Session 5. (22/6/05)

When we finished last week we left Miyoshi (Jim Loder) and Kanemitsu facing six charging wolves. The two heroes charge into the wolves themselves and hack away. Miyoshi's run of form continues and his first two hacks miss. Kanemitsu manages one hit out of two. The wolves' do much better, two biting Miyoshi for 5 points of damage and three biting Kanemitsu for 10 points of damage. The rest of the apprentices, on hearing the screams up ahead, race up to join the fight. The wolves are obviously confused by the target-rich environment and only manage to bite Mineo (Denzil Brown) and Kanemitsu (again). Miyoshi's run of form continues and his next two hacks miss. Yoshi (Chris Dore) also misses twice, while Katchamaru (Anthony Hummerston) and Mineo manage one hit out of two. Kanemitsu, evidently stung, gets one hit then a critical second strike and kills the first wolf. Haku (Paul Burton) completes the round with a successful casting of Darts of Water. In their next attack, all five remaining wolves fail to put the bite on anyone. Miyoshi's run of form continues and his next two hacks miss. Kachamaru also misses twice, and Yoshi, Mineo and Kanemitsu get one hit apiece and Haku scores with Darts of Water but for only one damage. The wolves nip Yoshi and Kanemitsu (yet again). Miyoshi finally gets a hit (though his second strike misses) and Yoshi, Kachamaru and Mineo all get hits and kill their wolves almost simultaneously. Haku scores another hit with Darts of Water, Yoshi draws his second sword, while Mineo swings, misses and throws his first sword away. The two remaining wolves bite thin air and Yoshi replies with both blades and finishes off Haku's wolf. Miyoshi misses again so Kanemitsu hits his wolf; finally Miyoshi gets his second hit and finishes the last wolf.

The party catches breath and binds wounds. While the older samurai collect the wolf pelts, the apprentices talk about the trip. Kanemitsu says how he is concerned about the killing of Ainu - to him they seem to be ordinary humans, for all that they are pale and hairy. They don't seem to be an invading army - just hunters and foragers. Kachamaru and Miyoshi mention that most of the last Ainu they killed were carrying bags containing fruits and berries, and had the pelts of small animals in their belts. Only one of the Ainu carried a spear - the rest just had hunting knives. On this unsettling note the conversation subsides.

With the two level twos on point, the party sets off again. Before long the leaders spot four mizu-kumo (giant water spiders). The spiders attack and one gets a bite, but another gets a critical failure and breaks a leg - not, however, too much of a handicap to a spider! The level twos get hits on the spiders but then one of the level twos starts to feel the effects of the spider's bite. He manages to reduce the level 5 paralytic poison by one level, but his speed starts to suffer. The rest of the party arrives and starts laying into the spiders. Miyoshi, Yoshi, Mineo and the unhurt level two get hits. The same spider that delivered the level 5 poison bites Mineo but fortunately Mineo resists the poison. All the apprentices miss on their second attacks and Miyoshi's ill-fortune continues as he falls over and stuns himself. In the next round of action all the spiders miss. The level two gets a hit while his buddy sinks further into paralysis, Yoshi gets another good hit and kills a spider, Kachamaru fails to cast Stage Flash, Mineo misses, Kanemitsu gets a hit and even Haku lands a Dart of Wood - but only 1 damage. In their second attacks, Yoshi and Kanemitsu miss and this time it is Mineo's turn to stun himself. Then the samurai rally: Miyoshi lands a critical hit and kills a spider, Yoshi kills another and the level twos combine to polish off the last one. The injured level two fights hard to shake off the poison but it just gets the better of him and he collapses, paralysed. The others bind wounds and rest while the level two recovers.

After a couple of hours' rest and an early lunch, the party sets off once more round the lake, through the marshes. For an hour they walk and see nothing of interest, but at the far end of the lake they spy six Ainu camped by the lakeside. Following Tagaya's lead, the samurai attack. Tagaya, Yoshi and Kanemitsu land hits; Kachamaru's and Haku's spells fail. The Ainu try to fight back with fishing spears but none manage hits. The samurai are also all unsuccessful on their second hits. In the next round, Tagaya, Miyoshi, Mineo and Kanemitsu get hits, and Kachamaru's Stage Flash spell works, blinding most of the Ainu. This may have helped Yoshi score on his second attack, but it doesn't seem to help any of the others. The Ainu all miss again, and the only dangerous-looking one is dazed. The samurai attack again and Yoshi hits and kills one of the Ainu. Another of the Ainu gets a hit on Kachamaru who draws his sword and gets two hits on the unfortunate native. Yoshi also scores on his second hit, having switched to help Tagaya and kills his opponent too. Next Miyoshi, Yoshi and Mineo get hits and Haku finally succeeds with Darts of Water. The Ainu all miss and the samurai also all miss on their second strikes. Then Miyoshi, Kachamaru, Mineo and Kanemitsu all land hits that finish off their opponents.

After the fight Tagaya, the party leader, announces a celebration that Miyoshi has finally got his kill so the party can go home. Miyoshi is less than enthusiastic and voices his concerns that the Ainu were only fishing, not attacking the Kakizaki, but Tagaya has some stern words with him and he subsides (failed Will Saving Throw). The samurai head back through the marshes the way they came, but soon encounter three enormous serpents. One of the snakes bites Tagaya, though he manages to hit is with his sword. The other snakes miss but Miyoshi and Kachamaru slice into them and Mineo gets a great hit with his jitte on the snake biting into Tagaya. That snake now coils around Tagaya and squeezes for four damage. Kanemitsu chops one of the other snakes in half. Meanwhile the snake throws another coil around Tagaya and squeezes for four more damage. Yoshi chops at Tagaya's tormentor and Haku weighs in with Darts of Water, finishing off the snake and freeing Tagaya. The samurai turn on the last serpent and nickel-and-dime it until it is dead. After pausing to get their breath back, the party makes its way to the top of the lake without further incident and set up camp for the night.

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