Estate on Omishima Island, Santobun

Santobun is the crown jewel of Omishima, with its bustling markets, intricate temples, and, most importantly, a large population that prides itself on its fishing and mulberry farms. However, the political scene is rife with tensions. The Jin, Shogura, and Koike families are locked in a power struggle, each backed by a faction of villagers, making alliances and breaking them to become the Myoshu.

Seto Inland Sea Random Encounter Table

(To use this table, roll a 20-sided dice, or d20, and match the result with the corresponding encounter.)

Geiyo Estates

 The Geiyo Islands are a large cluster of small islands in the Seto Inland Sea between Shikoku and Honshu (the main island). Tides and currents in the region are crazy, making a local pilot necessary for merchant shipping. The region is under the effective control of a loose confederation of pirate clans known collectively as the "Murakami". 

Alt-Onin: Introduction to the Kuroboshi Clan

Imperial Minister Nakanoin no Michinaga owns considerable estates southeast of Kyoto, under the control of fanatically loyal samurai minions of the Kuroboshi Clan. These warriors from the provinces around Kyoto have served the Nakanoin family and have benefited mightily from their patronage. They are often dressed in archaic styles when around Kyoto but are notable as skilled archers and artists (an old-fashioned sort of clan). Kyoto, by definition, is "old fashioned". 

The Kuroboshi are more militaristic than the clans around them. Most Kuroboshi lords spend a substantial amount of silver annually for training, whether sword masters to train the samurai or simply drilling and standardized armor and kit for the clan's ashigaru. As a result, the Kuroboshi punch above their weight class but have less wealth available in a given year than some clans. During times of strife, they are often used to maintain order in the capital, as they are more effective than the Imperial Guards (largely useless and ceremonial these days), and more importantly, are loyal to Lord Michinaga as opposed to the Shogun or either of the two great clans. 

Here are the high points of what you know about the Kuroboshi Clan leaders now in Shimanto.

Alt-Onin: Shimanto Region

The Shimanto River Valley is a rugged area of southern Shikoku that will someday be the city of Kochi. In the alt-1460's, it is part of Tosa Province. The region is dominated by the Tosa-Ichijo Clan, mostly through their vassals, the Ohisa Clan. The Tosa-Ichijo are based in Shimanto and Nakamura Castle, while the Ohisa are scattered around numerous smaller holdings in the countryside. The Shimanto River is only navigable by ships up to the village of Tsunsaki, becoming too shallow for anything but small boats further inland. 

Alt-Onin: Fort Nodo

 Rough reference notes on the stronghold under construction:

Alt-Onin: Akihiro's Gift (SWADE Stats)

The PC is given a pearlescent potion that must be swallowed. The substance will then lodge itself near the heart in an extremely painful way, doing 2d6 damage in the process and hopefully not killing the swallower. The drinker then becomes permanently difficult to kill, except by fire, acid, decapitation, or annihilation of the body.

Alt-Onin: Saionji-Ichijo War of Spring 1468

The center of the region is the castle town of Uwajima, the population of 10,000 or so. The Saionji Clan rules the area from Marugushi Castle in Uwajima. They are busy fending off the Mongols, the encroaching Kono Clan, and the Ichoji and have retained the estate’s incomes to bolster their defenses. Most of the area's population is focused along the courses of the Suka and Raimua Rivers or concentrated in small villages. Most of the region is rugged and isolated, with only a single road (Hwy 56) leading from Uwajima to the cities to the south. The Saionji are battling in the south against the Ichijo for control over the fifteen-mile-long river valleys between Shimanto and Sukumo. This has most of their forces away from the villages, save for the defenses along the border with the Kono and the garrison in Uwajima. Combined with the extremely high taxes to pay for the two-way struggle, the peasantry is over a barrel, and banditry is widespread.

Alt-Onin - Off to Uwajima!

The Spears of Kamigoryo (y'all) have been granted the charters to three estates in the area south of Uwajima, a region that doesn't appear to have a common name but that we will just call the "Cape Nodo Region". It is a rugged, sparsely populated area dotted with small fishing villages, with one town called Tsushima (not the famous one) on the peninsula's south side. The whole area is about five miles south of the castle town of Uwajima. The waters offshore are dotted with little islands, and are called the "Uwa Sea". 

