Gold and Shurikens By: Alex Litvinov A ship crashed on the shores which are the sea border between the Crane and the Lion. The ship belongs to the Mantis, but they are all dead. And the ship is loaded with gold. Naturally, both Crane and Lion want to take the gold before the Mantis are able to reclaim it - and then blame each other. The ship was crashed with exactly that purpose by a ninja - the Scorpion clan would watch the happenings and later blackmail the "winning" clan, thus actually gaining the Mantis money without any risk to themselves. The party gets in the middle of it. The Scorpions want them dead. The Crane want them dead. The Lion want them as witnesses. The party will stumble upon the ship in the moment of the shipwreck. They might notice the Ninja escaping it (it's early evenining when this happens, TN to notice 25, awareness roll). Everyone on the ship is dead. The gold is stacked in 10 large chests - 1000 koku each. This gold is the Mantis full gain from trade with the Crane in the last year. In the ship (or near it) they will find a mortally wounded Mantis who will beg them to send word to the Mantis embassador in the Emerald City. Ofcourse, the Lions and the Crane have noticed this. The Crane will reach it first, a mere 3 hours after the crash. Maybe the party will notice them as well. In the meanwhile, reaching the Mantis Embassador seems a prime priority. Whatever the reason (the possible reward, honoring the man's last words, bad luck from NOT doing so) it's worthwhile. Finding the Mantis embassador is easy. His palace is huge, with green tiles on the roof. He will willingly accept the party and hear them out. Afterwards he will gift them generously and warn them - their intervention was noticed by the clans. A brief while later a Crane artisan, female, will approach the party and offer at least one of them to play some game. Go or chess or dice or something like that. She will try to seduce at least one of them and will attempt to pull out any info she can. Name is Doji Yaidako. In the meanwhile, the Crane disappeared with the treasure and are blaming the Lion for it. The Lions are ofcourse in a fit of rage. The whole city is talking about it. The Mantis are keeping quite in the meanwhile. A ninja is following the party everywhere and they might discover him. Can be interesting. Dependant on what Yaidako pulled out of the party one of the things will happen next (in a day or so). 1 Crane will try to pay off or assasinate the party - know too much. Possible in a dark night, possible stage an attack by the Lions. 2 A Lion diplomat will approach the party and ask them to give him all they know about the shipwreck. She might threaten or pay them. After this 1 is certain to happen. 3 Eventually the Ninja will make his move when assasination of the party seems crucial for the Scorpion. The finale : The Emerald Champion will demand that the party testify in court. They will. According to the outcomes the party will now have enemies and allies and the Scorpions as enemies if the Scorpion plan has failed. If the money is returned to the Mantis, Tayodo Shoshiro will reward the party and might explain the situation to them. Kimono and Dagger By: Alex Litvinov As the party are moving through the Koro Forest (Satsami province, Dragon/Crane border) they will be ambushed by a bunch of robbers led by Tsunami (masked, ofcourse). They will be able to fend the robbers off, and those will retreat with whatever they can take from the party. Ofcourse, the party will want retribution. Since the robbery attempt has happened in the turf of Kakita Soji they will go to him. The man will tell them that actually Mirumoto Harogato is responsible for the forest and indeed will send a messanger to Harogato along with the party. Together they will go to meet him. Harogato will heed the Kakita messanger and will heed the party. He will send the messanger back with a message saying that everything will be settled by him. Later he will retribute the party for anything they lost and offer them a hefty sum for settling this problem. Agreing seems a reasonable way, since he is willing to pay good cash and it's indeed a very good deed. Harogato's own magistrate has been murdered and he happens to be low on Samurai because of a recent peasant rebellion he was forced to crush. There is a deadline - 3 weeks, in which Harogato must pay Soji for the caravans (money which he doesn't have). The party will begin, ofcourse, in the forest. There Tsunami will meet with them and tell them that he's Soji's magistrate and is investigating into the matter. He will be very friendly and will ofcourse offer them to unite their efforts. After the first night they will spend with him they will be attacked by bandits in the morning. Ofcourse, if they will awake Tsunami will fight bravely alongside with the party. Next, the clue - 2 traiding caravans disappeared as well. The remains can be found in the forest. Another clue - Soji's lands are obviously suffering from a particularily bad harvest. Another clue - the peasants of Yomo, if questioned, have seen the robbers disappearing into the lands of the Crane. Another clue, false one - Tsunami will be able to find a Dragon samurai-ko who is willing to testify that Harogato sent the robbers. She is being blackmailed by Tsunami for he knows that she has a child, and from Ise-zumi at that. This can be found out by the party and she will commit sepukku. The father of the child is the use-zumi of Satsumi. Investigation in the city of Kin-Za will reveal the same it revealed with my players. A warehouse with the stolen goods, empty but well guarded bogus barraks to hide the samurai and ashigaru who serve as robbers. Eventually Tsunami will try to murder the party, or if he is investigating the city along with the party nothing will be found (save for maybe some hasty cover-up). Finale : When the party will gain enough evidence to go and confront Soji (Harogato will also insist on this after they bring him enough evidence) at the deadline. The deadline is a holiday, and many dignitaries will attend Soji's palace - the perfect time to reveal his scheme. If the party is sussesful, Soji will confess and beg his Daimyo to commit sepukku. Premission will be granted. The party gains honor and glory and Harogato bestows gifts upon them, but the Crane Daimyo will dislike them from now on. Characters : Doji Yaidako - the Crane spy. Is an artisan by training, spy by profession. She is beautiful and smart, much like Uyuni. She speaks in a sexy voice, usually appearing meek and shy. She is anything but. Physically, she is tall, with white skin and hair and greenish eyes. Tayodo Shoshiro, the Mantis embassador. The man is sly. His manners are pleasant and he smiles alot, in a mysterious kind of way. He prefers green clothes and likes to pull information from others. Visually, he is an old man, maybe 60 years of age, with a slight build, dry skin, and a long white Chinese style beard. Tsunami - F2(agi 4) A3, W2, E2, V3. Skills : Iajutsu 4, Naginata 2, Jiujutsu 2, Hunting 2, Gambling 2, Painting 3, Etiquette 3, Heraldry 2, Defence 2, Archery 2, Sincerity 1, Kenjutsu 2. Shintao 2. Attack Katana 8k4/5k2. TN 15, AR 1 (light armor). Technique - The Way Of The Crane (+4 to initiative, attacks with Iajutsu instead of Kenjutsu) Tsunami is a quiet man. His hair is long and black, contrasting with his green eyes and pale skin. He does not shave often. After having revenged his Daimyo he found that he has little to do with his clan members. He did not swear fealty to anyone since then and is indeed his own master. He speaks little and watches alot. His voice is usually soft. His manners are excellent, but it is obvious this this man has many secrets which he will not tell. He doesn't speak of his past, usually, and if asked, replies softly that the past is in the past. He respects Bushido, but doesn't think that blind devotion is the way. He is suspicious but it is difficult to notice. Nowdays he is being well payed by Soji to serve as his secret agent.