6: The Monastery

[Starbeard]

Commune would indeed work well in this situation. For the arrow's spirit I'll say that you could it as an Earth or an Air spell, which would be 3k2 in either case. To help move things along, I'll just give you the benefit of adding raises after the spell roll: [_3d10k2]=(8+9)=17 says that you succeed with 2 raises, so the party can ask 3 short questions of the arrow's spirit, or one question and get a much more detailed/less vague response. If you would rather save your spell slot, let me know and we'll just strike that part out of the game narrative.


Kenta wanders the tiny hamlet, taking care of the smoldering fires and searching through the massacre. It is a tragic scene: some of the men seem to have fought bravely with whatever they could find—sticks and tools, fishing hooks and spears—but here lies an unarmed old man cut down fiendishly from behind, and there two arrow-riddled corpses who had hoped to flee into the woods turn out to be lads not even sixteen by the looks of them. Then Kenta notices an anomaly in one group of butchered villagers: there is one too many severed hands for the number of bodies on the ground. Quickly he identifies the rogue hand, and sees that beneath the blood it has a ghastly blue tinge, with grime and seaweed in the fingernails. Without touching the dead flesh he dunks the hand into a bucket of water and confirms that the hand still oozes blood and the deathly tinge is nothing more than a faintly glowing dye or paint coated onto the skin.

Aiko gathers up an arrow and gives it an inspection. While its quality is fairly poor, it certainly doesn't look ancient, and it is quite dry. (an Investigation roll [_4d10k2]=(2+6)=8 determines that no other information is gained).

Curious about the arrow, Senichi places it onto the ground and retrieves his scroll of communing with the kami. He draws a detailed mandala into the snow and places the arrow within, then rings a bowl-shaped bell cupped in his hand while chanting a long phrase from the scroll. As he chants, the tiny doll-sized figure of a wispy, flighty deity fades into existence over the arrow. "Who calls to me?" asks the impatient spirit.



Summary: One of the ghost-warrior's severed hands was found, and it turns out to be a human hand painted in a strange ghostly pigment. Aiko recovered one of the arrows shot at her and found that it was dry and not old. Senichi has summoned the spirit of the arrow, who will answer a single question "fairly" truthfully or three questions vaguely.

[Rex]

Kenta

To the others, "I have found something. I don't think these were the dead, but individuals pretending to be the dead for their own gain. Look at this." He shows them the hand.

[ffilz]

Any suggestions on question to ask?

How many spell slots does Senichi get? I'm also inclined to commune with a lake spirit (water right?).

[Captain Kinkajou]

Any suggestions on question to ask?

Hmmm... Initially, I was mostly trying to find out who the attackers were, ostensibly whether they were the risen dead or not? But, we now have strong indications that they are only posing as the dead. So, the question is probably more around, who are they (as in what faction) and where did they come from (where are they currently based)?

@Starbeard: Do we have any idea what lies south along the lake's eastern edge? The map of the area you provided earlier did not show very much south of the village. I'm thinking, are there any locations that are likely bases for such a force? And, does that direction/location suggest anything about the attackers? e.g. I'm thinking, if I have my geography correct, that Scorpion lands are southwest rather than southeast, so this doesn't particularly suggest Scorpion involvement. Is that correct?

[Rex]

Kenta

"I wonder if there are any caves around here." Kenta will ask around and see if there are any local legends of caves along the lake or nearby hills.

[GreyWolfVT]

Osaru silent hasn't been paying attention to the conversation still wondering about the strange events in the village, with the tribute and "dead".

[Starbeard]

Sorry for the delay, I was hoping to pick this part up more quickly to speed us from village to adventure site, but I've been juggling visiting family, birthdays and grading around.

Any suggestions on question to ask?

How many spell slots does Senichi get? I'm also inclined to commune with a lake spirit (water right?).

Senichi has 3 Fire, 2 Air, 3 Water, and 2 Earth spell slots available.


The area you are in is around the yellow star along Beiden Pass. The map is very abstract, as ancient maps typically are. In reality the Lake of Sorrows is nestled deep within the mountains, and big not nearly that big. However, from the royal maps you're all seen, you can tell that there is pretty much nothing but mountain wilderness all the way around the Lake, except for where it comes up to the Road where you are. A quick discussion with the locals tells you just as much: "No, lords. We are the only village on the Lake, and beyond the ridge is nothing but Shadowlands." (you realize that peasants tend to call all unsettled places "Shadowlands," so it's probably just unsettled alpine wilderness beyond the Lake. It would take days or weeks to trek the perilous wilderness south to reach the Wasp Clan foothills, and East is probably barren of civilization from here to the coast. The Scorpion provinces are southwest, definitely in the wrong direction of where the ships disappeared.



