7 hours ago, Diogo Salazar said:

Just a quick mention that unmasking also triggers finishing blows

Correct, but you only get one finishing blow in a duel - it's 'the first time' you become compromised or unmask: both duellist had already suffered and survived finishing blows at this point.

22 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

• That left Kakita Riku against the massive, heavily armoured Bayushi Tomi. Tomi was wearing full lacquered armour to Riku's loaned ashigaru armour and had a serious advantage of reach. The Scorpion was quick despite his size and heavier armour and his sword cleared it's sheath first, snapping round in a crossing cut towards Kakita Riku's midriff....
• .....when it tumbled out of his hand and shuttered across the grass, the grip bouncing harmlessly off Riku's calf as the razor-sharp blade dug into the turf. Virtually no-one had actually registered Riku start moving: the Kakita somehow went from standing ready to holding her sword at full arm's reach without seeming passing through any intervening position - the tip of her sword having gone under the bottom edge of Bayushi Tomi's menpo, through his lower jaw and into the top of his throat in one single movement. He collapsed, coughing blood, and expired swiftly. (Mechanically, Tomi was a Loyal Bushi, whilst Riku had an additional point of air rank and martial rank for a 'duellist' template. Tomi's heavier wargear meant Riku needed TN2 whilst her Kakita skills - Iai techniques- upped her opponent's to 2 as well. Tomi's roll was good - two successes with strife and one explosive success with strife that generated an opportunity - but Riku's was ridiculous, pulling two success and two explosive successes, one of which generated a third explosive success and thence a deadliness-increasing opportunity, whilst the other produced 'only' a third normal success. Even with a good fitness check roll, Bayushi Tomi couldn't push the result below 'swift death')

Darn. Talk about Jigoku-bent on vengeance. Somewhat unexpected from a Crane. Goriate is lucky she only cold-cocked him rather than Ginza fillet him.

18 hours ago, neilcell said:

Darn. Talk about Jigoku-bent on vengeance. Somewhat unexpected from a Crane. Goriate is lucky she only cold-cocked him rather than Ginza fillet him.

It wasn't just about vengeance, to be fair - Usagi Tomoe was a friend in need, even if not a close one, who felt compelled to accept a challenge (because she was the only Usagi who knew Seiki was basically laying down his life for her absent brother) and was clearly going to die with any champion the Hare could offer standing for her (Oda is an old man, and Takeshi, whilst a superb commander, is no duellist).

It was also a chance (though this wasn't said) if Goriate actually meant what he'd said - and give the PCs an idea what it felt like for Riku to stay in Kyuden Hida whilst her three closest friends marched south into the Shadowlands.

Taking down a Bayushi duellist in the process is no minor thing, but it wasn't the only reason she agreed to it.

And I hope it did give Goriate a taste of how it felt. Honestly, the way you've played Riku in these reports makes me feel like she's a really cool character and I hope that Goriate and her end up working out well 😀 She seems like she can handle him and would actually be a good complement, if they both realize that.

Which is not quite the same as being super in love, but for a setting with arranged political marriages "a good friend who complements my strengths and weaknesses" is a pretty darn good outcome.

Could do with picking people's collective brain.

Whilst the PCs are in the capital, I want to run a small investigation for them.

Miya Satoshi knows their names - vaguely - because " they're the people Bunji dragooned into arbitrating his daughter's [Masayo] adoption ". Therefore it's not impossible he might mention their names as possible spare hands for 'odd jobs' for the Imperial delegation at Winter Court once he knows they're invited.

The Ruby Champion obviously knows them pretty well, and one assumes Toturi would take Sumiko's word.

The other person whose approval you'd probably need to get allowed behind the curtain is Seppun Isikawa, as captain of the honour guard. Who - as an ex emerald magistrate himself would probably be broadly well inclined, but still professionally paranoid - he is captain of the Imperial security detail, after all.

I was therefore thinking about running the Missing Honour seed from Emerald Empire to (1) introduce Isikawa and (2) let him size the PCs up. However, I'm looking to modify it a bit for two elements.

