S1E4: Messages From Beyond

Yoshi, Tomo, Buro, and their retinue of Crab samurai were brought to Yume-do—the realm of dreams—by a mysterious woman bearing the mon of the Moth clan. This woman identified herself as having been a shugenja stationed at Daylight Castle when the castle fell to the Shadowlands. She further explained that as a last ditch effort to protect the souls of the Hiruma from being consumed by the demon Atsumari, she completed a ritual which took the souls to Yume-do where they have been hiding for the last 400 years. The woman asked the party for their help undoing the ritual so that the souls of the fallen Hiruma may finally rest in peace. In order to do so, the party would have to find three keys which could be found in Daylight Castle. First, they would have to find the last verse of the Moth shugenja’s ritual which could be found in the castle’s temple. Secondly, they would have to find the ancestral blade of the Hiruma, a wakizashi which belonged to the Hiruma daimyo. Finally, the last key was to identify the Moth shugenja’s name which the shugenja had forgotten as part of the ritual.

The audience with the strange woman was rushed to an end, as the party came under attack by the Crimson Moon Tribe in their camp on the Plain of Last Stand. The Nezumi attempted to overwhelm the party in the dark of the night with superior numbers and advantageous positioning. At the site of these attackers, Togashi Yoshi, overcome by his fear of rats, fled from combat, leaving the rest of the party to fend for themselves against overwhelming numbers. After a grave battle which left most of the party wounded and in poor condition (including Kuni Akari who barely managed to survive thanks to a selfless act of courage by Soshi Burezu), the party fended off the Nezumi attackers and proceeded on their mission to Daylight Castle.

That day, the party scoured the Plain of Last Stand for a subterranean entrance into the castle in order to avoid the potential traps which might still be active on the walls of Shiro Hiruma. After hours of searching, they eventually found an abandoned tunnel which would lead directly to the central keep. There, the party made camp for the night.

While camped out in the vacant tunnel, the party made a few startling discoveries. First, their food supply was running low. Realizing they only had about three days worth of food left, they decided to ration their remaining supplies, hoping to make it last for twice as long. Next, they discovered that Hiruma Takana was not recovering from his wound suffered by the oni which claimed his arm on the Plain of Last Stand. If he was not given immediate medical attention, he was not likely to survive much longer. Finally, they discovered that Kaiu Daisoto was deeply offended by Togashi Yoshi’s cowardice in the face of the Crimson Moon Tribe, damaging the trust which Yoshi worked hard to earn from him.

On the morning of the sixth day in the Shadowlands, the party ventured deeper into the tunnels until they eventually found their way beneath the interior castle walls. There they found a hidden courtyard which held evidence of once having been a garden with a deep well and shrine to the Fortunes in the castle interior. The plants were long dead and the Fortunes twisted into hideous and profane gestures. 

There, Buro spoke with the kami, revealing some secrets of the castle. The kami told him to speak with the sisters, mentioning that they have an unknown knowledge which he seeks. They also said that there had been another person communing with the spirits, seeking far greater power than Buro could understand. Finally, they told him that he should seek the daimyo’s quarters for an ancestral gift.

Moving forward, the party found a trap door leading away from the hidden courtyard. On the other side, they discovered the ruined remains of Daylight. They were now in the heart of the complex, in the great keep of the ancient castle, Shiro Hiruma.

Credits

Album Art by Dylan Munoz

Music

"Rokugan Theme" by Brandon Spain

"Ethereal Presence" by Brandon Spain

"Dangerous" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

"Satiate" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Artwork by Dylon Munoz

Music by Brandon Spain & Podcast of the Five Rings