Session 37. (12/10/12)

One day after returning from Kanuma, the troubleshooters find Hidasue looking flustered. He tells his aides, "One of the horses you brought back went missing from my stables last night. I've heard that there are bandits operating out of the water margin, so I'd like you to take a look and see if we can find it." The water margin is a vast area of marshland east of Utsunomiya where the Kinu river splits into a thousand streams and pools. It is criss-crossed by paths, but their location is known to few people. The aides have heard talk around the daimyo's estate of a few other horses disappearing, but hadn't thought much about it. Now it is suddenly their job to sort out.

Emishi, Tomtare, Sahpo, Ishan Ashte, Onuma and Yoshi Yeesu ride out to the water margin and are dismayed at the size of the task. The marshes are at least three ri across and over 10 ri north to south. Some of it is cultivated, but most is nearly impassable marsh. Some paths are below the water's surface, some passable only on horseback. In the drier areas, the paths cross the innumerable streams on small wooden plank bridges, but they are few and far between and hard to spot. As they head out in the damp morning air along the road skirting the marsh they look for signs of horses having passed along it since sunset.

"Look, there! Fresh horse droppings," calls out Tomtare. He dismounts and has a closer look.

"Ugh, he's doing that tasting thing again!" cries Emishi.

"Yep, a horse was here in the middle of the night. There are signs of horse, human and... a very large duck?! Or a frog walking on two legs? Anyway, the tracks lead north," concludes Tomtare.

"There's some more horse droppings over here," calls Sahpo from the edge of the road. He dismounts and there is a brief sucking sound. "No, forget it. Not horse at all."

The party heads north. "Remember we found stones at the edge of the road marking a path into the marsh?" advises Emishi. Soon Sahpo and Onuma spot exactly this.

"Right turn, Clyde," quips Onuma. Sahpo checks and finds horse tracks leading into the marsh. Emishi sends Steven the hawk to scout out the vicinity. The hawk returns carrying something in its talon.

"What's it carrying?" asks Tomtare.

"Squirrel!" cry Emishi, Yoshi Yeesu and Ishan Ashte simultaneously.

"Out in the marsh?" questions Sahpo.

"Well there are a few trees," replies Emishi.

Tomtare dismounts and leads his horse down the path into the marsh. The others remain on horseback and follow Tomtare, whose feet are soon soaked. He is also too low down to see over the reeds.

"What was that?!" exclaims Emishi.

"What?"

"Over there, way off to the right of the path. It looked like... a small green man. He's disappeared now."

"Kappa!" breathes Sahpo.

Tomtare starts searching for a path on the right but finds nothing. Ishan Ashte dismounts and tries sneaking towards where Emishi was pointing, but suddenly disappears into a deep pool and emerges, spluttering, a few seconds later. He swims back to the path. "Can't get through that way," he coughs.

Emishi sends Steven out again. The hawk circles over the spot where the kappa was seen, then cruises back and forth over the marsh before returning to Emishi. "I think the kappa has gone."

"Let's see if there is another path off the road," suggests Sahpo. The party trails back to the road then looks for paths further south. Sahpo spots one, a bit further south than the kappa, but worth trying. He leads the party back into the swamp. However, the path soon it peters out in the middle of nowhere. The six troubleshooters look around.

"If I stood on my horse's back," muses Onuma, "Then used Stage Smoke to reappear ten or twenty feet straight up, I'd have a great view of the marsh."

"And a very soft landing - if you miss your horse."

She is saved the trouble of deciding when Yoshi Yeesu spots an area of drier ground ahead. Ishan Ashte spots a path that leads to it. The party sets off once more and finds an island of not-too-soggy ground. Tomtare looks for tracks and finds signs of the kappa - but no horses. He looks for a path leading on from the island but finds nothing. Sahpo decides to call on the spirit of the marsh, drawing on his Ainu spiritual heritage. For once he is successful, and hears an ethereal voice call out to him.

"Who invades my sorrow?" To Sahpo it sounds like a husky, female voice.

"Sorry. I, Sahpo, son of Haku, with to converse with your magnificent swampiness."

"There is no magnificence in decay."

"Are you not part of the great circle of... things?"

"Yes, I am death."

"Surely you are life as well?"

"All life leaves me."

"But new life lives in you - birds, bees... squirrels."

"And nettles. You will leave too, and the sooner the better."

"We will leave as soon as you help us find another group like us, but evil-doers."

"There are many like you - and others - but I know not whether you do good or bad, nor care."

"Can you help us find-"

"There are many of you."

"Then is there anything we can do for you?"

"Unless you can turn me into a beautiful lake, then no."

Sahpo gives up. He reports his conversation to the others as they ride back to the city.

"Maybe we could dam the river," suggests Emishi.

"But there are hundreds. Anyway, we're not engineers," protests Onuma.

