Hi everyone,
I've just gotten started with a single-clan campaign that I've gotten around to calling Tales of the Swift Sword and I've been putting together actual play reports on my blog Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer
It would be awesome if you guys checked them out. Comments and feedback are welcome!
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Prologue: A Gathering of Souls
It is said that when a story ends, another begins.
Kitsu Tetsumi (Played by @Vyastanya ) pondered that thought, even as she led the somber funeral procession to the Akodo Hall of Ancestors. It had been a difficult season for the Lion. Tensions between the Crane had led to skirmishes along the borders, and with a single arrow, the entire destiny of the clan had changed.
She glanced to her side, where Matsu Tsuko, Daimyo of the Matsu family, walked in grim silence. Tsuko wore the traditional all-black mofuku mourning robes, and her hair was done up in a simple fashion. Akodo Arasou may have been the Clan’s Champion, but he was also Tsuko’s betrothed, a fact that Tsuko chose to make eminently clear to the Clan’s newly ascended Champion and older brother to Arasou, Akodo Toturi.
Tetsumi knew Tsuko well. The young Kitsu shugenja had served as a chaplain of the Lion’s Pride for nearly two years now, serving as a medic, cook, spiritual advisor and “little sister.”
On any other day, Tetsumi would have advised against such a course of action. The death of Arasou should have been a moment that brought the Lion together, but instead it felt as if the Clan was hesitating, uncertain of what it should do next. At this point, Tsuko’s silent protest needed saying, as a simple clothing choice voiced out the thoughts of a thousand Matsu.
Tetsumi’s role in the ceremony ended as she handed off Arasou’s remains to Kitsu Toju, the Daimyo of her own family. She’d never met him personally before, but there would be time for such pleasantries later. For now, there was a hero to put to his rest, where the other ancestors of the Lion would greet him.
She stepped aside and allowed herself to look around, to take in the majesty of her surroundings. The Shrine of the First Five was a marvel of Lion culture, dedicated to the first of the Kitsu taken in by Akodo One-Eye and promised his protection. She had always wondered when she would be able to make a pilgrimage to the Castle of the Swift Sword, but never imagined it would be under these circumstances.
The Castle of the Swift Sword was one part temple, and six parts military barracks. Still, as an important trade and military fortress on the northern border of Lion lands, it held more people in it than Tetsumi was ever comfortable with.
Long mistaken to be a fierce monster of battle, her amazonian height and formidable build had often overshadowed Tetsumi’s softer attributes. She opted to avoid the possible sources of even more rumors about her by finding a place to rest among the dining halls.
Perhaps she might find someone there.
—
Akodo Tomoko (Played by @Glittersnicket ) sat in front of her desk in her quarters in the Dojo of the Swift Sword, reading for what must have been the sixtieth time the letter that brought her here. The contents didn’t change, of course, but she had never stopped reading between the lines.
A favor perhaps, called upon by her father to the Sensei of the Dojo, Akodo Kage. He’s been doing well in the Matsu Berserker school, besting everyone who dared challenge her. The Matsu blade that she carried to battle was no mere prize, it was a medal, a symbol of how the Akodo deserve their place as head of the Clan.
In one fashion, being called here to study with Kage would certainly fast-track her chances at a command position. That was useful, certainly, but her father would expect something in return.
She was not sure how she liked being in a position that she didn’t earn herself, through force of arms or her own genius.
But a general doesn’t blame heaven for the terrain in a battlefield, and neither will she bother with wasting otherwise productive time reading the motives of someone leagues away.
She reached for the blade, and a familiar and unpleasant chill settled on her shoulders. Ah… he was here as well, of course. She’d earned the blade in a contest, and her opponent, Matsu Shichirou, has been a rising star of the Matsu Berserker School. Powerfully built, fierce in battle, and an absolute terror to his opponents, many had expected him to put her in her place.
Tomoko had no regrets disappointing the Matsu in that regard. But Shichirou took his defeat personally, and took his life that evening.
Now if only that had ended the entire fiasco.
You are unworthy. She heard his voice, and her gaze met with the nearest reflective surface, a mirror hanging from the wall.
She’d grown accustomed to the horrific sight of him, bloodied kimono and cradling his head in his arm. His eyes, bloodshot and terrible. I will see you die ignobly, Akodo Tomoko.
Tomoko grasped the blade and slid it into her obi. If the blade was a prize and symbol of her family’s place in the Clan, then the ghost is the burden she must bear.
But now, some sake was in order.
—
Kitsu Mutekigahara (Played by Hikkikomori) ran a hand over his disheveled hair. It had been one heck of a season for Lion Clan diplomat originally stationed over at Kyuden Kakita of all places.
The death of Akodo Arasou was met with muted celebration in his presence, but he was certain that the Cranes were all a-flutter with word that their own newly Ascended Champion scored quite the victory.
He didn’t bother to stick around as soon as he got the recall order.
The Lion’s head diplomat, Ikoma Ujiaki was not a patient man. A death of this magnitude would only fan the flames of Ujiaki’s hatred for the Crane and it won’t be long before the Lion puts out a formal petition to go to war.
Mutekigahara’s thoughts drifted to other concerns. Word of Shinjo Altansarnai’s refusal of the proposed marriage had not been forgotten, and so Ujiaki will certainly want to make headway in the courts to assail the Unicorn as well.
A war on two fronts this early in the year? Folly for most, but tell that to thousands of Matsus hungry for blood.
Something will have to give, and it will be up to the Lion’s diplomatic corps to determine who bleeds first.
A servant interrupted his musings, “-Dono, Ujiaki-sama wishes for you to report to his office.”
Mutekigahara nodded and gathered his belongings. Both the Unicorn and the Crane have made a grievous error this year, and the Lion will make them pay for it in full.
—
“ Matsu Tadaka, ” the man (Played by RoninVampire ) spoke, before pausing, his lips pursed in concern, before repeating, in a lower register, “I am Matsu Tadaka.”
He recited the name again a few more times before he was satisfied. It was difficult to determine Tadaka’s speaking voice, given that their only interaction was swift and bloody, but one had to make do. He looked at the corpse and began to strip the body.
It was weeks later that he’d arrived at his destination, the Castle of the Swift Sword. Tadaka’s commanding officer had been aghast at the extent of the wounds he’d suffered, and sent him to the Castle of the Swift Sword to be reassigned away from the front lines of the Unicorn conflict.
It was only through the fickle fortunes that he’d been able to impersonate Tadaka’s voice and use the convenient excuse of war trauma to mask his ignorance of names and faces. It was a dangerous gambit, but as a “war hero” he’ll be able to stay one step ahead of the people who want him dead.
Matsu Tadaka strode into the barracks, his new orders in his hand. This was his life now, and he would kill to keep it.
Thoughts
Man it’s been a while since I’ve written something this long relating to a game I’ve run. This is honestly just the opening scenes of each of the characters, before they run into each other and get assigned their first orders.
I’m reserving my thoughts about the new L5R rules for the inevitable Let’s Study series, but I’ve found it to be quite liberating for players to stake ownership of the setting. I’ve taken great care in who I invited to join this game, as I wanted to make sure the players would get along with each other, and everyone had a means to contribute to the enjoyment of the game as a whole.
These aren’t exactly “standard” Lion character concepts, but I’ve gotten used to dealing with the occasional twist in concepts from my players, so I’ll let them play these to the hilt.
Next up, the team gathers, and take a life-changing field trip north to Dragonfly lands.
Hisu Mori Toride, occupied by the Unicorn