Session 9. (29/5/09)

It is Autumn of the Year of the Goat (1463). Following the attack on the village by the Matsumae samurai, the two survivors are held for questioning. Meanwhile, out in the fields, the cranes gather for their autumn dancing. The villagers accompany them with their own dancing and singing. Life goes on. The former samurai devise some threats and torture to make the prisoners talk, but in fact the Ainu singing is enough. The leader talks a little, but the most junior member of the attack force sings like a canary - which is much better than the Ainu. Unfortunately, there is little to tell: they were sent to attack the village and drive the Ainu out, extending Matsumae territory. They don't know anything about the other abandoned village (Usujiri) - they never went there. As a reward for being helpful, the junior samurai is allowed to commit seppuku. Kachamaru stands in as his second, but he is not needed as the samurai manages the three cuts in fine style. The samurai leader is simply executed, Miyoshi doing the dirty work. All this is done against the background of Ainu singing and dancing, in which the wives of Kokuma, Miyoshi and Mineo distinguish themselves, while Haku's wife makes a fool of herself (dancing on the tables again).

Before winter sets in our heroes decide to start building some defences for the village. They start with a watchtower, using a simple, traditional design using three long poles. Mineo's carpentry skills come in handy, as do Kokuma's wife's woodcutting skills (she was only a woodcutter's daughter, but she gave all the men wood). She works up a good sweat helping Mineo, and soon his tower is erect. They both ascend the heights, and Mineo can see the outline of the two greatest peaks in the area, and right up the valley below them. He is particularly impressed by her beautiful dovetail. But all too soon the ground is covered by a blanket of white and the winter cold prevents any further erections until the spring.

Just as the snows are setting in, the swans return, the Ainu "messengers from heaven". The Ainu celebrate with dance and music and hold the last feast of the year. A hunt is arranged to provide for the feast; Kokuma gets into a good position to net some swans on the river, and Kachamaru, Miyoshi and Mineo help manoeuvre the net into position. Haku drops his end of the net, so two swans escape, but two are caught. Haku regains his honour by hitting one of the fleeing swans with a Dart of Water, which, when also hit by Mineo's and Kachamaru's arrows, brings it down. Three flight feathers are burned and the feasting commences.

During the winter the ex-samurai train. Haku researches Fronting the Storm, writes it on a scroll and starts learning it. Kokuma works out and improves his strength, though he really wanted to learn Smashing Blow. Kachamaru learns "The Hand is Faster than the Eye" to allow him to temporarily increase his Base Action Phase. Miyoshi improves Sojutsu and Control Wolf. Mineo studies Kenjutsu.

As winter draws to a close and the sea ice breaks up, a fishing trip is organised. Miyoshi and Kokuma work the nets and bring in a satisfactory haul. The others fend off the eagles: Haku downs on with an Arrow of Wood, Mineo scares one off with a wooden arrow, and Kachamaru has one peck at his liver so he clobbers it with his sword.

Winter departs, taking the swans with it, and spring arrives, bringing the Year of the Monkey (1464) and the annual hunt of flying squirrels. During the first hour, Haku spots a squirrel in flight and brings it down with two accurate Darts of Water. Mineo also spots one in flight and hits it with an arrow, but somehow fails to kill it and it disappears into the trees. Kokuma and Kachamaru go after it and Kokuma finds it quickly; by the time Kachamaru find it Kokuma has already dispatched it with his tetsubo - later everyone find out what squirrel pâté tastes like. In the next hour it is once again Mineo and Haku that are the observant ones. Again Mineo hits one in flight and this time kills it outright. Haku stuns one in the trees, but it turns out to be an ordinary squirrel. For the next hour no-one sees even a glimpse of furry wildlife (Mineo even walks into a tree), and as the day ends Haku is the only one to see any movement, and picks off another flying squirrel with two Darts of Water. The lack of success with these symbols of fertility is reflected in the outcome of the winter's "period of domesticity", and only the ever-reliable Haku is blessed with good news - his forthcoming fourth child.

Soon is time for the Bear Ceremony. The young bear kept by Kokuma and his wife is put in a cage (which is barely strong enough to hold it), ready to be released and hunted down by Ainu archers. Kokuma secretly coaches the bear cub on techniques for evading the hunters, and asks that age-old philosophical conundrum: does a bear croak in the woods? However, the bear isn't an existentialist and Kokuma's instructions are way over its head, so once released it just runs into the forest and the hunting party has no trouble tracking it. Kachamaru casts The Hand is Faster than the Eye to give himself a jump on the other archers, but the spell fails and anyway he fails to hit it with his arrow when his turn comes round. Miyoshi is first with a hit, doing a fair bit of damage to the year-old cub. Kokuma tries Control Bear, but this only seems to confuse it. Mineo puts an arrow into the bear, but his bow isn't very powerful. Haku lands two Arrows of Wood. Miyoshi switches to his spear and Kachamaru draws his sword, but Kokuma, tetsubo already in hand, fittingly and sympathetically applies the coup-de-grace and splatters bear brains all round the forest. Miyoshi fires an arrow into the eastern sky to symbolically send the bear's spirit to heaven. Then they carry the carcass back to the village, cut it up and it's party time!

When the feasting is over it is time to hunt bear once again and to capture a new bear cub. The adventurers set off into the woods and mountains, but despite Kokuma's excellence with tracking, they are unable to find a single bear. They extend their search up as far as Lake Onuma, Kokuma guiding them expertly again, but still there are no bears. Kokuma is convinced that there are no bears in the vicinity, and they start to wonder why. This question is answered when they reach Lake Onuma and find several new Wajin villages dotted along the shores of the lake. More disturbing, however, is the presence of a large fort at the end of the lake and head of the Onuma valley, where the river flows out of the lake and down the valley to Shikabe village. It looks like the fort will hold at least a hundred soldiers. Haku transforms into a bird and flies over the fort, confirming its size. He hears a snatch of conversation indicating that the soldiers are getting ready to attack the village again. He flies back and reports. A quick conference is held. The adventurers decide the first priority is to get word back to Shikabe and start preparing to repel any attack. They also feel that they could do with some good luck and need to find a bear. The only place where they might find bears now is the sacred forest of Mori, but to hunt there they will have to petition Koshamain for permission. Haku returns to bird form and flies the news back to the village. The others return at their own pace.

Back in Shikabe, the ex-Wajin hold a council of war. A runner has been sent to Koshamain with the news and to ask permission to hunt in the sacred forest. In the mean time, Miyoshi starts preparing plans for the defence of the village, drawing on his experience of battles, and Haku starts psyching the Ainu men for their fighting role. Kokuma has a great idea and talks to Mineo about it. He suggests that the fox they saw in the summer might be able and willing to project an image of the dead Wajin raiders over the valley as the next wave of attackers arrives, scaring them off. Mineo immediately sets off into the woods to find the fox's bolt hole. He plays his flute and places some fish in front of the hole. Soon two foxes appear, looking none-too shy, and sit and look at him attentively. Mineo apologises and excuses his request, explains the situation and asks if the foxes can create the illusion of 12 floating, moaning soldiers to scare off the invaders and keep the village safe. He is very polite and respectful, promises more fish and plays his flute again. The foxes hop off with the fish. Mineo is disappointed, but as he turns he sees a tiny illusion in the air - a picture of the valley with ghostly soldiers floating over it. Mineo is again disappointed, thinking the foxes have misunderstood, but could he be wrong?

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