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PolyCon XXIII Pre-register for PolyCon XXIII for $25: (18 and over only Minors must use minor form) 
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Tales From the Dice Bag
by Matt Staley This tidbit comes from a game that Kurt Horner ran a couple years back using the L5R (Legend of the 5 Rings) setting. Our characters were Rank 5 by the time the campaign was coming to an end and we had developed quite the reputation. At least half the party had received Shadowlands taint on multiple occasions and my character Daidoji Simikura of Clan Crane even had to take 6 months out to meditate at a sacred monastery to get rid of some Living Darkness taint he had acquired. This led to me playing another character for a while till Simikura was better. We had just made our way to the legendary Tohaika, a sacred place where a great ritual was going to be performed by the Living Darkness itself, which if successful, would unmake creation. Being the valiant heroes that we were, we had just hiked/climbed many miles to reach this place that shouldn.t have existed. Once we got there, we met the inhabitants: peaceful and goodly Ogres. Now for anyone not familiar with L5R, as a PC you are told that all Ogres are nasty and evil. This group had apparently lived in solitude in the most holiest of holies unbeknownst to anyone in Rokugon. We soon overcame our suspicions when our Witch Hunter did not detect any of the massive amount of Taint that should have obvious on these horrid creatures. After some parlay and legend swapping, we came to an understanding on what needed to be done. The PCs would guard the entrance to the location of the ritual in the Ogres temple while the small army that we had brought with us would guard the temple itself along with the Ogres. Then came the Living Darkness. Its armies were fierce and horrible. It became very obvious that we would not be able to hold off the armies but since the ritual had to be performed on this special day at a special time, if we could delay them, we would die knowing that we were victorious. The armies breached the temple walls but our forces were delaying them sufficiently. It looked as if our sacrifice would be successful. It was then that a strange black-cloaked figure came forward, destroying anything that dared engage it. This was no demon. We had defeated demons before. This was the Darkness itself. It swept past the armies into the temple and up toward the holiest of holies. Now picture a bell tower of sorts. minus the bell. Instead, where the bell should be, a mediation chamber where the heavens touched the land. The Darkness swept past the Ogres and the remainder of our forces. The PCs tried to hold it off but to no avail. It needed to get to the chamber and nothing would stop from reaching its destination. The Darkness reached the final platform where stood our mighty Witch Hunter (Mark Rayner) our Dragon Swordmaster (Joel Scott) and Simikura (my character). The Witch Hunter mustered his power into one mighty blow but the Darkness brushed him aside with the greatest of ease. The Darkness looked to the Dragon and I. It then pulled out a scroll and started to read it. It is important to note that the Darkness was not of this world. It was a powerful entity which is unaffected by mortals such as ourselves. The ritual, oversimplified, was for the Darkness to finish the scroll and the strike at the tongue of Lady Sun. Lady Sun and Lord Moon, in L5R, are considered the co-creators of existence. (This is also horribly oversimplified) Since we had figured out that Lady Sun.s essence was being invoked by the reading of the scroll, we figured that the Darkness was going to try to un-name all of creation. Since the Darkness was the only entity to not have been named, it wanted that to happen to the rest of creation. As the Darkness began to mouth, but not speak, the words of the scroll, the Dragon Swordmaster began to speak the same words. By doing this, he had given the Darkness a voice. his. As they both spoke the scroll, I focused my will upon the Dragon Swordsman. You see, one of the abilities I learned from the Phoenix bodyguards was the ability to protect and intercept attacks on whomever my charge was. I then decided to focus on the Dragon swordsman. After some time of this, the Darkness decided to take a gamble and expend some of its energy on attacking the one who was trying to disrupt it, the Dragon Swordsman. When it swung out to hit the Swordman, I intercepted the blow which connected with my face and tore out my tongue. At the moment that the Darkness was at its most vulnerable state, the Dragon Swordsman swung out and struck down the Darkness. physical avatar with his magical crystal katana that had been forged by our powerful Shugenja (Luke Speer). The Dragon Swordman was rendered mute by the destruction of the Darkness. avatar and I was mute from the blow to my mouth and tongue.
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