The Battle for Mori Province

Yasukaza rode at the head of the shugenja cavalry. The banners and pinions of the Phoenix fluttered in the breeze as they crested the hill. Below, along the harbor, was the pirate town. A collection of shacks, shanties, and tents. Several boats floated in the harbor.

He saw the gathering force of ruffians outside the gates. “Ah, it seems we are expected,” he muttered.

Ronzo the Foul was an immensely fat man, dressed in black leathers and brown fur. He gripped a long, curved, Gaijin blade and glared at Yasukaza from a distance as the Phoenix approached. Then he disappeared back into the mass of pirates, thugs, and frightened peasants.

Yasukaza halted the troops, and began to order the cavalry to the flanks to strengthen their position. A roar from behind caused him to spin around. The pirate mass surged forward, not waiting for strategy or tactics. “Very well,” he thought grimly, griping his hammer, as he called upon the spirits of Earth for strength.

The pirates were vicious and aggressive. They slammed into the central mass of the Phoenix troops, and bushi holding the line were bowled over. Men were pinned to the ground screaming as a half dozen brigands stabbed downward repeatedly with their knives. A force of pirates sought to change the Shugenja before they could ready their magics, but the Shiba did the job they have done for centuries. Ronzo and his retainers broke through the Yojimbo briefly, but the shugenja summoned spirits of water to turn the ground before him to mud, stopping his attack as he floundered and roared in anger.

Aggressive, but undisciplined, poorly armored, and like children before the trained Phoenix forces. Yasukaza channeled the power of a dozen shugenja to cause the Earth itself to break open and swallow hundreds of pirates. The peasants assisting the brigands were cut down like wheat by the blades of the samurai and Yojimbo.

In the end the rabble broke and ran, and Ronzo lead them, moving surprisingly fast for his bulk. They fled to the ships on the harbor, which set sail for the sunset, leaving the province squarely in Phoenix hands.