I am opening the Gameplay thread so that you can dot it for keeping an easier eye on the game. We will be beginning once everyone is finished with their characters and posting them on the Website.
As the northern wind blows down from the mountain pass you look upon the horizon. It is almost time to board the train. One hour to be exact. To help pass the time, as you walk down the street, you think back to the events that transpired earlier today, while you were purchasing the ticket to Momoko at the ticket booth.
You look around as you wait in line, Damn these lines, you think to yourself. Since the advent of the passenger airships you would think that the railways would free up, you sigh as the line moves forward a step for the first time in minutes. But of course, it is far too expensive to travel by air, and I definitely don’t have that kind of pocket change, you put your hand in your pocket in the hope that some long forgotten coin will be there, but to your expectation, nothing is there. At least nothing that wasn’t there before, only enough to get this ticket.
The line moves forward another step. Almost there, you look forward towards the booth, only another hour or so, you laugh to yourself. As your little chuckle fades you hear something off to the side near the booth. It appears a tussle has started between two scruffy looking men, Stupid mechanics, you guess from what you can make out of their attire.
As you watch, one of the men pulls out a pistol and fires it at the other, the bullet hitting him dead in the chest. With that the man with the pistol yells, ”Come on boys, this station is ours!”
The station manager at the booth yelps as a bullet flies past his head sticking into the boards behind him. ”Someone help! Call the guards! Someone do something!” He quickly becomes quiet as another bullet flies through the window into the center of his forehead.
This doesn’t look like a simple fight anymore. Something bigger is happening, something that doesn’t look pretty.
From beneath the shadow of his hat, Xiao Feng glared at the men robbing the ticket booth. It wasn't that he didn't condone what they had done. Quite the contrary, in fact. As a wokou, Xiao Feng had done far worse than what these men were doing.
No, Xiao Feng's anger stemmed from the fact that they had picked this day to pull their heist. For by making that choice, they had involved him in the affair.
And for that, they would suffer.
As the gunshot screamed its cry, Yulai stiffened hard for a moment as unwanted memories played in her mind.
And then the moment was gone, replaced by anger. For five years, she'd hunted men like these, and she wasn't about to let anyone else's family be hurt like hers had been.
Dropping her packs, Yulai felt for the wakizashi she'd hidden under her obi belt earlier and called upon the arts of the shinobi to hide from errant eyes, counting on the commotion and the crowd to cover her sudden vanishing.
Ki Pool: 3/4
Invisibility: 5/5 rounds
Gives a light sigh, watching the fight, then the shooting from under his straw hat, shaking his head. Here he hoped he'd get through the day peacefully. Seems the luck is now with him today. He waits, looking completely unarmed. But as the old proverb...Looks can be deceiving.
Xiongmao looked on at the commotion that was occurring. "Bad people" He thought to himself. "They must be stopped. I could try talking to them..." his mind wandered to a similar incident, where they ignored him, thinking he was some toy. Not entirely a false statement. Once he was indeed a toy, wind up gears allowing him to simulate speech. He even looked the part, a small clockwork panda in fake fur with glass beads for eyes. He had tried to look more intimidating, even donned armor. But the mismatch suit that he had been able to put together only made his playful image that much more reinforced. They had ignored him then, and he watched someone get shot while he tried to talk to them. This time he would try to save someone, with the heavens to guide him.
Blue Characters Pedestrians
Green Character Killed Booth Worker
Uncolored Characters PCs (You guys)
Red Area Area of effect of Xiongmao's Hypnotic Pattern
If you have any questions just ask.
One of the thugs moves over to a woman that was trying to get away, grabbing her arm. "Come here. I think I may just keep you as a prize." He says as he pulls her into him.
Another thug moves around the booth, entering from the door in the back wall. He starts rummaging through some boxes on the tables in the small room.
A thug moves up to Xao . "Move away from here, unless you want to get hurt!" He says as he starts waving the gun in his hand in your direction.
Xiao stands, readying himself for a fight. His anger building, his energy lashing out almost like a living force of its own.
Yulai vanishes without a trace. Moves behind the man that is accosting one of the women . She then readies herself for a strike to his vitals the moment he tries anything more.
Xiongmao quickly moves forward, pulling a small crystal rod from a pouch on his belt. Waving the rob in a rhythmic pattern and tossing in on the ground, a bright burst of colorful patterns appear in the center of a group of the thugs .
