[Closed] 2: On the Road (Aiko, Koga, Osaru)

[GreyWolfVT]

yup that would be my confusion really i wasn't going to say anything at all guess i should have stuck with my instincts.

[Starbeard]

Lady Hama bows gratefully. "Thank you my lady, already you give my mind repose. When you reach Beiden Pass, please give my regards to the priests at the mountain shrine to Lady Mizumi. I am sure they will help you in any way they can." The blind priestess then steers the conversation back to mundane matters, as though your strange exchange had never taken place.





Will Osaru be taking advantage of the festival at all?

Aiko removes eight coppers' worth from her string of money donates it to the town's temple, then writes her four wishes and watches them carried up and away until they blend into the stars, sparkling with a strange fire that doesn't burn. (making hidden Void rolls for the effects of the wishes…)

Aiko then wanders the streets, content to take in everything as a quiet observer. At one point she watches two Imperial magistrates playing a board game on the patio of a sake house; both are minor Scorpion dignitaries judging by their clothes, and neither seems to be aware that the other is cheating shamelessly.

Next to them a merchant is selling small lacquered luck charms, carved with the emblem of the Kakita family. The quality ranges peasant-grade to those adequate for presentation on a samurai's belt. After some bartering she is able to procure one of the finer trinkets for only 1 silver, a rather good deal indeed. (Aiko wins a contested Awareness + Merchant test and gets 50% off the price.)

(That's 1 silver, 8 copper from her purse. Remember that 1 gold koku = 5 silver bu, and 1 silver bu = 10 copper zeni.)


Falling Leaf Month, 26th (Cursed Day, Low Week)
The weather is warm and dry.


It is agreed that you will accompany Harada's body back to his homeland. The castle provides you with a pony and funerary cart to carry him, and after saying goodbye and promising to return soon, you head along the Way of the Faint Echo of Glory. You make good time despite the extra burden of leading the pony along.

In the afternoon you reach a village, Scented Wicker Village, apparently. The smell of fresh tatami mats fills the air, letting you know immediately what this village is known for. It looks like you'll have a comfortable night here! You find the village headman and are invited to stay in his guest room. The floor mats and bedding are indeed exquisite and seem to massage your travel-sore muscles (Everyone gets a free Void Point to spend tomorrow.)


Falling Leaf Month, 27th (Evening Day, Low Week)
The weather is warm and dry.


Something seems off. You pass by a gaggle of geese walking in a perfect circle; then a lone cloud moves overhead and follows you for half an hour before moving on, despite little breeze. You stop for lunch beneath the ruins of a tiny monastery and try to put it out of your mind.

When it is time to resume travel, the pony steps forward and you notice the cart bouncing around on the road more than it has been. Koga peeks inside and goes white: Harada's body is missing! A gust of chill wind blows across the road, toppling the cart and sending the pony galloping away in fear. The wind kicks up a dust devil in the middle of the road, and for a moment you swear you see Assistant Magistrate Harada in the shape of the swirling cloud of dust, and the chill wind almost sounds like his voice. Aiko feels her heart go cold and staggers to the ground, and it is several moments before she is able to catch her breath. When the scene returns to normal, she has a premonition that Harada's daisho must cut down a creature of the Shadowlands Taint before he can reach peace. (Aiko is now haunted by Harada's ghost! )

The pony has bolted, but you can still chase after it. Otherwise you will either have to pull the empty cart yourselves or abandon it.

Actions?




登場人物

• Mirumoto Koga, Dragon bushi: no armor+daisho (TN15), daisho 2k2/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Honor 2;5, Wounds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 3/2
• Mirumoto Aiko, Dragon bushi: no armor+daisho (TN25), daisho 5k4/6k3 (DR 4k2) | Honor 3;0, Wounds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 3/2
• Yoshida Osaru, ronin: no armor (TN15), katana 6k3/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Honor 2;5 Wounds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 3/2

[GreyWolfVT]

I have no idea what Osaru would do at a festival.

[Starbeard]

I have no idea what Osaru would do at a festival.

Neither do I

Except maybe just cut up the town looking for trouble and good gambling, but that doesn't really strike me as his way either.

[GreyWolfVT]

I have no idea what Osaru would do at a festival.

but that doesn't really strike me as his way either.

That'd be correct as well. He is Ronin but does still have his own code of honor.

[Captain Kinkajou]

Aiko

ooc: Sorry for the delay in replying, I was in shock after the last update

Aiko recovers herself after what has happened but looks stricken and deathly pale.

"I am sorry, but I fear we will neither be able to return Harada's body nor his daisho to his family," she says sadly to Koga and Osaru. "I now know that his spirit will not rest until his daisho has cut down a creature of the Shadowlands and, in my heart, I also know this burden is one that I must carry and see done. Only then will Amaterasu be able to welcome Harada's ghost and guide it safely to the Spirit Realm, as I wished for him at Kakita Castle."

