The call to battle goes unanswered as it echoes through the cave. Only silence greets you. A certain familiar chill, however, edges its way up your spine, Hida-san. Something is here, and that something is not friendly.
Shunsuke moved forward as well, slowly drawing his sword while keeping in visual range, both to stay in the light as was wise, and so his companions didn't lose sight of him either.
"Then let us prepare ourselves."
Making an Investigation (Notice) check just in case:6d10 ⇒ (5, 7, 10, 9, 8, 2) = 41 1d10 ⇒ 6
Something strange greets Shunsuke's ears as he advances: the sound of metal scraping across stone. You can't pinpoint an exact direction, but having something to guide your search hurries you.
You all get the feeling that something is wrong here, as though something unnatural was being let loose in this cave.
After a few moments, you reach a sudden turn in the tunnel system you've been following. The noise is unmistakable now: a blade being dragged across stone. Ocassionally, the sound stops, only to be replaced by the sound parting flesh, like a tanto being stabbed between ribs.
Kado only observes the surroundings as he advances to what sounds more like a butcher working than anything else, making his imagination fly a bit more than it should.
The smell of fresh blood assaults you, swiftly followed by the odor of death. The sight that greets you as you advance around the bend is one of horror. A man-or is it?-kneels before a mountain goat. Using a tanto, he is drawing some sort of symbol in blood on the stone beside him. Under his breath, he chants some sort of menacing phrase.
He pauses in his work as you enter. A closer glimpse shows you a man who is somehow plump in face, but reed-thin in body. His hair is nearly gone, simply strings of greasy black rope hanging from his flaky scalp. His eyes draw you in, a deep blackness filling his entire iris, but you are brought back to your senses as he slowly smiles. From his mouth scurry hundreds of spiders.
Not to be outdone by the hulking Crab samurai, Shunsuke also moves up to flank if possible, uttering a wordless battle cry as he swings his katana in a diagonal stroke.
Haruki dives around his allies, swinging his lit torch at the tainted creature.
Initiative 3k2: 3d10 ⇒ (4, 1, 2) = 7= 4+2=6
Jiujutsu (Improvised Weapons) 5k2: 5d10 ⇒ (6, 2, 1, 5, 4) = 18= 6+5=11
If that even hits, what kind of damage would a torch do?
As Sobou's tetsubo flies downward with great menace, the strange man-thing simply laughs. His body becomes ethereal as the large spiked club passes through him, and smashes mightily into the ground. The laugh continues, growing louder. The sound is one of madness, and of delight. Though you stand tall, something about this eerie apparition plants a small seed of fear within your heart. Such things do not appear without reason.
His manic antics continue as Shunsuke's blade passes through his side, and pause only momentarily to twist his head to stare at Kado as the Scorpion strikes. As the fire of Haruki's torch pierces the ghostly man, the spirit simply vanishes, like smoke leaving a roof. What remains is a pile of old bones, wrapped in tattered cloth. The scent of wet stone and goat blood is now all that stirs within this cave.
Not trying to rob you of your first combat, trust me! This is simply the beginning. Hida-san, your memory cannot conjure up any specific information on the nature of this spirit. It is possible that it may be some form of kansen, however. Saito, your examination of the symbol being drawn upon the cave floor leads you to conclude that this is some sort of ritual sacrifice, meant to be a prelude to some greater ritual. What that greater ritual might be, you know not.
As the ghost vanishes, Saito sheathes his scroll and walks forward to examine the bloody scene. Looking up at his companions he provides his assessment, "Maho - of that I am certain. A sacrificial ritual - part of something larger, though what exactly, I am not sure."
Sobou spits on the dead goat before winding up his tetsubo again. Thinking better of it, he turns back towards the entrance.
"Let us hope we disrupted whatever foulness was about to occur here. Whatever that was I have no knowledge of it, though I am not too proud to admit I do not know much."
His eyes in shock as his blade does no damage to the creature, bearly hearing the words of Saito "Maho..."I must know more to know it's weakness and the usefulness that comes with it.
