Session 31. (29/2/08)

Having been driven back to Matsuyama by the shogunate army, Kimori and Komako go up to the castle to report to Lord Chozo. He compliments Komako on his work holding up the Shogun's troops as it has bought them an extra day that might see reinforcements arriving from Kyushu. He sends them back to the River Stone with his own Iyo army (25,000 troops) to join the 9,000-man remnant from the Battle of Kumo Valley and make a stand against the Shogun.

It is the Hour of the Serpent by the time both armies have arrived and dug in. Then the battle proper starts. Outnumbered 2:1, Kimori commands valiantly, but loses 1,000 men. He also has an encounter with a L5 bushi. It's the usual story, though, as he reels off hits of 15, 12 and 13 to slay his foe without receiving a scratch. Komako, less spectacularly, takes 2 heads. In the next hour, Kimori makes a critical mistake, while the Shogun's general does well, and 5,000 allied troops are lost to 2,000 of the enemy. Kimori receives a slight injury and Komako takes another 2 heads. Kimori makes amends in the next hour by achieving deadlock despite the superior numbers and skill of his opponent. In the fighting, Kimori takes 2 heads and 2 damage while Komako takes 3 heads. In the final hour of the day, Kimori makes a brilliant move and takes 2,000 of the shogunate troops for the loss of a single thousand. This time it's Komako to take 2 heads and 2 damage.

The following day the armies are ready at dawn and the fighting starts immediately. Kimori tries hard but loses 2,000 while taking 1,000, as well as 2 heads and 5 damage personally; Komako takes 2 heads and 4 damage. The next hour is similar, with the allies losing 1 troop point, Kimori 1 damage and Komako 2 damage for 3 heads. In the next hour the inequality in numbers starts to tell and Kimori loses 3 troop points to the opponents' 1. He takes 2 heads and 3 damage while Komako takes 5 heads and also encounters a L3 bushi. The fight is short - two thumps for 10 and 11 soon floor the swordsman. For the next two hours Kimori has to go and find medical help, as he is down to his last few hit points. Lord Chozo's master-at-arms takes over, but has the same problems as Kimori: too few men. The allies lose 6,000 troops then another 4,000, twice the losses of the Shogun. Komako accounts for 6 heads, then 3 heads and encounters a L3 bushi. Komako kicks - and sprains his knee; the bushi misses. Komako punches - and nearly hits a tree; the bushi misses. Komako finally lands a punch for 11, but the bushi catches the immobile Komako for 6 damage. Komako, stung, lashes out and lands 24 points of critical hit to kill his annoying foe. Kimori returns with 12 extra hit points, holds the losses to 1,000, takes 3 heads and runs into a L5 bushi. Kimori scores a hit for 17, but the bushi gets a critical 14 damage and knocks Kimori down. Kimori leaps back to his feet and out of the way, then charges back and hits for 13 and 21, killing the bushi. Night falls, but now facing odds of 4:1.

A message arrives in the battle camp for Komako to report to the castle. Kimori decides to accompany him and fill Lord Chozo in on the situation and ask whether a negotiated settlement might be better. Lord Chozo dismisses this idea and sends Kimori back to hold the line. The he instructs Komako to sneak his daughter Takara out of the castle and escape to Imabari where they can hole up. Komako agrees that this is a great plan and wishes he had thought of it himself.

On the way out of the castle, Kimori runs into Sung on his way into the castle, carrying a baby in a basket. Sung tells him breathlessly that the shogunate troops have broken through and are streaming into the city. Together they go back to report to Lord Chozo. Lord Chozo tells Kimori to go down into the town, find his wife and escape. He has served him well, but can't help anymore. Kimori leaves. Sung goes to look for Lord Chozo's son, Chaji, to deliver the baby.

Komako has found Lord Chozo's daughter, Takara, and has made plans for their escape. They will disguise themselves as a Buddhist monk and an acolyte nun. He tries to persuade her to shave her head but she will have nun of it.

Kimori goes to his house in the town and sees that he won't be safe for long. He tells his wife to gather everything and go.

Sugiyama is locked up in the cellar of an old house in the mountains east of Matsuyama where the Shogun's commanders are staying. A faint noise wakes Sugiyama. He looks out and sees the guard sprawled on the floor. A shadow detaches itself from the ceiling and starts unlocking Sugiyama's shackles. It is Suganuma. She and the weakened Sugiyama sneak away into the mountains to recover.

Sung finds Lord Chozo's son - dead. He has taken his own life. Sung decides he will need to get out quickly, but first he takes some heirlooms for Chaji's son - his dai-sho, armour and rings. Sung leaves the castle by the north gate as the shogunate troops are flooding into the south and east of the city. He heads for Imabari, hiding the baby under the armour.

Kimori is packing (well, supervising his wife packing) when there is a knock at the door. He opens it to find a yakuza he has previously bribed (known as "Fairly Fortunate") who says that shogunate guards are on the way, and for a small consideration he will get them to a safe house and then away to Hyuga. Kimori asks him what he considers small. The yakuza says, "Ten gold pieces," then cringes. However, Kimori pays without a murmur.

At the other end of Shikoku, Emiko is wondering what fate has in store when there is a scrabbling sound at the shutters to the room where she is being held. She opens the shutters and sees a braided hair rope hanging down.. She looks up and into the face of Hiraga, the priest who helped her escape once before. "So you got away then!" she exclaims. "Come on, grab it!" he says. Emiko climbs up and they make their way across the rooftops and away. Hiraga is from Sanuki province, but says they are not safe here. He suggests they wear commoner's garb and head down the coast to Tokushima, where he has a friend. There they can pose as a married couple and get jobs as scribes for the Daimyo.

Over the water, Mariko has been escorted back to her home on Awaji where she is to remain for ever, with her husband and her son to alternate between Awaji and Edo as hostages to her good behaviour. Mariko is impeccably behaved and performs the tea ceremony for her escort. In her head, however, she is already planning passive resistance and thinking about sending out scouts to contact the other Troubleshooters and get them back together.

Kimori and his wife Mitsumi are taken on a human smuggling train to Hyuga (which had been operating in reverse, bringing Hyugans to Matsuyama). There they return to Mitsumi's family home and Kimori's 30 koku farm near Nobeoka.

Komako and Takara hide in Imabari, but it isn't long before it is clear that the Shogun's troops are scouring the province looking for subversives. They decide to go and live on one of the many small islands in the Inland Sea where Komako's talent at fishing will sustain them.

Sung also comes to Imabari and sees that it won't be safe. He thinks about getting a boat down the coast to try to find Koei, and to he heads to the harbour. However, he finds a Chinese trading boat about to head back to China - and it's from a province friendly to his family. He decides that it is too good an opportunity to pass up. He buys passage, swearing one day to return with the young boy - heir to both Iyo province and perhaps the whole empire.

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