(L5R) Ch 1 - The Mountain Witch, part 4

Part 4: The Maho-Tsukai

Synopsis: The group learn about the mastermind behind the murders, a maho-tsukai who lives in an abandoned keep located up the mountain.

Immediately after her waking from her nightmare, Ying-Lien talks to Kenjiro about the disturbing dream. They do not know exactly what it means or whether it is a true representation of what will happen or merely a metaphor, but now they are both aware of the prophecy.

There is still the matter of finding the true maho-tsukai. After several days of quiet investigation (which included several forays into the local bath houses looking for scars and tattoos, the samurai hear of an old peasant rumour – that there is an haunted keep at the top of the mountain overlooking the shrine. The maho-tsukai surely lives there.

After hastily making preparations, the group quietly leaves the Daidoji keep and ventures up the mountain, stopping only long enough for Kenjiro to visit the shrine and see his sister, Shiba Yakiko. Kenjiro tells her about the dream and asks her what it means. Yakiko tells him that without more, she cannot tell him exactly what it means. It may be symbolic or it may indeed be prophetic. Any more she could not say.

As the motley collection of samurai continues their short journey up the mountain, they find two sets of human footprints – both venturing up toward the old keep. Were there two maho-tsukai at work here? Who else was hidden within the castle walls? After eight hours of following the path up the mountain, they finally spot the old keep. Along each side of the path approaching the keep, they see dozens of white masks hung atop bamboo poles. The masks stared at them with eerily glowing eyes. Kenjiro knocked one of the masks off its moorings. He found an ordinary candle behind the mask.

As they approach the gates of the keep, they see one light glowing at the top of the keep. That is where the maho-tsukai is, they surmise. That is where they will find him and dispatch him to Jigoku for the trouble he had caused them.

The front gate crashes open. Three large goblins rush out to greet them, but they are ready for them. Kakita Kenjiro shoots an arrow at one while Daidoji Jin rushes up and easily dispatches another. The others move in and take the goblins out before the goblins on the wall shower them with arrows. But the goblins fail to hit their targets and the samurai rush through the open gate. The few remaining goblins try to intercept them, but are easily killed by Kenjiro’s arrows and Noriyaki’s Jade Strike spell.

Sensing very little opposition, they walk along the keeps dilapidated wall and approach the main keep. Just as they approach the stairs down to the keep itself, they hear a thunderous pounding inside. A gigantic ogre crashes through the door. Undeterred, Daidoji Jin attacks it with fervor previously unknown to him. With one strike of his katana, he slashes the Ogre across his mighty chest. The ogre staggers and notices black ichor draining from the large gash Jin had given him. The others move in and attack. The ogre strikes back, but the tides of battle had turned and the ogre falls easily.

The group moves quickly into the decaying keep. The wood and paper walls are ragged. Wind whistles through the tattered halls. As the samurai move into the keep, they hear a quiet laughter from above.

“So, he has decided that I am to die, has he?” says the disembodied voice. “Then come and try. I will enjoy the challenge.”

There is one thin staircase creeping upstairs. Daidoji Jin ventures ahead of the others – given confidence by handily defeating the ogre. As he climbs up to the third floor, he is suddenly hit by a bolt of energy. A numbing cold climbs within his body, and though he resists, it drains him of his will, stunning him. (the bolt of nothing drains 1 VOID permanently). Two large black creatures appear from the shadows and begin stalking the stunned Daidoji Jin. To Jin, they look like cats, almost the size of tigers. But their appearance keeps shifting making their true appearance a mystery. Jin does not care. They are still unnatural creatures from the Shadowlands and they will be sent back to the abyss they came from.

The others rush upstairs, but the thin staircase prevents them from all converging into the room to help their comrade. Noriyaki is behind them all and wants desperately to summon an earth kami, but until he is able to see the creatures, he cannot begin his prayer.

One of the minions rushes at Daidoji Jin with blackened claws. It strikes him fiercely before moving off evading Jin’s katana. Kakita Kenjiro rushes up the stairs, nocks an arrow and fires at one of the creature, missing. Ying-Lien rushes up behind Kenjiro but also fails to land a blow. The creature circles around and strikes at Jin, almost knocking him on the ground but Jin responds and hits the minion hard. Ryu draws his wakizashi and tries to strike at the second minion, but to no avail.

Finally, Noriyaki, with scroll unfurled, climbs the stairs into the chamber and summons an earth kami. He feels a resistance to his prayers, evidence that there are Kansen nearby, but manages to summon the kami and commands it to strike the creatures with the power of jade. The room glows green as the kami strikes a mighty blow on the minion throwing the creature across the room.

With Noriyaki’s spell, the tides of battle turn. The second minion throws a bolt of darkness at Kenjiro. It strikes him, but he resists the cold, numbing darkness that enters his body. It is the last blow the creatures would land. The minions fall and their carcasses dissolve into the shadow as if they had never been. The samurai are injured, but they live. Daidoji Jin, however, has been hit with a bolt of

The samurai venture upstairs and find the maho-tsukai sitting cross-legged inside a mystic circle of protection. There is a nebulous smoke spinning around him not venturing forth beyond the circle.

They begin to approach. Noriyaki summons an earth kami to throw another jade strike. It is blocked by the smoke, which Noriyaki realizes is the Kansen he felt earlier. However, this Kansen is wearing a mask made of the flesh of the face of Ide Keiyomi – no doubt a sacrifice the maho-tsukai had to make to summon the Kansen. The samurai know they have the right maho-tsukai – the one who murdered Ide Keiyomi.

The samurai attack. The maho-tsukai’s fingers grow long black nails and he stands, ready for them. Noriyaki, knowing an earth kami will likely not have any affect as long as the maho-tsukai stands in the circle of protection, summons an air kami instead and a tempest of air appears in the room, blowing scattered scrolls everywhere. As the witch struggles to stand, Daidoji Jin strikes an incredible blow on the witch before Kakita Kenjiro’s arrow pierces his gullet. The maho-tsukai gasps, unable to speak before falling to the floor. The Kansen dissipates, since its master was no longer of this world.

The samurai do not cheer. By gaining vengeance for Ide Keiyomi, they have done their duty. No more, no less.

Behind the maho-tsukai’s mystic circle, sits a helm with a stylized dragon on its top. They take it and the maho-tsukai’s obi and wakizashi and venture back down the mountain. When they arrive at the Daidoji keep, they find chaos. The Daidoji samurai were scurrying about mobilizing as if going to war. When they reach the gates, the find the Karo barking orders. He ignores the samurai and their disheveled appearance when they ask him what was going on. The karo tells them that the Unicorn, have attacked the Lion.

Next: The Betrothal