Way of the Legend (Story Arc)

Content Warning: Suicide 
Way of the Legend, also known as The Samurai Game, was a story arc that began in 444 AD and focuses on the towns of Oku and Okuwa and the Imperial Capital of Seiryu. 
=== Cast Members ===
Sano Kojima. A young magistrate that rose to prominence by thwarting an assassination attempt against the Emperor.
Byakko Seishan-Subeta. A skilled swordsman and honorable samurai focused on bringing glory to himself and his family that had its reputation marred by his father.
Hido Kaori. A student in the arts of shadow, espionage, and assassination that sought to put his skills to use and good service.
Kenji Hitori. The self-described "Greatest Duelist in All the Lands".
Kotoki Mori. A farmer turned archer who sought to continue to rise in station and responsibility.
Shin Kuma. A bearfolk mystic who wandered into the stream of history and helped the nation of Seiryu by becoming friends with legends.
==== Guest Cast Members ====
Aaron Dernon. A Parnan ambassador who helped stop a possibly war-sparking smuggling group from continuing to operate.
== Campaign ==
=== Lover's Death ===
Oku is a small city south of the Imperial Capital. Trouble arises early one morning when a man and a woman are found dead at the foot of Hebikaze Bluff. Later that very morning, a small fire rages in the merchant district, inciting looters and bandits to come and pray on the unfortunate. Thanks to a young magistrate, Sano Kojima, and a handful of honest travelers, the bandit force is quelled quickly and the fire is put out.
The handful of traveler's consists of Byakko Seishan-Subeta, Hido Kaori, Kenji Hitori, Kotoki Mori, and Shin Kuma. Kojima asked these passerby if they would like to serve the Emperor as his doshin (law-enforcers). Each, for their own reasons, takes up the jitte of law-enforcement - a weapon that marks those that carry it as doshin - and they begin investigating the apparent double suicide.
The group works wonderfully as a team, quickly finding leads and trailing them until they either go cold or until they present more paths. The woman was the daughter of a daimyo, but the man was just a lowly peasant who made his keep by exploiting women and creating erotic paintings and drawings. In time, the group narrows down the possible suspects to one, a man named Tarou Ren of the Tarou Clan.
The group nominate Hido Kaori to tail their suspect. Kojima meets opposition from his superior and is told to quit investigating the obvious double suicide or what little honor he had would be forfeit.
=== Alliance of Eight Dragons ===
Hido Kaori uncovered the truth of it as he watched a secret meeting of eight firstborn sons of local high-ranking samurai. He discovers that the murdered man once worked for a man who supplies Tarou Ren with young boys for carnal pleasure, that Tarou had the man and the woman - whom he was betrothed - murdered so that he could rightfully demand retribution for his betrothed's apparent infidelity, and that the group plan to kill the Emperor as he visits Oku incognito to celebrate the New Year.
Despite Kojima's orders from his superior, he ordered his doshin to take action. He and Kaori forced themselves into the Tarou mansion and learned that the matriarch of that house instructed her son to do what he did and that when she learned of the plot against the Emperor, she was filled with sorrow. She, with the assistance of her loyal mute yojimbo, commited jigai (a woman's ritual suicide involving slicing her own throat). She wrote out a confession of her guilt, which Kojima and Kaori take after her mute yojimbo took his own life in a very gruesome manner.
Meanwhile, the others entered the pleasure district of Oku in an attempt to find the Emperor before the Alliance of Eight Dragons did so. The group defended the Emperor, who watched as the alliance killed all of his bodyguards and engaged with the doshin. In the end, Kojima and Kaori entered the combat and they turned the tide so that the Alliance was left dead on the empty street. Kojima was wounded in the battle, a slash across his upper back from Tarou Ren.
The Emperor requested Kojima and his doshin escort him to the Imperial Capital and, once there, bestowed Kojima with the honorary title of sosokan. He was posted in the Imperial Capital, to serve as chief magistrate in that city.
