A terrible storm brings the band of ronin together on their way to Twin Blessings Village, a farming community which they find being terrorized by local thugs...
A terrible storm rolled in from the bay, wreaking havoc upon the land. Wind and rain battered the landscape while distant thunder warned wayward travelers.
Upon some forgotten road in some distant valley walked two figures, each baring vestiges of a former life. There was Naoki, once a reputable merchant of decent wealth living in the capital city, now a peddler of mundane wares traveling from shrine to shrine. And there was his bodyguard, Boa, a castaway from the Crane clan. Once a student in the arts of sword and brush, now a master in the arts of plow and ox.
The two followed the muddy bank of a raging river when suddenly a small boat lost control in the rapids and crashed into an outcrop of jagged rocks. The boat’s two passengers were flung from the boat and into the rocks below. Steering the ship was the deckhand-turned-pirate, Kaizoku. A man whose ambitions are only outnumbered by his enemies. His passenger was the rogue, Shiroi Tsume. Born a hinin butcher, Tsume turned to a life grave robbing and treasure hunting in order to support his family after the death of his father.
Seeing the incident unfold before them, Naoki and Boa jumped into action, helping to pull Kaizoku and Tsume to shore, as well salvaging as much of their equipment as possible. Assessing the damage, Kaizoku realized that his ship was in need of considerable repair. A couple of items had gone missing too: his father’s fishing net, and a vial of Liquid Void-- a substance to which he had become fiercely addicted.
Once on shore, Tsume got a closer look at his rescuers. His heart sank when he made a startling revelation. The peddler, Naoki, was a man to whom he owed a great deal of money, and who has blackmail on Tsume, knowing all about his criminal lifestyle. Luckily for him though, it had been years since they last saw each other, and Naoki did not seem to recognize him.
Naoki recommended they all travel downriver to the nearby town of Twin Blessings Village. He and Boa were traveling there already, and he suspected that Kaizoku and Tsume could find their lost equipment there as well.
Upon walking into town, they the noticed the crops of the village had all seemed to either wither and die, or become flooded by the rain and river. Then they heard shouting and the hoof beats of horses. It sounded like the village was under attack.
They found two drunk samurai clad in teal and purple, wearing the mon of a family they did not recognize. These two samurai were demanding a tribute of sake from the villagers. When the villagers insisted that they did not have any more sake to give, the samurai grew belligerent and began assaulting the peasants. When Kaizoku tried to intervene, he was intimidated and told to step down. Once the samurai got tired of berating the villagers, they rode off.
Afterward, the party was greeted by the head of the village, an elderly man named Setsuo. He thanked the party for trying to stand up for them, but insisted that confronting the samurai would only anger them, and make them come back in force. Setuso welcomed the party as guests in his home and showed them what meager hospitality he could afford: a fire and a warm bowl of rice.
Setsuo explained that those samurai were in the service of a new lord who had recently taken power in the region. His name was Reju Jikai. He was cruel and abusive, and has been hiring large numbers of ronin to bolster his ranks—a resource which there was no short supply of these days after two consecutive wars and a huge shift in power.
Setsuo asked the party to stay as long as they need. He felt they have much to talk about.
Credits
Art by Dylon Munoz
Music by Brandon Spain and Podcast of the Five Rings