Legend of the Five Rings

Legend of the Five Rings
Game about honour, glory and tragedy
GM
Oskar
Players
Al
Alexei
Nick
Dave
Elvis
Peter
Alda
Conrad
Robert
October 2010 - July 2011
http://emeraldsamurai.com/
Contents
Introduction4
Thanks
5
Sources
5
Chapter I: Adventure Diaries
6
Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest
6
Beast of Hotei
8
The Smell of Rat
8
Tree of Life
10
The Report
11
Winter Court 1: The Hunt
12
Winter Court 2: Love and Death
13
Winter Court 2.5: Contest Rolls
16
Winter Court 3: Of Swords and
Honour
17
Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune
18
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
20
Chapter II: Characters
25
Hida Banzo
25
Kitsuki Raidou
27
Bayushi Kojiro
28
Tesshu
28
Kakita Tateno
29
Kitsuki Kurui
30
Asako Raizen
30
Bayushi Chii
30
Kitsuki Oda
Chapter III: NPCs
Crab Clan
Hida Maruki
Hida Tairou
Hida Yuudai
Hiruma Akane
Crane Clan
Asahina Tomoe
Daidoji Aiko
Doji Motome
Doji Yutaka
Kakita Kanbei
Kakita Osamu
Dragon Clan
Kitsuki Ryujin
Mirumoto Hideki
Lion Clan
Akodo Yurou
Ikoma Kohaku
Matsu Akemi
Mantis Clan
Tsuruchi Naomi
Yoritomo Mato
Yoritomo Yatsuki
30
32
32
32
33
33
34
34
34
34
34
35
35
35
35
35
35
36
36
36
36
37
37
37
37
Phoenix Clan
Isawa Midori
Scorpion Clan
Bayushi Takahiro
Unicorn Clan
Ide Mao
Moto Yao-Han
Bat Clan
Komori Rei
Sparrow Clan
Suzume Natsumi
Suzume Shin
Imperial Families
Iweko Inoe
Iweko Kichirou
Miya Hotaru-no-hime
Miya Ota
Otomo Ishida
Otomo Manami
Otomo Ren
Otomo Ryuunosuke
the Others
37
37
38
38
38
38
38
39
39
39
39
39
40
40
40
40
40
40
41
41
41
41
Ema
Genma
Katsurou
Poko the dog
Ryoden
The Urashimas
Yumi
Minor NPCs
Chapter IV: GM’s Notes
Yumi’s Mother
Tsch’tsch
Poisoning Raidou
The Ogre
Who was Ryoden?
The Shadow Magistrates
Hida Yuudai’s Agenda
Kurui’s Madness
The Spider Clan
Genma
Kashima’s Tragedy
Epilogue
41
42
42
43
43
43
43
44
46
46
47
47
48
48
48
48
48
49
49
49
49
Introduction
Early in October 2010, I started recruiting
online for a game using the 4th edition of the Legend of the Five Rings role-playing game. It didn’t take
long until I had enough interested players to get the
game started. Two weeks after I began recruiting, I
met up with the four players who were going to create
legendary samurai to fight against the evil forces that
threatened the Empire.
I had certain ideas what sort of characters the
players had to make. They could play any sort of character, but they were all Emerald or Jade Magistrates.
This gave them some extra influence, but made it easy
for me to introduce new characters if needed.
We managed to finish the characters and the
following week we started our first adventure. After
that, however, real life got in the way and we didn’t
have another session until January. By that time, one
player had already dropped out due to lack of time,
but we got two new players instead. A little later, we
lost another player for the same reasons as the one
before, but the rest of us carried on.
Over time, some players found it difficult to
find time for every session, and for a whole month
we couldn’t use the function room that we had been
using since the start.
On Thursday evening, 14th of July 2011, we
had our last session. Despite not enjoying as many
sessions as we might have wanted, we enjoyed every
session we did have. I would have wanted to make the
game last much longer, but due to work that is not to
be.
I must say that I don’t think I have ever had
as good a group of players as I had for this campaign. They partook in the story and the setting, and
they made this game as enjoyable for me as I hope I
made it for them. Even the most difficult player was
the most engaging and entertaining.Banzo will be
remembered as the character who tried his best but
caused the greatest trouble. He will be missed.
Raidou was perhaps not the greatest fighter,
but without him I don’t think I could have included
half the conspiracy I did. He will be missed.
Kojiro may have been the pretty boy and a
fair duelist, but the best part about him was how he
induced paranoia into the other players. He will be
missed as well.
Other characters also took part in bringing
this story to its conclusion, and none of them was any
worse than the three mentioned. Every single one
should be included on a wall of fame. You will all be
missed.
Like I said, I believe this group is the best one
I’ve had the pleasure of GMing to date. The fact that
they gave me a bokken is only a part of the reason. I
wish our game could have continued on.
-Oskar, GM
made it to a single session. I hope we showed him a
good time.
Thanks
Dragons on the Hill: Great gaming club in
London. Thanks to their forums and club, I could recruit the players to join my game.
AEG official forums: I would like to thank
everyone at the AEG forums for all the help they offered. Much of it came to good use and all of it was
appreciated.
Certain people deserve thanks for their participation in this campaign, either directly or indirectly:
Al: Banzo’s player. One of the original players
and made it to every session. Always a delight to mess
with. Even during his final rolls, he couldn’t remember how many dice to keep. Always fun.
Alda: Kurui’s player. Another original player,
but couldn’t find time to finish the campaign with us.
It was still a pleasure, and I had great plans for Kurui.
Alexei: Raidou’s player. Yet another of the
original players and the only other one who made it
to every session. When this is written, he still doesn’t
know if it was really poison or medicine.
Conrad: Chii’s player. Last of the original cast,
but couldn’t find the time after the holidays to continue. It was a pleasure.
Dave: Tateno’s player. Unexpectedly, he
showed up during the second hald of our first adventure, and his character was a great balance to Al’s
crude Crab.
Elvis: Tesshu’s player. Also showed up unexpectedly on the same night as Dave did, and still remains the best named player of the lot.
Jo: We needed a shugenja and we got Raizen.
Unfortunately, he was only around for a single session, but his presence was far from being boring.
Nick: We needed a shugenja, we got Kojiro instead. Nick brought a much needed social skills, and
devious plotting to the game. And paranoia, can’t forget that.
Peter: The second player to take on the mantle of Kitsune Oda, an extra character I made just for
such an occasion. Without him, the finale might not
have ended as well.
Robert: The first player to play Oda, but only
Richard: Never a player, but his presence during one of our sessions was very... interesting. Should
be included for colour.
My fiancée: It may sound a little cliché, but
she actually did make the website that housed almost
all of the information found in this pdf before it was
compiled. It was very helpful to have all the campaign
info for the players to look at online.
Sources
L5R 4E: Naturally, Legend of the Five Ring is
the major source for this game. This game used 4th
edition, namely the core book and the Enemies of the
Empire.
In creating this pdf file, I used some fonts
found online. They can be found at the following
websites:
http://www.typenow.net/
http://www.dailyfreefonts.com/
I also used the Clan and Imperial logoes from
the a website that can be located here:
Mons
Finally, I used a texture off the internet to create the borders in this pdf file.
Rice Paper Texture
Chapter I:
Adventure Diaries
This first chapter includes the Adventure
Diaries. They are average detailed (at some times, I
wrote them days after the sessions, and memory of
the sessions sometimes got a little foggy).
Each section also includes a list of the NPCs
that appeared in that adventure. On the website, the
list linked to each NPC. Here, however, I decided
to use a more easier method. Each NPC has a listed
page number, where you can find information about
the NPC.
Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest
After determining that an old woman in a
small village was just a little crazy, and not in fact
a maho-tsukai, three Emerald and one Jade Magistrates receive a request from Doji Motome to assist
in the investigation of the murder of Hida Azura. The
four Magistrates, Hida Banzo, Kitsuki Raidou, Kitsuki Kurui, and Bayushi Chii, make their way to the
town of Nishicho, where the murder took place, but
by the time they reach town, the corpse has already
been burnt, and the room in which he was found has
been cleaned.
In order to be a good host, Doji Motome assigns her favoured servant girl, Yumi, to assist the
Magistrates however they require. They quickly interrogate her and find out that she knows who the
murderer is, but she won’t tell them out of fear for
her life. The Magistrates search the room and find a
piece of torn cloth in the corner of the room, under-
neath a table. Using magic, Chii communicates with
the spirit of the cloth, and asks it three questions: Was
the person who wore you a man or a woman? Did
the person who wore you murder the victim? Was the
person who wore you hurt in the process? The answers were rather short: “I don’t know”; “the person
who wore me did end a life”; and “the person who
wore me did scream.”
The Magistrates also decided to explore other
possibilities in this case. After asking around, they
found out that a group of Scorpion samurai had visited the town almost a week ago, but they had left the
next day. This, they believed, required some more investigation.
Meanwhile, Banzo spoke with the Crab samurai who had accompanied Hida Azura to Nishicho.
The victim’s brother, Hida Maruki, appeared unreasonable. He believed the Cranes had murdered his
brother, and he demanded that the household would
pay for their crimes. If the Magistrates would not do
anything, he would attack the manor himself. His
companion and Azura’s third in command, Hiruma
Akane, was much more reasonable. She told Banzo,
in private, after making him swear that he would not
tell anyone about this, that Hida Azura was not exactly a kind man, and that he would drink and lust after women. Officially, though, the Crabs would never
admit to it.
At the same time, Raidou spoke with Doji
Motome. He found out that Motome was (and still is)
married to Doji Yutaka, a general who was away on
courtly business. It was Motome’s duty to take care of
Nishicho and the manor, and so she was well respected. She dyed the hair of her favoured servants white,
as to mark them as her favourite. She also suggested
that Hida Azura was a drunk and not very likable.
She insisted that she had nothing to do with his murder, however, and said that only a Crab would stoop
so low.
The Magistrates rested for the night and the
next morning they found out that Chii had left to investigate the Scorpion samurai further, but had not
returned. The Magistrates were joined by two other
Emerald Magistrates, the Togashi monk Tesshu, and
the duellist Kakita Tateno. They were sent by the Emerald Champion to assist in this delicate matter, since
it could turn into a war between the two clans if not
handled correctly. The addition of a Crane samurai
would act as a balance against the Crab samurai al-
ready working with the Magistrates.
After following in Chii’s footsteps and investigate the Scorpion samurai that had left the town almost a week ago, they came to the conclusion that the
Scorpions really did leave town, and that Chii must
have gone after them. They haven’t seen Bayushi Chii
since.
With the addition of Tesshu, the Magistrates
managed to get somewhere in their investigation. In
fact, they managed to get a confession. Yumi confessed to murdering Hida Azura, but did so in defence to escape his lust. Hearing this, the Magistrates
were faced with a dilemma. Attacking a samurai is
punishable by death, but they still felt sorry for the
girl. But if they would just let her go, the Crabs would
likely not accept it. Their other option was to execute
the poor girl, but after they found out that she is the
bastard child of Doji Yutaka, even that could lead to
war.
While discussing options, more pressure was
added when Hida Maruki decided to attack the manor with what little force he had. But with Doji Yutaka out of town with most of the Nishicho’s military
force, the Crabs and the Cranes were evenly matched.
Tateno devised a plan. He quickly fabricated a story
where it was an evil spirit that killed Azura, and upon
witnessing the act, Yumi had gone slightly mad and
believed she had killed him, thus confessing wrongly
to the murder.
The Cranes were all too happy to have this
matter concluded, but the Crabs were not very happy
about this. Someone had to pay for this murder, but
they returned to the Crab lands before taking any
rash actions. Luckily, Maruki never even got through
the gates, and so no harm was done in his attack.
Tesshu, who had sworn an oath never to lie,
was simply lied to and made to believe the story Tateno made up. Banzo was certainly not happy at all,
and wrote a letter in which he explained everything.
He gave that letter to Hiruma Akane and told her to
give it to someone in power in the Crab clan.
With the murder solved, the Imperial Magistrates were to return to Toshi Ranbo, the imperial
city, and give a report of what had happened. They
left a note for Bayushi Chii, in case he would return.
Without anything to keep them in town, the Magistrates left Nishicho and headed east, where they intended to get a boat ride north.
NPCs
Doji Motome
Hida Maruki
Hiruma Akane
Kakita Kanbei
Yumi
Page 34
Page 32
Page 34
Page 35
Page 43
Beast of Hotei
The Emerald Magistrates arrived at a small
village, called Hotei, and noticed that something was
wrong. Upon inspection and interviewing the village chief, Urashima Keitaro, the Magistrates found
out that a monster, more precisely an Ogre, had kidnapped the chief ’s daughter. The chief had previously hired mercenaries to save his daughter but they
weren’t doing their job.
When the Magistrates arrived at the beast’s
lair, they found the mercenaries camped outside. The
mercenaries didn’t want to take orders from someone
who wasn’t paying them, and after couple of nearbattle-to-the-death instances the mercenaries were
sent packing. The Magistrates bravely entered the lair
along with Urashima, who got killed when he ran to-
wards his daughter and got ambushed by the Ogre.
After not very long battle with the beast, the Magistrates were victorious.
The daughter was brought back to the village
and Urashima’s swords brought to his son, Kashima.
The Magistrates rested in this village for a few days,
mending their wounds and overseeing the destruction of the beast’s lair. With the help of Tesshu, Banzo
even got a tattoo retelling the story. And so ends the
story of how the Magistrates killed the Beast of Hotei.
NPCs
The Urashimas
Katsurou
Page 43
Page 42
The Smell of Rat
After leaving Hotei, the Magistrates were reunited with Kurui as they made their way to the harbour town called Minatomachi. The town is divided
in two: the outer district and the merchant district.
The merchant district is closed off by a wall, and is
unofficially controlled by a member of the Mantis
clan called Yoritomo Yatsuki, even though the town
itself belongs to the Crane clan. To get a ship to take
them north, the Magistrates needed to make a deal
with Yatsuki, as his ship was the next one scheduled
to leave the harbour. They found him at his very own
geisha house, which was a front for gambling during
the night.
Yatsuki was more than happy to help, in return for a favour. Apparently, there was an assassin
in town who Yatsuki believed was after his life. He
even knew who the assassin was; a man by the name
of Genma, who, according to rumours, had a team of
13 samurai travelling with him. Yatsuki wanted the
Magistrates to find Genma and make sure that he
would not come after him. In return, Yatsuki would
lend them his ship, as well as provide accommodations for them while they stayed in town.
While the others spoke with Yatsuki, Tesshu
decided he wanted to visit the local monastery. On
the way, Tesshu witnessed a Nezumi (ratling) being
attacked and subdued in the merchant district, but
seeing as it were the district guards who were doing
the subduing, he did not try to help the creature. At
the monastery he was greeted by the monks and allowed to meditate with them, but he was later interrupted by Banzo who told him that they needed to
work.
Genma had attacked once already, and killed
one of the district guards in Yatsuki’s service. The
Magistrates decided to investigate the scene, even
though it was getting dark, and were accompanied
by another guard. While looking at the spot where
the guard had been killed, the guard who was with
them got shot by an arrow. The Magistrates saw the
criminal who released the arrow, and recognised
him as one of Katsurou’s mercenaries. While Raidou
stayed with the injured guard, the others followed the
arched into town. When they finally caught up with
him, they were ambushed by a few of Katsurou’s mercenaries. Banzo, Tateno, and Kurui easily defeated the
crooks, and Tesshu had captured the archer for interrogation. The archer only smiled, and said that this
was not trap meant for them.
While the others were fighting mercenaries,
Raidou found himself surrounded by the rest of Katsurou’s men, and Katsurou himself. Raidou honourably drew his sword in order to defend himself and
the injured guard, and goaded Katsurou to fight him
himself instead of sending forth his goons. It did little
good, however, as Katsurou struck Raidou down in
two hits with his bisento. But before he could execute Raidou, the other Magistrates burst forth. While
the Banzo, Tateno and Kurui fought the mercenaries, Tesshu ran to Raidou and administered first aid.
When the mercenaries were all dead, the Magistrates
saw Katsurou’s back as he rode hastily away.
Raidou was brought to the geisha house
where he would rest. Tesshu did not want to stay at
such a sinful place where women were not respected, so he returned to the monastery. At some point,
Raidou woke up and found one of the geishas in his
room. She asked him to take a special medicine, but
suspecting that it was poisonous, Raidou declined.
Banzo and Tateno found a lead to Genma’s
whereabouts, although they were starting to suspect
that Genma was in fact Katsurou. The two of them
saw one of Genma’s supposed allies and followed him
to a warehouse. They burst in, only to find more of
Genma’s allies and man standing there who answered
to Genma’s name. Genma had an ornamental daisho
(katana & wakizashi pair) that revealed that he was
Mirumoto Genma, a man who had betrayed his master and become a ronin. He told the two Magistrates
that Yoritomo Yatsuki was a criminal, smuggler of
weapons, and a slaver, and that Genma only wanted
to bring swift and bloody justice.
Meanwhile, Tesshu found that the monastery was in fact Genma’s hideout, and that some of
his men were there. Luckily for him, they were civil
enough not to spill blood within the monastery, and
gave the same explanation for their actions as Genma did. They were lacking any proof though. Genma
had agreed to go with the Magistrates to Yatsuki, and
Tesshu convinced some of the ronin at the monastery
to accompany him to the geisha house.
