hoped not quite so soon. Nor to a Scorpion he had never met. He might have welcomed the news if it involved Sakura. But now he was just worried.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaz was out on patrol, he had a few things to check in on. He had been developing his plan to bring in tough friends from Bugaisha to infiltrate the local criminal element. Coming up on one of his favorite sake houses, he was distracted by an older merchant calling out “Kaz-sama! If you have a moment, your new set of sake cups is ready!”

He didn’t have any such thing on order, but as he went over to check out the items the merchant whispered “I saw several rough looking men go into the alley by the sake house. Maybe it’s a criminal deal. Maybe it’s an ambush. I figured you would want to know.”

Kaz thanked the merchant then walked on up to the area where the ronin had gone. They charged out from the alley, the ambush sprung. And was over in seconds. Kaz’s katana flashed out with lethal effect and some impressive slashes quickly dealt with the charging ronin, save for one Kaz saved for interrogation.

Kaz also made a point to secretly drop a thank you note to the shopkeeper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, at the estate, Volar had received a letter.

Volar-san,

If you would care to do a little business, we are interested in meeting for a discussion. We need someone to travel to Bugaisha, secretly. Meet with someone, then leave. All you’d have to do is drop him off at some safe spot. Wait an hour, then bring him back to here. We would pay a 1,000 koku for the trip. Let us know if you are interested.

Otsuka the Butcher
Head Chef of the Dead Rat

Instantly, Volar was paranoid. His natural state of late. It was probably a trap to catch him. And why were they approaching him? Why did they think he could do this? Why did they think he –would- do this? This merited more investigation. Volar’s reply was to the point. 10,000 koku, no less. The swift replay was an attempt to bargain it to 8,000. But Volar would have none of it. He demanded 10,000. And they agreed. Now he was –really- paranoid. He’d hoped to price himself out of their reach. And they had agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mir went to visit the Ide. Specifically Ide Masaaki, the one she had snubbed earlier. To make sure there was no question of her not trusting him, she went to his house. Mir made an effort to explain the troubles the group had been through at the time of his attempt to speak to her, all the attacks they had been under. Masaaki smoothly understood. Bansho Kishu had been through many fights. And if there was an attack at that moment, Mir would not have felt capable of protecting him. He could accept this.

In fact, Ide Masaaki had an offer. The Ide had been keeping an eye on Mir. She was showing great promise as a diplomat. Perhaps she should consider how much more promising her prospects would be if she swore to the Ide rather than the Shinjo. Mir wasn’t terribly flattered by this offer. She already served the Shinjo, after all. And had just arranged an attack on the Ide.

Masaaki went on, explaining that the tie with the Shinjo was no trouble. He knew Lord Jyaku was very fond of Mir, he had been consulted before this offer was decided upon. He obviously wishes the best for Mir and it would surely be a step up for Mir to leave a family dishonored long ago, reviled throughout the empire, and swear to a family universally respected. Mir agreed she would think about it. But secretly she had no intention at all of accepting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the centaur lands, Hawk was consulting with a family Advisor, who did not have happy news. Lord Lionheart was very popular in the Centauir Nation and considered a great hero. The two humans, one who was Rokugani and female, the other of whom was male, were staying in the main fort of the Centaur as royal guests, so the advisor asked that Hawk be polite.

In fact, the young Unicorn was easy to be polite to, she was eerily cheerful. The human man was no where to be seen and Hawk quickly forgot about him. The young lady, named Iuchi Yoenki, agreed the King could be tainted but claimed she had no familiarity with such things. She suggested Hawk try to bring an Iuchi shugenja more familiar with taint. She also strongly recommended no Scorpion Shugenja. After all, they are so suspicious, you just can’t trust them.

In fact, Hawk had almost instantly decided he could not trust the young Unicorn shugenja, a fact he later revealed to the advisor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While Hawk was busy ‘socializing’ Mindra was busy as well. His magic was not working. But he still had a couple of smoke bombs left over from long ago. And he could still communicate with his ancestral spirits, after a fashion. Not like he usually could. But enough to pass a message along to Verick warning him that Mindra was trapped in an area where he could not cast magic and the other Vanara that teleports Hawk back is not going to be him.

