Session 16. (26/10/05)

Kanemitsu runs up, swords sheathed, shouting that they must act quickly because another party of samurai has gone down the other valley to attack Mori and take possession of the wood. The Ainu are very upset at this, as the wood is sacred to them. The former samurai toy with the idea of chasing down the current samurai, but eventually decide that in their battered state they should return to Shikabe, collect reinforcements and hope they can beat the samurai to Mori. Before leaving they gather up all the useable weapons and do some healing, though Mineo (Denzil Brown) can't be healed as there is nowhere left to bandage!

The battered party heads back, has a brief rest during the night, and with some volunteers from Shikabe and Mori they establish a fighting force of 18. Kanemitsu says the samurai numbered about 30. At Mori Miyoshi (Jim Loder) organizes the defences, deciding to ambush the samurai as they reach the village. Haku (Paul Burton) and two Ainu shaman conceal themselves to hurl spells at the attackers. Scouts are sent out to locate the samurai.

The day draws on and there is no word from the scouts. One of the shaman calls on a wolf and learns that the humans in the forest are killing game. This angers the Ainu but gives further time for rest and preparation. By late afternoon the scouts return and report that the samurai have made camp a short distance away. Miyoshi has to decide - get an extra night's rest or make a night attack? He attacks.

The Ainu party heads through the wood to the samurai camp. Katchamaru (Anthony Hummerston) gives himself night vision with a Stage Lantern spell, while one of the shaman helps the others with Eyes of the Woodsman. Yoshi (Chris Dore) scouts round the camp using shinobijutsu and returns with details of the layout and guards. The leaders are sleeping in a tent while the lower ranks have just bare earth; three or four guards are on watch. Haku says he will cast Mud over the leaders' tent while the others fire arrows into the camp. Then one of the shaman suggests that he use his Control Bear skill to send a bear through the camp to create disorder. Miyoshi immediately agrees. Moments later two bears come running through the woods, through the camp and straight through the leaders' tent. Then they disappear back into the woods. Haku casts his Mud and the Ainu party opens fire. Miyoshi misses, Yoshi gets a critical hit and kills a L1 bushi outright. Kachamaru, with his unerring skill in picking out the lowest ranks, gets a minor hit but still kills the bushi extra. Mineo hits, as do six of the ten Ainu bowmen, resulting in one kill. The panic is building in the camp as the samurai look for their attackers. A second wave of arrows follows. Miyoshi misses again, Yoshi gets a hit, Kachamaru finds another extra and kills him. Mineo hits again, but this L2 bushi is proving quite tough. Haku tries to cast mud under more of the samurai but fails. Kanemitsu gets a hit and the Ainu get six more successes, whose cumulative effect kills two more samurai. The two Ainu shaman cast Arrows of Wood and another samurai goes down. By now the samurai have worked out where the offensive fire is coming from and start to organise a counterattack. Then comes a third wave of arrows from point-blank range. Miyoshi finally gets a hit and does much damage to a L2 bushi. Yoshi does likewise with another L2 and Kachamaru finds and kills his third bushi extra. Mineo gets another hit on his L2 foe but still he stands. Haku casts Mud under the advancing troops. The Ainu bowmen get three more hits and one of the Ainu lands Arrows of Wood but it has no effect.

Will the tide turn when the samurai reach sword range?

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