L5R Plot Arcs

A DEATH IN THE VILLAGE
Hook: In a small village, a young man has been slain while out checking on the family's rice fields.  The field he was in is torn up and ruined, his body mangled and torn apart.  The family suspects a ronin who recently came to the village.  They had told him they had no room in their hovel when he came seeking shelter for rain, and wonder if it was revenge.  The ronin will flee if he sees the PCs.  In reality, the boy was killed by a starving lion that have been separated from their pride. and attacked him out of desperation. The Ronin used to be a bandit who has grown tired of making a living through theft and is on the run from the law and from his former band, he suspects the PCs to be one of the two.  Further complicating matters, they are on lion lands.

lion: 5k3/5k2
Fear 2
0/20/40/50/60
0/-5/-10/-20/dead
Reduction 3

GREEN MASKED THIEF

A massive festival is being held to celebrate craftsmanship and artistry, sponsored by the Turquoise Champion.  There is to be a number of contests, but the highlight is a display of the greatest works of each participating clan's head artisan.  The greatest among these will be selected and granted as a gift to the clan whose artisans win the most contests.  This year, The dragon have presented a beautifully engraved kabuki mask, wrought in jade of all things, but before it can be awarded to the victor it is stolen.  Oddly enough, the dragon seem totally unconcerned.  In reality, it is a Yasuki merchant who ordered his Hida budoka to take the mask.  Crushed into a powder it could save lives on the wall.  The Hida is uncertain about the task, but carries it out dutifully, and will attempt to protect the yasuki if he is caught by shouldring the blame.  In addition, players may discover a scorpion actor and a doji artisan have been furiously competing to get the mask, directly and indirectly.  Somehow it was a Phoenix who won the prize.


BRINGING DOWN THE ROOF

A budoka arrives at the magistrate's lodgings calling for their assistance.  Uppon arriving at the scene, The budoka points them to a Daidoji, who shows them a strange powder he found lying in a pile near a warehouse.  When asked what it is, he scoops some off to an isolated part of the alley and sparks it, causing it to explode.  Investigation will find the nearby warehouse full of barrels of the powder, though the arrangement makes it seem that some are missing.  In reality, a young Kasuga has managed to catch on to a smuggling operation, but is too afraid to come directly to the magistrates.  Instead, she has elected to steal a barrel and use it to leave clues, but her plans start to come tumbling down when the smugglers begin to detonate the warehouses to cover their trail.  The PC s have to rush to find the smuggler before the evidence is entirely disposed of.


NEGOTIATIONS SOUR

Scorpions, Dragon, and Lion are negotiating a rather unusual trade treaty, one that is beneficial to everyone involved.  Everything's going fine, the final negotiations are being hosted in a scorpion town (prolly ryoko owari because c'mooon man that city is cool).  They decide to do the final signing the next night annnnd the scorpion negotiator doesn't wake up.  He's been poisoned.  The clan politely tell the PCs to fuck off: A scorpion was poisoned in a scorpion city, that's scorpion business.  Meanwhile, a new negotiator is appointed..and this one immediately starts suggesting changes, many of which are obviously unpalatable to the others.
Pilz: Clan2 is getting really mad and threatening to do something drastic, clan1 smells a rat
Pilz: PCs gotta investigate, turns out scorpion-san was killed by rival scorpions who want to provoke a war for REASONS
-Assuming the PCs succeed, they rush to arrest the new negotiator, only to find him dead by poison.  There are no signs of a struggle, indeed, the tiny vial is clutched one hand, the other holding tight a piece of paper.  Upon further examination, it seems to be torn from a nearby book, a copy of the Tao of Shinsei.  The page has only one line on it, a quote from the little teacher: "Fortune favours the mortal man."