The group prepared for the return of the monkey and centaur. They consulted with Lord Jyaku, set up guards over the open squares of the city. Volar even send off a sending to Hawk to suggest the centaur have the Vanara take them back to a safe area at the Bansho Kishu estates. The response from Hawk was

“Damn it! We just arrived in the Plum Orchard Square. Get over here fast!” Fast indeed, though Hawk had asked the fake Mindra to wait, the monkey immediately teleported away again and returned with the two Centaur guards Lionheart had insisted Hawk would need. Added on to the two centaur servants Hawk had wanted for his Centaur ‘embassy’ he was trying to set up that were brought over on the first jump.

The presense of all those centaurs in the square had instantly triggered screams and yells from the commoners around, many running off to summon the Thunderguards. Others simply running away. Bansho Kishu teleported into this confusion and in an instant Volar cast a Web over the fake Mindra and the two centaur guards. Then just to make sure it was a fake Mindra, Volar also called out “Sorry, we were warned you might not be the real Mindra. Can you show us the Lion dance?”

Of course, the real Mindra would not do the Lion Dance. And if this was the real Mindra under a domination that might even be enough to allow him to escape. Sadly, with the Web in the way, they could not see Mindra. But from inside they heard “I’ll show you the Lion Dance!” And then in a sing song voice “Have you ever seen a monkey dance/Have you ever seen him caper and prance.”.

Bansho Kishu as group just stared for a moment before someone said “Ok, that’s NOT Mindra…”

Even so, the Vanara escaped the Web easily and tried to escape. The two centaur guards in the web were freed by Hawk. Angry as the guards were, Hawk ordered them to stand down and reluctantly they did. They were clearly spoiling for a fight though.

The battle against the fake Mindra was more of a chase. An attempt at summoning a Dire Ape was Dismissed. Mir then Volar fixed the monkey with dimensional anchors while he tried to dispel his way free. Tough as the monkey was, there was simply to much magic holding him in place and he was no match for Kaz, Toshiro and Verick. The monkey was savagely cut down in the street.

As the Vanara lay there dead, one of the people watching said in surprise “They killed Mindra...”

 

[Black Omega]

Mir immediately went to work letting people know the dead Vanara was not really Mindra. But the chaos of the situation simply grew. Thunderguards charged onto the scene, katanas out and ready, surrounding the Centaurs. The two towering Centaur guards were ready to draw their swords and charge, but Hawk quickly got in the way and convinced them to stand down again, but they were clearly spoiling for a fight.

Mir’s test of the Vanara’s corpse revealed it was tainted. One of the few things that would prevent Volar from looting it. A little surprisingly, however, the centaur guards also showed up as tainted. Which might partially explain their extremely short tempers. The Centaurs were escorted under escort to the Temple complex and shut away individually in rooms to be tested and observed. Though there was little hope.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the Centaur Nation, one of the Warrior Vanara had a message for Mindra. In that harsh, snarling voice he stated “Can you contact your friends? Misura has not returned. If he doesn’t return…or is not returned...we will kill you. Slowly. If you cannot contact your friends, then prepare yourself for death. If you can…then you WANT to contact your friends.”

Emphasis came a few hours later when the Warrior Vanara demanded Mindra stick his arm out through the bars of his window. Monkey shrieks and the sounds of bones breaking lasted several minutes as the arm was mangled. And then the massive ape snarled again “In the morning, we’ll talk again. You’d better have something to tell us. Or hope Misura returns.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was sheer good fortune Bansho Kishu was scrying on Mindra at this point. An earlier sending to Mindra had failed thanks to the anti-magic field. But with Mindra’s arm outside the field, the scrying found him, centering in on the Vanara. Hawk was able to recognize the area. Mir was able to describe the area well enough for Volar to attempt a teleport.

Earlier plans had involved trying to sneak back with someone impersonating Misura. Or trying to find a spot around the fort to sneak in a teleport. But the plans were not popular. To great a chance of being caught. Too great a chance of massive violence and most in Bansho Kishu doubted their ability to overcome the Centaur Nation to rescue Mindra, especially since Mindra was the group’s healer.

