There was nothing but blood.

Matsu Ayaka, daimyo of a small fortress on the Spine of the World Mountains close to Kitsu territory, was lying in a pool of her own blood. She was surrounded by her bodyguards, who were also lying in pools of their own blood. The alarm was raised in short order and everything searched.

It was worse than it appeared.

-----

Mirumoto Akira, the Emerald Champion, wanted to see the Diamond Troubleshooters (the informal name for twins and their team of troubleshooters) -- and he wasn't willing to wait. The "small" group (consisting of an entire platoon of Imperial Legionnaires, plus the PCs) was to meet him at a small inn in the middle of Ikoma territory. Now.

If not sooner.

Akira was there before the the Diamond Troubleshooters were, and he wasn't about to stand on ceremony. The second the group entered the inn, they were met by the proprietress. She bowed deeply and spoke with a quiver -- she was used to Samurai, but not this many high ranking Samurai. Their rooms were prepared, but she had a message -- the PCs were to go see the Emerald Champion immediately. Servants would be happy to assist, of course ...
This message was last updated by the GM at 04:28, Mon 07 Dec 2020.

Life is busy for the twins now.  A summons like this is common place.  Hoshi does not mind at all (provided there is no camping): this is just where she and her sister should be and always should have been.

There is no time for delays, if the Emerald Champion is waiting, but Hoshi does find a moment to meddle.  She pauses a step near the proprietress and sniffs the air a moment.  She is sure to be overheard saying to Urako, "That smells good.  We should get to eating right away after the meeting."  It will give the nervous peasant something to focus on, if nothing else.

And after that, Hoshi leads the way to meet Akira.

With bright eyes open, taking in the surroundings, Akio reaches back to pull his pale, golden locks behind his head.  He prefers his hair down, but would prefer to look as clean as possible in the presence of the Emerald Champion.  Akira had seen Akio at his worst (and best, for that matter), but Akio wouldn't afford himself that slip in courtesy.

Eager to go find his old friend and understand the summons, Akio glared at Hoshi as she paused to consider lunch.

It did look good, but Akio didn't let that get in the way of his impatience directed toward the Imperial.

"Lead on, please."

"Yes, Hime" the woman said with a deep bow. And while she led the party to the Emerald Champion, other servants scrambled to get their foodstuffs ready.

The Emerald Champion naturally had the nicest room in the inn, with plenty of space for his retainers to sleep. Nearly every great clan was represented in his retinue -- all save the Scorpion Clan -- and even a couple of minor clans. A Kitsune shugenja sat in the spot where the hostess sits in a tea ceremony, with the Emerald Champion in the first seat of honor. And at the very end, after the blank seats left for the twins, Akio, and Yumiko, was a Mantis warrior.

"Please, sit." Akira said gesturing to the empty seats. "we were just about to start."

[Spellcraft TN 20 to realize that the Kitsune is set up to cast a spell to make sure no one listens in on the conversation. Sorry, I forget that name ... :( ]

Yumiko mistrusted summons without warning--particularly from the powerful. She had participated in too many assassination "training scenarios" where a demand for an immediate audience was simply a set up for an ambush. Admittedly, the chances were small that such an attempt would be successful, but the line between paranoid and appropriately cautious was always blurry when the Scorpion were involved. Still, she followed Otomo-dono without comment.

And kept an eye out, because to do otherwise would be terribly stupid.


14:25, Today: Shosuro Yumiko rolled 26 using 7d10, dropping the 4 lowest rolls, rerolling max with rolls of 7,6,7,9,6,8,9.  Perception/Investigation.

If there's one thing that's odd, it's when there are no Scorpion about. Scorpion Samurai are always on the move, here and there, often using some mission as a pretense and just as often having no particular mission other than making the other Clan Samurai nervous.

But right here, right now, there were no Scorpion about.

None.

Not just in the Emerald Champion's entourage -- there were no Scorpion anywhere. Except for Yumiko, there wasn't a single Mon from the Clan of Secrets to be found.

After the party settled, Akira nodded to the Kitsune who petitioned the Kami. Then a short tea ceremony, whereafter the Emerald Champion wasted no time.

"North of here, on the border of the Kitsu, the Matsu have a small fortress -- the Cavern's Roar Fortress -- that Matsu Ayaka was in charge of. Not long ago, she and her bodyguards were assassinated. And if that isn't bad enough, her five-year-old daughter is missing, believed to be kidnapped, and their Heirloom Katana -- also named the Cavern's Roar -- is missing."

"The Lion magistrates were able to trace the path of retreat to the edge of Matsu territory -- out into Imperial territory. They have asked for our assistance, and I'm assigning you to the case."

Yumiko had a number of questions regarding the method of assassination, but she held her tongue. She was here as a secretary, and it was her mistress's place to guide the direction of the investigation. Someone was guilty and, whoever it was, it wasn't ronin or bandits.

This had the smell of politics.

About fifteen years ago, the deaths of Otomo Kiyohisa and Otomo Okue were shocking news, when the courtier's twins went missing.  Though there were rumours, nothing could be proven, and the incident was forgotten in the public mind of the various courts of Rokugan.

When the twins resurfaced, the rumours returned.  If there is an anti-Scorpion magistrate, with a case of an apparent Scorpion sting, the Diamond magistrates were not an unexpected choice to solve a familiar circumstance.

"Then it is our duty," Hoshi says with a militaristic bow to the Emerald Champion.

