L5R: Update on Plot Lines

Just a little post to catch everyone up on exactly where we stand in our campaign. If, by some odd chance, someone out there in cyberspace is reading this because they typed in the title or some facsimile thereof in order to find out upcoming plot lines for L5R, man, are you in the wrong place. This is a L5R RPG campaign that has nothing to do with the overall story in the CCG or RPG, we just like the world.

So, disclaimer out of the way, I will in notes/bullets try to sort out the several plot lines that are precariously dangling over our heroes' heads like some multi-pronged Asian sword of Damocles. Mostly, I am doing this for the gamers not in the area (especially thePerfectLine), but several of our more recent games have had oscillating attendance rates, so if you want a heads up, here you are. Also, if anyone wants to correct me by using names, facts, etc, from your travel logs, please do - there is bonus xp in it for you (I'm thinking mainly theAcupuncturist, as he seems to be the only one taking notes - not that the Rank 5 Mirumoto Shogo needs more xp). I may need the corrections because I am doing this from memory - my notes are in the car, and I am in no mood to actually go outside.

Anyway, here goes:

The characters are currently in Toshi Ranbo, the city of "violence behind courtliness", and there are several plot lines currently intertwined. I will start with a list of the main PCs and NPCs, sorry if I forget anyone

• Takeru - a ronin duelist, sad and forlorn, and moves people to tears with his flute-playing (PC)
• Mirumoto Shogo - a hero of the battle of Shinomen Forest, living legend, master of the Mirumoto Bushi school (PC)
• Kaiu Kenobi - a skilled Crab engineer, master craftsman of armor (PC)
• Shinjiro - a ronin carpenter who conceals the true nature of his abilities from all but his closest confidants (PC)
• Tsuruchi Kasena - the first true Tsuruchi swordsman, yojimbo, and man of honor seeking to advance the Wasp Clan, no matter what the cost (PC)
• Kakita Iori - a cagey Daidoji bushi who, despite portraying himself as otherwise, is a paragon of honor; he aspires for the Crane to achieve their rightful place in the Emerald Empire, but who recognizes the rightful sovereignty of the Emperor (PC)
• Tsuruchi Seijuro - Wasp master of archery, close friend of Shogo, and another hero of the battle of Shinomen Forest (PC)
• Matsu Tengu - noble Lion who is the first to strike and the first to fall in defense of his comrades (PC) (sorry RaveBoy, couldn't remember your character's name, its been awhile)
• Asahina ??? - pacifist, courtier, and communer with the kami, he has saved his fellows from certain doom more than once (PC) (sorry MightyMook, couldn't remember your character's name, its been awhile)
• Kuni Ryo - the mad shugenja, who may be tainted and is obsessed with fulfilling his duty in an efficient and fast a way as possible (PC)
• Asako Tessai - master of the Asako courtier school, whose mastery of lore is outshined by none, head of the Phoenix library in Toshi Ranbo (NPC)
• Makoto - peasant merchant with aspirations and pretenses of samurai status, likely implicated in an assassination attempt on the PCs, but whose role in the province is so prominent that little can shatter his reputation or stranglehold on the local economy (NPC)
• Takezo Fuhito - Imperial governor of the province containing Toshi Ranbo, currently ill, but the man who was once a ronin has earned a name as a gracious and effective leader, but it is well known that he has mastered an unknown style of dueling as well as having been trained in the Machi-Kanshisha school (NPC)
• Kitsuke Morimasa - a highly skilled Kitsuke magistrate who believes that Makoto is guilty of some corruption, he has yet to prove this, however (NPC)
• Akodo Nakitomi - sworn enemy of Seijuro, he wears one of the fabled Bloodswords, Ambition, at his side; his actions recently earned him ronin status, and the Lion want dearly to execute this criminal because of the stain he has caused on their honor (NPC)
• Kaeru Nakimitsu - guide of Makoto, member of the yakuza, and highly ranked in the Poisoned Frog school, sent to assassinate the PCs and recover certain items on behalf of Makoto (NPC deceased)
• Shotenko - the second guide assigned by Makoto, also a member of the yakuza, and highly ranked member of the Forest Killer school, with the same mission as Nakimitsu (NPC deceased)
• Asahina Yajinden - creator of the bloodswords, maho-tsukai of great and fearsome renown, who also created the Anvil of Despair (NPC long since deceased, we hope)
• Isawa Tsuyoshi - oni slayer and possessor of much knowledge about the bloodswords, a tortured man who seeks to retire and pursue ikebana (NPC)
• Isawa Akemi - personal yojimbo of Tsuyoshi, he has sent her to represent him in the quest for the bloodswords (PC/NPC) (Let's face it, I'm most likely never going to get to play her again)

