Part 6 – Higher Cause Chapter 4
"I smell something," Hiruma Izuko was immediately on her feet, hand resting on her wakizashi.
Mirumoto Kenuchio stood also, smelling the air cautiously. "Smoke. From last night's battles?"
Izuko turned to face him. "It is smoke. But this is fresh." She immediately threw open the shoji screen that separated the two bushi from the Isawa Shugenja whose sleeping, wounded body they had been protecting. The room was pitch black. Kenuchio stooped to pick up the lantern that they had kept on the floor near them through the night's watch, thrusting it into the darkness.
The darkness only pulled back a little from the lamp's glow. To their horror, the room was filled with black smoke. But the smoke itself moved, as though it were alive, forming the shadowy outlines of what they could only call ninjas. In an instant, Kenuchio's katana was in his hand, while Izuko raised the alarm. The smoke writhed about them for a moment longer, but then fled through the narrow, open shutters just below the eaves.
Kenuchio raced around to the entrance of the inn in pursuit, but the smoke was lost in the night air. Matsumoto Eiko quickly joined him, but she had no way of tracking the smoke...there was no taint of the shadowlands about it, despite its fearsome appearance. Izuko approached Isawa Natsune's side and knelt beside him. The man did not stir. Asahina Ayame came in within seconds and confirmed what she had seen. The shugenja was dead...stifled in his sleep before he was ever able to utter another word.
The magistrates gathered again after all hope of pursuit towards the magic smoke had been lost. Shock, mystification,and helpless horror fell upon them, and they looked at each other in silence. Finally, Sensei entered himself, taking in the scene with a look of great sorrow in his eyes.
"Sensei....what do we do now?" Hiruma Izuko asked. "This man carried vital news, and surely was killed by the Elemental Council for it. The Isawa are opening the Black Scrolls. The Elemental Masters have become corrupted. Surely we must tell..." she paused, uncertain how to go on.
Sensei leaned on his staff tiredly. "I do not know." He turned to Moto Koshi. "At dawn, you will go meet the riders from the capital and the front who are passing through, Koshi-san. Kenuchio-san and Eiko-san?"
"Hai?"
"You will ask in the marketplace for news from the Empire. We will decide then. Ayame-san, Izuko-san...stay with me. We will ensure that this brave shugenja is at the very least given proper rites fitting to his courage and sacrifice. Until morning...we may as well rest. "
The next morning, Koshi, Kenuchio, and Eiko went out to the marketplace to gather news, while Sensei, Ayame, and Izuko arranged the funeral for Isawa Natsune. But the three were not out long before they came running back through the inn gate. The news was on every Rokugani's lips, from the eta to samurai. The Lion commander at Otosan Uchi, Ikoma Tsanuri, recalled Matsu Agetoki from Kuyden Doji, and the Lion had withdrawn. The move forced Hida Kisada's hand. In a daring raid, Kisada had breached the walls of Otosan Uchi and fought his way right through the inner walls of the city, to the very throne room of the Hantei himself.
And...amazingly...the scrawny young man that had claimed the throne not that many years before had defeated the Great Bear and his son, Yakamo, in mortal combat. He had laughed as the Crab fled with the sword of the Hantei plunged into Kisada's guts. The Crab fleets were retreating south. No one knew what would happen next or what these strange signs meant.
Ayame, Izuko, and Sensei listened silently to the outpouring of news.
Kenuchio tried to wait for Sensei's response, but his impatience got the better of him. "Sensei! You realize that the Sword of the Hantei is the soul and the symbol of Imperial power...holding it was the ground for Toturi's claim, and almost Shoju's. How could Hantei do what they say? And, even if he did, he would never throw away the symbol of his power."
Moto Koshi folded his arms. "The answer is simple. The story being spread must be false."
Sensei held up his hand, and they fell silent. "The story is not false. I am sure of it. I know now what we must do regarding the matter of Isawa Natsune and the Council of Elemental Masters."
Ayame looked both worried and relieved. "What, Sensei?"
"Nothing. We do nothing."
The group of magistrates stirred uneasily, and finally Izuko's bluntness took hold. "Why is that, Sensei?"
Sensei granted them the kindness of an explanation, his eyes cast over the pile of wood being prepared for the body of Natsune with a tender and sad expression. "There is no one that can help them. There is no one we can tell. Shiba Tsukune will learn soon enough, and every day that delays her knowledge gives the Daidoji more chance to build their defenses in Crane lands against Doji Hoturi and protects the Crane from the Shadowlands incursions we saw threre. Shiba Ujimitsu undoubtably already knows...and has done nothing. He cannot move against the will of the Council. Who else can they turn to? The Crane? The Lion? The Crab? None are possible at this time. And the Emperor? No other armies can come, or save them. We must go on and trust the heavens will spread the word when the time is right."
The magistrates thought it over, but realized there was no other choice. They were still not happy with it. "This isn't right," Kenuchio declared, still angry at himself for failing his charge.
Asahina Ayame laid her hand gently on his arm. "No...it's not. But it is what must be. But I have an idea." She turned to Sensei. "May I please withdraw until Natsune's spirit is returned to the heavens?"
Sensei nodded.
After the funeral, Ayame returned with a thick scroll, curled up with the rest of her papers. She showed them all before she put it away. "I have written every word he told us. His sacrifice may not be shared now, but I can take it to the Libraries of the Asahina and copies can be sent to all the libraries of Rokugan, so what Isawa Natsune had witness and gave his life to share will not be forgotten."
As soon as the last smoke had ascended from Natsune's pyre, the magistrates were on their way once more, headed for the harbor and the journey Sensei had in store for them.
Calls The Lightning Part 2 - A Clan Wars Era L5R Campaign
- KakitaKaori
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Part 6 – Higher Cause Chapter 4
Last edited by KakitaKaori on Mon Oct 17, 2016 10:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
Kakita Kaori
Kenshinzen of Golden Petal Village and overly prolific fiction writer
http://craneclan.weebly.com/
[Kakita Kyoumi/WC5]
Kenshinzen of Golden Petal Village and overly prolific fiction writer
http://craneclan.weebly.com/
[Kakita Kyoumi/WC5]
- Kakita Kasukaru
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Re: Calls The Lightning Part 2 - A Clan Wars Era L5R Campaign
Great piece.
Kakita Kasukaru
RPG mostly / French * Greece
RPG mostly / French * Greece
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Re: Calls The Lightning Part 2 - A Clan Wars Era L5R Campaign
Nothing is the hardest thing to do.
Bushi. Artisan. Duelist. Magistrate. Hatamoto.
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Part 6 - Higher Cause Chapter 5
The sun sparkled on a crystal blue ocean, while the gulls wheeled in giddy circles through the azure sky. Above her, the wind strained at the ribbed black sail of the Mantis kobune, and the air kami teased and tugged at her hair, wrapping its white threads around the blade that she bore on her back. Asahina Ayame loved the beauty of the sea, and had often watched the sun set over the bay from her father's home in Otosan Uchi. It was easy to let the winds carry away her worries on a day such as this one.
