Session 15.

The four trouble shooters led a column of 15,000 troops from Sueyoshi to defend Kanoya and the road to the capital of Osumi province, Tarumizu. After 36 hours the fittest 12,000 troops arrived at Kanoya fort, all four adventurers managing to control their mounts and stay at the head of the column. The remaining 3,000 troops followed along a day later. The fort commander welcomed the army, which would bolster his 12,000 troops and stand a chance of stopping the invaders. He decided that he would keep 2,000 troops in the fort, while Mariko would take 22,000 warriors to meet the Hyuga force in open battle on the Plain of Plenty.

After a few hours rest, the two armies prepared for battle: 22,000 Osumi warriors against 31,000 Hyugan troops. In the first hour of fighting, the Hyugans gained a slight advantage, killing 1,000 troops. Mariko encountered a fourth level Bushi, but managed to despatch him after a protracted struggle. The battle then turned to a stalemate, though Mariko again showed that she had fighting skills as well as command skills, weighing in with six heads. After this, Mariko’s battle strategy slowly increased the advantage, hour by hour, of Osumi over Hyuga, commanded by a fourth level Bushi. By the end of the day the Hyugans would have lost 8,000 to only 2,000 of Osumi. However, the four trouble shooters did not have it all their own way. Sugiyama encountered a second level Bushi, but suffered a critical hit and would have died had his opponent not knocked himself out, allowing Sugiyama to be rescued. He received urgent medical aid from the Osumi Gakusho, but took no further part in the action that day or the next. Koei also had a close shave with a fifth level Bushi. He first tried to imprison the Bushi in a Castle of Wood, but he pushed through it without difficulty. Then Koei tried arrows of fire, but the spell failed. As a last resort, he cast Traitor Ground under his opponent, and this just succeeded in making his first sword blow miss. Then, just as the master swordsman was about to cut Koei in half, he lost his grip on his sword and threw it three yards away. Koei immediately put a Castle of Wood between his foe and the weapon, and as the Bushi struggled through the bamboo and thorns he became completely entangled. Koei had only to cast Omnipresent Sword and despatch the Bushi in short order. By the end of the day, Sugiyama had 10 heads but was injured, Kimori had 16 heads, and Koei, who had joined in the wager with Sugiyama and Kimori, had 23 heads.

Overnight, the 3,000 stragglers arrived to replace the Osumi losses, but 8,000 Hyugans arrived from the citadel at Miyakonojo, replaced by the 5,000 that survived the failed siege at Sueyoshi. Thus the sides were almost the same as the first day: 23,000 Osumi warriors against 31,000 Hyugan troops. In the first hour of fighting, the defending Osumi army had a major success, killing 6,000 for the loss of only 1,000. Kimori had his first encounter, this with a fifth level Bushi. They traded blows, but Kimori’s no-dachi did more damage and the Bushi fell after three blows. This advanced Kimori to fourth level. For the next two hours there was no change in the strengths of the two armies. Kimori had his second encounter, this time with a sixth level master Bushi! However, despite the Bushi being a master of the Precision Strike okuden, a combination of careless hitting and critical blows by Kimori decided the fight. Kimori was quite badly wounded, though, and was cautious for the last hour of battle - but still had another encounter, with a fourth level Bushi. Kimori just scraped through, killing his opponent with a blow to the eye. As dusk fell the Osumi forces regained the advantage and killed 5,000 more Hyugans, equalising the numbers. Sugiyama still had 10 heads, Kimori had 48 and Koei 41 heads.

