1123 - Year of the Snake

Reign of Hantei 38th, Year 20

You may read the imperial histories in order below or jump to any month of the year using the calendar to the right. You may also download the 1123 MSWord file.

The seasons of the imperial year:

Winter: Rat, Ox, Tiger

Spring: Hare, Dragon, Snake

Summer: Horse, Ram, Monkey

Fall: Rooster, Dog, Boar

Month of the Rat: Winter Court (Kyuden Seppun) is disturbed by two events. Bayushi Kachiko is forced to return home after her son goes missing from Bayushi castle. The Dragon clan supports Hida Kisada's request for the reinstitution of the "Jade Champion" and Phoenix and Scorpion objections are brushed aside. The emperor, now aging, agrees to consider the request and will hold an appropriate tournament at a time to be determined. Usagi Oda is still unable to find a major clan bride for Tomoe, now hampered by the fact that he has no invitation to winter court. Bayushi Tomaru presses his suit, but meets with no response.

Month of the Ox: Tsumado returns to Lion lands to meet with his new daimyo, Matsu Yuki and makes arrangements for the support of his parents. To reinforce their allies, Matsu Yuki sends him with an honor guard (commanded by Matsu Akira) to visit Hare and Falcon lands. Kuni Mojo is summoned by Juju to pursue the remaining black scrolls and he takes his leave of Hare lands assured that it has been cleansed of any trace of taint.

Month of the Tiger: Hida Goshiri and Usagi Maroni are sent as representatives of Lord Oda to Ryoko Owari and meet Asako Moharu, a phoenix inquisitor charged with investigating mysterious happenings in the area. They are sent to Kuda, a small village formerly in Hare lands to investigate the claims that a small boy saw a ghost. The "ghosts" turn out to be graverobbers and bandits, who are dispatched by Goshiri and Maroni with the help of the village headman, Muso. Unfortunately, the small boy's home is destroyed by the bandits and he becomes an orphan. They return to Ryoko Owari with the boy and headman to explain the situation to Asako Moharu. Muso then returns to the village and the boy is taken by Goshiri to Hare lands, where he is later fostered with Hondo, Gondo's son. A group of Scorpion emissaries led by Soshi Kima presents Lord Oda with a gift from Bayushi Tomaru, a gilded hourglass. The meaning could not be clearer, but Oda still does not relent about marrying Tomoe to Tomaru.

Month of the Hare: Usagi Fujiro goes to Falcon lands to negotiate timber and spice harvesting rights in the Shinomen Forest with Falcon Daimyo Toritaka Genzo, leaving Kuni Mojo, Gondo, and Nodojo free to look around in Tani Hitokage (Valley of the Spirit). They are approached by Toritaka Mambu, the village samurai and vassal for the Village of the Eastern Lantern. He is having trouble with what appears to be evil creatures, possibly Snake Oni, in his lands. Their investigations reveal that a band of eight formerly banished, thieving actors have been sabotaging crops and livestock.

Akodo Tsumado, Kuni Mojo, and Nodojo visit the monastery of Shihoden in the Kuni lands, where Kuni Mojo undertakes research to discover the whereabouts of certain scrolls. The party is greeted kindly by Abbot Sagayama and the brothers; however, after a few days, a wounded shugenja, Kuni Yoma appears and tells the story of being pursued by a terrible Oni, which has possessed crab in his party. He receives sanctuary from the Abbot. The next morning, a party of crab approaches and they are regarded warily by the bushi and monks. However, just as they are explaining that the Kuni is the one possessed, Yoma appears and hideous clouds of beetles break out of his skin, attacking everyone. The Crab shugenja, Hida Hoyama unleashes “Fires that Cleanse” largely destroying the beasts, but the library is set aflame. Kuni Mojo hurriedly preserves documents about maho-tsukai plans against the Hare, but loses some other scrolls. Kuni Mojo, Akodo Tsumado, and Nodojo, shamed by their failure to stop the creature, help the monks rebuild and cleanse themselves spiritually over the next few weeks.

Month of the Dragon: Lord Oda sends Gondo and Usagi Maroni as escorts for Piroto, a fireworks expert, who is to install an early warning device at Hare's Nose Island . They meet with Usagi Tanaka and cross the river to plant the devices. Unfortunately, the Scorpion are wise to their scheme and they are attacked by a party led by Shosuro Nagai. Tanaka is wounded and Gondo is nearly killed and captured. Gondo spends the next several weeks in the dungeons of Bayushi Tomaru's castle.

Nokatsu returns to Crab lands with a rice shipment and Hida Goshiri leaves his employ. Oda sends Goshiri and Jiro to the Temple of Osano-Wo along with Hondo and the orphan boy to learn jiu-jitsu from the monks. While there, a strange prophesy is revealed to Goshiri and Jiro. Jiro stays with the recovering boys at the Temple , while Goshiri visits Kyuden Miya and speaks with Miya Katsu, but learns little.

Meanwhile, the action at Hare's Nose turns out to be the first wave of assault on the Hare by Tomaru's army, which quickly lays seige to Shiro no Usagi. Akodo Tsumado and Matsu Akira arrive; however, the Hare are finally forced to capitulate to Tomaru's terms. Tomoe and Tomaru are married and Oda agrees to go into retirement at the Temple of Osano-Wo. Tomaru makes plans to annex the Hare lands and rule the area as a personal fief. Usagi Fujiro and Usagi Yarusen dispute his claim and the matter of who rules Hare lands comes before the Emperor. The three claimants to the Hare lordship (Tomaru, Fujiro, Yarusen) are distressed to discover that Usagi Takeshi (Oda's Yojimbo) and the ancestral Hare swords are missing from Shiro no Usagi. They also search in vain for Lord Oda’s battle fan, the traditional object used to rally Hare clan troops.

