The Spirit's Son (adventure question)

[Dexter 0]

Hi

I'm running an old story (Challenge, Focus, Strike #26 The Spirit's Son) where the pc found a young boy (10-11 years old). The father of the boy was a famous/honorable samurai... but his mother was a (famous) geisha. The pc has the intention (she's an Emerald Magistrate) to take the boy to the samurai's widow, to "his family".

• Is there any chance to she can makes this happen?
• Are there any liability (is this the right word for it?) to the widow or/and other family members?
• Can az Emerald Magistrate oblige such a thing?

Thank you

[Magnus Grendel 11,673]

You can, but it's arguable you 'shouldn't' (if by widow you mean the Geisha).

• A Geisha may be famous but they are emphatically not of samurai standing - in fact despite the pretty robes and makeup they're technically hinin, the same as the butchers and dung-shovellers; they really shouldn't be raising a child recognised as being of samurai caste.
• If the child has been raised by the samurai to date, then the child is de facto recognised as a samurai, and as such should be adopted by another samurai (responsibility 'delegates upward' so if the father had no other immediate family, the default would be his Lord). Said samurai might then, quite sensibly, ask the Geisha if they would be prepared to look after their biological child and do the day-to-day parenting, but legally the child would be the child of the 'adopter'.

Are there any liability (is this the right word for it?) to the widow or/and other family members?

• If there are any other immediate members of the samurai's family the default assumption would be they would become responsible for the child.

Can an Emerald Magistrate do such a thing?

• Probably, yes. If they're the highest status individual around, then pretty much what they say goes. It depends if the local lord (or their lord, or their lord) deigns to get involved.
• At the same time, they're not really supposed to have authority over a clan's internal matters where no crime has been committed. In "The Scroll or the Blade" the Imperial Families and the Emerald Magistrature get involved because the two claimant parties arguing over the orphan are from different clans.
• Fortunately, if any really high-standing clan members get dragged into the matter, whilst the Geisha may not have any legal standing she's likely to have a lot of social influence to persuade people to arrange matters as she wants.

[Dexter 0]

Thank you very much. I'm sorry, I didn't write down all the "small" things.

• The father (the samurai) and the mother (the geisha) are both dead
• The spirit of the geisha is the one who asks the pc to find the samurai's family and give him a chance to grow up as his father, a brave samurai
• The boy was raised by a bandit lord - maybe this will be the tricky part? - so before the pc saved him he was a nobody or even a criminal(?).

[Magnus Grendel 11,673]

29 minutes ago, Dexter said:

The boy was raised by a bandit lord - maybe this will be the tricky part? - so before the pc saved him he was a nobody or even a criminal(?).

If they're confident the boy was the samurai's child, he's a samurai.

As emerald magistrates, their word is probably good enough unless someone important has a vested interest in saying 'no'.

(they might or might not want to mention the ghost of the boy's mother depending on the audience....)

If by the samurai's widow you mean that he was married separately - i.e. his child with a Geisha was as the result of an affair....that could be more problematic.

His widow might not be too keen on adopting living proof of her late husband's infidelity, and the magistrates might not be able to force her to - at least not without convincing either a clan magistrate or her lord to rule on the matter. Part of it will depend on whether the boy has any half-siblings; is he a potential heir where there wasn't one, or is he a potential rival for the 'true' heir (i.e. her own children)?

 

Edited November 6, 2019 by Magnus Grendel

[Dexter 0]

42 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

His widow might not be too keen on adopting living proof of her late husband's infidelity, and the magistrates might not be able to force her to - at least not without convincing either a clan magistrate or her lord to rule on the matter. Part of it will depend on whether the boy has any half-siblings; is he a potential heir where there wasn't one, or is he a potential rival for the 'true' heir (i.e. her own children)?

 

Oh, I see . So the "easiest" way would be if the boy is the only child  - although from another woman. Or maybe the widow will see the boy (will-be-samurai) as a savior of the family?
I don't want to mess with the player too much, she is new in the L5R.

Edited November 6, 2019 by Dexter

[Magnus Grendel 11,673]

Probably so. If there are no other children, then - assuming it's too late for the widow to consider remarrying and especially if she married into the clan in the first place and isn't a clan member by birth - having a potential heir, grown to near adulthood (gempukku is mid-teenage and you're officially an adult from that point) to the family's lands drop out of the sky one day could be a great relief.

She's still probably not going to like what he represents, but if the marriage was genuinely happy she might appreciate having a son of her late husband - even if it means adopting an illegitimate stepson - instead of nothing.

Of course, the boy might have his own ideas on the matter. If he's been raised by a bandit, and is the son of a mother who had no legal status, fathered by a married man who he may feel never acknowledged him or his mother, he may not be as keen on the whole 'become a samurai' thing as his mother's ghost is...

[Dexter 0]

I am/was a little light hearted about the boy - this way is easier to the pc - he's eager to grow up as a "son of a famous samurai" - at least for now. I plan the campaign to 5 years long, so the pc maybe returns and meets him again .
Thank you again. Saving the boy from the bandit was a piace of cake... what comes after it, that is more complicated then I thought.

[Magnus Grendel 11,673]

If you don't want an 'immediate' problem but want something slow-burning; have a think based on the local clan politics who would have inherited the samurai's lands if there wasn't a son. Because they might take exception to it but not be able to do anything at the time.

four or five years later, in mid-to-late teenage years (depending on the school he attends and how gifted he is) is the boy's gempukku - the trial/ceremony where they are officially recognised as an adult.

If someone were to try and sabotage that, they might have another shot at becoming the default heir.

One option would be to undermine the boy (if he was raised by the bandit, he's probably done something criminal in his youth even if he doesn't remember it, and if suitably high-status testimony can be produced, Rokugan has no concept of 'statute of limitations') - or simply sabotage the Gempukku so that he fails and has to repeat it.....if his foster mother were to pass away, either he would not be able to inherit (as he's legally a child) or he could inherit but only with a legally appointed guardian (which said rival would selflessly put themselves forward as).

 

[Dexter 0]

1 hour ago, Magnus Grendel said:

One option would be to undermine the boy (if he was raised by the bandit, he's probably done something criminal in his youth even if he doesn't remember it, and if suitably high-status testimony can be produced, Rokugan has no concept of 'statute of limitations') - or simply sabotage the Gempukku so that he fails and has to repeat it.....if his foster mother were to pass away, either he would not be able to inherit (as he's legally a child) or he could inherit but only with a legally appointed guardian (which said rival would selflessly put themselves forward as).

 

This is awesome . I like it .