villagers, and within a generation they were something adjoining room separates guests from the andon but
andon but lets
completely different from what they had been.
The Higosha Nazo live mundane individual lives as
peasants, but meet on occasion to share news of their home
villages and to report the latest rumors about the forest.
They seek at all costs to prevent others from venturing
into the heart of Nazo Mori, and sometimes exploit the
superstitions of the heimin to assist in that task.
Adventure Seeds: The
Game of One Hundred Tales
The following section contains an array of short
adventure ideas, using the standard Challenge / Focus /
Strike format from previous L5R books. As always, the
Challenge introduces the basic situation, the Focus adds
details or complications, and the Strike points toward a
climax/conclusion. However, this section is also designed
as a tribute to the monk Kaideo’s famous work collecting
Kwaidan stories, and to the game which may (or may not)
be derived from that book.
“The Game of One Hundred Candles” (or simply “The
Game”) originated in lengthy court gatherings as a way
to stave off boredom. It is used both as a way to entertain
and as a sort of test of courage for the participants. The
rising terror that builds in the heart after hours of telling
ghost stories in near-darkness can overwhelm even the
most stalwart spirit. In one account from Kakita Ryoku’s
novel Winter, Asako Otogi’s yojimbo was the last to recite
a tale. As he reached out a hand to extinguish the last
candle, the entire court cried out in horror – for above
the Shiba a shadowy claw reached down in attack. The
yojimbo spun and drew his sword, reacting without
thought, and his swift action revealed the “hand” to be
nothing more than the shadow of a spider on the candle.
As with a number of other court games and activities, the
Game of One Hundred Candles has filtered into Rokugan’s
wider culture via heimin servants and attendants. It is
popular during festivals and village ceremonies, and is
a staple in the Floating World of the geisha. This has a
certain ironic symmetry given that most of Kaideo’s
famous stories originated with the folklore of the heimin
and hinin.
The traditional Game of One Hundred
Stories is played by the simplest of rules:
one hundred candles (called andon)
are set in a room with a polished
surface, if possible a mirror. The
andon are little candles located
inside lanterns of paper or
carved wood (or more
rarely, metal). An
the light through. In the third and final room, storytellers
gather and recite their tales. After each story, the teller
moves through the empty room and into the andon room,
where he puts out a candle and looks into the polished
surface. A new tale is begun and the process continues
as the light dwindles and the terror rises. Finally only a
single story remains – and it is said that if the last candle
is put out, the spirits of all the tales will rise up out of the
mirror to haunt the world.
To play this game is to draw upon the mystery and
enigma of the Void, but to finish is to invite the listening
spirits into Ningen-do. Most players give up well before
the final tale, and it is traditional for the host to stop the
game once there is only one candle left. However, many
variations on the Game exist in the Empire’s different lands
and courts. For example, some gatherings have less time
to play and gather their party into many small circles. The
group does not begin to gather together in one room until
most of the candles are put out. Some Games are played
in different venues as well. Some gather in a tiny home
such as a village headman’s house. Others use a garden or
rent a house of entertainment, with candles dotting the
various rooms. The polished surface is usually a mirror if
such can be afforded, but it can also be polished bronze
Chapter Six
or steel, or even a bowl of pure water. Mystically-inclined
hosts might use a special pond or well that is reputed to
be haunted.
The Game of One Hundred Candles
179
is never completely safe. An incautious
courtier can be manipulated, tricked, or
NAZO MORI, THE FOREST OF ENIGMAS
trapped quite easily by a clever story.
Trysts and romances are conducted in
these large gatherings, as lovers sneak
off under cover of darkness. Duels over
presumed insults can occur if a proud
samurai has his courage called into
question. Yet despite all this, the
real threat of the Game is its
mystical element. The stories
can indeed draw spirits,
summoned by the tales
about them and

