Session Summary 1

This first session was a character completion session. Dave joined us and completed his Crab Bushi. Kevin finished up his Shoshuro Shinobi (placed as a Hiruma scout in the Crab Clan). After some basic mechanic discussion, and a review of the Virtue/Vice system, we started some preludes designed to spotlight some rules.

Kevin's character was charged with finding a Scorpion Clan courier who had been detained moving into Lion lands through Beiden pass. In theory, the courier had been sent with trade information from the Scorpion to the Phoenix. However, he also had a secret message for Isawa Murasame from Bayushi Ken'ichi. Kevin needed to find the courier, retrieve the message, swap it for another one, and then ensure the courier is caught so the faked message (one that implicates the Crane in some shady dealings against the Lion) is found instead. He performed his task admirably, and we all learned about skill checks, opposed skill rolls. cumulative skill rolls, and cooperative skill rolls.

Then the camera panned out and zoomed to the south, to the Crab lands and Kaiu province, where an assault by the Shadowlands on the Kaiu wall was starting its second day. A group of Shadowlands creatures had managed to break into the Crab's tunnels, and one oni had survived the traps to move north beyond the wall. Dave's Crab bushi was charged to lead a team of Ashigaru to find an destroy the creature before it could wreak any havoc. Finding it holed up in a warehouse, Dave lured it out by sending in an Ashigaru to set fire to the crates. Said ashigaru was quickly disembowled, but the remaining troops managed to wound the creature and then pin it to the ground, where Dave's character leapt upon its chest and smashed its head (cleaning deflecting the goop away from himself). We walked through the combat rounds, wound ranks, tides of battle, stance, and raises/free raises.

Finally, we pan over to Daidoji province, where the current Crane clan Champion, Kakkita Tanaka, was to engage in a duel with Daidoji Hoto over leadership. A tournament was being held, and Joy's character was entered in the Novice division along with some ronin and Doji Kikaze, his family's traditional rival. We went through sevearl rounds of the formal Iaijutsu combat system, where two samauri warriors lock in focus until a single strike decides the winner. In this case, it was Joy's duelist, who overcame a challenge by his rival to win the tournament.

Everyone was (individually) ordered by their lords to head to Ryoko Owari Rambo (Jounrney's End City), also known as the City of Lies, a sprawling metropolis of dubious character run by the Scorpion before the Collar, and now even worse as an independent city-state run by a warlord calling himself Omanu. Omanu has offered his unique resources to the Clans in exchange for some recognition, and as such many clans are sending representatives.

In addition, the Imperial Hearld, Seppun Kuron, has started spreading the reports of major conflicts across the Empire. The Clans are working to restore order, recover provinces lost to bandits and barbarism. Those have appeared and will continue to appear here.