S2E37: 11th Hour

News came poring in throughout the night. Developments unfolded one after another, as the samurai of Hollow Hill waited with bated breath. The careful ettiquette and polite beureacracy of court began to fall apart.The Mantis declared war on the Lion, citing evidence which proved leaders in the Lion military ordered the surprise attack which claimed dozens of innocent lives. They would no longer support the Crane only with trade, but in military power as well.After his meeting with Kenshi, Akodo Toturi called for an immediate audience with the emperor and Doji Hoturi. Toturi presented everything he knew about Shoju and the Scorpion clan. He pleaded for a truce between his clan and the Crane, imploring Hoturi to march his army away from the Lion lands and toward Otosan Uchi where they could defeat Shoju together. Hoturi was cautious, thinking that it could be a trap—he needed time to think and to discuss the matter with his advisors. After Hoturi left the emperor’s audience chamber, fighting broke out between Lion and Scorpion samurai in the Forbidden Palace. The Lion won, and expelled the Scorpion from the palace. Akodo Toturi and his retainers now held the Forbidden Palace, and had the Emperor and Bayushi Kachiko in their control.The Emperor announced that Kachiko’s trial would carry on as scheduled. He proclaimed that now, more than ever, Rokugan needed to stand for order. As a response, the Pheonix announced a formal alliance with the Lion. They believed the Lion represented justice and righteousness amidst the chaos brewing within Rokugan. Isawa Ujina placed his faith in the Lion, believing that standing with them in these dark times would be the remedy to the visions of destruction which have plagued him for months.As tensions mounted and news spread, many prominent members of court began to go missing. Perhaps they fled the city, perhaps they were captured. Most notable of the samurai unaccounted for were Ide Makujin and the imperial heir, Hantei Sotorii, along with his bodyguards, Kakita Toshimoko and Kakita Kumi.With Ide Makujin gone, control of the Imperial Legion garrisoned in the city fell to the captain of the City Guard, Seppun Ishikawa. Preparing for a potential siege, Ishikawa orderd the legion to defend the walls of the city.Tomo and Kenshi could not sleep as the news rolled in. Tomo took it as an opportunity to speak one on one with Tsuruchi. He asked Tsuruchi about the use of dishonorable tactics on the battlefield—especially assassination and poisoing. The Wasp Champion told him there was a time and place for all things, and that such tactics should be used carefully. Victory through such means, he warned, is often short-lived. And a samurai who’s known for using such tactics will have their reputation used against them. Tomo offered his skill with a yumi anytime Tsuruchi may need it if he could procure some poison for the boy-governor. The Wasp obliged.Meanwhile, Kenshi sat with Kitsune Ryosei, learning all he could about the conflict between the Lion and the Mantis. Kenshi, knowing that Ryosei was mistrusting of the Lion because of their ongoing feud with the Fox Clan, tried to convince her of their honor. He advised her that they may need to work together in order to defeat a more dire threat. She seemed to heed his wisdom.By the time the sun began to rise, even the lower classess living in the city could sense the unease brewing throughout the city. People scrambled to make sense of what was happening. Some chose to flee the city, some stayed in place and prepared for the worst, while others still denied anything was out of the ordinary.Upon waking, Buro made a prayer to the Earth kami. He sensed them stirring, restless, and uneasy, their power being focused toward the walls of the city. They sent him a message, it was the sound of footsteps growing louder and louder until they became an unbearable cacophony. Then he saw something in the corner of his eye. Where the wall of the outer city was crumbling and disrepaired, a few boulders shifted and a tree branch fell, revealing a way out of the city which had never existed before. In the morning, Tomo received a message. He was being asked to arrange an immediate audience between the leaders of the Crab delegation at court and the leaders of the Three Headed Alliance. Before long, the two parties sat face to face with each other. The Crab conceded that they should have listened to Tomo’s advice sooner. After the events of the previous night, they knew the time to start brokering alliances was now.It was immediately apparent that the two parties had a common goal. Not to champion a cause for one side or another in the war, or to send an army against the Scorpion, but to fortify their homelands against whatever threat may come after them in the rapidly escalating conflict. Both parties concluded that they did not have the resources to spare on a deadly power struggle, but both would benefit from closer ties with one another. They devised a defensive pact which prioritzed the sharing of information, millitary forces, and trade resources.Tomo was pleased as he listened, but he could not shake a deeper sense of urgency. An army was marching to the capital as they spoke, lead by a man who wielded one of the legendary bloodswords. Countless lives would be lost, the city could be destroyed, and the emperor could be killed. What would be done about that? What would be done right now?Tomo pleaded with the samurai to stand their ground against the coming enemy. He recalled how, in previous attacks on Otosan Uchi, it required the unity of all the great clans to defeat a common foe. They needed that unity now. They needed to put aside their differences and mount a defensive against an enemy which needs chaos to thrive. Moved, the leaders of the two parties agreed to stand their ground against Shoju.With a newfound sense of cooperation, the parties ironed out the remaining terms of their alliance. Ryosei demanded an end to the harvesting and sale of wood from the Shinomen Forest. Her lands are close to the Yasuki Lumber Company’s operations, and she’s seen the angered spirits which rampage across the country. She needs this to end. Finally, she wanted a more concrete promise from the Crab that they are committed to their alliance. As a symbolic gesture of unity between their clans, she proposed a marriage between the young boy-governor, Kaiu Tomo, and the Fox informant, Kitsune Niao. Surprised, Tomo vowed to speak of this in more detail in the future.Meanwhile, Kenshi traveled to the Ekohikei to meet Matsu Tsuko and confess his crimes. Despite the turmoil brewing in the city, a large crowd of samurai from many different clans were gathered there. Kenshi stood before them and revealed all which he had done: the murder of Matsu Toshiro, spying on the Lion, giving information to the Fox… but despite all of this, he still supports the Lion in his heart, as he knows they are doing what’s right.Tsuko formally renounced Kenshi as a Lion, and urged the crowd that just as he had been an imposter among their ranks, there are samurai now who are imposters within Otosan Uchi. She denounced the Scorpion clan for their treachery, and commanded all the true samurai of the empire to make a stand against them as they march toward the capital.Around midday, as the remaining samurai of the court made preperations for Kachiko’s trial, something horrible appeared on the horizon, beyond the walls of the city. It was a beast of red and black, carried by thousands upon thousands of feet. It crawled from the south, and fanned out to the west, and then to the north, encircling the city. The beast bristled with steel-- armor, and swords, and spears, and arrows. The beast had a master, and his name was Bayushi Shoju.CreditsArt by Dylon MunozMusicRokugan Theme by Brandon SpainCoal Stone by Podcast of the Five RingsIuchiban Risen by Podcast of the Five RingsKenshi's Lament by Podcast of the Five RingsThe Staredown by Podcast of the Five RingsThe Alliance by Podcast of the Five RingsThe Royal Banquet by Podcast of the Five RingsThe Trial by Podcast of the Five Rings Artwork by Dylon MunozMusic by Brandon Spain & Podcast of the Five Rings