AIKO
Attack roll 17, hit!
Damage roll 16 (60 hits taken, monster slain!)
…No other attack rolls needed
Round 2 "SsOoBbEeIiTt," cries Gekido, its mangled dog head breaking apart down the middle to form an identical pair, each towering above on the end of a long, anfractuous neck. The cold matter of the Void drips from the open wounds of the sundering before they congeal back into material flesh. With death-howls Gekido's two heads whip about in a frenzy, lashing out at Senichi and Aiko, the two samurai with weapons capable of slaying it.
One maw latches onto Senichi around the chest and lifts him up, ragged teeth crushing into his rib cage! The other bites down fiercely on Aiko's left arm, forcing her to drop her wakizashi as it shakes violently, threatening to rip her arm from her body. Crushed and dragged against the packed snow, the warrior maiden lifts Harada's blade into the air and blindly thrusts the tip deep into Gekido's neck. The oni rears back as though struck by lightning, reflexively throwing the two samurai aside and belching out a hateful curse in the language of the Shadowlands before collapsing in death!
With the oni named Gekido slain, the flurry of wind and snow dies down. The rest of the party rushes to the aid of the fallen. Senichi is badly wounded almost to the point of collapse, his robes rent asunder, but otherwise is alive and well (18 hits taken to the torso, dropping him to Wound Rank -4 with 2 hits; though the attack wasn't enough to disable him). Aiko received the worst of it: the demon's bite crushed her left arm to a pulp, going straight through to leave vicious teeth marks across her chest (18 hits taken to the left arm, also dropping her to Wound Rank -4 with 2 hits; the attack destroyed her arm, regrettably ending her ability to use her Dragon Bushi daisho technique, and making her TN 5 against that attacks from that side unless she opts for a full defense; powerful ritual healing may be the only way her arm can be restored without resorting to dark blood magic).
When Koga attempts to lift Aiko up, she cries out in pain. Her deep wound is still bleeding out (1 hit per 10 minutes).
Will the Path to Inner Peace work on Aiko's arm? Not that Senichi is in a great place to use it...
Re: 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:55 pm
by Captain Kinkajou
Aiko
Aiko feels sick and giddy. She's lying on her back in the snow but the world is spinning. She tries to bravely bear the terrible agony in her left arm and breast but the pain is too intense. She weeps hot tears. Her body seems small and frail, and trembles uncontrollably with a combination of shock and cold. Maybe this is what death feels like, Aiko thinks.
Then...
"I...it... is...d...d...done...G... g... go... now... R...r...rest... in... p...p...peace Harada," she manages to mumble through chattering teeth.
For a moment, she thinks she sees him standing there in the haze beyond Koga, but then he is gone and she can't be sure if she had just imagined it.
Re: 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:07 pm
by GreyWolfVT
GreyWolfVT wrote:Osaru halts in his attack "A truce? How do we know you will honor the truce and that what you say is true?" the ronin holds up a hand but appears to be too late in trying to get the others to hold their attacks.
so due to my init appears this didn't apply at all then yes? If that is the case i will attempt the same again... or wait is the thing dead?
Re: 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:35 pm
by Starbeard
GreyWolfVT wrote:
GreyWolfVT wrote:Osaru halts in his attack "A truce? How do we know you will honor the truce and that what you say is true?" the ronin holds up a hand but appears to be too late in trying to get the others to hold their attacks.
so due to my init appears this didn't apply at all then yes? If that is the case i will attempt the same again... or wait is the thing dead?
The parley would have applied regardless of initiative order, but the other characters were already attacking and expressed no interest in trying to reason with the thing, so I ruled that they'd get their attacks in first, and if the oni still survived after that it would continue to parley with you. Fortunately/unfortunately it died before you could hear it out!
Re: 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:54 pm
by GreyWolfVT
Starbeard wrote:
The parley would have applied regardless of initiative order, but the other characters were already attacking and expressed no interest in trying to reason with the thing, so I ruled that they'd get their attacks in first, and if the oni still survived after that it would continue to parley with you. Fortunately/unfortunately it died before you could hear it out!
Got it. TY Starbeard!
Osaru shakes his head "Guess nobody has any honor here..."
Re: 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass
Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 5:40 am
by Rex
Kenta
Kenta performs medicine on Aiko. "Steady, let me help."
Good thinking and nice roll. I just looked it up and neither the 1st edition rulebook, GM Screen or GM's guide have anything to say about how medicine actually works, so we'll go with the rule in the 2nd edition GM's Guide, which makes it an Intelligence + Medicine roll with the TN = wounds taken.
That means your TN is 18 and you've succeeded with a 24, so Aiko is healed 2 wounds (your Medicine skill rank), stabilizing her and bringing her up to 0 wounds on Wound Rank -4. She will also double her natural healing rate to twice her Earth rank in hits per night of rest.
Aiko cannot distinguish between the snow and what may or may not be the ghost of Harada standing before her, but from somewhere she hears a bittersweet sigh as the katana blade clutched in her deathgrip suddenly feels light and free. Despair and anger are lifted from her like a veil, leaving only contentment to shine through the pain that wracks her body. (Aiko no longer suffers from being haunted and may use Void again!)
The monk Kenta kneels and retrieves some herbs and salts from his pouch, then begins a meditative ritual of medicinal healing with a gentle grace uncharacteristic of the huge man. Aiko's wound stops bleeding and her blurred vision returns.
The others look upon the two-headed corpse of Gekido, its flesh softly crackling as it slowly, imperceptibly dissolves into the ground, eventually to sprout a small patch of the Shadowlands here in Rokugan.
Osaru studies the demon's hideous form, wrestling inwardly with his fierce sense of honor, seeing how his companions would strike down a foe who was attempting to parley, demon or no.