When they arrived, the guards did not believe
this was a friendly visit, and prepared to attack. While
defending Genma, Banzo killed one of the guards. If
not for that, Genma would have believed the Magistrates had lead him to a trap. Hearing Genma’s accusations, Yatsuki offered the ship to the Magistrates
as his gift (bribe). They accepted and decided to
deal with this matter with a simple duel to the first
blood. Tateno would act on Yatsuki’s behalf, and fight
Genma. Tateno was victorious, and as punishment,
Genma would serve as the Magistrates’ yojimbo until
they would find a more fitting punishment.
When the Magistrates returned to Raidou’s
room, who had managed to get out and express his
concern of poison, they found only the geisha’s clothing and an open window. Raidou took with him the
remains of the so called medicine so that he could
examine it better. The Magistrates got their ship and
sailed north.
NPCs
Yoritomo Yatsuki
Genma
Katsurou
Page 37
Page 42
Page 42
Tree of Life
After sailing for about a week, the Magistrates
reached shore at a harbour town not far from Toshi
Ranbo. They were greeted by two parties of samurai;
one requested that Kakita Tateno come with them
and the other was relaying an offer made by Miya Ota
for the Magistrates to rest at his estate before giving
their report to the Empress. The Magistrates accepted, but Tateno and Katsuki Kurui went with the other
party, who were apparently Crane samurai.
Miya Ota offered the Magistrates his hospitality, and was a man who indulged his guests. He
introduced them properly to his daughter, Miya
Hotaru-no-hime, who was the samurai they met at
the harbour. After listening to the Magistrates’ stories and Banzo’s boast, and offering sake to his guests,
Miya Ota explained his real reason for offering his
hospitality to the Magistrates. People had been disappearing from the town Miyado-cho, which Ota was
governing, and it reflected poorly upon his abilities.
He asked the Magistrates to investigate the matter,
but told them there was no real rush and they could
start in the morning.
After resting for the night, the Magistrates
prepared to go into town. Ota told them that a woman in town called Ema could help them much better
than he himself could, because she was a woman of
medicine who knew almost everyone in town, including the people who had disappeared. She lived next to
the shrine on top of the hill in the middle of town. On
top of that hill was a huge tree, apparently what the
shrine was dedicated to. Ema had a wakizashi, and
the Magistrates believed her to be a samurai for that
reason.
She told them who the missing townsfolk
were and where they lived, so the Magistrates went
to investigate. They found that each of the missing
townspeople had been injured or ill and received
cure from Ema. They also found out that everyone in
town, or nearly so, like and respected Ema. It did not
shield her from the Magistrates’ suspicion, however,
and they decided to keep an eye out for a travelling
merchant who had been injured in town and received
remedies from the well-liked lady on the hill.
During the night, the merchant began limping towards the hill. The Magistrates followed and
saw the merchant moving towards the tree. Before he
could get to it, though, the Magistrates knocked him
over. At that time, Ema appeared and called forth two
zombies who jumped up from under the tree. While
Banzo and Tesshu fought the zombies, Raidou and
Genma struck down Ema. After defeating the zombies, Banzo and Tesshu burned down the tree using
Banzo’s bottle of sake and Tesshu’s ability to breathe
fire.
Instead of executing Ema, the Magistrates
brought her to Miya Ota for formal accusation. They
brought with them evidence they found near the
shrine, that proved she was a maho-tsukai. She was,
however, incredibly respected member of Miyadocho, and convinced Ota of her innocence. Furious
by Ota’s decision of declaring Ema innocent, Banzo
caused a scene that nearly ended in a fight. After insulting their host, the Magistrates left Ota’s estate, determined to find someone in Toshi Ranbo who would
listen to reason.
NPCs
Ema
Miya Ota
Miya Hotaru-no-hime
Genma
Page 41
Page 40
Page 40
Page 42
The Report
The Magistrates finally reached Toshi Ranbo
after a few more adventures than they expected and
weeks of travel. Once there, they were spoken to by
the Empress’s personal herald and daughter, Iweko
Inoe. She asked them to make themselves comfortable before giving their reports in the morning. She
also apologized that the Empress would not be taking
the report herself due to an important matter that required her attention. Instead, Inoe would be accepting their report.
While they most certainly could simply rest,
they all decided to find some way to pass the time.
Raidou went to the library, Banzo visited the bathhouse, and Tesshu visited the temple. At the library,
Raidou met a Scorpion clan magistrate by the name
of Bayushi Takahiro. Takahiro expressed his admiration of the Kitsuki method of investigation, and also
expressed his disappointment with the Empire’s legal
system. Raidou agreed, and they spoke much about
the matter. Eventually, Takahiro said that he had been
invited to attend Winter Court at Matsukawa-jo castle, and that he would be honoured if Raidou would
accompany him. Raidou accepted.
After taking a good bath and practicing his
skill at poetry, Banzo met Hida Yuudai, the Hida family Daimyo. Yuudai was accompanied by an unknown
man, and he expressed how Banzo’s loyalty to his clan
was admirable. Banzo immediately knew that Yuudai
was talking about the letter in which Banzo explained
what really had happened at Nishicho weeks before,
when Hida Azura was murdered. Yuudai rewarded
Banzo by offering him a position as a Chui in the Crab
army, and by arranging his marriage with Hiruma
Akane. Banzo was glad to accept the daimyo’s gifts.
Furthermore, Yuudai invited Banzo to accompany
him to Winter Court at Matsukawa-jo castle, which
Banzo also accepted.
At the temple, Tesshu found a sleeping, old
monk. Tesshu believed he had finally found a worthy
teacher, and after waking the monk, they discussed a
lot of philosophy, which will not be repeated. At last,
the monk agreed to teach Tesshu, but not there and
then. Tesshu would accompany the monk to Matsukawa-jo, where they would attend Winter Court.
The next morning, the Magistrates were reunited with Tateno and Kurui. They gave their report
to Iweko Inoe, but not before giving gifts. Raidou
gave Inoe some sweets, which he convincingly told
her was the exact same sweets that Kitsuki himself
had been sucking on when he was inspired to create
the renowned Kitsuki method of investigation. Even
though it was a lie, Raidou could easily fool anyone
who heard it.
After giving their reports, the Magistrates
were rewarded for their service. Now they only had
to wait for the Winter Court to begin.
NPCs
Bayushi Takahiro
Hida Yuudai
Ryoden
Iweko Inoe
Genma
Page 38
Page 33
Page 43
Page 40
Page 42
Winter Court 1:
The Hunt
The Magistrates finally make their way to
the Otomo Winter Court, held by Otomo Ishida, an
adviser to the Empress. After being shown around
the Matsukawa Castle, Ishida wishes to greet all the
guests who have already arrived. He welcomes them
all to his humble home, and explains that he intends
to hold a competition to pass the time. The competition is split into 7 trials, which will span most of the
Winter Court. Ishida only says what the first trial is, a
contest of poetry. He also presents the top 3 prizes:
1st place: the mask of Bayushi Kantako, one of the
Scorpion Clan’s most successful diplomat and seductress.
2nd place: Ikoma Iuchimaru’s wakizashi, which gives
a faint hum while it is drawn that sounds like a woman singing.
3rd place: Hida Fuutaka’s ono, a giant axe made out
of jade.
After Ishida’s speech, it is time for gift giving.
Banzo gives the host his straw hat, and tells him about
the adventures which the hat has seen. Truly a good
gift. Raidou makes tries the same trick again, and tells
a lie about the sweets he is giving as a gift, only to be
found out and exposed in front of all the guests. He
asks for forgiveness, and Ishida forgives him so that
he will appear more benevolent to his guests. Raizen
gives the gift of divination, but sees troubling times in
the near future for Otomo Ishida. He tells Ishida only
that he will need Raizen’s services.
After the gift giving, the servant of the Jade
Champion approaches the Magistrates and tells them
that the Champion has requested their audience. The
Jade Champion tells them that they were right about
Miyado-cho, that there was a maho-tsukai, named
Ema, operating there, and that said maho-tsukai escaped their grasps and was heading for Matsukawa
Castle. The Jade Champion orders the Magistrates
to go out and intercept her. Ema, the maho-tsukai,
should not be allowed to reach Matsukawa, lest she
would bring disturbance to the Winter Court.
The Magistrates take Genma with them, and
soon reach a monastery which is on the way. The
Magistrates already know that Ema might be staying
there as well, but when they get closer they see that
the Monastery has been burnt and the monks have
been killed. They learn the monks were killed with
blades, and that someone set the Monastery on fire
on purpose. Raizen speaks with a tree-spirit near the
Monastery, but does not get any new information.
Banzo searches inside of the Monastery, and finds
a hole under the floor which has been torn open.
Tesshu found a trail leading away from the Monastery, but it’s faint.
The Magistrates follow the trail, which disappears not too far from the Monastery. There they hear
the voices of three bandits, which they knock out and
interrogate. One of them is drunk and scared, and
tells them that someone else had killed the monks,
but they only figured they wouldn’t need some of
their possessions anymore. In return for being allowed to keep his life, he tells the Magistrates about a
cave not far away. The Magistrates tie up the bandits
and enter the cave.
Inside, they find Ema and two of her zombies.
Ema casts a spell as early as she can, creating an area
of darkness which covers her and her zombies. Banzo
charges in, only to find out that his ability to see also
affects his ability to strike things with his sword. Raizen casts a spell on Tesshu, covering his body in fire
that does not harm him. Tesshu then charges into the
darkness, but finds out that even fire does not light his
way through this foul magic, and he trips over a rock
and falls. Banzo hears someone swinging a sword
at him, and he swings the sword in return, cutting
something that gives off a feminine scream. Tesshu
jumps on his feet and strikes in the direction of the
scream, knocking something, or someone, over. The
zombies make their way out of the darkness, followed
shortly by Banzo who cuts the head clean off one of
them. The other is attacked by magic, and then has
its head cut off by Genma. When the darkness finally
dissipates, Tesshu is seen in a grapple with the already
dead Ema. After searching the cave, the Magistrates
also find a chest that might have been what was taken
from the Monastery.
(The details that follow are subject to change,
since at this point, the session had already ended.)
The Magistrates use the bandits to help
them bring the corpse to Matsukawa. Ema’s corpse
is handed over to the crematorium. The Magistrates
are thanked for their deed and courage, earning some
Glory for their actions.
NPCs
Otomo Ishida
Isawa Midori, Jade Champion
Bayushi Takahiro
Hida Yuudai
Ema
Komori Rei
Genma
Page 37
Page 38
Page 33
Page 41
Page 39
Page 42
Page 40
Winter Court 2:
Love and Death
After bringing back the corpse of Ema and
having two of the three bandits arrested (one of the
bandits was allowed to leave), the Magistrates settle
in for some sake in the evening. Tesshu is dragged
away by his new teacher, so that they can do some
training, while the Jade Champion asked for Raizen’s
assistance in trying to open that chest that the Magistrates found with Ema.
In one corner of the room where most of the
guests have gathered sits a young Scorpion, Bayushi
Kojiro, and an Emerald Magistrate. He is approached
by Ikoma Kohaku, a famous playwright. They speak,
and Kohaku tells Kojiro some gossip, all the while he
admires the Scorpion’s... physique.
The other Magistrates are approached by a familiar face. Urashima Kashima is attending the Winter Court as a servant of Kakita Osamu. He asks the
Magistrates for help in convincing Osamu to let him
compete in Otomo Ishida’s competition, so that he
can impress the Daidoji daimyo and (specifically) his
daughter.
Tateno joins Kojiro and Kohaku’s discussion,
becoming admired by the playwright as well. They
hear about how Yoritomo Yatsuki, member of the
Mantis clan, took over the town of Minatomachi by
force. Since the town belongs to the Crane Clan, this
has created some tension between the two Clans, but
the Mantis Clan have demanded that the Empress
acknowledges them as the new rulers of the town.
What’s more, the Crab Clan supports those claims,
increasing the tension. A civil war is on the horizon.
Banzo is approached by Suzume Natsumi,
who wishes to perform a divination for him. Banzo
says that he will come to her room, but sends Raidou
instead. Natsumi is not happy about it but performs a
divination for him anyway, telling him that troubling
times are coming.
Tateno hears from Kohaku that some of the
guests meet up almost every night to gamble, and
he heads out there for the night. Tateno meets the
gamblers at the geisha house: A Crab, a Unicorn, a
Dragon, the Empress’s youngest son, Iweko Kichirou,
and a samurai of an unknown minor clan. He gambles with them, playing Fortunes & Wind, and wins
some money. Then all go to sleep.
The Magistrates are called to Kichirou’s room
in the morning by their host. There they meet Otomo
Ishida, the chief attendant, the chief of guards, and
Kichirou. They find out that when Kichirou woke
up this morning, he found the corpse of his servant
on the floor of his room. From what the Magistrates
could gather, the servant brought a bottle of sake that
was meant as a gift for Kichirou, but stole a drink
from it and died from poisoning. Kichirou came to
his room very late, couldn’t see the servant because it
was dark, and went to sleep. The Magistrates quickly
figure that the bottle of sake was meant to kill Kichirou, and Ishida asks them to investigate this quickly
and quietly so that it will not disturb the other guests.
Banzo has his crone work with the chief attendant to find out who the servant spoke to the night
before, and try and find out from who the bottle of
sake is. That is not very successful, as there are many
servants and Kichirou’s servant was friendly (or at
least talkative) to most of them. The list of servants is
long, and it takes hours or longer to speak with all of
them.
Banzo speaks with Ikoma Kohaku, who tells
him the rumours about how Kichirou had romantic
relationships with some women, including Ishida’s
oldest daughter, who is married to Otomo Ryuunosuke. Kohaku also tells Banzo about the story he
heard about Tateno and the Hida daimyo’s son, leaving the geisha house together and spending the night
together. Banzo speaks with Hida Yuudai about this
rumour, and he is most unpleased. He agrees not to
do anything without letting Banzo know first, though.
When Tesshu returns from his short training
and meditation (interrupted by Otomo Ishida who
asked him to assist his fellow Magistrates), the others give him an update of what has happened. Banzo
decides to go to Suzume Natsumi and ask her for
forgiveness about the night before, and takes Tesshu
with him so there will be nothing dishonourable
done that night. Natsumi tells Banzo that his love life
will be troubled, but Tesshu tries to cheer him up by
reminding him (in front of Natsumi) that he does not
believe in that jumble, much like Banzo told Tesshu
earlier. Natsumi is insulted, and asks to be left alone.
Raidou goes to see Kohaku, and listens to his
gossip. He finds out that the daughter of the Daidoji
daimyo is trying to impress Ishida’s son, Takeshi. This
would be the same daughter of the Daidoji daimyo
who Kashima is hoping to impress. Furthermore,
Kohaku tells Raidou that Ryuunosuke married into
the Otomo family from the Mantis Clan, and that
his brother, Yoritomo Mato, is present at the Winter
Court. Mato is known to be the father of the Yoritomo Nine Sons, some well-known warriors of the
Mantis Clan. Apparently, one of them is said to have
a head of iron. Kohaku also suspects the Scorpions
to have a spy in the Winter Court, someone named
Shosuro.
Tateno returns to the geisha house for more
gambling, and Kojiro follows to speak with the geishas. Tateno finds out that Kichirou is also rumoured
to be seeing Seppun Kimiko and Miya Hotaru-nohime, both of which are present at the Winter Court.
Kojiro finds out that Otomo Ren, Ishida’s youngest daughter and the only daughter unmarried, has
shown signs of depression and sadness for many
years, and Kojiro decides he wants to find out why.
The next morning, the Magistrates assemble
for tea and discuss what they have found out. Nearly
everything is shared. They are then summoned to
take part in the poetry contest. Each is allowed to
perform three poems, but only the best one is judged.
Tesshu is not taking part in the competition since he
has no interest in the reward (Glory as well as the
physical reward). Raidou wins the first competition,
gaining 41 points for the first trial. Tateno comes in
second and gets 35 points. Kojiro and Banzo share
third place with 31 points each.
The Magistrate manage to find some hidden
meaning in some of the poems, and figure out that
there is some tension between Tsuruchi Naomi, a
provincial governess, and Akodo Daiki, the Akodo
daimyo. They also find out that Akodo Daiki lost his
wife and older son on the battlefield against some
Matsu insurgents, and that his younger son is a famed
war-hero. Kojiro also takes steps in earning Naomi’s
trust, simply by starting a small-talk with her.
Otomo Ishida announces the next trial. It will
be a contest of Kyujutsu, in which the contestants will
be given three arrows to hit a target and points are
given for how well you hit the target.
A Unicorn samurai approaches Banzo after
the poetry competition and intends to challenge Banzo to a duel. They agree to a fight with drawn swords,
three days from now (day after the kyujutsu contest so that their injuries will not affect their performance), but the Unicorn must bring a haiku or else
Banzo would not accept the challenge. The Unicorn
is recognized as the worst poet who competed in the
poetry contest, and Tateno also recognizes him as the
Unicorn samurai from the geisha house.
The Magistrates gather again for another
meeting, this time they have a plan. They suspect
both Ryuunosuke and Mato, and intend to trick them
into believing they are giving them the poisoned sake.
If either of them flinches, it will be a sign that they
knew about the poison and are guilty. To make the
trick more plausible, they will invite them for a drink
of sake in Kichirou’s room, and they will hide in the
next room. It took some time for the Magistrates to
explain the plan for Kichirou, but he agreed to it.
(Session 2)
The Magistrates put their plan in motion.
Tesshu however decided not to take part of it, and
stayed in his room. After the Magistrates and Kichirou have waited an hour for the two suspects, Raidou
hears a sound coming from the hallway and warns
the others. Banzo jumps out of the room to find the
two guards stationed outside dead, and a shadowy
figure dashing out of the hallway. Banzo runs after
the figure, while they all call out for the guards. Banzo
is attacked by the assassin, who poisons Banzo. Feeling dizzy with pain from the poison, Banzo still fights
the assassin and kills him.
