Session 32. (20/03/02)

This sideline episode (hastily added by the script-writers in response to demands from both viewers and actors for more treasure) begins a couple of days after the troubleshooters return to Hinokage with the rescued prisoners. Koreyasu has instructed them to go down to the Nobeoka to Miyazaki road to intercept some convoys seen leaving Nobeoka as the senior officers of the Hyugan army try to get their treasure away to safety before Nobeoka falls to Lord Chozo's troops. Without any sign of reluctance the five troubleshooters head off to look for an ambush site. Halfway to the coast the road forks, the northern road going directly to Nobeoka, the southern one to meet the Nobeoka-Miyazaki road near a village called Kadogawa. They take the south fork and arrive on the main road near the village. From there they can see that the road from Nobeoka comes across hills and plains, while to the south of the village it passes through a rocky outcrop. Mariko first decides to ambush the convoys at the ford across the river but realises it is too close to the river. Then she decides to attack on the plains north of the village so they can escape without going through the village, but realises the convoys will arrive without warning. Finally she decides to set a trap in a gully south of the village where they can stop the convoy from escaping. No-one realises that the village, being a day's travel from Nobeoka, is most likely where the convoys will stop overnight.

The troubleshooters ride into the gorge and prepare a trap of sharpened stakes in a marshy spot where the path is narrow and a stream runs across it. Then they set up camp in a grove of trees at the side of the gorge.

The following morning Emiko is on dawn watch as usual when she spies a convoy coming up the road towards the ambush. Hurriedly waking the others, she meditates and blesses them while they get into their armour and ready their weapons. Just in time, the troubleshooters are ready as the convoy goes past. There are five porters with five pack horses, five soldiers and five auxiliaries (as it turns out, they are blacksmiths, armourers, farriers etc.). Kimori and Sugiyama let off arrows at two of the soldiers, both scoring hits, while the others leap out and take on the other three. All score good hits, especially Komako who is using his Living Weapon ki power and two of Emiko's blessings on strength to do extra damage and have more attacks. The soldiers fight back and wound Mariko and Komako. The auxiliaries hold their ground while the porters run off up the gorge (towards the stakes) with the pack horses. In the next round of fighting, Sugiyama manages to knock out one of the soldiers (with an arrow!), Komako finishes his opponent and Mariko kills a third soldier. A soldier advances on Kimori so he changes to his sword and kills him in two more blows. Emiko disables her opponent then runs after the porter to try to talk them into staying. Unfortunately she chooses her words poorly and they panic, abandoning the horses and running through the stakes to get away from this "mad priestess"! Meanwhile, the others finish off the guards and the auxiliaries.

With all the armed guards down, Sugiyama and Komako run after the porters. Sugiyama leaps across the stakes, uses his blessing to increase his speed and catches up with the porters in no time. Komako has to take time to weave through the stakes and in not as fast, having already used his blessings on strength. Sugiyama shouts, "Freeze!" then kills the first of the porters. The others scatter, but not before Sugiyama has knocked one out with the flat of his sword. The other two unfortunately run straight into Komako who chops up one with his hands then grapples and immobilises the other.

Meanwhile, Mariko and Kimori have been going through the treasure back at their camp. They find a good Katana worth about 40 GP, a sack containing 12 flasks Sake, bags of gems, a porter's trunk containing an Armourer's workshop (worth about 10 GP) and 5 sword blanks, a strongbox (which Sugiyama later opens to reveal a mixture of artworks and some gold), a bronze pendent (which no-one can fathom), a status of a comtemplative Buddha (which Emiko suspects is magical), two shuko (similar to knuckle-dusters) and a total of about 350 gold pieces.

Sugiyama and Komako return to the camp with the three surviving porters, one of whom Emiko has to heal (she also heals Komako and Sugiyama - eventually). Then Mariko tries to convince the porters to join Lord Chozo's side. While she is doing this Sugiyama gets bored and starts looking around to see if there are any dangers in the gorge. Just as he does this he sees a wild boar charging into the camp. Before he can get to it, it attacks and just misses Mariko. Immediately everyone grabs weapons and starts hacking away. Every single attack lands on the boar, but with characteristic pig-headedness it carries on fighting long after it has received a fatal number of wounds. The troubleshooters rain in blow after blow, but the pig fights on, goring Sugiyama and Komako. Eventually it keels over, having taken over 200 points of damage after its nominal death.

