An inn somewhere in Kyoto Province somewhere around the turn of the 17th Century
A venerable blind minstrel (famed throughout Japan) is preparing to play his Opus Magnus to a rapt and expectant crowd. When he begins to strum his biwa, his voice, clear and sweet like a boy's, utterly belies his wizened appearance. It is easy to tell why he is so worshipped and easy to see why so many are straining to get into the now full building, with more huddled outside trying to protect themselves as well as they could against the biting winter winds. At least there was no rain or snow as yet on this bitter night-thank the Gods for that.
'Raise your ear weary travellers and hark to the tale I sing of many moons ago-one hundred and fifty years no less! I sing of battles, of a land divided and how a new Shogunate came to be from the dust and the blood of many conquests.
I sing of treachery, I sing of lust for battle, of love and of savage warfare that rent the land asunder. But above all, my friends, I sing of the proud Horse Lords of Takeda and their struggle for pre-eminence in this benighted land'
This is how mambamans' brilliant AAR "Rise of the Horse Lords" begins. Take a look HERE if you want to read more about the rise of the Takeda Clan
