Session 3 (7 XP)

Shurio Matsu

Approaching the Shamate Pass, the party was discovered by lion matsu troops, who insisted they come to the Last Breath Castle and present themselves to the Commander. The commander was a very no-nonsense woman, and she had no love of scorpion. She believed them to be scorpion spies, as many parts of their cover story didn't add up, and she had recently gotten a wanted poster for the attempted assassin of the emperor (though with the emperor's face instead of the assassin's).

She took Diadoji Nagumi to play go and asked for her explanation of things. Diadoji was skillfully evasive. Matsu Nasuko decided to have the Kitsu Shujenga examine the party.

When they did so, they discovered that Chan was very important to the kami, and they decided to let them go. After announcing it, Matsu read aloud an order from the Tiger Clan to keep the party prisoner until the come to get them. "But I already announced their release. Darn!".

She warned Nagumi that they are after Chan.

Shamate Pass

Crossing the pass, the party was ambushed by a Tsuruchi Archer and his Moshi Shugenga ally. They said that there is a bounty on the party, and they attacked Chan. The party was able to defeat them, and found the orders to take them alive if possible, but that death is acceptable. They kept the Moshi spell scrolls.

Beiden City

Yogo James' brother (Tomoyuki) was running the family affairs here, so James presented him with Otomo Hana's poor quality wakizashi. The party was invited to tea. At tea they discovered that the mysterious liquid was Essence of Ningyo, which was basically like Fountain of Youth water, which made James' mother fourteen again. They stated that his sister, Meiko, was married to the lion so that they could discover how the lion was getting this stuff, but she killed her husband before she could learn anything, because of the inappropriate relationship between her and James. The family is quite disappointed in James.

His other sister, Kimiko, did a divination after tea, and saw the scorpion being devoured by a lion. But Chan corrected her, and showed her it was a tiger, not a lion. She went to consider this.

Meanwhile the group was sent to Gakki no Machi to deal with a peasant uprising led by a "peasant shujenga" who studied foreign scrolls. The peasants followed the Singular Kami, and they had killed the samurai in the city using a Golem, and they kept their wakizashis, hoping to ascend the celestial order by committing seppuku using samurai weapons, absorbing the souls as they reincarnate.

The golem was defeated. Tomoyuki was glad to have the issue resolved, as a copper shortage in the empire has drastically increased the price he could sell musical instruments at. He paid the party a reward of koku (under the guise of unpaid taxes to the clerk). He also gave James a brass flute, a bit of a joke, since a flute requires 2 hands to play, but insisted that he learn how in order to gain insight and be useful to the family.

Nagumi offered the golem's Chem to Tengen, the fortune of literacy, and gained Tengen's Magicite, which allowed you to write in any clan's cypher (and provided a way to learn other cyphers). It also allowed Chan to communicate via writing.

Kimiko took the scorpions to a secret temple where they keep the Oni's Eye. She showed them that they could scry on the imperial throne room, and see the nobles there were eating rotting meat under the illusion of normal food, and that the emperor does not show up on the scrying. When they attempt to scry on the emperor, it shows the group (Chan in particular). They believe the eye is being re-directed somehow.

With Chan able to write, he told the group he was the emperor, cursed by a foreign demon to not be recognized. With all the physical evidence, the party was able to mentally overcome the spell, and recognize their emperor (who still could not speak). Nagumi studied the spell, and saw that the curse could be broken if they could destroy whatever was maintaining it- either a spellcaster or a device of some kind.