But the idea of a quick snatch and grab aimed at the prison holding Mindra was considered to have a greater chance of success. As fast as possible and if it bogged down, Volar would simply teleport them out again. It was a simple plan but to the point. They had seen one guard on the Vanara, the samurai could handle him. Hawk was willing to lend his axe to Toshiro for chopping through the wall. Something Toshiro was thankful for. He knew his ancestral katana of truth and honor would be even more angry with him if he used it to cut wood again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mindra was awakened from a pained sleep in the early morning hours by a knock at his barred window. The centaur who waited there was older, his face lined with wrinkles and deeply tanned.

“Mindra? Are you ok? Of course not…but come to the window quickly. I don’t have much time. The Warrior Vanara guards are tough, but not very bright. Even so, I’d best not push my luck. Things are getting worse around here. If you can pass along a message to Hawk, I would appreciate it. Let him know NOT to return here anytime soon. It’s grown too dangerous. He should stay where he is, gain power and allies. I fear if he returns here he’ll simply be killed.”

Mindra agreed to carry the message but had his own concerns. “I’m not sure I’ll get the chance to pass your message along…”

“That brings me to my other point. I can try to get a message to your friends, if you wish. A…well, unless they have great magic to bring you back, maybe any last words or what you wish done with your things. If you trust me enough, you can even give me one of your fingers. I’ll try to get it to your friends so they can try to raise you. I can’t guarantee anything, though.” He warned.

Mindra nodded and after some careful thought he sliced off a section of his tail to offer to the wizened centaur. “Hopefully I’ll get the chance to pass the message along myself, though.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Centaur advisor was not long gone when Volar, Verick, Kaz and Toshiro appeared. Volar immediately acted to cut off the area from the rest of the city with stonewalls. Kaz wounded the hulking Warrior Vanara guard, but it was Verick’s blindingly fast series of perfect strikes that killed the creature in seconds. Toshiro set to work chopping through the wall with Hawk’s axe, wood chips flying.

Though the walls were noticed quickly, they did serve to cut off the rest of the city from the area and few centaur were up at this hour. Mindra’s cell door was yanked open, however, an alert Warrior Vanara rushing into the room to try and grab the monkey. Mindra was ready for this, though. His magic wasn’t working but he had some non-magical tricks left over. A smoke bomb taken from a ninja months ago filled the cell with thick, acrid smoke that cut off most sight. Even so, Mindra was luck to slip past the massive ape. If he had been pinned, he likely would have died.

The wall was just starting to give way to Toshiro’s chopping when Mindra appeared next to the group. Well, a Mindra who was missing part of his tail. Verick stopped his strike just short of the Vanara’s neck and growled “Better prove who you are, and quickly.”

Luckily, after the last time Mindra was impersonated they had worked out a system for preventing something like that from happening again. Volar was just being attacked through the bars and it sounded like other of the Warrior Vanara were on the roof of the house, jumping toward them when Mindra completed his ‘proof’, the code and countersign given. Volar focused past the pain to complete the spell and the group vanished, appearing back at the Bansho Kishu estates just as Warrior Vanara leaped down into the area.

As soon as they were back, Mindra swore he was never going back to the Centaur Nation again. He’d been captured far more often than he was happy with and it –wasn’t- happening again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With Mindra back, life more or less returned to normal. Mindra wasn’t returning to work in the city, so he was settling for doing the woodworking that needed to be done around the estate and meditating on his pearl now and then. He had a very specific idea in mind, he was going to look for Go Go twice a week until he finally found her.

Toshiro’s reputation remained the same. Many samurai were stiffly polite to him. Commoners were fearful whenever he swaggered by. However, Toshiro’s new assistant’s help was a little overboard even for him. When they came upon a crowded street, Kuma stepped toward and shouted out “Bow down! Bow down! Lord Toshiro is coming through!”

Later Toshiro made a point to meet with Kuma and start explaining things. “We need a lower profile. I don’t want people to always know I’m coming. DON’T do that again.”

Kuma thought this over “Then, we should walk along quietly? Oh! Then we walk up on someone, he didn’t see you coming in time and down’s bow fast enough, and we kill him as a warning for people to always be watching for you?”

Toshiro shook his head “No, nothing like that. Look, don’t ask questions. This is just how it is going to be.”

Kuma sighed and bowed deeply “I understand. Well, I don’t really understand but it’s not needed. I follow your orders, Lord Toshiro.”