Senichi sniffs the air suspiciously and knows that they have already placed themselves dangerously close of the Taint of the Shadowlands as it is, and from now on they should be careful what they touch.
Everyone gets an Honor reward for heroic courage against Gekido, and for duty/loyalty in helping Aiko to fulfil the terms of her curse:
Aiko (Dragon): +4 points, to Honor Rank 3;6
Koga (Dragon): +2 points, to Honor Rank 2;7
Kenta (Shinsei): +2 points, to Honor Rank 2;7
Senichi (Unicorn): +3 points, to Honor Rank 3;1 (increased an Honor Rank!)
Saburo (Peasant): +2 points, to Honor Rank 2;7
Osaru (Ronin*): +3 points, to Honor Rank 2;7
"We must find somewhere to rest, preferably warm."
Re: 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2019 2:28 pm
by GreyWolfVT
Osaru nods his head "You are right and I agree we should find a warm place to rest or shelter in which we could build a small fire to warm up by."
Re: 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2019 6:36 pm
by ffilz
ffilz wrote:Senichi manages a pained Well fought.
Will the Path to Inner Peace work on Aiko's arm? Not that Senichi is in a great place to use it...
Did I miss a response to this? Senichi will need some treatment also, though not as desperately.
Re: 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2019 6:38 pm
by ffilz
Starbeard wrote:Everyone gets an Honor reward for heroic courage against Gekido, and for duty/loyalty in helping Aiko to fulfil the terms of her curse:
Senichi (Unicorn): +3 points, to Honor Rank 2;9
Did I miss an honor loss for Senichi? I have him as 2;8
Re: 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2019 7:53 pm
by Captain Kinkajou
Aiko
As Kenta performs his healing ritual and binds Aiko's wounds, the agonising pain eases somewhat and her bleeding subsides. She still looks deathly pale and shivers, her bloody useless arm painfully limp, but the darkness at the edge of her vision recedes and she returns to full consciousness.
"Th... thank... you," she manages to breath gratefully to Kenta, her teeth still chattering from the shock and cold. "S... Senichi... i... is... S... Senichi... alright?"
Re: 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:56 pm
by Starbeard
ffilz wrote:
Starbeard wrote:Everyone gets an Honor reward for heroic courage against Gekido, and for duty/loyalty in helping Aiko to fulfil the terms of her curse:
Senichi (Unicorn): +3 points, to Honor Rank 2;9
Did I miss an honor loss for Senichi? I have him as 2;8
Hmm. Senichi went up to 2;8 here, back at Kakita Castle and Yego's duel. For some reason my PC stat blocks at the bottom of the posts switched him to 2;6 here, when you left Daidoji Castle, but I don't see any honor losses in between, so it had to be a bizarre typo, since I usually just cut and paste those.
Congratulations! Senichi's gone up an Honor Rank, to 3;1! I'll edit the post above to fix the mistake.
Re: 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2019 9:10 pm
by Starbeard
ffilz wrote:
ffilz wrote:Senichi manages a pained Well fought.
Will the Path to Inner Peace work on Aiko's arm? Not that Senichi is in a great place to use it...
Did I miss a response to this? Senichi will need some treatment also, though not as desperately.
Sorry. Yes, this will heal wounds in addition to what Kenta healed with his medicine skill.
The arm will forever be lame and unusable in combat, however. From the sidebar on page 150 in the chapter on spells:
MAGICAL HEALING
The spell "Path to Inner Peace" allows a shugenja to heal Wounds, but that is the extent of magical healing. In Rokugan, magical healing does not mend broken bones or restore lost limbs or extremities. In other words, if you've taken a wound that has cost you seventeen Wounds and an eye, you can get the Wounds back, but you're going to be wearing an eyepatch for the rest of your life."
There are several ways to restore Aiko's arm, however. One is to research Maho, the blood magic of the Shadowlands. Even studying it is forbidden, because using maho requires at least some blood from a living being, and every time you cast a spell you gain some Shadowlands points.
Another way is to seek out powerful ritual magic or favors from the celestial spirits. This would be the result of an adventure that involved chasing after vague rumors, like of ancient pool of healing deep in Shinomen Forest or whatnot.
Kenta, Aiko and Koga are also familiar with rumors of a third option: to seek out the tattooed monks of the Dragon Clan. They are hyper-reclusive, and even the members of their own clan know little about them. It is rumored that some have even mastered the secrets of immortality and invulnerability. They live high up in the most inaccessible mountains of the Dragon provinces, and those they do not wish to see will become lost on the paths leading up to the monasteries.
Re: 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass
Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 5:24 am
by Rex
Kenta
Kenta moves on to Senichi and tries to help him as well. "Stay still now well I work."
The snow dissipates and with it, so too does a fugue that had settled upon Koga since his injury days ago. The trees coming into focus around him are unfamiliar, the tainted corpse on the ground oozes Strangeness. He registers his skin prickling in the cold, his breath misting in the air, and tightness of the wretched puckered scar across his cheek.
Something else is amiss. There; on an unnaturally crimson snow, a figure lies still and alone.
Aiko...?
Koga blinks, unable to comprehend what he is seeing.
Aiko... Why would she be lying like that? Is that... blood?
"No no no... Aiko!" Koga rushes through the snow, and collapses to his knees at Aiko's side. Her arm looks wrong. He tries to hold her hand but it is blood soaked and unresponsive. Without thought, he checks the wound and treatments thoroughly - everything that can be done here has been. "Sister, this isn't right. This can't happen. Not to you."
ooc: As an academic I think Koga would check the wounds (whilst having a bit of a breakdown) but I presume that Kenta's treatment precludes a further check.
or wait is the thing dead?