Those are the main players so far, as more get added I will add them in later posts (maybe I should just start a blog dedicated to L5R happenings), so here is the story so far.

The PCs, on their quest to recover the bloodswords, have heard rumors of the Anvil of Despair being found in the North, between Dragon and Phoenix territory. Knowing that Nakitomi has also fled in this direction, and suspecting that the Anvil of Despair is drawing the bloodswords and corruption of the Shadowlands toward itself, the PCs pursue northward. They stop for resupply in Toshi Ranbo and meet the Imperial governor, Takezo Fuhito, who graciously extends his house to them as their supplies are gathered for the quest northward into the wintery wastes. After several days of enjoying ins hospitality, Fuhito retires from their presense, seemingly ill.

Makoto sends word to the characters that the caravan with their supplies has been waylaid by bandits, and that the only survivor heard the name of Akodo Nakimitsu uttered by the bandits as if he was their leader. Wanting to follow this lead to the bloodswords, as well as needing to recover their supplies, the PCs decide to pursue the bandits to their encampment. Makoto assigns Nakimitsu and Shotenko as guides to the valley where the bandits are purported to be hiding. When they get there, they find no bandits, but after communing with the kami of the earth, Shinjiro finds the entrance to a concealed cave. Upon entering the cave, they find a number of skeletal statues that attack them. During the ensuing skirmish, from the shadows further down the passage, a maho tsukai curses Kuni Ryo. The party defeats the monsters and retreats to regroup. They make several sorties into the cave, and find horrible things, but also recover their own goods, as well as some unusual items. Some of the crates are unmarked but carry inferior quality weapons, and concealed within the goods being transported to them were two unusual items locked in a puzzle box. One was the War Fan of Gunsen, a famous general who was reputed to never lose as long as he held his fan, and another is an ancient Unicorn tanto that dates back to the time befor the Unicorn left Rokugan.

In the process of recovering these items, Kaiu Kenobi is tormented by a yokai (ghost) who may be haunting him still, and the Akodo shows his true nature as a deeply prayerful and humble bushi, countering the conventional image that many hold of the Lion clan.

On the way back, Shotenko poisons the group, and he and Nakimitsu attempt to dispatch them. It is only through superhuman willpower that the group resists the effects of the sleep-inducing poison and dispatches the two villains.

So they return to the city of Toshi Ranbo only to find several troubling things. A famous ronin is reputedly in the area, but no one has seen him and he is not giving lessons. Makoto openly insults Kenobi and Takeru, who have little choice but to take it, but in enduring the insults of this peasant, they find that he was responsible for the assassination attempt and that he would like his property back (the tanto and the war fan).

The PCs also discover that the Temple in Makoto's walled mansion and grounds is actually a dojo where many men appear to be training for some unknown purpose at night. While this causes them some concern, it is not uncommon for a merchant of Makoto's stature to keep an armed and trained group of yojimbo to protect him and his interests. There is nothing illegal about it, but the way in which he tries to conceal his activity certainly arouses suspicion.