=== Honor Trophies ===
During the winter of Kojima's first year as sosakan, the decapitated head of a local aristocrat was found impaled onto a wooden board, much like a hunting trophy. Kojima was ordered by the Emperor to investigate. After a great deal of time and a series of more murders, Kojima and his loyal band uncovered that an Imperial House Guard was responsible and that he killed his victims because of their relation to a rival house of his clan's. Much of his investigation is based on the words of the morgue master of Seiryu jail, Doctor Itagaki Takuron.
During this investigation, Sano Kojima gained a terrible enemy in the Emperor's Chancellor, Yasugisawa Kazunosuke. Kazunosuke-sama was one of the suspects, but in the end was in fact one of the targets of the vigilante House Guard. Even though Kojima and his group saved the Chancellor, Kazunosuke-sama used his influence over the Emperor to force the sosakan to go on a fool's errand for him.
=== Kukinojo's Request ===
The sosakan and his retinue were sent to an old holy site east of Oku. It was a renowned holy site among the wind Kenja as the assumed home of the tengu Kukinojo. It was their mission to go to this place and learned about a legendary blade, the Kukinojo Kenshin. To their surprise, a Miko, or "high priestess", lead the group into the earth to where Kukinojo actually resided. The mystic being asked them to find the sword for him and bring its back to him. He told them its exact location, but warned them that his evil brother, Guranfuroo, kept the blade.
Kojima, once again brought to make a choice that ignored the commands of his superior, agreed to do as the tengu requested. He and his retinue were granted ancient weapons or their ancestral swords had their spirits awakened by Kukinojo. So armed, they made their way to Karasu Falls.
=== Death of Guranfuroo ===
They were met by savage giants at Karasu Falls, on the south east point of Mount Seiji. These two-headed barbarians fought with tree trunks and spoke a wild language. After defeating these vile creatures, they entered a long-forgotten temple that had apparently become the home of these savage folk. Guranfuroo appeared from thin air before them and declared that another group seeking the blade proceeded them and were stopped at intervals throughout the catacombs of the temple.
Guranfuroo demanded that along the way, one member would have to combat one of the members of the other group before they could proceed further into the holy site and that only the blood of one of the combatants would purchase their path closer to the sword. They defeated their opposition, only killing the first opponent. The others they allowed to live after cutting a wound upon their arm that would sate the cost of blood but without killing the innocent. The first man was beyond saving.
Among their opponents was a man named Yuban Wayo, who requested that Shin Kuma teach him all there is to know of shoubo. Kuma accepted the student. Also, a woman named Baiken Masame, whose left arm is replaced by the mythical Shiunsai's Claw, nearly bested Byakko Seishansubeta in an iaido duel. She expressed her interest in meeting Subeta in the future as she fled the cave.
At the end of the maze of the catacombs was a pool of pure water, tainted black in its center by the presence of the tengu Guranfuroo. The tengu demanded a champion for the party and Kojima, fresh from having refrained from combat, stepped forward. Guranfuroo was slain, but not before Kojima received a near-lethal cut down his spine. With the scar from his battle defending the Emperor in Oku, they would heal to form a cross-shaped scar.
Kojima took the blade and the group traveled back to Kukinojo. The tengu purified the blade and demanded that Kojima keep it safe. When they returned to the Emperor, they brought along Yuban Wayo, a kenja, or "priest", who declared that the mystical spirit of Kukinojo demanded that Kojima keep the ancient blade. The Emperor was furious. With a whisper from the Chancellor, he demanded the sosakan leave his presence and await his reward for completing his investigation.
=== Reassignment to Denkya ===
Their "reward" for their success in finding the blade was reassignment to Denkya. The small island off the west coast of the main island is the only port allowed by the government of Seiryu to trade with foreigners. Many people feel that a post in this city is a punishment, because many people try to blame honorable folk for treason and such charges are easily backed with false evidence.
Kojima and his retinue immediately usurped the local magistrate and took their place as the law-enforcement hand of the Emperor. As an act of kindness, Kojima allowed the former head magistrate, one Hayate Tatsunojin, to act as his adviser in the city. Despite an easy entry and calm couple of first days, the group were quickly placed on the trail of criminals: a gaijin man was found murdered in the streets of the merchant quarter.
