"Feel the power of my unstoppable blades!"
Asuka casts lead blades and strides into the room[/ooc]
Kajiwara strides into the room so he can see where Kikonu is, and places a cold iron arrow to his bowstring and waits to see if he tries to run again.
Lor-Sinn's arrow just narrow misses the creature's right shoulder, flying past it and pinging off the wall behind it. Ruka moved up and tries to bury her blade into the same creature, but is met with the same result.
Kajiwara locks his sights on Kikonu, spying him and daring him to cast a spell.
The four smelly lizards move to attack the party, but their efforts can be described as nothing more than lackluster. The one adjacent to Ruka tries to club her, bite and scratch her. The same happens to Asuka as the adjacent one closes in. The two remaining collapse on Asuka as well, swinging wildly with their clubs. All eigh attacks miss the two front-liners however.
While the oni is capable of casting spells, he is holding his composite longbow in his hands and he is quite proficient with it. Raising it and taking aim at Kajiwara, he taunts "You know, that thing in your hands is much more effective if you actually release the arrow." before firing twice at the Tian man.
Much like the troglodytes however, both arrows miss their mark and fly past him.
Asuka is able to hold her stomach at first, but she quickly loses her focus and cannot help but feeling queasy. As such, she has difficulty finding her usual rhythm.
Lor-Sinn could endure the stink of one of these creatures, maybe even three at the same time, but all four clustering together create an overpowering stench, and the tiefling turns a little green as they try to taunt Kikonu weakly.
"Oh yeah? Look at you giving archery lessons, coward!" Seeing Asuka getting surrounded by the malodorous creatures, Lor-Sinn shifts their target to the leftmost one.
Kajiwara had smelled worse than the troglodytes when he was doing caravan duty, and simply ignored the stench coming off them.
Kajiwara responds, "Just getting ready to shoot you if you try to run away again like the sniveling coward you are."
The stench coming from one of the creatures had been bad enough. With four of them in close proximity it's all Ruka can do to keep from losing her lunch.
As Asuka moves up beside her, she's momentarily startled to see another Asuka also appear behind her current target. Oh yes, she did say something about making a copy of herself to distract an enemy...
With a grin that immediately turns into a grimace as she's reminded exactly how bad these things smell, she lays into her target with renewed vigor.
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Galloping goblins and roving rakshasas, what was that stench?! Nothing more than the dank oils excreted from the cave dwellers' hides coupled with decaying bits of molted skin Sam realized, though knowing so didn't make the smell any less unpleasant as he instinctively clutched his nose and gagged. Thank the stars that his bugbear shape had run out. Had he still possessed that much keener snout, the stink would probably have been knocked him cold!
Still, awful as the reek was, it was just something the group would have to deal with, himself included, so with this mindset Samton soldiered on, walking up to Lor-Sinn and touching a finger to the paladin's armored shoulder.
Asuka's attack is well intentioned, but she can't focus enough to land the blow on the troglodyte.
Had Lor-Sinn been able to fight through all of the smelly lizards, she likely would have landed her shot that narrow missed her target.
Ruka lays into the one in front of her and with an amazingly accurate strike, she fells it in a single blow! The troglodyte drops to the ground in her feet, its club scattering across the floor of the dining hall.
Kajiwara continues to hold his attack, waiting for the right moment to strike. Kikonu laughs his rebuttal. "Fool! You know nothing of combat tactics! Let me show you how to use this thing." Two arrows fly at the archer, but only the second one barely hits him in his left shoulder.
All three remaining troglodytes try to club, bite and claw Asuka, but their ineptitude at combat is quite evident when all nine attacks miss her .
]
Asuka cackles as she manages to evade almost ten attacks in a matter of seconds. She waves her blade in a slow arc in front of her, as the sun moving across the sky.
"My turn! Blade of the Morning Sun!"
With a powerful stomp punctuating her swing, she brings down the blade on the xulgath she has been staring at.
She then snaps out with her beak in a bite attack.
"Early Bird Snatches the Worm!"
With the troglodytes falling fast, Samton did the only thing he felt some confidence in: continuing to empower his allies.
"Ugh, how can you live with yourselves when you smell like that?!" Eyes watering, Lor-Sinn tries to hold their breath and aim at the creature right in front of them. It's only a few steps away, this should be easy. Just... relax your shoulders. Elbow up. Bowstring almost kissing your cheek. You got this.
