Onyx Empire: Game 2, 3, & 4

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Onyx Empire: Game 2, 3, & 4

Postby KakitaKaori » Mon Dec 14, 2015 11:52 am

This is my thread for writing up my RPG sessions from our L5R campaign, just to keep some activity going on the board.

I'm starting o a new thread because things are so quiet around here and so you don't have to read up all the previous background to get to this. . Shiro-sama, if you want this condensed to one thread, I would be happy to do so. I'll probably update this with more than one game session as is.

Background, Characters, and first session are here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=813

Second Gaming Session.

The group of Moto that have captured Daidoji Shourai and Kitsu Chiyori and the group of Daigotsu-led Ronin who are 'escorting' Togashi Nao and Kitsuki Gaman have met each other and traveled together until they have reached an abandoned Monkey Clan village. All but the Daidoji are travelling unbound...Shourai has made way too many escape attempts to be permitted to be loose. The ronin set about fortifying the border of the village for the night, while the Moto see to the prisoners, ending up putting them all together in the home of what is clearly the villages original spiritual leader, be it monk or some other healer or shugenja. They do eventually free Shourai too so she can eat, though the house is well guarded. Shourai makes a cursory escape attempt, but it, naturally fails. The guards leave the prisoners alone together. Gomon pulls out a scrap of rice paper and charcoal and starts writing questions, communicating to the others that they are also prisoners and soliciting escape attempt ideas (Shourai has a few, but is pretty tired at this point and is running out).

Shashimasu sees where they have been put and noticing that one of them is very clearly captive and one is pretty clearly a Lion not in armor, decides that this is likely these prisoners are likely the ones he has been told to rescue. He spends half the day on once side of the villiage sitting in the middle of the road staring at the guards in a mysteriously evil way. In the black of night, he quickly and silently switches to the other side of the camp to do the same thing from that side, and privately amuses himself by creeping all the ronin out with his scary evil monkness.

However, after a little time, the guards become accustomed to his presence. One night, in darkness, he notes that the Moto Guard watching the back of the house that the prisoners are kept in has retired to her tent and hasn't come out, and that there is a removable panel he can use to get into the house. He proceeds to do so. He enters the room where the prisoners are kept and gestures that they be silent and follow him. They, naturally, are very suspicious of the creepy Spider Monk and do not follow, but he puts aside his naginata to show his intent not to harm, laying it against the wall. Daidoji Shourai goes right up to him and lays her hand on his naginata, where he could easily knock her aside if he chose. He does not hurt her, but asks if she's the Ki-rin's daughter, and if the Lion is the Last Kitsu. She nods, figuring they are since she knows her own ancestor, at least, is the Silver Ki-rin. He says he's there to rescue them and he gestures again to lead them away. She takes the naginata and follows, and the others follow also. By the back entrance, they find a bundle with Shourai's swords and armor, which makes it clear to Shashimasu that there are other, unknown people assisting them in their escape. Shourai takes them, and returns the naginata to Shashimasu. They run.

They were about to attack a group of guards at one of the guard posts in order to effect their escape from the town when we called a halt for the evening.

It was a very short session, but the GM was sick and it was a new game system that we haven't done combat in before so we didn't want to start that up. We'll continue on the 27th, probably.
Last edited by KakitaKaori on Wed Jan 06, 2016 6:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Onyx Empire: Game 3

Postby KakitaKaori » Mon Dec 28, 2015 1:59 pm

A little bit more in the newest episode.

Shashimasu swiftly attacked one of the two ronin who had noticed our escaped, and Daidoji Shourai attacked the other, and the guards were taken down quickly. Kitsu Chiyori calls upon the aid of one of the ancestors, and the spirit of a minor Matsu warrior consolidates out of the darkness. Chiyori pleas with the Matsu to distract the other guards and cover the groups' retreat, and the Matsu grudgingly agrees, charging into the darkness and the rain with an angry battlecry. The party flees into the night. Wtihin just a few moments, however, Chiyori senses a hungry presence about to consume the spirit of the ancestor, and with great luck (and a critical success) just manages to send the ancestor home before it is devoured. The group runs faster.