It did not do her well to think of Otosan Uchi. When the Mantis kobune had left the harbor north of the city, the sun had barely painted a slim red streak across the eastern sky. But though the captain had tried to give the city wide berth, the sun had risen and they were close enough when the passed to watch it crawl slowly along the horizon. Otosan Uchi lurked like a giant toad on the edge of the brightening sea, while a morning fog, typical of the season, had settled about it. The fog spilled down in lazy waves across the surface of the ocean. It was strange not to see the fishing boats out, but the city was very quiet. Ayame felt no desire to go near. Her father might have delved into her fears; he was a superstitious man, given to the study of omens. She had no idea what the omens would have said about her situation now. Her father had died years before, just after the Coup. She was rather glad she didn't know.
Ameterasu continued her ascent and the day brightened The crowded shoreline gave way to smaller fishing villages. The coastline had turned to the green rolling slopes, and terraced hillsides marking the eastern edge of the Doji plains when the ship ship took anchor for the night. Rather than be crammed into the tiny cabin with Izuko and Eiko, Ayame was glad to spend the night under the stars. The journey resumed at dawn.
The kobune traveled south as the white Doji cliffs slowly rose from those green hills a mile or two west of them. Through the morning, the seagulls began to flock in ever greater numbers along the coastline and in the sky above, wheeling and shrieking. It was just after noon when Koshi's spyglass first spotted the reason: a body floating in the surf by the rocky beach. First just one body, then a few more. A smokey haze rose from the cliff tops above, though its source was hidden by a small cape. The magistrates gathered on deck as the kobune rounded the cape and one of the most spectacular views in the empire came into sight.
The gleaming white Doji cliffs were crowned with the towering beauty of Kuyden Doji, its blue slate roofs and glistening white walls radiant in the afternoon sunshine, bedecked in a delicate robe of red maple and golden ginkgo. Beautiful. But now, despoiled. Here, a tower crumbled as though struck by some gigantic club. There, whitewashed walls scorched black with ash. A body dangling from a chiming rain chain. Flying creatures, far larger than seagulls, diving at the grounds, plucking scraps to devour. The spyglass revealed with cold clarity that horrors had happened here. And, as the kobune traveled further south, the sound of metal on metal, the screech of horns and the hammering rhythm of the taiko drummers, revealed that the horrors were continuing.
From the deck, the magistrates could see that a pitched battle was happening right at the cliff's edge high above. Rains of arrows would spill over the cliff-edge to the sea. Backbanners and flags of blue and white showed that a large force of Crane samurai were being driven back, step by step, towards the cliff edge. The Mantis sailors paused, slack-jawed, at the sight of a large ogre snatching up a silver-armored samurai and fling him into the ocean.
Sensei shook his head. "They will all die," he said sadly. He then turned to the Captain and gestured towards the deeper ocean. "There is nothing we can do here. Raise the sail and move to deeper water."
Ayame's eyes widened with fear and she ran to Sensei's side. "Please, Sensei! No! The water here is deep; there is no shoreline. Even if the battle is lost, the Crane samurai will drown if no ships come to help them!"
Sensei laid a hand on Ayame's shoulder. "You don't understand. This is the wrong place. This battle is lost, and we will lose precious time if we delay here. It puts many things at risk. Maybe everything."
One of the Mantis sailors sucked in his breath, and Ayame glanced over her shoulder to see fifteen Crane soldiers get knocked from the edge of the cliff and into the frothing ocean below.
Sensei looked resolute. The kobune captain gave a signal to his first mate, who began to sharply order his men back to their posts.
Ayame, tears in her eyes, knelt before Sensei, bowing herself before him in most humble supplication. "Please...I beg you. I know you have the authority to leave, and I know you have reasons. But there must be another way. There must be something we could do. I could not bear to let them die, knowing we had done nothing."
Sensei looked sternly down at the humbled shugenja. But his voice seemed less certain than before. "I...Perhaps there could have been. But there cannot now. Not with you here. The others are less risk. But you are here."
Ayame pressed her forehead to the floor. "Please," she begged. "I will do whatever you say. I will even leave completely, if you could but save a few. I swear."
The man they called Sensei looked distinctly uncomfortable, but found himself unable to deny Ayame's fervent plea. "Very well. But you must keep your word." He turned to the Captain. "Signal your men to move closer, and send the message out for any other ships in the area to come. We will catch who we can from the ocean."
The Captain laughed, shouting to his crew to take oar, making a jest about fishing for birds.
Sensei turned and looked grimly at Ayame as she stood. "We will sail as close as we can and rescue from the sea whom we can. This is what you must do, and you must not fail. You must return, now, to your cabin. You must take the sword. You may make no sound nor cast no spell nor lift the slightest finger to help this rescue, and your companions must breathe no word about you. Do you understand?"
Ayame let go a breathe she didn't know she was holding. "Hai, Sensei. Thank you so much for your mercy."
The other magistrates watched as she went to the tiny cabin, while Sensei just rubbed his forehead with his hands and sighed.
Ayame remained in the cabin, silent, as the kobune reached the Crane soldiers being driven off the cliffs, knowing her magic could have saved more. She whispered prayers to the kami as Sensei offered a monk's blessing for the dead, as those who did not survive were lowered back into the sea again. She held the blade of the Crane clan champion across her lap and listened as Crane bushi packed the decks, dangerously overburdening the sturdy Mantis vessel. She overheard them speak of Hoturi and the legions of the Shadowlands he had brought to Kuyden Doji, killing every man, woman, and child within.
And Ayame wept bitter tears as she knelt, ear pressed against the cabin wall, listening to the distressed breathing and gasps of pain as Sensei stitched closed the wounds of the suffering man in the cabin next to her own. Izuko had brought her the name when she came with food for the imprisoned Asahina. It was Doji Kuwanan, son of Satsume. All that remained of her Champion's line.
The creaking ship was mostly quiet on the third morning in the hours just before dawn. Izuko and Eiko slept, but Ayame was growing desperate to escape the stifling cabin. Praying that all were asleep, she tiptoed to the door for just a breath of fresh air. She cracked the door slightly and froze.
There, standing before the door of her cabin, was a stocky man wrapped in a simple under-kimono, the kind that would be worn under armor. Daidoji tattoos marked his arms. A daisho was tucked in his obi. His face was masked with a heavy black cloth; only his fierce black eyes visible. He swayed with the rocking of the ship, which, combined with his natural power and grace, gave Ayame the impression that this man was very much like a great, dangerous snake. Fortunately, he was not looking towards her, but into the door of the cabin next to hers.
"You should not get up. You are still badly hurt." The serpent's voice was the sound of stone dragged on stone. It was not an easy voice to disobey.
There was the scrape as of a table shifting, and a muffled thump from the cabin next door. She could hear the sound of a shoulder bumping into the door as someone in the cabin next to hers leaned against the doorframe.
"I have to. The men...need to see me. They need to know I'm alive." This man's voice was taut with pain, but it brooked no argument. It had to be Kuwanan. Though his words shook from grief and weariness, what surprised Ayame most was how young the Crane Lord sounded. Young...and bitter.
"As you wish," the serpent growled.
Ayame could hear Kuwanan taking a few deep breaths to steady himself after the effort of rising from his bed. "Where...where is he going strike next, Uji-san?"
Through the tiny crack, Ayame saw the serpent, who must be none other than Daidoji Uji, shrug. "He passed up better targets to strike Kuyden Kakita, then Kuyden Doji. His goal cannot be to hold territory or win glory. He has bypassed fat villages and rich mines. He does not seek fodder for his beasts or wealth. What remains is his hatred as his only goal. He wants to destroy the essence of the clan. He looks to destroy the Crane." Ayame covered her mouth with her hands, hardly daring to breathe as Uji's rasp continued. "He will go to Shinden Asahina."