"Caves are all over the mountains, holy monk," says the old peasant woman, "and old places too." From his reading at the monastery, Kenta was struck at how the stories gave the impression of a great civilization of temples all around these parts, surrounding the Lake and crawling into the deep mountains. Old naga ruins, he assumes, abandoned when the naga all slithered away to the dreaded Shinomen Forest to fall into the Great Sleep, and inhabited by our human ancestors in the earliest days of the Empire.

Aiko describes where she saw the mystic fog enshrouding the bank, and the old woman confirms what Kenta suspects: "Yes yes, a silty channel cuts into the mountain there, difficult to see unless you come right up to it. It leads into a murky fen riddled with sinkholes and wolves and old toppled buildings. We never boat over there; terrible for fish, for boats, for spirits, for people. Terrible for everyone."


In Summary: there's a good chance the "dead" are using the hidden ruins of a naga temple in the middle of a fetid, swampy fen as a base of operations. Because of its location, by night they could easily slip in and out along the water and never be seen, so it all comes together. What or how exactly the mist shrouding their escape came to be is a mystery, although Senichi knows that shugenja magic can certainly be used to create that effect. If that's where you would like to go, the village has one good boat left, saved from the fires because it was sitting on the shore instead of tied to the dock. That would let you approach the mystic fog within say 20 minutes. Circling around the Lake by foot would get you there in two hours. It is almost noon.

OOC, I will try to consolidate Senichi's spirit questions into direct action by the party. I don't want yet another mid-round of Question-Answer before moving forward into action, so hopefully we can prepare for the approach and go through Senichi's questions all in one turn.

[Rex]

Kenta

"Perhaps some supplies and we could borrow a boat."

[GreyWolfVT]

Osaru bows his head "Yes, I was thinking the same Kenta."

[Captain Kinkajou]

Sorry for the delay, I was hoping to pick this part up more quickly to speed us from village to adventure site, but I've been juggling visiting family, birthdays and grading around.

No problem from my perspective. As always, I've been facing similar challenges finding any free time!

OOC, I will try to consolidate Senichi's spirit questions into direct action by the party. I don't want yet another mid-round of Question-Answer before moving forward into action, so hopefully we can prepare for the approach and go through Senichi's questions all in one turn.

Could we perhaps utilise Senichi's commune with water spirits to have them guide us to the ruined Naga Temple? The question I was proposing to ask them was basically "where did the attackers come from?" and this would answer that in a way that was helpful, given we already broadly know the answer.

"Let us ready ourselves for battle then," Aiko agrees determinedly. "Should we not also send word of what we have learned to Lord and Lady Nasu, and possibly the monks at the monastery? If our enemies prove too strong for us, I would not want the knowledge we have gained to be lost. Perhaps one of the surviving villagers could take a message?"

[Starbeard]

Could we perhaps utilise Senichi's commune with water spirits to have them guide us to the ruined Naga Temple? The question I was proposing to ask them was basically "where did the attackers come from?" and this would answer that in a way that was helpful, given we already broadly know the answer.

Yes, I think that would work. I will say it requires only one raise for the spell roll, since it the task is within the bounds of the water spirit's own element and you already have a general idea of where to go. So Senichi's Water spell roll would be 4k3 vs TN 10, unless a further raise is made (to ensure that the approach is from the an advantageous and hidden direction, for example, or to gain some specific information about the inhabitants) and/or a Void point is spent for +1k1.

[ffilz]

Made it, just barely:

[Starbeard]

(Update coming tonight, once I finish grading. In the meantime, my friend recommends Samurai Cat on Amazon Prime as a pretty funny and exciting parody of the Lone Wolf & Cub samurai trope. I saw only part of the first episode, but I'll try checking it out soon.)

[ffilz]

(Update coming tonight, once I finish grading. In the meantime, my friend recommends Samurai Cat on Amazon Prime as a pretty funny and exciting parody of the Lone Wolf & Cub samurai trope. I saw only part of the first episode, but I'll try checking it out soon.)