• Hoping to have Hantei Sotorii involved peripherally. I don't necessarily want the PCs meeting the Prince (In fact I'd very much rather they didn't as they don't feel important enough to have the option), but have him be a background presence in the story, ideally in a way which helps underline his egregious brat-hood. They can't really be his gambling debts - I mean I could easily imagine him ordering a servant to take some of the late Empress' jewelry and secretly sell it for him if he wanted money, and bugger the risk of someone else dying over the crime, and that's not a bad starting suggestion - but he can't have gambling debts per se because even if he lacks any friends to gamble with and if he ordered anyone to participate they'd be terrified of accidentally winning.... I'm not sure what the crown prince can really need money for .
• I want to introduce the idea of bloodline-specific wards being a thing in the palace without being too obvious about it being massively important. Isikawa telling them they exist as part of an initial briefing, and subsequently knowing where the PCs are in the palace and coming to the directly without having to ask, that sort of thing. The aim is to slip in a scene which doesn't draw attention to itself too badly (which can take some doing in an RPG where some players assume any object or event which merits more than a sentence of description is a Chekov's Gun) where Horonigai is on her own and Ishikawa is startled because he didn't realise she was there, or finds a hidden door she really, really should not have been able to see. The problem is that most of the action in the Imperial residence would presumably be around the first Empress' quarters, and she wouldn't (unlike her husband and stepsons) have Hantei blood, so it doesn't feel like bloodline wards should be very common there, and it's not like the PCs would be allowed to wander outside the immediate area....

Just some ideas thrown.

You could assume the Imperial Spouse died a few weeks before the Winter Court and that Satorii actually stole the heirloom as a memento and he doesn't realize neither cares, that someone could die because of that.

Of course, the Imperial Heir doesn't even need to speak to the players at all, he could eventually just hide it among some servant quarters or gear when he notices people is looking for the heirloom and the PCs (or hopefully, just the Scorpion) just happen to see this from a hidden place and know the truth, and then decide what to do with that.

As you said, Satorii doesn't have any actual friends and he really is a brat, so this is just my two zeni on the matter.

2 hours ago, Diogo Salazar said:

You could assume the Imperial Spouse died a few weeks before the Winter Court and that Satorii actually stole the heirloom as a memento and he doesn't realize neither cares, that someone could die because of that

Could do - recent death wouldn't work because Hochiahime is the current empress and has been for at least as long as Hantei Daisetsu has been alive (and he's near legal adulthood), and Jodan's first empress wasn't Sotorii's mother (in the old fluff Hochiahime is something like Jodan's third or fourth wife - dude be old)

It's implied but not definite in Red Petals Scatter that Hochiahime is Sotorii's mother too.

You're right, it could just be a case of 'I want' - he's selfish enough. There would need to be something moderately significant about it to cause a ruckus that would freak him out, though - no-one is going to search his rooms unless the Emperor orders them to, and 'I wanted it' is a good enough reason for him to be given most things by most people. Yes, he has to sneak around to play with Kunshu behind people's back, but that's the ancestral sword of the Imperial dynasty, it's not a random bit of jewelry.

I didn't mean having the players even see him. Nevertheless, I intend on letting them figure out either that Sotorii was the thief or that he ordered the theft by a servant. How the players decide to proceed at that point, and what they report to Ishikawa (who bloody well knows that Sotorii took it and is nevertheless required to order a loyal woman's seppuku if they don't come up with either testimony that will convince the Emperor or an alternative person at fault) will be... instructive... and form the basis of his opinion of them during winter court...

16 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

... Nevertheless, I intend on letting them figure out either that Sotorii was the thief or that he ordered the theft by a servant. How the players decide to proceed at that point, and what they report to Ishikawa (who bloody well knows that Sotorii took it and is nevertheless required to order a loyal woman's seppuku if they don't come up with either testimony that will convince the Emperor or an alternative person at fault) will be... instructive... and form the basis of his opinion of them during winter court...

Ah, I love these kind of lessons. There was a Dragon campaign I narrated (4th ed), where one of the players was brand new to L5R (the other two were veterans already).

The newbie was a Mirumoto trained in the Mirumoto school. He was a Paragon of Compassion as well as a young prodigy, just fresh out of Gempukku and wanted to learn more of how the other clans followed this particular tenet.

