Damasu no Akodo Maeda

ADVERSARY | CONFLICT RANK: 6 3

Twenty-three years ago, Damasu no Akodo Maeda (AH-koh-doh mah-EY-dah) was born the daughter to Damasu Kojima, the lord of Kyotei Castle. On the fateful night that Tsume Retsu attacked, she was smuggled out of the castle by one of her father’s samurai—the man who would become known as Itto. To protect her and keep her close to her home, he sold her to one of the geisha houses in nearby Chikuzen, the Pine House, where she trained to become the geisha named Reika. When she came of age, he told her the truth of her birth.

After that, Reika plotted her revenge, which presented itself in the form of Tsume Takashi, a frequent visitor of the Pine House. Reika played at being his lover, until eventually he invited her up to his quarters in the inner castle of Kyotei, commanding the guards to let her pass. She used the attic above Takashi and Retsu’s rooms to traverse to Retsu’s room and murder him in his sleep. That morning, by the time the castle discovered Retsu’s fate, she was long gone with Itto.

She and Itto lived on the road for some years, gathering rōnin allies to her cause in the promise that she would one day elevate them to be Damasu samurai, including a warrior named Kuu (actually the Scorpion agent Shosuro Yu in disguise—see page 13). Eventually, she was found by a Lion Clan magistrate (thanks to Kuu and her Scorpion allies) and brought to Akodo Toturi himself. Itto vouched for her lineage, and she was formally reinducted into the clan in an oath-taking ceremony.

Now known as Akodo Maeda, she declared that she would be wed to Tsume Takashi, despite everyone’s knowledge that the Crane would never assent to it. However, the Lion clan did not forbid her, tacitly giving her their blessing. Having heard of Takashi’s wedding, she realized this was her last chance, and she set off with her band of brothers and sisters in arms, along with a complement of Lion Clan soldiers to give her support in case she came under attack by the Crane, to accept the wedding invitation on behalf of Ikoma Ujiaki. Although the Crane had sent an invitation out of courtesy to their enemy, they never expected the Lion to accept.

During her stay at the castle, Maeda intends to rekindle Takashi’s love for her. She hadn’t planned on the deaths of the cranes forcing the ceremony to be moved (Shosuro Yu took care of that clandestinely, by poisoning one of the castle’s shrine keepers and impersonating her to kill the birds), but it results in the perfect opportunity

to go ahead with the marriage. Maeda plans to burst into the wedding and hijack the proceedings, replacing Itsuyo as the bride. Further, she intends for Takashi to take her name and join her family—they are equal in status, and so it could go either way as to who joins whose family if they were to marry. Maeda wears her long, jet-black hair in a high chignon bun. Despite her transformation to warrior, she still retains the grace and skills of her geisha training.

55 | 14 50 | 9 39 | 5

+2, –2

DEMEANOR - ASSERTIVE

3

HONOR | ENDURANCE

GLORY | COMPOSURE

STATUS | FOCUS

VIGILANCE

SOCIETAL | PERSONAL

3 2 3 | 4 2

ARTISAN 1 MARTIAL 5 SCHOLAR 2 SOCIAL 3 | TRADE 0

ADVANTAGES | DISADVANTAGES

Geisha Training: Social; Mental, Physical

Dark Secret: (Is the geisha Reika)

Social; Mental

FAVORED WEAPONS & GEAR

Katana: Range 1, Damage 4, Deadliness 5/7, Ceremonial, Razor-Edged

Yumi (Bow): Range 2–5, Damage 5, Deadliness 3

Gear (equipped): Lacquered armor (Physical 4, Ceremonial, Cumbersome, Wargear), wakizashi, quiver, yari (spear), knife

Gear (other): Plain robes (Physical 1, Mundane), a handful of koku and bu

ABILITIES

CRESCENT MOON STYLE

When performing a Guard action, Maeda may spend in the following way:

: After another character performs an Attack action targeting Maeda or another character she is guarding, Maeda may perform a Strike action targeting them. This effect persists until the start of her next turn or until she performs a Strike action.

SWORN PROTECTOR

Once per scene, when an Attack action check targeting another character at range 0–1 succeeds, Maeda may intervene, becoming the target of the action instead.