1st Scroll - The Will of Nobles - 1st - 3rd Days

[Enoch]

Katsumi bows again. Hai, o-ninyo-sama. I have brought you their heads." He offers up the bag containing them to Takakura. "I have no wounds. With great humility, I was trained by a skilled warrior, and was able to avoid his knife. Although the younger man attacked with great ferocity, he showed no sign of training, and I was able to evade his attacks. I searched for the knife, but it was dark and I could not find it."

Katsumi closes his eyes for a moment, recalling his memory training. This was not unlike reporting to his father.

"The older one told me that the mura no banjin live on Chiyo-san, on the far side of the highway, but some live in the village as well. There are three ronin with ashigaru armor and dai-sho and bows. Four peasants armed with yari. Sometimes other villagers will join them with farming tools and knives. The villagers trade with them, and the bandits share the spoils if they report travelers to them."

Katsumi bows again.

[jemmus]

At the mention of the villagers sometimes joining the bandits, two of the standing country bushi briefly glance at each other, as if saying with their eyes, "Indeed, it's confirmed then." The ninyo grunts, Hn. In any event, two farmers have been killed. You have no proof of them working with the gang of bandits. There must be compensation to the Emperor and the clan for the loss of two healthy farmers. And compensation to the widows and families. It is not the custom of the Andoh clan to demand that samurai forfeit their weapons, armor, or horses for payment of fines.  Therefore, if you cannot pay in money or other valuables now, I will give you until the spring to pay the fines. He looks at Omi and Ito. I will take your word as samurai that you will pay it.

He gestures to the older bushi of the five standing before him. Sawaguchi, have the servant bring paper, brush, inkstone and the table. Sawaguchi ascends onto the veranda, enters the house, and he and a servant soon return. Sawaguchi, you will do the writing. A look of consternation crosses the bushi's face, but he soon recovers his stoic expression. He kneels beside the low table in the formal seza position, legs under him, buttocks on heels. He carefully takes the brush, and with intense concentration dips it into the inkstone.

Fourth year of Angen, Mi-na-zuki month, 28th day. The ninyo stops and waits for Sawaguchi to finish writing. It's a rather laborious process for Sawaguchi. The ninyo proceeds more slowly, stopping and waiting at times. Kai province, Chiyoda village. The persons whose names follow are fined for killing farmers of Chiyoda village. For Shiro, approximately 55 years old - 200 silver coins. For Yasaku, approximately 35 years old - 300 silver coins. Reduced by 40 silver coins as a reward for the heads of one o-bakemono and one bakemono-sho. Increased by a post fee to Shinano of 10 silver coins. The total amount due is 470 silver coins. Payment is due by the end of the month of Yayoi in the spring. Ando Yuusuke, gokenin, ninyo of Chiyoda village. To the travelers, Say your names again. Sawaguchi, write them. To the servant, Saburo, bring my hanko. The servant goes into the house and returns with a small cotton pouch. The inyo takes a small ivory cylinder out, presses its end into some thick vermilion oil, and stamps the paper. You will now stamp or sign the contract. Kamunushi, you will also sign to show that you and the kami-sama witnessed. He kind of smirks at that last remark, as if satisfied with his own cleverness.

Now, I will give you a way to pay the debt. The robbers must be eliminated immediately. But my bushi and I must depart on clan business without delay. Find the robbers and bring me their heads. I will pay 10 silver for each of head. If you can deliver one robber still alive and able to be questioned, I will pay 30 silver for him. Weapons and armor are now being collected all around Nippon. So I will buy any of those you can bring back. The rate will be half of the price for new items. But the total reward should be more than enough to pay your debt. If you recover any of their robbed money or goods, that is the property of the Emperor. But as is the custom for finding a lost item, I will give you a half share. The Andoh are fair and never called stingy. When you return, you will report to Sawaguchi here.

I will allow you to now withdraw to the gateway and discuss among yourselves.

Please state whether your PC will sign the contract. The samurai PCs will have the more prestigious ivory hanko stamps to use instead.

[ffilz]

I just want to make sure I understand Taisho's connection to the contract and what it implies. I don't think there's an issue with him signing on to seek out the robbers but I just want to understand all the implications here...