Their first stop was on the Lion lands. They were passing by, on their way to Scorpion lands during harvest time. There had been a bad season and lots of people were going to starve. So there were lots of bushi assigned to watch the peasants. The Tamori shugenja noticed a peasant pickpocketing a literal handful of rice along with a Matsu bushi. The Matsu took away the peasant and the Mirumoto tried to reason with the Matsu, asking him to show Compassion for a starving heimin. The Matsu then quickly beheaded the heimin to the shock of the PLAYER and then I said " That was compassion enough, having a quick death, let Emma-O properly judge her now, without being tortured before executed ".

The lesson was enlightening, to say the least.

One can also argue that an empress, by virtue of marrying the emperor, becomes part of said bloodline. Her children are, after all, and, being lower status, she marries.into his family. So you can have bloodline wards work, still.

She does take the Hantei name, that is correct.

4 hours ago, Myrion said:

One can also argue that an empress, by virtue of marrying the emperor, becomes part of said bloodline. Her children are, after all, and, being lower status, she marries.into his family. So you can have bloodline wards work, still.

2 hours ago, Diogo Salazar said:

She does take the Hantei name, that is correct.

Depends on the invocations and the Kami. Does it track the lineage or the taken name. There are benefits and drawbacks of both. If it follows the name, then one could argue that a person who could convince the Kami that they are a Hantei it would get around the wards. Especially if the person thinks they are one (sincerity goes a long way, even if one is self-deluded). The issues with blood relation is pretty obvious. Now, if one considers that a Doji is often the Emperor's spouse, then that actually makes things both easier and more complicated. Just my first pass at the issue.

Perhaps Sotorii had been denied the jewelry at first (has expressed interest in it, for example, only for his father/mother/brother to chide him for his greed perhaps? Or perhaps Daisetsu recieved a similar looking gift and Sotorii believes he must be entitled to one as well and if he must rectify this oversight himself then so be it), then has it 'conveniently disappeared' by a servant? It would provide a reason for suspicion to be directed towards him - "On an entirely unrelated matter, it would appear that the young prince had expressed an interest in the piece before its disappearance".

As for wards, wouldn't it be in the realm of possibility that the Emperor might have a secret passage connected to his wife's quarters? Perhaps one that is warded to be invisible/inaccessible to any not of the Hantei blood? Of course, the group wouldn't necessarily know that it's a blood-ward (Horonigai is a Kaito, so it should be easy for them to infer that it was a shugenja/kami thing), though Ishikawa would probably be aware of the passage's existence. The issue with that idea is that it draws prominence to the secret passage's existence; it would literally be the first thing I'd want to investigate and I doubt Ishikawa would simply let them.

4 hours ago, Hydraxus said:

As for wards, wouldn't it be in the realm of possibility that the Emperor might have a secret passage connected to his wife's quarters? Perhaps one that is warded to be invisible/inaccessible to any not of the Hantei blood?

Perfect. Consider this yoinked. A lot of castles and palaces have a private corridor between the Lord and lady's chambers (when they're not the same room). That also offers a second way to lampshade Sotorii, if he lets the 'thief' in via a passage that bypassed the seppun sentry.

5 hours ago, neilcell said:

Depends on the invocations and the Kami. Does it track the lineage or the taken name......The issues with blood relation is pretty obvious.

Definitely having it follow the bloodline. That's very much a thing from older editions, but having a close enough relation to the Imperial family allowing you to bypass certain wards was definitely a concept.

4 hours ago, Hydraxus said:

The issue with that idea is that it draws prominence to the secret passage's existence; it would literally be the first thing I'd want to investigate and I doubt Ishikawa would simply let them

Ishikawa wouldn't tell them of it's existence - that'd be a violation of his duty, and after all " no-one could have used it ". He absolutely cannot possibly accuse Sotorii, despite knowing full well the little brat is almost certainly guilty, because he's captain of the Palace guard.

But he's also an honourable man, not a politician, so if they happen to totally discover it's existence independently without his help he's not going to have them assassinated to hide it, and if they are able to discover and prove the truth, they can potentially make an accusation he can't.

Thanks, everyone.