She pauses to consider for a moment, sombrely taking Harada's daisho from the cart and gazing at it before continuing.

"I think perhaps that this task leads me to continue our journey to Beiden Pass, so that I may also fulfil my promise to Lady Hama and investigate her terrible vision, for surely only the taint of the Shadowlands could be behind what she saw. Maybe there I will find an opportunity to lay Harada's spirit to rest as well. Though this burden falls to me and I do not ask you to share it, I would be greatly heartened and in your debt if you chose to continue this journey with me and help me to see it done. Brother? Master Osaru?"

Aiko deliberately declines to heed Osaru's earlier advice regarding the title she bestows upon him. She does it as a mark of friendship and her respect for him.

[Starbeard]

Aiko's words weigh heavily on the group as you continue on your way. A second look at the cart shows that its axle is split, so you pull it off into the ruins and leave it behind.

Harada's daisho seems to breath heavily and anxiously at Aiko's side, as if each step is too slow.

The deep blue roof tiles of Crossroads Castle leap up into view over the rolling landscape. It is much smaller and less ornate than Kakita Castle, but more imposing as a fortress. From your understanding it has never been attacked, changing hands every few generations through political maneuvering rather than military conquest. Still, the Daidoji family of the Crane have clearly tried to bolster up its defenses far beyond what the castle was ever meant to have. The rising tensions between the Great Clans feel palpable here.

You are welcomed into the estate and rest for the evening. Aiko is fraught with terrible dreams of the spirit world and fails to get any restful sleep. She joins the others in the morning looking pale and clammy, with heavy eyelids. (Aiko will have 0 Void points until she finds some way to get a restful night's sleep.)

[Starbeard]

Falling Leaf Month, 28th (Death Day, Low Week)
The weather is warm.


Thanking your hosts for a place to rest, you head out the west gate along the Way of the Faint Echo of Glory, toward Lion Country. The Imperial waystation at the border of the pronvinces is almost as large as a village, and incredibly well fortified with palisades and wood towers. Ten Imperial magistrates and twenty ashigaru soldiers keep the station secure, and peasants work fields and workshops to support them. As you pass through and glance at the samurai estates that house the magistrates and their families, you can't help but notice that most of these samurai come from Crane families, probably evidence of the political maneuvering that plagues these border provinces.

The Matsu lands are beautiful in their own way, simple and honest. Rolling fields of wildflowers and small trees blanket the countryside in between villages. Aiko wanders off to the side of the road to take in the scenery and begins to weep, pining nonsensically for her homeland, where she ate wild oranges on the riverbanks of her youth. Koga reminds her that they did not grow up near any riverbanks with orange trees.




Finally, you arrive at Matsu Castle in the afternoon. The castle is awe inspiring, rising straight out of a level field many stories high to command a view of the entire province, and large enough to field an army as large as any Clan can muster. The message is clear: only a fool would attack the Lionesses of the Matsu family.

Your invitation to stay at the castle is less warm than what you received in the Crane lands. The Mirumoto's are viewed with slight skepticism, and it's very clear that Osaru is little more than a masterless dog to the proud Matsu. You are directed to a tavern in the samurai district of town rather than ushered into the castle itself.

The hotel, however, is vibrant and welcoming. Samurai, merchants, pilgrims and wealthier wanderers from every corner of the Empire are here, though none of the samurai are Lion Clan. An elderly lady approaches you with a bow.

"Welcome, noble travelers! You look in need of restoration. Our best rooms are available to you, though we ask a small fare of 10 coppers per night."

Osaru is only half-listening, because his attention is drawn to a ragged ronin gambling in the courtyard wth a merchant. He knows the ronin very well. It’s Shota, a good friend he grew up with in Otosan Uchi, but eventually the two drifted apart when Shota began bumming around with thugs and criminals. They last saw each other three years ago and parted in bad blood: Osaru vouched for Shota to join him and several other ronin as bodyguards for a merchant, and Shota not only stole away with all of the merchants goods, but also the payment that was supposed to be paid to each of the ronin.


Actions?




登場人物

• Mirumoto Koga, Dragon bushi: no armor+daisho (TN15), daisho 2k2/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Honor 2;5, Wounds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 2/2
• Mirumoto Aiko, Dragon bushi: no armor+daisho (TN25), daisho 5k4/6k3 (DR 4k2) | Honor 3;0, Wounds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 0/2 (Haunted)
• Yoshida Osaru, ronin: no armor (TN15), katana 6k3/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Honor 2;5 Wounds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 2/2

[GreyWolfVT]

Osaru watches Shota like a wolf aware of it's enemies but otherwise restrains himself seeing that Shota doesn't appear to notice the Ronin he heads into the tavern and orders a drink.