The last day of fighting began with roughly equal numbers: 21,000 Osumi warriors against 22,000 Hyugan troops. In the first hour of fighting the attackers had the upper hand and 1,000 Osumi warriors were killed. Sugiyama, slightly recovered from his injuries, rejoined the fighting only to encounter a fourth level Bushi. Fortunately, the Bushi kept missing Sugiyama, and he ended the fight as quickly as he could with just a few more wounds, which he healed using one of the Pawns of Shizari. Koei encountered his second fifth level Bushi. Learning from his earlier fight, he first cast Mud under the warrior and followed it with Castle of Wood. Hampered by the mud the Bushi became inextricably entangled, and Koei cast Omnipresent Sword again to complete the victory and advance to fourth level. In the second hour, an army of 30,000 Satsuma warriors appeared on the plain. Mariko had a moment of concern, but a quick question to one of the Osumi troops revealed that the Daimyo of Satsuma province, Kuzo Niraba, is the cousin and ally of the Daimyo of Osumi, Chibei Torude. Kimori encountered a fifth level Bushi but again had little trouble, though his wounds were starting to accumulate. During the following hour the 50,000 allied troops killed 4,000 Hyugans to reach a 3 to 1 numerical advantage. Sugiyama and Kimori encountered third and fourth level Bushi respectively and both won with the help of critical hits, just in time as both were close to collapse! As the day drew to a close the Hyugan commander lost his nerve and made a tactical blunder, resulting in the Osumi and Satsuma combined army massacring 14,000 Hyugans, with only 1,000 surviving to crawl back across the Plain of Plenty to Hyuga and tell of the humiliating defeat.

After the battle was won, the victorious army returned to Kanoya to a hero’s reception. Kimori, Sugiyama and Koei settled their bet: Kimori won the 15 silver pieces with a final tally of 69 heads, having acted courageously except for once when he was suffering from half a dozen wounds; Koei took 57 heads, being courageous throughout; and Sugiyama had only 28 heads after missing much of the action through serious injury. Mariko managed to take 19 heads while directing the battle. After a few days healing wounds, a message was received from Tarumizu for the four heroes to go to the Daimyo’s presence in Tarumizu. Two days to travel took them to Tarumizu, where they were fêted by the people and praised by the Daimyo, who awarded pay and battle honours for the siege and the battle. For the siege Sugiyama received (in addition to the normal pay and bounty) an award of full heavy Samurai armour; Kimori received bonus pay and a good sword; Mariko received a good sword; and Koei received a double pay bonus. For the battle Sugiyama received a double pay bonus; Kimori received a superior sword and a stipend of 15 koku; Mariko received bonus pay, a superior sword and a stipend of 15 koku; and Koei received an award of full heavy Samurai armour of master quality.

The party spent 3 weeks in Tarumizu basking in the glory, recuperating and training. Sugiyama spent a week mending and looking for a teacher of yogen, then two weeks learning it. Kimori trained in ni-to-kenjutsu. Mariko used the magical book The Art of War and learnt chikujo-jutsu. Koei visited the Magician to tell him the good news. In return, he offered to train her for three weeks and copy as many spell scrolls as he could for her future study. Koei improved her knowledge of the School of Fire and got copies of the spells Fire Blast, Castle of Water, Soil Storm, Flaming Doom, Walk the Way of Fire and Shatter Steel.

At the end of the three weeks, the Daimyo arranged for a boat to take them back to Iyo province, along with a small force of Bushi and Budoka. He asked the adventurers to convey his thanks to Lord Chozo and offer him any assistance or support he needed. He offered the services of his distant cousin, the Lord of Imabari. He said that it would please him greatly if they could strike back at the Daimyo of Hyuga Province and his ally, the Daimyo of Iyo Province. The trouble-shooters took the boat to Imabari, a trip lasting 3 weeks, during which they made the most of training opportunities on board. Sugiyama practised jujutsu with the Budoka, Kimori and Mariko studied senjo-jutsu from the book, and Koei learnt Flaming Doom and Fire Blast from the Magician’s scrolls, then studied jojutsu. When they finally returned to Masaki village, in week 12 of the year of the Ox, they found their master, Lord Chozo, preparing to raise an army to lead a rebellion against the Daimyo.

…to be continued in series two of The Stone.

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