Arc 2, Session 10, L5R

 October 6th, 1118

Representatives from the various clans arriving in Otosan Uchi is an everyday occurrence. For some, this has become routine- but for most, being summoned there is an event forever marked in their memory. So, it has come to pass that our four heroes have made travels large & small to answer the call.

They each arrived via different means & at different times. After showing the Imperial Seal on their letters, the samurai were given spacious rooms for the duration of their stay. Not in the palace, of course, but near enough.

When October 6th arrived, the four of them found themselves reunited at the gates to the palace grounds. A guide led them to a small sitting area in a beautifully-tended garden to wait. Despite some initial awkwardness, they each reintroduced themselves & spoke some. Comparisons showed that the letters each had received were near identical.

In the middle of the light discussion, a falcon tore by overhead, coming to a screeching halt in a nearby tree. Before the group could decide how to react to this, rapid footsteps approached from deeper into the garden. A young boy, no older than 11, stopped short at the sight of them. With a brash tone, he immediately ordered Yudai, “the giant”, to fetch the bird.

Rather than risk offending a child of some Imperial courtier, Yudai easily fetched the falcon down. The boy thrust out a gloved hand to reclaim his companion. With the jesses securely in his palm, he asked who the group was. At the mention of their commendation, he wanted to know what service they had performed.

Yudai gave an extremely clipped & dry response, which Megumi expanded upon. Seeing the young boy’s boredom, Hayata focused on the fight with the bandits in the hidden cave. The boy became rapt at this tale, showing a…fascination with how each bandit was dispatched. When the story was done, he nodded in satisfaction. He turned to leave, before remembering some manners: he thanked Yudai for catching the falcon, & moved on elsewhere.

A few moments later, a Crane courtier approached them with two Yojimbo. The man bowed low, & introduced himself as Kakita Yoshi. He was here to hear their tale & offer their commendations over a meal. He gave his guards the cue to leave, & led the group to a sitting room bordering the garden.

The lunch brought to them was exquisite, likely the best quality ingredients they had encountered thus far. (Though not the best seasoning, it must be said.) Yoshi was a warm & comfortable host. Sincerity was clear in his voice as he thanked each samurai for their efforts for the Emerald Empire. When the meal winded down, he confessed that Otomo Sorai had been quite close-lipped about what the group had done, & asked for the tale.

Between the four of them, the events were recounted- for the most part. Yoshi bowed low to the party. To each member, he handed a small box: nestled within were small pieces of jade, carved into the shape of the Imperial Chrysanthemum. After receiving these, both Megumi & Kiyuki offered him gifts in return for his patronage.

Yoshi politely refused the requisite number of times before accepting them. Ide Uidori has given Megumi some exotic incense to present, while Kiyuki’s gift was a small, bound book. The contents were a collection of obscure poetry regarding an ancient alliance between the Scorpion & the Crane. Alongside this, Kiyuki had transcribed the poems anew in a modern fashion. The Chancellor was clearly awed by the thought & care that went into the book, & expressed so graciously.

Pleasantries slowed afterwards, & soon Yoshi began escorting the group back to the palace gates. As they crossed the garden, they spotted the young boy across a pond, attempting to give orders to his falcon. Yoshi revealed that the boy was Hantei Sotori: son & heir to the Emperor.

Stunned into silence, the group came to the gates. The Crane expressed his pleasure at the afternoon’s company, & wished to give them one more gift of his own. Reaching into his robes, he handed over four blank pages, marked with his personal seal. If they had need of it, the samurai could send a letter directly to him on these. With that, he bid them farewell.

Hayata was the only member of the party with experience in Otosan Uchi, so he showed his allies some of the choicer sights for the rest of the day. When evening fell, they each returned to their rooms- only to find servants in Imperial garb waiting. Stating they were not bid to say more, the servants led the four to a nearby conference room.

Unsurprisingly, Otomo Sorai sat within. He granted the group leave to sit, before having a servant fill just one of the five teacups set before him. The spymaster spent some time waxing on sarcastically, waiting until our heroes’ eyelids were dropping before getting to the point.

You see, he had been…most grateful for their assistance at the wedding. And it had been quite kind of him to formally commend them for it in turn. So, assuredly, these loyal samurai would be eager to do him one more favor… In a flippant tone, he produced a letter, bound with his own wax seal. His niece, you see, had been sent off to survey the nearby area.

