Session 14. (5/10/05)

The mission to clear the Onuma swamps of creepy-crawlies has become more like a battle. Five groups of three (two Ainu and one of the newcomers) hack and slash their way through the marshy scrub surrounding the lake, looking for spiders, snakes, centipedes and so on, competing with each other for the number of heads and legs collected. In the first action of the episode, Miyoshi (Jim Loder) and his group collect four heads and 24 legs (either four large beetles or three spiders and a snake), Yoshi (Chris Dore) and co. take two heads and 12 legs, Katchamaru (Anthony Hummerston) and his cronies could only find a centipede (one head, 16 legs), but also encounter four hares, of which they manage to kill two. Mineo (Denzil Brown) and the two Ainu take two heads and 28 legs before encountering two jikumo (giant earth spiders). Mineo starts well with two hits against one of the spiders but then has a run of misses. His Ainu companions take on the other spider and land occasional blows, but the spider bites and poisons one of the Ainu who takes quite a while to fight off its effects. Mineo eventually lands the final telling blow just as the two Ainus' nickel-and-dime approach finishes the other spider. Haku (Paul Burton) is dutiful in his approach (to the others' courageous stance), but still weighs in with three heads and 20 legs and then encounters three jikumo. Taking one each, Haku and the Ainu make steady progress against the spiders while avoiding their bites: Haku is bitten once but resists the poison. However, liberal use of Darts of Water expend all of Haku's power by the time the three spiders are defeated.

In the next round of search and destroy, Miyoshi's party take an impressive six heads and 36 legs, though Miyoshi is bitten and poison robs him of 8 points of speed. Yoshi takes three heads and 20 legs but his second companion is wounded and made less effective for future combats. Kachamaru's group takes four heads and 16 legs while Mineo takes a paltry two heads and four legs, but again has an encounter, this time with four Mizu-kumo (water spiders). Mineo starts badly by dazing himself while trying to put an arrow through the lead spider; fortunately the Ainu both hit their targets. While Mineo fumbles to draw his sword and swish the air somewhere near the spider, it bites him but he resists the poison. The Ainu are getting about 50% hits and one of the spiders goes down quickly. The remaining two last longer and both Ainu are bitten but not poisoned. Mineo finally gets his act together and with two big hits finishes off the first and fourth spiders. Haku remains dutiful and kills just a single snake while receiving major subdual damage both to himself and his second companion. At least it saved his power though.

Following this Miyoshi comes back with seven heads and an incredible 56 legs, though still without an encounter. He is also poisoned again and loses six points of strength. Yoshi obviously found two centipedes as he returns with two heads and 28 legs, and has a double encounter, running into two Jikumo and three martens. Letting the martens run off, he and his companions fire on the spiders. All arrows strike home and the spiders are badly hurt. Switching to swords, Yoshi gets a big hit and finishes the first spider. One of the Ainu misses and the other breaks his spear. Yoshi is unfazed and with another big hit finishes the second spider. Kachamaru takes four heads and eight legs (presumably one spider and three snakes), but while scouting on his own he runs straight into four jikumo. Bravely Kachamaru ran away, losing only one On due to the steep odds, and reflects on how glad he was that his companions didn't see since they might write it in one of those sagas the Ainu are so good at. Meanwhile, Mineo kills a centipede for one head and 20 legs, suffering a slight wound but losing partial effectiveness of his first companion due to injury. Haku, unconscious after his last fight, misses the action as the Ainu take three heads and 12 legs, but the second Ainu is injured again and incapacitated. Haku uses his magic to return the Ainu to partial health but finally overexpends his power too much and suffers a backlash, knocking him out for hours.

In the day's fourth hour, Miyoshi takes three heads and 12 legs. This time he avoids being poisoned, only for his second companion to be struck and reduced in effectiveness. Yoshi's group takes three heads and another 28 legs; Kachamaru nearly matches this with four heads and 24 legs. Mineo's run of encounters continues. After taking three heads and no legs, the group happens upon a nushi (swamp witch) accompanied by two jikumo. The nushi reacts first and curses Mineo with Muscles of Water, reducing his strength by 10. Mineo swings his now-too-heavy katana and misses, then switches to his wakizashi. One Ainu hits one of the spiders, but the other Ainu misses and is badly bitten, though he resists the poison. The nushi casts an unrecognized spell (in fact it was Swift Stream, allowing extra actions), then transforms into a huger serpent. However, this was to prove her downfall. Mineo hacks at the snake but keeps missing. The first Ainu trades hits with the first spider while the second Ainu trades misses with the second spider. The nushi-snake attacks Mineo and bites him (minimal damage, no poison), then tries to throw coils around him to crush him to death, but fails four times. On the fifth attempt the nushi critically fails and breaks her spine. Mineo manages to get several hits on the writhing snake and kills it. Meanwhile, the first Ainu finishes the first spider, but not before it has poisoned him twice, rendering him ineffective in any further action. The second Ainu eventually kills the second spider, resisting being poisoned once. Finally Haku's companions, one able-bodied and one partly restored to health, manage to kill but a single snake while Haku lies unconscious in a safe grove.

The day draws on and Miyoshi's form deserts him, returning just two heads and 12 legs and receiving a minor injury and still no encounters. Yoshi takes two heads and 32 legs, and Kachamaru gets two heads, eight legs and a minor wound. Mineo's party takes two heads and 20 legs and has yet another encounter, this time with a lone giant rat, which tries to run off while Mineo jabs at it and eventually finds the big hit and kills it. Haku's dwindling party kills two more snakes in Haku's absence, but companion 2 is injured again and put out of action.

Finally Miyoshi's big chance arrives - an encounter! After dispatching creatures for 2 heads and 20 legs, they encounter... a single viper - still very dangerous though. The first two rounds consist solely of Miyoshi, the Ainu and the snake swiping and missing each other (16 consecutive misses!). The snake gets the first hit, poisoning the first Ainu. Over the next few rounds the Ainu would try feebly to shake off the poison and end up virtually debilitated. Both Ainu manage to hit the snake while Miyoshi keeps missing. The snake gets a second bite at the Ainu and poisons Miyoshi's second companion. This time the Ainu throws off the poison more quickly, but is still left significantly weakened. Finally Miyoshi gets a hit and it's a critical one, doing 20 points of damage and killing the snake. Elsewhere in the swamp Yoshi's group takes four heads and 20 legs, Kachamaru takes five heads and no legs and is injured slightly, Mineo takes seven heads and 16 legs, but Mineo is poisoned and loses seven points of strength, and Haku's group is too weakened to fight on.

With the Ainu wanting to take 144 heads as a nice round number and a good total to keep the marshes free of the creatures they hate so much for a few years, the standings are:

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