People all over the castle gather around, and
Raidou gives Banzo some medical attention. Otomo
Ishida summons the Magistrates to him, and explains
his disappointment in how the Magistrates did their
work. He is very displeased that they had to make this
into a public matter, something he had specifically
asked them not to do. Yoritomo Mato offers Banzo
sake in his room, demanding to be Banzo’s host rather
than guest. Banzo is accompanied by Kojiro, and they
bring the bottle of sake that had the poison (but had
switched out for actual sake). Mato refuses to drink
it, demanding that they will only drink sake from the
Mantis islands. This only strengthens the Magistrates’
suspicions.
The Magistrates then rest for the night. Then
next morning, Banzo is approached by Bayushi
Takahiro, who tells him some news about current
rumours. Firstly about how Raidou had visited Suzume Natsumi late one evening and secondly about
how Banzo had been seen leaving Ikoma Kohaku’s
room late at night as well. Whatever happened between Banzo and Kohaku, the famous playwright is
now writing a play about a Crab at the Kaiju Wall.
Takahiro also speaks with Raidou, and tells him that
he knows about the Magistrates’ investigation. He
also suggests that the Magistrates have a closer look
at Kichirou’s servant.
Kojiro goes to the lake in the courtyard and
finds Otomo Ren, Ishida’s youngest daughter, sitting
there, looking rather depressed. He begins speaking with her, and after a while, she tells him that she
wants her brother dead. They spend some more time
together after the fact. Tateno and Raidou search for
Otomo Ryuunosuke, their other suspect. After some
taunting, and Ryuunosuke mentioning the rumour
about Tateno and Hida Yuudai’s son (in front of Yuudai), Tateno accuses Ryuunosuke of attempting to
murder the Empress’s son, and challenges him to a
duel. He accepts and asks Yuudai to be his champion,
but Yuudai declines.
The next morning, Tateno stands before Yoritomo Mato, Ryuunosuke’s champion. The duel is one
way, and Tateno strikes Mato dead. Ryuunosuke admits his crimes, that he had asked Mato for the service
of his assassin to murder Iweko Kichirou. Kichirou is
most unpleased by this, and denies Ryuunosuke the
honour of taking his own life. Instead, he rules that
Ryuunosuke will be tortured until he stops screaming, and then executed. A most foul end.
NPCs
Otomo Ishida
Iweko Kichirou
Suzume Natsumi
Hida Yuudai
Ikoma Kohaku
Urashima Kashima
Kitsuki Ryujin
Kakita Osamu
Inari Hana (chief attendant at
Matsukawa castle)
Moto Yao-Han
Atsuko (geisha specialized in music)
Tsuruchi Naomi
Otomo Ren
Otomo Ryuunosuke
Yoritomo Mato
Bayushi Takahiro
Page 40
Page 40
Page 39
Page 33
Page 36
Page 43
Page 35
Page 35
Page 46
Page 38
Page 46
Page 37
Page 41
Page 41
Page 37
Page 38
Winter Court 2.5:
Contest Rolls
This is an in-between session where we did
most of the challenges in Otomo Ishida’s Contest. Since
not everyone was present, I will avoid any details on
the nature of the contests until next week. Here’s what
happened between challenges:
After the archery challenge, Banzo is summoned to his lord daimyo, Hida Yuudai, to talk about
the upcoming duel he’ll have against Moto Yao-Han.
Yuudai tells Banzo that Yao-Han is the son of YaoXung, an influential member of the Unicorn Clan.
Since the Crabs are going to war against the Crane
clan, the Crabs will need allies and Yuudai is in the
middle of delicate discussions about an alliance with
the Unicorns. Yuudai orders Banzo not to kill or cripple Yao-Han in the duel, but he doesn’t care whether
or not Banzo wins or loses. Banzo fakes a case of poisoning, and reschedules the duel. They agree to duel
during spring, over a year later, underneath the cherry blossoms.
The Magistrates also find out that Mirumoto
Hideki, Genma’s lord who he supposedly betrayed, is
attending Winter Court and is a horrible archer. After doing some digging, Raidou finds out the story
behind Genma’s betrayal: According to the story,
Hideki was a military general (and he still is) who
was fighting against some ronin bandits. Genma took
a squadron of men without Hideki’s consent, and
charged the bandit’s. Everybody in the squadron was
killed, including Genma (or so people believe).
They also find out that Iweko Kichirou, the
Empress’s son, is a horrible archer, and that Tsuruchi
Naomi is an excellent one.
Banzo also drags Kojiro (who has been having many noon-walks with Ishida’s youngest daughter) with him to see the famed playwright, Ikoma Kohaku. Banzo asks him not to base the story of his play
on Banzo’s exploits, and asks him to make sure that
the audience will know that this is not a play about
Banzo. He says that he will do his best to make the
audience realize the distinction.
Raidou is also approached by Bayushi Takahiro, who offers him to join the Shadow Magistrates,
the secret police of the Empress, whose job is to bring
justice and judgement when the honoured method
of “I say, and then you say, and then I decide who is
right” fails. Raidou agrees, and Takahiro says he will
approach Raidou at a later date with details of what to
do next.
And now the Magistrates wait for the final
challenge.
NPCs
Bayushi Takahiro
Moto Yao-Han
Hida Yuudai
Page 38
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Page 33
Winter Court 3:
Of Swords and Honour
After finishing up the other challenges of
Otomo Ishida’s competition, the Magistrates now
turn to the duelling contest. Each Magistrate is put
into separate groups of four duellists. Banzo must
duel Akodo Yurou, Doji Yutaka and Suzume Natsumi. Raidou must duel Hida Maruki, Otomo Manami
and Hida Tairou. Tateno must duel Asahina Chou,
Miya Hotaru-no-hime and Kakita Kanbei. Kojiro
must duel Hiruma Akane, Matsu Akemi and Kitsune
Oda. (Oda is a Jade Magistrate, a pre-made Shugenja played by Robert who joined in last
Thursday.)
Each duellist only duels once per day, and is given time to rest and heal in
between fights. The duellist who wins receives
5 points; the duellist
who loses also loses
5 points. If there is a
draw, neither duellist
receives or loses points.
If neither duellists strike
successfully, it counts as a
draw. First blood wins.
Banzo’s first duel is
against Akodo Yurou, son of
Akodo Daiki, the Akodo daimyo.
They both start by taunting each other,
and Banzo even challenges Yurou to a duel
with swords drawn until either submits, claiming
that is the true measure of prowess. Yurou accepts,
but only after all the duels have finished. In their current duel, both draw simultaneously, but Banzo misses his target and Yurou strikes successfully. Yurou is
declared winner.
Oda must then duel Hiruma Akane, of whom
he has heard rumours that she is to be married soon.
He is disturbed while praying and brought to the
duel. He winks at Akane who looks away and blushes
slightly. Oda strikes first and successfully, and is declared winner.
Raidou duels Otomo Manami, Ishida’s second
daughter. He recalls that she is married, but cannot
remember the name of her husband. After exchanging some pleasantries, the two duel. Raidou gets first
strike, but misses. Manami strikes successfully and is
declared winner.
Kojiro duels Matsu Akemi, and uses his
handsome face to trick her into revealing more about
herself than intended. Kojiro gets first strike and is
successful. He is declared winner afterwards.
After the duels, Hida Yuudai offers Banzo the
service of a Mantis Shugenja, Oda, to heal
his wounds. Afterwards, the four of
them, as well as Banzo’s brideto-be, Hiruma Akane, attend
a tea ceremony which Kojiro is holding. Banzo notices that Akane is quiet
and distant, and figures
something must be
wrong even though she
denies it. The two of
them take a walk, during which they talk but
Banzo does not find out
what is bothering her.
After going their separate ways, Banzo is met by
a samurai who says he serves
Mirumoto Hideki. Hideki has
captured the Magistrates’ servant who tried to kill him. Banzo misunderstands and thinks they are talking about his private
eta, Lugs, but is corrected. It appears that Genma is
the one who tried to assassinate Mirumoto Hideki,
and Hideki wants the Magistrates to come to him.
Meanwhile, Tesshu is away for training and Tateno
is nowhere to be found (presumably gambling his
money away).
The Magistrates go to Mirumoto Hideki, who
keeps Genma as his prisoner. Hideki claims that their
servant has killed one of his guards in an attempt to
get to him, and wants to know if anyone of them had
given the order. The Magistrates protest and wish to
speak with Genma, who tells the Magistrates that
he was indeed trying to kill Hideki. Oda notices his
shame and calls him out on it, but he only says that
his only shame was his failure in the assassination.
Genma tells the Magistrates that Hideki was
his commanding officer, and that Hideki had sent
Genma and his men against overwhelming odds so
that Hideki could attack the bandits later and be victorious. Genma is certain that Hideki knew this was a
suicidal mission but kept it to himself. At that point,
Kojiro is certain that Genma should take his own life,
for the failure of dying in that battle, but Genma refuses unless he is given chance to kill Hideki.
Hideki, however, does not recognize Genma,
but does remember the name and his swords. He is
certain that he would recognize Genma if he were
alive, but according to Hideki, Genma died in the battle after he betrayed his honour and took his men into
battle without consent of Hideki. It is revealed that
Genma is not who he says he is, but is actually one of
Genma’s men who died in that battle. His real name is
Bakano Dagato, and he stole his master’s identity and
swords so that he could get revenge in his master’s
name. Dagato really believed that it was Hideki who
betrayed Genma, but not the other way around. And
perhaps he is correct.
However, the Magistrates offer him to either
kill himself or be executed. Dagato does not wish to
soil his master’s blade with unworthy blood, so he
accepts execution instead. After the execution, the
Magistrates try to convince Hideki to pass Genma’s
swords on to Genma’s child, but he is reluctant to do
so. However, they manage to convince him otherwise, that Genma’s child should not be punished by
his betrayal. Hideki agrees but also demands that the
Magistrates will not tell Genma’s child about his betrayal, or else it might fill the child’s mind with similar ideas. They agree.
NPCs
Mirumoto Hideki
Genma (aka Bakano Dagato)
Otomo Manami
Akodo Yurou
Matsu Akemi
Hiruma Akane
Hida Yuudai
Page 35
Page 42
Page 41
Page 36
Page 36
Page 34
Page 33
Winter Court 4:
Bad Fortune
The night before the Magistrates’ second duel,
the host summons them (and all the other guests too)
to the main hall. There he is happy to show off the gift
from his remaining son-in-law, Otomo Shitimata.
It is a very prestigious vase, made from the famous
potter, Isawa Fuurikan. It is otherwise unremarkable,
and the Magistrates seek out their friends and allies.
Banzo speaks with his wife-to-be, and wishes
to know why she doesn’t look happy about their arranged marriage. She simply tells him that it is not
her place, or his, to refuse this marriage and leaves
it at that. Kojiro seeks out his loyal attendant, and
asks her what she knows about his next opponent. He
finds out that it is Hiruma Akane, Banzo’s wife to be.
She is skilled with a bow but not specifically known
for her duelling skills. Raidou decides to take things
easy and retires early.
The next morning, Kojiro duels Akane. They
stare at each other, both standing absolutely still. Kojiro does not use his normal tactics of seduction before the duel. Both of them strike at the same time,
and neither leaves the other injured.
Raidou duels Hida Tairou that same morning. Tairou arrives fully armoured and armed, but
removes his armour and puts his secondary weapon
away. Raidou tells him that if he had known that
Tairou needed time to prepare himself, then Raidou
would have arrived later. Tairou replies that no matter
if Raidou had shown up later, Tairou would still kill
him. Not very samurai-like, and Raidou replies this
threat by skilfully disarming his opponent. Tairou is
angered by this, but his father, the daimyo Hida Yuudai, holds his leash.
Banzo duels Doji Yutaka, a Crane warrior.
Yutaka begins with thanking Banzo for his help in
Nishicho and for keeping his family safe. Although
Banzo tells him that he does not believe justice was
met back then, Yutaka forfeits the match and tells
everyone that Banzo is the better duellist. Banzo is
not particularly pleased, since he has been itching to
fight someone. A problem which Hida Maruki tries
to resolve. He offers Banzo to accompany him to a
hunt in the woods. Maruki asks that he does not bring
anyone since he needs to speak with Banzo privately
about a delicate matter.
During the hunt, Maruki tells Banzo that he
plans on killing Kakita Tateno, that vile man who fabricated the story of a demon to save the skins of the
cowardly Cranes. Although Banzo does not wish to
help Maruki directly, he tells him that he won’t stand
in his way. Banzo also tells him that Tateno is a gambler and might present himself unprotected during
that time. Maruki thanks Banzo for the support and
points out a boar. Banzo throws a spear and Maruki
shoots it with his bow. While Banzo is raising the
boar onto his horse, Maruki shoots his bow again,
this time it hits Banzo’s shoulder. When Banzo asks
him why he has done this, Maruki’s only reply is that
he will not allow Banzo to have her. Both draw their
swords and Banzo kills Maruki in a single blow. After
a moment’s thought, Banzo decides to take Maruki’s
katana. And his bottle of sake. And his coin purse.
And his straw hat. He then returns to Matsukawa castle with the boar.
While this takes place, Kojiro is taking a walk
with Otomo Ren. He asks her if she wants him to win
this tournament, and thus gain her father’s favour.
She says yes, and they stand there in thought.
Raidou seeks out Bayushi Takahiro, and asks
him more about the so called Shadow Magistrates.
Takahiro explains that the reason why they remain
hidden is because the Empress cannot openly say that
she is changing the laws of the Empire. She still needs
the support from the Great Clans or else they might
attempt to overthrow her. Takahiro also shares that
he does not know who belong to the inner circle of
the operation, as he only knows who his direct supervisor is.
When Banzo returns, he gives the boar to Kojiro, who in turn gives it to the household in Banzo’s
good name. Banzo meets with his daimyo and tells
him what has happened. Yuudai is not pleased, but
does not show it. Yuudai tells Banzo that Maruki’s
dishonourable actions will not be forgotten and that
his family shall suffer the prize. Banzo asks him not
to involve the family, but Yuudai ignores him. Banzo
also tells Yuudai that he suspects that Maruki had
been Akane’s secret lover, and Yuudai allows Banzo
to tell his wife-to-be however he likes.
Banzo goes to Akane and tells her that he has
killed Maruki after he had attacked him, and shows
her the arrow that is still in his shoulder. He sees that
the news saddens her, and although she says that
Maruki was only a friend, he still has his suspicions.
Banzo then demands that she will remove the arrow,
which she yanks out, causing him some pain. She
then asks him to leave her be, and Banzo walks away.
He donates the coin purse and hat to the local shrine,
but drinks the sake by himself. He spends the evening writing poetry, and possibly the better part of the
night as well.
The next morning, the guests find out that
Hida Maruki is dead, that he attacked Banzo and
was killed for it. Ishida, who makes the announcement, heard the news from Hida Yuudai, who never
explained why Maruki attacked, but rather said it was
unprovoked. Because Maruki was scheduled to duel
Raidou, Raidou wins his last duel by default.
Kojiro duels Kitsune Oda as his last opponent. Oda is not a superior duellist, and Kojiro wins
the duel without breaking a sweat. They both thank
each other for the duel, and although Kojiro claims
that Oda was a good opponent, Oda admits that Kojiro was a better one.
Banzo’s last duel is against Suzume Natsumi,
the young Sparrow who was embarrassed by Banzo
earlier in the Winter Court. She appears to be rather
angry, so Banzo has prepared a poem to ask her for
forgiveness. She does not want to read it before the
duel, however, and hands it over to her servant. Natsumi gets the first strike, and nearly cuts Banzo’s left
arm off. Banzo tells her that she is an excellent duellist, and if she had really wanted to she could have
really injured him. Natsumi takes this as an insult,
because she really was trying to hurt him, and attacks again. Although she manages to cut him, Banzo
strikes Natsumi a bit too well, and Natsumi falls dead
to the ground. Only then does Banzo notice that the
guards had already started moving in, but too late.
Natsumi’s father, Suzume Shin, a fellow Emerald
Magistrates, is shocked by the events, and runs with
tears in his eyes to his dead daughter. Banzo can only
question her motif, but Shin tells him that he will pay
for this.
Banzo asks Otomo Ishida if the host will graciously allow him to leave the Winter Court, because
he has caused enough death. Ishida understands, but
does not think it would be wise to leave the castle
during winter. He also tells him that he won’t be able
to stop him if Banzo really wants to leave, but recommends that Banzo speaks with his daimyo before
leaving him without his service. Finally, Ishida wonders if Banzo is cursed, and declares that Natsumi’s
dishonourable action is equal to a forfeit, and Banzo
is the winner. Banzo then speaks with Akodo Yurou,
and forfeits their upcoming duel. Yurou accepts the
forfeit, and understands that this must have been difficult for him. Yurou also tells Banzo that he hopes
they will meet again, and that nothing will stand in
the way of their duel then.
Feeling blue about the whole thing, Banzo decides to visit his lovely wife-to-be, only to find that
she doesn’t want to be disturbed. After ordering the
servant out of the way and opening the door, Banzo
finds that Akane has hung herself in her room some
time ago.
NPCs
Hiruma Akane
Hida Maruki
Otomo Ishida
Bayushi Takahiro
Suzume Natsumi
Hida Tairou
Doji Yutaka
Hida Yuudai
Suzume Shin
Akodo Yurou
Otomo Ren
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Winter Court 5:
Courtly Disaster
After the events that took place in Winter
Court 4: Bad Fortune, Banzo spoke with his daimyo
and asked to be allowed to leave the Winter Court
before any more people would die. Seeing as how the
Crab Clan was suffering socially after the past events,
Hida Yuudai thought it was not a good idea to send
another Crab samurai away and thus demanded Banzo would stay.