*TwanNnNnGgg* The tiefling releases the arrow too early and the detensioned string smacks them in the face. "Ow."
As her target falls, Ruka shifts her gaze to the next one in line. She feels a rush of energy to her muscles as Sam touches touches her shoulder and nods her thanks to him. Then she steps forward. Asuka is already behind this one; it should be easy prey.
Kajiwara glances at his shoulder, then says, "That wasn't very good instruction."
Taking a deep breath, he exhales, and fires an arrow at the troglodyte before him.
Asuka's powerful blow cuts down the magenta-skinned lizard in front of her. Ruka nearly puts down the troglodyte she attacks as well, once more delivering a powerful strike with Murasamemaru. Though it still stands after her strike, Kajiwara buries his arrow in it's chest and sends it toppling backward over the bench and onto the floor.
Lor-Sinn once more misses with their attack and Sam moves in to assist his allies by bolstering their strength and dexterity.
Kikonu fires twice more at Kajiwara, the first arrow should have hit the archer but he is able to deflect it and cause it to miss. His second arrow misses naturally and he scowls in frustration.
The final troglodyte finally manages to land a hit on Asuka with its club, though it misses its two remaining attacks.
Asuka crows as her mighty attack hits, and she makes a mental note to remember that attack later. She is so excited from the powerful swing that she forgets to think up a name for her next attack.
"Um...second...slash...thing...something. Whatever you're gonna go down, buddy!"
She slashes and snaps at the remaining xulgath, though not as powerfully as before.
This time, Lor-Sinn says nothing, their face burning with shame and anger at themselves. How could they ever prove that their blood was not tainted when they failed at every turn? Failed to notice things, failed to fight things, failed to make a useful contribution. Swallowing hard, they nock another arrow, half-expecting it to burst into flames, or strike an ally.
Kajiwara looses two arrows at Kikonu, saying, "The evil you have committed in this place is at an end, oni."
Three troglodytes are dead in a matter of seconds, and Ruka barely glances at the last one remaining. It too will no doubt fall to Asuka's blades and Lor-Sinn's arrows.
No, she has to remember their real target. The oni, the so-called ruler of this castle, and the only one so far that they've even suspected might know what happened to Ameiko. She has to catch him before he can disappear again.
She charges forward and swings at the creature. "No more disappearing! Surrender now or die!"
"No more disappearing! Surrender now or die!"
Yes, that was the problem, wasn't it? Kikonu's disappearing act. Cowardly as it was, the tactic had proven effective at whittling down the group's resources and stamina. And there was still a whole lot of castle they had yet to see, with more traps, haunts and minions which the oni could lead them into on their wild goose chase, as he had done. It was damnably frustrating. And worryingly efficient. Sam mulled on this even as he tried not gagging on the troglodytes' stench.
Three exits. The dungeon chamber had three exits. If they could just block these, then... No, never mind. Even invisible the oni could not walk straight through any of them should, say, Lor-Sinn, Kajiwara and himself block the three doorways. But the wizard was fairly sure the fiend possessed some means of teleportation, which would bypass any such measure altogether. Best to do as the more experienced caravan guard had meant to: try to stop him from using his magic altogether. An arrow to the chest or a blade in the gut in the moment of casting had a way of rather distracting a magic user. On that note, Ruka actually managing to get into melee with Kikonu represented huge progress. Yes, this time they would stop him.
Carried by this positive determination, Samton traipsed further into the room, hopping over cave-dweller corpses and brushing a finger along Asuka's feathers in the process. The tengu immediately felt her considerable dexterity increase further.
Lor-Sinn and Asuka combine together to put down the last lizard in the room without much effort. Kajiwara tries to fire two arrows at the oni, but neither gets close to him and miss.
Kikonu has stopped fooling around and starts to get serious when his minions are slain before him. The Tian man suddenly shifts before your eyes, large ravenlike wings bursting from his back and his glaring yellow eyes burning from within his crimson colored, cruel face as he transforms into a tengu.
Dropping his bow as Ruka closes in, the sound of drawing steel resonates in the chamber as Kikonu pulls out his beautiful kusarigama. "Never!" he says to her request to surrender, deflecting her attack with his own blade as he spins to strike, cutting her chest badly . After striking he swings again for her throat, but misses. He then leans forward and tries to bite her neck, only narrowly missing.
Yamabushi Tengu are susceptible to patterns.
