S3E9: Proving Grounds

Podcast of the Five Rings

Previously on Podcast of the Five Rings… The three ronin sat in audience with Otomo Nobu, the castle steward. The lord, Reju Jikai, it seemed could not be bothered with such matters at that hour. Boa stood accused of attempting to steal from Reju Tetsuya’s private quarters. With some quick thinking, he was able to hide the note he found arranging a time and date for a meeting with Tetsuya.

Nobu seemed unaffected by the accusation now facing the three. It seemed he was quite used to dealing with unruly ronin. He said all they needed was a bit of discipline. Their punishment was thus: they would spend each night of the first two weeks of their training helping the servants tend to the castle; cooking and serving meals, cleaning the floors, caring for the animals. An embarrassing sentence, but Nobu made it quite clear that it would be much more severe if they ever acted out again.

After their audience, they were shown to their quarters in the barracks where they would be living during their stay at Closed Shell Castle. On their way to the barracks, they were confronted by the ronin, Rin. She was the same person who was brutalizing the villagers when the three arrived at Twin Blessings Village, and the same one who was responsible for burning down the waystation, killing many innocents. She said that she’d be watching them, and if they ever slipped again, she’d make sure Nobu knew about it.

The next day, their training with Reju Masaru began. His regimen was challenging, but measured. He knew what he was doing when it came to organizing and leading the soldiers under his command. For the next two weeks, he trained the ronin, assessing their strengths and weaknesses and pushing them. At night, the ronin would work with the servants. The work was exhausting and made the training with Masaru even more difficult. However, working with the servants allowed them to gain knowledge of the castle and a convenient reason to explore its grounds.

Boa befriended the head servant, Anzu. He had a natural talent for hard labor, and the two bonded over an appreciation for simple living. Anzu ran a tight ship, but lightened up a bit after becoming friends with the former samurai. With Anzu distracted, the ronin could navigate the castle a little more easily.

One night, Boa decided to investigate the shrine to Shinsei, working with the servants to scrape off the strange black chalk that caked the hall. He discovered that Tetsuya had left the castle. One night, without saying anything to anyone, he packed his belongings and left and now Masaru had a small party of soldiers searching for him. Following the shugenja’s exodus, the strange black substance had been all but cleaned from the shrine. It appeared he was responsible for supplying the shrine with a pungent incense which clouded the shrine with black smoke and clung to the walls. Working in the shrine, Boa noticed the monk, Dzudh, and a strongly built woman meditating there. There was nothing supernatural about the woman, but Boa sensed an extreme feeling of anger and resentment radiating from the woman.

While working with the servants, Tsume considered investigating the meeting which had been arranged with Tetsuya. He knew the time and place of the meeting, and a curiosity burned in him to uncover the mystery behind it, but he decided it was too risky. He couldn’t afford being caught sneaking around the castle grounds and intruding upon a secret meeting. Especially not after Boa’s accusation. Instead, he decided to lay low, focus on the work at hand. Anzu, the lead servant, tended to his wound as well.

Always on the search for trouble, Kaizoku spent his time picking up rumors around the castle—paying particular attention to any potential criminal activity which could be occurring on the grounds. Speaking with one of the servants, Kaizoku learned that an eccentric gaijin was being held in the dungeon below the castle. Some kind of pirate being prepped for transfer to Toshi Ranbo, supposedly. Deciding to follow up on this lead, Kaizoku made a trip down to the dungeons to serve the prisoners their meal one evening.

The first prisoner was a familiar face and an expected one as well. It was Setsuo, the leader of Twin Blessings Village. He was surprised to see Kaizoku there and asked what he was doing. Deflecting the question entirely, he feigned his surprise and asked the old man the same thing. Setsuo told him he lied to the magistrate about the village’s crop yields and had been arrested for tax evasion. He was clearly ashamed of himself, but stood his ground, saying that lord Jikai’s taxes were outrageous, and that he had to do what he did so he could support the village.

The second prisoner Kaizoku saw down in the dungeons was also a familiar face, though one far less expected. His torch slowly illuminated the gaijin. He was quick and lithe, prowling his cell like a caged panther with sharp, piercing eyes. His skin the color of cinnamon. His name was Zagra. In a previous life, he and Kaizoku had been crewmates.

Artwork by Dylon Munoz

Music by Brandon Spain & Podcast of the Five Rings