1 - Tokiko 1
There was quite a bit of money in the basket in which Tokiko was found, and since then the monastery has received every year a quite generous anonymous donation.
~ Famously Wealthy
2 - Tokiko 2
Tokiko has never left the monastery and coming out of her routine can be very uncomfortable for her.
~ Meekness
3 - Tokiko 3 - Animal 1
Tokiko attracts snakes, scorpions, and various other venomous animals. Monks have to be extra careful when manipulating something she had been in contact with.
~ Cursed Lineage
4 - Sensei Wu 1
Sensei Wu already passed by the monastery about 30 years ago; he got healed after having took quite the beating.
~ Karmic Tie
5 - Sensei Wu 2
Sensei Wu went through a bad fever which locked him into bed a few months ago, for the first time showing his age after being an unstoppable ball of energy for most of his life.
~ Fear of Death
6 - Sensei Wu 3
Sensei Wu makes no mystery that, for him, enlightenment is to be found on the road, and not from within the walls of a monastery.
~ Travel
7 - Hiro 1
The young man tries to hide it, but it is painfully obvious he was trained at a warrior; and a good one to boot.
~ Bishamon’s Blessing
8 - Hiro 2
What the young man is missing in classical education about the Tao, he compensates by a real eagerness to learn; true monk material.
~ Enlightenment
9 - Hiro 3
There are hints, in the way he joined the monastery, in how he reacts to some mentions of his past, that Hiro is fleeing from his past mistakes.
~ Battle Trauma
10 - Haruhi 1
Haruhi is the kind of woman who would swim in a mountain torrent in the middle of winter to save a peasant kid.
~ Paragon of Compassion
11 - Haruhi 2
Haruhi seems to be in conflict with some precept of monastic life, and the abbess in particular; only the Sensei's protection smoothens things up.
~ Sworn Enemy
12 - Haruhi 3
Haruhi is never far away from Hiro; it would seem they are always quarreling about some thing or the other; they clearly have history together.
~ Jealousy
13 - Sennin 1
Sennin is from a family that came to the Senkitsu Mountains from you know where one generation ago; barbarian all that bunch.
~ Gaijin Appearance
14 - Sennin 2 - Cleansing 1
Sennin is the saint of the monastery, the one you call when there is a ghost running around, the one who just knows what offering to make to calm down the spirits.
~ Sixth Sense
15 - Sennin 3 - Animal 3
Animals, and wild animals in particular, seem to love making a hell out of Sennin's life since that accident with a fox years ago.
~ Hunted by Chikushō-dō
16 - Yama-no-Kami 1 - Cleansing 2
For such an isolated region, there is a huge number of travelers that come in all years long, tell stories, play games, and depart before dawn.
~ Loneliness
17 - Yama-no-Kami 2 - Animal 3
There are no poachers in the region. Those who try don't live long, and their death is not a pleasant one.
~ Ferocity
18 - Yama-no-Kami 3
If you respect the mountain, something will come to help you in your time of need.
~ Hero of [Village]
19
The local folklore is choke full of stories about animal spirits, so much they contaminate common speech ("the kitsune are marrying" for "it's raining").
20 - Cleansing 3
The wise man leaves regular offerings to the spirits of the mountain; and he knows it's not animals that eat them.
First number is the d20, things like Sennin 2 are for when the d3 was used. Most Tidbits were, quite liberally, associated with advantages or disadvantages in case this had been relevant for some PCs' techniques and abilities (example: Bayushi Manipulator).
Yes, I know, this list doesn't really explain anything on its own. These were more themes to be developed in-game than a full summary of the plot.
Here we go for the actual summary.
Tokiko has been cursed from birth due to her family having done very not nice things. Her parents courageously abandoned her to the monks, and send every year a huge sum of money to the monastery to alleviate their guilt. Having lived all her life in the monastery, she's somewhat naive and unprepared on a lot of subjects.
Sennin is the archetypal saint man who came from the mysterious lands beyond. Yama-no-Kami has a petty grudge against him as he always sees through their disguise.
Hiro is the "rise too high, too quickly" archetype. A gifted warrior, who got promoted to a commanding position too young, took wrong decisions that got good soldiers killed, and couldn't bear the guilt. I wanted for him to find some real solace in religion, but also to keep ambiguous about if this was really the right option for him in the long term.
Haruhi is his blood sister, and someone with a PC's mindset: A savior's complex and a tendency to go for needlessly complicated plans. She has zero interest in remaining a monk, and was always planned to depart the monastery to return to her home clan post game. She's just there at the moment to (from her point of view) kick some sense in her brother that she thinks is making a mistake.
Wu is not getting any younger. A recent reminder of his own mortality threw him in a period of doubt, and encouraged him to reconnect with his old teacher.
Yama-no-Kami is the guardian spirit of the mountain. A very active, and mischievous, protector, he kicked Wu's ass three decades ago, then took him as a student. Discussing with his old protegee made him eager to take a new batch of disciples.
A few things that were changed during the game's preparation and even the game itself, hence a few inconsistencies:
At the start, Wu's sensei was a kitsune nicknamed Lady Fox. The character however was completely redundant with Yama-no-Kami, so I decided Lady Fox would be but one of the many aliases of the mountain spirit. A bunch of my notes still referred to her though, and they wormed their way into the game, hence extra confusion.
At the start, what would happen of Wu was to be decided by a poll. I eventually decided that, by how the characters had acted all game, any outcome but "Wu takes the road again under an alias while 'Wu' trains new students" wouldn't be coherent but, again, elements suggesting the real Wu would be the teacher persisted into the game.
And yes, I'm perfectly aware I mismanaged hints about there being two Wu, and only a single (NPC) very busy shapeshifter.
Hiro's destiny is very much up in the air however. Need to make a poll for that. EDIT: Here it is.
