Session 36. (8/1/10)

Yoshi Yeesu, son of the late Mineo, is playing with the Wajin kids in Kumaishi. His accent and vocabulary are getting a few puzzled looks. Then Miyoshi grabs him by the ear - Yoshi Yeesu says "Ouch!" in Ainu - and hauls him away, saying, "I think I've seen your other uncles." Simultaneously, Kokuma and Kachamaru, standing outside the old/young woman's house and at a bit of a loose end, both say, "I think I can see Miyoshi" - then set off in opposite directions. As it turns out, Kachamaru was right, and he meets up with Miyoshi and Yoshi Yeesu in the middle of Kumaishi. Yoshi Yeesu shouts, "Uncle, uncle!" - in the Wajin tongue this time. Kachamaru whispers to Miyoshi, "What cover story are you using?" Miyoshi replies, "I told them I came from your village, but unfortunately I came into town from the wrong direction so I told them I got lost in the mountains." Meanwhile, Kokuma has found what he thought was Miyoshi but it turns out to be a fishmonger carrying a fishing spear. The fisherman is selling dried fish, which Kokuma looks at with interest. The fishmonger looks at the bearded Kokuma with suspicion. Some townsfolk start gathering, also looking suspiciously at Kokuma. At this point, Miyoshi turns up with Yoshi Yeesu and Kachamaru, who is trying to cover up his own beard with his clothes. Miyoshi sees the gathering crowd and with quick thinking starts to berate Kokuma for getting so filthy. The group of four then walk south as if to leave Kumaishi and return to Miyoshi's purported (but actually Kachamaru's) birthplace. The townsfolk follow but make no moves to stop them, but then two of the guards run up breathlessly and intercept them.

"Where are you going?" asks one of the guards, but in an inquisitive rather than a threatening manner.

"Where are we going?" whispers Miyoshi to Kachamaru out of the side of his mouth.

"South," whispers back Kachamaru.

"No, silly, I meant what village."

"Esashi."

"Esashi."

The guard seems satisfied with the answer, but notices the object of the crowd's cynosure and asks, "Is he Ainu? We don't let Ainu in the town."

Yoshi Yeesu pipes up, "We fought demons last night. I bit three of them. My uncles disappeared. Then they reappeared, all hairy."

"Stupid boy," mumbles Kachamaru.

"You fought the demons?" asks a guard, awestruck.

"Yes. I even killed the invulnerable one," replies Miyoshi with pride.

"The Ji-Zamurai will surely want to thank you," says the guard.

"Oh, well, it was nothing really," says Miyoshi, anxious to get away before the subject returns to Kokuma's hairiness. "We left a few alive."

"Then the Ji-Zamurai might pay you to finish them off."

Miyoshi thinks for a moment, searching for an excuse. "We'll need a high-level priest to exorcise them."

"There was one in town today," replies the guard helpfully, "but I think he's gone now."

"Which way did he go?" asks Miyoshi, seeing an opportunity.

A dark look crosses the guard's face. There is only one way out of town. "Where are you from?" he asks, suspicion dripping from his voice.

"Shiriuchi," says Miyoshi, this time giving his real birthplace.

"Where's that then?"

Miyoshi thinks for a while. "About two weeks' travel around the coast, past Matsumae. If you get to Hakodate you've gone too far. It's shorter if you go inland, but you might get lost, like I did."

"Well, the priest came from Matsumae. You might catch him up if you hurry."

Thankful for the excuse, Miyoshi and the others immediately rush off down the track to the south. They watch to see if anyone follows them but no-one does. Miyoshi decides it might be a good idea to actually catch up with the priest, and exhorts the others to hurry up. Soon they see the priest in the distance, about half a mile from reaching the next village of Ayukawa. "Hurry up," says Miyoshi, "we need to get to him before he reaches that village and more questions get asked." But Yoshi Yeesu pre-empts them by yelling at the top of his voice. As the shrill scream echoes round the sea cliffs, the priest looks round and sees the following party. He waits until they catch him up. Miyoshi addresses the priest with a respectful greeting, but Yoshi Yeesu impudently shouts out, "Thank you for rescuing my uncles!" - first in Ainu then, after a long stare from Miyoshi, in Wajin. The priest doesn't seem to notice.

Miyoshi continues, "The town you just left is suffering from demons. If you would return with us we can defeat them."

The priest looks round the rag-tag party. A propos of nothing, Kachamaru says, "Come on Kokuma, it's bath time," to cover the silence. Kokuma gives him a stare.

The priest says, in rich tones, "But my abbot is expecting me back. If I am away for longer, he will expect me to have collected more donations."

Kokuma mutters under his breath, "These religious types are always taking things away from you!" then in normal tones, "The Ji-Zamurai promised a reward."

The priest procrastinates. "But surely we should go to Ayukawa and rest before returning?"

"The demons are terrorising the town," says Kachamaru, embellishing his words with theatrical actions. "If we go back now we can defeat them and you can go home tomorrow."

The priest is completely won over and the party of five sets off back to Kumaishi.