Otomo Kuni would send in reports every few days, but these had stopped arriving within the past week. As the concerned uncle he was, Sorai wanted the group to check in on her, ensure she was alright, that sort of thing. Finally, it was most important that they make certain that she read this letter’s contents before them.

Some light questioning followed, primarily to narrow down where she may be found. Her assignment had been to investigate Mori Springs, in the nearby forest of Koden Mori. Only two villages bordered the forest, so she must be staying at one of them. Once the details had been meted out, Sorai dismissed the samurai to get their rest: he expected them to leave the next day.

 

October 7th, 1118

In the morning, Hayata led the group to Li Hao’s House of Bao, one of his favorite restaurants in the city. After a heavy meal & some light preparation, the group discussed their options. Twin Blessings Village bordered Koden Mori to the North-East. Of the two settlements, it was by far the larger. To the South of the forest was the smaller Nestled Village. Reasoning that they could search the smaller village quicker, they decided to aim there first.

 

October 10th, 1118

The travel to Nestled Village passed quickly in the clement autumn weather. A small number of heimin homes took up the bulk of the village’s layout, though it did contain a blacksmithery & an inn. Having seen them on the road, one of the villagers was waiting to greet the samurai.

The elderly woman introduced herself as Aoshi, the village chief. She answered a few questions, but couldn’t recall anyone by Otomo Kuni’s description. Her suggestion was to check with the innkeeper, who would have a log of noble visitors. It was clear from the state of the inn that Nestled Village didn’t experience much traffic. Still, a roof over one’s head is rarely a bad thing.

The owner of the inn was a burly man named Dajan. He eagerly produced the guestbook for the party to peruse. Their study revealed that there had been three samurai visitors of late: Tsuruchi Shiko of the Wasp, Kaikoga Tsuko of the Moth, & Otomo Kuni.

When the party asked after Kuni, the innkeeper’s discomfort was visibly apparent. He had the look of someone who knows they must deliver bad news, but is afraid of the possible response. With a resigned expression, he led the samurai upstairs to the guest rooms.

Inside one of the rooms, the Imperial record-keeper lay in bed. Her skin was wan & clammy, & her eyes were shut tight. Hayata had spent some time studying a bit of medicine since the wedding: he was able to assess that she was suffering from a severe fever, which seemed to have a supernatural element to it. Unfortunately, there was little he could to remedy this state.

Talking more with Dajan, our heroes learned that this fever had been afflicting many members of the village lately. At the moment, only himself, Aoshi, & two other villagers remained healthy. Most were laid up in the same state as Kuni, though a few had passed away. There was little more he could offer in the way of information on the subject.

The samurai booked rooms, reckoning that they needed to stay at least until Kuni was conscious once more. With plenty of daylight left, they decided to investigate Mori Springs a bit themselves.

Koden Mori was a forest of maple trees, whose autumn leaves were a vibrant red. Though there was no excess of underbrush, the woods seemed intimidatingly hard to navigate. A general lack of recognizable landmarks mixed with the similarities in plant-life to create a puzzling maze. Thankfully, there was a well-worn path that led directly to the springs.

As they began to hear the sound of the water, they came across an odd stone. Whether it was a natural occurrence or a statue, they could not say: most detail had been eroded over the centuries it stood watch. Mori Springs was a relatively large pool of water, heated by the wonders of nature. A small pathway of round rocks led to a wooden bridge that overlooked the bubbling surface. Lilies floated sporadically within, & the entire “shore” was covered in swaying reeds.

Nearby stood a small shrine, large enough for an attendant to live in. Sure enough, a monk was performing some upkeep nearby. He introduced himself as Teruo, & seemed happy to be getting “even more samurai visitors”. It seems that the springs had recently become known for their healing properties, attracting a small bit of attention.

Further discussion led him to mention that he had been stationed here only recently himself, at the behest of the governor of Twin Blessings Village, Reju no Otomo Nichi. With the likelihood of noble patrons, it seemed prudent to appoint someone at the springs full-time. Teruo did recall seeing Otomo Kuni briefly, & believed that she had not partaken of the springs directly herself. He did not appear to recognize the name of the Wasp, but had met the Moth a few times.

When they were satisfied for the moment, the party thanked him for his time & split up. Yudai & Hayata did a perimeter of the springs, while Megumi entered them. Atop the moss-covered rocks, Kiyuki performed a ritual to commune with the springs’ kami.

