On the way to the next town, a bigger City called Koumi, I found a letter half buried in the sand of the dirt road. I picked it up and found the already broken seal of the Yorutako Clan. A symbolised art of an octopus. I only heard rumours of them, the villagers say the Yorutako Clan has his eyes and ears everywhere. It said, they have a country spanning network of ninjas, spies and contacts which allows them to have a near complete monopoly over information warfare. Ofcourse, this is only what the rumours say, in reality their influence is probably not that strong, but still they are a clan which should be respected or even feared. 

So I took the letter, because the seal was already broken, it doesn't matter if I read its content or not and information is always important. The letter is from a samurai of the Yorutako Clan, and he writes a goodbye to his clan. It seems the clan is in a war, but the letter doesn’t say who they are fighting against.

It is my honourable duty to respect this samurai and deliver the letter to their fortress in Koumi. With the sundown on my back I arrive in the city. It is really impressive and the fortress in the centre can be seen from anywhere within the city and far in every direction. It is a symbol of their might, an enormous citadel built out of stone instead of the wood which is used for nearly every other building in the city. It could surely stand against even the most powerful armies, like a stone in the waves. 

I weaved through the city streets before I stood before the large doors of the citadel. A young servant inquired about my name, my clan name and my reason. By the mention of a clan name, I flinched for a second before telling him simply that I'm a ronin, which seemed to satisfy him. After a few minutes of waiting, a smaller side door opened and the servant took the letter from my hands. He bowed deeply, expressing his thanks and rewarded me with a few thousand Ryō.

As I was walking back a man approached me, with a long object wrapped in cloth. He tells me that he is an apprentice of Master Toshiro and that he has my new weapon. He unwrapped the cloth and presented it. I didn’t really know what to expect, but surely not this. The staff was bound completely in black coloured leather, the blade had beautiful squiggles and symbols carved into it, creating an intricate pattern. The weight was also perfectly distributed and the weapon felt easy to use, very unlike my old weapon.

As I made a few swings on the open street, testing my new weapon, a samurai approached me, saying I wasn't allowed to buy weapons inside the city. I tried to explain that I didn’t bought the weapon, and that it was only given to me as a gift, but the samurai interrupted me, saying I had to pay a hefty fine or give up the weapon. Only then I realised, the samurai didn’t actually wanted to achieve peace in the city, he was jealous of my weapon and wanted to have it for himself. So I got into a duel stance. "If you want my weapon, then take it!"

I duelled this samurai in the street, but this time I fought more easily, I dodged his attacks, like he was an old drunkard only to answer with my own attacks. After a few attacks I disarmed him, and had my blade at his throat. I contemplated killing him, but in the end decided against it, choosing to spare him instead. Mostly because his armour was in the colours of Yorutako Clan and I wasn't stupid enough to kill a samurai, in a city completely controlled by his clan.

Prompt:

Chart: Route

Roll for a Road Encounter.

Chart: Road Encounter

You found a letter on the ground that was apparently written by a samurai from a Noble Clan before entering a battle. It is aimed at his family, who seems to live in the next location. If you deliver this card, you will gain 1 Determination.

Chart: Location

You have arrived in a large city led by a Noble Clan. If you have Reputation 4 or more, you will be approached by 2 Soldiers. Here you get 1 Reputation and have an Urban Encounter.

Chart: Urban Encounter

You are approached by a Samurai from a Noble Clan. He doesn’t like you and anything you do could be a reason for him to attack.