listening to the speakers as each candle goes dim. Indeed,
the greatest of storytellers draw the most dangerous spirits
with their skill. Rumor has it that at least one Game of
One Hundred Candles ended with the entire assemblage
disappearing – as the last flame of the final candle winked
out, the darkness drew in and none of them were ever
seen again.
NIGHT OF ONE HUNDRED STORIES
Challenge: Doji Iawara structured his Game with careful
detail. A petition to his lord allowed for the use of one
of the resplendent gardens of the Kakita. Considerable
favors brought in an army of artisans to establish proper
décor. White lilies, chrysanthemums, and lotus flowers
hung or floated upon every surface. The cultivated maze
NAZO MORI, THE FOREST OF ENIGMAS
would remind the visitors of death at every turn. Tiny
andon lanterns, some framed in worked bamboo, others
in twisted iron and steel, dotted the landscape like one
hundred fireflies. Set at unusual angles, their light shone
from up high and from low to the ground, while one rested
neatly in the center of the path right after a sharp turn.
Incense wafted throughout the passages as the guests
arrived. All who mattered were present, along with their
yojimbo, servants, advisors, and scribes. They lined the lily
pond and partook of the offered hand foods, rice cakes,
and fine chilled sake. Above them, the Moon had already
set, so the only light was from the one hundred sacred
180 andon of the Game.
Chapter Six
“There is a mirror hidden somewhere in the garden,”
Iawara told his assembled guests. “You are here tonight to
share in the ancient Game, and you will each tell a tale or
two this night. There is a candle for each story hidden in
the garden, and as we listen, only the starlight upon the
lily pool will fight back the terror we summon. You know
the rules. With each finished story you will venture into
the darkness and put out the candle of your tale. The next
will start while you search and wander… all will forget
who has disappeared as the next story is recounted. On
this night the kami and yorei, the goryo and perhaps even
the gaki, look on and listen. Woe to the samurai who must
tell the final tale. Woe to the fearful and weak. Tonight
we play the Game of One Hundred Candles! I begin with a
story…the story of the Kiss of the Kuchisake-Onna…”
Focus: The last individual to recite a tale ventures off
into the darkened maze of the garden… and never returns.
And just as the last lantern’s light winks out, a scream
bursts out from an impressionable young courtier. He
claims to have seen a spirit rise from the lily pool.
Doji Iawara does not seem to know what has happened,
and implores aid from others in finding out. This dinner
party was to be his breakout event, elevating him into the
upper tier of politics. If it ends with the tragic loss of an
important diplomat of the court… nothing will save his
career. He pleads with the PCs to find out what happened,
promising any reward within his power.
Strike: What really happened? Perhaps the Game
worked. The spirit from the pool may have been summoned
by the Game and taken the victim. Was it a hungry ghost?
A vengeance-seeking goryo, or a yorei seeking a new
body? A maho-summoned spirit conjured forth by a
hidden maho-tsukai during the Game? What if the power
and mystery of the game simply conjured the soul of the
victim into the endless Realm of Void itself? Any of these
are possibilities. Alternatively, a GM who wants to trip up
the PCs can decide it was a mundane murder by a courtier
aware of Iawara’s elaborate planning, using the Game as
cover.
Note: The GM can use this C/F/S as part of Nazo Mori
by having Doji Iawara (or another NPC) decide that
playing the Game of One Hundred Candles could only
be enhanced by the presence of such a mysterious and
supposedly dangerous location. Iawara and his court
could be vacationing near Nazo Mori in order to partake
in the Game, and the disappearance could be the start of
a greater story.
BUTTERFLY PORTENTS
Challenge: One of the PCs is in the grand home of a
prominent female NPC as she presents her son, Boshu, to
the eligible samurai-ko of the region. A matchmaker has
been called to seek a suitable arrangement, and the PCs are
asked to keep an eye on the young man – as bodyguards/
yojimbo, as mentors to ease the youth into the ways of
court life, as sages or priests offering mystical advice, or
whatever else seems appropriate to your campaign. The
important thing is for the PCs to be present when Boshu
decides to perform his first major poetry recitation in the
garden of his family’s estate.
If appropriate, Boshu could
be coached by a PC to shape
and improve his poem. The
young man is delicate, a true
noble flower of the court
with a weak constitution.
On the day of the
recitation, Boshu is quite
nervous. As the crowd
gathers to hear him speak,
the clouds part overhead
and the radiant light of the
Sun beams down upon him.
“Surely a sign of blessing!”
someone murmurs. As the
words of the poem leave
Boshu’s lips, a tiny white
butterfly with the barest
hint of red upon its wings
alights on the poet’s shoulder.
Everyone breaks into applause.
The poem is remarkable, the
scene could not have been better;
Boshu must have been blessed by the Fortunes! SNAKE OIL

Then, with a glorious smile upon his lips, Boshu turns
his face up to the Sun and closes his eyes. The butterfly
lifts from his body and takes off into the garden. As
soon as the creature ceases to touch the young man, he
collapses in a heap, like a puppet with cut strings. He
has fallen gravely ill and is hurriedly carried away to his
Chapter Six
Challenge: The PCs are asked to discover the truth
behind a rash of unusual criminal activity within one
of the villages near Nazo Mori. The crimes themselves
include many thefts, a few murdered or missing peasants, 181
and at least one instance of madness.
Focus: Investigation reveals an odd connection

NAZO MORI, THE FOREST OF ENIGMAS

quarters. Whispers race one another through the court,
and soon a solid rumor develops: surely the portent of a
white butterfly – the color of death! – cannot have been a
coincidence. Boshu’s soul has fled.
Focus: The PCs are summoned before Boshu’s mother,
a woman not usually taken to superstition but unable to
shake off the dire omen. She tasks the characters with
either finding the specific butterfly or finding a way to
heal her son. Boshu himself lies in his room, wasting away
as if from a terrible disease. His breathing is shallow and
the tiniest of red dots has appeared on his shoulder, very
close to where the butterfly landed. Boshu’s mother is
distraught; Boshu was her life and a good marriage for
him would have secured the family line. Now it seems the
boy’s soul has fled his body, taken away by evil spirits.
Strike: The GM can choose to let things be exactly as
they appear. Butterflies, after all, are rumored to function
as physical vessels for the souls of humanity. However,
finding a lone white butterfly in a castle, village, or even
an entire province is a daunting challenge – especially if
the PCs are in the Nazo Mori region, where the butterfly
might be something completely different. There is also
foul play to consider; perhaps someone took advantage of
Boshu’s weak constitution by delivering poison or a mag-
ical curse with a butterfly. Locating this person would be
more important than finding the butterfly itself, of course.
between the different crimes. Each known perpetrator
(and the madman) is a first-born child of his or her family.
Thorough questioning can eventually unearth a tale from
years before: a traveling midwife who claimed to have a
salve which would ensure birth upon the first day of the
month (considered a blessed sign in these parts). The salve
worked perfectly, and all was well for a few years… until
one villager discovered that the “salve” was made from
the remains of other children who had died in childbirth
The midwife had been concealing the bodies and using
them to make her concoction. The midwife fled the town,
just ahead of a mob.
Strike: The children born from the midwife’s salve
are unusually healthy, but they all commit crimes or
strange maddened acts. The midwife may have been a
maho-tsukai or an insane alchemist. Perhaps she was
conducting research into longevity,
using the discarded bodies as raw
materials. Perhaps she is exerting
magical control over those born
under the influence of her salve. Or
perhaps the midwife was no mortal
at all, but a demon, bog hag, or
other Shadowlands creature with a
dark agenda.