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This document is an unofficial sourcebook for the Legend of the Five Rings RPG, 3rd Edition.
It describes a small Lion clan city for use in your campaigns. Some canon characters from the CCG have
been used, but their background story is my own unofficial creation. The idea of Oshi no Koda came from
Wind of Honor, the unofficial book about Toturi Tsudao.
—Mathieu “Okuma” Brebouillet
Foreword
Written by Okuma
Proofread by Kakita Tsuyanoshi and Kakita Seigi
Edited by Mikael Brodu and Wendell Katerenchuk
Layout design, maps and character portraits* by Mikael “Otaku Mike” Brodu
* except Matsu Fujiwe (©April Lee), Kuso (©Mike Raabe), and Tsuno Ketedore (©Malcolm McClinton)
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Red Vine Quarter..................................... 10
Inn of the Kind Lioness.................................. 10
Inn of the Tired Cat....................................... 10 The Region................................................... 22
The Purple Rose Quarter................................. 10 The Kitsu Tombs............................................. 22
The Shrine of the Evening Star...................... 11 Shiro Matsu, the Castle of the Last Breath....22
The Governor’s Residence.............................. 11 Kyakuchu Mura, Footnote Village...............22
The Garrison................................................. 13
The Mikan Quarter.......................................... 14
The Armory................................................... 14 Map of Oshi no Koda............................. 23
The Dojo of the Golden Claw......................... 15
Boxed Inserts
The City’s Mechanics........................................... 6 Toritaka Tokonishu............................................ 14
Kitsu Sanako........................................................ 7 Akodo Takuni..................................................... 15
Kitsu Noroko Taikyo............................................ 8 Rumaru............................................................... 15
Ashida.................................................................. 9 Yellow Snake...................................................... 16
Matsu Metigaru . ............................................... 10 Kuso................................................................... 16
Kitsune Akinitsu................................................. 11 Yoritomo Hoji Yukihira...................................... 17
Kitsu Samatsu.................................................... 12 Bayushi Osaku................................................... 18
Kitsu Ise Torasu................................................ 12 Hoshi Kokori...................................................... 18
Ikoma Renshi..................................................... 13 Tsuno Ketedore.................................................. 21
Matsu Fujiwe...................................................... 13 Tsuno House Guard........................................... 21
Ide Tanoshiko.................................................... 14
History
The old Kitsu town of Oshi no Koda, the city of recognized his error before it was too late and made
the blazing lion (after the mon of the Kitsu family), peace with the last Kitsu. The five remaining Kitsu
was founded more than a thousand years ago as a turned into humans and married the daughters of
small village when the Kitsu Tombs (L19) were built the Lion champion. The Kitsu family was founded.
a couple of days of travel to the south. It is a minor The place where Amaterasu arranged the first
town on the Road of the Ancestral Castle that links meeting between Akodo and the newly-human Kitsu
Shiro Matsu (L18) and Kyakuchu Mura (L16), in the was chosen as the location of the the Kitsu Tombs
middle of the Matsu province of Yama. (L19), built to hold the ashes of the transformed
Kitsu. This is why the small village of Oshi no Koda
At the dawn of the Empire, a small tribe of humans is so important to the Kitsu family, even though it is
chose to settle here, south of the Heigen no Otaku, in the Matsu family territory. The young Kitsu family
the Plains of Battle (EE), and near the Flowing Mane obtained permission from the Matsu to keep control
River, a small tributary to Kawa Mitsu Kishi, Three of this village, as it is very close to the Kitsu Tombs
Sides River (X). It was a good place to create a and provides a place for the shugenja to stop
new village because of the warm climate, on their way to and from the secret site.
fertile land, and the long distance from Oshi no Koda slowly grew up from a
the growing empire of Hantei. The small village to a small town.
