Session 25. (2/10/09)

We return to last week's cliff-hanger to find four of the heroes battling cavalry and distant archers while their crops - their winter food - go up in smoke. Two of the horses have been brought down and Kokuma and Kachamaru run over to take care of their riders while the other five cavalrymen ride away. Miyoshi and Mineo fire arrows at their backs, or more accurately, their horses' arses, but while Mineo is more accurate and wounds a horse, Miyoshi is less so. Mineo bemoans his lack of poisoned arrows, and something nags at the back of his mind but never makes it to the front. Kachamaru and Kokuma get to the grounded cavalrymen as they get to their feet and score hits of 10, 9, 8 and 7; one replies with 3 damage to Kokuma, but their other 3 attacks miss. Arrows continue to rain down from the distant archers, occasionally hitting Ainu villages, Ainu warriors waiting for instruction from Miyoshi, or, as at this point, Mineo (doing 4 damage). Miyoshi and Mineo fire at the cavalry horses, now at long range. Miyoshi misses again but Mineo lands a critical hit and kills the horse. Its rider runs off to the main body of archers, samurai and ashigaru. Kokuma swings twice for amiss and a 7, while Kachamaru gets the 10 and 9 this time, almost killing and certainly stunning the samurai, though he did hit Kachamaru for 3 damage before this. The four remaining cavalry turn and start riding back hard towards the heroes. They are at long range and moving quickly, and Miyoshi and Mineo fail to hit with their next arrows. Kokuma and Kachamaru both end their fights with hits of 6, but Kokuma is hit for 3 damage because his foe was slightly faster than him.

The four cavalrymen charge back into range, firing arrows as they come, and are reduced to two as Miyoshi scores a critical 28 on one horse and Mineo scores a less critical 9, but it was on a horse that Miyoshi had wounded last week. The riders crash to the ground and Kokuma and Kachamaru run over to take them on. Of the other two, one hits Miyoshi for 3 damage and the other breaks his bowstring. He drops his bow, jumps off and with insane bravery attacks Kokuma. He misses, and Kokuma welcomes him with a 10-point bash that sets him back and a 12-point hit that sets him back further. Kachamaru charges in on one of the fallen horsemen and cuts him down with a 6 and a critical 21. The last mounted samurai, the cavalry's commander, draws his sword and charges Miyoshi and Mineo. The range is short but both miss with their arrows. Mineo draws his sword but Miyoshi keeps his bow and fires at point-blank range. His shot kills the horse outright, but its momentum carries it a few more yards and it crashes to the ground with Miyoshi beneath it! The samurai is thrown to the ground and the breath knocked out of him. Mineo tries to hit the tangle of arms and (mainly) legs as it careers past him but he only succeeds in hitting himself for 4 damage. To make up, he scores a critical 20 on the commander as he tries to get up. Miyoshi is firmly pinned to the ground by the dead horse.

Kokuma connects on hits of 14 and 10 and kills an unmounted samurai. Kachamaru gets hits of 10 and nine on the last, is hit for eight and finishes the struggle with another 10. Miyoshi squirms out from under a thousand pounds of winter food and sticks his spear into the commander, who has been sparring with Mineo, landing hits of 5 and 6 while Mineo had a miss and a 10. Miyoshi ends that action with another 11, killing the commander.

The heroes discuss what to do. On the far side of the field, about 150 yards away, the ashigaru continue to spread fires in the barley while the Wajin archers fire looping shots at the Ainu, mostly ineffectually except for the effect of keeping them pinned down. About 40% of Yakumo's southern crops are now alight or downwind of fire. Kachamaru heals himself with Stage Blood as they discuss how to stop the Wajin. Now 50% is on fire or at risk. Miyoshi fires an arrow at the Wajin's leader, a shugenja, but it bounces harmlessly off a Bar Missiles spell. Kachamaru ponders how to counter the spell, but he doesn't know it and can't think of a way. Another volley of arrows comes over... 60% of the field is doomed. Finally they come up with a plan: Kachamaru will create an illusion of an army of Ainu attacking from the beach, which the shugenja will probably not detect as an illusion as it will use not kenja but kabuki magic, while Miyoshi, the others and the Ainu attack the Wajin across the mine barley field under cover of daylight smoke. Miyoshi organises the attackers with a critical battle strategy roll and Kachamaru sneaks along the beach to make his illusion as close as possible to the Wajin. The illusion is cast, the shugenja is taken in... and immediately he orders the ashigaru to stop setting fires and to retreat down the coast road, protected by the samurai under covering fire of arrows aimed at the (illusory) Ainu warriors. Surprised and dismayed, Miyoshi orders an attack on the escaping Wajin, forgetting the fields which are now 70% destroyed. Miyoshi, Mineo and Kokuma target the shugenja, his shield dispelled now he is moving, and make a pincushion out of him. The rest of the Ainu are less successful and the Wajin make off down the road with little hindrance, taking the shugenja's body with them. Finally, Miyoshi orders the Ainu to put out the fires in the field, and 20% of the crop is saved. However, it is already obvious that it is going to be a long, hungry winter.

< Previous  |  Home  |  Bushido  |  The Wood 2  |  Next >