Takeshi and Hiro-matsu, dirty from their travels, arrive in the capital.  After checking a few Inns, they walk into one and see Ayare, Totsu, and Arashi seated at a table having lunch.

Ayare looks tired and worn.  Totsu and Arashi look their normal selves and are dressed a little nicer than they were last time the group met.

The three wave the travelers over and look around for a place to greet, talk, and report.  Likely, they adjourn to Ayare's room after greeting each other.

Everyone can put themselves up to 3rd level.  If you need help, just let me know
This message was last updated by the player at 13:10, Fri 12 June 2020.

Takeshi greets his brother and friends with open arms.
After a drink, some comfort food, and some light conversation, we head to Ayare's room.

"It is good to see you all still alive, the buddha watches over us.
We made it to Signon temple and had audience with the leader, Kukai. They knew elements of the different clans "squabbling for temporal power", but did not know if the Kami are using the Buke, or the other way around.

Days later, while we awaited his summons, chaos broke out. Kami attacked Signon temple through a very large hole in the ground. It took some time but the Temple eventually fought them back. We learned that Kukai was taken to hell so he could not interfere with plans, he was not killed because if he were he could be brought back by a powerful Gakusho.

The temple was in disarray as there was no hierarchy of leadership. There is now a council of 5 in place, led by a shugenja by the name of Dakoto. They are organizing a rescue mission for Kukai.
Dakoto has asked..."
Since you are a student here, not a member of the monastery, you can do something I don't officially wish to.  You can go to the Chosokabe.  Approach them attempting to negotiate a rice/fish merchant agreement.  After negotiations start, let drop that you were hired by Singon for this agreement and see if they bite at the hook.

While I'm specifically looking to see if they are culpable in instigating the tensions between Shinto and Buddhist, I also simply want as much information as possible.  Who are their allies, what is their endgame.  I know they aren't going to just tell you, but talk to the samurai, to the guards off duty, to their peasants; see what people are talking about.  Also, pay attention to the comings and goings in their town.  Who are they taking meetings with?  Who seems to have authority in their towns?  Are they truly turning more Buddhist, or are they more martial?  Anything you can discover.  Then report back please.

"It seems they don't mind using us as bait."

Takeshi looks to Hiro who always seems to have some important piece of information that Takeshi forgets to keep track of..  "Did I miss anything Hiro?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:09, Mon 19 Aug 2019.

IM

[Private to Takeshi Oshiro: Just to be clear, that is not what he asked you to do. ]

Previous post updated to correct Dakoto and my agreement.

In reply to Takeshi Oshiro (msg # 2):

Besides being the leader of that temple can you think of any other reason why they would want Kukai?  Is there anything he is specifically good at that would threaten the kami or interfere with any of the other things we have encountered?


I will bring them up to speed on everything that happened to us (Making sure to include the fight, of course). I would not hold anything back so if you want to just share the thread I’m good with that.

In reply to Totsu (msg # 5):

"No Takeshi you have hit the main points. Totsu, Kukai was level headed and was not about to jump into an open conflict. Where as Dakota seems to be the opposite. This move appears to me to be forcing the Singon temple into action while simultaneously weakening them. I fear we too are being forced. We will have to choose a side soon I think. A conflict is coming it would be best if we had all the information before choosing."

In reply to Totsu (msg # 5):

Remember, Kukai was not just a master Buddhist Gakusho, he was also a master Shugenja. It opens the possibility for a change in this at Signon monastery. We would like to learn more about Dakoto and the other 4 members of this new board. Hopefully they can successfully recover Kukai but the task is monumental.



OOC: Paul and Ken did not have access to your thread Rich. Please have Totsu or Arashi summarize.

In reply to Takeshi Oshiro (msg # 7):

Arashi greets his companions and when alone with the party members he tells them his story.

"Basically we attained an audience with Jizai of the Michizane, Son of the Daimyo. I related much that we know about the weapon smuggling and pheasant training Shintos with the Michizane's samurai Hachimon's involvement and the suspicion that the Chosokabe are scheming to entice an attack to validate a war with the Michizane.  Jizai was notable concerned and asked that we work for him to further the investigation which I and Tot-su agreed to do.  The offer is extended to you three as well. Currently we are directed to wait for further instruction and to maintain silence on this issue."

"Tot-su, do you have anything to add or does anyone have any questions?"

In better news, Arashi is a business man now.

She looks over the men, realizing she's done very little to help so far, and tries to bend her brain to what is on the table.

This seems overly confusing.  Some of the Michizane are arming shinto, some are not, some Buddhist want war, some do not.  Some Chokosabe hate Michizane, some do not.  Some samurai win in bar brawls, some do not.

She tilts her head, as if something just occurred to her.  Have we met Kami who do not want war?  That would be the one constant.  Perhaps we should investigate that as well.

She starts pacing slowly.