During his duelling, Tateno is approached by
Asahina Tomoe, the Asahina daimyo. She tells him
that she is planning to marry her daughter off to the
Akodo daimyo’s son, but the daimyo is planning to
marry his son to Otomo Ishida’s daughter. If she were
to impress the Akodo daimyo in the duelling, it would
surely make a difference. So Tomoe asks Tateno to
take a dive, or else make sure that her daughter is not
disgraced in the fight. Tateno is not keen on willingly
losing a duel, and instead disarms the Asahina samurai, thinking that it won’t be too disgraceful.
Tateno also duels Miya Hotaru-no-hime and
Kakita Kanbei. Although he won the duel against the
Miya, his duel against a fellow Kakita proved to be
slightly more difficult, but only slightly. Tateno still
won the duel against Kanbei, and thus won all his duels.
After the duels, Ishida announces that he will
take his leave and calculate who should be the winner, along with his remaining son-in-law. Kojiro visits Otomo Ren and they take another walk together.
They speak about how the competition is going, and
Ren asks him if they were to be married if he would
make sure that her brother would never bother her
again. They come to the cherry blossom trees and
find Tateno and Banzo having a talk. Banzo is very
drunk and throws his bottle at Kojiro, who catches it
without much trouble. Banzo starts yelling and warning Kojiro and Ren to stay away, because he is cursed.
Ren asks to leave, and Kojiro walks her to her room.
Raidou is approached by Bayushi Takahiro.
Takahiro asks him how the investigation is going.
When Raidou asks what investigation he is referring
to, he tells him about the murders that have been taking place in the castle. Raidou knows nothing of this
and gets all the information he can from Takahiro.
When Raidou tells his fellow Magistrates about these
murders, they agree to investigate them in secret,
since the lord of the house did not ask for their help.
While Banzo goes to rest and sober up, the
others begin investigating. Kojiro starts by sending
his attendant to find out everything she can about
the victims, and then goes to speak with Banzo’s eta,
which has been staying in the crematorium with the
castle’s eta. That discussion turns out to be... very interesting and not very helpful. However, Kojiro finds
out, through speaking with the eta, that one of the
victims, a blacksmith, had a wife who is a servant in
the castle.
Meanwhile, Tateno and Raidou go to the
smithy and ask to speak with the blacksmith in
charge. One of the blacksmiths tells them that he is
not available, and that he has been ordered by Ishida
not to speak to the Magistrates about where he is. The
Magistrates find this odd, but carry on.
Kojiro arranges for the blacksmith’s wife to
serve him, Tateno and Raidou some sake. While she
is serving them, they start talking about the investigation and convince her to tell them what she knows.
The murders have been going on for over a month,
possibly longer, and almost thirty servants and guards
have been found dead. The Magistrates speculate that
it has something to do with the chest they brought
back after killing Ema, or possibly there is something
more to Ishida’s newly acquired vase than meets the
eye. They decide to find Banzo and tell him what
they’ve found.
After resting and sobering somewhat up,
Banzo wakes up with a bad hangover. He decides to
visit his daimyo, and speak with him about the murders. After some discussion, Yuudai changes the subject, and offers Banzo a special assignment. Banzo is
eager, until he finds out that it is an assassination assignment. One of the Unicorn diplomats, Ide Mao, is
trying to secure the Unicorn’s alliance with the opposite side, which will mean bad things for the Crab.
Yuudai wants her silenced and wants Banzo to secure
that silence, but without the Unicorn finding out that
the Crabs were involved. Banzo brings up some ideas,
but all would include that people knew about his involvement. Yuudai disagrees, and when Banzo accidentally raises his voice against his daimyo, Yuudai
punishes him by ordering him to kneel and be silent
while he goes and has a word with Ishida.
Shortly later, Tateno finds Banzo and they talk
about how the investigation is going so far. The guard
occasionally coughs, and Banzo suspects the guard to
be giving Tateno hints or information. When asked
about it, the guard was only trying to remind Banzo
that their lord daimyo ordered him not to speak until
he would say otherwise. When Tateno has left, Hida
Yuudai returns and gives Banzo permission to stand
and speak again. Banzo asks what he spoke with Ishida about, but Yuudai dismisses him.
Shortly later, Banzo returns to his lord daimyo
to ask forgiveness for speaking when he ordered him
to be silent. This is the first Yuudai hears of this and
he is angered by it. Yuudai tells Banzo that if he cannot follow simple orders, then perhaps it is not time
for him to be giving any. For now, Banzo’s upcoming
promotion has been revoked.
During this time, Kitsune Oda (this time
played by Peter), is assisting Suzume Shin in investigating the murders. After speaking with the spirit of
the blacksmith’s anvil, he finds out that the murderer
has long, black hair and dresses in green robes. Aside
from that, there’s not much he finds out.
Shortly later, Banzo climbs up to Ide Mao’s
room after sunset. He had been examining her activities and her room earlier that day, and now it was
time to act. Despite Yuudai having ordered Banzo not
to act at all until he said otherwise (since Banzo had
disobeyed him), Banzo sneaks into the room through
the window, finds Ide Mao where she sleeps, and
thrusts his blade into her neck. This is enough for the
guard outside the room to come running in, but the
guard only sees Banzo jump out of the window and
into the night.
The other Magistrates enter after hearing the
guard call out after Banzo. They are joined by Oda,
and after some investigating, they figure that whoever
killed Ide Mao likely is the same person who killed the
other victims. Raidou and Kojiro search for Suzume
Shin to have him investigate, but find him passed out
behind the sake storage house. They bring him to his
room so that he can sober up and hopefully be more
helpful in the morning.
Shortly after making a list of possible suspects
(anyone who should have been in the guest house but
weren’t, who have long, black hair, and who normally
dress in green), Banzo staggers into his room, drunk
out of his wits. He promises to help in the morning
while the others go over the list of suspects. The list
includes Suzume Shin, who dresses in the emerald
robes of the Emerald Magistrates, and Kitsuki Noburo, the Kitsuki daimyo’s son. Raidou is certain that
Noburo could not have done this, and Kojiro is certain that Suzume Shin must have been too drunk to
murder Ide Mao.
Next morning, the Magistrates visit Suzume
Shin, who is insulting and rude towards them. When
Banzo joins them, Shin becomes enraged and almost
attacks Banzo with the intent of killing him. Kojiro,
Raidou and Oda manage to calm him down enough
to change this into a formal duel to the death, but the
duel is stopped by Hida Yuudai and Otomo Ishida.
Too much blood has been spilt during this Winter
Court for Ishida to allow a duel to the death in his
home, but he has lost all faith in Shin’s ability to investigate the murders and gives the authority to Oda.
Oda decides to recruit Kojiro, Raidou and Banzo to
help with the investigation.
Oda goes to the servant house to find out
more about the murders that took place there, and
after awakening and asking the spirit of the fireplace,
he finds out that there was a dog-creature-thing running around that night. Oda asks one of the servants
if there were any rats around (thinking that the fire
kami could not distinguish between a dog and a rat).
The servant hadn’t thought much about it, but when
asked he tells Oda that he has not seen any rat for a
long while. He did see a dog though, who often came
to the servant house but did act a little strange. The
dog stared, and often at the female servants. When
asked, the servant tells Oda that the dog belongs to
Daidoji Aiko, the daughter of the Daidoji daimyo.
After sharing this information with the other
Magistrates, they all go looking for Aiko and her dog,
named Poko. As not to raise any alarm, Banzo dresses
in his Emerald robes and borrows Kojiro’s mask. This
works fine for Kojiro, who seduces Aiko while the
others inspect Poko. They do notice that Poko growls
at the sight of Kojiro but is friendly to Banzo and
Oda. They suspect Poko might be possessed by some
kind of a spirit, but their attempts to speak with the
spirit does not work well. At a closer inspection, they
do find out that Poko is no ordinary dog.
After some further examinations, Oda realises that the dot is not possessed, but much more likely
the dog is a shape shifter. Unfortunately, the Magistrates are in no position to test the theory, and so
they return to their rooms (but not before acting too
weird in front of Aiko so she nearly runs away with
her dog).
During the night, Banzo visits one of the
guard posts and speaks casually with one of the guard.
However he managed to do it, Banzo convinces the
guard to tell him about the secret passage that leads
from the keep’s basement and to the well next to the
bathhouse. Very little else happens that night.
The next morning, the Magistrates keep an
eye open for Poko the dog. After a moment, they see
Poko entering the servants’ house, and they follow.
They make sure the door is shut so that the dog won’t
get out, and find Poko where he is staring, and panting, just inside an open door. When they try to catch
the dog, a scream distracts them. About that moment, they notice that inside the room are some of
the female servants bathing. They tell them to remain
calm, but Poko manages to elude the Magistrates by
jumping out of the window. They try to follow, but
Poko escapes. Kojiro asks one of the servants if she
recognizes the dog, and she tells him that the dog has
been coming into the servant house frequently.
The Magistrates leave, and shortly later they
see someone they have never seen before. It is odd
since they have been at the Winter Court for over two
months and should recognize everybody’s faces, if
not names. They figure this must be the dog, and approach. The man hides and when the Magistrates try
to catch him, the dog jumps right out of their reach.
Banzo follows and catches the dog, and brings Poko
to his room.
The Magistrates seal the room and make sure
that Poko can’t escape. They then try to convince the
dog to change shapes. Every time it growls, however,
Banzo hits it, and Banzo hits the dog several times.
Eventually, they manage to convince Poko to take human shape, but he is certainly not happy with how
he is being treated. After some negotiations, Poko decides to help, but only if Banzo will take care of Poko’s
competition for Daidoji Aiko’s love. Banzo agrees,
and leaves the room.
Banzo goes to his daimyo and tells him that
a shape shifting dog has been living with the Crane
Clan for years. If the Crab would capture the shape
shifter, then it would serve as a fountain of information for the Crab Clan in their war against the Cranes.
Yuudai agrees, and Banzo intends to bring it to him.
Banzo returns to his room and asks Poko to accompany him to kill Akodo Yurou, Poko’s competition.
Poko declines, and tells him that he never said anything about killing. Also, he finds no enjoyment in
seeing others die.
Poko shares with the Magistrates what he
knows. Like they already knew, the murderer had
long, black hair and wore green. Additionally, the
murderer was a woman who wore cheap perfume.
The Magistrates realize that it could not be someone
important enough to afford more expensive perfume
then. Poko also tells the Magistrates that he smelt
blood near the well, only last night.
After letting Poko go, the Magistrates are summoned to speak with the Jade Champion, who tells
them that the box they brought with Ema the mahotsukai has disappeared and Asako Raizen is missing.
The Magistrates wish to know where the Jade Magistrates were examining the box and the Jade Champion brings them to the basement of the keep. After a
short search, Raidou finds the entrance to the secret
passage, and blood. The follow the passage until they
find the body of Raizen. After examination, they figure that Raizen was murdered with a blade and that it
was likely the same murderer they are after.
They follow the passage until they reach the
well and then climb out. They find no tracks, or at
least none that seem fresh enough to belong to the
murderer. They return to the Jade Champion who
tells them that the only other magistrate examining the box was Komori Rei. When asked where she
might be, the Jade Champion tells them that Rei is
likely upstairs at the award ceremony for the Winter
Court tournament. The Magistrates go there, only to
witness the ceremony being interrupted by one of the
guards warning that the castle is under attack.
After the warning is made, the guests begin
to prepare for battle. Some call for their arms and armour, while others find a proper place for themselves
to hide. While Banzo and Raidou go to their rooms
to fit themselves for battle, Kojiro finds out what is
attacking the castle. It appears that the dead are rising
and coming from the crematorium.
Banzo positions himself above the gate, separating the middle courtyard from the outer courtyard where the crematorium is. From there, he can
see that the zombies are all wearing masks. Banzo
starts throwing spears at the zombies, hoping to kill
as many as he can.
Meanwhile, Oda notices that Komori Rei is
leading the Jade Champion back into the keep. He follows and sees them heading for the basement. When
Oda tries to stop them, the Jade Champion tells Oda
that Rei is leading her to the source of this attack, a
bloodmage that is hiding in the basement. Oda tries
to tell the Jade Champion that Rei is a suspect, but
the Jade Champion orders Oda to follow them. Rei
suggests that Oda goes in first, the Jade Champion
second and Rei herself will protect the rear.
Just before Oda reaches the secret passage, he
turns around with a prepared Jade Strike spell to attack Rei with. As he turns, he sees the Jade Champion
with Rei’s sword sticking through her torso. Oda casts
his spell, only for it to be ineffective. Rei only laughs,
revealing that she is not tainted, but that her master
is. A duel of magic begins, and ends when Oda draws
his bow and shot Rei with it. Having only suffered
minor wounds from Rei’s Envious Flames spell, Oda
decapitates Rei and heals the Jade Champion.
Meanwhile, Kojiro went to make sure that
Otomo Ren was safe. When he found her, he made
sure that his attendant would escort Ren out of the
castle and get to safety. Shortly later, the keep started
to rumble. Only Raidou, Kojiro and Oda react to the
rumbling and move to where it originated. As they
open the door, they see a Nosloc no Oni standing
between two undead revenants. The Magistrates recognize the revenants as Yoritomo Mato and Otomo
Ryuunosuke. Behind them stands the bloodmage
who summoned the beasts. When Kojiro demands
that the maho-tsukai shows herself, she is revealed to
be Ema. The Magistrates call out for Banzo, who is
still at the wall.
Banzo gets a faint sense that his friends need
him, so he leaves his post on the gate. He runs out
onto the wall as the zombies are scaling it, and then
cut the head off of one of them. On his way to where
the bloodmage has summoned the oni, Banzo picks
up the jade ono. As he arrives to the scene, the battle
begins.
The battle is quick and gritty, and when the
things have slowed down, the Magistrates remain
standing. Kojiro cuts down the two revenants with
his blade. Oda casts a powerful Jade Strike on the
oni, damaging it horribly. He also strikes Ema with
an arrow, but it is Banzo who struck her down with
his massive ono. Raidou runs to fetch the singing
wakizashi of the Lion Clan, hoping that its magic can
damage the oni. He returns just in time to see Banzo
strike the oni’s torso with his axe and have its blood
spilled all over him. The oni falls down and the castle
itself shakes to its very foundation.
Afterwards, the Magistrates make sure that
Ema will not return from the dead. They find out that
the zombies outside have been taken care of. They
figure out that only the castle’s eta could make sure
that the bodies weren’t cremated, and he is arrested
and properly punished. Banzo is believed to have
contracted the taint after killing the oni, but receives
great respect from the Crab Clan. Banzo is given the
ono as reward for his deed. Kojiro is declared winner
of the Winter Court competition, and Raidou had
second place. The rest is detailed in the epilogue.
NPCs
Hida Yuudai
Otomo Ren
Kakita Kanbei
Asahina Tomoe
Itachi Mia (blacksmith’s wife)
Bayushi Takahiro
Suzume Shin
Otomo Ishida
Daidoji Aiko
Poko the Dog
Isawa Midori (Jade Champion)
Daidoji Aiko
Komori Rei
Ema
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Chapter II:
Characters
This chapter is all about the players’ characters. As was to be expected, the characters were as different as the players. We had a brute Crab, a deviant
Scorpion, an insightful Dragon, and so on.
Although the players did use the typical prototypes of each Clan, each of them brought colours to
their characters. The Crab had in his service an old
eta that he respected and loved like you’d love your
grandmother. The Scorpion had a tragic path. The
monk couldn’t lie, and the investigator had a subtle
addiction to sweets (not to mention the inability to be
of much use in a fight).
What follows is a short description of each
PC, from my point of view. The players may disagree, but this is how I experienced them. Following
each character’s description and backstories, I have
included a short description of what they did in each
adventure.
Hida Banzo
Banzo is, in short, the fighter of
the group. Although he tried to remain
honourable throughout the game, he
was spontaneous and occasionally rude
without realizing it. This fitted his character well, being a member of the Crab Clan. His father was a tactical advisor who was killed by sickness, as did the rest
of Banzo’s family. Banzo also suffered this sickness,
but he survived at the cost of suffering bad eyesight
for the rest of his life. He travelled with his servant
eta, a senile old hag he called Lugs, and his goal was
to be rewarded with his own castle.
Player: Al
XP total: 97
In Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest, Banzo was the
Magistrates’ contact with the Crab clan that were
threatening to attack the Crane manor unless they
were given the person who murdered Hida Azura.
Thanks to Banzo, the attack was delayed long enough
for the Magistrates to come up with a non-violent solution. Banzo did not like the solution, however, and
wrote a letter that would be delivered to any one of
the Crab lords.
In Beast of Hotei, Banzo fought alongside Tateno and Tesshu against an ogre, and slew the beast.
Although his initial idea was to carry the head of the
beast with him in order to boast, he settled with getting a tattoo that retold the event.
In The Smell of Rat, Banzo executed the archer
who, under Katsurou’s orders, tricked the Magistrates
to leave Raidou behind while they gave chase to said
archer. With joint effort, the Magistrates saved Raidou from dire fate. Banzo and Tateno found Genma,
the assassin who was after Yoritomo Yatsuki’s head,
and they convinced him to speak with Yatsuki in person and make a formal accusation. Upon arriving to
the geisha house, the guards thought this was an attack and attacked Genma. Banzo protected Genma
long enough for Yatsuki to listen to the accusations.