Kuwanan coughed roughly. "All the artisans and courtiers from the Academy and Otosan Uchi that did not die at Kuyden Doji have fled there. There are artifacts, sacred treasures. Who knows what he could do with that power? Of course he would go there."
Uji said nothing.
The hacking, wet coughs strengthened and Ayame could hear Kuwanan doubling over with pain as they threatened to overwhelm him, though Uji made no move towards him. She ached to call the healing kami to the Crane lord's aid, but, obedient to Sensei and her promise, did nothing. When Kuwanan had recovered, his voice was haggard. "Do you think we can hold it? That there is the slightest chance.?"
"No." Uji's voice was the sound of an executioner's blade across a whetstone. He did not move, his dark eyes glittering as he watched Kuwanan steadily.
Ayame could hear two more slight coughs, and then movement. She watched through the narrow crack as Kuwanan stepped forward. He was a young man, stocky and strong, his head bald and clean, his bare torso wrapped heavily in bandages. "I didn't think so." He clenched his fists at his sides. "We can't hold the Fields of the Morning Sun. Trying to defend the temple will burn out all our resources, every bushi we have left. Even the attempt is useless, the stuff of lost families wiped out forever. Sad songs with bad endings." Kuwanan straightened, thrusting his jaw up proudly, eyes bearing down on Uji with an expression of defiance. "We are going to do it anyway. Tell the captain to set us ashore at the port nearest to Shinden Asahina."
Uji did not answer, but gave an ever so slight nod of assent.
Kuwanan returned the nod with fierce certainty, and, stepping past Uji, climbed the ladder up to the deck.
Uji's black eyes followed Kuwanan as he passed, but as he turned to go after him, he stopped and looked back. His gaze fell upon the cracked-open doorway, directly at Ayame who was peeking at him through that crack. He hesitated, saying nothing, and Ayame held her breath. Finally, Daidoji Uji turned and climbed the ladder after his lord.
Ayame threw herself onto her futon roll and refused to move from there until the Crane lord and the rescued soldiers had been set ashore near Shinden Asahina and the ship was again underway, sailing on towards the Yasuki provinces.
It did not do her well to think of Otosan Uchi. When the Mantis kobune had left the harbor north of the city, the sun had barely painted a slim red streak across the eastern sky. But though the captain had tried to give the city wide berth, the sun had risen and they were close enough when the passed to watch it crawl slowly along the horizon. Otosan Uchi lurked like a giant toad on the edge of the brightening sea, while a morning fog, typical of the season, had settled about it. The fog spilled down in lazy waves across the surface of the ocean. It was strange not to see the fishing boats out, but the city was very quiet. Ayame felt no desire to go near. Her father might have delved into her fears; he was a superstitious man, given to the study of omens. She had no idea what the omens would have said about her situation now. Her father had died years before, just after the Coup. She was rather glad she didn't know.
Ameterasu continued her ascent and the day brightened The crowded shoreline gave way to smaller fishing villages. The coastline had turned to the green rolling slopes, and terraced hillsides marking the eastern edge of the Doji plains when the ship ship took anchor for the night. Rather than be crammed into the tiny cabin with Izuko and Eiko, Ayame was glad to spend the night under the stars. The journey resumed at dawn.
The kobune traveled south as the white Doji cliffs slowly rose from those green hills a mile or two west of them. Through the morning, the seagulls began to flock in ever greater numbers along the coastline and in the sky above, wheeling and shrieking. It was just after noon when Koshi's spyglass first spotted the reason: a body floating in the surf by the rocky beach. First just one body, then a few more. A smokey haze rose from the cliff tops above, though its source was hidden by a small cape. The magistrates gathered on deck as the kobune rounded the cape and one of the most spectacular views in the empire came into sight.
The gleaming white Doji cliffs were crowned with the towering beauty of Kuyden Doji, its blue slate roofs and glistening white walls radiant in the afternoon sunshine, bedecked in a delicate robe of red maple and golden ginkgo. Beautiful. But now, despoiled. Here, a tower crumbled as though struck by some gigantic club. There, whitewashed walls scorched black with ash. A body dangling from a chiming rain chain. Flying creatures, far larger than seagulls, diving at the grounds, plucking scraps to devour. The spyglass revealed with cold clarity that horrors had happened here. And, as the kobune traveled further south, the sound of metal on metal, the screech of horns and the hammering rhythm of the taiko drummers, revealed that the horrors were continuing.
From the deck, the magistrates could see that a pitched battle was happening right at the cliff's edge high above. Rains of arrows would spill over the cliff-edge to the sea. Backbanners and flags of blue and white showed that a large force of Crane samurai were being driven back, step by step, towards the cliff edge. The Mantis sailors paused, slack-jawed, at the sight of a large ogre snatching up a silver-armored samurai and fling him into the ocean.
Sensei shook his head. "They will all die," he said sadly. He then turned to the Captain and gestured towards the deeper ocean. "There is nothing we can do here. Raise the sail and move to deeper water."
Ayame's eyes widened with fear and she ran to Sensei's side. "Please, Sensei! No! The water here is deep; there is no shoreline. Even if the battle is lost, the Crane samurai will drown if no ships come to help them!"
Sensei laid a hand on Ayame's shoulder. "You don't understand. This is the wrong place. This battle is lost, and we will lose precious time if we delay here. It puts many things at risk. Maybe everything."
One of the Mantis sailors sucked in his breath, and Ayame glanced over her shoulder to see fifteen Crane soldiers get knocked from the edge of the cliff and into the frothing ocean below.
Sensei looked resolute. The kobune captain gave a signal to his first mate, who began to sharply order his men back to their posts.
Ayame, tears in her eyes, knelt before Sensei, bowing herself before him in most humble supplication. "Please...I beg you. I know you have the authority to leave, and I know you have reasons. But there must be another way. There must be something we could do. I could not bear to let them die, knowing we had done nothing."
Sensei looked sternly down at the humbled shugenja. But his voice seemed less certain than before. "I...Perhaps there could have been. But there cannot now. Not with you here. The others are less risk. But you are here."
Ayame pressed her forehead to the floor. "Please," she begged. "I will do whatever you say. I will even leave completely, if you could but save a few. I swear."
The man they called Sensei looked distinctly uncomfortable, but found himself unable to deny Ayame's fervent plea. "Very well. But you must keep your word." He turned to the Captain. "Signal your men to move closer, and send the message out for any other ships in the area to come. We will catch who we can from the ocean."
The Captain laughed, shouting to his crew to take oar, making a jest about fishing for birds.
Sensei turned and looked grimly at Ayame as she stood. "We will sail as close as we can and rescue from the sea whom we can. This is what you must do, and you must not fail. You must return, now, to your cabin. You must take the sword. You may make no sound nor cast no spell nor lift the slightest finger to help this rescue, and your companions must breathe no word about you. Do you understand?"
Ayame let go a breathe she didn't know she was holding. "Hai, Sensei. Thank you so much for your mercy."
The other magistrates watched as she went to the tiny cabin, while Sensei just rubbed his forehead with his hands and sighed.
