[Plotline #1] Murder in the Night
Thank you to everyone who voted in our "Kill off an NPC" poll!
Here is our first mandatory plotline. Details & instructions under the cut.
Please note that your prologue RP's are always encouraged, and you may post any such logs at any time during this RP.
Plotline #1: Murder in the Night
the story
War & Alliance --
The winter is just as cold and cruel as it was the year before, when Owari forces, allied with Atobe's Mikawa legions, managed to push back an invasion from Mino to the west. Upon the death of the daimyo of Mino, Yukimura Seiichi pulled back his armies in a hasty retreat, bearing more burdens than just this defeat upon his shoulders as he led his samurai through the gates of his palace in Gifu. Having since succeeded after his father as lord of Mino, he has spent the last year piecing together what they had lost, keeping a watchful eye upon his borders and beyond.
Meanwhile, in a showing of good faith for their tentative alliance with one another, the lords of Mikawa and Owari have dispatched to each other a hostage for their ally's keeping. The hostages were each personally connected to their respective lords, and were sent to live in the other daimyo's palace with promise that their lives would be kept safe so long as the alliance between their states existed.
Neither lord could easily break such alliance when one so personally important to them would forfeit their life in exchange for treachery. And up until now, the peace has been kept between the two states with no apparent showing of ill will to the other...
Palace of Owari, mid-January --
It is early morning when the body is discovered, announced by the piercing scream of a maid echoing through the corridors, jarring the inhabitants of the palace to a rude awakening. The guards rushed in upon the crime scene - a small but discrete sleeping chamber located deep within the protected areas of the castle's east wing.
Lying lifeless in a pool of blood upon the tatami floor was the hostage of Mikawa, Echizen Ryoma. Cousin to the daimyo Atobe Keigo, he was sent to live under the watch of Owari's lord in a showing of diplomacy between the two provinces, and to insure against the betrayal of their alliance.
Yet it seemed that efforts to hold together a lasting pact within these feudal times were in vain. For here within the blood soaked crime scene lay a chilling preamble to the inevitable deterioration of their fragile peace.
The mode of killing indicated the use of a katana, two slashes sliced expertly across the chest, causing extreme blood loss and almost instant death. The victim was most likely surprised in his sleep, with no chance to call for aid or protect himself. Droplets of blood in the snow indicated that the assailant fled north, but there were no other traces that could be found beyond the outer courtyard.
An investigation revealed that a few days prior, castle hands had witnessed an altercation between Echizen and one of Tezuka's personal samurai. Though this man was tracked down and questioned, his interrogation led to no obvious conclusions.
As yet, there are no clear leads on who is responsible for this murder.
elsewhere
A stir within the southern provinces --
While the confusion and accusations fly surrounding the mysterious murder of Echizen, the provinces to the south have been undergoing turmoil of their own.
A young and ruthless samurai by the name of Oda Nobunari has been gathering forces under his charismatic (if somewhat eccentric) leadership. Having killed his own brother to take the reins of his family estate, he usurped the local daimyo in gekokujo and shows no signs of stopping his conquest.
It is rumored that Oda employs a samurai named Kite Eishirou, a military legend in his own right. The mysteries surrounding this deputy are vast, but at least one thing is clear - he is a force to be reckoned with.
message to RPers
to everyone --
Please recall that this is a mandatory plotline, so do acknowledge this story in some manner, either through an individual post to your character journal, or by logging an RP with another character. This murder is not resolved, and if you have not been contacted by a mod, it means your character has not done it, nor do they know who has. Of course, your characters are welcome to speculate and react accordingly to what they think has happened.
There are several new character journals now up, so please be sure to add them to your character's friends list. The updated list is available on the user info page, and you may add the journals through the admin console. Please remember to add your character's biographical information to their journal user info page if you have not already done so.
We have created a new community specializing in the communications that take place at the teahouse / brothel Kikyo. This is a closed community the purpose of which is to encourage the covert exchange of information amongst the parties at Kikyo. If your character works, frequents or otherwise has some kind of connection to Mizuki and / or Kikyo, please join the community at kikyo_reports. More information is available on the user info page.
A note on plotlines: We are shaping this plot with some foresight in mind as to where to take the story. Certain events and facts will reveal themselves at the right time, so do keep in mind that you and your character will not necessarily be appraised of all matters taking place in the story.
This is also an open call to everyone: We would love to have someone play Kite, so if you are interested, please contact one of the mods. We are still looking for more players, particularly someone to gekokujo Atobe, and characters that work under any of the alliances (excluding "Other"). So if you are interested in taking up another character (or know someone who would be interested), we encourage you to apply.
to Tezuka --
You are welcome to develop your relationship with the now deceased Echizen in any manner you wish. This will obviously affect the way your character reacts to his murder. Though he was a hostage, he was living under Tezuka's care for at least several months, and that time need not be under hostile circumstances.
You also have a hostage under Atobe's care, and should try to come up with some kind of story about who this person is, and what they mean to Tezuka. You should also keep a careful eye on what measures Atobe will take, if any, against your hostage.
to Atobe --
You can work with Tezuka to determine who his hostage is. At present s/he is an NPC. The nature of the hostage's relationship to Atobe is up to you.
You must decide what measures Atobe will take against the hostage, and post this to Atobe's journal. Whether the hostage is killed or spared, this information will be common knowledge.