[Starbeard]

Aiko books rooms for just the one evening.

Osaru sits in a corner tucked under the stairs and watches. Shota doesn't seem to notice him, focused entirely on his game with the merchant. Throughout the evening he loses steadily, but doesn't seem to mind.

They continue playing late into the night, but not so late that Osaru is in danger of nodding off. Finally they decide to retire and stagger off to opposite sides of the inner courtyard, both rather tipsy. But Osaru notices something strange: as soon as Shota is out of view from the courtyard, he straightens up a bit and doubles back around, heading where the merchant went. Had you not been keeping an eye on him specifically, you would never have noticed, he seems very good at making his presence inconspicuous.

[GreyWolfVT]

Osaru sensing danger he sets off in a hurry to try and get to the merchant before Shota can do him harm as he suspects is going to happen.

[Captain Kinkajou]

Aiko

Given that Aiko has struggled to get a good night's rest, I feel she would have most likely retired earlier in the evening in an effort to recover, through meditation and sleep - though recognising ooc that this will be unsuccessful.

[Starbeard]

Aiko retires almost immediately and Koga follows her, concerned for her wellbeing. He arranges for an inn worker to check on them periodically through the night, providing Aiko with rags soaked in warm water and bitter herbal drinks.

Finally she drifts off to sleep, and dreams of a beautiful woman, sitting before her in a stately room. They are talking about a parable, where the tiger and the spider are both killed by a venomous bat because they were too busy being suspicious of each other. As they speak, the woman's lithe neck begins to stretch out of her kimono, slowly getting longer and longer until her head is slithering through the air like a snake, wrapping around the room to close Aiko in. The woman's head pauses to look at Aiko, smiling with black teeth. Aiko grows white with terror—the room is no longer there and now the woman is a ghost, following Aiko as she struggles to walk through a thick snow at night. The lights of a small village are up ahead—as she moves toward the village, the ghost lets out a terrifying howl and turns into a freezing wind, cutting deep into Aiko's bones. The wind kicks up a snow storm and the lights of the village are lost behind a blanket of white.



Osaru would know that the whole upper floor can be accessed by both stairs, so since you intend to catch the merchant rather than Shota, I'll say that you dash up the stairs next to you hoping to cut them off, rather than chasing after them to the far end of the building.

Osaru quickly rises from his seat and runs up the stairs. He comes to a hallway with doors to suites and private rooms on either side—which one belongs to the merchant? He moves to the central balcony overlooking the courtyard and sees the merchant just as he stumbles around the corner on the far side, fumbling for the door to his private room.

Calling out to grab the merchant's attention, Osaru circles the balcony to reaches him. Surprisingly, Shota cannot be seen anywhere. You seem to be alone.






登場人物

• Mirumoto Koga, Dragon bushi: no armor+daisho (TN15), daisho 2k2/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Honor 2;5, Wounds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 2/2
• Mirumoto Aiko, Dragon bushi: no armor+daisho (TN25), daisho 5k4/6k3 (DR 4k2) | Honor 3;0, Wounds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 0/2 (Haunted)
• Yoshida Osaru, ronin: no armor (TN15), katana 6k3/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Honor 2;5 Wounds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 2/2

[Starbeard]

"Yes, samurai? Is it urgent?" slurs the drunken merchant. He holds his head to keep it from swimming. His interest is waning, and he turns to slide open the door to his room and go to bed.

What does Osaru do?

[GreyWolfVT]

Osaru "The man that you were gaming with was sneaking off behind you and I was worried he was trying to rob you. But I don't see him so I suppose I'll let you on your way sorry please forgive my urgency." the ronin feels foolish and rash.

[Starbeard]

"Bah, you samurai are all so serious. Always suspecting the worst in everything." The merchant's words are slurred and he hiccups frequently. "Very well, if you insist then I will bar my door tonight." With an exaggerated yawn, the merchant bids you goodnight. He enters his dark, empty room, placing the wooden beam across the floor to bar the sliding door. You return to your room, filled with poor and/or miserly samurai travelers.



Falling Leaf Month, 29th (Luck Day, Low Week)
The weather is hot, humid and uncomfortable.

The morning comes early, from a shriek and lots of commotion along the courtyard balcony. The party emerges to find a small crowd outside of the merchant's private room, where three city magistrates are using hatchets to tear open the door.

From the excited gossip happening all around you, you gather that early morning bathers in the room below were assaulted by drops of blood seeping through the ceiling. The door is finally broken open, and the magistrates enter. Gasps throughout the crowd make it clear that they have stumbled onto a murder scene. "Nobody leaves until all have been questioned!" they shout. From the crowd, someone wonders excitedly, "But how did the killer get in and out?"