Ayame remained in the cabin, silent, as the kobune reached the Crane soldiers being driven off the cliffs, knowing her magic could have saved more. She whispered prayers to the kami as Sensei offered a monk's blessing for the dead, as those who did not survive were lowered back into the sea again. She held the blade of the Crane clan champion across her lap and listened as Crane bushi packed the decks, dangerously overburdening the sturdy Mantis vessel. She overheard them speak of Hoturi and the legions of the Shadowlands he had brought to Kuyden Doji, killing every man, woman, and child within.
And Ayame wept bitter tears as she knelt, ear pressed against the cabin wall, listening to the distressed breathing and gasps of pain as Sensei stitched closed the wounds of the suffering man in the cabin next to her own. Izuko had brought her the name when she came with food for the imprisoned Asahina. It was Doji Kuwanan, son of Satsume. All that remained of her Champion's line.
The creaking ship was mostly quiet on the third morning in the hours just before dawn. Izuko and Eiko slept, but Ayame was growing desperate to escape the stifling cabin. Praying that all were asleep, she tiptoed to the door for just a breath of fresh air. She cracked the door slightly and froze.
There, standing before the door of her cabin, was a stocky man wrapped in a simple under-kimono, the kind that would be worn under armor. Daidoji tattoos marked his arms. A daisho was tucked in his obi. His face was masked with a heavy black cloth; only his fierce black eyes visible. He swayed with the rocking of the ship, which, combined with his natural power and grace, gave Ayame the impression that this man was very much like a great, dangerous snake. Fortunately, he was not looking towards her, but into the door of the cabin next to hers.
"You should not get up. You are still badly hurt." The serpent's voice was the sound of stone dragged on stone. It was not an easy voice to disobey.
There was the scrape as of a table shifting, and a muffled thump from the cabin next door. She could hear the sound of a shoulder bumping into the door as someone in the cabin next to hers leaned against the doorframe.
"I have to. The men...need to see me. They need to know I'm alive." This man's voice was taut with pain, but it brooked no argument. It had to be Kuwanan. Though his words shook from grief and weariness, what surprised Ayame most was how young the Crane Lord sounded. Young...and bitter.
"As you wish," the serpent growled.
Ayame could hear Kuwanan taking a few deep breaths to steady himself after the effort of rising from his bed. "Where...where is he going strike next, Uji-san?"
Through the tiny crack, Ayame saw the serpent, who must be none other than Daidoji Uji, shrug. "He passed up better targets to strike Kuyden Kakita, then Kuyden Doji. His goal cannot be to hold territory or win glory. He has bypassed fat villages and rich mines. He does not seek fodder for his beasts or wealth. What remains is his hatred as his only goal. He wants to destroy the essence of the clan. He looks to destroy the Crane." Ayame covered her mouth with her hands, hardly daring to breathe as Uji's rasp continued. "He will go to Shinden Asahina."
Kuwanan coughed roughly. "All the artisans and courtiers from the Academy and Otosan Uchi that did not die at Kuyden Doji have fled there. There are artifacts, sacred treasures. Who knows what he could do with that power? Of course he would go there."
Uji said nothing.
The hacking, wet coughs strengthened and Ayame could hear Kuwanan doubling over with pain as they threatened to overwhelm him, though Uji made no move towards him. She ached to call the healing kami to the Crane lord's aid, but, obedient to Sensei and her promise, did nothing. When Kuwanan had recovered, his voice was haggard. "Do you think we can hold it? That there is the slightest chance.?"
"No." Uji's voice was the sound of an executioner's blade across a whetstone. He did not move, his dark eyes glittering as he watched Kuwanan steadily.
Ayame could hear two more slight coughs, and then movement. She watched through the narrow crack as Kuwanan stepped forward. He was a young man, stocky and strong, his head bald and clean, his bare torso wrapped heavily in bandages. "I didn't think so." He clenched his fists at his sides. "We can't hold the Fields of the Morning Sun. Trying to defend the temple will burn out all our resources, every bushi we have left. Even the attempt is useless, the stuff of lost families wiped out forever. Sad songs with bad endings." Kuwanan straightened, thrusting his jaw up proudly, eyes bearing down on Uji with an expression of defiance. "We are going to do it anyway. Tell the captain to set us ashore at the port nearest to Shinden Asahina."
Uji did not answer, but gave an ever so slight nod of assent.
Kuwanan returned the nod with fierce certainty, and, stepping past Uji, climbed the ladder up to the deck.
Uji's black eyes followed Kuwanan as he passed, but as he turned to go after him, he stopped and looked back. His gaze fell upon the cracked-open doorway, directly at Ayame who was peeking at him through that crack. He hesitated, saying nothing, and Ayame held her breath. Finally, Daidoji Uji turned and climbed the ladder after his lord.
Ayame threw herself onto her futon roll and refused to move from there until the Crane lord and the rescued soldiers had been set ashore near Shinden Asahina and the ship was again underway, sailing on towards the Yasuki provinces.
Last edited by KakitaKaori on Fri Nov 25, 2016 10:25 am, edited 3 times in total.
Kakita Kaori
Kenshinzen of Golden Petal Village and overly prolific fiction writer
http://craneclan.weebly.com/
[Kakita Kyoumi/WC5]
Kenshinzen of Golden Petal Village and overly prolific fiction writer
http://craneclan.weebly.com/
[Kakita Kyoumi/WC5]
- Kakita Kasukaru
- Taisa
- Posts: 288
- Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2014 1:32 am
- Location: Athens, Greece
- Contact:
Re: Calls The Lightning Part 2 - A Clan Wars Era L5R Campaign
Wow. Really good story telling again. And some serious name throwing... ![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
Kakita Kasukaru
RPG mostly / French * Greece
RPG mostly / French * Greece
- KakitaKaori
- Shireikan
- Posts: 402
- Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2015 12:01 pm
- Location: Golden Petal Village
- Contact:
Re: Calls The Lightning Part 2 - A Clan Wars Era L5R Campaign
Thanks!
As a reminder: This whole story was a multi-year RPG for us, and things are heating up a lot. The GM for this RPG wanted to include this note if you wanted to run this sequence (Doji Cliffs) in your own campaign. While it's great to have Crane PCs in your campaign, if you run the Doji Cliffs sequence, you need to make sure your Crane players are willing to make the same agreement with Sensei. If Uji or Kuwanan find out there is a Crane PC on board, they'll certainly be interested in who Sensei is and what news there is from the rest of the Empire, and will question them. This will quickly mean learning about the sword. If they learn of the sword of the Crane, they will take it. That throws off later stories. It can be made up in a session or two without too much difficulty, but it's better if they don't know there are Crane aboard and so have no reason to ask.
As a reminder: This whole story was a multi-year RPG for us, and things are heating up a lot. The GM for this RPG wanted to include this note if you wanted to run this sequence (Doji Cliffs) in your own campaign. While it's great to have Crane PCs in your campaign, if you run the Doji Cliffs sequence, you need to make sure your Crane players are willing to make the same agreement with Sensei. If Uji or Kuwanan find out there is a Crane PC on board, they'll certainly be interested in who Sensei is and what news there is from the rest of the Empire, and will question them. This will quickly mean learning about the sword. If they learn of the sword of the Crane, they will take it. That throws off later stories. It can be made up in a session or two without too much difficulty, but it's better if they don't know there are Crane aboard and so have no reason to ask.