tribe settled here and quickly created Centuries passed. The small
History
Koda, and turned it into an important place for his until the rise of the Tsuno. Tsuno
cult. His cult recruited first among the shugenja of ravagers on their way to the Kitsu
the Kitsu Tombs, with the help of the bloodspeaker Tombs attacked Oshi no Koda and the
Kitsu Gongsun, but soon needed to hire bushi. As town suffered great damage. The city
a result, warriors like Ikoma Ryozo and Matsu is still rebuilding, but slowly, because
Daoqan started to flock to Oshi no Koda, the place most resources allocated to the area were
nearest to the Kitsu Tombs where legions of bushi diverted from Oshi no Koda to Kyakuchu
could gather. The small town’s growth resumed with Mura after the latter’s rise and fall. Footnote
this influx of corrupted Lion soldiers. village has fallen out of use since the destruction of
After the Battle of the Valley of Storms (a small Beiden pass, though it began growing again when
valley southeast of Oshi no Koda) where the Toturi Tsudao installed a small command post for
corrupted legions of Kitsu Okura summoned oni the Imperial legions and her fight against the Tsuno
to defeat the Otaku battle maidens’ army, Oshi no during the troubled period of the Four Winds.
Koda lost its status as the dark Lions’ meeting place Nevertheless, in the end, Oshi no Koda is becoming
and dwindled again. The town went back to being a more and more forgotten as just a minor stop on the
footnote among the Lions’ holdings for many years, road.
History
The City
This small city is rebuilding, having been horizontally cut in two in the middle and adorned
severely damaged by small packs of wandering with carvings. A carved arch spans over the four
Tsuno on their way to the Kitsu Tombs. Lacking panels on both sides, acting as a frame for two
resources, Oshi no Koda still shows the scars of the different scenes. On the side visible from within the
battles. Like many other cities in the Lion lands, city, the lower pair of panels shows a road starting
Oshi no Koda is enclosed within a thick wall. The from the bottom of the arch going to the top. There
land immediately outside the walls is scorched, it continues on the upper pair of panels, where it
but slowly recovering. Many of the buildings disappears in the distance among grey plains. On
constructed in the area surrounding the city during the other side, visible to visitors coming to Oshi no
the time of Kitsu Okura, to host his followers, were Koda, the lower half of the door shows a battlefield
destroyed during the Tsunos’ attack. The ruins of covered with hundreds of broken weapons and sets
these settlements have now been mostly cleared and of armor, and the upper half depicts a distant city in
nature is reasserting its right over them. the background, showered by light rays from a rising
The city itself is shaped like a long oval, centered sun placed at the top of the arch. These carvings are
upon the ancestral castle road, which cuts Oshi no the living symbols of the Spirit realms.
Koda in two: the upper and the lower districts. The The primary resources of the city are the harvests
lower district is west of the road, closer to the river. from the surrounding rice and barley fields. South
The City
It’s where all the cheapest places are and the lower of the town, there are some small iron mining
castes live. The upper district is on the other side operations and a small wood that provide just
of the road, built around the governor’s house and enough for the needs of the community. The second-
the temples. The southern entrance to the city is the most important sources of income for the city are
Maw of the Lion, a large gate that has been modeled the inns and the teahouses. Even though Kyakuchu
after the mon of the Ikoma family, a gift of Ikoma Mura (Footnote village) has attracted most of the
Komori, son of Ikoma the first daimyo of the family. travelers of the region for a long time, since its fall
He built this gate to honor the legends of the Kitsu they have begun to visit Oshi no Koda in steady
race. It is quite an impressive sight as sometimes the numbers, increasing the modest resources of the
wind blowing through gives the impression that the town’s governor. All this allows the town to get by,
door is roaring like a lion through its stone fangs. but the lack of funds normally allocated by the Yama
Damaged by the Tsuno attacks, the gate has since province’s governor to the town considerably slows
been restored. down the reconstruction effort.
