Session IV - A question of justice

-19th of Hare, 1157-

Ansho calls us back just an hour after the ball discussion. He's changed his mind about something with Panchu Maru - the murder of the monk, due to the power of monks in this area. He wants us to round up the four peasants that murdered the monk after getting a lecture about being a drunk. The headman swears he sent word to Toshi no Naishou, then punished the people responsible. He wants us to round up the peasants for an execution in the morning when Ansho arrives with all the peasants assembled. Also wants our recommendations for the announcement of a new headman. We have the names of the perpetrators, and know where the headman is. The murder itself happened in the winter, several months ago.



Usually execution requires a confession of the crime; technically the headman, but not ensuring justice was done for this and not protecting the monks, also could have his life forfeit. If there is no confession, tradition dictates torture to get one. Will also need to arrange for the execution. Go to talk with Masashi about getting access to an eta torturer - Horuto. Masashi also says that if we do not wish to behead the peasants, Horuto can. We get ourselves cup of torturer, roll up the group, and head out to Panchu Maru.



The general plan is go speak with the surviving monk, find out what he knows of the situation, if he knows where the peasants live, and if he has recommendations on a new headman. From there, we will split up, gather the peasants and the headman, then question them at one of the abandoned houses.



Arrive in Panchu Mura around midnight; a little noise from the geisha, sake, and gambling house, but very little. Arrive at the monk, Ippei's. No answer immediately; enter the shrine. Knock at his room. He wakes up, asks us what we want. He says that the old abbot had been preaching to a crowd at the village, and some of the villagers did not care to be lectured. Drunk as they were, they assaulted him. He did not witness it, but was told that they carried it too far, and killed him. His understanding was the crowd broke up when the assault began, the headman was summoned, but he doesn't know what happened afterward. He says the headman sent work to Toshi no Naishou; they awaited word, and when it did not arrive, two weeks later Isamu (the headman) had the men whipped in the center of town as punishment. He did not know the men personally (Yoshi, Kenshin, Jiro, and Asuka). There have been no other incidents, but he also has had his hands full as the sole monk doing what needs to be done, and not been lecturing. Let him know that Ansho-sama has called for their execution, and ask for him a recommendation of a headman by morning. Chiyoko also asks if there are any healers, teachers, or the likes that would potentially qualify. Would also ask that he gather some of the community leaders and meet around 7am.



More detail he has on the ones responsible - Yoshi and Asuka are brothers; both work at the Dry Lotus. Jiro works at the Phoenix nest. Kenshin works at the Blessed waters, and is both Jiro's brother in law and Kenshin's son in law.



Chiyoko passses on that Ippei's message has been passed on to the monastery, and two young monks are being sent to help him.



Sou sets up Silent Waters to allow him to silently cast the Kami's Strength under contingency.



Haundo, Daisuke, and Junko go to the prior empty house we stayed in and put on armor. The rest of us head to speak with Kaku and his sisters. Sou and Yukika look for anything out of the ordinary around their home. Chiyoko asks for their assistance, starting with gathering primary people still invested in the town for a meeting at the temple at 7am. He agrees to go at sunrise. When Genjiro ask, he says he did not see it, but relays what he heard. Abbot preaching in village center, some drunk villagers took offense, attacked him, and killed him. Doesn't know if it was their intention. The headman told everyone afterwards that he had sent word to Toshi no Naishou. Two weeks later, the headman reassembled the village and stated that he had not recieved word, so he would take action to punish the men responsible, so had them brought out and whipped. On consideration, it's not on the headman to dish out punishment of any kind. However, he could have given the situation to any other samurai to get done. Kaku knows the same info that Ippei did about the perpetrators, and also knows the houses the men would be associated with, though not if they sleep there regularly. Doesn't believe there would be more than 5 or 6 adults in any of those homes, mostly mid to late twenties. Their families don't run the breweries, but much of their extended families do work there. When he heard, he was shocked that they would kill a monk, but not surprised that they were drunk. He was not surprised that they were violent in general. Also notes that Jiro's sister is married to Kenshin's brother.



Split up; Genjiro and Junko will go for Kenshin, Chiyoko and Sou will go to Yoshi, Haundo and Taka with Asuka, and Kazue and Daisuke to go after Jiro. Whether successful or not, will meet back at the house. Yukiko keeps an eye out around the town as much as she can.



