At Toshi Ranbo the treaty of nonaggression holds, on terms that favour the Lion. North of the Aelu River the Lion have just taken the opposing general prisoner.
The year is 1123. Doji Satsume, lately Emerald Champion, is dead. Natural causes is the finding entered on the record, and no account of the death has been produced to go with it. The office stands vacant, the Championship that fills it is being arranged, and every clan with a duellist is doing arithmetic. In the north the Lion Clan and the Unicorn Clan are one incident from open war. At Toshi Ranbo a treaty of nonaggression holds, on terms that favour the Lion. There is also talk of an epidemic, which nobody has confirmed and nobody has denied.
Into that, orders. Emerald Magistrate Kitsuki Kaage sent Doji Setsuna to the Castle of the Swift Sword to evaluate a dispute between the Scorpion and the Unicorn. The dispute turns on the Lion's own records, which means the Lion must be asked to produce the evidence by which their neighbours will be judged. A second letter arrived from her Scorpion mentor. It assigned her a yojimbo, Bayushi Monban, and it forbade him seppuku. A bodyguard who may not answer a failure with his life answers it some other way, and so does the person he guards.
She left the castle with her household: Ishika, her lady's maid; Otoya, her scribe; the porters Ryu and So; Jiro for the horses; and Kogarashi, the white courser her husband's family gave her. A stranger came out of the dark, asked for her by name, said the kami favour you — these are for your companions, and left packages bearing the crests of Kakita, Scorpion, Shiba and Togashi, and some bearing nothing. Then he was gone. Nobody has explained him since.
Elsewhere, at a shrine with Lion Clan marks worked small into it, several people woke up who had been dead. They remembered dying — cultists in the Phoenix Lands, black scrolls opened — and they woke beside a Togashi Nun who was there and did not explain herself either. A paved road ran away from the shrine, laid to a standard that means a clan built it, if not the Empire. Whether the kami had favoured them or merely declined to finish with them, the survivors did not settle on the walk out.
On the road to Loyalty Castle, Doji Setsuna recognised an old man with an untidy bun from a painting she had once seen: Kitsuki Wataru, travelling with other magistrates. Ryu and So would not go near Bayushi Monban and gave no reason, and were not made to. She handed over the Phoenix-sealed missive she had accepted in Otosan Uchi from a rider of the Miya who had been looking for him. It was from an Asako daimyō. Bayushi Monban read it and laughed: he had inherited a castle. Among the packages was a Togashi box addressed to Chousen, a name nobody at the roadside would claim out loud, though more than one of them looked at it as though it might be theirs.
Kitsuki Wataru had the news from the north. Above the Aelu River the Lion under General Akodo Sakawan had broken the Unicorn and taken prisoners, the opposing general among them; the lord Shinjo Harunobu serves got off the field alive. The Lion only drink after a victory, Wataru said. The castles ahead would be loud, then, before anyone reached them. Seven years now since the Crane embassy burned in Otosan Uchi, and seven years of peace between Lion and Crane built on top of the ashes. Nobody on the road called that peace anything but fragile.
Setsuna
Her charge is narrower than it looks. She is to evaluate a Scorpion–Unicorn dispute whose evidence sits in Lion hands, at a Lion castle, during a Lion war. Every document she needs will be produced by a party with an interest in what it shows.
The letter about Bayushi Monban sits alongside that. A yojimbo denied seppuku cannot discharge a failure in the ordinary way, so any failure of his stays open, and stays hers. Her mentor knew that when the letter was written.
She has not asked who the stranger with the packages was, and no one has told her.
Timeline
Political Tensions and Context - The session opens with background political information and tensions across the Empire in year 1123. It records the death of the former Emerald Champion Doji Satsume, rising friction between the Lion and Unicorn clans, the unresolved Toshi Ranbo treaty favoring the Lion, plans for the Emerald Championship, and mention of a possible epidemic. These items set the broader context for the characters' missions and the later scenes in the session.
