S2E17: Twisted Threads

Podcast of the Five Rings

Tomo, Buro, and Kenshi pursue leads and loose ends all over Otosan Uchi with the help of their new friend and guide Otomo Yasushi as they wait for the winter court to officially begin.

Featuring our friend and fellow L5R podcaster Evan Strite (Crimson Gold Agonies, Secondhand Strife) as Otomo Yasushi!

Become a supporter of the show at patreon.com/pot5r to get access to the "Behind the Shoji" after-show and a bunch of other new exclusive content!

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Tomo, Buro, Kenshi, Akari, and Tsubasa set out into Otosan Uchi with their guide, Otomo Yasushi. They started their day in the Chisei district, shopping for the proper clothes for court.

While there, they found a lone monk sitting on a hill, answering questions and offering advice to the people of the Ekohikei. Yasushi explained to them that this monk was a member of the Togashi order named Kaiae, and had recently taken residence on this hill, offering sage counsel to the people of Otosan Uchi. Togashi Kaiae was a name Tomo and Buro recognized. In life, Yoshi had mentioned this woman many times. Before becoming Topaz Champion and taking his assignment as an Emerald Magistrate, Yoshi and Kaiae had been lovers. Apparently, the two did not end their relationship on the best of terms—an incident which Yoshi had never elaborated on...

Kenshi suggested bringing Yoshi’s armor to Kaiae to have them speak to each other one last time, but decided it was a bad idea to reveal the armor publicly. Overhearing this, Yasushi asked how exactly Yoshi would speak to Kaiae. To his knowledge, Yoshi had died in the Shadowlands. It was then the heroes realized that they had never told Yasushi that Yoshi’s spirit was occupying the armor, or of the dark secret which came with it. Thinking quickly, the party scrambled to come up with a cover story, but Yasushi’s curiosity had already been piqued, and he saw through their excuses.

The party concocted a plan to lure Togashi Kaiae from her hill. Kenshi began playing a song on his sanshin while Tomo distracted the crowd with feats of athleticism. Meanwhile, Buro climbed the hill to Kaiae and slipped her a note, telling her to meet them at the Otomo Guest House at night if she wanted to speak with Togashi Yoshi.

Later, the party made their way to the Karada District, the Ekohikei’s district for commerce and economics. Here, the party decided to split. Tomo, Buro, Akari, Tsubasa, and Yasushi decided to go looking for Yasuki Taka, daimyo of the Yasuki family, in order to confront him about his operations in the Shinomen Forest and the Yasuki Lumber Company. Meanwhile, Kenshi decided he would go on his own to find a representative of the Fox clan and inquire about his past.

While traveling through the Chisei and Karada districts, Buro was using his skills for information gathering to collect gossip from people. A few rumors piqued his interest. For one, it seems the district government office of the Karada district has been mysteriously closed for a while. Every time someone tries to enter it or seek audience with someone who works there, another excuse was given as to why it had been shut. Secondly, he learned that Yasuki Taka had quite a reputation for himself. It seemed as though everyone owes him something, and no one wanted to speak to him directly. The whole city appears to be afraid of him (including their guide, Yasushi, who was excused from the party before meeting with Taka). Finally, while traveling, Buro couldn’t help but notice a cat that seemed to be following them everywhere they went. It was an orange cat with brown stripes. Buro couldn’t help but notice that the cat was conspicuously absent when the party entered the Crab embassy while looking for Yasuki Taka.

Kenshi went to the embassy of minor clans and found Kitsune Ryosei, champion of the Fox clan, in an office dedicated to the Fox. She seemed heavily invested in a book when Kenshi entered, quickly closing it and throwing it to her side when the bard addressed himself. Kenshi brusquely took off his necklace and slammed it in front of Ryosei, demanding answers about what it was and where he was from. Ryosei seemed curious, and told Kenshi to meet her tonight at a secluded place in the Toshisoto, but to say nothing else in the mean time.

On his way out of the embassy of minor clans, Kenshi decided to visit the Mantis office, in order to create a cover that he was merely collecting information to write songs for court. While there, he learned that merely a week ago, a Mantis envoy had been attacked by Lion raiders. The captain of one of the attacked ships was a Mantis sailor named Yasunori, who died in the attack. The attendant Kenshi was speaking to believed that a song about brave Yasunori could raise the spirits of the Mantis samurai at court. He warned him though, a song praising the departed Mantis captain could raise the ire of the Lion clan. Before leaving, Kenshi learned that Yasunori was the brother of Hasagawa, lead Mantis ambassador living in Otosan Uchi. Apparently, Hasagawa seems hellbent on revenge against the Lion for the sneak attack which killed his brother.

Meanwhile, Tomo and crew tracked Yasuki Taka to The Trading Grounds, a massive open air bazaar where it seemed all the goods of the world could be found. Approaching Taka, the party was taken aback by the shear number of samurai Taka had at his disposal. A virtual army seemed to be protecting him at all times. Many of the samurai proudly wore the Carp mon of the Yasuki family, while just as many others appeared to merely be ronin hired by the Merchant King. Tomo came in hot with Yasuki Daimyo. He warned him that Taka was making a mistake by harvesting the wood of the Shinomen Forest. That his operations were angering the spirits of the forest, causing great damage throughout the region, and forcing many to lose their lives. Tomo also warned him that the wood itself was faulty, and potentially tainted, after relaying the story to Taka about how his yumi refused to fire while defending himself in Maemikake.

Taka fired back, assuring Tomo that the issue with forest spirits was under control—a mere nuisance, and nothing more. Taka then pointed out how fabulously wealthy his operations were making Tomo and his family, and that Tomo should make a trip back to Clear Water Village to see how much his town had grown in such a short amount of time. Taka ended by declaring his actions benefited the Crab clan as a whole, reminding Tomo that he was the main supplier of timber for their clan. That this wood allows the Crab to build their fortifications, construct their siege engines, and supply their armies.

Refusing to hear it, Tomo promised Taka that this issue would be brought up in court, and then stormed off.

That night, Kenshi met Kitsune Ryosei at the agreed upon location in the outer city. It was a quiet, heavily wooded section of a large park in the Hayasu district. Kenshi enlisted the aid of Bayushi Tsubasa before arriving. He wanted the Scorpion to tail him, and watch his back in case the meeting went south.

Kenshi revealed all that he knew about his heritage to Ryosei, who listened with great interest. His story lined up perfectly with what she knew about the last time the Lion had decided to attack her clan. Kenshi then explained that above all, what he wants is revenge against the Lion clan for destroying his home and his family. Ryosei told him that in order for them to work together, Kenshi would have to prove his allegiance to her. She told him that he would have to spy on the Lion clan.

Album Art by Dylon Munoz

Music

"Rokugan Theme" by Brandon Spain

"Ohayashi" by PeriTune | http://peritune.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

"Dragon Theme" by Brandon Spain

"Koto and Shamisen Loop" by zagi2 at freesound.org https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

"Crab Theme" by Brandon Spain

"Ishikari Lore" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Ueno Shamisen - Japan" by RTB45 at freesound.org https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/