Ready, Aim, Fire! (Round 7) (Hideyoshi's Messenger)

[Silkenfist]

Solemnly, the three men have gathered. For one hour they have been sitting on their mats, lost in their respective thoughts. Above them, the moon illuminates the surroundings of the temple, bathing it in a pale light. Finally, the fourth man arrives and kneels besides them.
“Imakura-damo!”
“I beg your pardon. But I had to avoid being spotted by the Samurai. In my own house”
The others nod understandingly. There had been better times for them and the recent events have forced them to sneak around their own servants. But it had to be done. All of them were local daimyo – Sovereigns to a small region, in case of Imakura only a few hectares.
“I have received word from my men. Hideyoshi is drawing forces towards Kitakyushu.”
“This matches my reports. We know what this means”
Three mouth reply simultaneously: “Korea”
“He can not succeed. This travesty has to find an end. After all, he is not more than a peasant”
“We have the means to end it. Our shinobi will have reached him shortly”
An uncomfortable silence ensued.
“You send someone? Didn’t we agree that I send one of my men?”
“I had to make sure that Hideyoshi would be stopped in time”
The men look at each other. Their faces seem startled for a second, then relax.
“Seemingly, all of us have employed someone to do this. Redundant, but at least we can be sure that his reign will find a timely end. What could go wrong?”

Throughout the history of Japan, the land had rarely found true peace. When the central government was overthrown in the 12th century, the most powerful families struggled for control of the land and the most important cities, waging war and forming alliances. The central shogunate sought control, but their attempts were countered by the resistance of the other clans and regional daimyo.
This state of unrest continued for four centuries until one of the smaller daimyo found a way to accumulate power. Step by step, Oda Nobunaga threatened other daimyo or local monasteries, bringing them under his control one after another. After years of conquering, Nobunaga controlled most of Japan and personally appointed shogun – the military leaders – for each city. Through his wars, he had taken the powers from the shoguns and brought them under a single body again for the first time in centuries.

This is another house, but the same moon illuminating it. It is the main road from Kitakyushu to Kyoto and in the time of centralisation, traffic on the roads has increased. Warden of the small guesthouse is Aki Miyahara, together with his family. The changes during the past years haven’t concerned him at all – even though he did notice the Samurai troops, travelling south. Since he didn’t own land, the tenure system could not apply to him technically. Thus, he is oblivious to the identity of his guests. Miyahara only wondered about the number of his guests...

Oda Nobunaga did not lead a peaceful life and his death was accordingly violent. Forced by his own vassal to commit suicide, he left Japan once again without a central ruler. The gap of power was short-lived though. Hashiba Hideyoshi, one of Nobunaga’s most trusted vassals returned to Kyoto to find his liege murdered. Within few days, he used the troops conferred to him to seize control of Kyoto and overthrow the murderer of Nobunaga. Following his former ruler’s plans for a unified Japan, he spent the next years gathering the land’s daimyo under his reign mostly through sheer display of military superiority. At the end of the 16th century, Japan was once again unified under a central body – but Hideyoshi’s ambitions did not stop there.

Miyahara could have recognized one guest – or at least his position. Late in the evening, one guest had arrived, bearing the regalia of a samurai, but not being completely armed to fulfil his purpose as messenger. Without a doubt, the messenger was coming from the coastal city of Kitakyushu, where a huge army had been gathered. Hideyoshi had been brewing plans to invade a Korea for a long time and was already in the finals steps of his preparation.
However, Hideyoshi’s unification of the land has brought him more than one enemy among the local daimyo. The invasion of Korea, together with the raising taxes imposed by Hideyoshi, has opposed even more daimyo against him.
Still… there has been no rebellion against Hideyoshi. The presence of the army was too overwhelming for a few daimyo to overcome. However, there were other means than open combat. Formally, the daimyo were bound to the code of Bushido and diplomatic canons among them. But there have always been delicate tasks that required doing the filthy work. Tasks that were not honourable but necessary. Tasks to be executed in the stealth of the night without anyone claiming the deed. Tasks for the shinobi.

As Hideyoshi’s messenger lies down to sleep, several concealed shapes inside and outside the guesthouse start moving. They have been given their orders and they would execute them – as well as the unfortunate messenger.


Previous Winners
Round 1: DarkLightDragon (14 contestants)
Round 2: B-Man (8 capos)
Round 3: Bookman (12 pirates)
Round 4; Alarra (16 cowboys)
Round 5: Bookman (17 cavemen)
Round 6: Deckmaster (20 hackers)

Possible Themes for Future Rounds

Pop-Science-Fiction (Star Trek, Star Wars)
Highwaymen (Richard Turpin, Tom King)
Fighting Jackie Chan style (Drunken Mastery & arbritary use of improvised equipment)
Royal intrigue (Roman senate, Hamlet scenario, Japanese daimyo...)
Snipers
War (England-Scotland, American Civil War, Thirty Year's)
Blaster Mages
Swashbuckling
Roman Gladiators
Jungle Fight/Amazons
Horse to Horse Combat/Huns/Goths/Mongols/Romans
Vikings
Pod Racing
Archaeologists Indiana Jones style
007 Spies
A-Team Agents


Contestants: 27

Khantalas
Gnome Barbarian
Bookman
Selrahc
Lucky
faerwain
Llama
purple gelatinous cube o'Doom
alec
Captain Fluffy
Ink
King of Griffons
evnafets
El Jaspero
Alarra
Destro Yersul
Fredricus
weebl
Captain van der Decken
Altharis
Gezina
DarkLightDragon
Lord Herman/Javie Swiftbow
Kantur
Deckmaster
Vespe Ratavo
Hivemind Ghost