So my choice is ...or death?
L5R tonight, and I was once again reminded first-hand of the obnoxious character mortality rate.
My girl, formerly Akodo Megumi, is the daimyo of a relatively new (only five years old) minor clan. On the way to winter court in the Crane lands, she and her party are set upon by unidentified bandits/ronin. Well, not so much her party as _her_. Two archers were taking potshots at her while the boys were for the most part untouched. She almost fell _twice_. Thank god for water shugenja and healing spells. Jordan said that in his notes for that session he'd written 'assassinate Sierra,' "But I didn't expect to actually _do_ it!" Well, tonight he did.
Our little clan had been having some kerfluffles with the Crab, who share our southern border. So I go to the Kaiu diamyo and invite him to supper, in the hopes of bartering some peace (despite Megumi's abysmal social skills). I inform the servants and they send an extra meal to my room, but Kaiu-sama doesn't show up. Megumi; her karo, Hirobumi; and her self-appointed bodyguard, Haruki go ahead and eat. It's fish and rice with vegetables, pretty standard. Haruki doesn't touch the fish because of something that happened in the first campaign of this chronicle. About an hour after the meal, Hirobumi and Megumi are wracked with intense stomach pains. Thank god for Haruki's vegetarianism. He heard Megumi cry out and ran inside to find her doubled up on the floor, and sent someone to fetch the water shugenja, as well as to find Hirobumi since he suspects it's something to do with the food.
Zenko (aforementioned shugenja) arrives and discovers she's been poisoned with pufferfish, and will die in a couple hours without treatment. No Perception or Awareness roll for me to realize something was up with the fish, no Stamina roll to stave off the effects, nothing. "Fort Save or die" is one thing, but this is crazy! Zenko and Haruki get Megumi to the nearest temple, but the monks there aren't healers, so Zenko decides to try treating her himself. And fails his roll by 5. *facepalm*
So Jordan asked me in private if I was okay with Megumi dying, or if I really wanted to keep her, because the roll was so close. And I opted to let her go. She was made as a warrior: her great ambition in life was to become a general. Her competitiveness and ambition led her to jump at the chance to become a daimyo, but she realized after the fact that she really hadn't known what she was getting into, and was in fact quite ill-suited for such an administrative/social position. So Megumi and I were both frustrated and feeling rather useless, and the opportunity to make a new character who might fit better in this new dynamic was not unwelcome.
Also it leads to all kinds of fun drama because Zenko, having failed to save Megumi, requests seppuku from the new daimyo (Haruki, who is even less pleased about being "promoted" than Megumi was). Haruki told Zenko as he was treating Megumi that he'd hold him responsible, so he agrees. But Zenko is also an Emerald Magistrate and as such also needs to get permission from his boss, the Emerald Champion, who does _not_ agree (he is, after all, needed in the investigation into who's behind these assassination attempts). The Champion speaks to Haruki and he (Haruki) loses some honor for arguing with someone of higher Status. Ah, fun times.
But still, LAMEST DEATH EVER!! Megumi would be pissed as hell that she died of something as lame as poison, instead of gloriously on the battlefield. It's almost enough to make one come back from the dead...
So now I'm going to be a very young and cocky Mirumoto Swordmaster who is Hirobumi's yojimbo, 'cause he's a squishy courtier. She's not unduly confident, she's very good at what she does. Maybe not good enough to take on Haruki, as she seems to think (he was trained in the Kakita dueling academy as well as just plain being stronger and more skilled), but any other bushi she'd have a reasonable chance of defeating in a duel. So when the characters figure out who was behind the assassination, if they don't have enough proof to bring him to justice, she's absolutely going to step up and offer to duel him. 'Cause she can take him. Whoever he is.
I think this girl is going to be fun.
My girl, formerly Akodo Megumi, is the daimyo of a relatively new (only five years old) minor clan. On the way to winter court in the Crane lands, she and her party are set upon by unidentified bandits/ronin. Well, not so much her party as _her_. Two archers were taking potshots at her while the boys were for the most part untouched. She almost fell _twice_. Thank god for water shugenja and healing spells. Jordan said that in his notes for that session he'd written 'assassinate Sierra,' "But I didn't expect to actually _do_ it!" Well, tonight he did.
Our little clan had been having some kerfluffles with the Crab, who share our southern border. So I go to the Kaiu diamyo and invite him to supper, in the hopes of bartering some peace (despite Megumi's abysmal social skills). I inform the servants and they send an extra meal to my room, but Kaiu-sama doesn't show up. Megumi; her karo, Hirobumi; and her self-appointed bodyguard, Haruki go ahead and eat. It's fish and rice with vegetables, pretty standard. Haruki doesn't touch the fish because of something that happened in the first campaign of this chronicle. About an hour after the meal, Hirobumi and Megumi are wracked with intense stomach pains. Thank god for Haruki's vegetarianism. He heard Megumi cry out and ran inside to find her doubled up on the floor, and sent someone to fetch the water shugenja, as well as to find Hirobumi since he suspects it's something to do with the food.
Zenko (aforementioned shugenja) arrives and discovers she's been poisoned with pufferfish, and will die in a couple hours without treatment. No Perception or Awareness roll for me to realize something was up with the fish, no Stamina roll to stave off the effects, nothing. "Fort Save or die" is one thing, but this is crazy! Zenko and Haruki get Megumi to the nearest temple, but the monks there aren't healers, so Zenko decides to try treating her himself. And fails his roll by 5. *facepalm*
So Jordan asked me in private if I was okay with Megumi dying, or if I really wanted to keep her, because the roll was so close. And I opted to let her go. She was made as a warrior: her great ambition in life was to become a general. Her competitiveness and ambition led her to jump at the chance to become a daimyo, but she realized after the fact that she really hadn't known what she was getting into, and was in fact quite ill-suited for such an administrative/social position. So Megumi and I were both frustrated and feeling rather useless, and the opportunity to make a new character who might fit better in this new dynamic was not unwelcome.
Also it leads to all kinds of fun drama because Zenko, having failed to save Megumi, requests seppuku from the new daimyo (Haruki, who is even less pleased about being "promoted" than Megumi was). Haruki told Zenko as he was treating Megumi that he'd hold him responsible, so he agrees. But Zenko is also an Emerald Magistrate and as such also needs to get permission from his boss, the Emerald Champion, who does _not_ agree (he is, after all, needed in the investigation into who's behind these assassination attempts). The Champion speaks to Haruki and he (Haruki) loses some honor for arguing with someone of higher Status. Ah, fun times.
But still, LAMEST DEATH EVER!! Megumi would be pissed as hell that she died of something as lame as poison, instead of gloriously on the battlefield. It's almost enough to make one come back from the dead...
So now I'm going to be a very young and cocky Mirumoto Swordmaster who is Hirobumi's yojimbo, 'cause he's a squishy courtier. She's not unduly confident, she's very good at what she does. Maybe not good enough to take on Haruki, as she seems to think (he was trained in the Kakita dueling academy as well as just plain being stronger and more skilled), but any other bushi she'd have a reasonable chance of defeating in a duel. So when the characters figure out who was behind the assassination, if they don't have enough proof to bring him to justice, she's absolutely going to step up and offer to duel him. 'Cause she can take him. Whoever he is.
I think this girl is going to be fun.