1st Scroll - The Will of Nobles - 1st - 3rd Days

[jmacatty]

OOC: LOL, I keep getting confused. This time made worse due to the request for AC in both groups!

[jemmus]

The boy returns with a weathered peasant woman maybe around 35 years old and a girl of around 12 years old. The woman carries a basket of white rice and the girl carries a basket with spinach and daikon radishes. The woman seems a little tired and stressed. Perhaps because of the missing villagers? The old priest looks a little pitying at her, but doesn't say anything. The woman and girl bow to the travelers and the priest. They wait for the travelers to ask the prices, and when asked, the woman says,. For rice, we ask for 1 copper for four cups. For daikon, 1 copper four 4. For spinach, 1 copper for one bunch. We apologize, we have no fish. The travelers purchase what they want.

Well then, let's proceed to Chiyo-san, the kamunushi says. The travelers follow him to the Kohshu-Kaidoh and head northwest on it, back the way they came from earlier this morning. As they get close to Neno-san, they meet three armored samurai riders riding at a quick lope. The banners affixed to the backs of their armor have a three diamonds clan emblem.

They rein in their horses, cautiously look the travelers over, holding their dai-kyu. Then, without a word, they urge their horses to a walk and then a lope and ride past.

The group continues on the highway past Neno-san, about the same distance again that they've come so far. The kamunushi stops and points to a mountain on the west side of the road. It appears to be an ordinary forested mountain, like any other in this part of Kai. There is Chiyo-san. The best of luck to you. Come to the shrine if you need purifying again. He turns and heads back toward Neno-san.

There’s a woodcutters’ trail leading up the foot of the mountain. In the not too far distance, a plume of smoke rises above the trees in the still, cool autumn air.

Please state if you purchase anything from the woman and girl. Four cups of rice is enough for one person for two days.

If anybody wants to retcon and interact with any of the NPCs (women, samurai, priest), please feel free.

Is Omi wearing his heavy samurai armor?

Any PCs from Shinano recognize the samurai horsmen's kamon emblem. Kentaro and Katsumi are from there, I’ll PM them. Anyone else? Kentaro and Katsumi can choose to share the information if they want, or not.

[ffilz]

Taisho is from Shinano also (Taisho is from a village near Uyeda). Taisho will purchase 8 cups rice, 8 daikon, 2 bunches spinach to have food for 4 days.

[jmacatty]

Omi will make the same purchase as Taisho.

[Marullus]

(quick reply while I have a signal...)

Kentaro contemplates the food and his coins. Saving face, he asks for two days rice (2cp), and pays 3cp, catching the pitying look of the priest and giving over half of what he has left.

Before going into the woods, he checks for tracks.

Tracking [1d20]=10

[spanningtree]

Ito buys 12 cups of rice, 8 daikons and 2 bunches of spinach. He'll hand the woman 9 copper pieces and thanks her.

Yes, let's be off to the village.

[Enoch]

Katsumi will make the same purchase.

[jemmus]

It's the second half of the hour of the serpent. At the foot of the narrow woodcutters' trail up the side of Neno-san, the big bushi Kentaro kneels on one knee. He doesn't make out any recent tracks in the rather damp orange, yellow and red fallen leaves.

a) It's around 10:00 AM. Do you head up the trail now? Or wait? Or do something else?

b) Please state your position in a single file marching order (front, middle or back). We also need someone to specify that they're taking point.

c) Riders, are you mounted or walking your horse? You can ride up the trail, for at least the first part of it.

d) I'll assume that Omi is in his full heavy samurai armor, unless stated otherwise.

[Marullus]

Kentaro inhales deeply of the pine-scented mountain air, ready to go immediately. It is clear he more comfortable here than he was looking like a misplaced circus bear in the home of the ninyo. He respectfully offers to lead up the trail and take point while also deferring to the authority of Ito and Omi and their right to take that honor themselves. If they wish to go first, he will humbly protect the rear to not allow Katsumi to be unguarded, leading his horse while on foot.

The broad bushi ruminates on the three riders they saw on the road. "Those samurai riders are from the Ogasawara clan of Shinano. They wouldn't normally be here in Takeda territory, and are well-known for their skill in peaceful arts. To rouse them to war is dire indeed..." He trails off, leaving his thoughts about implications unspoken.

[jemmus]

I should have thought of this before, but being in the lead was a big deal among the samurai. There were a lot of examples of that causing trouble.
Captains of two forces sent to defeat an enemy army got into a brawl over which force would go into battle first. Their lord demoted one of them for it.

A battle was lost because a general didn't follow the plan. He wanted to be the first into combat and jumped the gun. Another demotion, compelled seppuku narrowly avoided.

When Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi pacified Japan at the end of the Age of Warring States (16th century), he sent some his most power daimyo to invade Korea. When they got there, they immediately started squabbling about whose army would lead along the invasion route. Everyone was so insulted that they couldn't coordinate forces any more. They split the army into two groups going north on each side of the central mountain range. The two weakened and isolated groups got defeated separately and the whole campaign was a humiliating disaster for the samurai in general. (MacArthur made the same mistake in the Korean War, btw. The same strategy of moving forward with two weakened forces separated by the mountain range).