Banzo also tried to find out if either one of the two
had attempted to poison injured Raidou, but neither
one of them had any idea about any poison.
In Tree of Life, Banzo asked Miya Ota what
sort of person he was looking for to marry his daughter, and tried to impress his host with tales of his
deeds. After cutting down the zombies and bringing
Ema before Ota to face formal accusation, Banzo was
not at all happy with how Ota trusted Ema as blindly
as he did, and was the loudest voice that got them
kicked out of Ota’s estate.
In The Report, Banzo met Hida Yuudai, the
Hida family daimyo. Yuudai was impressed by Banzo’s
loyalty to his clan, and offered him the title of Chui
in the Crab army. Yuudai also explained how Banzo’s father had been a good friend, and that in return
Yuudai had arranged to Banzo’s marriage to Hiruma
Akane. Furthermore, Banzo’s crone found fingers of
jade for sale in Toshi Ranbo, and he arranged for his
crone to buy the fingers for himself and Tesshu.
In Winter Court 1: the Hunt, Banzo gave Otomo Ishida his straw hat, and the stories of his recent
exploits, as a gift. Banzo was also the one who found
a hole in the floor of the monastery, where something
had been hidden but then taken away. It was Banzo
who attacked two drunken bandits and missed. Banzo also managed to strike Ema, and cut the head off
one of her zombies.
In Winter Court 2: Love and Death, Banzo got
his eta to work with the chief attendant at Matsukawa
to investigate the servants and who Iweko Kichirou’s
servant had interacted with. It was Banzo who told
Hida Yuudai, the Hida daimyo, about the rumours
about his son, and it was Banzo who was challenged
to a duel to submission by Moto Yao-Han. Banzo also
hunted down the assassin who tried to kill Iweko
Kichirou, and killed him.
In Winter Court 2.5: Contest Rolls, Banzo was
summoned to his lord shortly before his duel with
Moto Yao-Han. Banzo was forbidden to kill or cripple Yao-Han, as doing so would result in the enmity
of the Unicorn Clan. Banzo faked a case of poisoning
and rescheduled the duel. Banzo also visited the playwright and asked him not to base his play on Banzo
personally.
In Winter Court 3: Of Swords and Honour,
Banzo lost a duel against Akodo Yurou and challenged him to a proper duel to submission. They
scheduled a duel when the competition had ended.
After the first round of duels, Banzo was offered the
service of a young, but promising shugenja named
Kitsune Oda. Banzo then offered Oda to accompany him to a tea ceremony held by Kojiro. It is Banzo
who was the first one to learn about Genma’s capture
by Mirumoto Hideki, and it is Banzo who executed
Genma by decapitation.
In Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune, Banzo won a
duel with Doji Yutaka, who forfeited as his repayment
of favour to Banzo. Banzo found out that his wifeto-be, Hiruma Akane, had been having an affair with
Hida Maruki, Hida Azura’s brother. Maruki attacked
Banzo outside the castle, and Banzo killed him. Banzo
then went to his daimyo to explain the situation, and
then went to Akane to explain that her lover is dead.
In his duel against Suzume Naomi, Banzo accidentally taunted her enough for her to attack him with
lethal force, and Banzo killed her. Banzo also found
Akane in her room where she had hung herself. After
all that, Banzo was believed to be cursed.
In Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster, Banzo
asked permission to leave the Winter Court, but was
denied. After being branded cursed, Banzo started drinking his sorrows away and ended up under
the cherry blossom. There he assaulted Kojiro and
Otomo Ren by throwing a bottle of sake at them.
After learning about the murders that had been taking place, Banzo decided to rest and sober up before
helping. Banzo was given a special assignment, to silence a pesky Unicorn who was trying to ally the Unicorn Clan with the wrong side in the upcoming civil
war. Banzo angered his daimyo however, who then
ordered Banzo not to act against the Unicorn until he
had decided what to do.
Despite that, Banzo sneaked into the Unicorn’s room and assassinated her in her sleep. He got
away but his daimyo was angered that he did not do
as ordered. Banzo also disguised himself when the
Magistrates attempted to examine Poko the dog/
shape shifter, possibly the only witness to the mur-
ders. After capturing the dog, Banzo used violent
means to interrogate Poko. Banzo then spoke with his
daimyo and told him about this dog that knew awfully lot about the Crane Clan, but failed in delivering
the dog.
During the assault on Matsukawa castle by
the undead horde and Ema, Banzo protected the gate
against the zombies. It was Banzo who killed Ema and
her summoned oni using the Jade Ono (two-handed
axe). Banzo was rewarded with said axe after his fight,
but forever believed to be tainted afterwards.
Kitsuki Raidou
Raidou was the investigator of
the Magistrates, in the truest sense of
the word. This Kitsuki Investigator believed in the Kitsuki method of investigation, and seeing it fail him and his
work made him blame the legal system of the Empire.
It became Raidou’s goal to change the Empire so that
the Kitsuki method would become the centre of the
legal system, and being invited to join the secret police made him feel like he would succeed. He also had
a near addiction to sweets and was often damn lucky
(but also suffered from horrible luck, as became evident during the Winter Court).
Player: Alexei
XP total: 93
In Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest, Raidou did the
initial interrogation of Doji Motome and found out
that the Cranes believed that Hida Azura was a drunk
and a lustful man. Raidou is also the man who initially found the torn cloth inside the room which the
murder took place in.
In Beast of Hotei, it was Raidou who freed
the chief ’s daughter from her bonds inside the Ogre’s
cave, by cutting it asunder with his blade.
In The Smell of Rat, Raidou stayed behind
while the others hunted down the archer. It was Raidou who protected the injured guard against Katsurou
and his mercenaries. Raidou fought Katsurou, but
was badly injured in the process. When Raidou woke
up, he was being taken care of by a geisha, who tried
to convince him to drink some medicine. Raidou
refused, believing it was poison. The geisha disappeared, leaving only her clothing behind.
In Tree of Life, Raidou found the tree leaves in
the victims’ houses that tied them together and point-
ed to Ema. In the fight against Ema, Raidou faced the
bloodmage. Despite their efforts, Ema convinced the
governor that she was innocent.
In The Report, Raidou met Bayushi Takahiro
and spoke with him about the Empire’s legal system,
specifically its flaws. Takahiro invited him to accompany him to the Winter Court at Matsukawa castle.
Before giving the report to Iweko Inoe, Raidou convince Inoe that he had the very same sweets that Kitsuki himself was enjoying when he was inspired to
create the Kitsuki method of investigation, and then
gave it to Inoe, earning great respect and admiration.
In Winter Court 1: the Hunt, Raidou was sent
with the other Magistrates to hunt down Ema and
make sure she would not get to Matsukawa castle
alive and ruin the Winter Court. It was Raidou who
dishonoured himself by being caught telling a lie to
the host of the Winter Court, when he tried to offer
him candy as a more grandeur gift than it actually
was. He was dishonoured in front of the whole court,
and was forced to ask for forgiveness. It was Raidou
who found out that the monks had been killed with
large blades, most likely a sword. Raidou also tried
to trick Ema into believing that the Magistrates had
backup on their way, but Tesshu ruined the deception
by blurting out that they were in fact travelling alone.
In Winter Court 2: Love and Death, Raidou
was tricked by Banzo to go visit Suzume Natsumi
instead of Banzo going himself. It was Raidou who
found out that Otomo Ryuunosuke was a former
Mantis Clan samurai, and that his brother was attending the Winter Court as well. Despite his blunder
when he was giving the gift to Ishida, Raidou won
the poetry contest with a brilliant haiku, giving him
the lead in the competition. It was Raidou who heard
noise outside Kichirou’s room, thus noticing the assassin’s presence, and after Banzo fought the assassin,
Raidou gave him medical attention. Bayushi Takahiro suggested to Raidou that looking into Kichirou’s
servant might help with the investigation, but the
Magistrates believe they have dealt with the conspirators.
In Winter Court 2.5: Contest Rolls, it was
Raidou who learned that Genma’s former lord, Mirumoto Hideki, was at the Winter Court, and it was
Raidou who learned how Genma became a ronin after betraying his lord. Raidou was also approached by
Bayushi Takahiro about joining the extremely secret
Shadow Magistrates.
In Winter Court 3: Of Swords and Honour,
Raidou lost his duel with Otomo Manami. Raidou
agreed to deliver Genma’s swords to his rightful heir.
In Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune, Raidou duelled and defeated Hida Tairou, the Hida daimyo’s
son. Raidou also learned more about the Shadow
Magistrates from Bayushi Takahiro. Since Banzo had
already killed Hida Maruki, Raidou won his last duel
without a fight.
In Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster, it was
Raidou who first learned about the murders that had
been taking place in the castle. It was also Raidou
who learned that it is Suzume Shin who was leading
the investigation, and was doing it both quietly and
poorly. It was also Raidou, along with Tateno, who
went to the castle’s forge and tried to find the blacksmith in charge (a blacksmith was one of the victim),
and find out that the blacksmith in charge was dead.
It was Raidou and Kojiro who found Suzume Shin
passed out from drinking, and they both stopped
Shin from trying to kill Banzo.
It was Raidou who found the secret passage
from the keep’s basement to the well, and in that passage the Magistrates found the body of Asako Raizen.
When the zombie horde assaulted Matsukawa castle,
Raidou fetched the magical wakizashi in an attempt
to fight the oni. Raidou was also the only one who
suffered from the Shadowlands Taint after their fight
with the oni.
Bayushi Kojiro
Kojiro was the face of the
Magistrates and the group’s primary
duellist in the end. He had fallen in
love with a Crab woman, and after he
found out that his father had arranged
for her death, he murdered his father in cold blood.
Only Kojiro’s sister knows the truth. Kojiro travelled
with a sword given to him by his lost love, which did
make Banzo a little paranoid. Kojiro was devious and
clever, and was able to soften the worst enemies and
seduce the most virtuous women.
Player: Nick
XP Total: 75
In Winter Court 2: Love and Death, Kojiro is
the first to find out that Ikoma Kohaku is well-versed
in the art of gossip. He is also the one who finds out
that Otomo Ishida’s youngest daughter has been
known for depression and sadness for years, long be-
fore Ishida announced that she were soon to be married, but nobody knows why. After the poetry contest,
Kojiro works his way to earn Tsuruchi Naomi’s trust.
It was Kojiro who found Otomo Ren, and found out
that she wanted her brother dead.
In Winter Court 2.5: Contest Rolls, Kojiro accompanied Banzo as the two of them visit the Lion
Clan’s playwright.
In Winter Court 3: Of Swords and Honour,
Kojiro defeated Matsu Akemi in a duel. Kojiro performed a tea ceremony for his fellow Magistrates and
additional guests, Hiruma Akane and Kitsune Oda.
After finding out that Genma failed in his service to
his lord, it was Kojiro who suggested that he take his
own life. It was also Kojiro who convinced Mirumoto Hideki to allow Genma’s swords to pass on to his
child.
In Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune, Kojiro won
his duel against Kitsune Oda, and his duel with Hiruma Akane resulted in a draw. Kojiro found out that
Otomo Ren wanted him to win the tournament and
win her father’s favour.
In Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster, Kojiro
found out the truth about Otomo Ren’s brother, and
decided that this villainy must be stopped (although
quietly). Through speaking with Banzo’s servant eta,
Kojiro found out that one of the victims was married.
It was Kojiro who deviced a plan to speak with the
blacksmith’s wife. It was also Kojiro who convinced
her to share what she knew about the murders. It
was also Kojiro who convinced Suzume Shin not to
attack Banzo directly, but rather challenge him to a
duel. Kojiro was also the one who successfully interrogated Poko the dog, and when the undead rose to
assault Matsukawa castle, Kojiro cut down Ema’s two
revenants.
Tesshu
Tesshu was the monk of the
group and another member of the
Dragon Clan. A tattooed monk of the
Togashi order, Tesshu had sworn never
to lie. Even when his comrades lied,
Tesshu had a difficult time remaining silent. This did
cause some trouble for him and his friends. Tesshu
also had a weak spot for helping women, since he
caused the disgrace of a Unicorn woman before he
joined the monastery. He blamed it on a servant, who
was executed while Tesshu ran away. Tesshu tried his
best to visit every single monastery, much to the annoyance of his travelling partners. However, doing so
often gave them clues they would otherwise not have
found.
Player: Elvis
XP total: 43
In Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest, Tesshu arrived
on the second day with Kakita Tateno. The two of
them were assigned to the case of the murdered Crab
to balance the outcome. It was Tesshu who got a confession out of the servant girl, but due to his lack of
ability to lie, Tesshu was made to believe that a demon had killed the Crab and the servant had gone
mad from seeing the event.
In Beast of Hotei, Tesshu fought with Banzo
and Tateno against the Ogre in its cave.
In The Smell of Rat, Tesshu found Genma’s
hiding place at the monastery of Minatomachi. Tesshu
convinced one of the ronin who were currently there
to follow him to the geisha house in order to publicly
confront Yoritomo Yatsuki.
In Tree of Life, Tesshu cut the head off one
of the zombies by kicking Banzo’s no-dachi through
its neck. Tesshu also used his ability to spit fire, and
Banzo’s bottle of sake, to burn down the tree that was
feeding of the people of Miyado-cho.
In The Report, Tesshu met an old monk in
a temple in Toshi Ranbo. After talking for a while
about philosophy, the monk agreed to teach Tesshu,
but it would have to wait until the Winter Court at
the earliest.
In Winter Court 1: the Hunt, Tesshu was the
one who found the tracks leading away from the
monastery. It was Tesshu who delivered the final blow
to Ema, and killed the maho-tsukai, thanks to being
covered in magical flame.
In Winter Court 2: Love and Death, Tesshu
was brought along Banzo to ask Suzume Natsumi
forgiveness, but Tesshu revealed Banzo’s disrespect
for Natsumi’s practice of divination. Tesshu also performed a tea-ceremony.
Kakita Tateno
Tateno was a Crane duellist
and a rival to Banzo. While Banzo
would often deal the most damage,
it would often be Tateno who delivered the finishing blow. Tateno was
civil, almost a courtier rather than a swordsman, and
knew that the work of the Emerald Magistrates was
not about finding the truth, but making the truth be
what was in the Empire’s best interest. Tateno was
also a gambler, and owed a large sum of money to
a member of the Scorpion Clan. During the Winter
Court, he would often disappear for days while gambling at the geisha house.
Player: Dave
XP total: 48
In Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest, Tateno arrived
on the second day, assigned this task, along with
Tesshu, in order to make a more balanced judgment.
It was Tateno who thought of the idea to fabricate a
likely story of the events and pass it on as truth.
In Beast of Hotei, it was Tateno who gave the
final blow that took off the Ogre’s head.
In The Smell of Rat, Tateno was also tricked by
Katsurou’s archer to leave Raidou alone behind, and
with the other Magistrates they saved Raidou from
death. Tateno also arranged for the duel that would
determine whether or not Genma’s words of accusation would be listened to, and it was Tateno who
fought on Yoritomo Yatsuki’s behalf and won.
After reaching the harbour after a week of
sailing, Tateno was greeted by a group who appeared
to be Crane samurai. They asked Tateno to go with
them and meet their commander. Tateno left with
Kurui to meet this commander, and returned to give
the report in Toshi Ranbo.
In Winter Court 2: Love and Death, it was Tateno who knew where Iweko Kichirou was when his
servant was accidentally murdered, and what he was
doing at the time. It was Tateno who found out what
the situation was like when Kichirou returned to his
room after the poisoning. It was Tateno who was rumoured to have left the geisha house with the Hida
daimyo’s son, and spent the night with him. It was
Tateno who found out that of the three women that
Kichirou was allegedly engaging, only one of them
was married. It was Tateno who accused Otomo Ryuunosuke of trying to murder the Empress’s son, and
challenged him to a duel. Ryuunosuke nominated his
brother to be his champion in the duel, and Tateno
killed him with a single cut, forcing Ryuunosuke to
confess his crimes.
In Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster, Tateno
was the one who told Banzo about the murders and
their investigation, and accidentally made Banzo dis-
obey his daimyo by speaking when ordered silent.
Kitsuki Kurui
Kitsuki Kurui was another
Kitsuki Investigator, whose eyes were
mismatched in colour, causing the rest
of Rokugan to believe he was cursed.
He was very much interested in learning everything he could about the Shadowlands and
Maho, but after the Magistrates gave their report at
Toshi Ranbo, Kurui was reassigned. In effect, Kurui’s
player, Alda, couldn’t find the time to continue, so her
character was removed as soon as possible.
Player: Alda
In Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest, Kurui assisted
in the investigation and helped search for Chii after
he left. Kurui stayed behind after the other Magistrates left and kept an eye on things so as to make
sure the Crabs wouldn’t suddenly return and attack
again.
After meeting the other Magistrates in Hotei,
Kurui was keen on investigating the Ogre’s cave. It
was Kurui who recognized the danger of carrying the
Ogre’s head around.
In The Smell of Rat, Kurui hunted the archer
with the Magistrates, only to find out that the archer
was trying to split the group and luring them away
from the one they left behind. Thanks to their joint
efforts, the Magistrates saved Raidou from dire fate.
Kurui stuck to the shadows for the most part afterwards.
When the Magistrates finished sailing, Kurui
went with Tateno when a group of Crane samurai
asked him to meet their leader.
Kurui met the Magistrates once more to give
a report in Toshi Ranbo on the events in Nishicho,
but was then assigned another mission. Kurui’s current whereabouts are not known.
Asako Raizen
Raizen was the group’s second
shugenja character (Bayushi Chii being the first, see below). He only appeared once, when the Magistrates
went after the maho-tsukai Ema. Unfortunately, Jo couldn’t find the time to play with us
either and only managed to show up for that one session. He was a great help though, and without him
the others might have suffered more damage than
they did.