8 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

But he's also an honourable man, not a politician, so if they happen to totally discover it's existence independently without his help he's not going to have them assassinated to hide it, and if they are able to discover and prove the truth, they can potentially make an accusation he can't.

Thanks, everyone.

Except, they cannot either. If the captain of the Seppun Guard cannot accuse the Crown prince, then only the Emperor himself could make that accusation. Remember, status plays a major role in who can accuse whom. It is **** near impossible for a lower ranking samurai to accuse a higher ranking. Now, he could certainly let slip or subtly hint to the Emperor his concerns. And then from there proceedings can occur. Just one part of the problem with basing a legal system on prestige(whoever has the gold makes the rules) rather than natural law. But I digress.

2 hours ago, neilcell said:

If the captain of the Seppun Guard cannot accuse the Crown prince, then only the Emperor himself could make that accusation

Correct. I didn't mean they can't make a public accusation. But they can find testimony which, as you say, can find its way, officially or unofficially to the Emperor, and unlike Ishikawa their overriding giri is to act "for the good of the empire", rather than "to protect the persons and dignity of the Imperial family"

It's still a politically dangerous decision to make, and the decision between "irk the crown prince" and "convince the Palace guard captain you can't be trusted not to fold under political pressure" is not a nice one...

23 hours ago, Myrion said:

One can also argue that an empress, by virtue of marrying the emperor, becomes part of said bloodline. Her children are, after all, and, being lower status, she marries.into his family. So you can have bloodline wards work, still.

This harmonizes nicely with the historic Japanese tradition of looking on adoption as being just as legitimate of a familial bond as blood relation- social contracts define the self, rather than the other way around.

That said, it might be worth keeping in mind that, given the Hantei predilection for intermarriage with the Doji (and presumably only a specific, elite strata thereof), the average Empress probably does have Hantei blood to begin with. Granted, the Imperial line is more known as a "wife taker" than a "wife giver", but I'll bet you that just as most Imperial brides come from the Doji, a good number of Hantei princes/esses are married off into the Doji.

Of course, the ward's designers would probably not have been so short-sighted as to make it impossible for the Emperor to take a bride of his choosing, whatever her pedigree. But maybe this approach could ease some of the world-building issues you're facing.

19 minutes ago, robothedino said:

That said, it might be worth keeping in mind that, given the Hantei predilection for intermarriage with the Doji (and presumably only a specific, elite strata thereof), the average Empress probably does have Hantei blood to begin with. Granted, the Imperial line is more known as a "wife taker" than a "wife giver", but I'll bet you that just as most Imperial brides come from the Doji, a good number of Hantei princes/esses are married off into the Doji.

Of course, the ward's designers would probably not have been so short-sighted as to make it impossible for the Emperor to take a bride of his choosing, whatever her pedigree. But maybe this approach could ease some of the world-building issues you're facing.

Fairly sure that spare Hantei children are adopted into the other Imperial families, and then potentially married out that way. It would still be rare to claim Hantei heritage, but it would be possible.

30 minutes ago, robothedino said:

That said, it might be worth keeping in mind that, given the Hantei predilection for intermarriage with the Doji (and presumably only a specific, elite strata thereof), the average Empress probably does have Hantei blood to begin with. Granted, the Imperial line is more known as a "wife taker" than a "wife giver", but I'll bet you that just as most Imperial brides come from the Doji, a good number of Hantei princes/esses are married off into the Doji.

Don't forget the Otomo family. The children who do NOT ascend to the throne often take the Otomo name and either marry into that family officially or otherwise marry into a different family(such as the Doji as you suggest). One unusual case would be Hantei Muhaki He assumed the throne after his niece was killed during the Battle of White Stag. Tradition would hold that he was Otomo Muhaki when his brother took the throne, only to become Hantei again when he ruled as Regent until his niece's daughter came of age.

Also, at least with old canon, there were at least two Otomo Regents, most likely also former Hantei "spares" who did not take the throne, but chose to keep the Otomo name rather than assume the Hantei name.

So... ran the first session of Stolen Honour (lightly plagiarizing the very timely How The World Ought To Work ) and some prep work for Winter's Embrace .