The northern gate is called the Doorway to Two
Worlds. The panels of the gate’s double door are
The Upper District a small garden with tall trees that are
nearly all centuries old, blocking the
The upper district is where samurai live and sunlight and making the place even
prosper. It is located on the higher ground of the shadier.
town, away from the river. Water here is provided The main entrance of the temple is
mostly by numerous wells. The upper district is a small room with five doors, four each
divided into many smaller quarters, all packed with adorned with the mon of a different Lion
places of interest. family, and the fifth with the symbol of Okura
no oni. Each door with a family mon leads to a small
The Temple Quarter family shrine filled with incense and candle smoke,
with a small altar where visitors can pray to their
As befits a town controlled by the Kitsu, the temple ancestors. Monks can access each shrine through a
quarter is one of the most important and beautiful small inconspicuous door at the back of each room
quarters of Oshi no Koda. Only the shugenja and that leads to their accommodations. These are small,
the monks are permitted to live in the few dwellings plain cells, accommodating only six monks and the
nestled between the three main temples. elder shugenja leading them. The door with Okura no
oni’s symbol remains closed at all times, as it leads
The Temple of the Fu Lions to the extinct Shimizu family’s shrine, a dishonored
The first, and oldest, temple is the Temple of family the mention of which is forbidden.
the Fu Lions, a large temple built on a small hill. There are three other shrines on the temple
Visitors can access it by climbing up a flight of stairs grounds. One is an altar dedicated to the spirits of
flanked by two big Fu lion statues that symbolize the Lion clan, and another to the families following
ascension, this temple was devoted show nearly no decorations, just sample kanji and
to Bishamon. It was rededicated to representation of Hamanri, with the recent addition
Matsu Goemon, with Bishamon’s of a lotus. The entrance leads to a small room with
blessing, to honor the former Clan double doors and a stand where visitors can take
Wars hero. The leader of the temple is mantras, candles and incense sticks. The doors lead
always a Kitsu shugenja, currently elderly into the main room of the temple, an immense dark
Kitsu Sanako. room where the only lights are those of the numerous
candles and the lamp that stands just over the statue
The Temple of the Lotus of Hamanri. The statue once held a chrysanthemum,
The second-most important temple of the city is but now holds a lotus. The walls are covered with
the Temple of the Lotus, built by Kitsu Agunori, a extracts from the True and the New Tao, along with
famous shugenja who taught Ikoma Tsanuri during quotes from the Elemental Keepers.
her youth. He was a powerful sodan-senzo with some Behind the temple, the second building houses
skills in divination. Agunori ordered the construction the monks of the Order of the Thousand Fortunes
of the temple not long before his death, which was (formerly the Order of the Seven Fortunes) and the
nearly ten years before the Scorpion Clan coup. The Kitsu shugenja who serve at the temple.
small structure was built a short distance from the Before the death of Rosoku, the temple was a
Temple of the Fu Lions, and was originally devoted place to pray for the stability of the Empire. However,
to Hamanri, fortune of regency and stability. It was after the end of Shinsei’s line, Kitsu Noroko Taikyo
quickly extended, and the temple now consists of decided to change the temple’s dogma in an attempt
two buildings, each of them nearly as big as the to understand the new enlightenment the Empire was
Temple of the Fu Lions, encircled by a wall. forced to follow with the emergence of the Keepers.
The Temple Quarter
A stone path leads visitors to a circular gate in Despite the lack of respect the Lion clan generally
the temple’s wall. Placed just beyond the gate, the has for most of the Keepers, due to their ties with the
older building is the temple itself. The exterior walls Crane clan, Taikyo really hopes the Empire of Toturi
III can rediscover the wisdom of the Little Teacher. of the seven Fortunes. This shrine
He has sent monks to keep track of the deeds of the is a place for offerings and quiet
Elemental Keepers. meditation; that is why the monks
The new dedication to the Lotus has rapidly wait until nobody is praying to clean
increased the influence of the temple. It has been it and maintain its sanctity. The monks
quickly extended to accommodate the new monks do their exercises behind the shrine,
and shugenja who have come in search of a new in a small Zen sand garden bordered by
way. old cedars. Half of the monks officiating at
the Shrine of Discussion are from the Order of the
The Shrine of Discussion Thousand Fortunes, and the other half are from the
“The fortunes are divine and the Tao worldly. Four Temples. They dwell in small houses nearby.
Together, the two speak perfectly to every soul.”
This quote from Hantei Genji is engraved on the torii
arch placed at the entrance of the temple grounds.
