Session 1.

The principal characters, Kimori (Tony Hummerston), Koei (Andy Allen), Mariko (Paul Burton) and Sugiyama (Dave Weaver) are in Matsuyama to hear of a job "fair" taking place in Masaki village, where Lord Chozo is looking for trouble shooters. They go to Masaki, along with six other candidates (five Bushi and one Shugenja), to seek employment and adventure. The format of the selection was each candidate was given seven days to train, then three days were given to competing for the jobs. The Sergeant-At-Arms would pick the successful applicants according to how much they had impressed him.

Sugiyama, whose only previous experience with horses had been in the Cambodian quarter of Hiroshima (in conjunction with rice and a spicy sauce), learnt how to mount a horse (but not how to stay mounted) and improved his sword and bow skills. Kimori also studied archery and swordplay, while Mariko, whose familiarity with bows was less than Sugiyama's familiarity with horses (not having eaten one), just studied archery. Koei improved her School of Wood, and learnt the spell "Darts of Wood". This would prove very useful.

On the first day of competition, the Bushi (eight in total) had an archery contest. Kimori won this with an impressive display of accuracy, scoring 37 from six shots. Sugiyama was second with 23, while Mariko came a creditable sixth.

Earlier in the day, Koei had battled Nagara in an occult duel, Koei emerging victorious from the Astral Plane. Choice of magic schools had been a factor: using a talisman provided by the magic teacher, Nagara entered the Astral Plane using the school of fire, a school where Koei was also quite strong; Koei however entered using a school of Wood talisman, a major weakness for Nagara. With Koei landing more occult blows than Nagara, the result was hardly in doubt.

The second day of competition began with a horse race between the Bushi. All the horses were equally fast; only the rider's skill could help (or hinder) the horse's chances. After a close start, good riding helped Kimori and Sajo Suda into an eight yard lead over a group including Sugiyama and Mariko, with a third group seven yards further back. By halfway, Kimori had half a length lead over Sajo Suda, still with an eight yard lead over Mariko and Sobei Nari, while Sugiyama fell back into the pack 10 yards behind. In the third quarter, everything changed. Sugiyama's beginner's luck bolted, and he fell off. Unable to remount at first, he moved up the course only by walking the horse. By the time he remounted, he was well behind the field. Meanwhile, Mariko caught the leading group and then forged ahead to an unchallengeable lead over Nozari. They were followed by the pack, with Naro Kuyo trailing behind. Mariko crossed the line five lengths ahead of Nozari followed, in a very exciting finish, by Kimori, Sobei Nari and Sajo Suda who were neck and neck. In the final jostling, Chize fell to the ground. This was a chance for the tail-enders, and Naro Kuyo raced through to take sixth place, but poor Sugiyama fell off again. It seemed that all Chize had to do was walk his horse across the line, but he fell again trying to remount and, with luck returning, Sugiyama leapt back on board and cantered across the line in seventh.

Also on the second day Koei and Nagara competed in target throwing with shuriken. As Sugiyama commented, "It's not so easy to be accurate with a shuriken from four yards." How right he was! After six rounds of hitting walls, floors and ceilings (but not barn doors), and near misses with passing horses and spectators, the target hadn't so much as flinched. The contest was extended to ten throws. Each contestant managed to wing the target twice, with Koei just managing a hit in the second outermost ring for a 3-2 victory. An unimpressive victory, but a victory just the same.

On the third and final day of competition, the Bushi were matched in pairs to duel with wooden swords (or in Mariko's case, a wooden dagger). In the first fight, Sugiyama faced Nozari, a competent young Ashigaru. After exchanging a few air shots, Sugiyama got a hefty blow past Nozari's defence. Nozari replied with a glancing blow, and Sugiyama stunned himself in an overenthusiastic swipe. However, Nozari was unable to take advantage, and another solid blow had him reeling. He rallied briefly with a fine blow to Sugiyama's head, which nearly won the contest, but fine swordplay by Sugiyama eventually decided it.

In the second duel, Kimori met Sobei Nari, a second level Samurai and the most experienced (but not the oldest) of the job seekers. However, Kimori's superior strength, sword skill and armour allowed him to easily defeat the younger man, landing four telling blows without reply.

In the third duel, Mariko took on Naro Kuyu, pitting her wooden dagger against his wooden sword. In a close contest of small hits, Naro Kuyu took the early advantage with a stinging blow. Mariko struck back, the greater agility of the dagger allowing her to get through her opponent's guard three times. In a protracted stand-off, Naro Kuyu managed two more heavy blows, but Mariko nipped in three more times to knock him out and emerge bruised but triumphant.

In the final fight, between the youngest two Bushi, Chize narrowly defeated Sajo Suda.

The Shugenja also duelled, using non-lethal spells to try to overcome each other in physical combat. Nagara used Darts of Water to attempt a knockout, but never landed a blow. This was because Koei had chosen well with the Darts of Wood spell, which, after missing at the first attempt, hit Nagara and inflicted a level one lightning narcotic poison. This attacks the victim's strength, and, Shugenja being notoriously weak, Nagara was fast asleep within four Action Phases. A stunning victory indeed.

At the end of competition, only four of the applicants had impressed the Sergeant-At-Arms: Kimori, Koei, Mariko and Sugiyama. They were taken on by Lord Chozo with wages of 3 silver pieces per month except Mariko, who was appointed Team Leader and given 8 silver pieces per month. They began their jobs immediately, learning about the clan, the district, and doing some teaching (Koei, for instance, taught writing to a young clan member).

The following week, the team was allowed to train to improve their skills. Sugiyama and Kimori studied Kenjutsu in private study; Koei also studied privately in School of Wood, while Mariko worked on her Tantojutsu.

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