Alt- Onin: Home Again, But Not As We Left It

Having slain the Oni called "Black Mushroom" and many of his goblin minions, the heroes exercised discretion and escaped from the demon castle through a hidden tunnel in the floor of the treasure room.

Alt-Onin - Journey to the West, Part 2 - Oni-Mura and the Demon Fort

As the PC’s journeyed toward the mountains, the sun set, becoming pitch black and stormy…. Yet sight is easy and rain never actually falls. Eventually, they reached "Oni-Mura", the Goblin Town. The settlement is a rude mixture of lean-tos, tents, buildings of all sorts, a few ship hulks, and other random things that the universe has dumped on this realm or dragged here by the residents. It sprawls up both sides of a valley, with Kurokinoku’s demon fort floating above the valley's center.  The locals are a violent mix of bakemono, dangerous animals, yokai, and humans from around the region. Surprisingly enough, both merchants and craftsmen live here, protected by Kurokinoku’s “laws” and hired goons. Other residents live by few rules - the economy is barter or theft. The only law is what Kurokinoku says it is. The PC’s were able to walk around in Oni-Mura without attracting too much attention as long as they looked ragged and mean. 

Alt-Onin - Journey to the West, Part 1 - Arrival

A powerful Oni named Kurokinoko (Black Mushroom) caused great discomfort to Akihiro’s mysterious wife and needed to be slain. The PC’s were charged with finding this Oni and killing him. They must return his head and a mysterious "Dragon Pearl" (allegedly owned by Akihiro's wife) to the material world and hand them both to Prince Akihiro.

Alt-Onin: The Battle of Shirataki

Upon arriving at Ozu, the PC's were surprised to discover that Prince Takatsukasa Akihiro was there paying a visit to a resident Chinese scholar of some sort. His cart was at the samurai mansion that he had appropriated from some unhappy Utsunomiya vassal. The group road out to his neighboring estate at Tada, a mile north of Ozu on the Hiji River. A famous Chinese scholar, Xiao Guanding, apparently a sorcerer and diviner, resides in a small but richly decorated home in the hills above the river, looking down upon Tada. He has a small number of servants and guards in residence and has little interaction with his Japanese neighbors. Prince Akihiro acted surprised to see the PC’s, but it seemed insincere to the perceptive. He is there to consult the scholar on some arcane matter which he will not discuss with the PC's. 

Alt-Onin: From Haishi to Ozu

 A priest from Koseki-Ji was in attendance when one of the Kono councilors (Lord Kono Akemasu) suggested capturing the PC’s and delivering them to Yamana Sozen as a way to get into his good graces. He warned Brother Hofuku, who was able to gently slide out the side door and evacuate. They have taken passage on a boat bound for Ozu, the next stop for the PC’s, fortunately outside Kono lands. The PC’s signed management of the estate over to the Koseki-Ji, and the monks helped the PC’s escape through the backcountry. Hopefully, the accountant, porters, and other ronin will be waiting for the PC's. 

Alt-Onin Master NPC List

The list of all the significant NPC's you interact with is below. It is continually updated as necessary. 

Alt-Onin Master NPC List

Alt-Onin: Upper Haishi River Estate Briefing

The Estate on the Upper Haishi River is a small village, nothing notable - The prince’s estate is the mile or so south of the Atago Shrine (kami of fire) near the bridge, both of which remain intact. Much of the valley was largely wiped out by flooding last year, and the fields sit fallow. Less than a dozen families live on the estate, the rest having died, moved away, or taken up banditry. Large piles of rubble block the valley roads, bridges are washed out and replaced with ad-hoc bridges of felled trees, the village is reduced to the signs of homes buried beneath mudslides; only a few lonely houses remain on the hillside. Since the go-kenin (Murakami Gyoto) and family are missing along with the village charters, the estate can effectively be claimed with little effort by anyone willing to press their claim forcefully. One of the surviving villagers remembers that a younger Murakami brother went off to fight the Mongols or something (he is unclear); maybe he went to Uwajima, a city in the south where the Prince also has some estates in jeopardy.

