S2E15: The Wayward Fox

Kenshi faces someone from his turbulent past. The party FINALLY makes it to Otosan Uchi!

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---SHOW NOTES---

Kenshi, Buro, Tomo, Akari, Tsubasa, and Ryudo were met face to face with half a dozen Matsu samurai. They were lightly armored guerrilla fighters positioned in the forest, making hit-and-run attacks on Crane camps and supply centers. The Matsu samurai demanded that the party hand over their food, in order to feed the samurai fighting a war against their sworn enemy. The leader introduced himself as Matsu Toshiro, and asked Kenshi about the necklace he wore around his neck. Recognizing its significance, he asked if Kenshi was related to the Fox clan in any way.

Toshiro then explained that long ago, the Fox clan vowed an oath to the Lion clan. In exchange for their protection, the Fox would offer conscripts to the Matsu family. However, since being given their own land and becoming formally recognized as a minor clan, they began to neglect this oath. 

Toshiro went on to explain that he lead a detachment of soldiers to the Fox lands about 15 years ago to demand tribute, and remind the Fox of their oath to the Lion. The Fox refused, so the Lion destroyed one of their settlements and rounded up the survivors as conscripts. Toshiro remembered there was a boy there, who even at his young age, was a talented singer and musician. He took this boy and gave him to the Ikoma family, where he could learn to become a bard, and use his talents to sing the praise of their clan. This boy was Ikoma Kenshi.

Enraged by the realization that the man he was speaking to was responsible for killing his family and destroying his home, Kenshi attacked.

A bloody battle broke out between the two parties, leaving Kuni Akari and Bayushi Tsubasa severely wounded, and three of the Matsu samurai dead, including Matsu Toshiro. In the wake of the battle, Kenshi reflected on his past, and began feeling very despondent from the Lion, the clan which raised him, taught him everything he knows, and gave him the title of samurai. From then on, he began wearing his kimono inside-out, so the mons of the Lion and Ikoma families would not be visible.

The party traveled east, and saw first-hand the devastated countryside which lay on the border between Lion and Crane territories. Burned villages, ravaged farmlands, and the unburied dead littered the landscape.

Finally, on their third day of travel after being confronted by the Matsu samurai, the party reached their destination. On the 26th day of the Dog, after 16 days of traveling on horseback across Rokugan, the party reached Otosan Uchi. A road full of mystery and adventure behind them, and a city brimming with some of the empire’s most powerful people ahead of them.

Credits

Rokugan Theme by Brandon Spain

In the Dojo by Brandon Spain

Staredown by Podcast of the Five Rings

Battlestorm by Podcast of the Five Rings

Better Days by 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