Everyone is confined to the balcony, under strict orders to avoid talking, while the magistrates lead individuals into a private room to be questioned. The morning drags along, turning into a sweltering with little shade on the balcony. Eventually one of the magistrates bypasses a whole line of people and approaches you directly, addressing Osaru. From his special metal helmet, he must be the head officer. "You, ronin. Come with me. Bring your friends." Once in the private room, he says, "Two witnesses have testified that they saw you arguing with the merchant immediately before he retired into his room for the night."

(I'll assume Osaru tells his side of the story faithfully, if that's alright. A simple Awareness+Sincerity roll vs TN25 should do the trick to convince him, since this guy is inherently suspicious of ronin:)
6k3 roll: [1d10] = 4, [1d10] = 1, [1d10] = 1 [1d10] = 3, [1d10] = 1, [1d10] = 10
10's reroll: [1d10] = 9
Total: 19 + 4 + 3 = 26, just made it!

The magistrate reluctantly accepts that your testimony lines up with the facts. An immediate search is sent out for Shota, but he is nowhere to be seen at the inn. Suddenly one of the assistant magistrates runs into the interrogation room. "Sir! Come look!" You all follow the magistrates over to the merchant's suite, to the back of the room where a secret door panel has been discovered in the southeast corner, leading to the hallway beyond. "The murderer must have entered and escaped through here, sir!"

You now get a good view of the merchant's body. He is lying face up on the floor, having mostly missed his bed mat when he flopped down to sleep. Several stab wounds pierce his heart, and a pool of blood has seeped down through a crack in the tatami floor mats to the rooms below. A red cloth covers his mouth, as though to prevent him from making noise.

[Starbeard]

Osaru loses Honor for failing to protect the merchant like he wished, but only 1 point because he's a ronin and the merchant wasn't under his charge.

The magistrate opens up a little about the investigation. "All we know right now is that the merchant's travel papers state he was heading to Beiden Pass, and it was overheard that he was going to sell some very valuable goods there—but his room is empty of any trade goods, and he has nothing stored under his name at the city warehouse. His travel papers indicate that he came down from the Scorpion provinces two days ago."

The investigators see that you are eager to continue your journey, but they advise against it. "It is already afternoon, and the day is miserably hot. You will not make it to the next civilized village with an inn before nightfall."



登場人物

• Mirumoto Koga, Dragon bushi: no armor+daisho (TN15), daisho 2k2/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Honor 2;5, Wounds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 2/2
• Mirumoto Aiko, Dragon bushi: no armor+daisho (TN25), daisho 5k4/6k3 (DR 4k2) | Honor 3;0, Wounds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 0/2 (Haunted)
• Yoshida Osaru, ronin: no armor (TN15), katana 6k3/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Honor 2;4 Wounds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 2/2

[GreyWolfVT]

Osaru feeling terribly "I should have offered the Merchant my room or for me to check his room. Shota is a snake, I knew he was up to something terrible that man has no honor." the ronin more or less says to himself rather than directly to the magistrate then realizing he was just offered some good advice "Very well I will stay for now no sense making travel if we cannot reach a place to rest other than the wilderness. If I can aid you in capturing Shota in anyway I would be honored to aid you magistrate."

[Starbeard]

"Our first priority is to locate this Shota vagabond. Anyone who can help in that regard will be rewarded—but don't get in our way, ronin." The detective magistrate storms out of the inn to conduct his investigations.

Matsu Town has the usual districts:

• the Matsu Castle estate itself, at the center of the city.
• a samurai neighborhood and an artisan/craftsman neighborhood, surrounding the castle.
• a geisha district near the North Gate;
• a merchant and gambling neighborhood, near the South Gate;
• (your current location) a rundown samurai neighborhood, populated mostly by urban ronin and travelers, near the East Gate.

Each district is walled off with guards always posted at the gates, but except for the castle the gates between neighborhoods are generally kept open at all times.

Outside of the main neighborhoods is the rest of the town, made mostly of peasants and workers, which sprawls outward and has no walls, slowly turning into rural countryside.

The North, South, and East Gates are the only public ways out of the central town districts, one for each of the Imperial Highways that lead into town. If Shota escaped in the night and passed through one of the gates, the gate watchmen would have had to let him through.


Osaru, recalling his memories of Shota, knows that the untrustworthy ronin was always blowing his money on geisha and gambling, the most expensive his money could afford.

[Starbeard]

Quick bump: will the party want to do some investigation, or just sleep it off and move on?

Osaru's already lost his Honor points, so there's no more harm done if he chooses wipes his hands of the matter, though he stands to gain a lot of Honor back if he pursues and helps catches Shota.

The Mirumotos both have investigation as a skill, but don't really have anything at stake here.