Kakita Kaori
Kenshinzen of Golden Petal Village and overly prolific fiction writer
http://craneclan.weebly.com/
[Kakita Kyoumi/WC5]
Kenshinzen of Golden Petal Village and overly prolific fiction writer
http://craneclan.weebly.com/
[Kakita Kyoumi/WC5]
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Re: Calls The Lightning Part 2 - A Clan Wars Era L5R Campaign
I don't remember if the Sword had a role to play in the original Clan Wars, but I'm eager to see where it leads our intrepid heroes.
Bushi. Artisan. Duelist. Magistrate. Hatamoto.
- KakitaKaori
- Shireikan
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Part 6 – Higher Cause Chapter 6
Part 6 – Higher Cause Chapter 6
The kobune set the group of magistrates ashore in a sleepy fishing village. The Mantis captain accepted the koku from Sensei with a smile. He offered to return to take them to more civilized lands on his return trip, but Sensei waved him on his way. They would not be travelling again by sea.
A few rice balls and a bottle of the local sake later, and the group was walking inland towards the next village. Finally, Hiruma Izuko's impatience got the best of her. "All right, Sensei. We have travelled halfway across the Empire. We hid that sword from the best man I can think of to wield it. Where are you going?"
"A geisha house." Sensei answered drily. He trudged on ahead of them, leaning on his staff and provided no further explanation.
Mirumoto Kenuchio scowled. Though he had been able to hide similar questions, he too was growing impatient. He might only be one minor magistrate, but he was a solid swordsman and there were armies slaughtering heimen that needed to be fought. Yet here they were travelling to a geisha house in Onnetagu's end of nowhere instead of helping defend the Fields of the Morning Sun, or fighting with Toturi's army, or even rousing the Dragon, which he longed to do. "Thank you for the lesson in duty, Sensei," he muttered under his breath.
Sensei stopped and turned to face the magistrates. He seemed to be studying each of their faces carefully before he answered. "You're right. I claimed the title of Sensei, but I haven't taught very much, have I? Secrets and silence have their place. They protect against the spying ear. They preserve honor. But there's a time when that must be put aside. I think that time has come."
He slowed his walk to allow the others to gather around them as he spoke.
"I said we are going to a geisha house. And that is true. But it is a very special geisha house. It has no customers. Its geisha come from all across the Empire, from the highest and wealthiest palaces to the poorest seaports. But all of the occupants there have one thing in common." He paused to make sure the magistrates were listening. "All those staying at this geisha house have suffered. Terribly. Some mortals, even samurai, can when they choose, turn themselves into beasts. They rip away by force that which must only be given freely. They wound and destroy that which they cannot steal. They violate the Celestial Order to break the spirit and will, for their own pleasures, or from their own anger, or some other selfish end. Who could say why a monster does these things?
"If a geisha finds herself the victim of such a one, too often, she takes her own life, unable to rebuild her spirit or find her place after what has been done. Most keepers of the geisha houses, whether they belong to a clan or to the yakuza, see that the strongest, those who are able, are granted a marriage to a good man, or given a quiet job far from the suffering she experienced. They are, if the fortunes are kind, permitted to live out their remaining days in relative peace."
Hiruma Izuko nodded. The fates described by Sensei were not unfamiliar to her; samurai who had suffered too terribly in the lands over the Wall but did not carry the Taint were often treated with similar terms.
Sensei continued. "But there are those in between, unable to start a new life, too fierce to end their old life, who do not know how to heal. They cannot move forward, and cannot escape the past and the wrong that has been done to them. All here live in a willow world, a half life, where dreaming is easier than waking. This house belongs to them. You must remember that."
The village of their destination was in sight. It looked gloomy, especially with Sensei's 'lesson' and a heavily overcast gray sky. They could see the geisha house below them. It seemed non-descript, but pleasant enough. Someone had clearly taken the time to try to coax some flowers to grow in its small courtyard, at least. Sensei stopped and turned a last time to the group.
"I received a message from one who knows the willow world well, that the one we seek is here. I can only hope it is true. But say nothing unless I give you leave. Come."
The geisha house looked more worn as they approached. The entranceway was guarded by a huge man, tall but with muscles that had given way to fat -- clearly a eunuch. Resting on his shoulder was a well-made naginata. Beside him sat a slender, handsome boy whose eyes were wrapped with a black cloth. Blind.
The boy greeted them. "The House of the Nightingale is not taking guests today."
Sensei leaned forward, grasping the boy's hand and laying it on his cheek. "I know well the ways of the willow world, my friend. You know me and why I have come."
The boy ran his fingers across Sensei's face thoughtfully. "Yes, I know you. You may enter. You must leave your blades here. But you may come."
They again set aside their weapons, except for Ayame's burden. The eunuch said nothing, but stepped aside to allow them to pass.
A middle-aged woman met the group of magistrates at the door and led them inside. Some of the women in the geisha house tittered and spun away. Others looked up at them with blank eyes as they passed. "You mind yourself, now," their guide scolded. "It's not right. Everyone should just leave him alone. He's /our/ guest, always a gentleman, and the girls all like him, even the ones sworn off men. He can stay as long as he likes as far as I am concerned. There's nothing out there that's any good anyway....wars and oni and everything."
Sensei offered some mollifying words.
The matron reached a closed shoji. "I still think he's best off staying here."
Sensei sighed. "I know." With a last warning glance towards his magistrates, he slid open the screen.
The room was clearly the finest this small geisha house had to offer. Threadbare silks hung the walls, and ikebana brightened the two side alcoves. Seated amidst a pile of pillows and silks was a man who looked towards Sensei and the others with eyes that seemed to see nothing.
Beside him there were two women lounging to either side, while a third, little older than a child, slept wrapped in silks on a futon near the man's feet. One of the women was wary as she watched them enter, her dark eyes filled with fear and suspicion even though she said nothing. Her gaudy kimono hung loosely about her, but Kenuchio could see that the right sleeve was empty...one of this woman's arms had been cut off at some time in the past, and yet she had survived. It was impossible to see the expression on the face of the other, for while her body was beautiful and lithe, clearly belonging to some noble line of geisha by her graceful bearing and perfect hands, her face had been dissolved into molten flesh. One eye had melted shut, while the other peered lidless through the twisted mass of scars. Only acid flung into the face could do such damage. A ripple of anger on her behalf caused Kenuchio's swordhand to twitch.
The man was between thirty and thirty-five years old. His long white hair streamed unbound across the shoulders of his silver-gray kimono. The kimono was open, revealing a thin chest that displayed every rib. His skin, that had once been tanned, now was pale, like after a long illness. His face, if gaunt, was still blindingly handsome, but it seemed affectless. Face, chest, and arms were pocked with mysterious scars. In many ways, he looked completely unfamiliar, but Kenuchio recognized him. He'd seen him from afar, but met him personally only once. A young Crane commander with laughing eyes and casual grace, willing to toss aside all formality to personally lead a group of low-ranked misfits to Akodo Toturi in the middle of the battle to retake Otosan Uchi during the Scorpion Clan Coup. The laughter was gone.
"Leave me." The man's greeting was little more than a whisper. The scarred woman drew protectively closer to the man.
