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 REFLECTIONS: A GAME OF DUELLING SAMURAI Two souls stand opposite. One burns with anger The other, calm and still Their fate destined Nothing else matters Nothing else exists in their world. Memories of their past and Steel at their side, both weapons. Death will be the final moment.
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Mar 24, 2017 15:02
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 08:23 |
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PROLOGUE It was a time of open rebellion.
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Mar 24, 2017 15:02
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We stand upon the charred remains of burnt cropland.
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Mar 24, 2017 15:23
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I remember when you were my right hand.
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Mar 24, 2017 15:46
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This feud started when your love of drink became more important than your honor.
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Mar 24, 2017 15:51
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My name is Uesugi Ryushin. I am still your daimyo and I cannot let your actions go unchallenged.
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Mar 24, 2017 16:44
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My name is Harukawa Daijiro. I am your loyal retainer who will save your honor-- even from yourself-- and I cannot let your actions go unchallenged.
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Mar 24, 2017 17:10
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THE TIME WE WERE FRIENDS Ryushin's Super-Secret Scene Objective: 2 Dice: Get your rival to agree to do something for you in the future Spring is turning to Summer in the lands of the Uesugi clan. Rumours of unrest in other provinces do little to disturb the peace -- the fields are rich, here, and taxation not so onerous a burden. And here, Uesugi Ryushin returns to his camp on the edge of a tiny farming community, bow unstrung and feeling pleased with himself. Behind him, servants carry the stag's carcass. Harukawa Daijiro has already returned from his own hunt; Ryushin strolls over, unhooking a flask of sake from his belt and taking a hefty swig. "Join me!" he offers Harukawa the flask as he reaches the man's side. "One shot, a clean kill, and those antlers will look magnificent... somewhere in the castle. Did you also meet with success?"
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Mar 25, 2017 01:04
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Daijiro's Super-Secret Scene Objective: Get your rival to give you a personal item "Success is a white-spotted male, dark mahogany with great pronged antlers, standing majestically in a small circle of sun in the middle of a wooden glen." Daijiro graciously took the sake and raised the flask to his lips. "Yes, I can say that I met success today," he said. He glanced at Ryushin and a sly grin crept across his face. "I only wish my arrow had, as well!" He laughed and took a swig. It was good sake. His lord always had good sake. The best, really. And the man was never afraid to share it. He looked at Ryushin's stag and whistled. An impressive beast. And a clean kill. "They say that the land itself is capable of recognizing a good man," Daijiro said. "See how even nature rushes to meet you, my lord? Were all daimyo as true then perhaps we would hear less painful rumors from the distant provinces." He took another sip and handed back the flask. He stared up at the sky. Spring was fading and soon all would succumb to the heat of summer. But now? Now the weather was just about perfect. Today is a good day, he thought to himself. "Today is a good day," he repeated out loud.
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Mar 25, 2017 07:36
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Ryushin barked a laugh at Daijiro's wit. "It's good to have you at my side to remind me of what is important. It is a good day, when we can have such experiences as these." His mood abruptly darkened. He had hoped to avoid thinking about the message for a little longer but now his hunting was done, his responsibilities awaited. "Alas, clouds loom on the horizon and I must walk in the rain." He gestured out at the notably cloudless sky, suppressing a twinge of annoyance that the weather didn't match his metaphor. The land may recognise a good man, but apparently the sky was less amenable. "Harukawa-san, I require your counsel." Ryushin looked around, checking that no-one was close enough to overhear. Not even servants. He paced a tight circle as he spoke. "Last night I received a messenger from the shogun, warning me of treachery closer to home. He suspects Taru-dono of plotting against him. Taru Hayate! My own brother-in-law!" He took another slug of sake. The burn in his throat felt appropriate to his words. "How many times have he and I shared a table? Gone on hunting trips like this one? And now my lord warns me that I may be required to bring my soldiers against his." Ryushin shook his head. "I would speak with him. Try to turn him from his course. I owe that much to my sister and nephew, even if not to him. But would doing so tip my hand? My lord's hand? I am torn." "I need the counsel of a man I can trust." He looked at Daijiro, quirked a smile, there and gone again. "Someone to remind me of what is important."
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Mar 25, 2017 14:22
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Daijiro's face remained impassive. Such news. He exhaled slowly, walked a few paces, and then casually reached up and plucked a long, thin stick off a low hanging branch. He plied it between his hands. He tested it's flexibility. And then he placed the tip into the dirt and began to to doodle. It was a habit he'd picked up as a boy. It was his way of deliberating. Of coming to terms with difficult decisions. For, despite his education, he had always considered his hand to be sharper than his head and so he waited for clarity to come through the absent-minded stroke of the stick. And eventually it did. The rough outline of a word began to take shape. "Ah," he said quietly. He looked over at Ryushin. "I have long considered Lord Taru to be a man of righteous thought and action. As did your father when he approved the marriage of him and your sister. Perhaps that is still the case." He shrugged. "Perhaps not." He swiped the drawing space clean with the side of his foot. It had served it's purpose. "If we split open the cherry tree," Daijiro recited, "we find no flower there. It is the spring that becomes the seed of the blossom." A classic kōan. A suggestion of the inscrutability of the future. There might be treachery in the heart of Taru Hayate-- Daijiro did not hold counsel to the man-- but until it took physical form it did not exist. It was not too late to make sure it never did. "There is nothing unusual in visiting one's sister," he said, "How long has it been since your son saw his cousin?"