This small shrine is the city’s second-oldest temple,
located in a remote part of the temple quarter. The
Shrine of Discussion was built a short time after the
Temple of the Fu Lions, a couple of years after the
end of the first war against the Shadowlands, to
honor the second Emperor’s decree that merged the
Tao and the cult of the Fortunes into the one and
only religion of the Empire.
The Yellow Blossom Quarter beastmaster’s lioness that protected a child during
a bandit attack. It’s a warm place, decorated with
The Yellow Blossom quarter is the paintings of its namesake lioness, where Matsu
part of Oshi no Koda where most of samurai and travelers can usually be found drinking
the ruling class lives, and thus mostly and listening to tales told by Kano’s wife, Miko. The
consists of average samurai dwellings. The beds and drinks are of good quality at good prices.
vast majority of the residents are samurai
of the Lion clan, and nearly all from the Matsu The Inn of the Tired Cat
family. Aside from the rare illegal duel, this place is This inn of good quality belongs to an old ashigaru
usually very quiet, as it is heavily patrolled. At night officer who was lucky enough to retire from the Lion
drunken samurai can occasionally be seen returning armies after many years of valiant service. He lives
from the Red Vine quarter. here with his second wife and the eight children of
his two marriages. The inn is small, and so are the
The Red Vine Quarter bedrooms, but it’s comfortable and, because it’s
less crowded than the Inn of the Kind Lioness, more
This quarter runs along the main road, thus facing relaxing. The drivers of the nobles’ wagons have
the lower district. It is where most of the town’s inns, a habit of stopping here for short breaks; a driver
sake houses and tea houses are, and where travelers will light some incense on a small altar dedicated to
usually stay. It doesn’t look very different from a Koshin, the Fortune of roads, chat with other drivers
pleasure district, although it doesn’t harbor that exchanging news, and leave when his incense stick
The Yellow Blossom Quarter
The Shrine of the Evening Star monk Tetsu, a retired expert weapon
This small shrine is located in the most important smith, is in charge of the sword’s
garden of the Purple Rose quarter, under some maintenance. Every time Tetsu
apple trees. It’s a simple shrine: a stone altar placed removes it from the shrine, a shugenja
in front of a lion statue holding the ancient sword of blesses it and renews the protective
a fallen hero in its maw. The hero in question was spells placed on the old sword before
a Lion clan samurai who died protecting the young returning it to its place.
Kitsu family at the dawn of the Empire. He wrote a
final haiku before his death, and the shrine’s name The Governor’s Residence
is a direct reference to this haiku. Without question the town’s largest building, the
long house of the governor functions as both the
“I stand here looking, residence of the assigned governor, Kitsu Samatsu,
At this star in the evening, and the court where she carries out her official
My duty is done.” duties.
On the ground floor are the accommodations
The sword is a tachi made of poor quality steel, for the governor’s guards and advisors, the
as this sword predates the Agasha’s katana forging scribes’ offices where the secretarial work is done,
techniques and the Tsi’s two steels technique. The the archives where taxes and harvest results are
recorded, and, largest of all, the comfortable by Lion standards and provide enough
governor’s court room itself. In an rooms for a family of six. Kitsu Samatsu resides there
adjacent small building are located with her husband, Kitsu Torasu, and their two sons,
the kitchens, cellars, and small rooms Tagehiro and Unanoki. Unanoki, the elder, lives
for the governor’s servants. with his wife Wachigai and their child Yabu. The
On the upper level are the governor’s remaining apartments have been given to Samatsu’s
apartments. They aren’t small and spartan karo, Ikoma Renshi and his wife Ikoma Kaori.
in the fashion most Akodo and Matsu bushi The court is simple. The room’s walls are
usually favor. The governor’s quarters are actually decorated with ink drawings on rice paper. Most
flinching, organizing efficient supply lines and tending to the many wounded
soldiers who were sent to her. Many samurai families are in her debt for a parent or a sibling she saved from
death. In recognition of her efforts and growing fame, she was given the position of governor of Oshi no Koda.