Toshiro suspected there was still more trouble to come of this, though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaz heard word back from the torturer. He’d found who had hired the thugs to attack Kaz recently. An opium dealer in the area named Hanzo. Kaz put out word to find the drug dealer and then waited. When word came in the next day he led ten of his Thunderguards over to the building. A sake house with unlicensed gambling in back. Kicking the door in, Kaz charged in, his katana drawn and ready. “Hold it right there, Hanzo! You are under arrest!”

The opium dealer shouted “A 1,000 koku to the man who kills that fool!” and three of his bodyguards leapt forward to try and claim the award. While a fourth took advantage of the confusion to try and slip to the side and out the front door of the sake house.

Kaz simply charged past the bodyguards, however. He was willing to take a few hits in order to corner the man he was after. The Thunderguards trailing him took care of the bodyguards. And from the from came Kaz’s chief assistant, Kato, with the other bodyguard in hand as well. The prisoners were sent on to the Torturer so they could gain information on the local networks. And Kaz returned back to the estate, satisfied with a job well done.

At the Bansho Kishu estates, one of the guards had news for him, however. ‘The kid you asked me to look after and help with his training? There’s been a slight problem…”

 

[Black Omega]

“I’ve been keeping an eye on the boy as you asked, Kaz-sama.” The guard explained. “Last night he was late showing up to guard duty, so I went to look for him. I found he had climbed up a tree. Near Mir’s tree house. I have no doubt he was trying to peek in. Probably luck for him I found him and not Mir.” The guard said with only a faint smile.

Kaz nods, less good naturedly about it “I’ll speak to him.”

When the kid was brought to him, Kaz was doing his best to look stern and reproving. “Kid, I’m not going to punish you, -this- time. But I want you to know I’m pretty angry with you. I don’t blame you for peeping on Mir. But you neglected your duty and that’s something no true samurai ever does. I know I carouse a lot. I drink a lot. But when it’s time for duty, I’m always right there. Duty comes first. Always. If you want to stay around here, you’ll have to understand that.”

The young ronin nodded seriously to everything Kaz said. He had so dreaded all the things Kaz might do to punish him, it was a great relief he was not being sent away or anything equally dire his imagination had come up with. When Kaz offered to show him around Ryoko Owari a little, to the sake houses it would be safe enough for the kid to visit, he was even happier. The kid knew he’d never been the carouser or ladies man Kaz was, but he was determined to overcome his weakness in these areas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the 15th Day of the Tiger Verick invited Bayushi Sakura to the Celebration of Akodo at the Lion estates. As a Scorpion, she probably would have been stopped at the gate. Arriving as an Emerald Magistrate was a different matter, however. After a fashion it was simply proof Verick was coming to terms with being married off to a Scorpion. His sensei was pleased.

The end of 1158 brought the usual ceremonies. The temples and homes were cleaned out. Straw ropes were put out to catch the evil spirits of the old year. The New Year brought ceremonies to ask ancestors, fortunes and Kami to bless the New Year. Traditionally, the Emperor was cloistered during this period, communing with the Sun God to ask for good fortune on the Empire. The lack of an Emperor prevented that this year, surely a bad sign.

Parades and fireworks celebrated the New Year all through the day. But volar had darker things on his mind. He was concerned about Bugaisha. He had heard from Chen that the merchants in the area were not allowing his students to help with odd jobs like the merchants had allowed in the past. Clearly something had changed to cause this.

At the same time he had presented some very pointed questions to the people trying to hire him for this job. Why did they trust him? Because they were paying in gold, a reasonable answer for criminals. Why did they think he could do this? They knew many magic used could do this. And they had seen Volar disappear from battles before, as when the group teleported out of the Crab Caves.

Before he would give his final agreement to this job, Volar decided to consult with Toshiro, Kaz and Lord Jyaku. It was a difficult situation. The job could be smuggling, an assassination, helping someone escape, some trade deal trying to go around the normal rules about contact with gaijin, there were just too many options.

Volar felt it was a trap for him. Verick somehow felt it might be a trap for him. Kaz and Toshiro leaned toward it being a plot against Shinjo Yuji. Finally Volar agreed to act as bait, so to speak, and teleport the man to Bugaisha. But not before much planning was done. Volar would only meet the man through his rat familiar, not in person. Mindra and the others would be under an invisibility sphere as they followed him to Bugaisha. True Sight was cast on Mindra and Verick, the one’s considered most likely to be able to follow Volar’s passenger wherever his mission was taking him.