Month of the Snake: On the three hundred and seventieth anniversary of their clan's founding, the question of who shall rule the Hare is put to Hantei XXXVIII. The presentations of the three claimants are all compelling, but not convincing. At the same time, a party of 4 begs audience and claims that the Usagi are maho-tsukai (bloodspeakers). They are Kitsune Hamato, Daidoji Unoko, Toritaka Bonugi, and Yasuki Taka. The emperor forbids repairs on Shiro no Usagi and inquisitors and witch hunters are sent to investigate Hare territory and the emperor "tables" the matter of the Hare lordship until their investigations are complete. Hantei XXXVIII, in declining health, is pressed to make a decision by the Bayushi. Ultimately, he decides that whoever can find and present the ancestral swords to the imperial court should be the Daimyo of the Hare. The hunt for the lost swords begins in earnest.

Matsu Yuki leads a major Lion army in a skirmish against the forces of the Tsume family, a minor Crane holding. The ronin Itto enters the service of Yuki and is commended for his ferocity in battle.

Month of the Horse: An empire-wide search for Usagi Takeshi begins, as the claimants search for clues to the swords. Usagi Fujiro and Usagi Yarusen agree to ally in order to oppose Tomaru’s claims on the Hare lands. They are backed by most of the Hare bushi, though some still favor Tomoe. Many of the ronin and bushi who Oda recruited leave Hare lands and travel to the unaligned village of Kuda, where they are employed by the local headman, Muso, to quell the local bandits.

Month of the Ram: The Hare repel raids of ronin.

Month of the Monkey: Akodo Tsumado, Kuni Mojo, Shinjo Ratha and his sister, Shinjo Akito, travel to the Court of Bayushi Tomaru after the report that an assassin, apparently hired from the Wasp Clan, was killed after slaying two palace guards. While at the Court three Fox Clan members, Kitsune Tsuro (father), Mako (mother), and Tarmo (son), arrive accompanied by the Phoenix Clan shugenja, Isawa Sanjo and his two yojimbo. They enter the court and begin making assertions that Tomoe’s possession of a certain silk fan is an indication of her guilt in the death of Kitsune Shimako (Tsuro and Mako’s daughter). Tomaru refuses to to give them access to the fan.

Month of Rooster:Akodo Tsumado visits home while travelling in entourage of his daimyo, Matsu Yuki. He discusses arrangements for his sister’s dowry with his mother and father. He also speaks with Ikoma Kagata about the composition of an epic about his grandfather. Then, Tsumado travels with Matsu representatives to the Kintani Valley , where cross words are exchanged between Matsu Yuki, Doji Satsume (the new overlord of the area) and Tsume Takashi, the local daimyo. Later, a Tsume raid on the Lion village of Oiku (L5) results in the death of its daimyo, Ikoma Ujiaki. Matsu Yuki leads an army against the Tsume and retakes the Kintani valley for the Lion. Tsumado distinguishes himself fighting in the thick of the battle with Matsu Akira, but is severely wounded by Kakita Shinichiro in a duel. Matsu Akira is rewarded with the fief of Oiku, Tsumado is promoted by Yuki.Hida Goshiri is defeated in a duel by Kakita Haiyabusha and forced to carry out three tasks to atone for the slaying of Kakita Yosujan while guarding Yasuki Nokatsu.

In Ryoko Owari, the Emerald Magistrate, Ashedaka Noritoki is murdered. The new magistrate, Shiba Kohashi, summons the former Hand of the Hare to the city to serve him. The “foot” of Kohashi begins enforcing imperial law in the city. Tsumado and Gondo investigate the murder of the magistrate on teardrop island. They subdue a drunken ronin, Anka. Akodo Tsumado, Gondo, Shinjo Ratha, Yogo Yomaru recover Bayushi Tomoe from the bandit leader Fade and receive the thanks of her husband, Tomaru, as well as the trust of Shiba Kohashi.

Month of the Dog: An imperial cartographer, Miya Sosumi, begins mapping Fox lands. While in Fox lands, Goshiri and Gondo see Kitsune Juko from afar, who will later become a person of much greater importance. Tsumado and Gondo find some clues to the magistrate’s murder in the Merchant’s quarter, but are trapped in a merchant ship set ablaze. They are rescued by the ronin merchant “Shrimp.” Bayushi Korecho claims damages from the magistrates. They recover vital clues about the former Magistrate’s activities.

Month of the Boar: Miya Sosumi maps part of Crab lands. Usagi Takeshi is cleared of wrongdoing by the Inquisitors.Doji Satsume leads a raid on the Lion forests of the Northern Plains. During savage fighting, Akodo Kage is killed. Kage’s former lover, Matsu Tsuko vows vengeance and marches Lion forces northward but is only able to push Crane forces back to the border before Winter. Meanwhile, the Scorpion clan sends an army through Beiden Pass, threatening the Castle of Vigilance (L15); when the Lion responds, this force melts away. At the same time, a second Scorpion army (entering by unknown means in Lion territory), successfully retakes Kenson Gakka from the Lion. Soon, however, war becomes impossible as all of the principals are summoned to Winter Court at Kyuden Otomo by Hantei the 38th.