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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Black Omega" data-source="post: 1190343" data-attributes="member: 79">Time passes and news filters in from the rest of the empire.  No one in the group mourns the death of Yoritomo Aramasu, the Mantis Clan Champion who had betrayed his alliance with the Crab Clan.  His death in Otosan Uchi is a bit mysterious but it’s widely rumored the Scorpion Clan was involved.Moto Gaheris, Lord and Champion of the Unicorn Clan, dies peacefully in his sleep after being wounded killing his final ogre.  He was at least eighty years old.  He is succeeded by his ambitious nephew, Moto Chagatai.In the disputed Yasuki lands the situation has stabilized a little bit with the arrival of Akodo Kaneka and a Lion army, claiming the lands for himself.  With Crane forces busy capturing Toshi Ronbo from the Lion, there is little there to oppose the bastard son of the Emperor and the Crane are forced to withdraw, though not before the daimyo of the Kakita falls in a duel with Kaneka.The group is busy as well.  At the Dead Rat Volar had seen some special rats that caught his attention, rats that seemed to have an elemental aspect to them.  Tracking down the source of these rats, he started to order some for himself, mostly earth rats.Kaz spent the next month working on his area and his Thunderguards, whipping them into shape and expelling all the one’s who were turning out not to be honest.Mir engaged in courtly activities while Mindra continued to work as a carpenter.  The spirit found him again a few days later but was bothering him less, mostly watching and occasionally offering advice.Verick continued dating Baysuko Sakura, while exchanging letters with Isawa Oroko.  And the young Lion received a note from the ronin he had spared in the final battle with the Black Wave. I’m sorry our last duel was cut short.  My thanks for sparing my life.  I plan to leave the city for the next several months for training.  When I return, I hope we can have a more formal duel and work out once and for all who is better.  Kengo.Toshiro?  He was allowed to enjoy his honeymoon for the next month before duty called again.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In this case, duty was a pretty simple mission.  Bandits had been attacking tax shipments being sent back to Unicorn lands.   Bansho Kishu was to put an end to it.  It was a very straight forward mission that led to a battle against Hordeland looking  barbarians, a couple healers using the symbol of Cyric and a halforc looking wizard.  The group won the fight and a Volar anti-magic field revealed the halforc to really be a hooded and cloaked figure, who escaped with a teleport.A brief investigation revealed the Hordelanders were really former Moto, now turned ronin.  Then the group moved on to the pass through the mountains where the second army of the Unicorn stood guard, the drop off point for the taxes.A brief meeting with Lord Shinjo Shono left Toshiro with a special charm he could use to communicate to the Shinjo if he ever felt Lord Jyaku was being taken over by Scorpion influence or otherwise planning to betray the Unicorn clan.On the ride back to Ryoko Owari, the group ran into Miya Shoin and another diverse group of samurai on a mission of their own, helping the less experienced heros against the thugs who attacked them.Back in Ryoko Owari, Volar heard back from a offer he had made to the Scorpion.  Baysuhi Ogura met with him to let him know the Scorpion clan would send a student to be trained at Volar’s school.Kaz found someone was following him around.  It turned out to be a young ronin who admired the tough Crab Samurai was trying to model himself after Kaz in every way.  Kaz wasn’t exactly thrilled and he smacked the boy around more than once when he found the young ronin literally imitating his gestures.  But he also agreed to train the boy and show him how to be a samurai.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The group was also called out to aid with training maneuvers being conducted by Lord Jyaku.  That this took place about the time a Red Wizard and escorts was passing through was hardly a coincidence.  This was the same Red Wizard the group had killed many months ago.  This time his mission was a little difference.  He, his yojimbo, a cleric of some obscure fire kami the Rokugani had never heard of, and other guards were on their way to the Crab lands to deal with what sounded like a vampire problem.The Crab were used to dealing with the undead of the Shadowlands.  A vampire, immune to jade and the other normal tactics used against undead, was presenting a much more difficult problem for them and in view of the friendship between the Unicorn and the Crab, the Red Wizards had volunteered to help.  The group’s old acquaintance, Utaku Shiko, was send along to help guard the journey to Crab lands.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~After hearing the news about the vampire, Mindra’s friendly spirit whispered to him “That sounds really exciting, skipper!  Tell me more about vampires?  What are they like?  What can they do?”Mindra only wanted the spirit to leave him alone, so when the spirit volunteered to go look into vampires itself, Mindra gave it permission to go away.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Mir was granted a vision from the Oak Father, a grove deep in Shinomen forest.  Lost to time and all human memory.  A holy place still used by the Naga and now defiled by the foul Tsuno.  Mir knew exactly what direction the grove lay in.  Not enough information to tell someone how to teleport there.  But she knew the way.Getting permission for the trip from Lord Jyaku was not difficult.  He had agreed long ago to allow her certain latitude when it came to her god and his demands.  The rest of the group took little convincing as well.  Whether it was Volar and a chance for adventure or the samurai and the chance to kill Tsuno.It was a two week trip down to Shinomen forest, passing mostly through Scorpion lands.  At the last village before the forest, they were warned repeatedly about the wicked spirits and ghosts that haunted the forest and how dangerous it was in there.  But Bansho Kishu not be dissuaded.  After making arrangements for the villagers to look after Verick’s Pegasus, the group ventured into the darkness of the ancient Shinomen forest.</blockquote>

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