I suspect the Amazon Prime series has nothing to do with this: https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Samur ... 56&sr=8-13

I wish I hadn't got rid of The Adventures of Samurai Cat...

[Starbeard]

Pure Green Water Village, Beiden Pass [map]
Late Morning (Hour of the Serpent)
"Morning Day" in High Week, 7th of Long Month [calendar]
Weather is cold and cloudy but looking calm


Senichi performs the ritual to summon up the Lake’s spirit (I'm nixing the spell to summon the arrow's spirit, unless you want that one too Frank). The Lake is old and venerable, with much history, so the spirit is drawn out only with great effort: eventually the flickering, faded form of a goddess appears — the same one who came to Aiko in her vision!



She looks sluggish and distraught, and is in the middle of muttering strange words, like someone slowly waking from a bad dream.

“Sleeping in water and shadow, is my love. Thieves, the wind runs free among thieves. Where is my love? Hidden in shadow, sleeping…” and multiple variations of the same. Her voice is very soft and distant, as if echoing from out across the water.

Senichi clears his throat and addresses Lady Mizumi, the Goddess of the Lake. That gets her attention, and she looks toward the party but doesn’t really see them. “Who calls on us, shugenja?”

As they talk, her form slowly materializes into reality, but instead of her mesmerizing human avatar she appears before you as a simple winter crane. This minor avatar is only a mere reflection of her true godhood, a small slice of her manifold Consciousness plucked from the water and given life.



The crane avatar speaks fluently, but is only a sliver of the goddess’ thought and therefore lacks her knowledge. It speaks cryptically to the party: it tells of loneliness and lost love, and the cold chill of the howling winds. “Rattled free from its cage,” it says about the wind. “Thieves come to take what is ours, and now the cold wind runs free.”

When you ask about the bandit’s lair across the Lake, Lady Mizumi’s avatar perches onto the small rowing boat you’ve just dragged out to the water and waits for you to climb aboard. The crane flies into the sky and guides you to the now dissipating cloud of fog, which has vanished by the time you reach the far bank. “In these grottos live wolves, kappa, and sometimes men. None are friendly.”


SUMMARY OF THE SITUATION:
By water there is only one approach into the hidden marsh, up the tiny channel. Dense evergreen woods cover the area all around. You could approach on land from either side of the stream, hidden by the jagged slopes and dips and evergreen trees, but “hungered wolves and more,” as the goddess says ominously, are prowling around. Mischievous kappa live under stones and in the stream too, rascally little water creatures who like to trick their prey into accidental deaths before dragging them off to be eaten.

The back of the fen rests against a cliff, so unless you want to climb up there and descend down the mountainside Karate Kid III-style, then your only options are to paddle up the stream and risk kappa, or walk in from the side with maybe less risk of kappa but also aggressive wolves and who knows, maybe even a bear if you're unlucky.

Once in the marshy fen, you will find a few small, Angkor Wat style ruins half-sunk into the water, and all carved straight out of the stone of the mountain. The most notable complex rests in the middle of the fen (about 50 yards from any dry land), while a smaller structure rises out of the mud at the right edge of the fen. A third structure is carved straight into the cliffside in the rear. There are other minor rocks and buildings jutting up here and there, but these are the main structures.

Once you decide on your approach, I’ll send you a more detailed visual map of the place. The last bit of information that Lady Mizumi's minor avatar gives you is that "the men" are still there, they haven't left yet. If you want any more information about anything, you'll have to use another summon spell.




登場人物

• Kenta, monk: TN10, Init +2, naginata 7k4 (DR 6k3) | Hnr 2;7, Wnds (6) 0;0 | Void Pts 4/2
• Matsumoto Senichi, Unicorn shugenja: TN10, Init +2, wakizashi 4k3 (DR 4k2) | Hnr 3;2, Wnds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 4/2 | Spells: F3 - A2 - W2/3 - E2
  • Saburo (peasant retainer): 3E/3W/1F/1A/1V | TN5, Init +1, DR 1k1 | Hn 2;7 - Gl 0;0 - Wnds (6) 0;0 | Void Pts 3/1
• Mirumoto Aiko, Dragon bushi: no armor (TN20/5), Init +3, daisho 7k4/6k3 (DR 4k2) | Hnr 3;7, Wnds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 4/2 (crippled left arm)
• Yoshida Osaru, ronin: no armor (TN15), Init +3, katana 6k3/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Hnr 2;7 Wnds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 4/2

[Captain Kinkajou]

Aiko

"Lady Mizumi," Aiko breathes as she recognises the beautiful maiden from her dream. "It was she that came to me when I slept," she quietly informs the others.

