Well, I'm willing to continue on then. Haruki, and possibly Saito if he doesn't wish to move onward, will go investigate something else, and meet an...unpleasant fate.
How many of us still wish to continue? I know I've been pretty terrible at keeping up my posting rate, for which I apologize. I've failed utterly in my part of the game pact. I'm still quite willing to run the game, but the question is whether you are willing to put up with me.
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...
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."
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 actual Lore is rather unclear on the subject. Some accounts have them as a sort of 'one a year' gift to a great swordsman, others that they are the most supremely awesome swords of a lifetime. I prefer to think that all the special clan blades are rather rare, with only a few people earning the right to carry them. So I suppose it shouldn't be 'why are you so awesome as to earn the 5th?' as much as 'why are you so awesome to have earned one?'
You'd still have to be a Crane clan member, though. I do believe that the Advantage actually stipulates as such.
Not looking for any more people at the moment, but I'll add you to the waitlist.
A couple of things would need to change about the character, however: First, I specified that only Great Clans were open to characters. Second, I also specified that you could only have a single (1) disadvantage. If you want to be on the waitlist at all, I'd like a bit more background since you made the mechanics already. It had better be good to earn a Kakita blade: there have only been 4 made in recorded history. Why are you so awesome as to earn the 5th?
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."
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hida-san, yes, the Taint and the Shadowlands are still not topics for polite company. It is only tolerable here because you have a Jade Magistrate(who happens to be Kuni) along with you.
The cave's walls leap into relief as you stride further in. Somehow, they seem to be giving a sinister air to the rock, as though something had given them angry life.
A noise from further within diverts your attention from the cavern. It is hard to hear, but not impossible. A goat-wounded from the sound of it. After just a moment, a high pitched bleat comes from the depths of the cave, and falls silent afterwards.
Torch material proves difficult to find out here, but Yoritomo-san proves up to the task. Within moments, you have acquired enough wood for two torches.
When you roll a ten on a die, it 'explodes', which means you roll a d10 again, and add that number to the original ten. Explosions continue until you roll not a 10.
Few signs of life greet you as you venture up the path. What tracks you do find seem to be old, at least a week. It seems that whatever took the Badger away seems to have swept the entire plateau clean of animal life as well.
As you ascend further, your path becomes steeper. Thankfully the Badger cut stairs into the rock, allowing you to make progress without needing the aid of climbing equipment. The trek is not easy, however, as the wind picks up as you go. It brings the scent of wet rock with it, and the wind sounds eerily like the distant cry of a woman.
Out of the corner of his eye, Akodo-san spots an oddity in the rocks. Approaching closer, it appears to be a cave of some sort. Hida-san, you note that what appear to be goat tracks are headed inside. They are fresh.
Isaka allows a few moments of discussion, but curtails things rather quickly. "We need to move now. Let's get going." With that she strides to the front of the group, and begins leading the way. The land rises steadily, though occasionally dips and switchbacks muddle the way.
After only a few minutes, the path diverges. At the moment, you are in a small valley, and your vision of the road ahead in either direction is limited. Mirumoto-san eyes both paths and consults the maps she keeps on her person. Waving off questions, she swiftly makes a decision.
"All of you will take the divergent path. It should lead to a plateau that rises above the surrounding area, giving a better vantage point. Kuni-san and I will continue on this road. Take this chart, and get me some more accurate maps of the land here. We may need them if we can't find the source of this trouble within the castle grounds. Meet us at Shiro Ichiro before nightfall. Move out."
Your soul sends its questions forth, causing ripples in the stillness of the Void. You wait, almost an eternity it seems, before they return. The answers arrive within you, as though you had always known what you sought. Within your mind, characters of fire and air write themselves upon the earth and water.
The balance has been disrupted. Something has taken the guardians away. He Who Guides has been awakened.
As the words fade, the stillness returns. Slowly, you recede from the Void, returning to your fellows.
Mugai waves his Crab companion off. "Let Shiba-san finish his communion. The Void may yet reveal something I have missed, Hida-san. Once he returns, we will move forward, I am sure."
Isaka interjects "With all haste then. We should be within the walls of Shiro Ichiro before nightfall. Something haunts these hills, and it would be unwise to remain here without a defensible position."
Isaka doesn't turn as she responds, her voice like a piercing wind amidst a forest, "The shugenja within the castle said his spirit seemed to have been drained away somehow, as though it had been tethered to a point elsewhere, and was pulled back from his body. Such things are...not natural, to say the least."
Shiba-san:
Communing with the Void is unlike anything else you have ever experienced. Each time, it is different, for each moment is as different as each leaf. This time, you get the peculiar sensation of falling, swiftly moving from rapid descent to a gentle flight. After only a few moments, you can feel the dark peace of the Void permeate your entire being. You-is it you, or are you it? So hard to tell, when the only thing separating you from everything is this physical shell. As you center yourself, you feel the small portion of the universe around you pause, as if gathering breath. It awaits you, ishiken.
Your calculations for TN are correct, though your base die pool is already 6k3, so spending a void point would put you at 7k4, so roll an extra die. Yes, the free raise applies, so TN is 15.
I take the wording of the Ishiken-do advantage to mean that not only can you cast Void spells, but that you can commune, in a fashion, with the Void by casting Commune, despite what the spell itself says. It should work quite well here, at least...
Already doing much better just a couple things here.
Kado said wrote:
Kado just observes Kuni-sama for a moment and turns to look at Mirumoto [/b]Indeed, information is always of high importance[/b] as Kado smiles for himself under his mask and looking at the rest of his companions to see if they have something else to add to Mirumoto answer.