• The PCs, with the addition of Shosuro Suiren, briefed Shosuro Rey, who confirmed that she'd been charged with investigating possible Kolat influence amongst the clans South of Beiden Pass. She apologised that she hadn't expected quite such a dramatic demonstration when she'd shanghaied them as substitutes in Kyuden Kitsune.
• She charged them with delivering their copy of the scroll to the Ruby Champion. She knew they were, if not precisely in Sumiko's 'inner circle', someone she'd used in investigations of kolat activity before (because Agasha Sumiko had told her so, even if she'd not said what they'd investigated for her).
• Comparing notes, they all agreed it didn't seem likely Tomoharu himself was Kolat, just that he was short-tempered and convenient. The PCs were suspicious of Soshi Yukio being a Kolat agent (fortunately dead if so) but couldn't really prove anything. Even Suiren, who'd spent longer in Tomoharu's camp, couldn't say for certain which of his various commanders and flunkies had been primarily responsible for pushing Tomoharu's buttons.
• By comparison, Matsu Chokoku and Matsu Akira sounded like prime Kolat suspects and worth watching.... " Though you'll need to find the latter before Ozaki does ", Uiri added.
• The rest of the journey 'home' was comparatively without incident - a riverboat to Ryoko Owari Toshi, north through the mountains to Kyuden Ikoma, and east across Lion Clan land to the capital.
• A few weeks later, they were safely ensconced back at Seppun Tatsuko's estate. Ryu was pleased to see them safe and sound, and all the magistrates - especially Horonigai - were really happy to see him.
• Shortly after, they reported to Agasha Sumiko, who took the copied scroll to translate, and listened carefully to their -lengthy - report. As per their agreement with Kuni Yori, they avoided mention of Hiruma Masami and the Hiruma ghosts, and - not having mentioned his prior appearances for almost a year - also made no mention of Doji Satsume. She congratulated them on securing invitations to Winter Court (which she would of course be attending as one of the three Jewelled Champions) and advised and encouraged them to keep Shosuro Rei's cousin Suiren around, as an influential figure who was not a magistrate could prove useful. As a former Winter Court Champion, he also had an invitation as part of the Scorpion clan delegation (or more accurately, the Poisoned Lilly troupe did - though, as Goriate sarcastically noted - it would be needing to rather hurriedly replace a few of its stagehands)
• During an informal party to welcome them and Riku home, and introduce Suiren, the PCs were surprised when Ryu advised them that 'two monks were at the door to see them'.
• They proved to be two separate individuals who happened to have met on the road and hence arrived together.
• The first- with a grin threatening to remove the top of his head if it got any wider, was Horonigai's 'uncle', Haji, beaming with pride at his adopted 'niece' being invited to Winter Court. The Phoenix had of course generated a laundry-list of tasks for her (as effectively part of the Phoenix delegation, even if nominally invited by the Crab), and Haji had jumped at the chance to act as messenger. He had also brought with him "as a contribution to your outfit" the most expensive piece of clothing anyone in Seido Yaku-Yoke owned: the shawl in which she'd been found as a baby, a beautiful piece of orange-and-gold silk embroidered with a peach blossom design. After nearly a year spent traipsing round the Empire, including at least one 'shopping trip' to fashionable dressmakers in the capital with Kakita Riku and a couple of Miya family attendants in tow, Horonigai had picked up rather more of an eye for quality than she'd had as a young shrine keeper, and realised she'd never appreciated just how fine the shawl's silk was - holding it practically to her face, she still couldn't pick out individual threads...
• Aside from general 'duties, various', the main big news Haji brought was that - as the Phoenix' newest clan family, the Kaito daimyo would head their delegation - and, since after the events at Cliffside shrine, Kaito Kosori was no longer capable of public oratory, she would be standing beside her daimyo as her 'voice' at formal ceremonies which required one. This may have caused a slight " eep ."
• The other monk had come to Tatsuko's estate to see Mirumoto Uiri. Togashi Ume was a heavily tattooed, full-blown Ise Zuma. " It was suggested ," the monk began, " that you would be more likely to listen to requests not relayed by your immediate family ." Ume had set out South earlier than Haji and met the Phoenix on the road to the capital, and hence traveled in company. Uiri - doing a bit of hurried mental arithmetic - was bloody certain that meant the Dragon Clan monk must had been sent at least a week before any messenger telling the Togashi he'd been invited to court could possibly have reached them, but pointedly decided not to raise the issue. He was also mildly amused to hear Mirumoto Kazuya, his aunt, had originally been scheduled to be part of the Dragon delegation, but that since he was attending, the Togashi had 'bumped' her off the list to avoid risking any public fireworks in front of other the clans, and she was not taking the disappointment well!
• Goriate also received news - not from the south, but from his Uncle. Apparently he was attending Winter Court as part of the Crab delegation, temporarily spared from the Imperial garrison near Shiro Kyotei, and Tsume no Doji Itsuyo would be attending for the Crane. Given his none-too-veiled threats from being stuck hunting bandits in the Kintani Valley for months, Goriate was not looking forward to his family reunion as much as Horonigai...