Samatsu reluctantly gave up her duties in the temple and passed them on to her best student, Jimaru, as she
was apprehensive to be put in charge of a whole town. However, as she had always done before, she tackled her
new responsibilities and made things work. She is now proud of her accomplishment in Oshi no Koda, to be in
a position where she can provide her people with what they need, even if much still remains to be done with the
modest resources. Eventually, she will retire and return to a temple, a place where she still thinks she belongs.
Samatsu is a short woman, with long raven hair interwoven with white silk threads. She is always smiling,
warm and kind with everybody, whatever their station.
depict tales of great Lion heroes, particularly Kitsu The Garrison
and Matsu samurai. The elite Matsu guard, led by To the visitor’s eye, Oshi no Koda’s
Matsu Fujiwe, maintains a visible presence here garrison may seem too large for such a
at all times. Samatsu holds court two days per minor city. However, the 100 ashigaru
week, and listens to the heimin’s pleas on a third. posted in the city’s barracks know their
When holding court, Samatsu keeps things simple, purpose is not only the city’s defense, but
as nearly only members of the Lion clan attend it. also be able to quickly move to defend the
Oshi no Koda is a small town, and official visitors Kitsu Tombs, even if most are ignorant of their
from other clans are rare. When they come, they’re exact location. The city’s guarrison is maintained at
usually only on their way to another more important top efficiency by Matsu Fujiwe, the Captain of the
place. Guard. She keeps herself and her men always ready
to mobilize and quickly protect one of her clan’s
most precious relics.
The Mikan Quarter of important visitors will typically reside at the inns
of the Mikan quarter, in particular the Emerald Leaf.
This quarter, named after the The Emerald Leaf currently accomodates a recently
Rokugani tangerine, consists in equal arrived Imperial Cartographer, Ide Tanoshiko, and
parts of middle-class samurai residences her assistants.
and merchant shops. It is a really vibrant
and nice place to live, one of the best in The Armory
Oshi no Koda, second only to the Purple Rose The city’s garrison is in the north of the Purple
quarter. The quarter is less patrolled by the guards, Rose quarter. The main armory is on the opposite
so thieves are a bit more common here, but it is still side of the street, in the Mikan quarter. This building
a safe and quiet place. is not only the repository for most of the city’s
This quarter is also where some of the finest inns of unused weapons, it’s also where the master smith,
the city are located. Though the Red Vine quarter has Kitsu Kashiru, and his two apprentices reside.
a far greater number of inns to choose from, retinues Whenever samurais need new blades, pieces of
Koda to update maps of the Seikitsu Mountains, which have changed quite a bit,
and maybe discover some new passes to be used by the trade caravans. She arrived
in town recently and is just starting to become acquainted with its inhabitants.
Oshi no Koda is going to be her base of operations. She’s expecting the arrival of a
group of young samurais who will assist her. What she doesn’t know is that one of
them is a spy sent by the Scorpion, who are worried she could stumble upon some
secret mountain paths they use. And in case she discovers new ones, the Scorpion
will be able to move in quickly and claim them before anyone else.
Tanoshiko is a charming young woman, with long chestnut-brown hair that she keeps in a braid. She is shy
and doesn’t talk a lot, preferring to stay among her books.
armor or equipment, or simply for maintenance of Akodo Mirei, and a couple servants.
such items, they come to Kitsu Kashiru. He converted the residence to a dojo
when he retired, and this gives the
The Dojo of the Golden Claw dojo an odd cosy feel that is in stark
Akodo Takuni’s dojo is actually the mansion contrast with Takuni’s spartan training
where he grew up, where he now lives with his wife, style.