It is late afternoon when they arrive back in the town. The priest suggests they go to see the Ji-Zamurai to tell him what they are doing. Miyoshi concurs, and tells Kachamaru and Kokuma to stay on the edge of town while they go to the Ji-Zamurai's house. Kachamaru asks if there is anywhere to clean up. There doesn't seem to be a bath house. Miyoshi says he will ask the Ji-Zamurai.

The Ji-Zamurai meets the visitors in an opulent room. Miyoshi starts telling him about the demon fight the previous night.

The Ji-Zamurai interrupts, "Is that a Hakodate accent?"

Miyoshi is tempted to say yes, but admits he is from Shiriuchi. He continues with the story of killing four or five demons and realising today that they couldn't leave while the town was still tormented, so sought out this priest to sort them out properly with an exorcism.

"What do you want in return," asks the Ji-Zamurai.

Again, Miyoshi is tempted, but he finally replies, "Nothing more than a donation to the priest."

Yoshi Yeesu, knowing no deference, asks, "Can we have a bath?" Obviously on behalf of his uncle Kachamaru, not for himself.

The Ji-Zamurai was in the process of offering 13 silver pieces to the priest, who is very pleased. "There is a path leading up the valley to a hot spring. That is where we bathe." He has a servant fetch them some towels and hands Yoshi Yeesu a carved wooden duck. Miyoshi thanks him and they leave, collect Kachamaru and Kokuma and head up the path to the hot springs. The priest stays in the town to wait for sunset. The path leads up the valley side, then down into a ravine. At the bottom is a small shack, just a set of cubby-holes with a roof and a room for changing. A plaque on the wall says, "Hiratanai Rotenburo". From there a cinder path leads to a small stream that bubbles out of the hillside and billows clouds of steam into the cold air. The stream falls through several rock pools to one at the end of the path - evidently the one at the right temperature. The three men and the boy bathe in the yellowish water and relax. Kachamaru takes his tanto out and has a shave; Kokuma doesn't. Feeling refreshed, the four return to the town at dusk.

In Kumaishi the townsfolk are hurrying indoors and fastening the shutters. The priest meets them in the main street and asks what their plan is. Miyoshi says they will wait near the toolmaker's shop and wait for the demons, then they will fight them while the priest performs his exorcism. The priest agrees, adding that he will cast Bar Spirits to keep the demons from harming the party. They walk to the toolmaker's and settle down to wait. Miyoshi recites poetry to pass the time; the others think he is reciting a laundry list. After about an hour the demon procession appears. There are only three demons this time. The priest casts Bar Spirits then starts chanting the exorcism. The demons clang into the Bar Spirits barrier. They spit at the warriors, who dodge and none of them is hit. The priest continues chanting. Two of the demons go over to a house and rattle its shutters. Fearing they might break in, Kachamaru shouts at the demons, while staying close to the priest. Miyoshi, Kokuma and Yoshi Yeesu advance on the demons, ready to attack, and inadvertently stray outside the Bar Spirits spell's protection. The demons each try to grab one of the heroes, but all three miss. Miyoshi spears one and Kokuma whacks one with his tetsubo. The priest continues chanting. Kachamaru is out of reach of the demons, but also out of range. One of the demons grabs Yoshi Yeesu but he wriggles free, possibly because the demon has only one arm. Miyoshi spears the first demon again, but only half-heartedly because he is afraid that if he kills it then the priest will be unable to exorcise it. Kokuma thumps the second demon. The third one grabs Yoshi Yeesu and this time hangs on. The priest continues chanting. Miyoshi spears the demon, which tries to grab him but he skips out of the way. Kokuma bashes the second demon, scrambling its brains for a few moments. Kachamaru looses some darts of wood at Yoshi Yeesu's captor and hits with two. The demon shakes one off, but the other injects it with a level 2 lightning narcotic poison which it just can't seem to overcome. However it squeezes Yoshi Yeesu for 4 damage, rendering him unconscious. It then collapses, snoring, so Kachamaru hits it with his sword for 11 damage. Miyoshi scores with his spear and Kokuma with his tetsubo. The priest finishes his chanting and the sleeping demon evaporates into nothingness. An ethereal form seems to fly out of the two remaining demons. The priest cries, "Get 'em!" and Miyoshi spears his, the toughest, for 14 damage while Kokuma finishes the second toughest also with a hit of 14. The demon crumbles to dust. The first (and last) tries to grab Miyoshi but he steps aside and spears the spiritless spectre to death. Kachamaru casts Stage Blood and revives Yoshi Yeesu.

The priest says "Well done" to everyone. Miyoshi tells him he will need to collect his reward in the morning. As there is no sign of any townsfolk emerging, he agrees. Miyoshi tries to think of an excuse to get away before the sun rises along with a lot of awkward questions, but his mind is blank. Then the priest suggests they stay the rest of the night in the temple, which Miyoshi readily agrees to. When the priest has gone to sleep, the four adventurers sneak away and make their way through the tunnel back home to Miyoshiville.

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