# An Oriental Adventure - Heading West



## Carnifex (Mar 24, 2002)

_This Story Hour describes a campaign using the Oriental Adventures supplement. It begins in an adapted version of Rokugan, and the party will head west into far lands in the style of a standard D&D world with the PHB gods - but the Oriental characters will bring with them their attitudes, traditions and way of life. Hopefully it will be interesting to see how they conflict and adapt during the course of their adventures!

The party consists of:

Akodo Mifune, Lion Samurai 1
Kemu, human Shaman 1 of no clan
Isawa Senjo, Phoenix Shugenja (Water) 1
Shosuro Akidachu, Scorpion Rogue 1_

The shaman strode through the forest, surrounded by the rich, verdant greenery of life, revelling in the abundance of surrounding nature spirits all full of life and energy. Attuned to such things through his special relationship with a nature spirit of no small power, Kemu knew that soon he would reach the edge of the woodlands. Then he would be close to his destination - the castle wherein dwelt a daimyo of the Lion clan, and more importantly where his son trained and learnt the ways of the samurai. What did they call it? Ah yes, _bushido_, that was it.

Kemu had greater things planned for the young man than bushido.

* * *

Mifune had been plagued by the dreams for many weeks, to the exasperation of his father and their shugenja. More like visions than dreams, for they were so animate and life-like, they were always similar; filling his sleeping mind with a huge battle, a mighty and demonic dragon more akin to an oni than the depictions of the great dragons he had heard others speak of, and the sense of falling into a great rift in the earth full of inky darkness. Inexplicable and baffling, and none of the Lion shugenja could successfully interpret it. Yet it obviously meant _something_, for not a night passed when the young samurai did not see this vision.

Otherwise, life continued as normal. He continued to train, his battle prowess growing to impress even his father; while Senjo continued to tutor him on the politics of Rokugan and other various academic subjects. Mifune cared little for Senjo. The Phoenix shugenja, a relative of his fathers, had been appointed to tutor him, but he found the spellcasters lessons tiresome and slow, and thought the man weak. The Phoenix always boasted of their magical prowess but the young samurai could not see how the way of the shugenja could possibly compare to the truly honourable way of bushido.

Then the shaman came.

* * *

Daimyo Akodo Gakura sat, looking around the council room. A daimyo of no small importance in the clan, he commanded a strategically important castle, held considerable prestige as a general, and prided himself as a skilled and honourable warrior. Before him were arrayed the captains of his forces, his shugenja advisors, ambassadors from the other families and the Scorpion and Crane clans, and others. Next to him stood Mifune; he hoped his son would learn from watching these meetings, for he knew the headstrong young man was far more interested in eviscerating enemies with his katana than listening to diplomats making deals. That much at least he had learnt from old Senjo; the shugenja stood a little distance from his young charge, clad in those gaudy yellow and red Phoenix robes. Gakura could not help be slightly amused at Senjos exasperation over Mifune, but held the man in high regard for his wisdom and sense; Senjo was his cousin by the daimyos marriage to a Phoenix bride, and he felt that Mifunes education was in good hands.

He leant forwards to speak to his staff of samurai commanders. *"So the oni are coming from underneath the Seikitsu sano Tama no Oi? How is this possible? Are there tunnels under the mountains?"*

One of the samurai opened his mouth to answer, when the doors to the chamber were opened by samurai guards.

*"A wild man from the woods, Lord, who claims he is a shaman, requests audience with y- hey! Stop! You cannot enter without his Lordships..."* The herald was pushed aside as Kemu strode in, gnarled staff clicking on the floor with each step. At his heels followed a large, fearsome wolf, as tame as a dog.

The gathered warriors took one look at the unkempt, bearded man, of middle age but still his frame solid with muscle and a chain shirt jingling as he walked; and they stepped forwards between this interloper and their lord, the hiss of katana flying from sheathes dominating hearing for a moment.

Without even flinching, the shaman pointed his staff at Mifune, and spoke in a deep, commanding voice that made even the battle-hardened samurai falter.

*"I know why he dreams."*

* * *

Mifune was amazed that the audacious shaman had been allowed to live after such blatant disrespect to a daimyo - yet this man who called himself Kemu _had_ been allowed to live.

There was no way he could have known of Mifunes dreams. Only a few in the fortress knew of it, and his father had decided to keep it so, for they did not know what it might portent or of what use it might prove to their enemies if they found out about it. Yet he had walked in as bold as a lion, and spoken of it as if he knew all about it.

