Fiction: A New Day Dawns

[Seppun Kuron]

A New Day Dawns
by Paul, with help from Michael

Akodo Hideaki stands in a kata on a Toturi hilltop as Yakamo crests over the eastern horizon. He is sweating lightly as he goes through his morning workout, moving fluidly and quickly from pose to pose. He does not squint against the blazing light of Lord Sun, for he has no reason to be afraid of meeting Yakamo's gaze. But his eyes do wander toward the eastern horizon, and Otomo province.

Later, his young vassal comes up with a morning repast of rice, bamboo shoots, and some early spring fruit. Bowing deeply, he sets the wooden board before Hideaki. As the Champion eats, the young man, barely out of his gempukku, stands behind him. His eyes too go eastward to Otomo, and they cloud in confusion. He opens his mouth as if to say something several times, but quickly closes it again.

Not turning around, Hideaki says "Speak, boy," in a deep but inquiring voice.

Startled, the young man says "Forgive me, Hideaki-sama. It is not my position to think to question the decisions of one such as you-"

"But…" Hideaki prompted.

"But…but why Otomo?" the boy blurted out. "I heard your declaration at
Hantei and I knew it was right. It was the will of the Kami. But then, we came here. I have seen the missives sent out by the Regent where he condemns us. I…I am but a young vassal lord. Why Otomo?"

"Because no one else has the courage to do so," Hideaki says, still gazing out over Otomo.

"Because our enemies would use its power against us....because soon enough I will be dead and this will all have been a bad dream for our clan," continues Hideaki as he turns to face the boy.

"Still, worry not as I do not wish to cause the Empire further harm.
Our regent is weak. I truly do not wish to undermine him yet what he see's as best for the Empire, I do not see as best for the Empire.
This will remind him that his position was not ordained by the Heavens, but instead by mortal hands. I wish it had never come to this but the Lion will not sit idly by. If the Empire needs a kick to the shins to awaken from its lethargy, then we shall be the ones to do it."

"Leave me. We have much to prepare for."

The boy nods. But as he starts to go, he hesitates again. "Forgive me lord, but why will you be dead soon? If the Regent has indeed lost his way and the Empire is threatened, we will need you!"

Hideaki sighs. "Because when this is all over, our clan will have much to answer for. I would die in order to give our clan a brighter future. I will show us the path, but it will take my successors to walk down it."

"But if you are acting on behalf of the Empire, how can you be in the wrong? Surely, the Day of Thunder showed us that the Lion who followed the Emperor, the man, were the ones at fault. The ones under Toturi who followed the Empire were the heroes."

"You are young and do not yet fully understand the way of things. There are many roads that can ultimately lead to the 'right' path. Not every person sees which road we choose to follow as leading to the 'right' destination. In a world were honor must be satisfied, sacrifices must be made. Without honor we are nothing. Even you have questioned my honor. My death will serve to show the world that I walk the path of righteousness. Right, wrong, or indifferent I AM Lion. Before I was born I was a Lion. While I still draw breath I am a Lion. I shall still be Lion long after I have left this world. All I ask from my clan is that they have the courage to walk the path of righteousness with me and together our roar will inspire our Empire and instill it with the courage it needs in these dark times."

The boy nods again, awestruck. He quietly packs up the breakfast, lost in thought, leaving Hideaki to once again contemplate Otomo.

[Jer]

Hoto is not weak damnit!

Jer
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This is not a fish! I was promised a FISH! - Jer

[asa]

Instead of taking a firm stance against invaders and evil, he wanted to talk with them. The crab and lion find that to be weakness.

[Jer]

Hoto is not talking with the evil. He doesn't want the chaos of war to give the forces of the shadowlands quicker and easier access to the keys. Better to have peace with invaders he knows can be removed then allow the Emperor to suffer for to long. But it doesn't matter anymore. Nobody cares to listen anyway, we'll do it our own ways.