Street Thug 1 Save
Street Thug 2 Save
Street Thug 3 Save
Street Thug 5 Save
The last thug sees that his two buddies next to him have become distracted, and starts to panic. "Boss, hurry it up in there." He shouts to the man inside the booth."Things are not going as smoothly as we planned, there seems to be some people here with some kind of magic."
Street Thug 4,5,6 = 13
Nobasa = 11
Xiao = 10
Yulai = 9
Xiongmao = 7
Street Thug 1,2,3 = 4
The wokou's hands formed into massive fists as his anger seethed within, begging to be unleashed. He strode purposefully past the little panda kogata toward one of the thugs, hoping to catch him unaware. As Xiao moved, he glared at the robber. If looks could kill, then all in the area of the ticket booth would surely have died. So powerful was his stare it could no longer be considered human.
It had become the glare of a beast, eyes that sought both blood and death.
As he moved, all living creatures in the area felt his aura of death as Xiao tapped into his ki. Power surged both within him and all about as howling spirits, dark apparitions manifested. Caught in the grip of his rage, the wokou attacked the murderous thief with the full force of his arranging palm technique.
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Patience was a skill Komoru had cultivated during many skirmishes. Waiting for just the right moment, whether to strike, retreat, or parley was something that was essential to being a samurai.
Patience is not everlasting, however, and the long line to buy a ticket was beginning to finally take its toll on him. Days were better when we had nothing like these machines. Such devices seem only to increase the aggravation within our lives. Keeping a sigh within his mouth, he attempts to calm himself.
His attempts are interrupted by a gunshot. As panic begins to ensue, he is witness to not only a group's attempt to take the train station, but another group's attempt to stop them. At least some people have some honor left in this world.
Stepping forth, Komoru speaks loudly to all the bandits: "Hear me, dishonorable thieves! You face Nobasa Komoru, the Iron Crane, master of Flashing Wind style. If you value your lives, you will put down your arms and leave this place at once!"
Having found her mark, Yulai would not give him a chance to further accost the adjacent woman, much less to take her as a prize. He and his bandit friends would die a just death!
Xao lifts his head a little, just enough for the bandit to see his eyes, which flash for a moment. [b]"I'd say the same for you sir, but it's a bit late for that."[b] And with that, two solid beams of light grow in his hands, crackling softly, and one strikes out, lashing across the bandits chest.
"Allies, I hope?" The little Kogata thinks to itself. "The Heavens has enraptured three of these villains. If I can keep it so, mayhaps these brave souls can handle the rest without more needless death to innocents."
Xao's blade slashes across the thugs chest , the thug doubling over holding his wound.
The thug accosting the woman continues to tug at her dress. He seems to have become lost in this endeavor as he doesn't notice the events transpiring around him.
The thugs boss continues to rummage around within the ticket booth. He seems to be looking for something. "Just keep them busy, I am almost done in here. I know it has to be here."
The words that Nobasa speaks seems to get to the remaining thugs though they heed not a word of it.
Xiao charges forward, striking at one of the thugs that has been fascinated by the lights that appeared only moments ago. Xiao's fist hits him hard, hard enough that everything else in the world seems to have disappeared and the thugs realized the bad situation he is in.
Yulai appears out of thin air next to the rapist and with all her might she strikes him down, causing the man to crumple onto the floor, bleeding from a wound that looks like it was formed with a hint of vengeance.
Xiongmao continues to wave his hands in a rhythmic pattern and the colorful lights persist.
Thug 3 Will Save
Two of the three thugs standing withing the pattern of lights continue to stare at them as if the world didn't exist.
The last street thug quickly withdraws from the encounter, seemingly hoping to get away and spare his life. Though this hope is soon shattered when he turns a corner and a truck speeds out and hits him, causing his body to fold to the ground, lifeless.
Street Thug 6 = 13
Nobasa = 11
Xiao = 10
Yulai = 9
Xiongmao = 7
Street Thug 1,3 = 4
Yulai flicked her blade strongly, clearing it of most of its bloody harvest before telling the accosted woman to clear out quickly. Seeing that most, if not all of the remaining thugs are accounted for, she peers at the apparent boss, wondering what he might be looking for.
Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, she decides to get closer, and fades from view again.