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Mar 25, 2017 19:26
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Ryushin nodded. Daijiro was a wise man. "Not long, but not so short a time that it would be unusual to visit again. And Hayate-dono will not say no to the gifts we will bring. Once there... well. We shall see if the tree is rotten." Did that metaphor work? There were times he envied Daijiro's way with words. Still, the spirits blessed different men in different ways. "You will come with us, of course?"
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Mar 27, 2017 15:42
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"An opportunity to enjoy a meal prepared by the fabled kitchens of the Taru?" Daijiro cocked his head back and forth and clucked his tongue against his teeth as he pretended to engage in an internal debate with himself. "Well... alright. But only because of my deep, personal loyalty to you and your family. " Solemnly, he tapped his breast with the stick. And then he cracked a smile. "Thank you," he said. He tossed the stick into the brush. There was something awfully distressing about the concept of rot. He wondered when it could be detected in something like that stick. How early. How late was too late to save the branch. How late was too late to save the tree. "I'll make the preparations," he said. "Perhaps it would be wise to use my own personal retinue and keep our itinerary quiet until we leave. Just in case there are any, shall we say, alternatively employed men in your household." Daijiro hated such a thought.
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Mar 27, 2017 19:53
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"Good idea," Ryushin said, nodding. He was preoccupied. What would he say to Hitomi if he had to go to war with her husband? What would he do if his nephew sided with his father? This was supposed to be the stuff of kabuki, not his life. He passed his hand across his face as actors did, replacing one expression with another. "Enough pensive brooding. We have had a good day, and should celebrate as such." He gestured vaguely at the tent where the servants were dismantling the stag, discreetly out of sight. "We can save the gloomy talk for a gloomier day." I'm ready to end the scene any time.
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Mar 29, 2017 15:32
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"Agreed." Daijiro's Super-Secret Scene Objective: Get your rival to give you a personal item Failure. +0 dice.
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Mar 29, 2017 15:43
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Ryushin's Super-Secret Scene Objective:2 Dice: Get your rival to agree to do something for you in the future Which I think I managed? That's +2 dice for me and +2 hatred dice for you.
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Mar 29, 2017 21:16
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THE TIME YOU CROSSED THE LINE Daijiro's Super-Secret Scene Objective: 3 Dice: Get your rival to ignore their honor or duties The letter-- which now sat snugly in his sleeve-- had come in the usual way. Its contents, though, like words in a dream. Daijiro had reread the words a dozen times over vainly hoping with each iteration that he might some alternative meaning. Taru Hayate had written it himself. The words were plain and direct as befitting the man himself. It was a letter of appreciation. It was a summons to war. The night was foggy in his memory. Cup had beget cup had beget cup and had beget cup. And with the alcohol had flowed words of brotherhood and affirmation and love and support. Daijiro didn't have the stomach for it-- the alcohol, that is, for he wasn't much of a drinker-- and so he retired well before either daimyo. He had missed something. Something important. Something dangerous. What had been said? he wondered, rubbing his forehead. What had been sworn? And so he marched onto the house of his lord. There he found Ryushin in the study. Already there was a bottle of sake before him. Daijiro did not return his lord's surprised welcome. He did not smile. Instead, he scattered the servants with a glare and quickly the room was empty. Quiet. Daijiro slowly pulled the letter from his sleeve and tossed it onto the floor. "Sir," he hissed. "What have you done?"
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Mar 31, 2017 20:16
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Ryushin's Super-Secret Scene Objective: 4 Dice: Get your rival to draw blood from another person Ryushin frowned to cover his confusion. Whatever was going on, Daijiro's behaviour was distinctly improper. He stood and walked around the desk, the movement reawakening the hangover with a gentle grinding behind his eyes. He set his face, did not lean on the table. Now was not the time for weakness, apparently. "We have long been friends, Harukawa-san, but I am still your daimyo and I will have the respect I deserve." He glanced down at the letter. To stoop and pick it up would place him in a submissive position, but he recognised the fragments of the seal and guessed the rest. "To answer your question, though: you clearly know what I have done. I have read the wind and positioned the clan appropriately." He couldn't meet Daijiro's stare. Or perhaps it was the light streaming through the window behind him. Perhaps. "Neutrality is no longer possible."
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Apr 3, 2017 10:23
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 08:23 |
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"Respect?" Daijiro said, surprised. "This is respect, sir. This is loyalty. My father served your father. And his father his. And his father his. Long, long have our bloodlines been intertwined. This is not forgotten to me. This is why I approached you and not some agent of the Shogun." The final words were heavy in the air. Daijiro looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. "I was under the impression," he said after a moment's pause, "that we were... how did you put it... 'seeing if the tree branch was rotten?'" He looked down. "It would seem you discovered the truth."
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Apr 6, 2017 07:06
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