The Lower District the town. Drunks can be seen wandering the streets
at nearly every hour of the day or night, and brawls
The Lower District stands west of are not uncommon. Many ronin and samurai of
the road that cuts Oshi no Koda in two. lesser houses dwell in the Bottle Quarter, or stop
It is the poorer part of the city, where there to rest while on their way to others towns. The
the heimin and eta quarters are located. occasional guards coming here to patrol are usually
Most samurai prefer to avoid going there, quick to round up everyone on a scene and ask
and the town guards rarely show up in those questions later.
streets. Unsurprisingly, most criminal activities take
place there, but fortunately, as Oshi no Koda is a The Snake Pit
small town, there is not much going on anyway. The most infamous inn of the town, the Snake Pit
has a small arena built in its center where, officially,
The Bottle Quarter dog and rooster fights take place, but more often
than not, it’s a brawl fight that goes on. The owner,
This area takes its name from the many sake Yellow Snake, is also the bookmaker running the bets
houses and poor quality inns that are located in on this lucrative activity. The Snake Pit is always
this quarter. This is the most animated quarter of packed, and a large part of its regulars is made of
Yellow Snake has been a smuggler as long as he can remember, joining early
the Black Lotus organization. He’s known as a thug in one hundred different places,
most of them Crane ports. He was very active around the Crane coasts, mostly around
Mura Sabishii Toshi, until the Doji magistrates started to close in on him and the
Daidoji port officers became too expensive to bribe. Before things got too heated, he
chose to move on and came to Oshi no Koda. He bought the Snake Pit and, because
Lion magistrates are more suspicious, he kept a low profile for nearly seven years
before restarting a small smuggling operation. It’s only small scale trafficking, using
a grotto near the town for storage and dealings.
Yellow Snake is a tall man built like a Hida sumai-brawler, with scars all over
his body. He is missing an eye and has a big yellow snake tattoo going from behind his left ear, under his dirty,
short, brown hair, to his right shoulder. He speaks boorishly with a loud voice.
thugs and other seedy types. The inn offers many The Eta Quarter
shadowy corners, perfect for discreet meetings.
The eta quarter is a located at
The Happy Cricket Sake House the extreme northwest of the city.
The Happy Cricket Sake House is the town’s Great wooden walls keep it out of the
favorite gaming venue. It is always packed with samurai’s sight. The eta live here in poor
heimin and ronin playing Fortunes and Winds. conditions, but they can’t complain too
This establishment belongs to a Mantis samurai, much. The quarter is much cleaner than many
Yoritomo Yukihira, and takes its name from the in the Empire and they aren’t too badly treated. The
many crickets, sold as lucky charms, that are kept leader of the eta quarter is Banasu. The leatherworks
in small cages all around the main room. It is one of and others bad-smelling jobs are done outside of the
the cleanest sake houses of the bottle quarter, and town.
usually a colorful place with a lot of patrons playing
and drinking. The sake house is pretty simple, with The Nazuna Quarter
tables to play Fortunes and Winds all around. Two
anchors adorn the walls. They are from the ships This large quarter takes its name from the Nazuna,
Yukihira lost during a storm, and the reason he has a spring herb also known as Shepherd’s Purse. This
through small openings in the wall, houses are built on short stilts, so it’s not really a
these gardens are farmed by a few problem.
heimin families and are kept inside
the city as a source of food in case The Shichimi Togarashi Quarter
of attack or siege. In practice, a large
part of these gardens is used to grow the The shichimi togarashi (seven-taste pepper), a
plants the artisans use in Oshi no Koda’s popular rokugani spice mix made of red pepper,
trademark seven-taste pepper, and one patch is brown pepper, poppy seeds, dried orange peel, rake
even reserved to grow vegetables for the governor’s seeds and nori (dried seaweed) ground together,
table. Aside from the gardens, which are only a small aptly gives its name to this small quarter. Born at the
part of the Nazuna quarter, there are many small crossroads of other quarters, this area is a strange
shops, cheap food street vendors, children playing, mixture with a distinct flavor. Samurais from minor
and activity in general. families or other clans, heimin, and even some
Flooding happens occasionally in some parts, as foreigners live here, talk together and cross each
this quarter is the closest one to the river, but most other’s paths everyday. Small garden patches can be
Bayushi Bushi 2
Bayushi Osaku smiles every time a magistrate shows up in his establishment,
and it has been like that for 15 years. Everybody assumes that the old man, because
he is a Scorpion in Lion territory, must be here with some hidden purpose, some
dark mission for the Clan of Secrets. Nothing could be further from the truth. Osaku
has been banished from the Bayushi provinces because he was a junshin and kept
pestering his clansmates to change their ways. His clan didn’t know what to do with
such a burden, so they just cast him out with some koku and let him fend for himself
elsewhere. He retired and set up a perfectly legal small teahouse, where he does
nothing against anyone and doesn’t break any law. Every time somebody investigates
his place in vain, he just keeps smiling serenely like a true Scorpion.