Seeing his words have made little impact, Komoru sighs in frustration. What have we come to, that men are willing to risk their lives for a little coin?
His eyes make quick work of the battlefield, imprinting its shape upon his mind. Without hesitation, he moves into the ticket station to confront the leader of these bandits.
Xao looks at the wounded man. "Sad, you could of lived a better life." And with that, both blades twirl around, aiming to quickly end this bandits life went wrong. He then turns, looking towards the boss's voice.
Xiao watched as the target of his strike fled fearfully, then heard the crash moments later. The spirits that hovered near him howled, the sound reverberating across the mortal plane. The wokou clenched his jaw. He was not a forgiving person, and sought to satiate his need for destruction. He turned his attention toward the ticket booth where the thugs leader appeared to be rummaging for something.
Xiongmao looks as everyone moves into the booths. He knows he can maintain these two for awhile, but they may need his help inside. He calls out to his allies:
Xao finishes off the thug in front of him, leaving no thread of life behind.
Xingmao ties up the remaining two thugs while they are distracted with the light show he produced.
You all peer into the booth and see the thugs boss as he raises his hand into the air, holding some kind of gem. "I found it boys, lets move out!" He then looks out of the booth to see all of his companions dead or missing. "Oh crap, what happened now."
Standing firm, hand on his sword hilt, Komoru says "I would suggest that you lay down your arms, foolish man, if you wish to live. Kindly leave the gem where you found it, and allow us to capture you."
His eyes fixed squarely on the last of the street thugs, Xiao allowed his ki to flare angrily, the wisps lashing out in an attempt to reach the poor man.
You would do well to do exactly as you were bidden. It is the only chance you have to live. The strain of his anger distorted the wokou's voice as he spoke, making it seem more like a predatory growl than something that could be uttered by a human.
The battle over and Xiongmao able to speak normally again, he begins to check those on the battlefield for injuries, tending as needed.
Yulai makes her way behind the man while still invisible, blade poised to strike him down if necessary. She stays out of sight, trusting to the strong words voiced by others to cow this ringleader...but not willing to put down her sword.
Glances at the mob boss from under his hat, nodding at the other mans words. "I'd agree with the man there. It'd be a waste of more life to continue this further." He still keeps the two blades of solid light in his hands.
The thug within the booth quickly becomes very rigid as if some kind of mystical binding has taken control over him. In a very deep gravely voice he says, "Those foolish to stand in my way shall perish!"
The man then smashes the gem into the ground, causing a bright light to emanate from the impact.
The man takes his pistol, moving it to point to his temple. "This poor pawn has become useless!", the deep voice states. The man then pulls the trigger, firing a bullet through his skull, painting the wall of the booth with even more gore.
Komoru attempts to reach for the man as he realizes what he is going to do, but fails to stop him. The immense light forces him to back away and shield his eyes with his whole arm.
As the light then fades, his attention is brought back to reality by a gunshot. The splattering blood manages to hit him somewhat, painting his navy blue o-yoroi with crimson spots.
"Damn. I was too late."
Yulai froze as the deep voice came from a throat not its own, her invisible sword poised to strike a killing blow which never arrived. As the gem shattered and light enough to blind poured out from it, she raised her right arm's kimono sleeve to shield her from the assault on her senses, and when that proved insufficient she shifted into her true form, raising her vixen's brush-like tail to further shield her eyes.
Still collected, she re-sheathed her weapon and hid it once more in her obi belt even as this was going on. People always wonder about hidden weapons. And perhaps she should resume human form before too many foreigners noticed. So many outside of the Erufu kingdom saw only the Kitsune's mischievous streak, and not their desire for good and heroism.
Hopefully she wouldn't have to speak to the authorities for too long...or at all.
Both the thug's words and his action were not expected by the wokou, but he stood fast as the man hurled the gem at the ground and smashed it. The light emitted was unlike anything Xiao Feng had ever experienced before and he tried to block it by bringing the brim of his hat down even while averting his gaze. Moments after the sudden exposure had passed, the wokou was still seeing the negative afterimage of the booth when he blinked his eyes.
The gunshot followed by the dropping body caused Xiao to focus on the moment. This would bring attention that he did not want, especially if it came from the local authorities.
It was time to make himself scarce.