<blue>I'm inclined to ignore all of this. I'm not certain we'd ever be able to untangle it.  But several of us wished to find a lord to serve when we set out.  Have any of us met one worth ingratiating ourselves with?  Are we still split between Singon and Michizane, or do the Chokosabe still bear looking into.?/blue>

Since she'd spent most of her time in backroom dives, it's unlikely she has any names to put forward.

In reply to Ayare (msg # 9):

Hiro sits with the rest of the group thinking for a bit and then says, "Chaos. It's the only uniting factor. Do we know who would benefit from such a thing? I can only think of a few situations where this much chaos would benefit anyone. A savior to come in and unite the island under his rule? Of course Ayare you make a good point maybe the Kami would benefit from such a thing. Does anyone know if war would allow Kami more direct access into our world? Maybe we should be trying to find an expert in Kami?"

In reply to Arashi Fukushu (msg # 8):

I would add that the Chosokabe are well aware that we provided this information to the Michizane because they were present at the briefing.
Not sure who that might get back to but it could put us on someone’s bad side.

Arashi and I got in a ballroom brawl that got pretty nasty when a Yakuza and his 2 Budoka bullies challenged us to a fight.
One of the Budoka caught Arashi in a vulnerable moment and broke his leg.  I gave the 3 of them a pounding and knocked them all out.

The Yakuza seems to have a huge hold on that town but I’m pretty sure we’re on acceptable terms with them based off our dealings with the head of the Yakuza in that town.  This is good because Arashi and I gave some money to Ayare to set up a business in that town.

If I think of anything else I will let you know.

In reply to Ayare (msg # 9):

In response to: Have we met Kami who do not want war?  That would be the one constant.  Perhaps we should investigate that as well.


"You know to be honest we have only met 1 Kami that wanted war. The ones that Totsu, Arashi and Takeshi met seemed more just interested in Humans. The ones involved in Singon seemed more to be obeying orders of protect the assault on Kukia. I'm not sure on the hierarchy of Kami so maybe that is expected behavior if they were taking orders from other Kami."

Hiro-matsu.  I'm not certain who would benefit from such chaos.  It never hurts the waku to have everyone else at war on this island but we've seen no direct connection.  The Chokosabe likely would benefit - if only because they seem the bottom of the totem and are not powerful enough to mix things up with a perfect design.  So chaos might provide them opportunities.  The Michizane were rumored to want to clean up the waku but have taken no actions that direction yet.  They might want the chaos to unite the Kami behind them as allies while removing people that might attack their flank (Buddhists and Chokosabe).

No.  I have no idea.

But, I am yakuza.  I do not have the same...constraints...on behavior that some of you do.  For me, the question isn't who is doing what.  The question is What do I want and who would I be willing to work with to get that.

I want a yakuza clan that fights for the people rather than is a parasite on them.  I can't do that without a samurai to partner with -or even serve if they get behind my vision.

So here's a list of the players we know.  Let's start with: Which of these are any of you dead set against allying with at this moment?  We can cull the list, see what's left, and then jump into a boat before all the oars are already manned.

Michizane
Chokosabe
Kami directly
Singon
Kukai
A yakuza boss that is a servant of the people.
Stay Ronin and form our own power group (hard road, but less hard since we are not on the mainland - but our goals would have to align)
The waku.

In reply to Ayare (msg # 13):

My service is to this group so unless you are going to split up my path will be whatever "boat" everyone attempts to get into.

In reply to Ayare (msg # 13):

"Currently, Iam committed to work for, but not serve, the Michizane.  I would like to investigate the mystery that we are in the middle of before committing to serve someone. So, for me, for now, Iam  Ronin."

"Are the rumors true regarding Sugawara no Michizane? (see world notes for these rumors) Is he trying to conquer the island? to remove yakuza and Waku? To assault Signon? If these rumors are true than I am not ready to sign up with the Michizane.

Brother, this Daimyo that you speak of, do you know if he supports an attack against Signon? Does he support Sugawara? Or perhaps he uses us to learn what their enemy is up to...

There are many questions, we still do not know the players involved and which side to fall on. If it is to stop a war than we should be supporting the Signon temple, they are the ones that were just attacked and have been weakened.

I think we need to find more answers with hopes that they send us in the same direction."

In reply to Takeshi Oshiro (msg # 16):

Hiro Chuckles, "Maybe we should let Ayare pick, at least we would be prosperous. Let's be realistic, I would say after Singon, the waku are out for myself and Takeshi. We killed several of their notable leaders in that fight." Hiro gives a side glance to Totsu while saying it.

*Kukia is out as we already decided we would not be enough to save him. The rest are still all maybe's although from what I know of Arashi-san serving the Yakuza boss would probably not work out well.

The one thing we do agree on is finding out more of what is going on. Since I know no Kami to ask, we've talked to Michizane and Singon. That leaves us going to the Chokosabe and see what they know."

Singon worries me a bit.  You say Kukai was the voice of reason, and now the monestary is run by someone with an axe to grind?  Supporting Kukai is one thing.  Supporting the temple regardless of their politics is another.

But, I'm a realist as well.  I'm no fan of sticking my head in a noose for honor's sake.  Whether it's Michizane or the Waku.

