Basket-head's page

Very well then. Let's put it to a vote. Everyone in favor of begging assistance from this strange man? Everyone opposed?

Yoshii listens to Rae's words and thinks for a moment before writing "I agree with Rae actually. I worry we might be trusting him too much. We met him for two minutes and it seems as though he wants to be best of friends. Still, it would be an opportunity to size up some of the competition. I will defer to the rest of you, but I'm not so sure what is the best path here."

Yoshii bows, "Not a straw elemental, just a headpiece. It's part of my order's vows. I hope you'll forgive my talking, I've a vow of silence."

Yoshii stands still as stone as his friend is turned into literal stone. The words coming from the others seem to pass by him, leaving him completely unphased.

As Rae begins to speak, a curious thing happens. Two holes at the top of Yoshii's basket which, until this point looked to serve merely as decoration, have something pop out of them. It takes a second to notice, but it becomes apparent that they are horns.

Then things get serious.

Yoshii hunches, and tries to scrawl runes into the air, but is unable to do so. He clutches his chest and doubles over fully. His hands begin to take on a reddish hue, before finally settling on a solid crimson, and then he begins to grow. He shoots up past 20 feet in less than a second, his growth only slowing as he reaches near 30.

When finally Remmy cures the petrification of Chukie, the hulking, basket-headed giant clenches his fist, and struggles with itself. It roars out before finally beginning to shrink again. Yoshii stands once more where he was, hand over where his face would be. He wastes no time in walking directly up to Alaris and drawing his runes on the air to communicate.

Most of the text does not make it through, it is clear Yoshii is some combination of angry and tired such that his concentration is not up to par. Among the few bits that do make it through are the following:

"CROWNED F%$!ING...KNOW BETTER,"
"ALMOST LOST MY F#*&ING MIND,"
"THANK...G%*&##NED SCROLL"
"ABOUT...SLICE F@@+ING HEAD...FOUGHT THE BEAST BACK!"

He then moves over to Chukie and gives him a quick pat on the back.

Yoshii reaches down and touches the ground, his hands briefly glowing. After he is satisfied with... whatever it was he was doing, he stands once more.

"Finish up the spar friend. I can't imagine you would mark him off when all he was expecting was a quick duel. Instead you've used countless spells and a rather unique form." Yoshii turns his head to Helm, and hesitates when next drawing his runes. "In fact my friend I only know one person who has that combat style, because it is a rather unique one and a sister style to my own. Further, you've either learned it very well from the master himself, or you are the master himself. And given that Rae acts like you're the genuine article... Why not finish the sparring match. What harm could come of it?

Helm turns back around and looks a bit surprised for just a moment, "I honestly forgot how perceptive you are. How about we keep things under wraps for just a bit eh? I'll finish the spar if that's what you want."

Helm flies up in the air, about 40 feet, and begins to talk to himself a bit. "Man that size, talent like that, should take... oh... three quarters a minute?" he mumbles to himself, "AHA! I know my plans!"

He flies down to the ground, and casts a few quick spells in succession. As the first completes there are now a plethora of Magister Helms standing on the field. When the second finishes, there are twice as many again. He then holds out his blade, and resumes the posture of his earlier graceful, dance-like motions.

"Patience is a virtue, and rushing to register will not cause time to move any faster. We have the remainder of the day and, failing that, four more before us. I believe that learning each others strengths would be an appropriate way to focus on the task before us."

Yoshii's ears perk up when Rae speaks of Helm's combat style, "out of curiosity, what combat style does he practice?"

Yoshii feigns the gesture of a sigh, "I suppose, it isn't like we are pressed for time given that registration lasts five days, though we might want to go somewhere a bit more out of the way..." he looks about, "I'm fairly sure there is an open space where guardsmen train closer to the courthouse. We passed it on our way to call for allies."

Yoshii stands, putting his recorder away as he does so.

"Chukie I am surprised. Secrets are necessary, you know for a fact that I have not told them everything about myself. What matters is whether our instincts tell us we can ally with them. I believe we can."

Looking over at Helm, the basket-headed man turns his head to the side and scribbles a few more runes into the air. "Though I did spend a time in Valandair, and even a month or two getting to know a few nobles. An elf who doesn't like to talk about themself is incredibly rare."

"Still! Let's hope this blip does not stain our record. Whatever your reasons for winning I hope you will agree that if we do not win, the reasons don't matter. I have confidence that with the lot of us we will be more than a match for whatever they have cooked up.

Did anyone happen to catch where we were supposed to register. I was particularly deep into my meditation at the time."

"I suppose I am all that is left then. I am Yoshii Kanno, wandering monk, and practitioner of fuke zen. I do not speak, mostly because I cannot. I do not... possess the needed equipment. Instead I have learned to scrawl my thoughts onto the air using magic," scribbles the basket headed monk into the air in front of him.

"I do not much care for violence, but perfection of the self requires physical training and so I love to spar and to work on form. Because of my devotion to form, I am one of the most powerful swordsmen alive; I've never lost a competition I've entered, and I do not intend to start doing so now.

What you call me does not matter, though people tend to call me Yoshii or basket-head."

The sword mage, floating in midair does a roll to keep watching as Remulus jumped from droplet to droplet, clearly unimpressed. When Remmy finally makes his leap though, Yoshii begins to clap loudly. He then flies up and offers his hand out to the fantastic acrobat.

"I was worried all you were going to do was walk on water for a moment there. A fantastic jump though! I managed only to get maybe 20 feet in the air, your last jump had to have been closer to 30 than to 25."