Asuka levels her sword at Kikonu. "I, Asuka the Thunder-God, challenge you, Kikonu! Face the power of a True Hero and know your end!" She rushes forward, bobbing back-and-forth in a fake-out before slashing at him.
Even though the stinky creatures were dead, their smell still permeated the room. Was it getting worse? Surely they couldn't be decaying this quickly? Trying to focus past the nausea, Lor-Sinn targets the demon with the tip of a cold iron arrow, still uncharacteristically silent.
Kajiwara again fires two arrows at the oni, grimly silent as Ruka takes a wound.
Ruka grunts at the blow, but it doesn't hinder her resolve. As Asuka moves beside her, she circles slightly to her right. Together they can down this demon.
Her voice is very steady as she reiterates her conditions. "Surrender. Or. Die."
A muted green gleam threatened to cut through the oppressive gloom of the underground chamber, originating from the viridian corona enveloping the young wizard's outstretched hand. The shining acid vial bubbled hotly in Samton's grasp, the magic he held within it yearning to be let free, but he remained steady. The fight had reached a definite breakthrough now in everyone actually being able to engage the oni, but he decided on caution and held the, admittedly very minor, spell at the ready. All could still be for naught if Kikonu, against the odds, managed to teleport himself away again. And so Sam just stood ready, hoping to disrupt any magic from the fiend.
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Lor-Sinn's cold iron arrow embeds lands and embeds itself into the oni's chest, a rewarding grunt of pain acknowledging her shot just before Asuka steps up and delivers a strike with her cold iron katana, cutting open Kikonu's back.
He pivots, turning to look at the traitorous tengu, opening his mouth to tell her how he feels about her being a god. "YOU-" are the only words he says before Ruka takes advantage of his distracted attention and plunges Murasamemaru through the Oni's chest. As it burst out the otherside and sprays Asuka with his blood, the knees of the oni weaken and he drops to them, letting his kusarigama fall to the ground beside him.
Sam's spell might have hit him had he been standing. And Asuka wasn't in the way, but his acid flies too high and sizzles on the far wall.
"...c-can't.." is all Kikonu manages to cough out as blood gurgles in his mouth on his knees. His strength leaves him and he falls flat on his face, slamming into the ground between the two warriors. As Ruka pulls her blade out, she watches the wound she just inflicted upon him partially close up. The oni heals enough that he coughs once and mutters a few words to cast a spell.
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"No more tricks!"
Asuka hammers her blade down on the struggling oni.
Asuka's blade cut short the oni's attempt to cast a spell, knocking him out once again. Even with the tremendous damage done, she can see his body continues to slowly heal every few seconds. It will be just a matter of time before he awakens once more.
Asuka's face falls with grave worry. "Uh, he's still alive and healing really fast. What do we do?"
"Good." Ruka's eyes are hard. "If he were dead, we couldn't ask him about Ameiko." She goes for her pack and starts rustling through it, talking vaguely in Sam's direction. "Two questions. One, do you know how to stop him from healing? And two, is there any chance of him pulling that disappearing trick again if he's tied up?" She emphasizes that particular question by pulling a length of rope out of her bag.
Not waiting for Sam's response, she trudges back over to Kikonu and begins roughly tying his hands behind his back. After a moment's consideration, she ties his ankles together as well and connects them to the rope around his wrists. Then she stands nearby, Murasamemaru at the ready, and waits for him to wake up.
Ew. Groody.
Samton winced as the tengu's blow nearly bisected the already tremendously wounded oni, blood spurting out in fine archs from exposed arteries. He wasn't exactly accustomed to violence such as this, hacking away at what should already be a very dead cadaver in any sane world. But he took heart in knowing that despite the gruesome wounds, despite looking like the aftermath of a sword-swallowing performance gone terribly wrong, Kikonu literally could not die. Not yet. The fiend was hardier than any mortal. And besides - it was, after all, a fiend. A literal incarnation of evil. It was difficult to feel much sympathy for him, especially having now seen enough hints at what had happened at this castle.
"Uh, yeah," he answered Ruka when she opened her pack. "His wounds need to be scoured, either with fire or acid. That'll stop them from healing." On that note the wizard hurried closer, holding his own flask of acid high. "As for disappearing on us... uh, yeah, I think he can assuming his magic is innate, which I think it is. He doesn't necessarily have to say any incantation or sign any symbols like with normal magic, you see. Well, normal is a misnomer here, as... no, never mind."