The weight of the goddess's sorrow hangs heavy and Aiko listens carefully to her words. 'Sleeping in water and shadow, is my love. Thieves, the wind runs free among thieves. Where is my love? Hidden in shadow, sleeping…'

"She speaks of her consort, Lord Izumi, the dragon spirit of the mountain," Aiko whispers.

What had Lady Mizumi said in the dream? 'The Mountain sleeps, dreaming fitful dreams. Find the keys in water.'

But, of what water did she speak, Aiko wondered. Was it the lake or the dragon springs? Soon they would have to investigate but, for now, they had more pressing business in the fens.

OOC: Personally, I think we should probably try to approach on land but get as close as possible in the boat before disembarking. I don't like the sound of the kappa but the marshy ground will be difficult to traverse and with "wolves and more" reportedly roaming around, it doesn't sound any better. Perhaps the fact that we are being guided by an avatar of the Lady of the Lake will offer us some protection here. But, I'm very much open to any different ideas, as neither option seems particularly appealing.

I'm assuming our intent initially is to try to remain undetected and to scout out the three main structures and determine where our enemies are situated. Is everyone else of similar thinking? Again, if you have any different ideas, please shout. I'm not hard-set on anything, just trying to come up with a vague plan of action.

[Rex]

Kenta

"I feel by water at least initially, I think they must be close enough to the water since they are coming by boats."

[GreyWolfVT]

Osaru thinks it over... "By water initially does make sense to me, as Kenta points out they come by boat so they must dock somewhere."

[ffilz]

Taisho wants to look for where the bakemono-sho went. I don't want us to be surprised by him? coming back with his club. So he will start by turning in the direction the bakemono-sho was last seen and then scan.

[Starbeard]

Taisho wants to look for where the bakemono-sho went. I don't want us to be surprised by him? coming back with his club. So he will start by turning in the direction the bakemono-sho was last seen and then scan.

I think this probably belongs in the Bushido game!


Lake of Sorrows, Beiden Pass [map]
Noon (Hour of the Horse)
"Morning Day" in High Week, 7th of Long Month [calendar]
Weather is cold and cloudy but looking calm

After a quick discussion around the boat, it seems agreed: you will continue down the waterway at least for now, and disembark if and when it seems most prudent.

The channel wanders this way and that, swerving sharply around large boulders as it cuts through the mountainous forest. The deeper you go, the siltier and murkier the water gets, as if the hard banks were choking the little river—and the trees here are almost all evergreen, so you are plunged into dark shadows as well. At the prow of the boat, the crane avatar of Lady Mizumi suddenly croaks and says, “Here I leave you, I must return to myself.” The crane swiftly flies up and out of sight within moments—fading away or merging back into the water, you couldn't quite tell.

Now you are alone in the boat. Looking through the trees on either side, you occasionally see the telltale glimmer of wolves' eyes watching you from afar, but it's hard to tell whether they are actually following you or just taking a look.

A few times your boat is thumped aside gently by large rocks that sit just at or below the surface.

Suddenly, you round the corner of a particularly large boulder and spy a small boat pulled up onto a reed- and tree-laden section of the left bank. It is abandoned, but there are several large woven baskets inside.




登場人物

• Kenta, monk: TN10, Init +2, naginata 7k4 (DR 6k3) | Hnr 2;7, Wnds (6) 0;0 | Void Pts 4/2
• Matsumoto Senichi, Unicorn shugenja: TN10, Init +2, wakizashi 4k3 (DR 4k2) | Hnr 3;2, Wnds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 4/2 | Spells: F3 - A2 - W2/3 - E2
  • Saburo (peasant retainer): 3E/3W/1F/1A/1V | TN5, Init +1, DR 1k1 | Hn 2;7 - Gl 0;0 - Wnds (6) 0;0 | Void Pts 3/1
• Mirumoto Aiko, Dragon bushi: no armor (TN20/5), Init +3, daisho 7k4/6k3 (DR 4k2) | Hnr 3;7, Wnds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 4/2 (crippled left arm)
• Yoshida Osaru, ronin: no armor (TN15), Init +3, katana 6k3/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Hnr 2;7 Wnds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 4/2