In here, I place a period after Mirumoto. The honorific, in this case -sama, is good, but I'm not going to be a stickler in non-spoken ones. You are still missing "quote marks". At then end of his spoken dialog, there should be a comma: "Indeed, information is always of high importance,". Like that. Personally, I would end the sentence after 'under his mask', and then start again with 'He looks at the rest of his companions...'.
After a few moments, the magistrate returns from his trance. He immediately notices Saito, acknowledging him with only a grunt. When he speaks, it is as though gravel was being poured from a bowl. Every word is carefully measured, as though simple speech represents a combat engagement. "Something interferes with the kami's native action here. It is...very bothersome. They simply chant a single name: Ryoshun. I believe the histories state that he is the tenth Kami, his governance the Realm of the Dead. What bearing could he have on this event?" His face, adorned with the traditional white and black makeup of the Kuni, twists into something unpleasant.
Turning the Saito, he says "Shiba-san, do this: seek the knowledge of the Void. Perhaps your particular skill will prove more useful."
Added the magistrates to the Campaign Info tab, as well as who was assigned to whom. Obviously both magistrates have command over all of you, but the one you're listed under is your direct superior in this mission.
Before we get too far along, I'm going to put up a couple quick grammar preferences.
-Put quotes around your speech, and bold it. Just makes things easier.
-Inner thoughts should be done in italics.
-OOC stuff should be like this. It should only be in the IC if it pertains directly to what's happening in the thread.
A bit more: flow is very important for reading. Do your best to ensure that your ideas come across as you intend by writing grammatically well.
For Bayushi Kado:
I'm going to pick apart your post Bayushi-san, simply because it was first for me to notice. Forgive me if I offend, it is not my intent. I simply wish to make reading easier:
Bayushi Kado said wrote:
Stopping for a moment to admire the setting sun that set over a mountain of a man Hida must be part of "the Wall" for that size. As Kado keeps walking thanking his mask for hiding his facial expression of being wary about his surroundings, taking a quick look around as he is guarding the rear of the group to provoke the usual unsettling of the others.
Whatever secret this place holds, I'm pretty sure we will find them. as he says it with his usual monotone.
When you start with a gerund (ending a word with -ing), you have to finish with the subject of the first action, and whatever subsequent action they were engaging in. So, first line should either be changed to start like 'Kado stopped for a moment', or should end something like 'peeking over a mountain of a man, he mused on his Crab companion.'
The inner thought should be its own sentence. The second sentence runs on somewhat, which could be solved by adding commas in certain spots and splitting it up into two sentences.
Last thing, when you tell how someone said something, use a comma instead of a period:
'"...sure we will find them," he says with his usual monotone.'
Like so.
Once again, I don't mean to offend. I got a BA in English at college, so I tend to be picky about flow, and the readability of words. If I've offended, then please tell me and I'll leave it at that.
Neither of the magistrates answer at first. Kuni-sama seems absorbed in some task. His eyes are shut, his mouth moving furtively as he chants under his breath. The jade pendant he wears around his neck jingles as his horse shifts, the coins he has strapped to the cord making most of the noise.
After a moment's pause, Mirumoto-sama answers your question. "I can honestly say little, Shiba-san. The single runner who arrived at Shiro Shinjo died not long after arriving. He lived only long enough to pass along the knowledge of the event itself. We must be prepared for anything. Perhaps we will know more when Kuni-san returns from communing." It is obvious from her tone that Mirumoto-sama is not pleased with the lack of information. Her face, however, shows only solid determination.
The Sun has charted its path across the Heavens this day. As it bids farewell to the Empire once more, you can see the outline of Shiro Ichiro finally enter your vision. It seems like ages since you began the hike up through the nearly impassable mountains. One wonders why the Badger need such secrecy.
Your superiors in this mission, Emerald Magistrate Mirumoto Isaka and Jade Magistrate Kuni Mugai, seem calm. Whatever mental fortitude they possess, it certainly doesn't apply to you. Something has been bothering each and every one of you since you passed into Badger Clan lands. Like a centipede creeping slowly up your spine, a feeling of apprehension has grown within you. Something isn't right, and the feeling is growing the closer you get to Shiro Ichiro.
This'll be our IC intro spots. You folks have been working together for about 2 months now, hunting bandits and supernatural oddities in Unicorn lands. The sudden strangeness at Shiro Ichiro prompted your current mission. Speak amongst yourselves for a bit, and then we'll launch into your arrival at the top of the peak.
I said that no Trait could start above 3 unless school and family bonuses doubled up. I have no qualms about you guys having a Skill at 4, though. I just wanted to rein in the kept dice at the beginning. If this means some of you need to change your skills, fine by me.
Bayushi Kado, I was mistaken about the Armor TN. I posted as such in the recruitment thread. My bad. I had missed the base 5 points that the Ref*5 and Armor bonus is added to.
EDIT: I like the backstory Yoritomo-san. Simple, effective, explains much. Even though such acts will certainly cause tension in the Colonies, when the Spider learn what you've done. Admittedly, the Tainted are killed on sight anyway these days, so anybody drinking Jade Petal Tea at all is immediately suspect. Good copping.
Make posts in the discussion thread to signify completeness.
Bayushi-san, I was incorrect about your Armor TN. I missed the base 5 points that the Ref*5 and armor bonus is added to. Your base is your original 25, thus 30 v slow people.
I believe your TN for being hit should be 20: reflexes 3*5 + armor 5. Thus it would be 25 vs slow people. Other than that, just show each trait for rings as well as the ring level.
I'd say a fresh faced 21 is about as young as I'd like to go. You've already been considered an adult samurai for years, at least as far as Core is concerned, but now you actually are an adult physically and perhaps mentally as well. ;)