She was able to discern that no one had performed any shugenja invocations involving the water kami anytime lately. The spirits appreciated her offerings though, & warned her that the forest could “rearrange” itself in a confusing manner. They especially impressed that staying in the forest at night could be dangerous.

With this done, Kiyuki joined Megumi in the hot springs. Hayata examined the nearby standing stone a bit more intensely, while Yudai explored a bit further afield. A short while later, the three still by the springs heard a canine yelp from somewhere nearby, followed by some heavy thuds. Kiyuki & Megumi got dressed to join Hayata as he sought out Yudai.

The Crab was found roughly half an hour further into the woods, standing by some dead wolves. No match for his armor, let alone his tetsubo. The group made their way back to the standing stone, where Kiyuki sought for a sense of any supernatural elements within it. If there ever had been, they were long gone by now.

Reasoning that they had some time to wander before nightfall, the samurai explored a bit more of the area surrounding Mori Springs. When the sun began to sink towards the horizon, the party began heading South. Only a small distance from Nestled Village, they came across a young peasant girl humming to herself as she foraged.

Her face lit up when she saw the group, & she immediately bounded over to them. Introducing herself as Seiki, she asked if they were samurai. When that was confirmed, she gushed about how she had never gotten to see any before.

Seiki explained that she used to spend much of her time inside her house, but had been assisting with foraging the past few days. Yudai noticed that she wore a smooth, green rock on a necklace. When asked, Seiki declared that it was her lucky piece of jade. She winked as she said she likes to pretend it is, anyway. When Yudai showed her his own jade necklace, the excited child declared that this made them brother & sister.

Her mood showed that she clearly didn’t understand the societal divide she was dancing on- a fact our heroes chose to overlook, given her young age. With night fast approaching, they accompanied her back to the village.

At the inn, they found two people already taking dinner in the common room. One was easily recognizable as the Moth they knew was nearby, while the other was a young heimin woman. Kiyuki decided to join the Moth at her table. Her company was thoroughly enjoyed by Kaikoga Tsuko. Tsuko was quite closed off, a sharp contrast to how friendly Ochiai had been at the wedding in August. Though little was gleaned from the Moth’s words, Kiyuki noted that Tsuko did not bear her clan’s traditional sash across one of her eyes.

Megumi instead sat with the heimin. The young woman bowed awkwardly at her table, offering any of her food to the samurai. The Unicorn politely refused, & began conversation instead. The woman introduced herself as Mariko. Her home village’s herbalist was growing quite old. As a result, her parents had sent her to travel the area in a sort of apprenticeship to take over the position when she returned.

She had been passing through Nestled Village shortly after villagers had started catching fever. Though she hadn’t found a way to cure it, she felt she couldn’t leave while there were sick people to minister to. Dinner was soon finished thereafter. The party planned to head into the forest once more in the morning, once they had fully rested.

 

October 11th, 1118

Dawn showed no change in Kuni’s condition. When the samurai moved across the village, they saw Mariko moving between the houses to apply her skills, while another woman head into the forest from Seiki’s house. The party followed the path back to the standing stone: it may not be magic, but it worked just fine as a recognizable starting point for their exploration.

Nearby, they began to smell meat being cooked. The scent led them to a small group of 4 ronin around a campfire. There was a brief moment of hesitation on both sides, before the most garishly- dressed ronin stood & bowed. After introducing himself as Sutoraipu Torashi- a family name none of them had ever heard before- he welcomed them to join the ronin for breakfast. A tiger’s pelt hung from his shoulders like a cape, accentuating his rakish smile.

Though the rest remained standing, Megumi took a seat around the fire, quickly taking a spit for herself. The samurai interrogated the ronin slightly. Torashi explained that he & the other ronin were nearly done with gaining entrance into the Yotsu family: all that remained was to perform some sort of deed to help peasants in some way. They had heard tell of a “monster” lurking in Koden Mori, & decided to come for its head.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t had any success in finding it as of yet. It was clear his comrades were close to quitting, but Torashi seemed adamant in his pursuit. The groups parted on friendly terms, both agreeing to let the other know if they learned anything of the monster.