Volar’s passanger turned out to be a rather pleasant looking, portly man. He had the look of a prosperous merchant rather than a smuggler. The gold was paid for the first step of the teleport and in an instant the scene shifted to Bugaisha, to a secluded spot the teleport would not be noticed.

The portly, pleasant fellow bowed “Thanks. I’ll be back in an hour. If I’m not, don’t wait on me.” Then he set off down the street. Invisibly the others followed, except for Volar was staying back at the teleport spot. He was taking no chances that this might be seen as a set up by him.

For once, Mindra and Verick struggled to keep up with the chubby merchant. As the man went through the crowd he shifted from form to form flawlessly. Only Toshiro’s luck and Kaz’s alertness kept them on the man’s trail. Until he sucked into an alley by a merchant house. Verick leading the way, they followed back there. Verick at the corner, watching as the man’s disguise melted away to reveal a lean figure with a short, neat beard, longer hair and intense eyes. He removed carefully wrapped weapons from his Haversack, katana, daggers, shuriken, a bladed gauntlet, and goggles for his eyes.

Then the back door of the merchant house was kicked in and the black garbed figure charged in. Verick used his own magic item to shift his appearance to a gray ninja and snuck over to peek in, watching as the assassin cut through several Broken Mirror ronin without any trouble, liberal use of poison making his job easier. Kaz decided to hang back. He had not really gotten any type of disguise for this. Mindra was relying upon his amulet that let him look Rokugani.

Toshiro had been giving a headband of change by a mysterious admirer or friend. He never got any details beyond it was a fat merchant. He used this to make himself look like a ronin and he went around to the front of the shop. The merchant house was new but the saleman was very skilled. “And here’s the weapons. Oh you want back hear at the back, where our armor is? Well, this would suit you perfectly. And this would be good for more ornate armor, for those times you need to look good for a client.” The salesman was so good, Toshiro almost forgot about the battle in the back until thtree blood, nearly dead Broken Mirror ronin ran out from the back, fleeing out into the street. As the salesman went to summon the guard, Toshiro charged into the back, changing into a Broken Mirror ronin.

Verick had followed the man up the stairs, losing track of him for a moment before he found the right room. Listening, he heard “You picked the wrong people to steal 50,000 koku from, Sanzo. Trying to run to Bugaisha was not a bad idea. But even here you are not safe. Make peace with your ancestors and….”

The assassin’s spiel was cut off by Verick’s sudden entrance. “My contract supercedes yours.” He told the assassin.

“Back off, you’ll only get hurt.” The assassin replied before stepping toward the merchant. Verick charged in, though, a fast slice of his sword wounding the assassin slightly. A feint put him off guard though and the assassin did even more damage in return. From down the hallway came the yell of Toshiro finding the caltrops left on the stairs.
The merchant shouted out “15,000 koku if you kill him!” to Verick, then as Toshiro ran into the room under the guide of a Broken Mirror ronin, he hid behind Toshiro and promised “10,000 koku if you kill both of them!”

Verick and Toshiro both angled in to try and cut off the assassin but he tumbled out of reach. Realizing he would never beat the two of them, he got a running start to flip forward past the two men and over to the merchant. A poisoned dagger put an end to the man and then the assassin fled for his life, disappearing onto the first floor as they group failed to pursue. Instead, then regrouped, then teleported back to Volar.

They could very likely have killed the assassin when he returned. But by that point there would be no doubt Volar set the man up. Wanting to avoid that, the others returned home with Mindra and Volar teleported the assassin back to Ryoko Owari, receiving the rest of his payment and leaving it at that. Though Volar was less than pleased. He’s been the transported for an illegal act once now. He knew another offer would come along and he wasn’t looking forward to it at all.

 

[Black Omega]

In the aftermath of the battle with the assassin the group kept their ears open for anything that might have something to do with that trip. And soon enough they heard news. A foolish opium dealer had stolen money from the Scorpion clan. He’d made a good try of escaping, getting as far as Bugaisha before Jinshi, a local Ryoko Owari assassin had caught up with him and killed him.

