Tama no Ha - Blade of Jade (Inactive)

Game Master Dreaming Warforged

The wizard smiles and pats the massive golem, "That is fine. may he stay on the vessel? I hope your cousin is not so formidable that I require the aid of such a creation."

"Good idea! Is it ok if we hide it under this tarp? He won't move, right?"

After all is settled, you follow Akimoto through the docks and into a smaller alley. A green lantern marks the entrance of the drinking establishment. There are no doors, just a faded and tattered short curtain hanging above the entrance, its crimson letters spelling The Smelly Shellfish. You can hear murmurs, laughters, and banters through the curtain. A shabby shamisen provides some kind of ambiance, though from the sound the player seems to be missing both hands.

Any preparations before you enter?

Other then prestidigitation to look and smell clean. Does the boatman seem a bit ripe?

The boatman, though his clothes look old and worn, is otherwise quite clean. He doesn't shave the three hair on his chin too often, but he washes.

Then nothing, I follow him inside. Looking for signs of magic.

Mitsui parts the curtain and steps inside. It takes but a moment for his eyes to get accustomed to the darkest interior.

One cannot but wonder how its is that the Smelly Shellfish has not collapsed into a pile of firewood ages ago. The walls are crude assemblies of old planks, splashed more than painted a dark blue, with white speckles.

Smoke fills the room, and the smell of mainland cigars is pungent. It mixes uneasily with the fishy smell of old seafood and spilled sake. Four low tables are set around the space, with the farthest two occupied. At the first table, Mitsui can spy a group of four Tengus playing a game of cards and drinking merrily. At the second table, a Wayang and a Tian are locked in a deep discussion.

In the corner, a Tian woman in her twenties plays the shamisen, though you wish she would not. Her hair is arranged in the style of the geishas of the Red Lantern district, but there is no charm to her demeanour, just crudeness.

An opening behind a counter located to your right seems to lead to a small kitchen. From the entrance emerges an elderly Tian-looking woman, but her skin is light blue and her silvery eyes shine bright through the smoke rising from her thin cigar. She smiles, looking behind you and says: "Akimoto, welcome! I see you brought a friend..."

Akimoto introduces you, bowing a million times: "Nerata, please meet Mitsui. Can we grab a table and eat something?" You take a seat at the nearest table. Food and sake arrive almost immediately. The sake is fresh and the assortment of raw seafood is both plentiful and extraordinarily fresh.

Nerata glides over to you and takes a seat at the table. She enquires of Akimoto's fate, and the conversation turns to the difficult times of the regency. Finally, Nerata turns to you. Her voice is harsh, and her manners crude, but she is otherwise respectful. She looks at you and asks: "I've never seen you around. You're not from the docks. A traveler perhaps?"

Mitsui takes this all in, observing. A lifetime in a isolated basement does not prepare one for a smoky and crowded tavern full of people. The noise alone is enough to put the wizard one edge but he focuses on the woman in front of him.

"My name is Mitsui Soichrio. It is not surprising you haven't seen me before. I was....born yesterday, you might say." he smiles mysteriously. 'But as to your guess, it is not far off. I wish to become a traveler, for I hear the world has many wonders worth seeing."

Casually the Tian wizard uses Mage Hand to slide the chopsticks to himself, and to lift his sake.

Nerata raises an eyebrow at your display of magic, but otherwise makes no comment. Akimo just shrugs, having seen the golem seems to have been enough for a year.

"All right, traveler Mitsui, the docks are but a few steps away. With the right paperwork, you can get on a boat to pretty much everywhere... I can recommend good captains and keep you away from bad ones, if you'd like." she replies back.

Mitsui leans back, idly wondering at the game here.

'I hear right paperwork can be difficult and often involves bribing people who have enough rice in their bowls." the wizard says, sipping the sake correctly, his protocol probably wildly out of place here.

"But surely you already know that? Things are hard for simple travelers these days."

