Iron Meeces

I recently read the whole of the recent Mouse Guard comic series, and it gave me some ideas for a offbeat game world for Iron Heroes...

"Nobody knows what happened to the Ancients, but everybody agrees they were big. The rats claim their ancestors brought the humans down for their dark god; others say the Ancients transcended on to some sort of Heaven. Most of what they have left is monolithic and mysterious, and many mice have raided their ancient stores of grain and things far stranger. Their former cities are home to more hostile beings, such as the savage rats and fearsome predators."

"We mice have become smarter and stronger than our forbears, no longer restricted to simple burrows or four legs. We are the only civilized race. While the clans of rats are cunning and the ants numerous in their hordes, we alone have learned to work with the metal and resin left behind by the Ancients to create something more. The fallen branches build our homes, and we find protection together. Though the predators that hunt us in the wild are nightmarish things, by banding together we can survive and grow..."

"It is a sad thing, then, that we still have so many violent disagreements..."

Iron Mice is a concept for a Iron Heroes game, replacing the usual human heroes with anthropomorphic mice. Though it would take place on Earth, that fact would be academic, since travel times would be greatly extended due to the size of the heroes involved. A medieval-era society of humans ("The Ancients") is presumed to have existed at some point, but plague, divine fiat, or similar disaster wiped them out, leaving only their ruins behind. Everything would be tweaked with mice as the baseline, so mice would be medium-size, rats would large, cats would be huge, and so on.

Most of the material in Iron Heroes would be available to them; the lack of magic in the world would mean the Shadow Born background and the Arcanist class would not be available. Armigers would be rare, and work with lighter forms of armor than the average human member of such a class, as a slow mouse would most often be a dead mouse.

Unlike normal humans, mice would have some additional abilities as a race - a 40' (or '40 seeds' by mouse reckoning) move speed, low-light vision, scent, and a 1d4 bite attack and two 1d4 claw attacks as natural weapons. Other than that, they would play like normal Iron Heroes characters. As for other races and monsters... well, perhaps that'll come another day.

Legend of the Five Rings: Scrolls of the Phoenix 2

Time for another letter from my relatively recent Legend of the Five Rings game. This is the second letter of Asako Senosuke to Shiba Yoma, following up on the first letter from before.

My Lord Shiba Yoma,

I continue my journal in preparation for your perusal this coming spring.

Our good hosts have finally arrived, along with many other notables. Many have arrived following the beginning snow. So far I have not had the chance to meet many of the true players in this court, but I certainly hope to begin soon. I believe our gift was well received, I hope that my poem depicting the wonder of the gardens at Kyuden Doji and how wonderful a wedding must be there was stirring and appropriate, and Isawa Momoru and Shiba Shigetoki’s contributions with the calligraphy cannot be overstated. As a finishing touch we had the local glassblower create a case of clear glass that I am told is exquisite to behold.

As feared the Lion and Dragon have sent paltry contingents to the court, including Tamoru Shaitung, it seems they are determined to advance the coming confrontation if only by negligence. I will have to warn my compatriots to tread lightly that they do not give the Dragon or the Lion the opening for war they so obviously desire.

I have continued my dialogue with the Crane as much as possible and do hope to form some sort of alliance against Dragon and Lion aggression. The Lion and Crane’s ancient animosity should work in my favour, alongside the Crane’s rightful desire for peace. The Phoenix and Crane can and should be powerful as an alliance, and the Lion would not push far into such.

The Dragon’s gift of a single stone makes me wonder yet, I am not going to jump to conclusions of yet, though many implications seem clear.

On to others, the Crab have sent a single emissary, but that emissary is Kuni Tansho. Her presence here rather then on the wall makes me wonder. Obviously the Council and she have dealings with each other. This looks promising.

I have yet to meet the Scorpion, though their promise of an exquisite performance promises to be something not to be missed, though I look more forward to Kakita Morihime‘s performance myself.

So far I know remarkably little about the Mantis and Unicorn’s presences here. The Mantis seem to have a slight presence and the Unicorn almost none. And even they do not seem to act with authority in the clan. I wonder still.

Our good Shogun has not yet shown himself at court. This has lead many to worry, both about his intentions and about his well-being. I plan to being investigating at the first subtle opportunity.

Your Humble Servant, Asako Senosuke

Empty Road White Oak Plains

Silence here to silence there

Active White Oak Court

Some observations in retrospect:
• The gift in question was for Doji Akiko, hostess of the courtly meeting. Asako Senosuke managed the poem, Isawa Momoru and Shiba Shigetoki worked on the calligraphy, and they commissioned the case with a local glassblower.
• The Lion contingent mainly consisted of Ikoma Otemi and his retinue, who I do believe is now the Lion Clan Champion in the CCG, ironically. They largely played back seat to the Dragon-Phoenix conflict. Though the Lion Clan is traditionally louder, the personal complications between the Dragon respresentive (Tamori Shaitung) and the Phoenix council made for the more interesting part.
• And if you're wondering why Tamori Shaitung, traditionally blunt as a stone, was chosen to play a diplomatic role... well, that gets more complicated. Blame the wisdom of the Dragon Clan.
• Speaking of enigmatic Dragon decisions, the gift of a stone is represenative of their willingness to give up at least some of the disputed land between the clans. What the stone says about the amount of land is left as an exercise for the observant samurai.
• Kuni Tansho's reasons for being here would turn out to be decidedly more convoluted as time went on. After all, for the Kuni family daimyo to come up implies she's worried about something other than the Shadowlands... or is desperate for the Phoenix Clan's help.
• The Scorpion's performance referred to their upcoming play. Kakita Morihime is the head of the Crane Clan's music academy, and her performance was to be an elaborate piece performed with taiko drums.
• The Mantis emissary was Yoritomo Kugera. He really was just a token fop, but he would take up a greater role as time went on. The Unicorn representatives were the aforementioned Ide Konyo and Moto Bataar.

And that's all... until next time.