L5R 4e – Way of the Shadow
Contents
Introduction[edit]
“The Blackness of night only conceals a greater Nothing. We hide in your nightmares, abandoned by the light. Do not fear the servants of Shadow, but the Shadow itself…” – Goju’s Celestial Agonies.
As I write these words, I feel my age more than I ever have before. Seven days ago, in the midst of a great storm, a traveler came to Kitsuki Castle. She asked shelter from the storm, and passed an hour in the castle’s hall. Then, thanking those who had admitted her, she gave them a package and asked them to pass it on to the daimyo. After doing so she left, the storm still raging.
In the morning, the package was brought to me. Unwrapping it, I found the journal of my student, Kitsuki Kaagi. Like all of our students, Kaagi always kept a journal with him to record his investigations. I knew it to be his from the mon, but the wooden box that held the pages was battered, cracked and stained with the marks of fire and water. The clasps were scratched and scarred but remained intact.
The servants who admitted the girl did not recognize her, but from their description, I suspect her to be Kaagi’s servant, an eta. It was no difficult feat for me to open my student’s box, as my key is a master to his. Inside, atop the shuffled paper, was a scrap of rough paper. Hastily scrawled on the paper were the words, “Do Not Read This.” I think the hand may be Kaagi’s, but the letters are so distorted. I cannot be sure.
-Kitsuki Yasu
The Way of Shadow is a module written for the 1st edition of Legend of the Five Rings and in my mind is one of the game’s best modules. I have been wanting to run through it for a few months now, since I got back into the game, and there’s no time like the present. I’m looking for 4-5 PC’s who will be playing as Yoriki’s, or apprentices, to the traveling Magistrate Kitsuki Kaagi. The module runs the gamut from pure investigation, to courtly intrigue and deadly combat. As the back cover says, Adventures of Horror and Madness await you.
Character creation: Standard starting characters per 4th Edition. I’m going to draw the line on Monks because it doesn’t make any sense for them to be acting as Yoriki and no Spider clan. Mantis Clan doesn’t exist yet but if you wanted to play any of those families as being minor clans then I can work with that. If you want a school that’s not in the core rulebook, but is printed somewhere, then just tell me where it is.
Player Characters[edit]
Tsuruchi Yoshio[edit]
Wasp Clan, Tsuruchi Bounty Hunter, played by **Nick The Lemming**
Matsu Otan[edit]
Lion Clan, Akodo Bushi, played by **lordmcdeath**
Bayushi Shujinko[edit]
Scorpion Clan, Bayushi Bushi, played by **Xadun**
Yasuki Yorisada[edit]
Crab Clan, Kuni Witch-Hunter, played by **Waiwode**
Kaori[edit]
Ex-Scorpion Clan Ronin, Yogo Wardmaster, played by **Angwa**
Kakita Daisetsu[edit]
Crane Clan, Kakita Duelist, played by **Marikir**