Chiyoko and Sou go to Yoshi's. Greeted by a man, not Yoshi, and she asks for Yoshi's location. He's here, he's asleep; the peasant goes and fetchs him. Yoshi shows up, Chiyoko has him come along as she escorts him to the house. Yoshi asks what's this about, but they give him the silent treatment.



Haundo and Taka have a similar experience with Asuka. Arrive, someone else answers, Asuka is summoned and goes with. Tries to talk, doesn't get much aside from him being a witness to a crime. Arrive at about the same time as Chiyoko, Sou, and Yoshi.



Kazue and Daisuke know at Jiro's place. Young woman answers the door; says that Jiro is still at the Phoenix Next, he works there. Kazue says there is nothing else, and leaves.



Genjiro and Junko to to Kenshin's. Door is answered by a young woman. She gets Kinshen. Genjiro tells him to come. He asks what it is about, Genjiro tells him we represent the new governor. Here to provide official word of the murder of the Abbott. He says it was a terrible mistake; they were drinking, and it was an accident. Says he fell, hit his head. Says they were just drunk. He says it was afternoon; there was always extra sake. Arrive with everyone else.



Genjiro, Junko, and Sou remain with the peasants and Hotaru. Haunda, Taka, Kazue, Daisuke, and Chiyoko head to the Phoenix Nest to collect Jiro. Walk in, see him, and when Kazue says she's looking for Jiro, all eyes turn to the bouncer with a club (which Chiyoko and Haundo spotted when they walked in). Collect him, disarm him, and head back to the house.



Genjiro goes to question Kenshin. He says he has nothing to add. They were all friends, which is why they all attacked the abbott. Genjiro knows he's lying about something, but that will suffice as a confession for the moment.



Genjiro, Chiyoko, and Sou go to question Jiro. He remembers the abbot preaching, like he did a lot, they were all drinking. He was angry with them and preaching at them. He doesn't remember who started it, but they all ended up shoving him and swinging at him, then he fell, they hit him some more. He was drunk; he doesn't remember it very well. He's lying. Says the four of them attacked him. No one else tried to stop him. Gives the name of the owner of the Phoenix Nest, the madame of the brothel; says she was angry after the incident. That will also suffice as a confession.



Genjiro pulls in Yoshi next (Chiyoko and Sou still there). Works at the Dry Lotus; says there's a group of families, and provides the list. His and Asuka's family is one of them, but none of the rest. Gives the names of the three families that run the Blessed Waters; Kenshin and Jiro's families run the Blessed Waters. If he tells the truth, we don't have to torture him, right? They were drinking, the abbot was lecturing them specifically because they drink a lot. It wasn't anything they planned; it just sort of happened. They were all drunk and angry and had enough. Doesn't remember which struck him first, but they all attacked him. Kicked him when he was down on the ground. They killed him. Sou and Chiyoko don't believe him, but Genjiro does. The headman didn't question them; everyone knew what happened. No response, so the headman said he would punish them so things could get back to normal. Before then, they were confined. There was a lot of upset in the village. This counts as a confession. He's not aware of their brewery getting funding from the visiting armies. No rivalry between the brew houses; enough business for both. Names off his siblings.



Then pull in Asuka next. Says they started drinking at the Phoenix Nest. Also drank outside. Started drinking at lunch. Paid for some, some was the free they have access to. They say they drink like that regularly; not really that expensive, according to him. Says the abbot was yelling at them, which he did a lot. He thinks he singled them out because they drink so frequently. When he started yelling, they hit him. He doesn't have an excuse, he can't explain it. We believe he's lying about something. Get 8 or 10 names of folks that were there. Good enough for a confession, but he's lying about something.



Kazue watches them all while they wait in the house in silence while each is interrogated elsewhere. She feels that Yoshi seems relieved, and the others feel resigned.



Group gathers up out of earshot while the peasants wait, and discuss findings. Generally agree the four peasants are guilty; Chiyoko is uncertain they acted on their own, but we don't have a thread to unravel with them. Genjiro thinks the part to solve now is did the headman lie about sending a missive, and if so, did he do it for his own reasons (daughter or son-in-law?), or due to pressure from the breweries?