"Hmm... Yes, official papers are hard to obtain, and bribes do not always work. And yes, I've heard of many travelers using either smugglers or forgers to fix their problems. You sound like you'd be willing to go through all that trouble. May I ask where you're heading and why?" Nerata asks, her silvery eyes locked on yours.

The wizard smiles, "Is not the point of such channels the avoidance of such questions?"

He looks around, "I doubt many in this establishment would be willing to answer questions posed from a stranger, no matter how charming." he inclines his head respectfully.

'But I also understand the value of what I ask. Perhaps I can do something for you? I have some..powers that are useful. That way you are repaid and I am kept safe."

"A fair point... However, you seem to believe that I am in league with smugglers and forgers. I can assure you: I am not. We all know what comes of those caught by the Regent's authorities. They are in the cages in the harbour. You can see them from the quay. Bandits are immersed but for their head. Between exhaustion and the fish..." She pauses and her eyes water.

Sense Motive please.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25

Mitsui can tell that she's personally involved in some ways with those bandits in cages. Also, she seems not to trust you. She's cautious of not being accused of helping smugglers. Perhaps she thinks you're spying for the Regent?

The wizard stands up and bows, "But I am rash, of course we are all loyal subjects of the Regent here. Upstanding and law abiding citizens. Still, we may not trust each other." He adds sarcasm to his voice, just enough to raise a few smiles and eyebrows.

A pause then, "Is there something I can do for you to earn your trust? Something to prove we are...all on the same side?"

Nerata looks at Mitsui, bemused, then to Akimoto, who nods, then she finds her words and says, her voice a bit strangled: "I- I have a f- a friend who's been put in one of those cages. Could you find a way to... To make his pain go away..? He'll have a message for me... He probably will..."

Mitsui nods, "I would do this anyway. No man should live in a cage, no matter his crime. yes, lawbreakers should be punished but to do so..."

He turns to Akimoto, "Can we go take a look at these suffering people?"

Akimoto swallows hard and nods, though it is obvious he's quite fearful. He says: "Ok, ok, I will, but you have to promise to keep your head down and not to draw too much attention on you. I don't want to end up in a cage!"

You follow him out of the hovel and towards the main harbour. You walk for a long time to get there, and notice how the piers just keep getting bigger and bigger, and so do the ships. As well, there are more and more officials walking around. Most look to be on some business, walking fast, with purpose, with scrolls and tablets in their hands, but enough of them are patrolling, asking questions, stopping people, and glaring at others.

Finally, you reach the central harbour. The ships here are meant to face the greatest seas. They are gigantic affairs with incredibly complex sets of riggings and sails, through which sailors of all races climb like spiders. Some of them are so nimble they seem to fly.

Finally, where two great imperial ships, dressed in red, green, and gold, you notice a concentration of guards on the quay. Between the ships, extend two long piers, reaching fifty feet into the water. Another fifty feet separates the two piers. The quay and the two piers form an empty square of water between the two ships. Not exactly empty, as you quickly realize, for inside the square of water are a hundred small cages, partly immersed in the mix of fresh and salty water.

In the cages are men, women, again of all races. Some of the captives still stand strong, some are broken, some on the brink of death, some mere corpses, floating grotesquely. The salty smell of the nearby sea keeps the smells bearable.

On each pier, five guards patrol back and forth, laughing with one another or tormenting prisoners. You see one of the guards walking on the cages, jumping from one to the other, to reach the other pier.

Akimoto is now a light shade of green and his pleading eyes beg you to go back.

Ooh, fun mission...

'We will do nothing to risk you, Akimoto. This is not your fight." The wizard says bowing.

His eyes take in everything as they walk, the busy port a cornucopia of sights, sounds and smells. It was one thing to read about the great harbors of the world, quite another to see it. A few times a giant ship takes his breath and he clutches at the pocket where Ioun Wynd rests, out of sight.

The sight of the cages however, brought the young man down to earth quickly. Face flat and hard, he mutters, "Inhuman."

