Three weeks have passed. Arimari stands in Lord Matsudaira’s audience room, rain ticking faintly on the eaves outside. The lord sits behind a low desk and unrolls a map of the province, its roads marked in ink and salt-stained thumbprints.
Lord Matsudaira
The Kurogane pact is exposed. Now every hungry house in the province smells weakness.
He taps the map at a river crossing, then at a road west of the cedar pass. A gap between banners. A place for raiders, petitioners, and liars to slip through.
Reina
The vacuum is already moving. If Arimari hesitates, others will name the next master for him.
Lord Matsudaira
Lady Shizue’s hand is clear. If the Kurogane survive, it will be by your judgment, Arimari Tiarasan. Break the clan, bind it under scrutiny, or force it to yield.
Arimari Tiarasan
The map matters more than the room.
Outside the paper wall, a messenger waits for the answer that will decide whether the Kurogane become allies, prisoners, or prey.
✓ Quest Accepted
Force the Kurogane to yield
✓ Quest Accepted
Destroy the Kurogane clan
“Does the lord have enough men to hold the pass once I strike?”
YES (Likely, rolled 51)
Lord Matsudaira pulls a hidden ledger from beneath the desk, sliding it across the polished wood to reveal a roster of garrisoned troops and local militia.
Lord Matsudaira
The numbers are sufficient, Arimari. My men are ready to hold the pass the moment you signal the strike.
Arimari Tiarasan
The roster is detailed, listing every spear and bow currently stationed at the cedar pass.
“I signal the strike at cedar pass”
SUCCESS (Great Melee Weapons, rolled +0)
Arimari lifts the ledger and turns it once, reading the troop names as if they were brushstrokes. Then he closes it with a soft, final thump.
Arimari Tiarasan
The cedar pass roster is complete.
He reaches to the map, sets two fingers on the pass, and marks the hour with a single clean motion of his hand.
Lord Matsudaira
Then it is set. At your signal, my men move.
Reina’s ears tilt forward. Her gaze shifts from the ledger to the lord, measuring the room as if it has already become a battlefield.
Reina
If the signal is given, the Kurogane cannot pretend this is rumor anymore.
Outside, a drum begins somewhere in the compound, muffled by walls and winter air. The audience room stills around the sound.
“I ask Matsudaira for the next move”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -1)
Arimari lets the question settle, then looks from the ledger to the lord's hands and back to the map's marked pass. The room seems to wait with him.
Arimari Tiarasan
What is the next move, Lord Matsudaira?
Lord Matsudaira
At dawn, I send riders to the cedar pass and the western road. If the Kurogane are watching, they will see banners, not panic.
Reina
The first move is a test. Whoever answers will show their hand by the road they choose.
Matsudaira draws a nail across the edge of the map and stops on a narrow valley line west of the pass. A sealed note waits beside the ledger, its cord already cut.
Lord Matsudaira
Take this order to the outer captains. If the drum answers again, I will know the house is moving.
The drumbeat comes once more through the winter wood, deeper now, as if someone outside has begun counting on their fingers.
“I bow deeply before Lord Matsudaira. I tell him my life is his as my daimyo. I will see him made Shogun of all of Japan.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Arimari lowers himself into a deep bow, and the room quiets around the crease of his sleeves.
Arimari Tiarasan
My life is yours, Lord Matsudaira, as my daimyo. I will see you made Shogun of all Japan.
Lord Matsudaira
Then I ask for the whole burden, not the easy half of it. Stand when you are ready, Arimari.
Reina
That is not a servant's bow. That is a witness.
Matsudaira sets the sealed note on the map, but does not take it back. He studies Arimari like a man measuring a bridge before crossing.
Lord Matsudaira
If I reach that day, it will be because men like you kept their names clean while others dirtied their hands.
Reina eases her posture by a fraction, her gaze moving from the note to Arimari and back again.
Reina
Then let us hear the next truth, lord. Whom do you trust to carry your order first?
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn whom Matsudaira trusts to carry his order first