Session 18. (23/11/05)

The final episode of this series begins in week 24 in the Year of the Rat. Koshamain, the Ainu leader, sends for the ex-samurai. When they arrive at his home in Mori he greets them and explains in his best broken Nipponese: "I know the Kakizaki will not give a good peace when they think they are so much stronger than us. The only way to show them the Ainu are strong is by attacking their big village on the salty river. If we capture their village we can talk good peace terms; if we fail but show we are strong we can still get a good peace.

"I need you to help train the Ainu during this winter to use the bows and swords we have or can make. Then with your skills and knowledge of battle you can help us show the Kakizaki we are strong and help me make a better future for the Ainu."

Then Koshamain reverts to his natural tongue, which the heroes now understand well enough, and calls on the gods to bless their new adventure.

Katchamaru (Anthony Hummerston) gets the wrong end of the stick. "Should we be attacking a village? We didn't rebel against killing women and children for the Kakizaki just to do it for the Ainu." Miyoshi (Jim Loder) agrees, but Yoshi (Chris Dore) sees what the others have missed. "You know what the Ainu call the Salty River? It's the strait of sea between Ezo and the mainland. And there is no Ainu word for town. So the big village on the salty river must be Hakodate." After all this time, Ainu language and Ainu classics have become bonus skills for the ex-samurai. Then reality hits: "Attack Hakodate! Gulp!" The heroes picture themselves and a dozen Ainu fighting ten thousand samurai, ashigaru and civilians. But further thought makes them realise the Kakizaki have a small standing army, few defensive structures and a populace that will probably run rather than fight. And a question to Koshamain increases the number of Ainu ready to fight to "a few thousand." Suddenly Miyoshi sees himself as a great general, leading the primitives to victory over the oppressive, effete overlords. His plan forms: attack, occupy (liberate!), get a peace treaty and leave. "How," says Haku (Paul Burton). Mineo (Denzil Brown) offers his thoughts: "We must make as many weapons as we can, with help from the Ainu craftsmen, then train the Ainu warriors to use those weapons - bows, spears, swords, even sticks." So as the long northern winter draws in, the heroes begin their preparation for battle.

Miyoshi splits his time between training the leading Ainu warriors in sword fighting, to use them as shock troops and bodyguards; planning battle strategy (during the long dark evenings); and improving his own skills, firstly Ainu language for five weeks, until he is fully literate, then two weeks of kenjutsu, a week of kyujutsu, a week of ni-to-kenjutsu and the remainder of winter (13 weeks) improving senjojutsu (battle strategy) to 86%.

Yoshi joins up with Kanemitsu and they help each other improve their bowyer skills, taking six weeks to reach a professional level of competence. Then they split their time between teaching the Ainu bowyers to make the daikyu and doing personal training. Yoshi spends 10 weeks on kenjutsu and masters the skill, then spends six weeks on ni-to-kenjutsu to improve it to 88%.

Mineo works on his jittejutsu skill for four weeks to get it to the point where he can teach the Ainu (those who can't be provided with a metal weapon). Mineo spends the remaining 18 weeks learning naginatajutsu (to 71% from scratch), with Kanemitsu's help, and they also help teach the Ainu how to use this weapon. The Ainu metal workers start turning out crude naginata, this being much simpler than swords.

Kachamaru spends 12 weeks honing his swordsmith skill in the newly converted school building, reaching 80% and in the process making it a bonus skill. Then he starts making his first sword. It goes well for the first week and a half and the proto-katana seems to be heading for good quality. Then he gets onto the finishing and finds a brilliant edge, resulting in a superior quality katana in just 3 weeks. Next he tries his hand at a wakizashi and makes a superb start, all but completing a superior wakizashi in five days, but something goes wrong in the finishing and although he tries for several days to fix it, it ends up as merely a good quality blade. However, the experience and honour gained takes him to third level. Kachamaru decides to make one more blade, another katana, and this goes exactly like the first one, turning out as a superior katana, which he presents to Miyoshi with much ceremony and honour. Finally, Kachamaru spends three weeks improving his kenjutsu to 71%.

Haku... disappears into the village shaman's house and is hardly seen again until the spring shoots appear through the snow.

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