Apparently his father had been most impressed and awed by the shaman and his spirits. The man had claimed to be guided by a great nature spirit that had led him here to Mifune, and had offered an interpretation of his visions that he said had been revealed to him by this spirit. Mifune dreamt because he had a strong karmic tie with his ancestor Matsu Hitomi; it was this that gave him his warrior instinct, and this that also called him to his destiny. The battle and the dragon represented a great and long struggle against some enemy of Rokugan and his clan, though Kemu said that what this enemy was, and the path of his struggle, was not clear to the spirit. The fall into the rift was the beginning of his pathway to his destiny, the place where his first step towards accomplishing the will of his ancestor spirits would take place.

That place, said Kemu, was far to the west, in lands beyond the boundaries of Rokugan - the lands of barbarians.

Senjo had carefully questioned the shaman, asking him what was _his_ motivation in all this - why did the spirit tell him this? Kemu had replied that his spirit had felt a great trouble within the natural order of things, and it came from within a huge tear in the earth in the lands far west. It had directed him to seek out Mifune because Mifunes path intertwined with his own; Mifune would help him restore natural order, for that was how the samurai's destiny directed him.

* * *

It had been a long day, and Senjo welcomed being able to just sit down and study the arcane texts of the Agasha school. He found the academic concentration relaxing and calming after the events of the past few hours. Young Mifune - the impetuous hothead - had been dismayed at the lack of respect of the shaman Kemu and his genial attitude towards the samurai, as if it  was all settled that the young man would leave with him and no more matters needed to be resolved. At the same time, he'd jumped at the opportunity offered. Doubtless the young man 'wanted to see the world', wanted to 'experience life and adventure', and all those other things that young people seemed to want to do for some bizarre reason. True, Mifune had been cooped up in a castle of late, but Senjo thought that no good had ever come from 'seeing the world'. The samurai had derided him for being old and fusty, but the shugenja prided himself on merely being cautious.

The shaman certainly had a commanding presence though, and throughout the day had revealed great depths of wisdom and knowledge. Senjo was beginning to think the man was telling the truth. Certainly, Mifunes dreams had confounded the Phoenix shugenja, but it made sense that the ancestor spirits had their hand in it. The daimyo had been greatly impressed by Kemu, and had agreed that they would send Mifune west to investigate this - along with a contingent of soldiers for his protection.

Senjo had been forced to point out his lords ill judgement in this matter. He might not have ventured further than a mile from a library within the last few years, but the shugenja prided himself as having one of the most extensive knowledges of the lands outside Rokugan within the entire Empire. From Kemu's vague, spirit-inspired descriptions of the place they would be aiming for, he placed it within lands that were _very_ far west. That would mean travelling over harsh terrain, and provisioning a force, even a small one, would be impractical. Further, the diplomatic problems inherent in marching a small Lion army over other clans land would be nothing in comparison with possible problems when they crossed barbarian nations, whose rulers would _not_ welcome a band of armed men wandering around. Akodo Gakura had seemed surprised both at his cousins knowledge of the lands outside the Empire, and at the concept that barbarians might even have nations at all; but had conceded to the shugenja's advice. A small party of only a few individuals would strike west with Mifune, charged with keeping the daimyos second son safe. Senjo didn't want to be in the boots of Kemu if the samurai died while pursuing the shamans quest. He thanked the kami that he would be safely ensconced in the library the whole time, happily reading the latest set of manuscripts sent from the Unicorn clan archives.

* * *

*"Shosuro Akidachu will be accompanying you, my son."*

The Scorpion emissary grinned broadly at Mifune from under his mask.

*"Aren't the Shosuro known for being spies and ninja, father?"* he whispered back to his father. He'd met Akidachu before, of course; the Scorpion had been sent to his fathers retinue because of family ties, like with Senjo, and he'd seen the agile man training before; lightning fast with that short sword of his, and adept with an array of darts as well. He suspected the man was far more than he seemed though; well-built and with a mind like a honed katana, the Scorpion unnerved him a little. He found the mans cheeky arrogance unbearable as well, as if Akidachu was always laughing at some joke that _only he knew_.

*"Indeed they are, Mifune. I have no doubt that Akidachu has been well trained by his Bayushi and Shosuro instructors, which is why I have so much confidence in his abilities. And he is kin, and I trust him enough to send him with you. His talents will doubtless prove useful on your journey."

"Akidachu, are you ready to accompany my son on his quest?"

"As ready as I shall ever be, Akodo Gakura, as ready as I shall ever be. You can have confidence that I will put all my resources at Mifunes disposal for the furthering of this mission."*

Akidachu was telling the truth, as well -  a rare enough event for him. A ninja-in-training of the Shosuro, he was nonetheless fond of his Lion relatives and fully intended to keep Mifune alive if he could. His interests in  this venture were multiple, as well - his family had dictated that he attempt to get to the bottom of this whole matter, and discover what was going on with Mifunes dreams and the shamans quest (he'd told the Scorpions of the young samurai's dreams the moment he had found it out, an easy enough task for the accomplished spy even despite the daimyos attempts to keep word of it under wraps).