If we're going to RP this in Nippon, the PCs should assume that high rank samurai Omi will take point. He wouldn't want to walk behind ronin, heimin or eta if there's a possibility of battle.

[Marullus]

More OOC...

I think that plays out here in the rules, though it only applies at the Battle scale, not general adventuring. Though, I did propose the house rule to encourage this kind of roleplay by allowing the On reward outside of formal Battles.

Strategy
Often, players will have the opportunity to set up a plan of battle
before charging into a combat situation. The Player Character who
proposes and/or oversees an effective strategy (one which the
Gamesmaster feels shows clear thought and workability) should
receive Budo in proportion to the plan's effectiveness. Strategy that
even comes close to succeeding as planned should earn the
strategist a percentage (10%?) of the total Budo gained by his party
in the fray. A good plan that just did not work out should still be worth
1 point ("A for Effort").
If more than one player is responsible, equal rewards should goto
all concerned. But each player may designate only ONE Player
Character as the recipient, ie. the planner. Poor plans will very likely
carry their own consequences, and the survivors should not be
further penalized.
Command
A character leading a body of troops in a Tactical or Strategic
Battle will gain Budo for every Battle Turn his troops win. The
amount of Budo awarded is the ratio of the odds he faces in that
Turn. Thus, if he wins a Battle Turn where the odds AGAINST him
are 2:1, he gains 2 Budo points. If the odds are 1:1, the Turn is worth 1
point, and so on.

For the purposes of Nippon this amplifies (and is the basis of Taka having that skill originally, though I suggested Frank swapping it for Tea Ceremony going forward.

Based on legends and historical incidents in the saga of Nippon,
many women, their male relatives dead or captured, proved their
expertise in the Bugei of strategy (Chikujo-kutsu and Senjo-jutsu) at
the head of the Clan's armies or within its fortresses. Study in these
Bugei would therefore be a logical choice for the female Buke,
especially one who functions as a Bushi.

[ffilz]

Yea, I still need to update Taka's sheet with the suggested skill changes...

What were they again?

[jmacatty]

Omi will look around the group and say, Of course I will lead. Please do not be so presumptous in the future.

[jemmus]

Omi and his horse take the lead, followed by Ito, Taisho, Katsumi, and finally Kentaro and Tafu. The woodcutter's trail going up the mountain is pretty easy going. But the brush to either side is fairly dense-- denser than on Neno-san. The trees are also not as high, the canopy is sparser, and more sunlight reaches the forest floor. It's a comparatively young forest. The travelers guess that a fire may have burned the old forest away some years ago.

The trail begins to wind and switch back along steeper ground. Rocks and boulders jut out of the ground, with more and more frequency the higher the travelers go. Above to the right, the sound of wood chopping is heard. As the party continues on, they smell wood smoke in the air. Smell seems to be to the right. A narrow trail branches off in that direction. The main trail toward the top of the mountain continues forward.

Feel free to change your spot in the marching order, or retcon any other actions. We haven't had much posting lately (and nothing very dramatic to post about), so I wanted to move the action along.

[spanningtree]

Ito will take a moment to don his armor and string his bow.

[jmacatty]

Omi will dismount and lead his horse. He will turn to follow the less used trail.

[Marullus]

Kentaro brings up the rear, keeping a wary eye out to prevent ambush from behind. But the group's movement ahead of him spoils any chance he has of observing tracks and as they say, if you're not the lead dog, the view never changes.

Hidden Things [1d20]=15

[jemmus]

The travelers walk and lead their horses along the smaller trail branching to the right. Ahead is the sound of an axe chopping wood and the smell of wood smoke. They can now hear the sound of wood being sawed coming from the area as the chopping sound. Not far along the trail, they come to a clearing and see a hovel made of sticks and thatch, with sawn logs and tall straw baskets around.

A weathered woman of indeterminate age is using a wooden pole to push logs and branches into a rude kiln made of mountain stones. Wood smoke hangs in the air around the clearing. These are charcoal burners.

Spying the travelers, the woman starts and yells out in a surprisingly loud voice that carries across the mountainside, Anata! Kichi! Come! Hurry! She stands, holds her pole, and eyes the armored bushi and other travelers without saying a word. Soon two men are seen running through the trees, approaching the clearing from the right side. One seems to be about the woman's age and carries a saw. The other would seem to be about the age of his son and carries a woodsman's axe. They seem even more weathered, wizened and worn than regular field peasants. They stand before the party, also not saying a word, not even showing any expression on their faces. The don't gawk at the sight of three bushi armored as if for war, a gakusho, a budoka, and two warhorses in their isolated mountain camp or home. It seems that their lives are so hard that they are inured to any kind of unpleasant surprise. Or any kind of unexpected thing at all.

Actions please.
The images are from this short documentary about Japanese charcoal burners. It's from the 1930s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIBjW7reOp0

[spanningtree]

Ito wait for Omi to open the conversation.

[jmacatty]

Omi will look at the three peasants and say, What are you doing here? Who has given you permission to operate this fire here?