Player: Jo
Asako Raizen’s only appearance was in Winter
Court 1: the Hunt, where he has been invited to join
the Jade Champion to Otomo Ishida’s Winter Court.
He is also sent with the other Magistrates to take care
of Ema, the maho-tsukai. At the monastery, Raizen
spoke with the spirit of a tree in order to learn more
about who attacked the monastery. He is also the one
who knew the story of the former maho-tsukai who
turned away from his wicked ways and joined the
monastery in secret. When the Magistrates confront
three drunken bandits, it was Raizen who knocked
them out with his Air magic. During the fight with
Ema, Raizen knocked the zombies over and turned
Tesshu into a flaming-fury of a monk.
Bayushi Chii
Chii was the first shugenja character of the group and the first character who was a member of the Scorpion
Clan. He only appeared that one session when we first started playing, and
the character disappeared, leading the other Magistrates into investigating the disappearance rather
than the actual investigation.
Player: Conrad
In Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest, Chii used his
ability to speak with spirits to communicate with a
torn cloth. It gave the Magistrates three answers, telling them that the person who wore the cloth ended
somebody’s life (Azura’s) and that the person did
scream. Late in the evening, Chii went to investigate
the arrival and departure of a small party of Scorpion
samurai. The Magistrates found out that he had gone
to meet them outside of town (most likely) and never
heard from him again.
Kitsune Oda
Oda was originally an extra
character I made. His was originally
made because one of the regular players
asked me to make him a character, but
then brought his own. Oda wasn’t used
until much later, when Robert showed up unexpectedly. Robert only joined that one session, and Oda’s
legend didn’t continue until Peter joined the group
near the end of the campaign and Oda remained the
group’s spellcaster until the finale.
Players: Robert and Peter
In Winter Court 3: Of Swords and Honour,
Oda defeated Hiruma Akane in a duel. After the first
round of duels, Oda attempted to heal Banzo with
magic. Oda also helped the Magistrates when their
bodyguard, Genma, had been arrested for the attempted assassination of Mirumoto Hideki. By using
a spell, Oda spoke with the spirits of Genma’s sword,
and confirmed that Genma was in fact Bakano Da-
gato, one of Genma’s original soldiers.
In Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster, Oda was
assisting Suzume Shin in his investigation of the murders and when Shin was declared unfit to continue,
Oda took the lead and asked the other Magistrates to
assist him. It was Oda who found out that the murderer had long black hair and wore green clothes, and
it was Oda who found out that Poko the dog might
have seen something. When the Jade Champion was
stabbed in the back, it was Oda who fought and killed
the treacherous Komori Rei, and when Ema had summoned an oni it was Oda who crippled said oni with
his magic, giving Banzo a better chance at killing it.
Chapter III:
NPCs
In this chapter I have included every notable
NPC with which the player characters interacted.
This includes NPCs such as notable bandits they met,
ronin and all the way up to daimyos. Of course, only
notable NPC get mentioned here. I won’t go out of
my way to write down every single minor individu-
als.
I have divided the NPCs into Clans, starting
with the great Clans, then the minor Clans. Then going into Imperial families and ending with those who
don’t officially belong to any notable family.
Crab Clan
Hida Maruki
Son of the Crab general Hida Watanabe and
brother to the warrior Hida Azura, Maruki quickly
suspected the Cranes of murdering his brother while
they were visiting Nishicho. When Azura was given
command over his own squad of samurai, Maruki
served him as second in command. He was trained
in the Hiruma Bushi School, but focused more on diplomacy than what would be considered normal for
such a warrior. He is married to Hida Yomi and has a
young boy by the name of Hida Bogei.
While the Magistrates were investigating his
brother’s death, Maruki did his best to defend his
brother’s honour, dismissing all rumours about Azura’s lecherous ways. Worse yet, Maruki was all too
keen on getting revenge for his brother’s death by attacking Doji Motome and her household. He even got
as far as to the gate with a handful of Crabs. However,
the murder was resolved without any further bloodshed and Maruki lead his fellow Crabs back home.
However, Maruki was not in the least happy about
how the matter was resolved as he did not get any sort
of revenge for the death of his brother.
During the Winter Court at Matsukawa castle, Maruki invited Banzo to a hunting trip. During
the trip, Maruki explained that he was intending to
kill Kakita Tateno, and wanted Banzo’s help. Banzo
did not want to take part in it directly, but told Maruki about Tateno’s gambling. Later in the hunting trip,
Maruki attacked Banzo and said that he would not let
Banzo have Hiruma Akane as his wife. Banzo then
killed Maruki in a single swing.
First Appearance
Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest
Later Appearances
Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune
Hida Tairou
Tairou is the son of Hida Yuudai, the
Hida family’s daimyo. He is a great
warrior who is building up his
reputation, and intended to do
so during the Winter Court at
Matsukawa castle.
During the Winter
Court competition, Tairou
duelled Raidou in the duelling challenge. There he
arrived fully armoured and
armed, only to remove his armour and extra weapon. Despite his interesting entrance,
Raidou was unaffected and bravely
explained that he would have come
later if he had known that Tairou needed this much time to prepare. Tairou replied with
threats about killing Raidou, but Raidou would still
not back down. Rather, Raidou won the duel by disarming Tairou before he could even draw his weapon. Tairou was angered by this, but his father kept
him from attacking Raidou and dishonour himself.
First Appearance
Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune
Hida Yuudai
Hida Yuudai is the Hida family daimyo. He is
a man who respects Banzo’s loyalty to his clan and as
a reward for his loyalties, offered Banzo the position
of a Chui in the Crab military. Yuudai also explained
to Banzo that he was a good friend of his father’s, and
as such he felt that he should take Banzo under his
wind. For that reason, Yuudai arranged for Banzo’s
marriage with Hiruma Akane, the Crab samurai that
the Magistrates met in Nishicho when Hida Azura
was murdered. Yuudai is known to have one son,
named Tairou, and asked Banzo to accompany them
both to Matsukawa-jo castle to attend Winter Court.
When Banzo hears about the rumour about
Yuudai’s son and Kakita Tateno, Banzo tells Yuudai
about it. Yuudai is not pleased about this rumour, as
it dishonours his son, but he agrees not to do anything without consulting Banzo first.
After Otomo Ryuunosuke insulted Yuudai
by repeating the rumour, Yuudai declined when
Ryuunosuke asked him to be his champion in a duel
against Kakita Tateno.
Yuudai is in the middle of forming an alliance with the Unicorn during the Winter Court,
and ordered Banzo not to kill or cripple a
Unicorn who Banzo was about to duel.
Banzo managed to fake being poisoned and rescheduled.
After Banzo’s duel with Akodo
Yurou in Ishida’s Winter Court
competition, Yuudai requests
the services of Kitsune Oda,
a Mantis Clan shugenja who’s
also a Jade Magistrate, to care
for Banzo’s wounds.
After Banzo told Yuudai about
the death of Hida Maruki, and
explained why this event came to
pass, Yuudai told Banzo that he would
make Maruki’s family pay for this dishonour, and that Banzo should not worry about
the feelings of Maruki’s secret lover, Banzo’s wife-tobe, Hiruma Akane. Yuudai also spoke with Otomo
Ishida about the matter, but left out the reason why
Maruki attacked Banzo in the first place.
Yuudai asked Banzo to take care of a Unicorn
diplomat who was making trouble with the Crab
and Unicorn alliance. When Banzo could not present good enough plans to his daimyo, which didn’t
really care how he did it as long as it would not be
traced back to the Crab clan, Yuudai ordered Banzo
silent and ordered him to stay on his knees until he
would return and allow him otherwise. Banzo disobeyed, and told his daimyo about it. The daimyo was
angered by this and ordered Banzo not to take care
of the Unicorn diplomat just yet, and allow Yuudai to
think this over.
After Banzo had killed the diplomat in question, Banzo returned to Yuudai and hinted at doing
the deed. Yuudai was very angry at Banzo’s disobedience, since it appeared that Banzo could not follow
orders. However, Banzo was not punished for this.
Later, Banzo presented Yuudai with a plan to hand
over a shape shifting dog that had intensive knowledge of the enemy Crane Clan to the Crab Clan. That
plan failed, however, which did not sit well with Yuudai.
First Appearance
The Report
Later Appearances
Winter Court 1: the Hunt
Winter Court 2: Love and Death
Winter Court 3: Of Swords and Honour
Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
Hiruma Akane
Hida Maruki’s good friend and now his second in command, Akane is the more reasonable of
the two. Like Maruki, she studied at the Hiruma
Bushi School and served Hida Azura until his death.
Unlike Maruki, Akane did not focus on diplomacy
and is skilled with the use of blades and bow.
When Banzo spoke with Maruki and Akane
about Azura’s murder, Akane spoke the truth about
Azura’s dishonourable habits while Maruki dismissed
all such slander. She explained how she had served
both brothers loyally and that she did not want to
see either of them dishonoured, so she made Banzo
promise to never speak of what she told him. She returned home with the rest of the Crabs.
Hida Yuudai, the Hida daimyo, arranged for
Akane to be married to Banzo, after Banzo showed
great loyalty by writing a letter about what really happened in Azura’s murder. She was to be married to
Banzo during the Winter Court at Matsukawa castle.
During the Winter Court, Banzo realizes that something is troubling Akane and figures it might be because of the wedding. When asked, however, she denies anything being wrong.
Later on, Banzo found out that Maruki was
her lover when he attacked him. Banzo killed Maruki
and told Akane about it. When he saw how angry she
was when he lied about thinking that demons were
involved, Banzo knew. The next morning, Banzo
found out that Akane had killed herself.
First Appearance
Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest
Later Appearances
Winter Court 3: Of Swords and Honour
Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune
Crane Clan
Asahina Tomoe
Tomoe is the Asahina daimyo. She intends to
ensure the alliance between the Crane Clan and the
Lion Clan by marrying her daughter to the Akodo
daimyo’s son. The Akodo daimyo wants his son to
marry Ren, Otomo Ishida’s daughter, so that is problematic. Tomoe tried to convince Kakita Tateno to
take a dive against her daughter, so that she would
look good. Tateno however disarmed the girl in the
duelling contest, which did not have the same effect.
First Appearance
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
Daidoji Aiko
Aiko is the daughter of Daidoji Yamato, the
Daidoji daimyo. She owns the dog known as Poko,
who might be the only good witness to the murders.
First Appearance
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
Doji Motome
Motome is a respectful woman of important
status among the Doji family. She married into the
family through Doji Yutaka, a Crane general and the
effective lord of Nishicho. However, when the Magistrates arrived into town, Yutaka was away on official
business and in his absence Motome was in control of
the household, and the rest of town. Motome is well
known thanks to her marriage, and is respected by
her household and the townsfolk of Nishicho.
Motome offered the Magistrates all the help
she could while investigating the murder of Hida
Azura. While playing a game of Go with Raidou,
she claimed that Azura had been lecherous towards
her servant girls and a heavy drinker. When she was
asked if Yumi, her favoured servant, had any blood
ties to the Cranes, she confessed that Yumi
was the bastard daughter of Yutaka.
First Appearance
Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest
Doji Yutaka
Yutaka was a military officer for the Cranes,
and the man who invited
Kakita Tateno to accompany him to the Winter
Court at Matsukawa castle.
He was also the husband
of Doji Motome, and father of
Yumi, who the Magistrates helped
during the Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest
story. He is also a good friend of Kakita
Osamu.
Yutaka was to duel Banzo during the Winter
Court, but because he was thankful to Banzo for what
he had done for his family in Nishicho, Yutaka forfeited the duel and gave Banzo the victory. It did not
please Banzo since he was looking forward to fight-
ing someone.
First Appearance
Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune
Kakita Kanbei
Kanbei is Doji Motome’s private bodyguard,
or yojimbo. Although he is not famous across the
Empire, his skill with a blade has not been
unheard of. The Magistrates did not
get the opportunity to examine his
blade in action, however.
During the Winter
Court, the Magistrates find
out that Kanbei is the son
of Kakita Osamu. Kanbei
also lost his duel against
Tateno.
First Appearance
Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest
Kakita Osamu
Osamu is the Kakita daimyo
and is attending the Winter Court
at Matsukawa castle. He is the current
master of Urashima Kashima, and the Magistrates
only spoke with him briefly to convince him to allow
Kashima to partake in the competition.
First Appearance
Winter Court 2: Love and Death
Dragon Clan
Kitsuki Ryujin
Ryujin is the Kitsuki daimyo
and is attending the Winter Court at
Matsukawa castle. Raidou tried to
speak with him, but Ryujin was not
very forthcoming in talking with
someone who had disgraced himself
by lying to the host in front of the
court.
First Appearance
Winter Court 2: Love and Death
Mirumoto Hideki
Hideki is a Rikugunshokan of the
Dragon Clan. He is also the general
who Genma betrayed and caused
him to become a ronin. During the
Winter Court and Matsukawa castle, Genma tried to assassinate him
but was captured. It was then that the
Magistrates learned that Genma was in
fact Bakano Dagato, one of the real Gen-
ma’s subordinates. After Dagato was executed, the
Magistrates managed to convince Hideki to pass on
Genma’s swords to the proper heir, and he gave that
responsibility to the Magistrates.
First Appearance
Winter Court 3: Of Swords and Honour
Lion Clan
Akodo Yurou
Yurou is the only surviving son of Akodo
Daiki, who is the Akodo daimyo. He won the duel
against Banzo in the duelling challenge of
Otomo Ishida at the Winter Court of
Matsukawa castle, but was again
challenged by Banzo to another
duel, with swords drawn. After
many insults, some better than
others, Yurou accepted and
demanded the duel would be
held after the current challenge. Banzo accepted those
terms.
After Banzo duelled
Suzume Natsumi, and killed
her in her outburst, Banzo approached Yurou and forfeit their
second duel. Yurou accepted and
told him that one day he hoped they
would meet again, and that nothing would stop
their duel then.
First Appearance
Winter Court 3: Of Swords and Honour
Later Appearances
Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune
Ikoma Kohaku
A famous playwright, Kohaku is also a ruthless rumourmonger who will spread any rumour regardless of its value. He does come in handy
however, as he often knows things the
Magistrates would have a hard time
finding out by themselves. He has
also shown unwelcomed interest
in the Magistrates, specifically
their physique and “handsome faces”.
First Appearance
Winter Court 2: Love and
Death
Matsu Akemi
Akemi is a warrior of the
Matsu family of the Lion Clan. She
is also the servant of Akodo Daiki, the
Akodo daimyo. She is a formidable foe on
the battlefield, but less able in a formal duel. She duelled Kojiro in the duelling challenge during Winter
Court at Matsukawa castle, and was distracted by his
handsome face and seductions. She lost the duel.
First Appearance
Winter Court 3: Of Swords and Honour
Mantis Clan
Tsuruchi Naomi
Naomi is a provincial governess from the
Mantis Clan. Her family is known for excellent archery. Little is known about
Naomi, except that her poetry
seemed to indicate some hatred towards Akodo Daiki during the
poetry contest.
First Appearance
Winter Court 2: Love and
Death
Yoritomo Mato
Yoritomo Mato is the
brother of Otomo Ryuunosuke,
Otomo Ishida’s son-in-law. Mato
is a known strategist, and the father
of the Yoritomo Nine Sons, all recognized
samurai. One of them is said to have a head of iron.
Mato’s assassin was used in the attempt to
murder the Empress’s son, Iweko Kichirou. Despite
the Magistrates’ efforts, they could not get Mato to
actually admit to the crime. Tateno accused Ryuunosuke of trying to kill Kichirou and challenged him to
a duel. Ryuunosuke accepted, and nominated Mato
as his champion. Tateno fought Mato in the duel, and
killed him in a single strike.
First Appearance
Winter Court 2: Love and Death
Yoritomo Yatsuki
Yatsuki is unofficially in control of the merchant district of
Minatomachi. He is a valued
member of the Mantis clan
and is a business man first and
foremost. He runs a geisha
house in Minatomachi, which
at night is the local gambling
house and a whore house. He
offers his customers any sort of
geisha for their amusement, and
even has a ratling in his employ
for such occasions. Yatsuki also owns
some ships that he uses for his business of
import and export, and even gave one such ship to
the Magistrates.
Yatsuki was accused of serious crimes by the
assassin known as Genma. Although he denied everything, the matter was dealt with through a duel, in
which Tateno acted on Yatsuki’s behalf.
First Appearance
The Smell of Rat
Phoenix Clan
Isawa Midori
Isawa Midori is the current
Jade Champion. She was impressed
by Raizen and so she invited him to
join her to the Winter Court. Midori also assigned the Magistrates
the mission of intercepting Ema, the
maho-tsukai.
Midori also asked the Mag-
istrates to assist in searching for the box
they brought with Ema. Shortly later,
Midori was fooled by Komori Rei,
who then stabbed Midori in the back
with a wakizashi in front of Kitsune
Oda.
First Appearance
Winter Court 1: the Hunt
Later Appearances
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
Scorpion Clan
Bayushi Takahiro
Bayushi Takahiro is a Scorpion clan magistrate who has shown great interest in and much
admiration for the Kitsuki method of investigation. He is friendly to Raidou
and wishes to learn from him, although teaching him the secret
technique of Kitsuki without
permission is a capital crime.
Takahiro has expressed his
disappointment in the Empire’s legal system, and has
suggested to Raidou that the
Kitsuki could be the best solution to the problem.
Takahiro offered Raidou to attend with him to the
Winter Court at Matsukawa-jo.
