Legend of the Five Rings: Session 1
It was a pleasant summer morning and the first day of the Festival of the Water Dragon in the Mantis held Dragon's Guard City, a port town favored by merchants (and the Mantis) for its proximity to both Phoenix and Crane lands, as well as an Imperial held village. Samurai and peasants alike have made their way here to partake in the festivities because, if I may boast for a moment as a member of the Mantis, we throw some good parties. Of course, this includes all eight of the Great Clans, as well as Imperial and minor clan representatives. And this is where we find our four heroes.
First, we have the Mantis Moshi Ki-Adi-Mundi (Out of character: don't ask), a son of the Moshi who was sent to study magic with the Yoritomo Shugenja. The Moshi don't expect much from their men and the closeness between the Moshi and Yoritomo families mean that many boys from the Moshi are sent to study with the Yoritomo. He seems to enjoy taking his days peacefully with the Kami. His day consisted of waking, divining how his day will go while smoking from a pipe and enjoying the festivities. Moshi was sent to the city to participate in a Shugenja demonstration on the third and final day of the festival.
Then we Bayushi Yukiko, a Scorpion "courtier" (as far as we know) who is ostensibly in Dragon's Guard City to procure some rare blackwood for use in a new shrine being built in the Scorpion capital. The Mantis hold the lion's share of blackwood in the Empire for a few reasons, some known to the Empire as a whole, others we prefer you not ask about. She is a pretty typical Scorpion, scheming, sure of herself and a particular disdain for the peasantry (she is also of the ruling family of the Scorpion, so her dislike of peasants is particularly pronounced).
Next we have Jonius of Appleseed, a Yodotai soldier. He has a special arrangement with the Emerald Magistrate in the Unicorn lands to be in the Empire for the express purpose of capturing a powerful Yodotai fugitive (who happened to have killed Jonius's dog). As far as he's aware, once this fugitive is captured or killed, he is to immediately leave Rokugan. In reality, he has a Unicorn handler, Moto Hiroyuki, who has secret orders that explicitly say to kill the gaijin upon completion of his mission.
And finally, we have myself; Tsuruchi Shigeru, a Tsuruchi Bounty Hunter (read: lawman) assigned to security during the festival. I am a rather loyal Mantis. I don't like the Phoenix, I won't be getting along with Bayushi when the group finally gets together and I have a strong pride about my skills as an archer (though, as a Bounty Hunter, my skillset is more focused on hunting criminals than combat archery like most other members of the Tsuruchi family). I also have a particularly strong respect towards minor clans, even compared to other Mantis.
The day was pretty much in three sections. I spent my morning working my guard shift. It was a pretty uneventful morning. The most excitement was a pickpocket who decided the best way to handle being approached by a Tsuruchi with a strung bow was to run. He got a broken shoulder, a free trip to a holding cell and probably nightmares from the scream of a humming bulb arrow for his trouble.
As I said, Moshi spent his morning divining how his day would be before making his way into the festivities. Bayushi took her time preparing for her day. Jonius decided that he needed a cowboy hat and went straight for the closest tailor.
Yes. A cowboy hat. To the GM's credit, he rolled with it (and considering the player, expected this kind of nonsense). While Jonius was describing what he wanted to the tailor and was being shown cloth patterns, his handler spent the approximately two hours spent in this shop hating his life, while a Crane woman (for the record, Jonius only saw her as a strange white haired woman in a blue kimono) carrying a daisho took notice of the strange man with absolute disgust, promptly finishing her business and moving on.
Bayushi spent the rest of her morning browsing local shops. She came across a set of decorative chopsticks with the mon of the Scorpion, as well as the crest of the Bayushi upon them. The shopkeeper wasn't very good at hiding his panic, made up some story about being the illegitimate descendant of a member of the Bayushi family and ended up accidentally insulting the samurai in his midst. Despite the claim that these chopsticks have been in the merchant's family for several generations, they happened to be made of the same wood Bayushi came to the city to find... and that wood has only been available in Rokugan for less than 30 years. It also doesn't help that these chopsticks are, in actuality, cleverly disguised assassin's needles. In a surprising show of mercy, Bayushi simply informed the merchant that she would be taking the chopsticks (after a quick demonstration of opening one of the needles) and that they would not speak again.
After commissioning his unusual hat, Jonius made his way to the sumai circle at the beach, with the full intention of using his large size to win a few wrestling matches. At the very least, his unusual size did impress the bookie. Upon arriving at the circle, he watched the end of a match between a large Mantis and an even larger (larger than Jonius, in fact) Crab. The Mantis ended up in the stands. Jonius ended up on top of the Mantis. Jonius also noticed Moto collecting some winnings out of the corner of his eye.
Eventually all four of us made our way to the center of town where a stage was being set up for a demonstration by local students of the Yoritomo Bushi school, followed by a sparring tournament that all samurai are welcome to enter. Jonius was the only PC to enter the tournament. Bayushi is a "courtier," so she has more important things to do with her day, Moshi is a Shugenja, so physical combat isn't his primary concern, while I didn't want to risk hurting myself when I still have a job to do. There was at least one representative of each Great Clan in the tournament, but the more noteworthy entrants were:
A swordsman of the Hare clan. I bet one koku on him (read: quite a bit of money).
Bayushi took notice of a disgraced Scorpion bushi who was accused of murdering his brother. She made a very strong point to actively avoid him.
The Unicorn wife of the Crab who defeated Jonius in the wrestling ring entered, prompting Jonius to join, prompting the Crab to join.
The Crane swordswoman at the tailor also entered.
The GM rolled for the results of each match and rolled a skirmish for Jonius, who was knocked out in the first round. Moto was again seen collecting some winnings.
The Hare was defeated by the Crane in the first round. So I was out some money. The Scorpion was also out in the first first round, Bayushi was happy to see this, plus she made some money on the match, having bet against him. Ultimately, it came down to the Unicorn and her husband in the final round. Jonius was not happy about this.
After the tournament, Jonius had to make his way to the guard headquarters for a meeting with the local headman. Bayushi found a very nice tea house, where she found the Crane (who is there as her father's second in the off chance his business in the city turns sour and he is challenged to a duel) and started making conversation. I approached the Hare to greet him, conveniently leaving out that he lost me a lot of money.
From there, I assume that something's going to happen that night that will force the group together.