Our heroes came across several more wolves as they navigated the forest. It was quickly apparent that the water kami’s warnings to Kiyuki had been true, as even areas they knew they had visited the day prior looked vastly different. Sometime after noon, whistling could be heard coming from somewhere not too far away. Megumi tracked the sound to its source.

Sitting in a crook high in a maple tree was a strange man. He bore a monk’s shakujo, but also carried a jian at his waist. Atop his head was a headdress of black feathers. He greeted the samurai cheerily, if a bit overly familiarly. Getting a straight answer out of the man proved difficult, even his name: the one he provided, “Kuro-Hane”, was clearly a sobriquet.

Yudai lost interest in the conversation quickly once Kuro-Hane began slipping in a few insults in his responses. Kiyuki, aware the man was giving them a nickname, introduced herself as “Kaizoku”. Kuro-Hane expressed the oddity of encountering a “pirate” so far inland, but seemed to appreciate the fair play. When the party made to move on, he cryptically said that he would “see them again soon”.

It was a welcome relief to encounter more wolves shortly after. A tetsubo is a great way to work off some steam. The sun was just starting to sink in the sky, so they turned their path in the direction of the standing stone.

During one of their small breaks, an armored woman dropped from the trees overhead. She stood with her hand on the hilt of her sword, but with no weapons drawn. Holding up a “wanted” scroll, she asked through a full-face mask if the group had seen either of the ronin depicted. The pair, a man & a woman, were not familiar to anyone in the group. The woman made ready to leave without further conversation, but the group managed to engage her in some conversation.

As they had suspected, this was Tsuruchi Shiko, the Wasp bounty hunter. She had stayed briefly at the inn in Nestled Village, before moving to the forest: the better to hunt her prey. The two ronin she sought had resorted to banditry, & had a fair price on their heads. Her mask & clipped speech made it difficult to discern much about her feelings, but she wished the party well before parting ways.

Further searching brought them to the Eastern side of Mori Springs. They could faintly hear two voices in discussion through the brush, & moved closer to investigate. Teruo was leaning on a rake as he spoke with a tall samurai, whose back was facing them. Seeing nothing amiss, the party decided to simply cut across the clearing towards the path to the village.

It was when they rounded the pool that Teruo & the monk turned their way. The colors & mon on the samurai’s robes showed him to be a member of the Lion clan. His face appeared weary- until his eyes widened a second later.

“Megumi?”, he asked in a ragged voice. The Unicorn went as still as if she had been frozen in place. Her shoulders tensely rose in shock, before she slowly made her way forwards. It was clear to all present that these two had some sort of past together. Teruo, showing the wisdom attributed to his profession, decided this was a good time to continue cleaning elsewhere.

Whatever words Megumi exchanged with the man, the rest of the group could not overhear. When the Lion stormed off in the direction of Twin Blessings Village, they moved to check on Megumi. Her face was unnaturally blank, & her tone was numb. Barely acknowledging their questions, she immediately began walking back to Nestled Village.

Wishing to give her some time alone, the remaining samurai checked out a few more patches of the woods. By the time they arrived back at the village, the moon was beginning to rise. Inside the inn, Mariko sat tersely in a corner. Megumi was sitting at a table across the room, surrounded by empty bottles of rice wine.

Hayata & Kiyuki suddenly found themselves quite busy, leaving Yudai to see to the Unicorn. As he approached, Dajan was just delivering a new bottle. Quietly, Yudai asked him to return with an empty wine bottle, filled with water. He sat across from his ally, & waited for her to speak. In time, she revealed a small bit of her history with the Lion, a samurai named Matsu Kaii.

A samurai that she had loved, then left for dead. Until now, she hadn’t even known if he still lived. The Crab did not delve too deeply into the emotional aspects of Megumi’s condition- he was primarily concerned with if she would be able to fulfill her duties in this state. She assured him that all would be fine as Dajan brought back the “wine” bottle. With a sniff, Megumi could tell it was water, but she drank it just the same. Feeling a bit reassured, Yudai turned in for the night.

 

October 12th, 1118

Kiyuki & Hayata noted that Yudai seemed a bit drained the next morning. More tense, perhaps. They didn’t have long to think on it before he explained that he had heard no response when he knocked at Megumi’s door. For modesty’s sake, he asked Kiyuki to enter the room to check on the Unicorn’s hangover. And a few moment’s later, Kiyuki returned with the news he had been expecting…Megumi was gone.