This display of fighting skill seems to impress the porters who agree to return to Hinokage with Komako and Emiko. Their journey the next day is uneventful and by lunchtime they deliver the treasure to Koreyasu. He has his experts look at the treasure and values it at about 500 gold pieces, making the troubleshooters eligible for about 10 GP each. The bronze pendent turns out to be an amulet containing 6 charges of multiple bar- spells: L5 Bar Men, L5 Bar Beasts, L2 Bar Missiles and L1 Bar Spirits (worth about 35 GP). The Buddha statue is worth about 10 GP and give a pious person +1 to their healing rate if they meditate before it. Komako decides to take this and gives 1 GP to take the shuko as well.

Back at the camp in the gorge, the others have been attacked by a giant lizard. Sugiyama put an arrow into it with little effect, but Kimori scores a critical hit with the tip of his sword puncturing its pea-sized brain. It dies immediately. The three are debating whether they can use the carcass in some way to trap the next convoy when a man turns up, walking through the gorge. The troubleshooters hide, but he opens conversation with them, commenting on the lizard's body and admiring the skill with which it as been killed. Kimori thanks him and the two discuss sword fighting and techniques to kill large monsters. The man talks Kimori into showing something of the Beast Killer okuden and then into a sparring contest. Each is so impressed by the skill of the other that they become quite friendly. The man turns out to be a duellist, making his living by duelling strangers he meets for their possessions and often their lives. But as Kimori is such a good fighter he settles for trading information on the next convoy, which is staying overnight at the inn in Kadogawa, for training in Beast Killer.

Next week: Treasure-fest part 2.

Session 33. (10/04/02)

This sideline episode continues the day after the attack on the convoy. It is mid-afternoon. Komako and Emiko have returned from delivering the spoils to Hinokage and all minds now turn towards the next convoy, due through in the morning. The group decides to keep exactly the same tactics and they go and repair the stake barrier and add a few more. Katsuyori, the duellist, decides to stay and help with the ambush in return for a share of the loot. Sure enough, at nine the next morning a convoy comes into sight, heading up the gorge. It is rather bigger, with six guards in the lead, 10 porters each with a pack horse following, five guards walking alongside the porters, and four guards at the rear. As last time, our heroes let the convoy go past before shooting the guards in the back. Kimori's first shot kills a guard outright, and Sugiyama only needs two shots to fell a second (the first removing an arm, the second a leg!). Mariko and the duellist leap out and attack a third guard and Komako and Emiko tackle the last guard. Blows are exchanged, the duellist is hit and falls down for a while, Komako and Emiko are both struck, but in the end both guards are dead. Meanwhile, the head of the convoy has reached the stakes and stopped while the porters try to pull out the stakes and the lead guards defend them. Then the sidewalking guards advance on the ambushers. They are very proficient warriors; four bushi and a budoka, who takes on Komako. Emiko and Mariko take one; the others have one each. Kimori and Sugiyama fire arrows at their chosen opponents as they approach. This time Sugiyama kills his foe with a single arrow while Kimori requires two shots. The others fight for three rounds of two attacks each, all taking a few hits but meting out more, and the three guards fall one-two-three virtually together. During these rounds Kimori and Sugiyama have been firing at the guards near the stakes, injuring two of them. With the way now open, Sugiyama, Kimori and the duellist invoke Emiko's blessing to enhance their speed and charge into combat with the guards near the stakes. Kimori gets a hit, kills his man and moves on to another. Sugiyama misses but kills his opponent with his next strike. The duellist gets into a more protracted fight and nearly dies, but is saved when eventually Emiko arrives panting and applies healing. Mariko and Komako also arrive to join the party and soon the guards are all dead. Kimori gains extra On and admiration from the duellist by using Flashy Swordplay on the last guard. He and Sugiyama go to round up the porters, who are frantically trying to escape through the stakes. Sugiyama evidently strikes the wrong tone with his "Stop or we'll kill you" approach, but Mariko and her silver tongue manages to calm most of them. However, two make a break for it, but Komako and Sugiyama, still blessed with extra speed, chase and leap (respectively) after them and quickly subdue them with jujutsu. The porters eventually all agree to accompany the convoy back to Hinokage.