• The PCs began the following day by sorting out their outfits for Winter Court - aware that the wedding at Shiro Kyotei was a children's garden party compared to what would be expected here.
• Uiri commissioned a flashy-looking kimono from one of the capital's better seamstresses. As the only one of the PCs with commerce, he took the slightly less dramatic approach of finding a professional and dropping the problem in their lap, using (as most of the magistrates did) Support of the Miya to name-drop and get access to a tailor normally used by the Imperial Families. The result was striking and eye-catching but - being the work of gifted apprentices - not as fine or expensive as the other PCs.
• Since he had a decent trade skill rank - and was a former manservant to the Doji family daimyo, Horonigai, now they were back in the capital, 'borrowed' Ryu. She was aware his knowledge of styles would be based on his experience over years serving Satsume, and therefore would be 'classic' or 'seriously dated' depending on your point of view (and level of courtesy) but she was determined to include the silk shawl - which was just shy of two decades old - in the ensemble so it was hardly going to be cutting edge fashion anyway. The resulting design check produced an outfit far less flashy but - on closer inspection - probably the most expensive of any of the PCs.
• Goriate went with the tried and tested approach of 'ask the cultured Kakita samurai for help', and it worked pretty well. The result wasn't as impressive as Horonigai's, but an extremely fashionable and understated blue kimono (with, the PCs were amused to note, a fine teal pinstripe.....) looked good.
• Suiren's outfit was flashy, much like Uiri's, but with the benefit of a design skill rank of his own, he could be much more involved in producing the outfit, and had his Famously Wealthy advantage, and impressive glory rating (thanks to the Winter Court Champion title) to draw on.
• They followed up by trying to determine who else was attending. Whilst 'shopping', Horonigai had the smart idea of having Ryu tap into the unofficial 'servant's gossip network' - realising the households of everyone in the capital with an invitation would be doing the same headless-chicken impression. Goriate and Riku theorized over lunch who - based on politics and cultural events - would expect an invitation. Uiri made some discrete inquiries amongst friendly faces in the Miya bureaucracy, and finally Suiren did the same - 'in character' as a servant - amongst the households Horonigai and Syu identified.
• I'm not going to list the full set of names flagged up, because my current dramatis personae for Winter Court has seventy-odd names on it. They did find most of them, and Uiri specifically did flag up advance warning of Yoritomo's attendance.

• Whilst they were doing this, they received a message from the Ruby Champion; the Imperial Herald, Miya Satoshi, had enquired about the three magistrates' services during Winter Court.
• They quickly registered that they'd be stuck dealing with protocol and diplomatic rubbish and that what the Miya Daimyo really wanted was spare pairs of hands to drop anything not requiring serious authority onto so that he could either concentrate on serious problems or (shock!) actually have a chance to enjoy winter court...
• Regardless, when the Ruby Champion and Imperial Herald say " we have a 'development opportunity' for you " there's no real way to say " no, thank you ."
• Goriate, however, did point out a bit of a silver lining. Doing Satoshi's grunt work meant an all-access pass at court. It meant a workable pretext to talk to just about anyone without it drawing too much notice, and for the more nefariously inclined, the possibility of pushing their clan delegation's agenda whilst resolving disputes. Since Uiri, Horonigai and Goriate's delegations had between them been asked to secure up to a hundred thousand koku between their respective clans, " every little helps ...."
• The opportunity/problem came with a catch. Apparently Seppun Ishikawa, captain of the Palace guard, 'proposed to call on them at Seppun Tatsuko's estate the following morning' to discuss their possible assistance with a 'minor incident.