Kojima questioned witnesses and collected evidence from the scene. The next day, the gaijin flooded the port with warships and demanded satisfaction for the death of their sailor. Kojima acquired a translator of the foreign tongue, a man named Hideki Kuro. Kojima becomes suspicious of Kuro's translation and demands someone more honorable. Kuro is deeply insulted, but finds him a new translator for the next day of negotiations. Kojima meets with a gaijin man named Aaron Dernon, ambassador from the foreign nation of Parnak.
With the threat of the foreigners attacking and the subtle corruption within the city, Kojima and his group uncover an illegal firearm trade that the dead gaijin was going to report to the officials. A battle ensues within the smuggler's secret hideout, Kojima and Dernon leading the side of justice, and one of the criminal leaders is none other than Kojima's first translator, Kuro. Kojima kills Kuro while wrestling a pistol away from him and the killing shot also wounded Kojima's shoulder.
Hayate Tatsunojin forms an alliance with the sosakan and uses his family's influence to demand the return of the magistrate to Seiryu capital city. The Emperor demands that Kojima return immediately for a trivial investigation of the death of one of the Emperor's horses. Kojima and his group return to their comfortable living in the capital.
=== The Emperor's Concubine ===
During the summer the year after their return to Seiryu castle, one of the Emperor's courtesans is found dead. The cause of death is found, secretly and through the use of foreign medicine by Dr. Itagaki, to be poisoning. Seishansubeta leads the sosakan's current investigation and affairs As Kojima investigates the murder with absolute quiet and subtlety.
In time, it is discovered that the murder is cunningly used as ploy to get Kojima into a position of dishonor, but thanks to his understanding of the poisoning and the method of injection thanks to Dr. Itagaki, he avoids absolute dishonor.
Unfortunately, the mastermind of the web is none other than Chancellor Yasugisawa, who convinces the Emperor that Kojima has obstructed justice and should be arrested and punished. The Emperor agrees, but is convinced by Kojima to allow the samurai house arrest instead of a stay at the filthy Seiryu jail. While confined to quarters, Kaori and Subeta learn of a plot to assassinate Kojima and thwart it, but the would-be assassin escapes with her life. Little more is learned of the girl and Kaori's belief is that she was ninja.
Kojima's house arrest ends with the onset of autumn. He renews his investigation on the concubine's murder, though all trails have gone cold. Despite the lack of physical evidence, Kojima eventually trails his original leads to a married couple who have a liking for strange sexual practices, such as mutilation and other macabre practices. Kojima is poisoned in the attempt to arrest the two peacefully and Subeta forces the wife out a three story window. The husband throws himself upon Hitori's blade.
This end to the investigation brings the group no honor and only shame for their inability to capture the culprits without violence.
=== Two Years Away ===
Kojima introduces Kenji Hitori to Shozaemon Ichiro, master swordsman of the Imperial Legion. Shozaemon offers to instruct the young swordsman in the arts of military combat and also his own family's sword style. Byakko Seishansubeta leaves Kojima's side to return to Kukinojo's lair and study the art of the sword with the tengu. Hido Kaori, with the aid of Kukinojo, finds a master named O-Yoshi, one of the Elder Races, and begins studying the martial arts. Kotoki Mori stays with Kojima, who formalizes Mori's status as a Samurai by inducting him into his house. Shin Kuma leaves the group, prophesizing their part in the great change of the nation.
After two years apart, the group returned to Kojima, who demanded that Subeta lead the group outside of the capital and bring justice wherever he roamed. Subeta is granted the status of yoriki no sosakan, or "high magistrate's officer". He and his friends head south towards Oku.
=== Bandits at Konsuimachi ===
On their way south to Oku, they are met on the road by a wandering ashigaru. The lowly bushi asked the men if they were samurai and they responded with a resound "yes". The ashigaru told them his plight, that his village was being sieged by bandits and they could not pay the daimyo tribute since all their rice was being stolen by the criminals. He also told them that he had already convinced two other samurai into defending his village.
