Winter Fun at the Shrine of the Ki-Rin
by Shosho, Mujina Wrangler
A story from the carefree days before the Scorpion Clan Coup.
So there we were, at the Eyo festival at the Shrine of the Ki-Rin, when the great snow war began...
I think it all started when one of the Kakita and one of the Mirumoto started their old argument again about which style was better. Finally, out of exasperation, the Mirumoto threw two snowballs, one with each hand. By the time the two were launched, the Kakita had bent down, packed a snowball, and thrown it all in the time it takes to blink. The good news is that two of the three snowballs hit their target. The bad news is that the third one, one of the two thrown by the Mirumoto, missed the Kakita and hit Doji Hoturi. He immediately started calling in favours from the other clans to return fire, and battle was begun. By the end of the day, everyone at the festival was involved!
Once Hoturi and the other Doji started bringing in reinforcements, the rest of the Mirumoto joined in the fray all using their distinct two - snowball style. The Agasha put together snowballs that would burst in a cloud of snow just as it reached the target, soaking the victim in a shower of fine, cold powder. The Togashi Ise Zumi were doing all sorts of maniacal things from breathing fire at incoming snowballs to running really fast around the whole fray lobbing occasional pot shots to sitting in a lotus position, somehow pelting people and avoiding getting hit without moving. The Kitsuke were wondering around with magnifying glasses muttering about learning what really happened, but everyone ignored them.
The Kakita were all practising their one throw technique. The Doji, meanwhile, spent remarkably little time in the actual fighting, preferring to have their various allies deal with the snow instead. The Asahina all backed out of the way and would hurl their snowballs at extremely long ranges whenever the "omens were right". The Daidoji, meanwhile, were frantically constructing dead falls in the snow and setting up snowbound ambushes.
With their old adversaries in the midst of the fray, the Lion could hardly resist joining in. The Matsu would go on mad charges hurling snowballs every direction, not caring who they hit as long as it wasn't Lion. The Akodo were undertaking a methodical "scorched earth" campaign, making sure the Lion had snow to work with while melting the snow near other clans. The Kitsu had their ancestors throwing spectral snowballs, but for some reason only the most honourable fighters noticed their hits. During all this, the Ikoma were all off to the side taking notes on who hit who and how gloriously the Lion fought.
The Crab, never one to miss a good rousing fight, all gathered behind huge snow fortresses erected by the Kaiu. The Hida manned the wall, throwing balls of ice instead of snow. Other clans cried "Foul", but figured it was the Crab so what could they expect? The Hiruma would take small skirmishing units out to make surgical strikes then fade back behind the wall. Whenever another clan tried getting into their fortifications, the Kuni scared them off. Naturally, the Yasuki were everywhere selling snowballs, snow cones, squids on sticks, and other refreshments.
The Unicorn would have made a more respectable showing if they would get off their horses more often. The Shinjo were riding around the edges, tossing snowballs seemingly at random. Much havok was caused by the Otaku battle maidens as they charged the clans from the flanks, their horses kicking up as much snow as the maidens were throwing. The Ide were busy packing snowballs for the others and trying to get it to the riders with the help of the Otaku men and the Iuchi shugenja, but they just couldn't keep up. The Moto made the best showing of the Unicorn as they gave up on horses and moved in as a solid unit to the heaviest part of the fighting, ignoring any snowballs or ice balls that hit them.
Though they claim they stayed out of the whole thing, the Scorpion's hand could be seen in little subtle ways throughout the fight. Things kept happening that just didn't seem right, and that would not happen without their help. Things like trees dropping all their snow right when someone walked underneath. Things like a group of Doji nobody had ever seen before attacking the Daidoji. Things like the snowballs hitting the Hida containing powder blue paint. (As if the Crane would ever want to see someone so "uncouth" in their colours!) Things like the group of people in black pyjamas appearing out of nowhere, launching a barrage at the Matsu, and vanishing again. Oh, sure, the Scorpion stayed clear of it. Right.
As this festival marked the beginning of Winter Court, some mention should be made of the Imperial families. The Otomo never lifted a hand with snow, preferring to spend all their time talking in low tones to people in low tones and pointing to members of other clans. For some reason, those conversations always seemed to mark impending hot spots in the fracas. The Seppun were all gathered around Hantei the 38th, who watched the proceedings with a smug look on his face. Every so often he tried to look concerned, but it never lasted. The Seppun deny any rumours that he made snow angels. Somehow, despite the air being thick with flying projectiles and the Emperor's party being dead center in the fray, not a single fleck of snow touched even the guards.
Since this whole thing was on Phoenix lands, they had a very active role in the fight, even though not a single one of them ever picked up a snowball themselves. The poor Shiba were running around frantically trying to knock down flying snowballs and get in the way of any that might hit the Isawa. Of course, the Isawa weren't making things easy on the Shiba, as they insisted on getting close so their spells could be more effective. They were doing weird things like making snowballs turn around in mid-air and hit their throwers, flaming the incoming balls and melting them (the melted water usually landed on the Shiba's heads!), and setting off earthquakes to toss the other clans onto the snow covered ground.
The whole thing finally stopped when the Asako came out and started complaining about the noise, and the Miya started sending everyone home. The Asako said a lot of unkind things about "kids these days" and muttering about how things were in "their" days. Later they claimed that fight was what woke up the Naga, but the Ikoma historians claim it was a coincidence. Despite their role as hosts to the festival, the Isawa had remarkably little comment about the battle. The only thing they did say was how good it was they had not invited the minor clans to the festival, because someone like Yoritomo "would probably have tried to take over the whole thing".