After a number of hours stumbling in the dark and rain, they found the shelter of a ramshackle hut in the darkness, and, barely, allowed themselves time for introductions. But before they could even settle for a little rest, an icy fog rose between the slats and holes in the walls and under the door, followed by ghostly green presences, claws outstretched for them. The spirits, tainted or no, had been sent by the leader of the Moto to bring about the characters' capture and/or death. (The GM is describing for us certain small cutscenes in the bad guys' camp, since with this group he knows no one will take advantage. We got to have described the Moto priest ripping the head off the ronin who brought him the news of the escape, and the ronin's body crumbling into dust as the sacrifice fueled the ritual the priest used to summon the spirits. The GM was showing off a little, I think. ). Fortunately, weapons of honor such as katana could serve to keep the spirits at bay, and the Kitsuki and Togashi seemed particularly adept at fighting these opponents, Nao's hands lighting up in flames as she engaged them. Still, they were too many for the party and the cold was too great. It seemed that the battle would be lost when four white horses of great size and power thundered down the road, their riders using long spears to impale those spirits that had not yet made it into the hut. With their aid, the party was able to defeat the evil spirits.

The leader of the group of riders was the guard who had been in charge of us in the village. She removed her helmet and apologized for deceiving us earlier when she claimed a Moto name (Moto Gishai). She said her true name was Utaku Chin Ri, and she had been assigned to watch over, or, better phrased, to monitor the Moto priest, Moto Ulle. The party was surprised...everyone had thought that the Utaku had been completely wiped out when the Emperor had fled the Spider, and their presence was unheard of. There was no time to ask about it though. She said she couldn't stand by to see what Ulle was planning to do to Chiyori and so she and her sisters had to break cover and help us escape. She said she would try to lead Ulle north and away from the group of us, but that he would make them pay for it. The fugitives thanked the Utaku profoundly and watched as they thundered back to the Moto and Spider camp. They then hurried to abandon their meager shelter, trying to put more hours between them and the Moto before another hunt was attempted.
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Onyx Empire: Game 4

Postby KakitaKaori » Wed Jan 06, 2016 5:23 pm

I doubt anyone is reading, but, hey, nothing else is going on here, so I'll continue.

Gaming Session #4

Our mismatched group of samurai staggered southwards across the open plains of the Monkey lands, exhausted and hungry, but knowing that the Moto would be able to be find them quickly if they turned their spyglasses in their direction, so they kept moving. They discussed as they walked where to go. Nearest were probably the Scorpion Lands, who were, as far as we knew, allied with the Spider. The Lion clan lands would be the obvious choice to take the Last Kitsu, and a difficult place to hide. The Dragon Lands similarly were an obvious destination, and were hard to reach without going through certain, easily blocked passes. The Crab were farther away, but were lands beseiged, and no one felt like trying to sneak through a Spider and Shadowlands army. The Unicorn lands were home of the Moto. I suggested the Phoenix lands, but the idea of wandering into a Salvador Dali landscape didn't sit well with the other players. So the party decided to head to Crane lands, which were, in general, a lawless landscape with few allies. It did have some places to hide until we determined why the Moto were after Kitsu Chiyori, and how to thwart them.

As the samurai walked, they were ambushed (though not caught unawares) by a group of what looked like ashigaru peasants, starved and armed with bows and spears. The Daidoji tried to intimidate them, but they would not be driven back. There were a lot of them, and Daidoji Shourai took some serious wounds, though they were fairly unskilled. One boy who was with them fled, and though Gomen gave persuit he was unable to catch him. The last of the bowmen, when he was about to be captured, said 'No more!' , picked up an arrow, and drove it through his own throat to finish his life. The bodies gave off a sickly honey-sweet scent. We lacked the means to begin to dig any deeper into that mystery, and instead continued to flee, knowing this incident would increase our chances of being caught.

Finally we reached the foothills, where there were more trees. Daidoji Shourai had received healing from Togashi Nao and the arrowroot tattoo, but all were still hurt and exhausted. We were looking for any pit or shelter or any place to hunker down for the night when Shashimasu heard the sound of mysterious flute music. He followed the sound to a hidden trail that wound its way into the woods. The trail ended at a small clearing where there stood a shrine to a Scorpion ancestor. The flute player had disappeared, but in a carefully placed and wrapped bundle the Togashi and the Kitsu found a set of powerful prayer banners, with symbols to ward off evil. The two Dragon, the Scorpion/Spider Monk, and the Lion, began immediately to chant and begin the ritual prayers (Daidoji Shourai fetched water and sticks for the campsite...she's not so religious). They performed the rituals to call upon the blessings of the fortunes and ancestors to look after the camp, and erected the prayer banners. Just in time, too. The group heard a shrieking and saw the trees shake as something huge moved towards the clearing. A long, snakelike neck topped with a huge human-looking head with seven eyes, sharp teeth, and a lashing tongue raised above the trees and looked directly at the small campsite and those within. But it did not seem to see them. It slowly moved away. They had a moment of safety at last.
Last edited by KakitaKaori on Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Onyx Empire: Game 2, 3, & 4

Postby Doji Pheelyp » Thu Jan 07, 2016 6:37 am

Thank you for these updates, Kaori-sama. :bow:

A few questions:

1. About the rituals calling upon the blessings of the fortunes, weren't the kami mostly insane in this world?

2. Did anyone attempt to parley with the peasants before attacking them? Or at least engage in conversation to find out what they could about their condition? Those poor ashigaru. :(

3. A shrine to a Scorpion ancestor in Monkey lands? Who are the Monkey again? I forget. :O

I am again sad that Crane lands are lawless. :(
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Re: Onyx Empire: Game 2, 3, & 4

Postby Kakita Shiro » Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:15 am

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Re: Onyx Empire: Game 2, 3, & 4

Postby KakitaKaori » Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:44 am

Thank you for asking questions! It's nice to know people are reading.