Chiyoko, Sou, and Genjiro go to get the headman. He answers, comes with. Isamu asks what is happening, Genjiro mentions Ansho-sama's interest in the return of law. In the incident, he agrees rule of law was not carried out. He sent his 16 year old son to deliver the message; left the day after the incident, returned a day and a half afterwards. Said his son delivered it to the governor's palace; handed it off at the gate, wasn't allowed in. Chiyoko and Genjiro believe him; Sou is not so sure. Since there was no answer, he felt something must be done, and it wasn't in his authority to have anyone executed. He did what he felt was in his authority to do. Chiyoko asks what the headman saw. He found the four men beating the abbot. He had been preaching; when the assault began, the crowd scattered; it was the commotion he heard. When they stopped, he checked the abbot and found him dead. He informed Ippei to have the abbot's body seen to. He had the four of them put into the rice store houses and the door locked. Then he wrote the message to the governor and his court, explaining what happened, and that they needed samurai, and sent the message with his son to deliver it and return immediately. He kept the men locked up. His son returned with no additional message, but had the name of the samurai who delivered it to. When no samurai or message came, he decided he needed to get the village back up and running again. So he decided it was in his authority to have them whipped, many were anxious to have something done. Sou asks, do you feel justice was done? He answers, he feels like he did what was within his power to do; whether it was just or not is not for him to say. Genjiro believes him; he seems to have some regrets. Certainly counts as a form of confession. He gives us the details of what was in the missive he sent to Toshi no Naishou. It strikes the group that with as helpful as Izuna was, odd that she would not have mentioned the unpunished murder in Panchu Mura if she had known about it. Talk through what we know so far. He had the chance to bring it up when we were with him, and did not. When asked who he would recommend to replace him, he recommends a woman not related with the 7 brewery families or the madame. When Haundo asks about how the breweries came about, Isuma doesn't think any one person came about. It was his responsibility to stop it, and he didn't.



To verify the delivery, we wake up Isuma's 16 year old son to talk about the delivery of the message. He was working in the field of the time of the attack on the abbot, didn't see it. His dad gave him the message, said to return back as soon as possible if there was no return message. Ran the way; got to Toshi no Naishou early in the morning, before dawn. Called in with the samurai at the samurai quarter; got escorted to the governor's manor. The sergeant on duty, same name as his dad provided, took the message and went into the palace. He was gone for 10 to 15 minutes, then came back, said the message was delivered, no response. Boy doesn't know who the sergeant spoke with. Says the missive was sealed. Genjiro believes him.



Kazue works with them for confession for cleansing before their execution; Yoshi is willing to confess. Asuka is accepting; acknowledges they did wrong. Jiro is resigned to his fate, but by the end of their chat, willing to admit he'd done wrong. Kenshin remains resentful and spiteful - places the blame on anyone else. Isamu is receptive as well, and is given the chance to write a message for his family.



Tea is made, some of the group sleep an hour or two, then we meet up with the shrine and the recommended people. Kazue and Daisuke stay with the condemned, the rest go to talk with folks with recommendations for new headmen. Six people show up from the monk and Kaku's list. The woman that the headman recommended is both on the monk and Kaku's list. She is the matriarch of a family, mid 50s, widowed, and farm rice. Tell those gathered that the headman will be executed, Ansho-sama will name a new headman, and their assistance will be needed in keeping things running smoothly. In talking with the others gathered, they do also seem to agree she is a good choice.



When Ansho-sama arrives, present the confessions of the four in the beating of the abbot, and the confession of the headman in abrogating his responsibility to the town. For execution, the headman is eloquent and remorseful. Hopes the village will not continue on this path, and the next head will lead the village back to its proper path. He is beheaded, as are the three who have sought confession. Yoshi is remorseful. Kenshin blames the samurai and celestial order, is beaten and beheaded. Some villagers look resentful, some pleased, some sick to their stomachs. For the replacement, the woman matriarch - Yuri - is named. And promises a new magistrate will be assigned.



Genjiro also reports to Ansho-sama about his miss in the monk's report, that the headman only said the murderers were punished. He brings up the gap between the delivered missive by the boy and Toshi no Naishou reporting it, which will need to be followed up on.