After this confrontation, each PC receives a letter inviting him to Emperor Toturi Naseru's Winter Court, with the personal order of Toturi himself requiring that they suspend their search for the bloodswords, and to ready themselves for the Winter Court. He will be hosting his court at Toshi Ranbo, thereby cementing it as the hub of politics and commerce that it is. This is in three weeks from now.

Meanwhile, Takezo Fuhito has taken very ill, and the PCs feel that his illness may be of supernatural origin. They know that he must be in good health for Winter Court, or the bad omen of his illness could infect the very heart of Winter Court. After observing him for a while and discussing his illness, they see an episode in which he appears to go mad - but Shogo and Shinjiro notice the formation of a ethereal web with glowing red eyes floating in it in the upper corne of the room. When they cannot stop it from manifesting, they rush Fuhito to the temple he has on his grounds and seek to protect him there. As a result of there actions, Fuhito does not seem to get any worse, but neither does he recover. In response to the news about the winter court attendence, Tsuruchi Kasena tries to maintain his appearance better, and, remarkably, he cleans up very well. So well, in fact, that many of you wonder how you never noticed it before. But, after all, he was just an uncouth Wasp and is probably just getting used to his station.

The Akodo comes up with a brilliant idea, and bathes with Fuhito, pitching himself as a guard/attendant while the governor bathes. While doing this, he helps him to bathe and engages in light banter, but surreptitiously searches Fuhito for marks. He finds three suspicious looking spider bites and memorizes their locations. Shogo analyzes their locations and confirms the suspicions raised by Shinjiro, his illness in supernatural, and there is an imbalance in his element of Water. When he is told of this, he mentions his trouble with the bog hag, Umai, but he does not think it likely that she has followed him this far. Shinjiro identifies what he saw as a kumo, an evil spider-thing that hearkens from the Shadowlands and brings pain and despair with it.

Shogo pulls rank to get an audience with Asako Tessai, who does not seem pleased at being bullied into receiving guests but is stunned by some truly thoughtful and masterfully crafted gifts from Kenobi, Shogo, and Shinjiro. They find that kumo are not oni, but they are instead living beings who cannot haunt from Jigoku after they are slain (oni can). This is the only saving grace, however, as many kumo are powerful maho-tsukai with aspirations of dominating humans and Shadowlands creatures. They have a lethal poison, and can ensare people in strangling webs. Worst of all, they can lurk in places where you cannot see them and attack often when an opponent is most vulnerable.

Kasena, Iori, and Takeru find that there are rumors of a valley, formerly home to many shrines where pilgrims would often go, now shrouded in mists. Peasant pilgrims have been disappearing, and a kumo may be haunting the valley. The PCs decide to go there, and when they reach the center of the valley, extending from a dome of force surrounding four tori arches, they see a vast web above them, seemingly made from the mists that swirl throughout the valley. As they post watches around the center of the web, on Kasena's watch, he hears the voice of the kumo, who calls herself Orite, inviting him to join her. He resists the temptation and shouts for help, but no one else can hear Orite. Since they cannot confront her directly, they decide to explore the rest of the Valley of the Mists, knowing that time grows short for Takezo Fuhito.


So here are the main things you are dealing with:

• Makoto is arming and training a group of yojimbo, and has tried to kill you
• Takezo Fuhito is ill and dying, and you must help him recover before Winter Court
• The bog hag, Umai, may be in the area
• The Anvil of Despair is almost certainly in the cave where you found your stolen goods
• You must find the bloodswords (this is temporarily suspended, but still weighs heavily on your mind)
• The growing presense of the Shadowlands in the area is of grave concern
• Winter Court is arriving soon, and each of you must be prepared, and soon each of you will be receiving specific instructions from his/her clan
• Kuni Ryo, who can no longer sleep, is likely suffering from a maho curse

That just about covers it. If you have anything to add, just post it in the comments.

Fall turns to Winter,

Dead vines tangle, suffocate

What holds hope for us?