A story from the carefree days before the Scorpion Clan Coup.
So there we were, at the Eyo festival at the Shrine of the Ki-Rin, when the great snow war began...
I think it all started when one of the Kakita and one of the Mirumoto started their old argument again about which style was better. Finally, out of exasperation, the Mirumoto threw two snowballs, one with each hand. By the time the two were launched, the Kakita had bent down, packed a snowball, and thrown it all in the time it takes to blink. The good news is that two of the three snowballs hit their target. The bad news is that the third one, one of the two thrown by the Mirumoto, missed the Kakita and hit Doji Hoturi. He immediately started calling in favours from the other clans to return fire, and battle was begun. By the end of the day, everyone at the festival was involved!
Once Hoturi and the other Doji started bringing in reinforcements, the rest of the Mirumoto joined in the fray all using their distinct two - snowball style. The Agasha put together snowballs that would burst in a cloud of snow just as it reached the target, soaking the victim in a shower of fine, cold powder. The Togashi Ise Zumi were doing all sorts of maniacal things from breathing fire at incoming snowballs to running really fast around the whole fray lobbing occasional pot shots to sitting in a lotus position, somehow pelting people and avoiding getting hit without moving. The Kitsuke were wondering around with magnifying glasses muttering about learning what really happened, but everyone ignored them.
The Kakita were all practising their one throw technique. The Doji, meanwhile, spent remarkably little time in the actual fighting, preferring to have their various allies deal with the snow instead. The Asahina all backed out of the way and would hurl their snowballs at extremely long ranges whenever the "omens were right". The Daidoji, meanwhile, were frantically constructing dead falls in the snow and setting up snowbound ambushes.
With their old adversaries in the midst of the fray, the Lion could hardly resist joining in. The Matsu would go on mad charges hurling snowballs every direction, not caring who they hit as long as it wasn't Lion. The Akodo were undertaking a methodical "scorched earth" campaign, making sure the Lion had snow to work with while melting the snow near other clans. The Kitsu had their ancestors throwing spectral snowballs, but for some reason only the most honourable fighters noticed their hits. During all this, the Ikoma were all off to the side taking notes on who hit who and how gloriously the Lion fought.
The Crab, never one to miss a good rousing fight, all gathered behind huge snow fortresses erected by the Kaiu. The Hida manned the wall, throwing balls of ice instead of snow. Other clans cried "Foul", but figured it was the Crab so what could they expect? The Hiruma would take small skirmishing units out to make surgical strikes then fade back behind the wall. Whenever another clan tried getting into their fortifications, the Kuni scared them off. Naturally, the Yasuki were everywhere selling snowballs, snow cones, squids on sticks, and other refreshments.
The Unicorn would have made a more respectable showing if they would get off their horses more often. The Shinjo were riding around the edges, tossing snowballs seemingly at random. Much havok was caused by the Otaku battle maidens as they charged the clans from the flanks, their horses kicking up as much snow as the maidens were throwing. The Ide were busy packing snowballs for the others and trying to get it to the riders with the help of the Otaku men and the Iuchi shugenja, but they just couldn't keep up. The Moto made the best showing of the Unicorn as they gave up on horses and moved in as a solid unit to the heaviest part of the fighting, ignoring any snowballs or ice balls that hit them.
Though they claim they stayed out of the whole thing, the Scorpion's hand could be seen in little subtle ways throughout the fight. Things kept happening that just didn't seem right, and that would not happen without their help. Things like trees dropping all their snow right when someone walked underneath. Things like a group of Doji nobody had ever seen before attacking the Daidoji. Things like the snowballs hitting the Hida containing powder blue paint. (As if the Crane would ever want to see someone so "uncouth" in their colours!) Things like the group of people in black pyjamas appearing out of nowhere, launching a barrage at the Matsu, and vanishing again. Oh, sure, the Scorpion stayed clear of it. Right.
As this festival marked the beginning of Winter Court, some mention should be made of the Imperial families. The Otomo never lifted a hand with snow, preferring to spend all their time talking in low tones to people in low tones and pointing to members of other clans. For some reason, those conversations always seemed to mark impending hot spots in the fracas. The Seppun were all gathered around Hantei the 38th, who watched the proceedings with a smug look on his face. Every so often he tried to look concerned, but it never lasted. The Seppun deny any rumours that he made snow angels. Somehow, despite the air being thick with flying projectiles and the Emperor's party being dead center in the fray, not a single fleck of snow touched even the guards.
Since this whole thing was on Phoenix lands, they had a very active role in the fight, even though not a single one of them ever picked up a snowball themselves. The poor Shiba were running around frantically trying to knock down flying snowballs and get in the way of any that might hit the Isawa. Of course, the Isawa weren't making things easy on the Shiba, as they insisted on getting close so their spells could be more effective. They were doing weird things like making snowballs turn around in mid-air and hit their throwers, flaming the incoming balls and melting them (the melted water usually landed on the Shiba's heads!), and setting off earthquakes to toss the other clans onto the snow covered ground.
The whole thing finally stopped when the Asako came out and started complaining about the noise, and the Miya started sending everyone home. The Asako said a lot of unkind things about "kids these days" and muttering about how things were in "their" days. Later they claimed that fight was what woke up the Naga, but the Ikoma historians claim it was a coincidence. Despite their role as hosts to the festival, the Isawa had remarkably little comment about the battle. The only thing they did say was how good it was they had not invited the minor clans to the festival, because someone like Yoritomo "would probably have tried to take over the whole thing".
