Session 6. (8/5/09)

It is winter of the Year of the Horse (1462-3). It is also bitterly cold. Snow lies thick on the ground. There is no foraging and the diet relies on dried fish and stored barley grain. A hunt is organised to catch one of the swans that roost in the warm, ice-free central channel of the Onuma river that passes next to the village. All our heroes take part along with three native Ainu hunters. Miyoshi mumbles that he'd rather hunt swans in summer, but Mineo is quick to point out that the swans are not here in the summer; Kokuma confirms this: "Yes, dey fly back to Heaven with messages for der gods." Out in the icy river, Kokuma throws his net but misses. Yoshi is more successful, and with the dextrous assistance of Miyoshi, Kachamaru and Mineo they wrestle a swan to the bank and kill it. Kokuma insists that they must release the swan's spirit to return to heaven, so he makes a small fire, plucks a flight feather from the bird and burns it. Back at the village, a ceremony of thanks is undertaken, with a short dance with singing. To Mineo's excellent flute accompaniment, Kokuma, Yoshi and Kachamaru sing harmoniously (Kachamaru aided by his Noh experience), while Haku and Miyoshi mumble along tunelessly. All their wives take part in the dancing, though only Haku's and Miyoshi's wives manage any degree of grace; Mineo's wife manages to fall over.

Some days later a flock of cranes arrives in the village's fields (now dormant) and start synchronised dancing, first a few pairs then the whole flock, cavorting like possessed spirits. This is the sign for the start of one of the villagers' most important annual rituals, the Crane Dance, which is believed to fend off evil spirits. The Ainu women get out and spruce up their best costumes, fine blue cloth with white embroidered patterns to honour the cranes, who they believe are "dressed in clothes from heaven". Then the young women dance while the older women sing, and the men beat out a rhythm or get drunk. This time it is the wives of Yoshi, Haku, Kachamaru and Mineo that lead the way; Mineo and Kachamaru drum away rhythmically, but Miyoshi, Yoshi and Haku can't keep the beat; Kokuma, who isn't bright enough to be a drummer, tries his hand as a drinker instead, and consumes an impressive amount of freeze-distilled barley mash without falling over.

Winter ebbs away and the sea ice starts to break up. A fishing trip is organised, using the village's two largest boats. Haku helps find the fish by bringing them to the boats using the Call Beasts spell. The others help to pull in the nets, Miyoshi having the most success, but Mineo gets caught up and falls in. The fishing fleet is being followed by eagles, some up to 8' wingspan, which swoop in and try to take the fish from the nets. Those still in the boat fend them off with anything they have to hand - Kokuma grabs a pole and clobbers an eagle, Kachamaru conjures an Omnipresent Sword, Haku hits three with Darts of Water, Yoshi and Miyoshi even use their bare hands - and manage to keep all the catch. Mineo manages to pull himself back aboard before being nibbled to death by halibut.

Finally one day the swans leave, returning to heaven (so the Ainu believe - actually they return to Siberia to raise their young), signalling the end of winter.

Now it is spring in the Year of the Goat (1463). With spring comes the most important annual ritual - the bear hunt. The bears are just coming out of hibernation and the mothers are just having their cubs. A hunting party heads up into the mountains - after a long ceremony of blessing - but avoiding the sacred woods above Mori where a much bigger Ainu bear hunt takes place every year (the bear-releasing ritual is not performed as Shikabe was not chosen to rear a bear last year). Kokuma excels at his tracking skill and soon they come across a female bear with a very young cub. The hunters set up a perimeter of nets then attack the she-bear with bows and spears. Yoshi and Kokuma hit with arrows but Miyoshi's spear misses and Mineo suffers a broken arrow. The bear charges the hunters and breaks through the nets. Yoshi tries to fire an arrow at point blank but breaks his bowstring. Miyoshi keeps the bear at bay with his spear. Kachamaru uses a stage trick and breathes fire over the bear, setting its fur alight, and Kokuma finishes it off with another arrow. Meanwhile the bear cub manages to escape through the hole in the net, but Kokuma uses his Control Bear power and holds it while the others net it, and they carry it back to Shikabe. Here Kokuma takes the cub into his house and ties it to a stake inside. His wife will look after the cub - even breast-feeding it. The household will be regarded by the other Ainu as particularly favoured by this turn of events.

It is time to see what the winter "period of domesticity" has brought, but first a hunt is organised to catch flying squirrels. These animals are so fecund that they are believed to be incarnations of fertility gods. Miyoshi is first to spot a small tree-dwelling rodent and hits it with an arrow, but it turns out to be just an ordinary squirrel - good for the pot but not for the babies. Haku is next, and fires a Dart of Water, but again the prize is just a squirrel. Next Yoshi spies a flying squirrel gliding between two trees and with a great shot brings it down with an arrow. The Mineo gets in on the action and hits another furry body, but once again it is only an ordinary squirrel. The hunt goes quiet for a while, no-one seeing any game. Finally Haku spots a flying squirrel edging out along a branch, looses a Dart of Water but unfortunately misses. Suddenly half the party is seeing flying squirrels perched on branches, and Yoshi, Kachamaru and Haku all manage to hit one more before the hunt ends.

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