Sam stopped himself before he could go on any tangents. His nervous mind apparently had a tendency to wander. "B-but it should still be fine! He should have to concentrate, like really hard, to use his magic. You guys caught him in it earlier. He won't get the chance to use it again. Rope wouldn't hurt, though." He added this last at seeing the woman trussing the oni together like a roast.
Holding his vial over a still unconscious Kikonu, Samton waited for him to come to again. Finally they would be able to help Ameiko.
"No running away now, demon!" What was that thing that victorious heroes said in situations like this? Oh, yeah. "Zaiobe sends her regards." Lor-Sinn stand triumphantly over the fallen oni, hands on hips.
Sam's lecture on magic goes in one ear and out the other as the tiefling's tail lashes from side to side in excitement. "You are going to tell us how to fix Ameiko, you hear? Or else it will go very poorly for you! Poorlier!"
Eventually the oni regains consciousness gain, groaning he struggles against his bindings for a moment before giving up on the idea. He looks up at the attackers, confused. "I have nothing to say to you. I do not know any Ameiko, you are confused."
When Lor-Sinn mentions Zaiobe's name, a fire ignites inside of the Oni and he thrashes about as he tries to break free.
A pitiful attempt in his weakened state however, he struggles but gains no ground freeing himself.
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Ruka crouches down next to the oni, eyes fixed on his face. "You say you don't know any Ameiko. Perhaps it will help jog your memory if I tell you her full name is Ameiko Kaijitsu." Keeping in mind what Sam said about the rope possibly not being enough to keep him from casting, she deliberately places Murasamemaru against Kikonu's throat.
"Rokuro Kaijitsu died here. Ameiko wanted answers about why. So we came to find them, but she was hit by some sort of magical illness as soon as she got near this castle. And you are the master of this castle, are you not? Which means you are the one most likely to know what's happened to her."
Murasamemaru presses a little tighter. Not drawing blood, but it's an ever-present threat. "The only reason you're still alive is because you might know what's happened to Ameiko, and more importantly how to fix it. So I would think very, very carefully before claiming that you have nothing to say. Because if you don't, then I have nothing stopping me from decapitating you and burning your headless corpse."
She's not anywhere near as calm as she's trying to appear. Killing someone in battle is one thing. Threatening to murder someone after they've been defeated, lying bound and helpless at her feet...she's far from certain she could actually do it. Only years of practice in concealing her emotions keep her voice calm and her hands steady.
Asuka stands slack-beaked as Ruka just absolutely obliterates this horrible tengu in front of her. Asuka is impressed. Asuka is scared. Asuka is aroused. Ruka, once again, is just cool.
As she comes back to reality, Asuka finally has the idea that perhaps she could be of assistance here. With Ruka as the proverbial--is that the right way to use "proverbial?" she makes a note to check that later--"bad cop," she herself could play the proverbial (?) "good cop." She kneels down with her sheathed sword resting on her shoulder.
"You should do what she says! It won't end well for you if you don't. Believe me, I'd rather we didn't have to kill you, but there's only so much I can do for you."
Kajiwara remained silent as the others took the lead on the interrogation. He suspected that Kikonu was responsible for the slaughter here, and as a consequence, would likely be found guilty and executed for the crime. There was also no way they would be able to hold him, and letting him go would leave him to come after them for revenge.
Looking over at Asuka, a scowl of distate washes over his face. "Traitor."
Turning back to look at Ruka, his expression is one of confusion. "Ameiko Kajitsu? I still do not know this name. There are no more Kajitsu's! The Five Storms have wiped them from existence years ago!" Kikonu growls defiantly, still struggling against his bindings
"Rokuro?" Kikonu laughs, "I killed Rokuru myself! What a fool he was to think he could take us on!"
Still, Ruka's words coupled with the blade at his throat shook some of his confidence. "I know nothing of Ameiko Kajitsu. The Amatatsu line was eradicated twenty-five years ago now. There are no more Kajitsu's!"
"Stop wasting my time. I am the master of Brinewall, it is mine! Release me and I shall pay you handsomely from my vault." he tries.
The Five Storms? Who are they? Kajiwara tries to think if his family had ever mentioned them.
Of course, the oni could be lying about being behind what was happening with Ameiko. He studied him, trying to determine if he lied.
Kajiwara does not believe that the oni is currently deceiving him. He also knows nothing of the Five Storms.
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"How could I be a traitor when I never was allied with you in the first place!"