[jmacatty]

When the party is alone, Omi looks at Katsumi and angrily says, I will not sign this contract, unless you agree to pay the share attributed to me. You followed these villagers with no input from me, then killed them on your own initiative. I refuse to accept responsibility for the choices you have made in this matter.

[Enoch]

Katsumi will be signing the document.

Katsumi turns to face Omi and replies coldly. "Sign or do not sign. That is between you and the o-ninyo-sama; I did not ask you to sign it. I did not ask you to fight the bakemono, but I assisted you nonetheless because I am, for now at least, your companion. What I did was just and right, and what I told the o-ninyo-sama was truthful. They were working with bandits, and would have slain you in your sleep had I not intervened. You owe me your life, but-" He stops speaking abruptly, cutting off his last thought.

He considers a moment and nods. "I will vouchsafe your share if you wish. But in that case I will also claim your share of the reward offered as well."

He turns and walks away without waiting for a reply.

[jemmus]

The ninyo is holding all of you jointly responsible for the fines. Each person who signs is individually committing to seeing that the full 470s is paid by the end of April. (It's the end of September now). The contract doesn't divide the liability separately, for example, each PC owes 1/5th of the amount. It's not the way a merchants' contract would usually work. But this isn't a merchant, it's a rural samurai manager with troops and the backing of a samurai clan.

If you sign and don't pay, you guess you might have to avoid this village and this ninyo in the future. He might send collection letters to your families, but that would probably only be for Ito, Omi and maybe Kentaro. That would be project for the ninyo, because he would have to make inquiries to locate your families based on your names. Records may be in the city of Kofu (about a day's travel away), but that doesn't seem especially likely. And it may be that the ninyo will be too busy with the upcoming war with the Taira to worry about this matter. It will be a war between the two most powerful clans in Nippon, which has never happened before. If peace isn't negotiated, it will be like a world war within Nippon.

Not paying would cause loss of On for everyone who signs. If collection letters are sent, that would cause a loss of On for the family members, as well as more lost On for the PCs.

[I consulted an expert (my 89-year-old mother-in-law in Japan) about what would happen if farmers were killed. She said that there would probably be a fine. And that a ninyo would probably allow samurai to promise to pay later. He would count on their pride and honor, because breaking one's word would be shameful and not paying a debt would be humiliating.]

[jemmus]

Another thought occurs to the ronin, heimin, and eta. For commoners, non-payment of a samurai-assigned fine is a crime. They could be labeled as criminals and their names put up on boards in the city and towns of Kai. But it would it would be hard for the Takeda to identify them as the specific criminals named. And it seems unlikely that an effort to track them down would be made. Nippon still has brigands on the roads and monsters in the woods and swamps. And now war. It seems doubtful that the Takeda would make a project of hunting down fine-debtors.

[jmacatty]

OOC I need to know if Omi believes the tale Katsumi has told.

[ffilz]

And if Taisho didn't sign? And yea, does Taisho believe the story told?

[jemmus]

I think we have to do the part about believing Katsumi via RP, rather than with dice rolls. But here's everyone's personal status, if it my help with framework for how the PCs see the situation.
Ito 21
Omi 21
Katsumi (in budoka guise)17.5
Kentaro 9
Taisho 9
Please also take into account Katsumi's successful hensu-jutsu (disguise) save. He's playing the part of an honest budoka very well.

Here's the background for making your RP decisions.

Omi and Kentaro saw the bodies of the peasants soon after they'd been killed. Katsumi told the same story then, about the peasants trying to report them to a group of Mura no Banjin (guardians of the village) bandits who would ambush the travelers. Omi saw that he had arranged the bodies into peaceful poses. Omi didn't remember mention of a knife and fending off an attack. But a warrior with any pride might not mention a little thing like that. He didn't see that Katsumi had taken anything from the bodies. So there didn't seem to be any motive for Katsumi killing the peasants other than what he had said. Unless he's just a cold-blooded killer who likes to test his weapons on peasants (almost always in the dark at night. There are indeed people in Nippon who do just that, it's not that uncommon. Usually they are bushi testing a new sword.

