Session 10. (5/6/09)

It is Spring of the Year of the Monkey (1464). The Ainu-adopted samurai (and Kokuma) are preparing to defend the village against an expected attack from the Matsumae samurai. Yoshi takes time out to look after his new son. Over the winter he built up his strength to help him cope with his expanding family. Mineo returns from his trip to thank the foxes. He seems to have fox hair all over him. No-one says anything; everyone thinks they know why. A runner returns from Mori with a reply from Koshamain. He says they should prepare defences for the village - which are already complete - and that they have permission to hunt bare bear in the sacred forest, as long as it is within the next week (before the main Ainu bear festival in Mori). Miyoshi decides they must act immediately and sends Kokuma and Kachamaru and some Ainu to get a bear while the rest watch for the Matsumae. Mineo suggests that an escape plan should be devised for the women and children of the village, and starts thinking about it. The others busy themselves with the many tasks of preparing for a fight. Kokuma and Kachamaru set off as soon as they are ready and reach Mori just before dark. They continue into the forest and camp there.

The following day Kokuma starts tracking and soon finds some bear tracks, but they are one or two weeks old. They follow them, looking to see if there is any water nearby that might keep the bear around for a while. They don't find any water, but manage to follow the tracks into the forest. Then they come across some human tracks. This disturbs the Ainu because, apart from their special concession, there shouldn't be any humans in the sacred forest between the start of winter and the bear festival. They follow the human tracks as they lead into a glade; but as they reach it they realise it is not a glade but a clearing, and a sizeable one at that, with an entire wajin village on the far side! The Ainu are astonished and dismayed. Kachamaru decides to investigate and sneaks closer before casting Mask of Deception to disguise himself as a commoner wajin for five minutes. He looks round the village and peers into windows. It is very quiet - most of the villagers seem to be away. A woman comes out of a house and sees Kachamaru, but pays him no heed. Kachamaru deduces from the state of the gardens and the lack of boundary fences that the village is fairly new, less than a year old. He reports back to the others before his spell wears off. They vow to report this intrusion to Koshamain, then set off after the bear tracks again. They follow for a while before Kokuma eventually loses them, but while they are looking they come across another clearing with another wajin village. Realising that the bears have either been hunted or driven out of the forest, they return to Mori to report to Koshamain, who is outraged. He tells them to go back to Shikabe to help defend it, and details some of the Mori villagers to investigate the entire forest.

Back in Shikabe, the turncoat wajin take turns up the watchtower. Miyoshi has the morning stint. The path from Lake Onuma winds down the valley around the spurs and through the trees, and is visible intermittently almost to the top of the valley, depending on the weather - clarity of the air and strength of the sun - and his level of concentration. At times Miyoshi can see for miles, giving them plenty of warning if he sees approaching troops; at other times he might no see them until they reach the edge of the fields, barely a bow's range from the village. Miyoshi sees nothing all morning. At midday he is relieved by Haku, who also sees nothing. As darkness falls, Kokuma and Kachamaru return. Kokuma reports to his father, the village headman; Kachamaru reports to Miyoshi. The watch is maintained during the night, looking and listening for any movement or sight of lanterns. Yoshi takes the first watch and Mineo the second, but it is all quiet.

The following day Haku is on first watch, and greets the dawn to replenish his magic power. Busy with this, he doesn't notice the commotion in the woods. Kachamaru and Kokuma hear the excited yapping of a fox, and Mineo and Yoshi witness the strange sight of 12 ghostly soldiers floating over the valley. Haku, alerted by the others, sees from his vantage point a well-armoured samurai and two rabble bushi running away up the valley. But at this point six more samurai appear, running across the fields towards the village. Miyoshi, Yoshi, Kachamaru, Kokuma and Mineo get their bows, kept nearby in preparation, and wait for the runners to reach the long range marker set out the day before. Miyoshi, Yoshi and Mineo score hits, though the damage is small due to the range. Haku fires an Arrow of Wood, but his target resists its effects. One of the attackers is a shugenja, but as her first spell (Arrows of Fire) fails, no-one notices her. The defenders all take aim again and fire as the attackers reach the pre-prepared short range marker, except Kokuma who decides to change to his tetsubo. Yoshi gets a good hit, but Mineo gets a better one, cutting a rabble bushi in half. The archers now all change weapons, ready for a close-quarters fight. However, at this point Haku casts Mud, and three of the samurai are bogged down, unable to move. One falls over and starts suffocating. The first attacker still moving, a L2 samurai, reaches the village and is set upon by Miyoshi, Kachamaru, Kokuma and Mineo. Miyoshi gives him a minor wound with his spear before Kachamaru lands a critical hit for 20 damage. Kokuma follws up with a stinging 13 points and Mineo issues the coup de grāce with seven points. Meanwhile the other mobile samurai reaches the village only to be met by a 21-point critical hit from Yoshi's two master swords, and the poor rabble has no chance. Out in the mud field, one of the samurai manages to pull himself clear, while the drowning one manages to get up, severely weakened. The shugenja launches another Arrow of Fire and scores a hit on Yoshi. Miyoshi, Yoshi and Mineo pick up their bows again to take pot shots at the mud-bound foes, but Miyoahi and Mineo break their bowstrings on the first shot. Yoshi hits and kills the shugenja. Kokuma and Kachamaru wait for the samurai that pulled clear of the mud, and attack him as he charges in. Kokuma lands a hefty blow, but Kachamaru waits just a bit too long and is struck by a critical blow for 18 damage. This distracts him from the spell he was about to cast, and Breath of Dragon comes out as Squeal of Pig. Haku takes aim at the half-drowned samurai and flattens him with three Darts of Water, drowning him the rest of the way. The last samurai is surrounded by the ex-samurai: Miyoshi skewers him with his spear (having changed weapons yet again), Yoshi slices and dices with two critical hits from his master swords (for 26 and 27 damage), and Kachamaru flame-grills the remains, doing only minor collateral damage.

After the fight the captured weapons and armour are passed around for best use. Mineo takes five dried fish and some barley wine up to the foxes' bolt hole and plays his flute. Two foxes appear, one hanging back but the other comes and sits in front of Mineo. Mineo thanks the foxes for their help and offers gifts of food, beer and music. Mineo hears a human voice, as if the fox was talking, thanking him for the gifts, hoping the magic show was useful, and offering them a long and happy stay in the village. Mineo promises the foxes a gift of food whenever they have a surplus. He returns to the village, once again smelling of fox. Meanwhile, Haku transforms into a hawk and goes to spy on the fort, while Miyoshi and Kokuma scout out the valley on foot. They find evidence of the three attackers running away, scared by the ghosts. The valley is all quiet now. Up at the fort, Haku sees the three frightened samurai almost back at the fort. Inside the fort is a large number of troops, relaxing and doing nothing much. Satisfied, he flies back to tell the others and prepare a report for Koshamain.

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