Arcane Tower

Good to hear from you Kevin, I look forward to setting some sin-spawn alight... unless they're immune to fire.

Reminder, Curtis has awarded our samurai 6xp.

Planning tacos for dinner... unless I find something that looks better.
 

For anyone who doesn't have the books, you can look on thetrove.is under books- legend of the five rings- 5th edition

In the last session you discovered that there was a mysterious storm which came out of nowhere and seems to have washed away a bridge nearby the Geisha house. With some effort, you were able to discover that the local water spirit was "ordered" to prevent people from following "it's master", although you know it's master could include an elemental dragon, any one of the seven kami, or perhaps even just a superior water spirit. It was suspected that the water spirit might try to stop anyone from using the bridge, so the idea of posting a sign was suggested. Also someone went to the local shugenja, a Unicorn, and asked if they could resolve the issue. They came back late in the day and said the issue has been resolved. The water spirit has been quiet since then (although it wasn't really inclined to communicate with any of you to begin with.)

Your Kitsuki investigator, after failing to find significant information about the disappearance of Toturi out in the field, returned to the geisha house and tried to relax. He found he couldn't sleep and so he went for a walk and ended up by the pond behind the geisha house. There he saw a vision of a dragon (later revealed to be the water dragon) dancing in the pond. Looking around for further clues, the Kitsuki discovered what appeared to be a recently destroyed gate to the heavenly realm of Tengoku.

At this point it seems the party suspects that the geisha that Toturi supposedly left with was the transformed water dragon. Toturi obviously didn't plan to leave (and probably wasn't given a choice), based on the fact that he left behind his swords and even his shoes. The only real leads that the samurai have to follow are all about the second geisha, who seems to have been following Toturi.

In following clues about that geisha, the Samurai discovered that she had cut (and hidden) holes in the walls to help her spy on Toturi. The Ikoma bard discovered a stash of "Ninja" garb and tools near the road to the west. The tools contained poison mixed with opium. The most renowned place for opium in the empire is the city of Ryoko Owari Toshi (tr: "Journey's end city" a.k.a.: "The City of Lies"). This is the same region that the suspect geisha claimed to come from.

At the same time, Yasuki Isamu was searching in the opposite direction. While he didn't find the trail he was looking for, he did stumble upon a bloody and cut fishing net. looking around that area, he found a tree that had been hit by a human-sized blunt object and there was blood leading back to the fishing net. With further searching, he located a fisherman's cottage. Unfortunately the man inside was dead. a medical examination revealed that the man died of poisoning after having been subjected to opium. There are bloody scraps of cloth and herbs in the cottage which make it seem that someone else had been there and was being treated for injuries. It seems likely that this murder took place about 2 weeks ago.


 

As I mentioned last session, I saw a video on youtube in which John Wick, the original creator of L5R was talking about some of the house rules in his games. While the idea of having someone who is hit by a Katana die instantly doesn't seem that great to me, another idea that he mentioned seems like it could be very cool and helpful. In his "session 0", he likes to have his players come up with 5 examples of how their character views "Honor" within their family or their own life.

While other virtues of Bushido are easy enough to judge from the outside, and using static mechanics, Honor is really meant to be personal to each character. It could literally be seen as being a character's "sentience" or their self-awareness. A mere tool doesn't do right or wrong, so those who do not act of their own accord cannot possibly be acting rightly. This is very important, since the essence of the samurai is to act with virtue, and not to act without flaw.

When thinking of honor in L5R, I'm often reminded of Katsumoto's search for the perfect cherry blossom in "The Last Samurai". an example could be something like "My character remembers the story of Akodo Katsumoto, who spent his whole life searching for the perfect cherry blossom, but was always seeing their flaws. It was only as he was dying that Katsumoto was finally able to look at the cherry blossoms surrounding him and, with a serene smile proclaim "Perfect. They're all perfect.'"

As your thinking about it, remember that the example need not be "Rokugan appropriate" or even appropriate to feudal japan, china, or wherever. If thinking about your character's views on honor makes you think of some historical event (like Thermopylae or the Alamo) go ahead and use that. If there's something from Robocop or Rambo or even Toy Story that comes to mind, use it. Explain how that story reminds you of how you see your character.

ex: "Dead or alive, you're coming with me." Robocop doesn't always act in accordance with "what's expected" and instead often behaves in accordance with what his "inner being" (Murphy) considers to be right. Of course the concept of a cyborg and programming would be completely alien to a samurai, but it could still serve as a decent example of how the samurai thinks of honor. "It's what exists at the core, deeper than training (programming), above our masters (OCP). We must struggle to bring our outer facade into alignment with our inner being."

Even if your character never really knows or expresses those words, the idea may still be there.
 

For that matter, how does your character feel about the fact that Yogo Mariko manipulated a dead body (even though she used a stick, she was very close and the flesh DID brush her garments) and that she clearly knows her way around Ninja tools and drugs? (at least more so than anyone else present) Is she dishonorable for behaving this way, Is she honorable for using this knowledge to help the emperor.. does it all seem to balance out?

Does your character question whether they should continue to associate with her?
 

I'll be there on the late side.

The greatest stories come from more complex origins, and characters without flaws or odd characteristics are often boring or unbelievable. My character, having spent years surrounded by lore and epics, would see the world in that light. His issues with Bushido are with its rigidity, as if its most devout adherents seek to be as predictable, dull, and emotionally stunted as possible. Honor for him requires a sense of the personal – it is more than a checklist to follow. I can’t think of an exact example from fiction, but “being the same as everyone else to earn honor points because that's what we do for some reason” isn’t really his style – there has to be more to things, otherwise, who cares? Who will remember you years later if you did nothing but try to make yourself forgettable just to achieve “perfect honor?”

As for Yogo Mariko, I can't fault somebody for using somewhat unconventional means to serve the Emperor - we're talking about "sort of touching a body" and "using sneaky weapons" vs. wielding blood magic or something truly dangerous that spirals out of control. Everyone has a role to play, even if some of those roles (and the skills that go with them) seem odd.