She immediately notes down FIVE STORMS in her journal, circling it and adding three exclamation points and notating (COOL). "What is The Five Storms? Are you one of them? Do they all have themed abilities? Thunder, lightning, rain, wind, and uh...clouds? Oh! Smoke abilities work." Before actually confirming that this is indeed how the group works, she begins writing down the list of themed abilities as though it were an obvious truth. "Does that mean you are wind? Shooting a bow and fighting with a kusari-gama are kinda wind-y. Stuff flying or dancing through the air and all. Plus you ran away a lot. 'In the wind' so to speak." She marks with surety and finality that Kikonu is the "wind" representative of The Five Storms.
"I DID NOT RUN AWAY FROM FIVE STORMS!" he says defensively, yelling at Asuka. "I left because I wanted to rule this castle. Our objective was complete anyway, the Amatatsu's were all dead."
Narrowing his eyes, he says "I have answered your questions. Now release me and I will pay your reward and you can depart my castle."
"Wait, I'm confused. Who are the Amatatatsu's? Was this their castle? Is that why you killed them?"
Lor-Sinn grips Zaiobe's bow tighter, pointing one end at Kikonu. "Suuuure, you didn't run away from Five Storms, not like you've been running away from us. Hey, Asuka, I guess that makes us scarier than... whatever these Storms are."
Kajiwara places a hand on Ruka's shoulder. "I do not believe he is lying - he did not do anything to Ameiko. We will have to continue to search for answers."
Looking down at the Oni, he said, "Of course, he also admitted to murdering Rokuro, and has likely murdered others. He appears to have, unprovoked, come to claim this castle as his simply because he wanted it. In any legal system in the world, he would face execution for his crimes. I doubt we could bring him all the way to a city for a proper trial, but we could carry out such a sentence here and now."
"How could I be a traitor when I never was allied with you in the first place!"
Yeah, Samton concurred, nodding very seriously whilst trying - and mostly failing - to appear more intimidating than his utterly pedestrian self really was. Also, you're not actually a tengu, buddy. You're just a weird fiend who kinda looks like one. Wait, were the tengus named after his kind or something like that? He had no idea and decided he needed to continue studying his Minkaian.
More pressingly, however, what was Kikonu going on about? Five Storms? Amatatsu? And had he really just said that he... killed Ruka's grandfather? The young wizard looked to her in sympathy. That probably hadn't been the most sensible admission when you had said granddaughter's sword at your throat. He wouldn't judge if she decided to kill him a few more times, considering. Wasn't like he would stay dead anyway.
But seriously, he considered as Lor-Sinn simply asked the question, what was a Five Storms? What was an Amatatsu? Not inclined to trust a word from the oni, Sam tried to think whether he had ever encountered either term in his readings.
"Mass murderer and literal incarnation of evil?" he responded to Kajiwara's assessment. "Yeah, I'm, uh, not opposed."
It was a strange thing to say, assenting to someone's death, especially to the village boy who had barely hurt a fly before. Well, more often than not, to be fair; they flocked one's lantern and disturbed night-time reading. But the fiend was very literally that: a fiend. The world was only improved by his death, and empirically so. "You hear that, oni?" he asked the prone monster and jostled his bottle of acid. "You should know we have the means to kill you, permanently. So if you have anything more to say, this is the time."
Huh. He was weirdly proud of managing to say that without stuttering.
EDIT:
Asuka keeps making notes, realizing that snowstorms and firestorms are also types of storms, so there could be cold- and fire-themed Five Storms members, too. Does acid rain count as a storm? It depends on how dedicated the Five Storms are to their aesthetic/theme. Did they just get a bunch of people and say "yeah, storms kinda work as a vague theme" or did they specifically seek out people to suit it? Did they reject applicants for not being on-theme? "Sorry, Mister Earthquake, but you just aren't a good fit for our group's culture. Try the Seven Calamities instead."
As Asuka continues speculating on this mysterious new group, she hears people ask their questions. Then, something finally clicks for Asuka. "Wait, so are the Kaijitsus ALSO the Amatatsus? You were kinda using them interchangeably. And why were you trying to kill them? Were they important or something?"
"I have all of the answers you want, but I will say no more until I am freed and you guarantee my safety. What is more important to you? Saving your friend and getting answers or killing me? Don't let your hatred get in the way of helping your Kajitsu friend, hmmm?" the oni say, closing his trap.
It appears that the majority of the wounds from the oni have healed now, with only minor injuries now visible.