Alt-Onin: Welcome to Matsuyama

The PC's have accepted the task of traveling to Iyo Province on Shikoku to secure Prince Akihiro's claims to a dozen different estates that are faltering in their rent, taxes, or tribute payment in the last year. This would typically be the job of the local authorities, but they seem preoccupied with other matters of more significant concern to them. Brother Hofuku, the appointed clerical accountant, has copies of the deeds and agreements to the various mansions, so the PC's can prove their legitimacy. 

As a first stop, the PC's went to the capital, Matsuyama, and traveled to a small village on the Haishi River to see why there had been no payment for months. There are less than forty families listed in Brother Hofuku's records, growing the usual sorts of mundane crops - rice, millet, straw, that sort of thing. The steward/headman role for the estate belongs to a samurai family named "Murakami," which has held the position for generations - just a smallholding independent samurai family of no reputation. 

Alt-Onin - NPC's for the Trip (Updated as needed)

You aren't a scruffy pack of ronin anymore, fellows. Now you are an expedition to Shikoku, dispatched to punish those who would deny rightful taxes due to an Imperial Prince. You are legitimate now, bona fide, and that means you have a baggage train. 

Hatakeyama Gift Bag

• 1 gold ryo to each warrior in Goto's Company, worth $4000 each
• Fine quality stylin' silk hitatare for everyone (formal kimono for samurai, look it up), good for +1 reaction when worn in formal situations
• One party in the Gion District, probably costing another gold Ryo, with top-notch entertainment talent and the finest food imaginable. 
• Invitation to service with the Hatakeyama should they ever desire stability, status, and income.
• Fine quality katanas for everyone not named below, +1 to damage, +1 to reactions from people impressed by nice-looking swords

For Kingoro, who struck the killing blows, 7 of the finest arrows crafted by human hands, +2 damage, Bodkin-tipped (AP 2), gold-leaf covered shafts

For Tatsuzo, who was there a few steps behind Kingoro, a fine-quality tachi from the Kamakura-era, +1 to skill due to balance, +2 to reaction from sword-obsessed types when brandished or shown off, suitable for wear in court situations. 

For Santo no Kai, who was seen doing battle with fists and feetses, super-dooper Buddhist ritual trappings taken from one of the most prestigious temples in Kyoto (incense, candles, etc) good for a +3 to rituals of the Path of Protection or Path of Spirit, three uses only before the stuff is used up.

For Kazu, who spoke so eloquently about the battle, "Shirohana" the warhorse formerly owned by Lord Yoshinari. It has a white nose, thus the name. 

For Unlucky Ko, slain in the battle only to rise again from the grave, an extra $1000 in silver coins and a letter to House Nitsui demanding the reinstatement of the brave Kokatsu. 

Alt-Onin - Prince Akihiro and His Wayward Estates (Intel Brief)

Prince Takatsukasa Akihiro is last in the line of the "Takatsukasa" Clan, a Kuge family offshoot of the Fujiwara, now fairly obscure. He is an infrequent visitor to court, perhaps once or twice a year, and said to be one of the few Kuge that deliberately travels outside of Kyoto... the Kuge generally regard this as madness. You don't have the connections for more detail than that. Prince Akihiro needs enforcers to go to his lands and estates in the Seto Inland Sea and on Shikoku to make sure they continue to pay the taxes that are due to him. Most of these lands are scattered across Iyo Province, though they add up to a considerable amount for a single Kuge in the 1460s. These holdings are subject to raids by both pirates and Mongols. In a few cases, they are actually run by pirates, though as long as taxes are paid, Prince Akihiro is unconcerned about this. In exchange for their assistance, he can grant the PC’s status, lands, and wealth.


Important Concept - "Shoen Estate" - In early Japanese history, an arrangement developed between the nobility and common peasants in order to avoid the ruinous taxes of the central government. Taxes were typically 70% or more of the crops a peasant could grow, so anything less than that was win-win. Peasants would "gift" their land to a powerful noble or even a Buddhist temple, and be allowed to remain on it and work the land. These temples and nobles did not have to pay taxes to the government because of their special status. They charged the peasants a "fee" to use the land that was much less than the going tax rates of the time. The actual protection and administration of a "Shoen estate" could be quite complicated, and was usually handled by local warriors in exchange for a share of the revenue. This whole arrangement is breaking down into chaos by the 1460's.