Here is our first mandatory plotline. Details & instructions under the cut.
Please note that your prologue RP's are always encouraged, and you may post any such logs at any time during this RP.
Plotline #1: Murder in the Night
the story
War & Alliance --
The winter is just as cold and cruel as it was the year before, when Owari forces, allied with Atobe's Mikawa legions, managed to push back an invasion from Mino to the west. Upon the death of the daimyo of Mino, Yukimura Seiichi pulled back his armies in a hasty retreat, bearing more burdens than just this defeat upon his shoulders as he led his samurai through the gates of his palace in Gifu. Having since succeeded after his father as lord of Mino, he has spent the last year piecing together what they had lost, keeping a watchful eye upon his borders and beyond.
Meanwhile, in a showing of good faith for their tentative alliance with one another, the lords of Mikawa and Owari have dispatched to each other a hostage for their ally's keeping. The hostages were each personally connected to their respective lords, and were sent to live in the other daimyo's palace with promise that their lives would be kept safe so long as the alliance between their states existed.
Neither lord could easily break such alliance when one so personally important to them would forfeit their life in exchange for treachery. And up until now, the peace has been kept between the two states with no apparent showing of ill will to the other...
Palace of Owari, mid-January --
It is early morning when the body is discovered, announced by the piercing scream of a maid echoing through the corridors, jarring the inhabitants of the palace to a rude awakening. The guards rushed in upon the crime scene - a small but discrete sleeping chamber located deep within the protected areas of the castle's east wing.
Lying lifeless in a pool of blood upon the tatami floor was the hostage of Mikawa, Echizen Ryoma. Cousin to the daimyo Atobe Keigo, he was sent to live under the watch of Owari's lord in a showing of diplomacy between the two provinces, and to insure against the betrayal of their alliance.
Yet it seemed that efforts to hold together a lasting pact within these feudal times were in vain. For here within the blood soaked crime scene lay a chilling preamble to the inevitable deterioration of their fragile peace.
The mode of killing indicated the use of a katana, two slashes sliced expertly across the chest, causing extreme blood loss and almost instant death. The victim was most likely surprised in his sleep, with no chance to call for aid or protect himself. Droplets of blood in the snow indicated that the assailant fled north, but there were no other traces that could be found beyond the outer courtyard.
An investigation revealed that a few days prior, castle hands had witnessed an altercation between Echizen and one of Tezuka's personal samurai. Though this man was tracked down and questioned, his interrogation led to no obvious conclusions.
As yet, there are no clear leads on who is responsible for this murder.
elsewhere
A stir within the southern provinces --
While the confusion and accusations fly surrounding the mysterious murder of Echizen, the provinces to the south have been undergoing turmoil of their own.
A young and ruthless samurai by the name of Oda Nobunari has been gathering forces under his charismatic (if somewhat eccentric) leadership. Having killed his own brother to take the reins of his family estate, he usurped the local daimyo in gekokujo and shows no signs of stopping his conquest.
It is rumored that Oda employs a samurai named Kite Eishirou, a military legend in his own right. The mysteries surrounding this deputy are vast, but at least one thing is clear - he is a force to be reckoned with.
message to RPers
to everyone --
Please recall that this is a mandatory plotline, so do acknowledge this story in some manner, either through an individual post to your character journal, or by logging an RP with another character. This murder is not resolved, and if you have not been contacted by a mod, it means your character has not done it, nor do they know who has. Of course, your characters are welcome to speculate and react accordingly to what they think has happened.
There are several new character journals now up, so please be sure to add them to your character's friends list. The updated list is available on the user info page, and you may add the journals through the admin console. Please remember to add your character's biographical information to their journal user info page if you have not already done so.
We have created a new community specializing in the communications that take place at the teahouse / brothel Kikyo. This is a closed community the purpose of which is to encourage the covert exchange of information amongst the parties at Kikyo. If your character works, frequents or otherwise has some kind of connection to Mizuki and / or Kikyo, please join the community at kikyo_reports. More information is available on the user info page.
A note on plotlines: We are shaping this plot with some foresight in mind as to where to take the story. Certain events and facts will reveal themselves at the right time, so do keep in mind that you and your character will not necessarily be appraised of all matters taking place in the story.
This is also an open call to everyone: We would love to have someone play Kite, so if you are interested, please contact one of the mods. We are still looking for more players, particularly someone to gekokujo Atobe, and characters that work under any of the alliances (excluding "Other"). So if you are interested in taking up another character (or know someone who would be interested), we encourage you to apply.
to Tezuka --
You are welcome to develop your relationship with the now deceased Echizen in any manner you wish. This will obviously affect the way your character reacts to his murder. Though he was a hostage, he was living under Tezuka's care for at least several months, and that time need not be under hostile circumstances.
You also have a hostage under Atobe's care, and should try to come up with some kind of story about who this person is, and what they mean to Tezuka. You should also keep a careful eye on what measures Atobe will take, if any, against your hostage.
to Atobe --
You can work with Tezuka to determine who his hostage is. At present s/he is an NPC. The nature of the hostage's relationship to Atobe is up to you.
You must decide what measures Atobe will take against the hostage, and post this to Atobe's journal. Whether the hostage is killed or spared, this information will be common knowledge.