Sensei shook his head and took a step forward. "I cannot, Doji Hoturi-sama. We have our roles to play and I have come to you now to call the Thunder from your soul. I know why you walk this willow world. I know what was done to you. But the time has come to take up your sword and reclaim your name and your honor. There has come an evil to the world such as has not been seen since ancient times, and I swear to you, if you do not stand against it, the Empire will fall."
"You are looking for another man. The one you want is not here. The Empire needs nothing from me. Leave." Hotui's voice was flat and without emotion.
Moto Koshi sniffed the air. "Not tainted. There's no Shadowlands stench about him."
Matsumoto Eiko tossed a thin strip of paper up into the air and watched it flutter to the ground. "There's no evil magic or bindings on him," she answered Koshi nervously, keeping her voice soft though it was clear Hoturi had heard everything. He didn't seem to care.
Sensei tried a second time. "If you act now, you can stand with us on the Fields of the Morning Sun. You can defeat that which has been stripped from you and build yourself anew. And if you do that, you will save your clan. Does that mean nothing to you?"
A hint of anger tainted Hoturi's voice. "My clan is already destroyed, Monk. By me, and well you know it. Let someone else sweep up the bones."
The girl who had been sleeping on the floor opened her eyes and looked at the group with confusion.
Sensei's voice shook with urgency, "It is not dead. The Empire is not dead yet! You have power, Hoturi." He gestured Asahina Ayame forward. "See? Here! You have only to grasp it."
Ayame took a trembling step forward and carefully removed the non-descript wrappings from the Ancestral Blade of the Crane, letting them fall to the ground. The beautiful lacquered saya seemed to glow with inner fire in her hands. She knelt before Hoturi and offered the blade to him.
Hoturi's eyes widened at the sight, but he made no move to take it. His voice darkened further. "It's a sword. And one I am no longer worthy to bear. Do not tempt me with it! Take it away and leave or I swear I'll....!" He almost made as if to stand, but then fell back. His voice trailed off into a bare whisper. "Useless. I am nothing. No more. Go."
A long silence stretched as Hoturi and Sensei glared at each other. Finally Sensei glanced around at the other magistrates and seemed o crumble in about himself, falling again into the role of the humblest of monks. "Very well, Doji Hoturi-sama. The blood of Doji and Kakita flows through your veins, and I am but your humble servant.. I shall not pursue you further. I will go. I only ask that you listen to these samurai as they take their leave. They have come very far and sacrificed much to reach you and call you home. " Sensei bowed his head in supplication.
The woman with the acid-scarred face touched Hoturi's arm, while the one-handed woman whispered something soft and encouraging in the Crane Lord's ear.
Hoturi said nothing, but did not refuse the request. Sensei gestured at Ayame, then bowed and backed out of the room.
Ayame timidly rose and came forward, her eyes downcast. "I...am glad you are alive, My Lord. I am glad that the good that is in you is still alive. We...were afraid it wasn't so." She swallowed, then knelt to lay the sword across Hoturi's lap. The man made no move to take or touch the blade, but he didn't shove it away either. "I'm sorry. I can't take this sword any further. I am Asahina...I was never supposed carry a blade. I was a flower of the court. I was never supposed to see a battlefield. But so many things have happened that weren't supposed to." She laid her hand gently on Hoturi's own hand, blushing at her impertinence. "I need to go, though. I may not be able to do much on the battlefield. But the Crane need me. My clan needs me. I'll do anything I can do, for as long as I can, for my family."
Hoturi stared blankly at her and did not respond. She bowed very deeply and moved out of the room.
Moto Koshi stepped forward, taking a respectful bow. But he straightened. "I am still learning the ways of the Empire and their differences with my people. In my clan, my father is a chieftain. His band of warriors is small, but they are his own, his family and his responsibility. He would rather crawl on his hands and knees to die with them in battle than allow them to fight without him. " He shook his head. "I presumed such was the way of all leaders." He bowed and took his leave. Hoturi did not move, though he glared after him as he left.
Matsumoto Eiko followed her, saying simply, "If you are afraid that the evil spell left its trace in you, it hasn't. It was a vile and terrible thing, I can tell. But you aren't bound by it." She bowed quickly and left.
Hiruma Izuko bowed in perfunctory way on her way out. "Even if you were one of the Damned," she said tartly, "You'd be redeemed in death on the battlefield. I had friends who joined the Damned, and I respected them for it." She turned crisply on her heel and marched out.
That left Mirumoto Kenuchio alone with Hoturi and the women around him. The swordsman had come so far and been so helpless to fulfill his most basic duty: to protect the people of the Empire from evil. And this man, who wore the face of the one who slaughtered so many at the Kakita Academy, refused to answer the call. Kenuchio was ashamed to imagine what Kakita Hideyoshi would have thought of his Clan Daimyo now.
He stepped forward, his voice low and menacing. The women froze. "There was a man, a kenshinzen, at the Kakita Academy named Kakita Hideyoshi. He was my friend. He was witty, intelligent, handsome. He could have done anything he wished. But all he wanted, everything he wanted, was to be a single blade for the Crane clan. The best swordsman he could possibly be. He spent every day, even the day he died, living for that. That was joy enough."
Hoturi didn't answer.
Kenuchio focused intently on the pulse beating in Hoturi's throat. " It would shame Hideyoshi to know what you have become. You have all that he had and far more. But you call it nothing. If you truly are nothing, then you are right. You are danger to us all and I know my duty." With that, he struck forward like lightning with both palms, a pressing strike to the heart. It was one of Kaze-do's most lethal waza, and one that will kill an unarmored man in the space between heartbeats.
Faster than blinking, Hoturi drew the Ancestral Sword of the Crane five inches from the sheath, just enough to block Kenuchio's blow with the tsuka and tsuba of the katana. For a single second, they were frozen together, while a crystal chime seemed to shake the whole building with the purity of its tone. Kenuchio stepped back while Hoturi stayed frozen, his grip holding the blade's tsuka with Kakita Toshimoko's own expertise.
The women gasped and cringed away.
Kenuchio's voice was filled with sorrow, anger expended, as he filled the silent void. "So...you are a swordsman still. Isn't that enough?"
He silently backed out of the room, leaving Hoturi in the silks and shadows of the willow world.
Kenuchio found the other magistrates sitting on the side of the road a few hundred yards from the geisha house. Sensei's head was bowed and his eyes were hidden under the green hood he wore. The others looked equally lost and dejected. He sank down next to Ayame.
"I suppose that's it," offered Izuko.
"Shinden Asahina then?" Koshi sounded calm, but Kenuchio could hear the disappointment.
Ayame rubbed her eyes with her sleeve.
But the man they'd been told to follow didn't move, so they waited.
Kenuchio couldn't tell what caused Sensei to look up sharply, but he turned to look in the same direction. The door to the geisha house had opened. Wearing a broad-brimmed iron jingasa that masked his features, a samurai dressed in ronin armor of brown and gray emerged, appeared to speak to the eunuch and blind boy who guarded the doors, and took the eunuch's naginata. He walked towards them, head down, and stopped as he drew close.
Sensei and the other magistrates rose to meet him.
The samurai looked up, and the magistrates met the black eyes of Doji Hoturi. He gave them a small nod of his head, and said, "One more sword for my family...is enough."
The kobune set the group of magistrates ashore in a sleepy fishing village. The Mantis captain accepted the koku from Sensei with a smile. He offered to return to take them to more civilized lands on his return trip, but Sensei waved him on his way. They would not be travelling again by sea.