Jer
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This is not a fish! I was promised a FISH! - Jer

[Don The Anvil]

What? Split the Party up and search the Dungeon? That always is the best idea.
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There are some things I like about George W Bush. Since he took office, the New England Patriots have won 3 Super Bowls and the RedSox won the World Series after a 86 year drought.

[Jer]

That was my thinking, but nobody wants to stay together.

Jer
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This is not a fish! I was promised a FISH! - Jer

[PG]

This was constructed from various emails back and forth between Michael and I and he wanted to make a story out of it so it was. And you have to remember where the Lion are coming from. They are of a heavy military mindset. The regent does not fit this bill at all and so the Lion will consider him weak in this regard. As the Lion have stated numerous times in the past, talk is good and all but the time for only talking is past. The regent still wants everyone to talk and make up. The more militant clans, primarily the Crab and Lion, want less talky and more smacky.

While the Lion do consider Hoto strong, his position as regent is weak. You cannot really deny that with the lack of support Hoto has received since becomming regent.

[Jer]

Of course I'm not denying it. It pisses him off. That is what allows him to be viewed as weak, he isn't recieving the support that he should be. Yes, he is very mad.

Jer
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This is not a fish! I was promised a FISH! - Jer

[kevin]

Hey I want less talk and more smacky! We are missing out on the fun in the north while the south lives it up!

I agree that we need to act and the time to talk is past. I think all of us want to get to the key. We don't know for sure if the Phoenix and Gaijin are going to help us with that or not. We need to get the key ourselves or put pressure on them. I'm not sure it is unrealistic for some of the clans to think that way. We did try doing things the slower and more peaceful way but it hasn't been producing results quick enough.

In fact, I thought everyone viewed me as the main instigator?!

[Michael]

Mori is the last one I have to do. Plenty of smacky there. What, like 8 characters? 200+ units? Mori's going to need some serious repairs from whoever ends up owning it.
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I like my coffee like I like my women. COVERED IN BEES! -Izzard

[Jer]

What do you mean wasn't producing results fast enough!!?!! There were a total of 2 turns spent under peace. First turn we agreed to go after the Winds key, and look in the Mori or Goimo province to explore what was there. The shadowlands attacked, and Scotty's shapechanging cheesy ninja character sabotaged the results we were looking for. Then the Shadowlands attacked both Winds and Daidoji, and everything got blamed on the Gaijin Phoenix. Next turn the Scorpion blew the pass, and everything went to where it is now. There was NO attempt to let the peace path try and work its way through.
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This is not a fish! I was promised a FISH! - Jer

[PG]

Two turns is a long time for those who were itching for a fight long before Hoto took the position of regent. The wheels were already in motion and Hoto tried to slam on the breaks. The inertia kept things moving forward whether Hoto liked it or not. I think that sums up the Dragon, Unicorn, and Lion sentiment pretty well as that's all we talked about from turn 9 on was how we were going to combat the Gaijin and Phoenix. Then out of no where Hoto shows up and tells us to pack up our things and go home and like the bratty children we are, we whined and threw tantrums that we had to put our toys away and wash up for dinner. We didn't want to stop but we did. Any chance we could get we were going to jump back into where we were several turns ago.

[kevin]

Jeremy, I feel like we've been working on some of these issues for more than two turns. We still have never resolved the Phoenix issue which is why Jon is in the situation he is. He should have been cleared or declared guilty earlier. We never should have let that drop. I'll admit that the Gaijin coming in and all the other plots distracted us. I've been doing the investigation thing for quite some time. I think there is a reason that hardly anyone else volunteers anyone to be an investigator! It is a pain and has a low pay off. If world events happen too quickly, then you don't have time to investigate. Investigators get no honor and only 1 XP in a turn. It can be a slow and drawn out process. You have to make top notch investigators (over 30 points characters with very high water) to even ensure that you are getting good data or you have to possibly double the investigation time. Those characters still cannot defend themselves and need constant protection. You complained about Hoto being trapped in Otosan Uchi but I often have half my clan tied up trying to investigate things.

Michael, I would think that the sheer volume of horse droppings would make Mori fertile farm land for years to come!