One of the two samurai was none other than Baiken Masame. The other was not a samurai at all, just a large man named "Ichiun" that carried a nodachi. "Ichiun" was the name on the papers the man claimed proved he was a samurai, but they were of someone who was less than half the man's years. He also proved to be very ignorant, or at least he appeared that way.
The united samurai created a series of defensive ambushes and enacted them on the bandits at once, crushing a number of their forces and also learning the location of their lair. The bandits laired in a cavern with a large dragon carved into the rock above its entrance. The dragon's style matched that of the mon, or "emblem", of the Seiryu house. The samurai did not enter the cave, but quelled the bandit group nonetheless. The group stayed in the village for a time and, while there, learned of a grand tournament being held by the Imperial House in Seiryu. They all agree to travel there and attend.
=== His Father's Will ===
Upon arriving at the Imperial Capital, Subeta receives an invitation to his brother's estate. Once there, he is informed that their father has died recently and has left the mantle of daimyo to be taken up by Subeta. His brother informs Subeta that he is irate at their father's decision, but understands why the choice was made. Subeta requests that his oldest brother deal with the clan's estates for the time being and tells him that he will return to their ancestral home near Oku after the Emperor's Tournament is resolved.
=== Tenno no Takkai ===
The Emperor's Tournament, hosted by the Champion of the Emperor Uruma Kodou, has a very valuable reward: a single request of the Emperor will be granted by the Divine Emperor. Thousands from all over the Isle of the Blue Dragon come to its capital for this occasion with the hopes of besting all the others and claiming riches, rank, land, freedom, or tainted honor. The tournament follows the most ancient of dueling styles, that of the iaidoka of centuries past, but the matches only begin with the swords sheathed. Once drawn, each opponent must strive to remove the opponent's sleeve from his gi.
Kenji Hitori has a strong run, but in the end is bested by "Ichiun". Hitori had never before that moment lost in a personal duel and remembers soundly how he could have won the day had he drawn his wakizashi. "Ichiun" ended up in the finals against none other than Byakko Seishansubeta. Their duel was lightning fast, but in the end, "Ichiun" bested the White Tiger.
The next day, the man known as "Ichiun" came before the Emperor's throne and spoke his true name: Matsuseiryu Ujizane. He then challenged the Emperor to a duel to the death so that he might end the false divinity claimed by the Seiryu dynasty. As was his right, the Emperor's champion Uruma Kodou stepped in. The duel ended with Ujizane's victory. The Emperor, by right of the challenge, committed seppuku before the contestants of the tournament and the Imperial Court.
=== End of an Era ===
Matsuseiryu Ujizane created the title of Senshu, a new monarch to rule in place of the Tenno. He demanded that the clans free themselves of their former bondage and fight for ancestral land that had been ceded in the past by the Emperor. He demanded that the daimyo of each ancestral house must remain in the capital city. He disbanded the Emperor's Legion and also began more liberal trade with foreign nations, though maintaining appearances for the common people of the realm.
Sano Kojima was commanded to continue to serve as sosakan to the Senshu. Byakko Seishansubeta granted his title of daimyo to his brother and went to go fight in the House Wars with Baiken Masame by his side. Kenji Hitori traveled the lands, unconcerned with the political shift, seeking out duelists to test his mettle. Hido Kaori returned to O-Yoshi. Kotoki Mori returned to Oku to protect his people in this troubled time.
=== Aftermath ===
This story arc is followed by the Once Upon a Time in Seiryu story arc.
== Trivia ==
Way of the Legend is a story arc from a roleplaying game that was ran for nearly two years in the early 2000's at the Eichhorn residence using the Third Edition rules of Dungeons & Dragons. The game drew strongly on Japanese-influenced popular culture and fiction. The strongest references for this game were: Laura Joh Rowland's Sano Ichiro saga, Akira Kurosawa, The Legend of the Five Rings, Samurai X/Rurouni Kenshin, Soul Calibur II, and even Warcraft III (panderan).