A few rice balls and a bottle of the local sake later, and the group was walking inland towards the next village. Finally, Hiruma Izuko's impatience got the best of her. "All right, Sensei. We have travelled halfway across the Empire. We hid that sword from the best man I can think of to wield it. Where are you going?"
"A geisha house." Sensei answered drily. He trudged on ahead of them, leaning on his staff and provided no further explanation.
Mirumoto Kenuchio scowled. Though he had been able to hide similar questions, he too was growing impatient. He might only be one minor magistrate, but he was a solid swordsman and there were armies slaughtering heimen that needed to be fought. Yet here they were travelling to a geisha house in Onnetagu's end of nowhere instead of helping defend the Fields of the Morning Sun, or fighting with Toturi's army, or even rousing the Dragon, which he longed to do. "Thank you for the lesson in duty, Sensei," he muttered under his breath.
Sensei stopped and turned to face the magistrates. He seemed to be studying each of their faces carefully before he answered. "You're right. I claimed the title of Sensei, but I haven't taught very much, have I? Secrets and silence have their place. They protect against the spying ear. They preserve honor. But there's a time when that must be put aside. I think that time has come."
He slowed his walk to allow the others to gather around them as he spoke.
"I said we are going to a geisha house. And that is true. But it is a very special geisha house. It has no customers. Its geisha come from all across the Empire, from the highest and wealthiest palaces to the poorest seaports. But all of the occupants there have one thing in common." He paused to make sure the magistrates were listening. "All those staying at this geisha house have suffered. Terribly. Some mortals, even samurai, can when they choose, turn themselves into beasts. They rip away by force that which must only be given freely. They wound and destroy that which they cannot steal. They violate the Celestial Order to break the spirit and will, for their own pleasures, or from their own anger, or some other selfish end. Who could say why a monster does these things?
"If a geisha finds herself the victim of such a one, too often, she takes her own life, unable to rebuild her spirit or find her place after what has been done. Most keepers of the geisha houses, whether they belong to a clan or to the yakuza, see that the strongest, those who are able, are granted a marriage to a good man, or given a quiet job far from the suffering she experienced. They are, if the fortunes are kind, permitted to live out their remaining days in relative peace."
Hiruma Izuko nodded. The fates described by Sensei were not unfamiliar to her; samurai who had suffered too terribly in the lands over the Wall but did not carry the Taint were often treated with similar terms.
Sensei continued. "But there are those in between, unable to start a new life, too fierce to end their old life, who do not know how to heal. They cannot move forward, and cannot escape the past and the wrong that has been done to them. All here live in a willow world, a half life, where dreaming is easier than waking. This house belongs to them. You must remember that."
The village of their destination was in sight. It looked gloomy, especially with Sensei's 'lesson' and a heavily overcast gray sky. They could see the geisha house below them. It seemed non-descript, but pleasant enough. Someone had clearly taken the time to try to coax some flowers to grow in its small courtyard, at least. Sensei stopped and turned a last time to the group.
"I received a message from one who knows the willow world well, that the one we seek is here. I can only hope it is true. But say nothing unless I give you leave. Come."
The geisha house looked more worn as they approached. The entranceway was guarded by a huge man, tall but with muscles that had given way to fat -- clearly a eunuch. Resting on his shoulder was a well-made naginata. Beside him sat a slender, handsome boy whose eyes were wrapped with a black cloth. Blind.
The boy greeted them. "The House of the Nightingale is not taking guests today."
Sensei leaned forward, grasping the boy's hand and laying it on his cheek. "I know well the ways of the willow world, my friend. You know me and why I have come."
The boy ran his fingers across Sensei's face thoughtfully. "Yes, I know you. You may enter. You must leave your blades here. But you may come."
They again set aside their weapons, except for Ayame's burden. The eunuch said nothing, but stepped aside to allow them to pass.
A middle-aged woman met the group of magistrates at the door and led them inside. Some of the women in the geisha house tittered and spun away. Others looked up at them with blank eyes as they passed. "You mind yourself, now," their guide scolded. "It's not right. Everyone should just leave him alone. He's /our/ guest, always a gentleman, and the girls all like him, even the ones sworn off men. He can stay as long as he likes as far as I am concerned. There's nothing out there that's any good anyway....wars and oni and everything."
Sensei offered some mollifying words.
The matron reached a closed shoji. "I still think he's best off staying here."
Sensei sighed. "I know." With a last warning glance towards his magistrates, he slid open the screen.
The room was clearly the finest this small geisha house had to offer. Threadbare silks hung the walls, and ikebana brightened the two side alcoves. Seated amidst a pile of pillows and silks was a man who looked towards Sensei and the others with eyes that seemed to see nothing.
Beside him there were two women lounging to either side, while a third, little older than a child, slept wrapped in silks on a futon near the man's feet. One of the women was wary as she watched them enter, her dark eyes filled with fear and suspicion even though she said nothing. Her gaudy kimono hung loosely about her, but Kenuchio could see that the right sleeve was empty...one of this woman's arms had been cut off at some time in the past, and yet she had survived. It was impossible to see the expression on the face of the other, for while her body was beautiful and lithe, clearly belonging to some noble line of geisha by her graceful bearing and perfect hands, her face had been dissolved into molten flesh. One eye had melted shut, while the other peered lidless through the twisted mass of scars. Only acid flung into the face could do such damage. A ripple of anger on her behalf caused Kenuchio's swordhand to twitch.
The man was between thirty and thirty-five years old. His long white hair streamed unbound across the shoulders of his silver-gray kimono. The kimono was open, revealing a thin chest that displayed every rib. His skin, that had once been tanned, now was pale, like after a long illness. His face, if gaunt, was still blindingly handsome, but it seemed affectless. Face, chest, and arms were pocked with mysterious scars. In many ways, he looked completely unfamiliar, but Kenuchio recognized him. He'd seen him from afar, but met him personally only once. A young Crane commander with laughing eyes and casual grace, willing to toss aside all formality to personally lead a group of low-ranked misfits to Akodo Toturi in the middle of the battle to retake Otosan Uchi during the Scorpion Clan Coup. The laughter was gone.
"Leave me." The man's greeting was little more than a whisper. The scarred woman drew protectively closer to the man.
Sensei shook his head and took a step forward. "I cannot, Doji Hoturi-sama. We have our roles to play and I have come to you now to call the Thunder from your soul. I know why you walk this willow world. I know what was done to you. But the time has come to take up your sword and reclaim your name and your honor. There has come an evil to the world such as has not been seen since ancient times, and I swear to you, if you do not stand against it, the Empire will fall."
"You are looking for another man. The one you want is not here. The Empire needs nothing from me. Leave." Hotui's voice was flat and without emotion.
Moto Koshi sniffed the air. "Not tainted. There's no Shadowlands stench about him."
Matsumoto Eiko tossed a thin strip of paper up into the air and watched it flutter to the ground. "There's no evil magic or bindings on him," she answered Koshi nervously, keeping her voice soft though it was clear Hoturi had heard everything. He didn't seem to care.
Sensei tried a second time. "If you act now, you can stand with us on the Fields of the Morning Sun. You can defeat that which has been stripped from you and build yourself anew. And if you do that, you will save your clan. Does that mean nothing to you?"