Yoshii begins to move down at a reasonable pace and then, when about 20 feet from the ground dismisses his fly spell outright.

Yoshii looks at Chukie and begins to scribe his runes in the air. "His acrobatic skill is greater than my own, I'd be more than happy to have him along. Though I'll admit I still feel somewhat like I need to have an actual sparring match. Perhaps I'll just practice form some this evening."

Yoshii bows to Rae and Helm, then grabs and sheathes his sword before returning to his spot on the mat and picking up his recorder. He resumes playing where he first left off.

"The mage looks but does not see, listens but does not hear. I believe Xal was fond of the phrase "Before a man speaks it is always safe to assume that he is a fool. After he speaks, it is seldom necessary to assume it." I trained under the Archmage long ago, he was first to help me direct my energies into a useful form. When last I saw him he was not yet Archmage."

Yoshii pantomimes another yawn before perking up suddenly, he frantically traces runes in the air, and before the message can even be read has unsheathed his blade and planted it in the ground.

"I challenge you to a simple contest. Let us see which of us can jump higher, you or myself. If you succeed then I will certainly be fine with your companions and you joining us. In fact, if you even come close I will be so. While I would love to spar, I think at the moment that this may be more quick, and then I could get back to my meditations."

In the time it take to read the message Yoshii has planted his sword into the ground blade first, and begun to scrawl more runes in the air. When he presses his palm though the runes this time though words do not appear before him. He hops up to the top of his sword and lands, balancing on the bottom of the hilt in a miraculous display of acrobatic skill. Then, quick as lightning he jumps. He flies upward like he had been launched by a catapult instead of his own legs. When finally he reaches the top of his jump he does not fall, instead just seeming to lay in the air.

He curls his fingers in several times, indicating that Remulus join him.

Yoshii pulls the basket from his head as he looks at the notes that the two strangers have presented. After examining them for a moment he draws draws some sigils in the air, and dons his basket once again.

"Ah! Pieces of paper. I did not study at a school, the magical regime was much too structured for the powers I wield. I do not control, I merely direct. Still, I learned some under Magister Johnathan Pentos, Magister Kyrin Blackridge, and even Magister Khorin Xal who is now, I believe, called Archmage. I beat them all eventually. Your papers do nothing but prove you have mastered cantrips. I do not seek those of my skill, only those better.
A man offered a trial of skill, nothing less will a man receive."

"Sparring is still violence, though I see no reason we should shy from it now given that there will certainly be a need for it later. Still... That arrow from earlier managed to get my blood flowing, I feel all out of balance. Would you grieve particularly if I took on this one?" Yoshii scarcely waits for a reply before turning to Remulus.

"Do you know magic? Or swordplay? Or perhaps you have more abstract talents, like general athleticism? I have all of these, and would gladly have you compete against me in any one. You may choose the contest, you may choose the rules, I will abide by them and we shall see whether you give a suitable challenge. Honor is a pretty word, but when we do not know you and when you hide your faces behind magical cloaks... I think you will agree a test of ability seems reasonable."

Yoshii who, until this point, has been holding a recorder puts it by his pack on the mat. He places one hand over the sheath of his blade and uses his thumb to push up about an inch of the steel.

Yoshii watches bored as Chukie transforms himself. He pantomimes a yawn, hand passing over the basket as he stretches out some. His playful jest quickly stop though upon seeing Thane go invisible. He passes a hand around his mouth, as if stroking a beard that is clearly not there.

When the arrows begin to fly he hops back, hoping to avoid any stray fire. The first misses, sticking into a tree off in the back. The second arrow simply bounces harmlessly off of Chukie's shoulder. The third arrow finds its mark true, though Chukie doesn't seem to notice. The fourth arrow bounces off, but begins flying towards a woman watching from the crowd. Before it can hit, fast as lightning, the arrow has been split in half at its center. Yoshii stands with his blade drawn, still in the final position from after the cut. The final arrow simply falls short and sticks into the ground.

Chukie begins to laugh at the archer having failed to notice the arrow sticking out of his calf, his laughter quickly turns to a grunt of disapproval as Yoshii walks over and twists the arrow before removing it.

"Well then... It seems he passed your test, even if the arrow didn't do much."

The basket headed man playing the recorder stops and looks up. It becomes apparent that the basket is woven specially in front to allow him to see out of it without too much hassle, though it does a fair job of those trying to look into it from the outside. Basket-head sits up straight and begins to wave his hand through the air. It becomes clear he is tracing runes or signs of some sort as, after a second, the motions of his finger begin to linger as purple streaks through the air. When finally all his symbols are traced he pushes his hand through the floating wall and a message appears in front of him, scribbled into the air by arcane energies.

"I don't mind if you want to have them hit you, but I fear you'll treat it more like an actual melee. Your protective enchantments are probably too much for anyone here. What if we let them take a crack at you, but once that fails let them try their hand at hitting me?" Basket-head shrugs his shoulders at his suggestion and looks to Chukie for a response. After a moment he perks up, as if he has just remembered something.

Finally he stands up, and looks towards Thane. He bows deeply from the waist. It is now that you notice he has an incredibly large, and wickedly curved sword strapped to his side. The blade alone looks like it could be nearly five feet in length, and the hilt seems like it could be more than a foot long itself. Basket-head traces more sigils through the air.

"Hello there Thane of Sommaria. I am called Yoshii. I am a fair bit more silent than my companion, I hope you don't find it too off putting."