Era Setting and Clan Unrest - In the year 1123 the former Emerald Champion Doji Satsume died of “natural causes.” A disturbance between the Lion Clan and the Unicorn Clan was noted soon after.
- Era context set - In year 1123, the former Emerald Champion Doji Satsume died of “natural causes.”
Treaty, Championship, and Epidemic Mention - The Lion–Crane nonaggression treaty addressing Toshi Ranbo remained unresolved and was heavily in the Lion’s favor. The Emerald Championship was being arranged, and a possible epidemic was mentioned.
- Clan tensions noted - A disturbance between the Lion Clan and the Unicorn Clan was stated.
- Unresolved Toshi Ranbo - A Lion–Crane nonaggression treaty did not settle Toshi Ranbo and was heavily in the Lion’s favor.
- Championship arranged - The Emerald Championship was being organized.
Setsuna's Assignment and Departure - Doji Setsuna receives assignments and prepares to travel, and several encounters occur as she departs toward Loyalty Castle. This arc covers her official mission, a yojimbo appointment, a stranger leaving packages for companions, a Phoenix-sealed missive, and the group’s travel toward Loyalty Castle.
Mission, Incident, and Yojimbo - Doji Setsuna, a Crane, was sent by Emerald Magistrate Kitsuki Kaage to the Castle of the Swift Sword to evaluate a Scorpion–Unicorn dispute that depended on the Lion’s Records. A Lion-related incident weeks earlier—possibly involving Shinjo Harunobu—was referenced, and Doji Setsuna received a letter assigning Bayushi Monban as her yojimbo with instructions to present orders upon return and denying him the rite of seppuku.
- Epidemic possibility - A possible epidemic was mentioned.
- Setsuna assigned mission - Doji Setsuna, a Crane, was sent by Emerald Magistrate Kitsuki Kaage to the Castle of the Swift Sword to evaluate a Scorpion–Unicorn dispute dependent on the Lion’s Records.
- Lion incident referenced - It was noted that weeks earlier there had been a Lion-related incident possibly answered by Shinjo Harunobu, though Doji Setsuna did not know the outcome.
Gifts, Missive, and Travel - As Doji Setsuna departed a castle, a stranger addressed her entourage by name and left packages for “companions” bearing Kakita, Scorpion, Shiba, and Togashi crests plus some untagged. A tired Miya rider asked about Bayushi Monban in Otosan Uchi and Doji Setsuna offered to deliver a Phoenix-sealed missive to him; the group then traveled on foot toward Loyalty Castle through picturesque scenery.
- Yojimbo appointment - Doji Setsuna received a letter from her Scorpion mentor assigning Bayushi Monban as her yojimbo, with instructions to present orders upon return to Loyalty Castle and explicitly denying him the rite of seppuku.
- Stranger’s gifts delivered - As Doji Setsuna departed a castle, a stranger approached her entourage, addressed her by name, and left packages for “companions” bearing family crests of Kakita, Scorpion, Shiba, and Togashi, plus a few untagged, before disappearing.
- Phoenix-sealed missive - A tired Miya rider asked after Bayushi Monban in Otosan Uchi, and Doji Setsuna offered to deliver the Phoenix-sealed missive to him.
Revival Discoveries and Convergence - Several threads converge: a separate group awakens from death and makes discoveries in the Phoenix lands, and Doji Setsuna’s retinue meets Kitsuki Wataru and fellow magistrates at or near Loyalty Castle. This arc covers the revived group’s observations, the enumeration and identification of Setsuna’s retinue, interpersonal refusals and deliveries, inheritance and named gifts, and a Lion victory report and its peace context.
Revival and Shrine Observations - Elsewhere, several individuals awoke from death alongside a Togashi Nun and remembered being killed by cultists opening black scrolls in Phoenix lands. That group noted a shrine with subtle Lion Clan markings, observed people coupling with the kami at the site, and found a paved road built to clan or imperial standards.
- Journey to Loyalty Castle - Doji Setsuna’s group traveled on foot toward Loyalty Castle through picturesque scenery.
