Typo in the name of Lord Naoshige, but other than that, nicely tied together and well-written :-)

A pleasant coincidence to read your quote cos' I'm using a similar quote about a fighter's desperation in one of my yet-to-be-released fics. But my quote from Secrets of the Samurai is about the deadliness of the Ryukyu peasants who killed armed samurai with their bare hands and feet because they were desperate enough and well-versed in empty-hand combat arts from China. And don't even get me started on the unrealisticaly wussy Kanna peasants ;-) How likely is it that someone who chops firewood and slaughters livestock will stumble around when holding a sword like Rikichi? History paints quite a different picture of peasants. Ah well, I digress... will save this rant for another time. ;-)

*Aah!*, Sighs and sparkly eyes! are indications of a happy fangirl. *grins*

Erm, oh yes...review!

Atmospheric, and well paced writing. Nicely done. The grammatical errors you speak of are not noticeable to me.

Oh, I LIKE! You do a very, very, VERY good job with setting up the War here, damn it. Very well done - and keep going with this!
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko