"On foot sounds good - I'd like that very much" says Dunja as she readjusts her pack. This was how she preferred to travel. Lightweight without having to constantly fret over some hairy beast. Why, she was almost looking forward to this!
Yanyeeku pulls his ruan in anticipation of the road ready to play a song...Let's Away!
As the others gather after making what purchases they anticipate, Kasani arrives astride Zefā. She glances at Dunja and cocks her head to the side, "What, no horse for you? But this is a perfect time to practice!"
Lingfeng joins Zamu in shopping for rations, eagerly awaiting the group's departure.
The group does some quick shopping in town, and begins to set out on the road that afternoon.
Just a few miles outside the city, the group runs into a large group of soldiers who are stopping and searching all travellers. "Hoi! Halt and be searched, on order of Hόu Non'Chi!" The lead soldier yells at the group, eyeing them suspiciously. Nearby, several soldiers with green garb with orange trim gather their weapons as the leader begins ordering the group to submit to a search.
As the others gather after making what purchases they anticipate, Kasani arrives astride Zefā. She glances at Dunja and cocks her head to the side, "What, no horse for you? But this is a perfect time to practice!"
"Practice walking, yeah" says Dunja with a sly look, though she backs away a bit from the house.
----
Dunja hangs out at the rear of the party and starts to examine the shoulders. Was their group one that would be looking for Migari? Were they confiscating any goods from the other travelers?
Dunja speaks quietly to the rest of her companions, just enough for them to hear.
"Don't worry friends, it looks like just a routine search. Shouldn't be too much of an issue so just let them do their work."
Kasani raises her hands, the gesture inviting the search as she fixes her lidless gaze on whichever soldier approaches her first. "Is there something in particular you're looking for?" Her voice is smooth and her tone helpful as she submits to the search. She grins at the others, "It is good for us all, I think, that Nintao and her spirited steed did not accompany us."
A frown spreads across Lingfeng's face as she realizes there's little chance she can get past these men without a search. "Just great," she grumbles. "Let's just beware of wandering hands, shall we?"
Assuming nothing untoward happens when Kasani is searched, Lingfeng offers herself up next just to get it over with.
Yanyeeku offers a toothy grin and participates in the search without a word.
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Kimiko submits to any search with a little shrug.
The soldiers look through the group's belongings, dumping out packs on the ground with little care for what's in them, and turning belt pouches inside out and dumping them on the ground. They also empty the saddlebags on Kasani's horse.
When they are done, they look annoyed. "Alright, get your stuff and get out of here..." The lead soldier says with annoyance and moves off to stop the next group of peasants coming down the road. Soon the peasants are getting the same treatment, their belongings dumped on the road.
Suddenly the soldier cries out as the peasant's draw daggers and begin attacking the soldiers! Blood splatters the dusty road!
As the soldiers rifle through her things and empty contents to the dirt, Kasani's tone turns icy. "I was going to offer to help, but if you're going to be this disrespectful then you can hunt for whatever precious little thing you've lost on your own." Shaking her head at the soldier's poor display, she sets to recovering her gear along with anyone else's.
As cries ring out behind them, her hand flashes reflexively to the haft of her naginata as she looks over at the peasants. "Truth be told, after how we were just treated, I've a mind to stand with those poor folk against the soldiers." She looks at the others of her group and, if she sees a similar spark in any of their eyes, she makes ready to rush over to the crowd.
Kimiko starts collecting her meager things when the fight breaks out... She blinks and looks up in surprise... "Oh no!" Though miffed over being searched by the soldiers who seemed overly rough and uncaring of her few belongings, the peasants are perhaps not what they seem, for most peasants wouldn't dare attack an armed cadre of soldiers, esp. just with daggers. She looks to the others to see if they mean to intervene or not and if so, on which side?
Dunja grumpily sees to her own belongings. The soldiers had been a little overzealous in their search. Wandering hands, as it were. But now that they were under attack she hesitated.
"Yeah, they're ruffians but is it really worth killing them over it? "
"Perhaps we might prevent further bloodshed?" The thought seeming to be enough to solidify her feelings on the matter, Kasani then dashes toward the ruckus, calling out to the peasants and soldiers in unison.
If we can end this fight without anyone dying I think it would be for the best! Yanyeeku gestures with his hands at the fight unfolding and then moves to follow Kasani.
Stop this! Nothing good can come from his confrontation!
She cringes as she sees those fighting trampling the vegetation. "Please stop fighting! You're hurting the plants!" She cries out, as she moves forward toward the conflict.
Well, this was a surprise. Lingfeng was perfectly happy with the idea of hating the soldiers for dumping her stuff on the ground and having stuffy attitudes on top of it all; but that was hardly a reason for the locals to suddenly draw arms and start hacking them to pieces.
Yanyeeku had the right idea; just before Lingfeng could open her mouth, the kitsune beat her to the diplomatic approach. Even Kimiko's adorable line about the plants seemed to help the cause a bit; with any luck, they could stop the fighting outright, though that would be a tall order indeed with blood already on the ground.
In any case, there is clearly no ignoring the situation. Her backpack already in her hands thanks to the soldiers, Lingfeng reaches into it and puts a hand on one of the alchemical toys she had picked up in her travels, a tanglefoot bag. The next person to make an aggressive move in any direction might just find their feet stuck to the ground; for Kimiko's sake, she'd try not to throw the junk onto any flowers.
The peasants fall on the guards with daggers, and those who can't reach, pull out small bits of metal and fling them at the guards.
Two of the guards cry out in pain, and then crumple to the ground.
+
And again, the guards cry out, although nobody crumples this time. Finally the guards begin to attack back.
Round 2
Both groups were large, and together they numbered so that it would be difficult to deal with them before they killed one another. Dunja calls upon the power of the spirits and wills a heavy fatigue on a handful of the peasants.
Kasani continues her rush toward the struggle, hustling as quickly as her armor might allow.
--Kasani--
HP: 20/20
AC: 20 (12 T / 18 FF)
CMD: 17
F/R/W: +3/+2/+4
Oathbound (reroll charm/compulsion) used: 0/1
Challenge used: 0/1
Resolve used: 0/1
Serpent's Fang used: 0/6 rounds
Level 1 Spells cast: 0/4
Ongoing Effects
Sighing to himself Xu starts to strum his ruan granting his allies magical aid...
The peasant's maneuver to get the guards caught between them, in some cases moving over unconscious guards, or their own fallen comrades.
+ 2
+
+
+
+
+
Two of the soldier's go down in sprays of blood, gurgling as throats are cut and kidneys punctured.
The third one is hit hard, and goes down silently as well.
Xu begins to play a song...
Seeing the brutal precision and efficiency with which the "peasants" tear through the soldiers, Lingfeng realizes that these may not be ordinary townsfolk. She takes a few tentative steps forward and casts mage armor on herself in hopes of keeping those blades at bay.
Round 2
As the peasants quickly overwhelm the soldiers, Dunja is left in silent shock. As much as she wanted to charge in and save what soldiers remained the reality is that she would likely suffer the same fate. With that in mind she draws her katana and holds it at the ready.
Two of the peasants collapse, falling to the ground, while a third shakes his head and looks at Dunja.
Zamu readies his bow.
Kimiko moves forward a few feet and casts sleep so it encompasses the three southern peasants.
"What are you doing? There's no need to cut them down like animals!" Kasani dashes forward and throws herself at one of the peasants, hoping to tackle him before he can wet the ground with any more blood.
--Kasani--
HP: 20/20
AC: 18 (10 T / 16 FF)
CMD: 17
F/R/W: +3/+2/+4
Oathbound (reroll charm/compulsion) used: 0/1
Challenge used: 0/1
Resolve used: 0/1
Serpent's Fang used: 0/6 rounds
Level 1 Spells cast: 0/4
Ongoing Effects
Charge: +2 to hit, -2 AC
As the blade sinks into Kasani's flesh, ice flows up her abdomen from the wound.. racing toward her neck and her vision goes wavy.
Kasani is resilient in the face of adversity!
Two of the men ignore the spell, the third falls to the ground unconscious.
The two remaining look at each other and nod. The northern most one draws a lead weight from his belt and throws it at one of the sleeping men.
The man grunts and wakes up.
The other adjust 5 ft, kicks his friend, awakening him, and then pulls a shuriken from his belt.
The one Kasani attempted to grapple shrugs off her attempt and attacks her back.
But he misses her, slightly off balance from avoiding the grapple.
Zamu releases a flurry of arrows and the one on his feet to the south goes down with a gurgling sound.