1. Obviously our characters generally (or mostly) don't know what's going on. As players, we know a little more because we got to read all the clan backgrounds in order to pick characters. The metaphysics in general of the universe as I understand it (though the GM is holding secret cards, of course), is that the kami are the spirits of nature and creation (just as in normal L5R). In most of the world, the kami are generally wild and untamed and don't listen to anyone. Despite this nature, they are extremely routine-driven, and always interact in very set ways. Fire will always burn wood, but not stone, for example. Performing the routine of striking a flint against a steel summons a fire kami. Very routine and predictable, just the way the kami like it. They're a little like extremely autistic children, that way.

But over the centuries, the Isawa first, and then all of the Rokugan, began to develop relationships with the Kami based on very specific, predictable patterns of interaction. The shugenja does this, I do this, I get a reward. This relationship of building trust based on predictability allows the kami to go beyond their normal pre-ordained routines, and that is, essentially, what Isawa's magic involves. In this world, something...no player or PC character knows what, those bonds of trust have been broken. The kami are not exactly insane, but the changes in the world have so unsettled and disrupted them that they are essentially throwing tempertantrums when anyone tries to get them to do the things that go beyond their original preferred routines. These temper tantrums have significant backlash on the shugenja that are trying to push them out of their original routines. Isawa's magic does still work, but it is very, very dangerous, and you have to be very very careful, because you never know what is going to start pushing the kami too far.

The Kami are not the same as the fortunes or the ancestors, though. They are still people (human beings) who have ascended to the Celestial Court and have roles there. As celestial courtiers (as it were) they have the powers over creation they have always had, and their relationship with the kami is far less interrupted and more ritualistic. Their contract might be a little in jeopardy, but rather than a shugenja trying to force a kami to do something way off its preferred routine, the fortunes have a long history of fulfilling their roles so they are successful. Clan magics are also often successful, if limited. Asahina still create tokens and artifacts, because the kami recognize them, and the Lion still speak with the ancestors. In this game, Yogo are particularly skilled with prayer strips, etc. The Phoenix are the worst off.

2. Well, they were ambushing us, so they were actively attacking before we could dialog much. I succeeded at my intimidation roll to try to get them to back down, but at a guess they were being driven by dark forces so they wouldn't retreat. I was kind of bummed about it, but we couldn't just let them kill us either.

3. As Shiro-san said. The Monkey are the minor clan descendants of Toku. Besides, it is very possible for secret shrines to one clan's ancestors show up in a different clans' land, for that might be the location of a famous death or battle. In this case, and this is player guess not something I know for sure, we got some sort of intervention from Shashimasu's ancestor.

Thank you for reading!
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Re: Onyx Empire: Game 2, 3, & 4

Postby Doji Pheelyp » Thu Jan 07, 2016 10:44 am

Thank you, Shiro and Kaori, for your responses!

1. That explanation of how the kami behave was especially generous. Never thought of Isawa's magic being quite like that.

2. Oh, that part about being actively attacked first slipped by me. I guess I was confused with the not caught unawares bit.

3. I see. I must admit that the only minor clan that's made an impression on my mind are the Sparrow, as they are the ones closely allied with us.
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Re: Onyx Empire: Game 2, 3, & 4

Postby KakitaKaori » Thu Jan 07, 2016 1:36 pm

Yeah. We weren't unawares in RPG terms; for us just means that the group was not caught flat footed. Their attack and our response was in the same turn.
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Re: Onyx Empire: Game 2, 3, & 4

Postby Daidoji Soenzo » Sat Jan 09, 2016 11:26 am

Happiness!

I am enjoying the recaps, Kaori. Please keep sharing them!

A Scorpion shrine in Monkey lands seems more than plausible to me. Toku wedded Inao, the daughter of the Shosuro Daimyo; they had two sons and two daughters. Miyako, the elder, commanded an Imperial Legion before marrying Bayushi Paneki. The younger girl, Kiyuko, was said to bear a strong resemblance to her great aunt Bayushi Kachiko.


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