Knowing they have limited time, the wizard tries to absorb everything.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Knowledge Engineering: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21
Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31
Knowledge Local: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (1) + 19 = 20

If I have time, I scan for Magic as well

Mitsui takes in the details of the scene with his habitual ease. Strangely, he finds little difference between the scholarly world of books and this one. Perhaps the World is a giant book after all, as the ancient philosopher Musetada had implied?

The great ships radiate powerful, overwhelming magic. Otherwise, he spots a handful of people with magical means, one of which looks like he is in charge of this odious enterprise.

The wizard shakes his mind free of the theological and philosophical ramifications of Musetada's work and back to the task at hand.

He nudges Akimoto, "I think we will free all of them, or most, not merely our intended. This is a barbaric practice. But we must not linger, you are right. Let us return, slowly, to your cousin."

Can I see what the cages are made of and how they are kept from just floating into the surf and ocean beyond?

The cages are made of some kind of rusty but thick iron bars. You can't figure out how the cages float or are prevented from sinking. You would need to get much closer to do so and see beyond the surface.

I am ready to retreat for now. This will take some planning and I need to get a timetable on our long our man has been trapped in a cage.
Actually, I also need his name and a description.

You find you way back to the Smelly Shellfish. Nerata moves quickly to your side and gazes, perhaps testing your will, with her silvery eyes.

The other patrons purposefully ignore you, and the shamisen keeps "playing."

'Many cages do float
Escape seems unlikely
Same as the nation'

Mitsui says then shakes his head, "I was always bad at poetry. Too literal minded. Anyway, tell me of your friend. His name, a description."

"The cages are terrible...how long has this crime been going on?"

Nerata looks at you hesitantly: "So you'll do it..?"

Then rays of hope pour forth from her and she grabs your hand with hers. Though she keeps her voice down, she's visibly thrilled: "His name is Hido. He is far from the quay, near the left pier. They cut his left ear off before they threw him in the cage. You can't miss him."

Akimoto answers your second question: "Just- just don't get caught! They've always put people in cages in the harbour, but recently, they're worried about security. Lots of agitators. So they've added cages."

Nerata glares at him: "Ten times more, you mean! There used to be only ten cages there, before the emperor went into hiding. It used to be they'd put the worst criminals there. Now, you can end up there just because you make a comment in front of the wrong person." she adds, whispering.

Mitsui ponders this. It was clear he would need a plan. Simply wandering in would be foolish....He turns back to Nerata. "How long has Hido been imprisoned? Do I have time to plan? If so, do you have a room I can use? Who is knowledgeable about the system and yet can be trusted, anyone?"

Nerata swallows hard and explains: "Two days. Most don't last two days, but he's tougher than most. None ever gets past four... You can use this place. There's a desk in the back, beside the kitchen. What system do you mean?"

"Then time is of essence...As for the system. I meant the cages, the guards...is there anyone who has been fired recently? Perhaps a sailor from one of the ships? Someone who may have more intimate knowledge? If not, I will have to go explore more thoroughly myself. I will not be able to free him tonight but hopefully tomorrow..."

Already cooking a crazy plan

Nerata frowns: "Asking sailors is dangerous. They may sell you out for coins. Times have been harder for them with the restrictions around the harbour. Less work, less pay, same needs... There's been more violence as a result, and more cages filled..."

Mitsui remembers now, as he cooks up a plan, seeing a complex set of levers on the dock not too far from the water. A sergeant was hanging out near the levers. From what you know of machines, they might command the cages in some way. You were not able to examine them closely, but there were more than ten such levers.

If there was a major fire, would guards from the cages and docks go to help or is there a civil service of firefighters for that? trying to think of a distraction."

Knowledge local?

Knowledge Local: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30

As far as you can tell, these guards may very well ignore the fire. They'll follow their sergeant's orders.

That being said, it is likely that the sergeant will seek to cover his ass both ways by splitting his troops and sending some towards the fire. How many will depend on his perception of the fire and how much trouble he might get into.