Takahiro also came to Banzo
during the Winter Court and told him about
some rumours regarding him and Ikoma Kohaku,
and about Kitsuki Raidou and Suzume Natsumi. He
also pointed out to Raidou that it might be a good
idea to look into Iweko Kichirou’s servant. He might
hold some answers to the murder attempt against
Kichirou.
Takahiro told Raidou that he was a member
of a secret police in the employment of the Empress,
called the Shadow Magistrates. He also offered Raidou to join, which Raidou accepted.
When Raidou asked Takahiro more
about the Shadow Magistrates,
Takahiro explained that they remained hidden because the Empress could not openly tell
everyone that she had been
working on changing law and
order in the Empire, since that might
cause the Great Clans to rebel
against her. He also explained
that he did not know who were
controlling the Shadow Magistrates, since he only knew his direct supervisor.
First Appearance
The Report
Later Appearances
Winter Court 1: the Hunt
Winter Court 2: Love and Death
Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
Unicorn Clan
Ide Mao
Mao was the Unicorn diplomat that the Crab Clan needed to
silence in order to make sure the
alliance between the Crab and
Unicorn would be sealed. In order to do so, Banzo assassinated
her in secret during the night
by stabbing her in the neck.
First Appearance
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
Moto Yao-Han
Yao-Han is a Unicorn samurai who Tateno
met at gambling. He is also the samurai who
performed the worst poem in the poetry
contest, thus setting the bar for everyone else to beat. Most recently, he challenged Banzo to a duel, and although
Banzo wanted the fight to be to the
death, they agreed it would be until
either yielded.
When the day came when
Banzo and Yao-Han would duel, Banzo had been ordered not to kill or cripple Yao-Han. Since he could not imagine
himself trying to win by any possible means,
Banzo faked being poisoned and rescheduled. They
agreed that during spring, more than a year later, YaoHan would visit Banzo and they would duel then.
First Appearance
Winter Court 2: Love and Death
Bat Clan
Komori Rei
Komori Rei is a Jade Magistrate, hailing from
the Bat Clan, a Minor Clan known for their shugenjas, but not much else. She is one of the Jade Magistrates who went to Miyado-cho by the order of the
Jade Champion, to investigate the Magistrates’ claim
of a maho-tsukai hiding there. She was unable to apprehend Ema, but managed to find out that she was
heading towards Matsukawa-jo Castle, where the
Winter Court is being held.
During the zombie assault on Matsukawa castle, it became apparent that Komori is a traitor who
was working with Ema. Oda killed her for it.
First Appearance
Winter Court 1: the Hunt
Later Appearances
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
Sparrow Clan
Suzume Natsumi
Natsumi is a young samurai-ko of the Sparrow Clan. She and her father were invited to the Winter Court, and she is rumoured to be looking for a
husband among the many samurai at Matsukawa castle.
She offered to perform a divination for Banzo,
who agreed but sent Raidou in his stead. When he
tried to apologize by asking for a divination, she did
perform it, but was insulted when Tesshu told her
that Banzo didn’t put any faith into divinations.
During the duelling contest, Natsumi duelled
Banzo. She wanted to make him pay for his insults,
and when she got to strike first she tried to cut off his
left arm. After striking, Banzo told her that she was
an excellent duellist and could possibly have hurt him
if she had been trying. Enraged by how feeble Banzo
made her look, she attacked again and cut him. He
struck simultaneously and his blow was lethal. In one
swing, Banzo killed this young samurai-ko from the
Sparrow Clan.
First Appearance
Winter Court 2: Love and Death
Later Appearances
Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune
Suzume Shin
Shin was an Emerald Magistrate and the father of Suzume Natsumi, who Banzo killed during
her outburst after she duelled him in the duelling
contest at the Winter Court at Matsukawa castle. Enraged and grieving after seeing his daughter killed,
Shin promised that Banzo would pay for this.
While the Unicorn diplomat was being murdered, Shin was drinking his worries away and was
found behind the sake storage house by the Magistrates. After sleeping it off, the Magistrates tried to
ask him a few questions but he was rude and tried to
attack and kill Banzo. Their official duel to the death
was stopped by Hida Yuudai and Otomo Ishida, and
Yuudai tried to offer him compensation for the loss of
his daughter. It is unknown how well that turned out.
First Appearance
Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune
Later Appearances
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
Imperial Families
Iweko Inoe
Iweko Inoe is the oldest daughter of Empress
Iweko I and holds the prestige position of the Imperial Herald. Inoe listened to the Magistrates’ report,
and is now the proud owner of the Kitsuki Sweets,
given to her by Kitsuki Raidou.
First Appearance
The Report
Iweko Kichirou
Kichirou is the Empress’s youngest son who
the Magistrates meet at Otomo’s Winter Court at
Matsukawa castle. He is a gambler, as Tateno found
out when they met gambling at the geisha house.
There was an attempt at Kichirou’s life one night,
when there was an attempt to poison him. Luckily
(for him), his servant stole a sip from the poisoned
sake and was killed. The Magistrates investigate the
source of the poison.
Kichirou is rumoured to be a ladies man, and
it is said that he has romantic relationships with at
least three women at court: Seppun Kimiko, Miya
Hotaru-no-hime (whom the Magistrates have prior
met), and Otomo Hinata, who is married to Otomo
Ryuunosuke.
First Appearance
Winter Court 2: Love and Death
Miya Hotaru-no-hime
Miya Hotaru-no-hime is the daughter of Miya
Ota, and a herald in the Empire’s service. She met the
Magistrates when they reached shore and relayed to
them her father’s offer of hospitality. She also became
Banzo’s target for marriage, for a short while, in order
for a political gain. She supports her father, and honours her family name.
First Appearance
Tree of Life
Miya Ota
Miya Ota is a well-respected member of the
Miya imperial family. He is the governor of Miyadocho and has a daughter, Miya Hotaru-no-hime who
serves as a herald for the Empress. His ability to gov-
ern the town of Miyado-cho was challenged when a
group of citizens disappeared, one at a time. He asked
the Magistrates to help him solve the matter quickly
and quietly, and in return offered his hospitality and
even offered them to Winter Court at his estate.
When they returned with Ema, possibly the
most respected member of Miyado-cho’s community
and the town’s medic, Ota was certain that the Magistrates had made an error. When they insisted, Ota
got angry and insulted, and ordered the Magistrates
to leave his estate immediately. Although it was not
said, it is safe to assume the Magistrates will not be
welcome to Miya Ota’s Winter Court.
First Appearance
Tree of Life
Otomo Ishida
Otomo Ishida is the host of the Winter Court
at Matsukawa-jo Castle. He is known to have three
daughters, all married save for the youngest, and one
son. He also intends to hold a competition during the
Winter Court, which is supposed to test the skills that
he thinks are the most important and honourable for
a samurai to have.
Ishida was also gravely insulted by Raidou’s
attempt at deception, but forgave this “slight” in front
of his guests so that he would appear more honourable.
When there’s an attempted murder of the
Empress’s youngest son in Ishida’s home, he asks
the Magistrates to investigate the matter, but to do
so quickly and quietly so that it will not disturb the
other guests.
Which the Magistrates failed to do when they
called out in the night that an assassin was on the
loose. Ishida was not happy about it, and he was not
silent about his displeasure towards the Magistrates.
During the duelling contest, Ishida summons
everyone to gather so that he can show off a gift from
his remaining son-in-law, Otomo Shitimata, a prestigious vase by a prestigious potter from the Phoenix
Clan. He also feels sympathy for Banzo, who he now
believes is cursed.
Ishida is about to present the winners of the
Winter Court competition when Ema begins her assault on Matsukawa castle.
First Appearance
Winter Court 1: the Hunt
Later Appearances
Winter Court 2: Love and Death
Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
Otomo Manami
Manami is Otomo Ishida’s second daughter,
and married to Otomo Shitimata. She is also a skilled
duellist and soldier, and attended the Seppun school
rather than the Otomo school. She won Kitsuki Raidou in the duelling challenge of her father’s competition.
First Appearance
Winter Court 3: Of Swords and Honour
Otomo Ren
Ren is the youngest daughter of Otomo Ishida, the host of the Winter Court at Matsukawa castle.
It is presumed by many that the contest that Ishida
is holding at the Winter Court is for Ishida to find a
suitable husband for Ren.
Bayushi Kojiro found out from the geishas
at Matsukawa that Ren had appeared sad for many
years, even depressed, but no one knows why. Kojiro
met her by the lake in the courtyard and found out
that she wants her brother dead, but not why.
After yet another walk, Kojiro asked Ren if
she wanted him to win the competition and thus win
her father’s favour. She said yes, effectively accepting
the possibility that they were to get married.
During the zombie assault on Matsukawa
castle, Kojiro made sure that Ren would be safe by
ordering his attendant to escort her out of the castle if
things would turn too dangerous.
First Appearance
Winter Court 2: Love and Death
Later Appearances
Winter Court 4: Bad Fortune
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
Otomo Ryuunosuke
Ryuunosuke is the husband of Otomo Ishida’s
second daughter, Hinata. He married into the Otomo
family from the Mantis Clan, and his brother, Yoritomo Mato, was attending Winter Court as well. Kakita
Tateno accused him of trying to murder the Empress’s
youngest son, Iweko Kichirou, and challenged him to
a duel. Ryuunosuke’s brother fought in his stead, but
lost. Ryuunosuke admitted his crimes, that he had
found out that Hinata was sleeping with Kichirou and
that he had asked for Mato’s assassin to kill Kichirou.
The Empress’s son did not find that amusing, denied
Ryuunosuke to perform seppuku and sentenced him
to be tortured until death.
First Appearance
Winter Court 2: Love and Death
the Others
Ema
Ema is the maho-tsukai who terrorized the
town of Miyado-cho. As a respected woman of medicine in the town, she snuck poison into the medicine
she administered so that they would come to her in a
hypnotic state. She would then feed them to the tree
which was, pretty much, worshiped by the town.
Her crimes were put to a sudden halt when
the Magistrates were recruited to investigate the disappearances and found her out. They had followed
her most recent victim, and she was forced to summon forth the living dead from underneath the tree
she was feeding. The zombies were defeated however, and the Magistrates captured Ema. When they
brought her to face Miya Ota’s justice, she managed to
convince Ota of her innocence, and Ota let her free.
The Magistrates were enraged by this decision, and
have earned the enmity of Ema, the bloodmage.
The Magistrates later confronted her when
she was travelling towards Matsukawa-jo Castle. She
had already attacked a monastery and stolen something believed to have belonged to a former mahotsukai who had settled down as a monk there, many,
many, many years ago. She used dark magic to hide
herself from the Magistrates during their attack, but
it did not save her from their blades and fists. The
Magistrates managed to kill her in the attack, and
brought her corpse back to Matsukawa-jo for cremation.
During the assault on Matsukawa castle, it
became apparent that Ema had somehow cheated
death, and had orchestrated the assault. She had also
summoned an oni and undead revenants (using the
bodies of Otomo Ryuunosuke and Yoritomo Mato).
During this final fight, Banzo killed Ema and made
sure that she’d stay dead by removing her head.
First Appearance
Tree of Life
Later Appearances
Winter Court 1: the Hunt
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
Genma
Believed to be Mirumoto Genma, a samurai
of the Dragon clan who betrayed his lord and believed to be dead. Genma travelled with a group of 13
ronin until he was captured by the Magistrates and
forced to act as their bodyguard. He first appeared in
Minatomachi, where he suspected Yoritomo Yatsuki
to be a criminal who needed to be dealt with. It was
Genma’s intention to kill Yatsuki, thus ending his suspected reign of terror.
The Magistrates were asked to deal with the
matter, and they managed to convince Genma to
fight in a duel that would solve the matter. If he would
win, they would arrest Yatsuki for his crimes. However, Tateno fought on behalf of Yatsuki and won, thus
ending the accusations. Furthermore, Genma would
serve the Magistrates and his team of ronin were disbanded but otherwise left unharmed.
Genma can be recognized by his daisho,
which are beautifully decorated with dragon heads
on the end of the hilts.
When the Magistrates were fighting Ema in
Miyado-cho, Genma reluctantly struck Ema down,
but did not kill her.
While the Magistrates were giving their report
at Toshi Ranbo, Genma waited outside the city so that
he would not be recognized as Mirumoto Genma.
When the Magistrates were ordered to hunt
down and intercept Ema on her way towards Matsukawa-jo Castle, where the Winter Court is being held,
Genma went with them. Although he stayed silent
most of the way, he did strike the final blow against
one of Ema’s zombies.
During the archery challenge at the Winter
Court contest, the Magistrates find out that Genma
served Mirumoto Hideki, and supposedly took some
of his men without permission to a fight against a
group of bandits. Genma supposedly died that day,
along with all the soldiers he took, and was branded a
dishonourable dog.
During the duelling challenge of Ishida’s
competition at Winter Court, Genma killed one of
Hideki’s guards in an attempt to kill Hideki himself.
After some interrogations, the Magistrates find out
that Genma believed Hideki had betrayed him into
attacking the bandits in a suicide attack. However,
Hideki does not recognize this Genma, and it is revealed that Genma’s real name was Bakano Dagato.
Dagato was one of Genma’s subordinates in the attack
on the bandits, and the sole survivor. Genma told
them that Hideki had ordered the attack, but Hideki
denied ever having done that. Dagato is executed for
his crimes, and Hideki allows Genma’s daisho to be
passed on to his child.
First Appearance
The Smell of Rat
Later Appearances
Tree of Life
The Report
Winter Court 1: the Hunt
Winter Court 3: Of Swords and Honour
Katsurou
This man is the leader of a group of bandits
that was hired as mercenaries by Urashima Keitaro to
save his daughter from an Ogre. Katsurou has never
been seen by the Magistrates without his mask, and
in truth, nobody outside his band of criminals knows
what hides underneath it. He can be recognized by
his mask as well as his weapon, a bisento (L5R, p.
202). He demands great respect and loyalty from his
followers, enough to keep up appearances as a mercenary leader as opposed to a bandit leader.
The Magistrates first met him in front of the
Ogre’s lair near Hotei, where he was planning how
best to approach the beast. When he wouldn’t take
orders from the Magistrates, or anyone who wasn’t
paying him, he demanded 100 koku before leading
the rest of his men, or going alone with the Magistrates, into the lair. Tension rose and at least once did
things come close to a fight between the Magistrates
and Katsurou’s group. In the end, Katsurou was sent
away without any pay from either the Magistrates or
the village.
The Magistrates had another run-in with Katsurou in the Merchant District of Minatomachi. Katsurou’s archer shot down a guard in front of the Magistrates, who followed the archer. Only Raidou stayed
behind in order to help the guard who was badly hurt
by the arrow. When the Magistrates caught up with
the archer, they were ambushed by a small group of
bandits. It was not until they had defeated the bandits that the Magistrates found out that they had been
tricked. While they fought the small group of bandits,
a larger group and Katsurou himself ambushed Raidou. Raidou fought honourably to protect the guard,
but he was no match for Katsurou by himself. It was
not until Katsurou had defeated Raidou that the other Magistrates returned, killed the bandits and sent
Katsurou running.
First Appearance
Beast of Hotei
Later Appearances
The Smell of Rat
Poko the dog
Poko is a dog belonging to Daidoji Aiko, the
Daidoji daimyo’s daughter. He is small enough to
hold in your hands, is unfriendly towards Kojiro but
friendly towards Banzo and Kitsune Oda, and appears to be the best witness to the murders that took
place at the Winter Court at Matsukawa castle. At a
closer inspection, knowing a thing or two about the
spirit worlds, Kitsune Oda found out that Poko is no
ordinary dog.
The Magistrates later found out that Poko is
in fact a shape shifter. They also found out that Poko
paid unhealthy attention to women, notably naked
ones. They also found out that the reason Poko didn’t
like Kojiro because he was seducing his owner.
First Appearance
Winter Court 5: Courtly Disaster
Ryoden
Ryoden is the elderly monk which Tesshu
met in the temple in Toshi Ranbo. Although old and
physically weak, Ryoden’s age is followed by great
wisdom. At the time of meeting him at the temple,
not much was known about Ryoden, and he did not
even tell Tesshu his name until later.
Ryoden agreed to teach Tesshu, but would not
do it at the temple. He requested that Tesshu accompanied him to the Winter Court at Matsukawa castle.
First Appearance
The Report
The Urashimas
Urashima Keitaro was the chief of the village
Hotei. An older man nearing his 50s, his daughter
had been taken by an Ogre. He asked for the Magistrates’ help in getting her back, since he was filling
with doubt whether the mercenaries he had hired
were actually trying or whether they would succeed.
He accompanied the Magistrates into the Ogre’s lair
but died when the Ogre ambushed them.
Kitara is Keitaro’s daughter. She was kidnapped by an Ogre and brought to its lair where she
was kept for three days before being saved by the
Magistrates. She witnessed the death of her father,
which has caused her great deal of grief.
Such is her grief that she hardly talks anymore. This has caused Kashima some concerns, and
without the position of the village chief, he is not able
to give his sister the proper care she needs.
Kashima is Keitaro’s son and Kitara’s brother.
He was also the first choice of the Magistrates to accompany them into the beast’s lair, but Keitaro convinced them to let Kashima stay behind. After Keitaro’s death, the Magistrates brought the chief ’s swords
to Kashima.
After the events at Hotei, another chief was
assigned and Kashima and his sister were forced to
find another way to stay alive. Kashima joined the
service of Kakita Osamu.
During the Winter Court at Matsukawa castle, Kashima approached the Magistrates for help to
compete in the competition. He needed the Magistrates to convince his new master to allow him to
compete. He hopes to impress Daidoji Yamato, the
Daidoji daimyo, and marry his daughter. He hopes
that will ensure that both he and his sister will live a
good life.