- Companions revived - Elsewhere, several individuals awakened from death alongside a Togashi Nun and remembered being killed by cultists opening black scrolls in Phoenix lands.
- Shrine observations - The revived group noted a shrine with subtle Lion Clan markings suggestive of reverence.
- Kami coupling noted - The revived group remarked that people had come to the site and coupled with the kami.
Retinue and Notable Identifications - Doji Setsuna’s company was enumerated, listing Ishika, Otoya, Bayushi Monban, Jiro, Kogarashi, Aika, Ryu, So, and an unnamed hinin encouraged to learn to speak. Bayushi Monban was specifically described with a red scarf covering the lower face, and Doji Setsuna recognized a figure with a messy bun top knot as Kitsuki Wataru, noting that others with him were fellow magistrates.
- Road discovered - The revived group found a paved road built to clan, if not imperial, standards.
- Retinue enumerated - Doji Setsuna’s company included Ishika, a quiet, middle-aged, motherly lady’s maid/personal attendant; Otoya, a Crane scribe/legal assistant with encyclopedic knowledge of Imperial law; Bayushi Monban, a yojimbo; Jiro, a horse attendant; Kogarashi, a white horse with a silver mane and tail, a lean, swift courser, always poised; Aika, a former geisha; Ryu; So; and an unnamed hinin whom Kitsuki Wataru had strongly encouraged learning to speak with.
- Monban’s scarf noted - Bayushi Monban was described with a red scarf covering the lower part of the face.
Arrival Interactions and Deliveries - As groups converged, Ryu and So refused to come to Bayushi Monban. Doji Setsuna handed Bayushi Monban the Phoenix-sealed missive identified as from an Asako daimyo; Monban laughed upon realizing from the message that he had inherited a castle. A Togashi-marked box addressed to “Chousen” was presented and Kitsuki Wataru suggested that was the intended new name, saying, “you will know what to do with these.”
- Old man recognized - A figure with a messy bun top knot walked with purpose, prompting Doji Setsuna to recall a painting of an old man; she recognized him as Kitsuki Wataru and was shocked that the others with him were fellow magistrates.
- Refusal to approach - Ryu and So refused to come to Bayushi Monban as the groups converged.
- Missive delivered - Doji Setsuna handed Bayushi Monban the Phoenix-sealed missive, identified as being from an Asako daimyo.
- Inheritance revealed - Bayushi Monban laughed upon realizing from the message that he had inherited a castle.
Victory, Battle, and Peace - Kitsuki Wataru remarked that the Lion only drank after a victory. He reported that north of the Aelu River the Lion met and defeated the Unicorn, taking several captives; the Lion general was Akodo Sakawan and the opposing general Shinju (Shinjo Harunobu’s lord) escaped alive. It was also stated that a seven-year peace existed between the Lion and Crane following the burning of the Crane embassy in Otosan Uchi.
- Togashi box “Chousen” - A Togashi-marked box was addressed to “Chousen,” and Kitsuki Wataru suggested this was the intended new name, adding that “you will know what to do with these.”
- Lion victory custom - People were smiling, and Kitsuki Wataru remarked that the Lion only drank after a victory.
- Battle report shared - Kitsuki Wataru reported that north of the Aelu River the Lion met and defeated the Unicorn, taking several captives; the Lion general was Akodo Sakawan, and the opposing general, Shinju (Shinjo Harunobu’s lord), escaped alive.
- Peace deal recalled - It was stated that a seven-year peace existed between the Lion and Crane following the burning of the Crane embassy in Otosan Uchi.
Entities named this session
Characters
- Aika
- Akodo Sakawan
- Bayushi Monban
- Chousen
- Doji Satsume
- Doji Setsuna
- Ishika
- Jiro
- Kitsuki Kaage
- Kitsuki Wataru
- Kogarashi
- Otoya
- Ryu
- Shinjo Harunobu
- So
- Togashi Nun