In Kaz’s area things were barely holding even in the battle against the drug dealers. The torturer had gotten enough information from the bodyguards to close down one network. But there were always more ready to move into the vacuum. He also had a meeting with Bayushi Sakura, who seemed a little quizzical. Though it was hard to tell with her mask in the way. “Is Toshiro ok?” she asked. “I’ve heard so many stories about how brave, fearless and unstoppable he is in combat. Then I compare the stories to what is happening in Ryoko Owari. Toshiro being more courtly. And cruel. Standing back in battle and letting others fight for him. Are you sure he’s not been replaced by a minion of the Lying Darkness or something?”

Kaz just shook his head “I’m sure. Don’t ask how. But we’re sure he’s really Toshiro.” Kaz’s no nonsense approach deflected more questions from Sakura and finally she settled for a bow and wishing the Crab samurai a pleasant day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Great Boar hunt came with the coming of Spring. Hunters from every significant clan in Ryoko Owari were on hand to claim to glory of the first kill. Bansho Kishu even had two entrants. Toshiro, who was receiving the help of Hawk. And Verick. In past years the great hunt had usually only taken a day. But this year it was only on the second day of the hunt that a boar was caught. Two in fact. One by Bayushi Watanabe, to whose family fell the glory and extra hunting rights that went with the first kill. And Toshiro, who returned only 15 minutes later. Still, but was a bad omen for the coming year that the Boar hunt had taken so long.

Except to Mir, who had spent quite a bit of time using her woodland skills to try and get as many of the boars out of the area as she could. Mir had a serious problem with sport hunting and considered this the fastest, most reliable way of trying to deal with it. She knew no one would listen if she simply suggested they not do the hunt this year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally the time came for Verick’s war games at the Akodo Estates. A lot of work had gone into making changes at the estates. Verick, as well as Mindra Hawk and Toshiro watching from the side, could not miss the fact the lay out of the Akodo estates now more closely resembled the layout of the Bansho Kishu estates. The war games were set to last two days with Verick’s side set as the attacker. The first day’s attacks did not go well. Though an ‘explosion’ of magic took out the gate, the main attack there failed against determined resistance. Evidently the gate had been targeted as a weak point by the defenders as well. The second day went a little better and by the time the day was done the attacker s had captured half the estate, but not all their objectives. It was a defeat for Verick but he had hardly been embarrassed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During the battle some strange came up, though. On the morning of the second day there had been a loud knock at the gates. By the time the guards got out there, no one was around but there –was- a present left. Of sorts. It was a cage with songbirds, and a note. Mir went to investigate and found they were a matched set of songbirds from the High Forest. The note read: “A little present to someone I know would appreciate them. You can keep them or release them into the grove, whatever you wish.”

Magical investigations revealed the birds were exactly what they seemed to be. Songbirds. Not harpies polymorphed as someone had suggested. Casting Talk to Animals, Mir found they were originally from a forest, had been caught there and at one point apparently teleported before being kept safe for several days before being left outside the estate. Mir added the creatures to her animal companions but remained deeply suspicious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Hawk came a dire Sending. “Come home as quickly as you can. The Rokugani attacked us. Many dead, including royal advisor. Contact and trade with the empire is terminated. Lionheart.”

Hawk only took a second to think about it before he sent back “You are dead.” And left it at that, allowing the connection to die. He was NOT in a good mood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day was a New Years celebration at the Governor’s Mansion. As is traditional for Rokugan, birthdays are celebrated with the start of the New Year. Gifts were given to each of Bansho Kishu and pleasant conversation exchanged.

There was more going on beneath the surface than simply a celebration, however. For a few months there had been a growing shortage of rice in the city. And Lord Jyaku had decided he had exhausted every chance of solving it without getting more ruthless. Many in the city called the Unicorns and even more Bansho Kishu ‘barbarians’. He had decided he would give them barbarians.

The mission was simple. Lead wagons to a Scorpion warehouse and requisition the rice. Lord Jyaku had no intention of letting the situation grow worse in the city and Bansho Kishu did have a certain reputation that inspired fear. And made such a mission easier. Presented with a Governor’s order and a draft for the cash to pay a fair price for the food being seized, Bansho Kishu was armed with authority only the Imperial Chancellor could override.