Arashi.  Would Jizai be cool with us working with Yojoba or something to investigate the Chokasabe?

In reply to Ayare (msg # 18):

"I do not know, but I have been musing the same thing.  If we have a quorum in agreement, Then why don't we reach out to Jizai-sama and find out?  I also want to know if the Daimyo himself has been informed of the Chosokabe conspiracy as of yet. Does any one have any other leads in this investigation? And do any of you want to work for the Michizane?"

Takeshi's mind keeps reassembling the information that the group possesses but gets frustrated as there is not enough to work with yet. He knows it will take some time, maybe even years, to understand all the intricacies of the politics involved.

Meanwhile, Takeshi leans heavily toward support of Singon temple. It has been his home for years. His teachers of Shugendo are there. His teachers of buddhist religion are there. His friends are there. And now an attack on it by the Kami... it all strengthens his allegience to them.

Arashi looks for an honorable lord which he may well have found in Jizai-sama of the Michizane... and son of the Daimyo no less, a very big opportunity if Arashi can impress him and join them. But they are Shinto and possibly behind the attack on Singon in the first place. Were they behind it? Did they want the temple to raise arms to give the Michizane an excuse to destroy them? If they were to find an honorable lord that supported the Singon temple it might give a direction for most, if not all of the group. Can that lord be found in the Chosokabe? Takeshi sets his mind to that end. It could be the direction we lack and is already being discussed as a direction to investigate.

"I would agree that a strong course of action would be to discuss these matters with the Chosokabe and understand their motivations. It is a stone to turn over that may reveal either bugs or perhaps a treasure.

Dakoto, the top leader now at Singon, has offered this as a possible direction. 'You can go to the Chosokabe.  Approach them attempting to negotiate a rice/fish merchant agreement.  After negotiations start, let drop that you were hired by Singon for this agreement and see if they bite at the hook.' perhaps this is our path?"

Ayare looks, for several long moments, as though something is percolating in her head.

I, for one, do not wish to wait for all the information.  We improvise.  We adapt as we learn.  We make mistakes, we make gains.  Life is nothing more than a giant dicing table.

I vote we combine several elements here while adding the most important element - shaking the tree to see what falls out.

Let's make everyone understand we are investigating whom started this and who is arming for war and see who comes after us.

Let's go to the Michizane, tell them we will aid them in getting through these mirrors and smoke, and that our true goal is, like Jizai said, to avoid war on the island that his noble family is protecting.  That we serve his interests, but, so sorry, the interests of peace more (pretty that up, I'm no diplomat).

Singon has already given specific instructions of what they wish.  Send them reports that make it clear we are not just doing what they said, but sounding out the Chokosabe's religious beliefs and trying to uncover wrongdoing on their part (rather than simply seeing if they are interested in treating with Singon, as their request seems to imply.

Go to Yojoba and let slip the same intent - that we aim, like a bowel raker, at the instigators rather than get caught up in religious tendrils.  Be they religious, Michizane, Waku, Yakuza, or whatever it is.

I will go let rumors drop among the yakuza with the same intent and see if they try to strong-arm me.  Perhaps Hiro-matsu, you would be so kind as to accompany at a distance?

And any other potential players, we could do the same.

Take it even a step farther and imply that we have found out some critical information that just needs verification before exposure.  Paint nice big targets on us.

Then, prepare to be ambushed and fetter of truth the ambushers.

This is dangerous, but effective.
I like it.
Shall we start with the Michizane?

In reply to Takeshi Oshiro (msg # 22):

Forcing the hand is an effective move. I am in.

In reply to Hiro-matsu (msg # 23):

I like Ayare’s plan.
Bring them on and let’s beat the truth out of them

I think we need to learn more about what is going on and the people we are dealing with before pledging any allegiance to anyone.
Right now I definitely don’t trust any kami.
Not crazy about any religion/person  that wants to limit what I can believe or that I should attack someone else just because they do not have the same beliefs.
If I were to pledge my allegiance to someone I would want it to be someone who has the best interest in all the people and not just making things better for themselves or the select few.

In reply to Totsu (msg # 24):

"It looks like we have a Quorum in agreement. So, when we have a chance to, we will talk with Jizai of the Michizane and Yojoba of the Chosokabe  and express our desire to continue investigating the Kami mystery to get at the truth of the matter.  Perhaps we can accompany Yojoba to the Chosokabe clan and see what we discover there? "

In reply to Arashi Fukushu (msg # 25):

I would prefer to talk to Jizai first when the Chosokabe are not around.   He may have more information that he did not want to reveal in front of Yojoba.

(Let me know who goes to seek out Jizai)

Jizai, for the rest of the day, is occupied in the city at his family estate.  The group is asked to come back the next day.

In the morning of the next day, to the groups surprise, Jizai is having breakfast with another samurai at their Inn when they come down to breakfast.

He sits as if he owns the building, and when he sees anyone from the group (including Arashi and Takeshi), he waves them over brusquely.  (So whom comes down first sits alone with him and the last to show might miss something).