Alt - Onin: Session #4 - Welcome to Kyoto

The PC’s escorted Terumasa the Merchant from Kiyosu to Kyoto, along with four porters and his assistant. They arrived in Kyoto across the Sanjo Ohashi over the Kamo River after weeks on the Tokaido, and they found Kyoto to be crowded and bustling, but also tense.

The PC's passed through the Shirakawa district and the Nanzen-Ji temple. This is the highest-ranked Zen temple, and the district is full of countless bushi coming and going, as well as lots of monks. The PC’s followed Terumasa the Merchant down Sanjo Road, then north up Muromachi, past the mansions of the great and powerful. They eventually reached the Shimogyo, stopping at the Isshiki Mansion. The majordomo allowed the entire entourage inside, though they were kept under constant guard by armored warriors. Lady Isshiki O-Saki (who resembles Tatsuzo’s wife Mieko, so much it is haunting) and her ladies-in-waiting came out, causing Tatsuzo to lose his composure. After a brief, tense standoff, Tatsuzo was overcome with emotion and fled to the Gion, hoping to drink his pain away. Santo no Kai followed him for a while, then wander south until he found a Shingon temple where he acquired better but less conspicuous monk's robes to wear around town.  

Meanwhile, the confused Lady Isshiki bantered briefly with Terumasa, who showcased his wares from one of the boxes. With a satisfied nod, she accepted the ceramics. Terumasa thanked the PC’s for their troubles, paid them with silver, and suggested that he would pass word of their excellent qualities along to his many business partners in the city. He then went inside the main hall with the majordomo to haggle over prices. The PC’s were buttled out the side gate by the guards, leaving them loitering on the street. They almost immediately were ordered out of the Kamigyo by gate guards and mounted patrols, as they are homeless ronin who have been on the road for days. The streets are crowded with people, getting lower in status the further away from Kamigyo. The PC’s quickly established that southwest leads into lots of empty lots and swampland, much of it haunted by the poor, the homeless, and the predatory. Southeast leads to neighborhoods dominated by the working class; the streets here will be more crowded, but the people are wary of a group of ronin.

After much wandering around Kyoto, the reunited PC's gathered at the Biwa Inn in the Gion District. Unlucky Ko was the victim of an attempted mugging by a small gang of gamblers, and the new owner of one of the mugger's wakizashi. Realizing that a) they were nearly broke and b) rooms were expensive because of crowding in the city, the party instead opted to head to the relatively empty northwestern corner of the city and take shelter in an abandoned temple. Near dawn, Santo no Kai saw what seemed to be a three-tailed Kitsune! He left the temple and followed it to a nearby estate. His curiosity got the better of him, so he climbed the wall and looked inside. Santo no Kai beheld a vision, an illusion of faded glory within the compound. Realizing he was in over his head, he popped back out.

The rest of the party, now awake and aware that the monk is missing, followed his trail to the front gate. The group had a tense standoff with a crusty old gate guard named Gorobei, eventually gaining entry. They discovered that the dilapidated estate was owned by Prince Saionji no Akihiro, a strange effete Kuge who was apparently bored enough to allow the PC's in and have a conversation with them. He grilled them about their identities and purposes, learning that Kingoro was on a quest for vengeance against Lord Michitaka, perhaps the third most powerful person in Kyoto. This amused Prince Akihiro, and he decided to allow them to remain as guests in his estate. Gorobei escorted them down the walkway to the east wing of the manor, and they set up their camp.