"But, may we trouble you to know the material facts of the incident?"

The name was familiar - at least that of the katana Cavern's Roar.

Lore: History (Nemuranai) - 38

Professional interest, of course, and that of his own family's history caused Akio's mind to jump to the missing weapon.  Ettiquette suggested at least addressing the rest of the trouble.

He waited patiently for the Otomo to ask her question.  He would get to his own question in time.  Perhaps Hoshi would ask the question, or perhaps he would at the appropriate time, but it sounded to him like the assassination was secondary.  Was the motive stealing the sword, or kidnapping the child?

"There is very little testimony" Akira said with a sigh. "A traveling merchant found them. She has been detained for questioning, but no one seriously believes that she had anything to do with it. There is a Scorpion exile that is reputed to live somewhere in the mountains closely -- Shosuro Zanko -- that might be a suspect. If you find him, he is wanted alive. I have been assured that it would ... 'most worth our troubles'. Otherwise, there is the ever-present suspects ..."

He was, of course, referring to the Scorpion Clan without actually referring to the Scorpion clan. It could refer to Ronin, "Ninja", ghosts, or any number of other things.

But it didn't.

"Understand -- when i say there is no other testimony, I mean that there is no other testimony. Even the Eta saw or heard nothing. There are rumors of a 'ninja' fleeing over the walls, of course, but nothing other than that."

"The merchant -- one Yasuki Suzu -- says she saw nothing. She walked in and found them like that. You will, of course, wish to question her yourself, but that's what she told the Lion."

"And, as if that's not enough" Akira continued with a sigh, "there are also rumors of war. The Matsu are insisting that it was the Scorpion Clan, and they're ready to go to war over it."

Akira sighed and took a sip of his tea.

"So, there you have it: a minor Daimyo murdered under mysterious circumstances, the sole heir missing, a precious artifact forged by the original Kitsu, and ... war."

"Part of me says 'let them go to war and be done with it', but ... this situation is both too simple and too complicated at the same time. I am concerned that letting them go to war will lead them into a Scorpion trap."

He glanced at the Kitsune, who nodded. The barrier was up.

"You saw Matsu Keiko's battle with Soshi Kageshin, ne? This was, in essence a warning from Matsu-san to her Clan."

"Shinryu-San recused himself and his whole family from this affair. He never does anything by accident ..."

Peasants from the inn announced themselves in the proper manner before being invited in. They were carrying food, after all, so couldn't be delayed. They milled about, doing their proper duties, though it seemed that they wished to be here no longer than absolutely necessary.

As one would expect.

"I need to talk to you all once a month, as you know, to gather your reports. What reports do you have for me?"

[You can make some stuff up here.]

It is a difficult situation.  Of course, the wrongdoing must be brought to justice and the violators punished, but it would not do to be the catspaw of some schemer. If the Emerald Champion has gone around the chain of command, then surely he has identified a weak link.

  Typical.

  But food interrupts more inquiry about swords and heirs and motivation.  A glance at Urako sets in Hoshi's mind that she must have her sister investigate in her special ways.  It might not be directly admissible, but as for the lead it might uncover--it is useful that one of them is the outward one and not the other.

  "It could be said it has been quite, but that only means the trouble has not been detected.  We spent our time investigating certain missing scrolls involving family lineage in the Pheonix lands."  The details of the contents Hoshi left firmly to her scholarly half.  "But somehow they found their way to an unexpected corner of the library, and were not stolen...or altered."

Yumiko silently handed over the official reports on the Phoenix lineage incident, the irritated grimace she wore hidden by her mask. She'd had to put up with weeks of complaints from Momoko-oneesan about how solving the case satisfactorily had robbed her of her only entertainment for that court session. Yumiko had known Momoko-oneesan had a penchant for convoluted legal matters, but she found her interest in the minute details of inheritence and entailments a bit peculiar. And then there had been pages of gloating from Masaki-oneesan about how cleanly she'd stolen the documents back from the original thief and replaced them, just so in the library. Yumiko still had a bit of a cough from all the smoke her letters had produced after she'd burned them.

There are precious few that can cast in the presence of the Emerald Champion when they wish -- and nearly all of them were Imperial Shugenja. After all, if they are trusted to keep the Son of Heaven safe, what Emerald Champion would question them (thereby placing themselves above the Emperor himself -- bad idea, that)?

Urako uttered a prayer, thanking the Kami for various things and ... something in arcane speak [Wisdom of the Kami]. She spent a few minutes staring at her tea, listening to those around but saying nothing of note.

Until ...

"A Scorpion's Trap, a Scorpion Trapped. Whispers of the Ancestors ... screaming trees. A Lion bathed in Light. A Tragedy of Honor, unrelated."

Urako gave her sister a glance, the equivalent of a shrug that only Hoshi would know. There really wasn't much more.

"We will need to take charge when we arrive, haste is in order."

"The Cavern's Roar Fortress," Akio agreed.  "With haste."

He didn't need to tell the others that murder, kidnapping and theft didn't get any easier to solve over time.

"Though if you'll excuse me for a moment, while the departure is prepared for I should like to speak with someone." It was a habit that the others were likely used to by now.  More than one murder had been solved simply by asking the deceased for their testimony.  Anti-climactic and sometimes unreliable, but Akio would be remiss if he didn't try.  Especially for a cousin.

Unless stopped, Akio moved off to find a private room.

In a private room ...