A hint of anger tainted Hoturi's voice. "My clan is already destroyed, Monk. By me, and well you know it. Let someone else sweep up the bones."
The girl who had been sleeping on the floor opened her eyes and looked at the group with confusion.
Sensei's voice shook with urgency, "It is not dead. The Empire is not dead yet! You have power, Hoturi." He gestured Asahina Ayame forward. "See? Here! You have only to grasp it."
Ayame took a trembling step forward and carefully removed the non-descript wrappings from the Ancestral Blade of the Crane, letting them fall to the ground. The beautiful lacquered saya seemed to glow with inner fire in her hands. She knelt before Hoturi and offered the blade to him.
Hoturi's eyes widened at the sight, but he made no move to take it. His voice darkened further. "It's a sword. And one I am no longer worthy to bear. Do not tempt me with it! Take it away and leave or I swear I'll....!" He almost made as if to stand, but then fell back. His voice trailed off into a bare whisper. "Useless. I am nothing. No more. Go."
A long silence stretched as Hoturi and Sensei glared at each other. Finally Sensei glanced around at the other magistrates and seemed o crumble in about himself, falling again into the role of the humblest of monks. "Very well, Doji Hoturi-sama. The blood of Doji and Kakita flows through your veins, and I am but your humble servant.. I shall not pursue you further. I will go. I only ask that you listen to these samurai as they take their leave. They have come very far and sacrificed much to reach you and call you home. " Sensei bowed his head in supplication.
The woman with the acid-scarred face touched Hoturi's arm, while the one-handed woman whispered something soft and encouraging in the Crane Lord's ear.
Hoturi said nothing, but did not refuse the request. Sensei gestured at Ayame, then bowed and backed out of the room.
Ayame timidly rose and came forward, her eyes downcast. "I...am glad you are alive, My Lord. I am glad that the good that is in you is still alive. We...were afraid it wasn't so." She swallowed, then knelt to lay the sword across Hoturi's lap. The man made no move to take or touch the blade, but he didn't shove it away either. "I'm sorry. I can't take this sword any further. I am Asahina...I was never supposed carry a blade. I was a flower of the court. I was never supposed to see a battlefield. But so many things have happened that weren't supposed to." She laid her hand gently on Hoturi's own hand, blushing at her impertinence. "I need to go, though. I may not be able to do much on the battlefield. But the Crane need me. My clan needs me. I'll do anything I can do, for as long as I can, for my family."
Hoturi stared blankly at her and did not respond. She bowed very deeply and moved out of the room.
Moto Koshi stepped forward, taking a respectful bow. But he straightened. "I am still learning the ways of the Empire and their differences with my people. In my clan, my father is a chieftain. His band of warriors is small, but they are his own, his family and his responsibility. He would rather crawl on his hands and knees to die with them in battle than allow them to fight without him. " He shook his head. "I presumed such was the way of all leaders." He bowed and took his leave. Hoturi did not move, though he glared after him as he left.
Matsumoto Eiko followed her, saying simply, "If you are afraid that the evil spell left its trace in you, it hasn't. It was a vile and terrible thing, I can tell. But you aren't bound by it." She bowed quickly and left.
Hiruma Izuko bowed in perfunctory way on her way out. "Even if you were one of the Damned," she said tartly, "You'd be redeemed in death on the battlefield. I had friends who joined the Damned, and I respected them for it." She turned crisply on her heel and marched out.
That left Mirumoto Kenuchio alone with Hoturi and the women around him. The swordsman had come so far and been so helpless to fulfill his most basic duty: to protect the people of the Empire from evil. And this man, who wore the face of the one who slaughtered so many at the Kakita Academy, refused to answer the call. Kenuchio was ashamed to imagine what Kakita Hideyoshi would have thought of his Clan Daimyo now.
He stepped forward, his voice low and menacing. The women froze. "There was a man, a kenshinzen, at the Kakita Academy named Kakita Hideyoshi. He was my friend. He was witty, intelligent, handsome. He could have done anything he wished. But all he wanted, everything he wanted, was to be a single blade for the Crane clan. The best swordsman he could possibly be. He spent every day, even the day he died, living for that. That was joy enough."
Hoturi didn't answer.
Kenuchio focused intently on the pulse beating in Hoturi's throat. " It would shame Hideyoshi to know what you have become. You have all that he had and far more. But you call it nothing. If you truly are nothing, then you are right. You are danger to us all and I know my duty." With that, he struck forward like lightning with both palms, a pressing strike to the heart. It was one of Kaze-do's most lethal waza, and one that will kill an unarmored man in the space between heartbeats.
Faster than blinking, Hoturi drew the Ancestral Sword of the Crane five inches from the sheath, just enough to block Kenuchio's blow with the tsuka and tsuba of the katana. For a single second, they were frozen together, while a crystal chime seemed to shake the whole building with the purity of its tone. Kenuchio stepped back while Hoturi stayed frozen, his grip holding the blade's tsuka with Kakita Toshimoko's own expertise.
The women gasped and cringed away.
Kenuchio's voice was filled with sorrow, anger expended, as he filled the silent void. "So...you are a swordsman still. Isn't that enough?"
He silently backed out of the room, leaving Hoturi in the silks and shadows of the willow world.
Kenuchio found the other magistrates sitting on the side of the road a few hundred yards from the geisha house. Sensei's head was bowed and his eyes were hidden under the green hood he wore. The others looked equally lost and dejected. He sank down next to Ayame.
"I suppose that's it," offered Izuko.
"Shinden Asahina then?" Koshi sounded calm, but Kenuchio could hear the disappointment.
Ayame rubbed her eyes with her sleeve.
But the man they'd been told to follow didn't move, so they waited.
Kenuchio couldn't tell what caused Sensei to look up sharply, but he turned to look in the same direction. The door to the geisha house had opened. Wearing a broad-brimmed iron jingasa that masked his features, a samurai dressed in ronin armor of brown and gray emerged, appeared to speak to the eunuch and blind boy who guarded the doors, and took the eunuch's naginata. He walked towards them, head down, and stopped as he drew close.
Sensei and the other magistrates rose to meet him.
The samurai looked up, and the magistrates met the black eyes of Doji Hoturi. He gave them a small nod of his head, and said, "One more sword for my family...is enough."
Last edited by KakitaKaori on Mon Dec 05, 2016 4:25 am, edited 2 times in total.
Kakita Kaori
Kenshinzen of Golden Petal Village and overly prolific fiction writer
http://craneclan.weebly.com/
[Kakita Kyoumi/WC5]
Kenshinzen of Golden Petal Village and overly prolific fiction writer
http://craneclan.weebly.com/
[Kakita Kyoumi/WC5]
- Doji Pheelyp
- Taisa
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Re: Calls The Lightning Part 2 - A Clan Wars Era L5R Campaign
EPIC NEGOTIATION.
"If you can bear to... watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools"
<3
"If you can bear to... watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools"
<3
Courtier * Doji Innocent * Loyal
- Kakita Kasukaru
- Taisa
- Posts: 288
- Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2014 1:32 am
- Location: Athens, Greece
- Contact:
Re: Calls The Lightning Part 2 - A Clan Wars Era L5R Campaign
Niiiice!
Kakita Kasukaru
RPG mostly / French * Greece
RPG mostly / French * Greece