For their own reasons, Volar and Verick went along disguised and mostly stayed back in the shadows unless they were needed. The actual confiscation of the rice went smoothly. The peasant guards were unresisting even before they were frozen in place then charmed. Though the fact guards were put on rice was good indication of just how serious the rice shortage was...or was expected to grow. It was over an hour before the rice merchant’s samurai master was on the scene.

Bayushi Watanabe was dressed in plain, non-descript samurai great armor, as were his guards. His mask was something made from black metal that covered the upper part of his face, even hiding his eyes. “Toshiro-san! You are taking my property.” He called out.

Toshiro shook his head “All perfectly legal. We have orders.” Toshiro snapped his fingers and Mir came out with the orders bearing the governors seal.

Bayushi Watanabe was silent a moment, perhaps lifting an eyebrow if such a expression could be seen. “Clearly the rumors are true, your relationship with Mir has changed, Toshiro-san.

The Scorpion samurai didn’t attack, but clearly he was unhappy. And plotting his next step. Something Bansho Kishu expected. They were planning to lay low for a while after this. Lord Jyaku had said as long as things stayed peaceful, the trouble this stirred up would likely blow over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But not everyone in the group was pleased. Volar wondered aloud “Has Lord Jyaku been changing?” Kaz and Toshiro reluctantly agreed he seemed more ruthless. Mir was quick to defend her Lord but Volar was equally fast in emphasizing it was only a question. But still, the reputation Bansho Kishu had cultivated was one of fear and that was clearly what Lord Jyaku had been using to help the mission.

 

[Black Omega]

Hawk met with the scorpion merchant who had given him the expensive kimono. The merchant was eager to go ahead with his trading plans but Hawk had bad news.

“Things have changed in the Centaur Nation.” Hawk explained “The King is tainted, the commander of the Royal Guard is even more tainted. Crazy monkeys are running around. And they have cut off all contact with the empire, including trade. I’m an exile now…”

The merchant seemed to give this a moment’s thought then nodded “You have no power there at all now?” he asked.

“No, none.” Hawk answered simply.

“Well, nothing to be done about it then. I wish you the best of luck.” The merchant said, slapping Hawk on the shoulder and barely restraining a laugh. ‘I’ll be sending a itemized bill around to the estate for services rendered. Since you can’t repay in favors or anything else. Gold will have to do.”

And just that fast the merchant was walking away.

The bill delivered later was for 20,000 koku. Not something the centaur could pay off easily.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 20th day of the Hare. There are reports of an attack on Otosan Uchi by a Shadowlands Horde. Details are unclear, but somehow the Shadowlands Horde has gone around the Crab clan and attacked the city directly from the sea. The Imperial Legions under Toturi Tsudao and the armies of the Lion clan are marching in to counter attack while Hantei Naseru and the Emerald Champion (Toshiro’s Crane friend) lead the defense.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Ryoko Owari, Toshiro’s wife O-Hisa also had exciting news, though not the news he’d been hoping to hear from her.

“I’m being sent back to Bugaisha!” she said happily “Not the most exciting of missions but with the chance for some very satisfying bone crushing at the end. A Ide party set off from Bugaisha and someplace between there and the Ide border they were turned into undead killing machines. They killed the border patrol, then went on to nearly wipe out a village before they were stopped. So now a force of Moto have been assigned to Bugaisha, since Shinjo Yuji had proven incapable of protecting the are properly. Or so the Moto claimed. Dad said I’m more forceful than Yuji, so I’m going to help out! It should be really exciting.”

Toshiro wasn’t so sure. O-Hisa had gotten into trouble before with the Bloodspeakers. He liked the idea of trying to go to Bugaisha with her but he was needed in Ryoko Owari.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Verick had a surprise of his own. Matsu Shorisuro, from the Topaz Championship, had been sent to the Akodo Estates with news. The last time Verick had seen Shorisuro, he had withdrawn from a match and allowed the Matsu to advance and become a samurai. Shorisuro did not have good news. The Bloodspeakers had apparently struck again. During a patrol along the border between the Ikoma lands and the Unicorn, he and his men have stayed over in a village. He had awakened to utter darkness, a darkness so deep it had seemed to be consuming him. He had drawn his katana and rushed deeper into the darkness, trying to find someone to fight, but he had ended up stumbling out of the darkness, nearly dead. Instead of charging back into the darkness, he had escaped back to warn the local commander what was going on. With the Lion armies marching to Otosan Uchi to repel the Shadowlands assault there, the Bloodspeakers seemed to be taking full advantage. When reinforcements got to the village everyone was already gone, nothing left but splashes of blood over the ground and along the walls. This had happened to two villages.