Now the party gets to see what is in the convoy. As they look through they realise that it contains a lot of training equipment from the garrison at Nobeoka, and the sidewalkers were the senior teachers. One bundle contains 6 ordinary jo staffs and 2 iron-shod jo and also a book teaching Precision Strike for budoka. Another contains 5 Bo-ken and 2 sets of partial heavy samurai armour. There is a cask of good quality plum brandy, a superior yari and a superior katana. Another horse is laden with a gakusho learning scroll, a calligraphy set, an advanced calligraphy training scroll and a box of 12 shuriken. Together with a number of chests containing gold, the total value is about 1200 GP. Komako takes the iron-shod jo as part of his payment, but the rest is send back to Hinokage with Mariko and Emiko and the porters (after a good deal of muttering about the plum brandy from Kimori). The duellist is given part of his payment in gold and he goes down to the inn in Kadogawa to see if there are any more convoys due. Sugiyama, not trusting him, follows invisibly.

Down in the village, the duellist goes to the inn and starts asking around. Sugiyama sneaks into the inn and overhears. It seems innocent enough, but could indicate that the duellist will turn them in for a reward. He arranges for a room for the night and Sugiyama realises that he will need accommodation too. He asks for a room and explains his rather dishevelled appearance on having been part of a convoy that was attacked on the road. Realising he has said too much, he clams up and tries to give the impression that the attack was a long way away, and not in the gorge at all!

The next day, Sugiyama continues to follow the duellist. He wanders round the village and talks to people, but he just seems to be waiting for something to happen. Well, that afternoon the something does indeed happen. A convoy of around one hundred men rolls into the village, takes over the centre of the village and the senior guards commandeer the inn. The duellist goes into the inn and starts talking with the officers. Sugiyama tries to sneak in but bumps into the captain of the guards and spills sake down his neck. Fortunately he is an amiable type and accepts Sugiyama's profuse apologies, saying, "If you'll buy us both a drink you can join me." They chat about the war in the north, what Sugiyama does (travels around), where he was born (Hinokage), now nice the area is, etc. Then the captain asks if Sugiyama would act as their guide for the next day's travel, as he knows the roads so well, standard pay 4 silver? Sugiyama accepts. Then, as the evening draws in, he checks on the duellist, who just seems to be fishing for information about the convoy, and heads back to the gorge to give the others the news.

Next week: Fight or Flight?

Session 34. (17/04/02)

Continuing preparations to intercept the third and largest convoy, Sugiyama returns to the camp in the gorge after his visit to the village and getting a job as guide to the convoy. Here he finds that Mariko has changed plan a little. Instead of trying to block the valley with a rockfall, she has a better idea of setting fire to the little wood and blocking it with thick smoke. Then the convoy will return to the village to try again the following day; but Mariko will attack during the night with the troops Komako is bringing from Hinokage. Kimori has some doubts about the morality of all this, commenting, "How does stealing sake and plum brandy help our cause?" To which Emiko retorts, "Well it's you that wanted to drink it!" The plan agreed, Sugiyama is just setting off for the village again when he spots the duellist coming up the gorge. The duellist reports to Mariko on the size of the third convoy and also tells her what it contains - the personal spoils of the senior officers in Nobeoka!

Continuing preparations to intercept the third and largest convoy, Sugiyama returns to the camp in the gorge after his visit to the village and getting a job as guide to the convoy. Here he finds that Mariko has changed plan a little. Instead of trying to block the valley with a rockfall, she has a better idea of setting fire to the little wood and blocking it with thick smoke. Then the convoy will return to the village to try again the following day; but Mariko will attack during the night with the troops Komako is bringing from Hinokage. Kimori has some doubts about the morality of all this, commenting, "How does stealing sake and plum brandy help our cause?" To which Emiko retorts, "Well it's you that wanted to drink it!" The plan agreed, Sugiyama is just setting off for the village again when he spots the duellist coming up the gorge. The duellist reports to Mariko on the size of the third convoy and also tells her what it contains - the personal spoils of the senior officers in Nobeoka!