Osaku is an old man with long peppered hair and peaceful grey eyes. He is tall and thin, yet doesn’t look frail
despite his age. He doesn’t wear a mask, which of course makes him even more suspicious to the townsfolk.
found in some shops’ backyards, where the artisans class geisha, the songbirds kept in
grow selected rare pepper plants themselves. Oshi the numerous suspended cages in the
no Koda’s shichimi togarashi is renowned in all Lion main room and excellent tea, it would
territory and beyond, and the artisans take great be more likely located in the upper
care in the production of their valuable pepper mix. district. But both the owner, Bayushi
At one corner of this colorful quarter is located Oshi Osaku, and the Lion clan prefer it this
no Koda’s largest marketplace. Here, merchants and way. The teahouse’s owner is a Scorpion,
artisans meet with suppliers and buyers, and farmers so inevitably everyone in town suspects that he
from the surrounding villages come into town once a is hiding something. Nothing has ever been proven,
week to sell their produce. but everybody believes it.
The inn’s most talented geisha is Shinju (Pearl).
The Inn and Teahouse of the Retired Scorpion Her body is always painted entirely in white. Her
This charming teahouse doesn’t really fit in the poetry is exquisite and she is a skilled biwa player.
lower district. With its beautiful gardens, its high
Outside the City
is a relatively small spherical crystal on which rests ancient magic of the Standing Stones. He noticed
another spindle-shaped stone structure, with two alarming evidence of tampering in his investigations
other pagoda roof elements vertically stacked in the and he suspects some intruders, possibly Tsuno, are
middle. The upper half is just as big and tall as the still lurking around. His top priority is to find the
lower half, with the crystal wedged right between intruders and stop them.
the two. The pillars are clearly enchanted with some
ancient magic to maintain this uncanny equilibrium,
and when the sun rises or sets, the crystals shine like The Forgotten Shrine
blazing beacons.
These edifices predate the birth of the Rokugani Some years ago, a man stole the idol of a small
humanity. They were created as a doorway to stone shrine dedicated to the Fortune of Stone, lost
the Kitsus’ last retreat. Their shape and magical in the wilderness south of Oshi no Koda. Soon after
properties are enduring testimonies to the power this misdeed, the thief died during an earthquake
and greatness of the ancient Kitsu civilization. The that struck his village. In punishment for his crime,
stones have a special affinity with shugenja who his soul was sent to Gaki-do, cursed to be a gaki
master ancestor magic, and all characters with the bound to the shrine he robbed. After the death of the
ancestral guidance technique or the Kitsu full or half Fortune of Stone at Fu Leng’s hand, during the war in
bloodline advantages can see that the crystals are Tengoku, the shrine grew more sinister and the stone
always glowing. A shugenja casting Sense can feel turned black. Very few peasants tended to the shrine
the energies that flow around here. In the past, these before that, scared as they were by the gaki, but no
stones could open a portal to the spirit realms, Yomi one came back after it turned black. This gaki, who
in particular, but it seems the passage has been most of the time appears like a mundane beetle, is
mostly closed. Some powerful Kitsu have been able a Jiki-min-gaki (Fortunes and Winds, p. 41): he can
to open passages to Yomi from here, but legends tell consume nothing but the wigs of temple idols. Once
that this place may have had other uses or leads to he has fed enough, his spirit will be able to go back
yet unknown realms. into the kharmic wheel. But since the shrine has
Kitsu Ise Torasu can be seen looking around been abandoned, he has run out of “food” and this
here frequently, making sure no one disturbs the is making him crazy, turning him into a Muzai-gaki
(Creatures of Rokugan Third Edition, p. 105), a gaki insects found there.
that attacks humans. In this forsaken place lives a small
If somebody were to take care of this shrine group of Tsuno bushi: three average
again, he would be able to complete his sentence Tsuno (The Four Winds, p. 75) and
and atone for his crime. two ravagers (Creatures of Rokugan 3rd
Edition, p. 177-179) set a camp there
under the command of Tsuno Ketedore, a
The Lake of Foul Tears dangerous and power-hungry old pack leader.
