PDA

View Full Version : L5R: The Silk Scabbard



Scubasteve0209
2007-02-07, 02:37 AM
Okay, I've been playing an on again off again game of L5R for a fair number of months now. I'm still a fledgling L5R player, so a lot of things are lost on me. Hopefully the well versed folks of this board can fill me in on some finer points, but first, the back story. The Adventure to date has consisted of adventuring in the shadow plane created in the wake of lady Moon naming the shadow (this was created by the GM, not canon).

Long story exceedingly short, Three Samurai: A lion (a brash Ikoma), a dragon (an unlucky Miramoto), and a crab (a morally ambiguous Hiruma, my charater), ended up doing Hitomi a favor by collecting a sword "Lord Moon's Bone" from the aforementioned shadow realm. We were rewarded with a stint in Yomi, and a variety of goodies (The lion recieved Yomi Armor and a Kuni crystal Eye, the Dragon recieved Togashi's wakazashi, and the Crab recovered the scrolls of the lost school of the Hiruma) before returning to Rokugan.

That was where the first game left off. We took several months off to play a few different systems, but we returned for a Rokugani sidequest at Winter court.

Since our return to Rokugan, all the characters were given holdings and status. The lion inherited acreage on the border of the Lion and Pheonix (I think) after his father was murdered by Maho wielding servents. The dragon was given a humble shrine and a ronin village, which is apparently some kind of slight. The crab was given an iron mining village, and now teaches the lost school to students at the Hiruma Castle, he was married off (to the Clan champion's niece) for protection to ensure that he lives long enough to pass on the teachings. All were invited to Winter Court in pheonix lands, where the new adventure takes place.

Phew.... This is long, and I have to get a bit of studying in. I'll explain the current events in a bit.

Scubasteve0209
2007-02-08, 01:01 PM
Sorry it took so long to get back to this. I had more work than I anticipated. Where was I...

So a year has passed since the characters return to Rokugan, and all have been summoned to Winter Court in the Phoenix lands. We expect we have been invited as a result of our interesting story. This is also set on the backdrop of peace negotiations between the Phoenix and Mantis.

Early on in court the three samurai are invited to attend a hunting trip with the emperor high in the mountains, along with a dozen other nobles (including two NPCs that survived the shadow plane with us: a Mantis (Tsuruchi), and a Scorpion (Bayushi)). On the path to the hunting lodge we met up with a young, Isawa-trained, Unicorn Shugenja (Utaku, a new PC)

Early in the morning before the hunt The Lion sees an unnatural shadowy figure leap from one building to another through his Kuni crystal eye. He approaches his new Unicorn friend to speak with the Kami about the event. The air Kami say that something significant happened but didnt feel like talking about it, and the earth Kami from the building the shadow lept from wouldn't speak to him (which is strange for a Kami to be unresponsive). Two other Shugenja had taken up residence in that building. Soon after the Dragon overheard a heated argument between two others, one saying "I should kill you while I still have the chance." One of the two was a Phoenix. There has also been barely contained hostility between the Mantis and Phoenix representatives.

That night, the friendly Scorpion NPC invited all of the shadow plane survivors to dine with her, but we all turn her down for one reason or another. The emperor requested that the Lion tell a story for the court at dinner. The story went well, but the shugenja that was supposed to follow up the story with fireworks, an asahina, was ill, and didn't come.

The next morning, the Emperor rode up to a mountain top shrine and wasn't expected back for another day or two. the PCs rose to a shriek from the main hall and arrived to see the facilitator of the hunting trip, an Otomo, murdered with a Scorpion tonto sticking out of his chest.

While the Kitsuki representative was busy investigating, all the Samurai were summoned to stay in an on-site shrine. everyone was there save for the lion and the crane shugenja. the Lion overheard a struggle while wandering and barged in to see the Asahina having an epileptic fit. He summoned the Unicorn and the Crab PCs (the Crab being the only one he knew to know medicine). The crab noted that it was far more severe than was natural, and the Asahina died shortly thereafter. The unicorn determined through the Kami that he had been poisoned (he also gained a point of taint during the investigation).

The Kitsuki had narrowed in on an Isawa at the Unicorn PCs suggestion (the Isawa had been in the building that the shadow had jumped from, and he was the last person known to tend to the Asahina). The Lion was brought in to observe the questioning because of his Crystal Eye. After long, rather rude questions the Phoenix became angry, and the Lion noted prayer beads around his wrist, and that the jade beads had turned black, which is a sign of tainting.

that's where we've left off, and I'm pretty darned confused. Its up to us to figure out who, and why.

The Scorpion aren't stupid enough to murder someone with a scorpion dagger, although they could have, knowing that no-one else would believe they'd implicate themselves by using such an obvious set up.

The killings could be a part of a grander scheme to break up peace talks between Mantis and Phoenix, but we have no idea who would benefit from this.

The fact that the Unicorn Shugenja gained a point of taint from looking into the murders leads me to think that some Maho could be the cause of all this, that might just be my Crab reflex talking though.

Either way. I, like my character, am far more fond of action than intrigue, and tend to be at a loss in mystery games.

goat
2007-02-08, 03:20 PM
Find the emperor. Kill everyone in the area he doesn't trust implicitly.

Wipe sword clean.

Scubasteve0209
2007-02-09, 09:18 AM
That would be ideal... although there are a few problems with that plan.

a.) We're outnumbered by higher level PCs

b.) We'd definately have to kill ourselves afterwards, and I like this character