Dawn... to the accompaniment of birdsong, cock crow and dogs barking… is an hour away. When it eventually arrives, the birds, cock and dogs greet it with renewed enthusiasm to hide their embarrassment. Mariko starts getting the fire going. In the village, Sugiyama wakes and with the rest of the convoy prepares to set off. After about an hour the convoy is ready and, with Sugiyama at the front, heads south. After most of an hour they approach the gorge. Smoke can be seen filling the gorge and billowing over the sides. The captain of the guards comes to the front of the convoy. Sugiyama recommends that they stop and go back because the horses won't go through the smoke, and there's a bend in the gorge that has sometimes been used by bandits. The captain disagrees and sends ten guards to investigate. Their horses won't go through the smoke and several start to bolt, but their riders manage to control them. Reluctantly, the captain orders the convoy back to the village. Please with their success, which they have watched from a distant hillside, Mariko, Kimori, Emiko and the duellist head across country to the road to Hinokage, where they have arranged to meet Komako.

Overnight, Komako has broken records to reach Hinokage. He delivers a very persuasively written letter from Mariko. Koreyasu reads it and explains to Komako that his main job is to prevent Hyugan armies passing through, so he really needs all his troops. However, he can spare a few and in fact sends Komako back with 36 soldiers. They use forced march techniques and meet up with Mariko in the afternoon of the day of the fire. Here they prepare their plan of attack.

In the village, Sugiyama is also preparing for the attack. He begins by challenging the officers to an archery contest. Two take the challenge, egged on by the others. They turn out to be quite good, one hitting fairly close to the bull's eye, the other hitting even closer. Sugiyama is planning to lose and aims for the edge of the target. Unfortunately he is not so good at archery and accidentally hits quite close to the bull's eye. The on-looking officers cheer and demand another round. This time the two guards are quite close but Sugiyama misses the target. Humbly accepting his defeat, he pays up the wager - drinks for all the officers all night. Assured that their fighting skills will be impaired, Sugiyama joins them and hides the fact that he is hardly drinking anything.

Shortly before dawn, Mariko attacks the convoy. Most of the guards are sleeping in a camp in the village square; the officers are in the inn. The lookouts appear to have fallen asleep, and the officers are mostly drunk. Mariko picks a L2 guard and kills him before he has chance to react. The duellist does likewise, and Kimori does the same to a L4 guard. Komako gives his opponent a fighting chance by punching the woodblock pillow either side of his head. The guard scores a minor sword blow on Komako but Komako fells him with two sturdy punches. In other action, the remaining soldiers kill 11 guards for the loss of five.

Sugiyama hears the commotion and joins in, going from room to room in the inn killing the officers. His first victim is first surprised, then dazed, then killed. Out in the village, Mariko has a little more trouble dealing with a L5 opponent, but is helped by her tremendous armour class, Kimori takes four hits to finish a L4 guard (and takes two hits), Komako ends a L3 guard even more quickly while the duellist slugs it out with another L4. The rest of the soldiers kill 10 more guards, losing five in the process.

By now the guards have overcome their panic and the few sober officers are getting organised. The remaining 26 soldiers only manage to kill three of the twenty guards and lose six, but the balance is restored by Mariko, who kills a L5 officer, Kimori who dispatches a L4 and a L3, Komako with a L5 and Sugiyama who kills both a L5 and a L4 guard. In the final action, all the troubleshooters (except Emiko, who is healing the wounded) kill a guard each and the 18 other soldiers finish the remainder.

As the sun finally rises into the morning sky, Mariko talks to the village headman while the others get the convoy ready to leave - west. She tells him to get the villagers to deal with the bodies, load the packhorses and KEEP QUIET about the attack. Then they all set off with the loot.

Back in Hinokage the ill-gotten gains are unpacked. Kimori eyes a very nice three-man-rating O-daikyu (it's quality giving it the effective hitting power of a 4 man bow) but is worried at the 50 GP price tag. It is bundled with a quiver of arrows, some bowstrings, a bowyer's workshop and some artworks depicting the bowyer's craft. Another bundle contains a master Wakizashi, 5 precious gems and a bag of gold. Another contains a collection of low value bo staffs, 2 studded bo, and a very unusual spiked bo. This is wrapped in paper which Emiko realises is in fact a priceless artwork. The last bundle is also remarkable. It contains a book, a music tutor that greatly enhances the learning of a musical instrument. Then there is a cask of rare sake and more precious gems. In total the value of the haul is about 3000 GP. Due to the involvement of extra troops, the troubleshooters and the duellist have to share 5% of the total, about 25 GP each, making a total of 55 GP each from the three convoys. So far only Komako has taken any items; what will the others choose?

In next week's exciting episode, one of the troubleshooters takes on a dangerous mission in the heart of the enemy camp.