Verick was taken off guard by the plan the Akodo had for dealing with this. “You understand, most of our armies are on their way to Otosan Uchi now.” Akodo Jusho explained “so when the topic of what to do about taint ridden maho-tsukai came up, your name floated right to the top. You have the jade katana, after all. And have experience dealing with Bloodspeakers. And if some of your Bansho Kishu friends like Toshiro and Kaz happen to come along, so much the better. And if Toshiro cares to bring along one of his monkey’s, and it happens to cast spells. And talk. I suppose that’s fine as well.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lord Jyaku was in agreement on this as well. After the confrontation with the Scorpion, it didn’t seem like a bad thing for Bansho Kishu to be out of town for a while. And this was a chance to do so while increasing the group’s reputation and striking a blow against the Bloodspeakers. Lord Jyaku still regretted he had not been able to smash them completely at the battle of Kuzo. Any chance to strike a blow against them was worth it to him. He did let Mir know that the Moto had gone to Bugaisha and she might wish to contact her followers at the grove. A jade magistrate had also started to look into Volar’s school. He had asked Lord Jyaku about it before ever setting out and with the Bloodspeaker attack, Lord Jyaku had thanks the magistrate for his due diligence in going after the enemies of the empire. If later he found time to check out the school, then that was perfectly acceptable and the magistrate would receive full cooperation from the Shinjo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group took a day to prepare for their trip. Kaz and Toshiro made sure things were in order in their areas. Volar contacted his school and made sure things would all be above board when the Jade Magistrate finally did visit. Mir went to her grove to let her followers know what was going on, as well as meeting with Moto Kiyomasu again. The fierce warrior was in charge of the Moto in the area and was determined to crush the Bloodspeakers wherever they were found. Though he assured Mir that he knew a little of the Oak Father and knew she had nothing to do with the Bloodspeakers. The Oak Father had never been a friend to the undead. Her attempts to make him back off of Shnjo Yuji were only partially successful, however. Kiyomasu had his orders.

 

[Toshiro]

My Story, by Toshiro

This is my first time posting to a storyline. I have been reading the tales about us but never had signed up. I decided to sign up today and explain my character's actions.

My char. is a crab who was never allowed to go to the wall and fight as my brothers are doing. I was sent at my mother's request up north. My mother wanted to make sure at least one of her sons lived. Fighting on the wall is dangerous and deadly.

I was never prepared to socialize or to sense motives of others. So, here I am in a city where everything is never what it seems. I feel like a fish in a barrel with arrows coming my way anytime.

So no wonder I am always doing the wrong thing. I would perfer being on the road away from the cities and the lies. But, I have been sent here and I will do my best. I became leader of this group by default. I never intended to be the leader. I perfer others to do the leading. I love just to fight.

I know some of my actions seem like a coward, the Black Snake fiascal. I never planned on running away, I was trying to get back to the group and help them and let them know where I was. I thought I could go thru the merchants place and around the wall. Unfortunately, it had a wall where I planned on going. Things like that seem to happen to me, no matter what I plan it seems to go wrong.

Toshiro

Post Script---
Now as a player talking, I had hoped one of the other players in our group would be the leader. Several of them have the knack of seeing or knowing what the GM has in store for us. As a player I am terrible in this area. But it is great for the GM, he can lead me just about where he wants me to go. I think that is why he made me the leader. Many times I see him across the table just grinning and smiling as I go thru all kinds of pain to try and stay out of trouble. He always has a way of twisting it so. But that is what makes this campaign so fun. I will say he keeps all of us on our toes.

The night when we were fighting the Blak Snakes we had sat around discussing all the groups or individuals giving us trouble and all the things we need to do. We all had a hard time trying to decide who to go after first. The Black Snakes got it because they were close by. We would not need to travel any distance to take care of them.

The GM has so many things going on around us I don't know how he keeps track of the events and the different chars. we deal with. I will say he keeps my attention and desire to keep playing.