• Seppun Ishikawa arrived early the following morning - or rather collected them early the following morning. The PCs found that in addition to the rickshaw which had brought him to Seppun Tatsuko's estate through the ekohikai's early autumn drizzle, two others were following. The Captain greeted them and indicated they should get in.
• The PCs were taken not to the Palace, but to the Imperial Museum of Antiquities, nestled in the Karada district - a pretty imposing building itself, if nothing like on the scale of the Palace. Amongst the weird and wonderful statues, banners, and other treasures, along with the guards watching over them, Seppun Ishikawa led the PCs to a display of finely crafted, antique netsuke. Then, worryingly, he dismissed the guards to talk privately...
• He explained that the consort of the ruling Emperor or Empress has no specific regalia, in the fashion of the ancestral Hantei blade, Kunshu, but over the centuries a tradition has evolved that the sovereign makes a gift of a finely crafted netsuke incorporating a chrysanthemum to His or Her intended to commemorate their betrothal. The display in front of them showed some examples from the earlier centuries of the Empire. He drew their attention to one fine example carved from jasper with maple trees and chrysanthemum.
• " This was made nearly five hundred years ago for the Empress Hantei, born Doji, Noguchi, namesake of the late first wife of his Imperial Majesty Hantei the Thirty-Eighth, the current Son of Heaven. On the occasion of their betrothal, the Emperor had a copy of the first Hantei Noguchi's netsuke commissioned by the Kakita, knowing Doji Noguchi looked to her ancestor as a guide and inspiration. The resulting ornament is arguably priceless in and of itself - and it has been stolen from the late Empress' former quarters ."
• That resulted in a slight 'erk' noise from a few of the players.
• Seppun Ishikawa explained that he wanted them to investigate, with two aims in mind.
• First and foremost, to recover Hantei Noguchi's netsuke. The Emperor was not, as yet, aware of the theft - and this was not a conversation the captain was looking forward to. Ishikawa intended to resolve the matter before bringing it to his Lord's attention if possible, and certainly before it disappeared beyond hope of recovery.
• Second, to determine how the theft occurred. This could - and would have to - wait at least briefly. As captain of the guard, Ishikawa had authority to admit anyone he needed to the palace, but he could not do so without notice whilst also doing so anonymously. 'Officially' bringing a trio of emerald magistrates to the Imperial quarters would be tantamount to announcing a crime had been committed there, and thus unacceptable.
• This second half of the investigation would have two goals. First, to determine exactly how the theft occurred. Ishikawa obviously wanted the criminal brought to justice but any theft implied a weakness in the Seppun's security of the Palace and that was far more important. Second, if possible, Ishikawa hoped to exonerate Seppun Hatsue - " a competent and honourable samurai who had the misfortune to have responsibility for guarding the late Empress' rooms during the time - we believe - the theft occurred ". If responsible for the theft, she would be expected to perform seppuku - she had already offered to do so, but Ishikawa had persuaded her to refrain from doing so before the investigation was completed. If the investigation were to prove, as he hoped, that for whatever reason she could not reasonably have been expected to prevent the theft, he would be justified in declining her offer.
• Ishikawa left them at this point, to allow them to plan their course of action.
• After a bit of off-the-wall theorizing consisting in no small part of " Presumably it was the Scorpion Clan Wot Dun It " (This time followed by " Oi!" "What? Oh, sorry, Suiren... "), the PCs split into two teams.
• The first team would investigate the capital's jewellers and fences. Given the thousands-and-thousands-of-koku value, if it had been stolen for sale, relatively few people would have both the knowledge, criminal connections and sheer effrontery to handle stolen imperial property. Given his skulduggery skills and the fact that he didn't need to lie about not being a magistrate, Suiren headed this pay up with Goriate playing the part of an imposing bodyguard-slash-heavy.
• Meanwhile, the other team would work on the theory that if someone were given the opportunity to try and buy the netsuke unexpectedly, they would need money. Lots of money, quickly, discretely and with very few questions asked. They therefore took the opportunity to visit and question several of the capital's more disreputable moneylenders. As the only PC with Commerce, Uiri headed this effort, along with the high-air-ring, not-going-to-miss-details Horonigai.
• The latter struck pay dirt first, finding reference to multiple loans taken out from various lenders over the last day. The names varied but all of them had one thing in common: an address of a tea house called Fortune's Rest in the commercial district...
• Ironically, since they (unlike Suiren and Goriate) were t in disguise, with various people's spies and gossips watching them going in and out of moneylenders all day, they're going to lose some glory as rumours they're in debt start circulating...

