Session 26. (9/10/09)

It is summer in the Year of the Boar. Since the Wajin attack on Yakumo's fields just before harvest time, it has become clear that there is not enough food to feed everyone over the winter. The Yakumo village chief, Menkakush, has asked Koshamain to leave, taking the Mori, Sawara and Shikabe refugees with him. It is known that it is possible to cross the mountains to a sea on the other side - hunters and traders have occasionally been that way, though not for generations. No-one knows if it is 20 ri or 100 ri to the sea, but it seems to be the only option, what with Wajin to the south and crowded Ainu lands to the north and Ainu-Wajin wars across the bay.

The route lies to the south west, away from the summer sunrise. The mountains are high, heavily forested on the lower slopes and snow covered on their peaks. Several valleys lead in the right direction, but which one, and where to go from the head of the valley, no-one knows. After quite some discussion, Miyoshi persuades Koshamain that it is essential that they scout out a route first, so Koshamain asks Menkakush for a week-or-so's stay of execution before the old folk and babies have to tackle the high mountains.

Miyoshi, Yoshi and Kachamaru set out into the mountains while the others stay behind to help with the harvest and gather as many provisions as they will be able to carry when the main mass of Koshamain's tribe make their perilous journey across the mountains.

There are four or five river valleys that head southwest into the mountains. After some umm-ing and ahh-ing, Miyoshi decides that they might as well head up the valley where their hamlet is. The way is wooded and fairly easy to travel, even after they leave behind the hunting trails they have been using for ages. By late afternoon they have covered two ri and stop to make camp and hunt for food. They have brought 10 units of food, but that is only a day's supplies for the three of them. The hunting is fairly good and they quickly find three pigeons, which go down under the simultaneous firing of three arrows from three bows. Kachamaru takes the pigeons back to camp to prepare them while Yoshi manages to track down a hare. Miyoshi's arrow misses it but Yoshi's kills it dead. With this haul the three scouts are able to eat their fill and save three units of food for the next day.

Miyoshi leads the small party up the valley, finding that his appreciation of the lie of the land learned through his mastery of battle strategy is useful in assessing the best route across the mountains. As they go, Yoshi makes blazes on the tree trunks every now and again so that they can find their way back. The river snakes back and forth across the valley bottom. Miyoshi decides to take the left bank. Soon they find the ground rising quite steeply, and the sound of the river, a constant sound somewhere through the trees, has disappeared unnoticed. An hour's hard climbing sees them breast a ridge. It is densely forested and hard to see, but it appears that beyond is another river valley. Then Yoshi notices that the sun is not where it ought to be and realises they have gone off course. The valley they were following is now behind them - they have been climbing up the side rather than following its floor. The three scouts turn round and trudge back the way they came, following the blazes on the trees and obscuring them with moss.

Back on the valley floor, Miyoshi sees that a spur jutting out into the valley has fooled them into going the wrong way. They round the spur and continue southwest towards the head of the valley. Having lost so much time there is little time to hunt, but Yoshi is fortunate and finds a wild boar. Three arrows are enough to bring it down and there is enough food to last the party a day and a half.

In the morning Miyoshi leads the party further up the valley. They are now well out of the coastal plain and in the wooded foothills. His experience of the lie of land on battlefields has run out, and the three are forced to wander aimlessly, looking for a way out of the valley. The terrain becomes very hilly and the vegetation dense forest. Daylight begins to fade so they hunt for game but have to be satisfied with two pigeons, shot by Yoshi and Miyoshi, which they supplement with their stores.

The next morning it is not clear which way to go so they set off with the sun at their backs. Yoshi leads them up a small knoll and finds that the trees thin and they can see quite a distance ahead and behind. They call the place Weathertop. To their left, almost due south, is one of the large peaks they could see from the coast. Ahead, to the west-southwest, is a ridge lying across their route and climbing up to peaks on either side, but which descends to a v-shaped notch that might be a pass. What is more, there are no higher mountains visible beyond it. They head for the pass, descending into some broken terrain that slows them down long before they can get there. Yoshi's hunting skill compensates for poor quality game, and a giant rat is so quickly found and downed by Yoshi and Miyoshi that they have time to track down and bag a rabbit. Food reserves are hardly touched.

The following day is spent slogging across the broken terrain. A gorge with a small stream in the bottom is going in their direction, but not wanting to risk getting stuck they keep to the higher ground, which is heavily ravined. It proves to be a bad decision from the point of view of food - there might be small fish or crayfish in the stream, but game is completely absent up here, deep in the cold mountains. Miyoshi decides they should only use half their food reserve and go somewhat hungry. This affects the party members, Miyoshi suffering a (temporary) loss of deftness, speed and will; Yoshi strength, deftness and will; and Kachamaru loses strength, health and wit.

Cold and hungry, the three scouts forge on the next day, eventually reaching the end of the gorge and the constant climbing and descending of one ravine after another. Frequent detours to the edge of the gorge have confirmed it is passable. Hunting is still poor, but Yoshi manages to catch a mouse, and while Kachamaru makes camp, he and Miyoshi shoot a squirrel each. They have just enough food to avoid going hungry - they will need their strength to push on up to the pass.

On the seventh day out of Yakumo the travellers reach the pass. They are excited to see the sea in the distance, but it is still nearly 10 ri away and there are plenty of tall peaks all around. Yoshi starts singing a song about how west coast girls are really tanned - obviously Wajin, not Ainu who are very pale (and hairy) - and how they dig the sand. Miyoshi and Kachamaru roll their eyes, tut, and head on through the pass in search of food and shelter. Two giant rats and three mice are hard-found, and Miyoshi decides they must find better hunting before they return to bring the tribe.

View from the pass. Smell the sea, hear those tanned girls!

Kachamaru's Map. Smell the trees, hear those mountain lions!

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