All in all, a veritable multitude of opportunities for the young Scorpion. Grinning as always, he turned to look at the figure approaching the little gathering.

They had assembled in the fortress courtyard, horses arrayed for the party and a small number of people present to see them off. Kemu, always seemingly shrouded in that aura of inwardly-absorbed mystery, stood silently. For all his efforts, Akidachu had managed to find nothing more out about this mystery man from the forests. Already though, wildly exagerated tales of his spiritual prowess and prophetic abilities were spreading outside the daimyos immediate court; by the time it reached the other side of the Empire, the rumours would tell of a twenty foot man who had saved the fortress from destruction at the hands of an oni horde and sent the daimyos son off on a quest to save the world, Akidachu wagered.

Approaching them now was Senjo. Akidachu sighed and rolled his eyes, eliciting a grin from Mifune. The Scorpion rogue enjoyed gently taunting the senile old shugenja, the Phoenix making an easy target of himself for baiting in such a manner. Senjo was a veritable font of information but more than a little bit cantankerous and often tedious to boot.

*"Ah, Isawa Senjo. You've come to see us off, I assume?"*

The shugenja nodded, throwing the Scorpion an irritated glance, and turned to face Mifune and his father. *"I must say, I am most sad to see you go, young Akodo Mifune. I hope good fortune shines upon your venture, for my life shall doubtless be less interesting in your absence."* Which was true enough - he wouldn't have to deal with his impetuous young pupil for a good while, which would make his life much more... _peaceful_, is how he would put it, rather than less interesting. He smiled at this thought. he'd be able to spend more time reading without Mifunes lessons to destract him.

Akodo Gakura smiled broadly. *"Indeed, Senjo, I thought you might feel sad to see him go. So, I decided you could go on this venture with him!"*

The shugenja's smile remained in place but the rest of his face made it clear that it wanted nothing to do with this interloping smile on his features. Gakura was beaming proudly as if he had given Senjo a magnificent present, while that irritating Scorpion Akidachu was spluttering quietly as he tried to stifle his laughter. from the look on Mifunes face, the pupil had been as eager to be free of the teacher as the teacher had been of the pupil.

The shugenja and the samurai stared at each other, realising that not only would they remain together, but now it would be in the close confines of a party of four people. There would be no escape.

*"You are, after all, greatly knowledgeable of the lands outside civilisation, so who better to go with them? And I trust you above all others with my sons safety,"* the daimyo carried on, oblivious to the silent communcation going on around him.

Senjo tried to speak but his first attempt was just a croak. So much for the hours he was planning to while away reading. *"Gnk... I mean, thank you, my lord. I am most... honoured that you have such faith in me. I'll just go and..."*

_Cry, I think..._

*"...gather my belongings."*

* * *

The four set off, departing through the mighty gates of the fortress as Kemu looked up at the sun for direction. The shaman seemed surprisingly comfortable on a horse for someone who had never ridden before, occasionally leaning down to whisper in the animals ear as his wolf happily ranged ahead. Behind him, the Scorpion rogue Akidachu had a faintly amused look on what of his face was visible under the mask, yet despite his apparent laid-back attitude his eye carefully scanned their surroundings and his ear listened the soudns the wind brought to it. Mifune rode with trained experience, excited and eager at the prospect of such adventure lying before him. Senjo just looked surly, muttering pleas to the spirits to save him.

Kemu paused, gesturing west with his staff. *"We ride that way. The spirits shall guide our way, the sun and stars direct us through day and night, and the animals of the forests protect us from harm. This is the beginning, young samurai, of our path. Trust in the spirits to grant us success."*

Mifune shivered suddenly, cold and unsettled. Before him was unfolding his destiny, it seemed, a far more complex and confusing thing than he ever might have imagined it would be. His heart knew fear - fear of the unknown, and what lay ahead.

He shook his head, and with a burst of resolve, threw off the unnerving sensation. Ahead of him did not lie failure, nor dishonour. He was an Akodo samurai, a warrior of the Lion Clan and the empire, a descendant of Matsu Hitomi. he would not give in to defeat nor be turned aside by fear.

A smile crept across his face.

*"We go west, my companions,"* he said with sudden joy in his heart. *"West into the tales of history and the songs of poets. We go west into victory!"*

Akidachu smiled wryly at the young mans enthusiasm.

*Or perhaps we go west into death.*


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