Vormain, Fire Season, 1615
Next Sergeant Uk calls forward Mankoro, a tall and lanky river person, almost like a heron herself, so angular, she takes three tries to skewer the dummy with her spear. She swears gruffly, channelling her hatred of millet. She is accompanied always by her spirit goose, Gunsei. Finally Sergeant Uk calls on Taitai, gently mocking her unusual name, but he uses a more respectful tone after seeing her excellent swordwork.
The platoon breaks for lunch, and the soldiers see a clan elder, Churash, come and speak with Sergeant Uk. He calls the three soldiers over, and Churash asks them to come with her. She leads them to the clan winter hall, where out front is a blanket where several clan elders watch a tired looking boy wolf down oyster stew.
Churash recounts the tale; the boy is Resak, from a farm about a days travel upstream. His father was badly injured by cuts from a strange weed that sprang up overnight in his fields. The boy himself was cut trying to rescue his father, who is alive but gravely injured. The clan leaders are concerned very much by this and wish for the soldiers to investigate. They have never heard of such a thing before and it reeks of impure magic.
The trio ready themselves to set off on Mankoro's raft. The boy is dutiful but it is plain he is exhausted and would prefer to leave after a rest overnight. However they decide to press on and the boy does not complain. Mankoro expertly navigates the wetlands until darkness falls and they camp beside the river. Taitai notices the exhausted boy is running a fever. He seems possessed by a disease spirit of some kind. He does not seem in danger, though, and they help him sleep.
In the morning, Manroko tries to fish up a breakfast but fails, while Taitai forages a bountiful breakfast of berries, roots, nuts etc. Furthermore Taitai makes an incredible discovery - a golden wild millet bushel, richer and fuller than any she has ever seen. She carefully uproots the plant and seeds and takes them to the boat while he others eat.
After a short trip further upriver, they moor the raft and head inland. Resak is exhausted and Taitai carries him. The day is beautiful - warm, with white billowing clouds. They come over a hill and see a hunting camp, with the insignia of the powerful Huron clan. There are about twenty people in the richly dyed pavilion. The trio are unsure about the legality of the Huon hunting in these lands, but decide not to challenge them. They take a wide berth - far enough away to be visible but not to interact.
Finally they reach the farm, where a woman rushes out to greet them and her son. The family is reunited. They visit the farmer who is resting inside - they view his banadaged wounds and he describes how he saw weeds in his millet field and pushed through the plants but was badly cut. his wife and son rescued him. He remembers a few weeks before, dandelion like airborne seeds coming out of the forest. He swears that they have not done anything to anger the forest kami, and make all the usual sacrifices.
The adventurers go out to the field and examine the blade-leaf plants. The leaves are razor sharp, but the plant does not seem to move or be malicious. they examine the plants and dig around the roots carefully, avoiding the leaves, and discover the plants can be uprooted. Carefully they uproot all of the plants they can find and set them on fire. They decide the plants themselves are some sort of chaos manifestation and decide to follow the source of the seeds into the woods.
They sleep overnight at the farmhouse and in the morning get up early and head out into the forest. The forest is mostly tall well spaced out birches, but the ground is uneven - a series of ridges they traverse over into a valley, then onto the next ridge. They track the sword plants - they are scattered in a clear trail - they have not grown as much in the darker forest, and are not much of a threat, and a scattered widely. Their sharp leaves are not so dangerous. The party finally comes to a clearing on the top of a ridge - where they see an enormous gnarled old tree, with the same blade like leaves. All around are scattered shaped stones - this appears to be the ruins of some great temple, perhaps from before the 16th dynasty (the dynasty where the Emperor resurrected himself from hell and saved the world).
From the tree a humanoid figure, weary and ancient, detaches himself. An aldryami or dryad, though they have never seen such a thing before. It introduces itself as the guardian, and explains that the seeds are the trees way of calling for heroes to wield Grasscutter, the sword once wielded by great heroes. The need for it has come again and the tree has sensed this. The guardian asks if any are up for the challenge to prove themselves worth of the sword. Rukoro steps forward first, and the guardian bids him kneel, and creates a small ceremonial circle w=using coloured powders from a pouch, and places a mask on Rukoro's face.
Rukoro opens his eyes to find he is the culture hero, Oin. His mentor stands before him, an old man, and tells him he may have grasscutter if he shows he has mastered combat. The two will fight to first blood. They rush at each other but the old man strikes Rukoro swiftly, severing his leg. He wakes, and the mask falls from his face, and he sees that his leg, while severed, has been replaced with a wooden leg, like an aldryami. The guardian is distraught that he has failed the test and asks if one of the others will try. Taitai tries next, and fails, also losing her leg! She awakens with a leg made of gnarled wood as well. Finally Mankoro tries, and fails - she is struck in the head, but it is not severed, and she wakes to her normal head - thankfully not a wooden one. The guardian cries bitter tears that none of the heroes are great enough to succeed. Rukoro, shamed by these tears, offers to try a second time. He steps once more into the living myth, and faces his mythic mentor once more. This time they both strike at once and Rukuro strikes the old man. Joyfully the old man passes Grasscutter to Rukoro, who awakens with the green-leafed sword in his hands.
The guardian is overjoyed, and thanks Rukoro. As they watch he returns into the body of the tree and the tree starts to wither, the leaves wither and disappear, and it becomes just another normal, ancient tree in the forest. Marvelling at their new prize, and their bizarre limbs, they gather their severed legs and return to the farmhouse...