"Perhaps Kuni-sama will have more insight into this matter. This does provide the first solid piece of evidence of what could have happened to the Badger clan- we should move forward."
Your Lore check sufficed to determine that. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), you aren't familiar enough with Maho to understand how to disrupt this ritual. It's possible that your actions interrupted it already, or perhaps the spirit was already done and was simply continuing with some other action. You can't be sure.
The last rays of sunset lie above you at the top of the ridge. Making your way upwards, you find yourselves with a grand view of Shiro Ichiro. Standing starkly at its gates are your superiors, small figures well into the distance. You had best hurry if you wish to arrive before dark. The path from here leads mostly across the ridge, and will appear to deposit you within a few minutes march from the castle.
Investigation/Perception TN 20:
From your vantage point, it appears that a few paths lead into the mountains from the environs around the castle. If you are required to search it all, it will take many days.
Investigation/Perception TN 30:
Something draws your eye in the grass...a discoloration of some sort. It is very difficult to pinpoint, but it appears to be a regular pattern of some sort.
Your mountain path is more like a goat trail, practically forcing you to scramble over rocks and jump small fissures as you make your way into the clearing that Shiro Ichiro is built upon. As you arrive, your superiors greet you formally, awaiting your report. Kuni-sama in particular seems agitated, as though he has foreseen something of your encounter.
Saito bowed to the magistrates before delivering his report.
"Kuni-sama, Mirumoto-sama. We encountered a spirit of some sort conducting a dark ritual in a cave not far from here. It had spilled the blood of a goat and was conducting some sort of maho ritual. It was a part of some larger ritual - but I could not discern what the type."
Both of your superiors' gazes and demeanor instantly harden. Kuni-sama says "We will enter the castle without delay. If what you say is true, Shiba-san, then we have no time to waste." He gruffly motions for Sobou and Haruki to open the gates. "We may not have enough time as it is. When we enter the castle, Mirumoto-san and I shall split, searching a single area of the castle ourselves. I shall search the inner grounds and the main halls. Mirumoto-san, if you would search the outer grounds. Yoriki, your duty will be to search the servant quarters and barracks. I suspect these places are most likely to bear some sign of this ritual, if any sign is to be found."
Mirumoto-sama says, "Of course something has happened. No one has seen a sign of any Badger samurai, or their peasants, for well over half a month. At this point, we're lucky that this ritual hadn't already been completed."
Silently taking in all the information and reactions of his companion As you command Kado silently goes and helps with the gates awaiting for a big enough space to slip through and make sure it's safe.
Kuni-sama says "You will go with the other yoriki. They will need your sense of the spirit world here far more than Mirumoto-san or I." He waves all of you onward, as though he is eager to find the truth of this mysterious event.
The sight that awaits you beyond the gate is unpleasant at best. The few plants that cling to life up here in the mountains are withering, their life being choked from them by blood red vines that seem to rise from the earth. Occasionally , splashes of what is obviously blood litter the ground, though far too little to account for anymore than one or two people, or perhaps a few animals.
The hard walls of Shiro Ichiro rise before you. Their stonework is impressive, if unrefined. No colors of paint grace the walls, and you can see no mon banners either. The gates into the main castle itself are shut tight, a steel emblem forming the mon of the house adorning them. The barracks lie immediately off to your left, while the servant quarters appear to be somewhat behind the main castle. The walls that separate the outer grounds from the inner ones also block your passage to the servant quarters.
As you enter, Mirumoto-sama gives a cursory bow to Kuni-sama before she makes her way to the walls, and with little fanfare climbs over them as though simply leaping over a rock.
Kuni-sama turns to regard you all. "Let us attend to our given tasks."
Saito and Sobou, your keen eyes notice the first signs of struggle you have seen since your arrival in these lands. The dirt is displaced by many footfalls, and shows the signs of two people locked in combat. Stepping further within the barracks, the grim fate of many of many of the Badger Clan becomes clear: two bodies lie upon the floor, swords piercing each of them, while a number of other bodies lie still on beds. Blood stains the floor where the two swordsmen fell, and it seems to be forming a circle...