As Xiongmao does his best to aid those outside, a flash of light from within the ticket booth. At first drawn to it's light, he lowers his head and covers it with both of his 'paws', staying low. Not sure what it may be, he moves forward to see how everyone is. The gruesome sight saddens the little clockwork panda, not sure what had transpired. With no one else to be helped, he prepares to run. He was just a 'thing' to most people, not a 'person'.
He blinks, then hides his eyes under his hat, eyes closed. Both his swords disappear when he see's the man kill himself, and sighs. "Such a waste..." He murmurs, then begins to look about, giving another sigh. His trip looks to be delayed today...
The wokou found himself in a quandary. His instincts told him to flee, to leave while the getting was good. After all, the last thing he needed was for the authorities to recognize him as Howling Wind, the infamous pirate. And Xiao Feng hadn't lived this long by ignoring his instincts.
But something else was telling him to stay. Xiao couldn't quite put his finger on what that was, only that it made him feel uncomfortable in a way that he wasn't accustomed to.
Xiao grumbled to himself as he resisted his urge to run and instead sat cross-legged upon the ground, sheathed saber across his lap, to await the arrival of the law. He would not flee from his past. Xiao was wokou, terror of the sea. To run from a fight was alien to him.
At least that's how he justified remaining on the scene to himself.
Yulai had intended to resume her human form, but then thought better of such a thing. Only one person had seen her in combat, that woman accosted by the bandit she'd killed. Which meant that if that woman came back, or had informed authorities of her appearance, they'd be looking for a human woman with dark hair and saffron skin. But now she was white and black and furred, nothing like the woman who'd been here with blade in hand.
The clothes were a problem, but they were intentionally patterned after a widespread popular style, and so the shinobi retained her Kitsune form and went to check on her bags and portable lab.
Blinking the spots from his eyes, Komoru takes stock of his situation. "Kogata and kitsune? Such strange people to meet at the train station." Komoru speaks well, but still holds his hand on his blade. He eyes the kitsune particularly hard, having seen her little disappearing stunt earlier. Such dishonorable behavior.
Xiongmao takes a few steps away, then realizes everyone's waiting. His curiousity getting the better of him, he decides to wait around himself. "What's the worst that could happen?"
Xao, having dismissed his blades, tilts his head down, and attempts to mingle with the crowd, curious of what's going to happen, but not wanting to draw too much attention to himself.
A large plump man struts out of the station behind the ticket booth. The expression on his face when he sees the grim scene shows that this man has known no violence.
"What has transpired here?" He asks looking around to each of you that remain within the area. "What horrible things have caused something like this to happen?"
Before anyone has a chance to answer the man sirens start to sound just around the corner, and soon enough the local law enforcement arrives. Three steam powered cars park just off the sidewalk and a mix of male and female officers step out of the vehicles, and start walking towards the frantic plump man.
"Sir, calm down." One of the officers says to the man, "Sir, can you calm down and please tell me what has happened here?"
The rest of the officers start controlling the outlining crowds and a few approach each of you and ask, "Can you please tell me what happened here? Where you involved?"
"Oh it was terrible officer! A bunch of those men in uniforms started yelling and brandishing guns! They were threatening us and demanding money and...and favors. Someone even got killed! But these brave and terrifying souls stepped up to defend the poor innocents here! Those nasty bandit-types got exactly what they deserved!"
Yulai continued to play the part of frightened innocent until the officer questioning her moved away.
Xiao Feng remained where he sat, keeping his hands on his knees in full view of the questioning officer, and tilted his head up just enough to keep his own face hidden by the hat he wore while still being able to see the person talking to him. His tone is gruff and impatient, as one would be if inconvenienced, still carrying a slight trace of the anger that had so infused his being earlier.
There were six. One ran off but from the sound of things, got himself hit by a car. Two were killed after attacking bystanders and two were enspelled. The last one, the leader it seems as he was barking out orders, tried to steal the gem now lying on the ground. He shot himself in the head when he realized that he couldn't escape. Now, if there's nothing else, how soon can you get someone else out here to run the booth? I'd like to get my ticket and be away from here.
Komoru bows slightly to the officers, pulling his ho-ate off for the moment. "As you can see, this man shot himself. His gang appeared to be after the gem that was found, though for some reason he smashed it rather than take it. It was almost as though he was possessed when he did it. I couldn't say. Magic is not my art."