Let's assume that after the fight with the o-bake and bakesho, the characters at the campfire compared notes about the unusual events of the night. Katsumi told the group about Mura no Banjin, and peasants from the village cooperating with them. Kentaro is pretty sociable, so he confirmed seeing the bodies with Omi. Omi, perhaps less sociable, didn't refute the story. What Taisho heard then and what Katsumi said now match up. He doesn't remember mention of a peasant attacking with a knife. But Katsumi and Kentaro didn't give a blow-by-bow account, they just reported that Katsumi killed they peasants who showed up at the fire, and about the bandits. Taisho notes that Katsumi and Kentaro were already traveling together when he met them.

I don't think Omi, Taisho, Ito or Kentaro have any strong reasons to doubt Katsumi's story. He seemed open and forthcoming enough when they met again that night. But they weren't there when the killings happened, so they have no way to ever know for sure. Unless maybe through some magic spell someday. But the RP is up to the players.

[jemmus]

If a PC doesn't sign, he'll have to see how the ninyo reacts. He's the Takeda's appointed constable of this village, and he didn't present not signing as an option. The PCs doubt that they'll be allowed to just walk away if they don't sign or make some other arrangement.

Sorry, this image of the ninyo didn't display correctly in an earlier post. I think this image gives a good idea of how an artist of the time thought of samurai manager or general. A pretty tough character.

[ffilz]

OK, Taisho is inclined to believe the story, and certainly understands that by all appearances he's a traveling companion of Katsumi and as a simple village priest from some distance, has no standing to separate himself. While the contract is unusual, it offers his best prospect of keeping honor and staying alive.

Taisho will sign after the others

[spanningtree]

I will not sign a contract that implicates me in the death of the two farmers, I did not participate in their demise and will not be linked to the act.

[ffilz]

Taisho may hesitate to sign if any of the samurai/ronin don't sign. Sadly, I think we're all pretty well implicated. Perhaps if Katsumi had emphasized that some of us had just joined him at the fire we might have been left out if the implication, on the other hand, I think the ninyo has lots of reason to implicate all of us and hold us all accountable. He wants a simple clean resolution for his charge.

[Enoch]

I doubt that anything Katsumi said would cause the administrator to not hold us jointly responsible, and Katsumi's testimony did actually only concern his own actions. And in his defense, it was 90% truthful- the only real inaccuracy was in stating that the farmers attacked him. The rest of the party was implicated both by the fact that we were all traveling companions and the fact that the peasants intended to rob/kill all of us.

[jemmus]

(Post deleted, had second thoughts about it.)

[Marullus]

Is the contract in Katakana?

Kentaro stares at the contract for a suitable length of time, then with a bowed head and humble mien, affixes his own signature. Reading was never his strong suit, anyway. He makes no argument, merely affirming his gratitude at the willingness to notify his home province of the bounty on the thief's head. He feels responsible for Katsumi's actions, in any case.

[jemmus]

Yes, the contract is in katakana. Sawaguchi made his katakana ST. The writing is legible and there are no strikethroughs or mistakes.

The ninyo says, I see you are arguing among yourselves like strangers at an inn. If you are not a nakama and in agreement with each other, there may be disharmony and trouble along the way. So that the fines are never paid. Moreover, the samurai refuse to vouch for the group, so there is no use entering into a contract.

Because I have no time to waste, I will allow another way. The Andoh clan will forego its compensation and compensate the victims families' by reducing their taxes for some time. I will hire you to kill the bandits and bring their heads, weapons, and armor. I will pay 15 silver for each head. And I will give each person 25 silver upon your return. But you must eradicate them immediately, with no delay. Indicating Kentaro, the thrifty ninyo says, Ten silver will be deducted from your reward for the post fee.

Nakama - An in-group; a unified social group in which all members trust and support each other.

Please indicate if your PC agrees to the ninyo's proposal.

[Marullus]

Kentaro nods his assent, still hesitant to speak further before the Ninyo.

[ffilz]

Assuming the samurai and ronin agree, Taisho has no issue with the new proposal, and I don't see any reason a Shinto Gakusha would object to taking out a group of bandits.

It seems like maybe the discord has given the ninyo pause to consider that maybe we aren't all culpable in the peasant deaths...