10 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Ironically, since they (unlike Suiren and Goriate) were t in disguise, with various people's spies and gossips watching them going in and out of moneylenders all day, they're going to lose some glory as rumours they're in debt start circulating...

That's.... beautiful.

12 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

• The first team would investigate the capital's jewellers and fences. Given the thousands-and-thousands-of-koku value, if it had been stolen for sale, relatively few people would have both the knowledge, criminal connections and sheer effrontery to handle stolen imperial property. Given his skulduggery skills and the fact that he didn't need to lie about not being a magistrate, Suiren headed this pay up with Goriate playing the part of an imposing bodyguard-slash-heavy.

Wow, an easy job for Goraite, if somewhat demeaning. I guess being a Crab meathead can have its advantages in certain situations.

12 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

• Ironically, since they (unlike Suiren and Goriate) were t in disguise, with various people's spies and gossips watching them going in and out of moneylenders all day, they're going to lose some glory as rumours they're in debt start circulating...

Actually, that could have some advantages. Namely, ferreting out people who are apt to engage in blackmail. Not normally up their alley, but I can totally see them turning this around against those who would seek to gain leverage over them. Or they could embellish those rumors in the great game of politics for other purposes.

On 4/11/2020 at 11:56 PM, neilcell said:

I guess being a Crab meathead can have its advantages in certain situations.

The ironic thing is, he isn't one - at least not any longer. Over the year since Tsuma, he's picked up a courtesy and composition rank the equal of any other PC except Suiren, a half-decent water ring, and it's Uiri, not him, who has the Bluntness disadvantage. Nevertheless he still has trouble shaking his 'self-propelled siege weapon' persona.

• Team Criminal Connections made their way, clothed in appropiately shabby outerwear - through the commercial district to Fortune's Rest - with Goriate called on to defuse and intimidate respectively a couple of potential troublemakers, by the expedient of combining a courtesy check with a fire ring - using polite words but "looming suddenly".
• The tea house, as anyone who's read the new story ' How The World Ought To Work ' looked as shabby as the rest of the surrounding commercial district from the outside, but surprisingly well-appointed inside.
• Suiren took over at this point: using a mix of skulduggery, Famously Wealthy , and...well...general reputation of the Scorpion in general and Shosuro family in particular, to get a private discussion with the 'man in charge', Tamanegi.
• After a bit of out-of-character debate, the PCs (none of whom had yet read How The World Ought To Work ) decided not to mention Ishikawa's name to the crime boss. They might have been in for an interesting surprise if they had, but the fact they knew the netsuke was stolen from the palace, and hadn't come with an introduction from his usual contacts, meant Tamanegi had a pretty good idea what they were. Fortunately, he was 'merely acting as a broker in the sale' and neither held the item nor - at this time - had exchanged any money for it. Imagine his shock at learning the seller was suspected of having stolen it!
• After a bit of debate, some courtesy checks - Suiren was rewarded with the name of the seller. Absolutelt No-one was surprised that Koharu turned out to be a Chambermaid at the Imperial Palace.
• The PCs thanked him and left at this point, which is where we left the session.
• Tamanegi- for the purposes of rules - is a Terrified Merchant with the Socialite template, and Well-Spoken and Seems Trustworthy advantages. I think I may have him use Shady Connections to have some ruffians - to whom he obviously has no connection - 'remind' them to be discrete about their discussions.