This group of Tsuno was stranded there, in
This swampy lake, located to the southwest of Ningen-do, after the death of their soultwister and
Oshi no Koda, was once a pleasant fishing lake on the the banishing of the remaining of their race to the
Flowing Mane River, but after a landslide diverted spirit realms by the Nezumi. Unable to cross through
the river, it stopped receiving fresh water and turned the spirit realms without a soultwister, they are
into a fetid swamp that everybody avoids. It smells desperately searching for a possible way out, trying
bad and harbors terrible diseases (water imbalance, to use the Standing Stones to open a passage. They
boiled mind or air imbalance, see L5R 3rd Edition, keep a low profile for now, trapped as they are in
p. 162-163) due to the toxic gas and the swarms of enemy territory, with few resources.
The Region
The three locations closest to Oshi no Koda Oshi no Koda hasn’t decreased much, because the
are the Kitsu Tombs, Shiro Matsu and Footnote Lion clan keeps the fortress fully manned and battle-
Village. Here’s a short description of their mutual ready as a show of respect for Matsu Nimuro’s
influences. son, Yoshino, but the resources allocated to Shiro
Matsu have been cut down, consequently hindering
the business it brought to Oshi no Koda. The two
The Kitsu Tombs shrines of Shiro Matsu, dedicated to the bushido
virtues Rei (courtesy) and Makoto (sincerity), are of
The Kitsu Tombs are one of the Lion clan’s best more interest to the Kitsu lords and visitors of Oshi
kept secrets. Their existence is known by only few no Koda, so they keep an eye on it.
high-ranking samurai, and their exact location by
even fewer. Revered by the entire Lion clan, and the
Kitsu Sodan-Senzo in particular, the Tombs are the Kyakuchu Mura
Kitsu family’s most sacred holding, as it is where the
five last kitsu, the ones that swore fealty to Akodo, Once an important village, Footnote Village
are interred. Even after death, their mortal remains (Secrets of the Lion, p. 70) is nothing more than a
The Region
still radiate power and maintain an open passage to footnote now. The governor of the village, Matsu
some spirit realms. During the Jade Champion Kitsu Makuora, is planning to move some of the interests
Okura’s time in power, the Tombs suffered from of his village to Oshi no Koda, in an attempt to
the corruption his Maho cult fostered. But after his annex it for the Matsu family.
fall, they were quickly purified and restored as the
sanctified place of worship they were before for the
Kitsu family, and remain so today.
Oshi no Koda is crucial to the Tombs’ operations,
as it is where all their supplies are stored. The city’s
governor knows Oshi no Koda is the Tombs’ first line
of defense, and it’s the first place the keepers of the
Tombs will go to ask for help if they are attacked.
Shiro Matsu
Once the most important castle of the Lion clan,
the Castle of the Last Breath (Secrets of the Lion,
p. 69) slowly lost its usefulness when Beiden Pass
was destroyed. It still retained some of its prestige
as the home of Matsu Nimuro, but now that Ikoma
Otemi is the Lion champion, the ancestral home
of Lady Matsu is losing power. This situation has
weakened the Yama province governor’s position and
adversely influenced the resources directed to Oshi
no Koda. The number of travelers passing through
To Kyakuchu Mura and
Kenson Gakka
Eta
Doorway to Two Worlds Gate
Workshops
Mikan
Quarter
10 9
Eta Gate 8
11
Eta Quarter
1
12
6 Purple Rose
Bottle Quarter
Garden
2
Togarashi
ens
Quarter 4
Flow
13
ing M
Yellow
Blossom
ane R
Quarter
Nazuna
iver
Quarter
N
Maw of
the Lion
Gate