First Appearance
Beast of Hotei
Later Appearances
Winter Court 2: Love and Death (Kashima only)
Yumi
Yumi is one of Doji Motome’s favoured serv-
ants and the bastard daughter of Doji Yutaka. She is
also believed to have murdered Hida Azura while defending herself against his sexual assault. When she
was first questioned about the murder, she admitted
she knew who the killer was but was afraid that she
would be killed if she told anyone, and that no protection offered by the Magistrates would save her. She
did say that the killer was a member of the Cranes.
The second time she was questioned, this
time by Tesshu alone, she confessed to the crime of
murdering Azura. However, when asked if she had
any blood relations to any of the great families of the
Crane, she asked that the Magistrates would not tell
anyone. When they said they could not do that, she
claimed to have no blood relations to the Crane. The
Magistrates got the truth, however, from her mistress
and found out that she was the bastard child of Yutaka. Her crime is punishable by death, but the Magistrates created a story that would “solve” the crime
without any further bloodshed.
First Appearance
Dead Crab in Crane’s Nest
Minor NPCs
The players met many different characters
during the campaign, but there were plenty more
who were prepared but never got introduced. For
example, there were over 60 NPCs prepared for the
Winter Court, but there are less than 40 NPCs listed
above. This last section of this chapter lists all the
NPCs that the characters could have met, had they
taken another approach to their adventures, such as
helping certain characters they otherwise ignored.
Admittedly, some of these NPCs only had
names and a very basic backstory, and the players did
meet some of them, although only briefly. More importantly, this section is mostly just for me to include
these NPCs somewhere. I hate feeling like they went
to waste.
Doji Shota
The players never met him but he was the guy
who was officially in charge of the harbour town Minatomachi. Although they propably wouldn’t have
gotten much help from him, it surprised me that the
players didn’t try to get help from the guy in charge.
Daidoji Mojirou
A veteran general stationed in Seawatch Castle, which Minatomachi was located near. He had a
military force, which I expected the players to try
to gain command over to stop Genma. He was also
tainted, and it would have been the first time the
players met Ema as his treacherous wife.
Tsch’tsch
A ratling who was trying to free his brothers and sisters from Yatsuki’s slavery. Tesshu actually
witnessed him being captured but decided not to intervene. For that reason, Tsch’tsch could not get the
players help and Yatsuki used the ratlings to take over
Minatomachi, thus fuelling the coming civil war.
Ausger
A gaijin who originally was supposed to serve
Tsch’tsch’s purpose of trying to free slaves later used
to take over the town. Ausger came from a far away
island (mentioned in the 7th Sea RPG) and spoke
a completely different language from the players. It
would allow me to speak Icelandic at the table and
cause some linguistic barriers in the game, which I
thought would be fun. He was removed before the
PCs reached Minatomachi, however.
Winter Court
The following are the guests at the Winter
Court who never got a page of their own on the website. They are put in the same order as the above list,
starting with the Crabs and ending with everyone
who does not officially belong to any notable family.
Kuni Futake
He was a witch-hunter who also served as
Hida Yuudai’s bodyguard and adviser. He was ruthless and proud of having never lost his ‘prey’.
man of war and not peace, so the civil war did excite
him quite a bit.
Kakita Izumi
Moto Ling
Izumi was Kakita Osamu’s unfaithful wife.
She was having an affair with Doji Yutaka.
Daidoji Yamato
The Daidoji daimyo and father of Daidoji
Aiko. His nephew was Daidoji Shota, who ran Minatomachi.
Asahina Chou
Daughter of Asahina Tomoe. She was supposed to be married to Akodo Yurou, but there were
complications to her mother’s plans.
Kitsuki Noburu
Son of the Kitsuki daimyo, Kitsuki Ryujin. He
was also a gambler.
Mirumoto Aoi
The wife of Mirumoto Hideki. She was loyal
to him and would support him no matter what he
claimed.
Mirumoto Akemi
The daughter of Mirumoto Hideki and Aoi,
and the youngest guest at the Winter Court. She was
only 8 years old. Her purpose was to add a child into
the mix.
Akodo Daiki
The Akodo daimyo and father of Akodo Yurou. He wanted his son to marry Otomo Ren.
Shosuro Yori & Yuri
Wife of Yao-Xung. A good fighter and a member of the Unicorn cavalry unit. She was as deadly
with her tongue as she was with a lance.
Otomo Shitimata
Once Asako Shitimata, he married into the
Otomo family and took the imperial name. He suspected that his wife (Manami) was having an affair,
but didn’t mind as his marriage was a political one.
Also corrupted by the Taint, and was a whole plot
hook by himself as he intended to assassinate the Empress and become Emperor. Not very sane either.
Otomo Hinata
Otomo Ishida’s second daughter and was
married to Otomo Ryuunosuke. She had been having
a secret affair with Iweko Kichirou for a while, but it
wasn’t secret enough and her husband found out. She
was the reason Ryuunosuke tried to have Kichirou
assassinated.
Otomo Takeshi
Otomo Ishida’s only son. Takeshi was a coward with a good politacal standing, but he had been
abusing his sister Ren for a few years. He was also a
gambler and a drunk.
Seppun Kimiko
Kimiko was a notable military comander who
had a romantic relationship with Iweko Kichirou.
That relationship was mostly political, however, as
she was truly in love with Otomo Manami (and they
had a secret relationship).
Spies for the Scorpion Clan, Yori and Yuri
were twins (Yori was the brother, Yuri was the sister).
Both of them answered to Bayushi Takahiro and fed
him information that he would otherwise not have
known.
Seppun Ieyasu
Moto Yao-Xung
Ichiro Family
Father of Moto Yao-Han. Yao-Xung was a
Kimiko’s uncle, Ishida’s good friend, and the
Imperial Treasurer. With such a notable station, rumours about why he wasn’t at the Empress’s Winter
Court were bound to surface.
The Badger Clan had several members visit-
ing the Winter Court. None of them appeared in the
adventures.
Ichiro Kazuo was the Badger Clan Champion,
and as military minded as Yao-Xung.
Ichiro Chinatsu was Clan Magistrate and Kazuo’s wife. Just as violent.
Ichiro Hotaka was Kazuo’s son and as violent
as his father.
Ichiro Riku was Kazuo’s adviser and unlike
him and his family in many ways. He was there to
make sure that Kazuo’s brood wouldn’t do anything
stupid.
Ujina Keiho
Keiho was Shitimata’s adviser and a member
of the Hare Clan. He acted, in a way, as a liason between the Otomo and the Hare Clan. His real name,
however, was Daigotsu Keiho and he was a member
of the Spider Clan. It was he who had corrupted Shitimata with the Taint, and was convincing him to assassinate the Empress.
Danbo
about Kichirou’s habit of seducing women. She was
planning on becoming an actress in one of Ikoma Kohaku’s plays.
Nichigo Kenta
Kenta was the chief of Matsukawa castle’s
guards. He received respect from the other guards.
Itachi Miu
Miu was the wife of the blacksmith who became a victim to Komori Rei. The PCs convinced her
to share with them everything she knew about the
murders. Although she was a servant in the stories,
her original position was in charge of the castle’s stables.
Itachi Takuma
The chief blacksmith of Matsukawa castle.
He was murdered by Komori Rei. Originally, the PCs
were meant to meet him at least once or twice before
he was killed.
The players actually did meet Danbo once,
for a short while. Danbo was Yoritomo Mato’s secret
assassin and master of disguise. He pretended to be
blind so that others wouldn’t suspect him of being a
killer. Banzo killed him when Danbo made a second
attempt at killing Iweko Kichirou.
Mago
Atsuko
Inari Hana
Kojiro met this woman once. She was the geisha who Kojiro met in the geisha house. She told him
Mago was the name of the castle’s eta. The PCs
did meet him on several occasions. He was found out
to be a traitor who helped Komori Rei and Ema to
collect the bodies they needed to assault the castle
from within.
Hana was the chief attendant at Matsukawa
castle and in charge of all the servants.
Chapter IV:
GM’s Notes
(aka. Secrets Revealed)
As a GM, it is assumed I make a lot of plans
for my games. I do make many plans, but I am always
open to change my plans to fit the actions and expectations of the players.
Truth is, I plan a lot less ahead than a lot of
people think. NPCs change, events I had planned
turn out different, and so forth. I have basic ideas of
what I want to happen, then I see how things turn
out.
The players are often the source of these
changes. Ema was supposed to appear in Minatomachi, but they never went to where she was. The
players sometimes say something that give me a brilliant idea. Effectively, I try to make the players take as
much part in making the plot as I do, even when they
don’t know about it.
I did make some planning, though, and in
this chapter I will share with you some of the ideas
I had for the future, as well as some ideas I already
had in motion. There are also some things the players
didn’t know about, or care about, that I will explain
here.
Yumi’s Mother
Originally, Yumi was only supposed to be a
favoured servant of Doji Motome, but when the players started suspecting that she was something more,
I decided that would make a more interesting story
in the long run and made her the bastard daughter of
Doji Yutaka, Motome’s husband.
Rightfully, the players started wondering
why this was kept a secret. They doubted that Yutaka
would be ashamed to having had an affair. There were
two reasons I came up with for keeping this fact of
Yutaka’s affair a secret. First of all, this would be an
embarrashment for Motome, to have her husband
seek the pleasures of other women. However, Yumi
was Motome’s personal, and favoured, servant, so this
didn’t look very likely.
The second reason, and the one that provided
more plot, was that Yutaka was not ashamed of having a daughter out of wedlock, but rather that he was
ashamed of whom he had this daughter with. The
plan was that Yumi’s mother was a bloodmage (Ema
in this case) or something even worse. What if she
was the daughter of an oni or another demonic creature? Unfortunately, this was never explored.
Tsch’tsch
The idea with Tsch’tsch was to introduce unhuman creatures into the game. If the players had
helped Tsch’tsch, they would have earned an ally, and
introduced them to ratlings.
Poisoning Raidou
During The Smell of Rat, Raidou was badly
injured and needed medical attention. When he woke
up, he was getting that attention from a geisha with
red hair. This geisha attempted to give him what she
called medicine, but Raidou suspected it might be
poison and refused. The geisha escaped, but Raidou
could never figure out was sort of ‘medicine’ she had
been trying to give him.
The truth is now revealed. The geisha was in
fact a kitsune trickster who was seeking someone to
father her child. She admired Raidou’s courage in
protecting a guard with his life, and figured she had
found the perfect candidate. The ‘medicine’ was in
fact a sleeping drug meant to keep Raidou unconscious while he fathered her child. Much later, the
child would be handed over to Raidou for safe-keeping and would become a target for many predators
who wanted the child for themselves. Her plans were
foiled, however, and the game never reached that far
anyway.
The Ogre
In Hotei, the players slayed an Ogre. They did
question how the Ogre could have gotten there, and
rightfully connected Katsurou to it. The fact was that
Katsurou had smuggled the Ogre over the Kaiju Wall
in order to have it terrorize villages and then swoop
in and save the day (and getting the rewards).
Included in this was a certain question: How
did he manage to smuggle the beast over the wall?
The answer was bribery and corruption among the
Crab Clan. It never got explored, however.
Who was Ryoden?
Can’t remember if this ever got answered. Ryoden was a monk who had served the Empress from
the start of her reign up until now as her personal
adviser. Ryoden was a monk but highly respected by
those who knew him.
The fact that Tesshu convinced him to be
Tesshu’s new master meant that Tesshu had unwit-
tedly gotten a lot more renown than expected.
The Shadow Magistrates
There never was any such thing as the Shadow
Magistrates in the employment of the Empire. Takahiro was in fact a member of the Kolat that was attempting to recruit Raidou. Takahiro used the ruse of
the Shadow Empire as a ruse to make Raidou think
that he was being recruited into a different service to
the Empire. He would then reveal that the biggest obstacle in remaking the Empire’s legal system was the
Empire itself. Whether or not this would have worked
was never tested.
Hida Yuudai’s Agenda
Speaking of the Kolat, Yuudai was a member.
In fact, he was a member of the Kolat’s inner circle,
giving him great pull in the organization.
He did not share the Kolat’s views, however,
and had only joined during it being rebuilt so that he
could use it to further his own plans in the future. He
planned on tricking the inner circle to convene at a
certain location where he would then direct the Crab
to crush the Kolat. He would then use that event to
get closer to becoming the new Emperor.
Depending on whether or not the players
would intervene or if they would help, Yuudai would
become Emperor Yuudai I. After that, he would set in
motion his plan of becoming an imortal.
Becoming immortal required a powerful
maho spell that would be cast in secret. Yuudai would
make the players attain the sacrifice needed to cast
the spell, only for the players to find out that the spell
was of the dark arts and would turn Yuudai into an
oni (Yuudai didn’t know about that last bit and would
not believe the players if they’d share this info). The
players would then have to choose whether or not
they’d kill the Emperor or let the Empire be ruled by
an oni.
Oh, and the sacrifice needed for the spell?
Yumi, the daughter of either an oni or a bloodmage.
Kurui’s Madness
Up until the end, I never told the players what
happened to Kurui. They didn’t ask either, since the
player simply left. They didn’t need to know anything
else.
The plan was for Kurui to return from a spe-
cial mission involving the Jade Magistrates searching for an artefact from the Shadowlands called Fu
Long’s Eye. Kurui was very much interested in learning about the Shadowlands, and would have taken
the Eye and replaced his own with it.
In effect, Kurui was going to become the big
bad evil that the players would have to deal with. Kurui would value the players, however, especially those
he worked with originally, and would warn them of
his coming. He was supposed to be the main villain
of the entire campaign, powerful enough to lead the
Shadowlands into the Emerald Empire and possibly
crush the Emperor.
men’s safety. Kojiro was correct, however, and Hideki
was in his right to do so, but Genma was supposed to
test the morality of the players against the social conventions of the setting. The even broke Genma’s mind
and he became an assassin who targeted criminals.
Later I thought it was a good idea that Genma
had actually died in the mission, and that a fanatic soldier was carrying on Genma’s name. It was not until
Winter Court had already started that I decided that
Genma had disobeyed his lord and taken the soldiers
into battle, but the impersonater had believed all this
time that it had been Hideki who gave the order and
declared Genma a dishonourable ronin afterwards.
The Spider Clan
Kashima’s Tragedy
As mentioned in the NPC chapter, there was
a secret agent of the Spider Clan at the Winter Court.
Daigotsu Keiho was corrupting Otomo Shitimata and
driving him to insanity so that Shitimata would find
the idea of assassinating the Empress to be a good
one.
The players never explored Shitimata, however, which is a good thing by itsels since we really did
not have time for another plot line. Keiho was supposed to introduce the players to the Spider Clan.
Genma
The players did find the truth about Genma,
but I thought I should mentioned all the changes that
Genma underwent before reaching his end.
Originally, Genma was who he said he was,
and was even correct about Mirumoto Hideki sending him to his death with no regard for his or his
The players already knew that Urashima
Kashima was trying to get married to Daidoji Aiko in
order to support his sister after she suffered the horrifying experience of being kidnapped by an Ogre and
witnessing her father being killed.
Should Kashima’s plan have worked, the players would later be given the order to deliver Kashima
as a prisoner to Aiko’s father. The reason for this was
that Kashima had murdered Aiko. The players would
learn that Aiko had not liked that Kashima would put
his sister before Aiko, and have one of her servants
disgrace his sister. Urashima Kitara would then kill
herself, and when Kashima would find out why he
would become enraged and kill Aiko.
The idea was to make the players deliver a
friend to be executed, and see how they would react
to him pleading to be let go.
Epilogue
After our last session, I presented the players
with a sort of an Epilogue. This included what I had
planned to happen should the campaign have continued, but also what happened to their characters after
the Winter Court. This is the Epilogue, or most of it
anyway.
After the Winter Court came the Civil War.
The Civil War would last for a certain many years, but
would mostly be skipped over for the game. I did plan
for the players to play through a couple of the major
battles, just to introduce them to the Mass Combat
rules (and to give them the sense that their characters partook in a massive battle they could talk about
years later in game time).
The Crane Clan (and allied Clans) would
retake Minatomachi from the Mantis Clan in what
would later be known as the Battle for Minatomachi.
The idea was to give the players a chance to kill Yoritomo Yatsuki, who was rather rude to the players
when they were there. Other battles were planned,
although none of them had any ties with previous
events.
Banzo had his duel with Moto Yao-Han, and
neither killed the other, but both became good friends
and allies. After the war, Banzo would be sent to the
Kaiju Wall, but his service would give him much respect and status.
Raidou joined the Kolat and after Yuudai betrayed and crushed it, Raidou would rebuild it and
become one of its inner circle members. Raidou
would also deliver Genma’s swords as promised. His
Taint would eventually drive him mad, if a Jade Magistrate wouldn’t find him first.
Kojiro married Otomo Ren, presumably
changing his name to Otomo Kojiro. He would never
forget his lost love, however, and remained with the
Emerald Magistrates until such time when he’d take
on a more political employment.
Kitsune Oda continued his work as a Jade
Magistrate and became a zealous witch-hunter. It
would only be a question when Oda would find out
that Raidou was Tainted, and more important question would be how Oda would react to it.
Kakita Tateno fought in the Battle for Minatomachi and killed Yoritomo Yatsuki. His gambling
debt never stopped haunting him, however.
Tesshu followed in his master’s footsteps and
became the Empress’s adviser until Yuudai killed the
Iweko family and became the new Emperor.
This is how the story ends. I hope you enjoyed
it as much as I did.