Back in Utsunomiya, Sahpo visits the largest shrine and prays for the divine guidance - but receives none. The priest promises to say prayers for the water margin - Sahpo gives him a silver piece. The others discuss the kappa.

"I've heard stories of kappa dragging horses into water, sucking their livers and other organs from them and leaving just a husk," imparts Emishi.

"I've heard that they are evil but extremely trustworthy," offers Onuma, breathlessly.

They make their report to Hidasue. When they tell him about the kappa, he says, "Oh, kappa - they are very strong for their size. Fond of cucumbers and sumo wrestling. They hate metal objects and loud noises. Some say they're descended from monkeys, but I think they are descended from Ainu."

This meets a stony silence, but fortunately nothing more - Sahpo hasn't returned yet. When Sahpo gets back from the shrine they tell him about their kappa suspicions - though not Hidasue's opinion of their origin - and formulate a plan. They will set a trap for the horse thieves, putting a bait horse near the north gate and watching for them stealing it. As it is already nearly the end of the day, they put the plan into action straight away, tying up another of the confiscated horses in an open area near the north gate. They take watches: Emishi first, then Yoshi Yeesu followed by Onuma, Ishan Ashte and finally Sahpo. During Onuma's watch she senses a disturbance in the horse, but sees nothing and continues her watch without waking the others, who are sleeping nearby in an appropriated house. Sahpo has the dawn watch, and it is uneventful until he is joined by Onuma to greet the dawn. The others wake and join them soon after dawn and they sit and ponder the failure of their plan. As they sit pondering, they hear a commotion in the city centre. Someone is shouting... shouting names... their names!

"I've got a bad feeling about this," opines Yoshi Yeesu.

They hurry to the castle and find Hidasue shouting for them. Urgently, he tells them that the daimyo's wife's horse has been taken during the night, and his neck - and their necks - are on the line. Emishi and Onuma go to fetch their horses while Tomtare and Onuma look for tracks. They find clear evidence of a horse being led - or ridden by a lightweight rider - through the backstreets and out of the city to the northeast. Emishi and Onuma return with the troubleshooters' horses and they set off at a fast clip towards the marshes and the paths they found the previous day, slowing occasionally to check that they are still on the tracks. Yoshi Yeesu, Ishan Ashte and Onuma race ahead and take the more northerly path into the marsh, where they had followed the horse tracks. Tomtare, Sahpo and Emishi, riding more slowly, stop at the southerly path, where they were looking for the kappa, and find webbed footprints leading into the marsh. They take an executive decision and follow the kappa tracks.

The first party has also found tracks - horse tracks. Reeds have been bent down very recently with the passage of several people - or creatures. Ishan Ashte leads them forward.

Sahpo's group is nearing the island they found the previous day when Emishi sees movement ahead. There is a young kappa on the far side of the island. Wasting no words, Emishi fits an arrow to his bow and sends it flying towards the small shape. It strikes home! The kappa disappears into the swamp.

Down the northern path, Ishan Ashte finds a muddy hoof print - a shod horse, probably the stolen one. The path disappears but after a little searching Onuma finds another path heading north. After a moment's consideration they follow it.

Sahpo, Emishi and Tomtare quickly search the island but find nothing. Emishi sees a small green shape flit across the reeds near the path and he fires an arrow at it. Stillness descends over the swamp. The three searchers head back to the path.

Ishan Ashte finds another hoof print - this time unshod. The path disappears but Yoshi Yeesu finds it heading east again. They follow and soon spot a low roof hidden among the reeds. They close in and find a low island with a rough shack and a corral with a number of horses.

"This must be the bandit camp," whispers Ishan Ashte. "We must get the others here."

"I'll fetch them," says Yoshi Yeesu, and fires a humming bulb arrow to the south, in the general direction of the other group.

The stillness of the swamp is broken by the howl of the arrow. "That will be the others," says Sahpo. "They must have found the kappa's base." He spurs his horse back down the path towards the road, but his horse stumbles. Just then a kappa rises from the water and pulls him from his horse. Another one drags Tomtare into the reeds and a third jumps on Emishi's back.

Meanwhile at the bandit camp, the humming bulb has alerted the bandits and they are pouring out of the shack. Ishan Ashte, Onuma and Yoshi Yeesu have one chance to use their bows and they take it. Ishan Ashte misses, Onuma scores a killing hit to a rabble bandit and Yoshi Yeesu gets a critical hit for 48 damage on a bandit extra with one hit point. The hapless bandit is carried back by the arrow and left pinned halfway up the wall of the shack. The three troubleshooters hang their bows on their saddles, dismount and draw swords just as the first two bandits arrive, both of which strike Ishan Ashte for 4 damage.

In the swamp, Emishi manages to get the kappa off his back, dismounts and draws his sword. Tomtare struggles to his feet, but his opponent falls over while trying to attack. Tomtare helps the turtle-like creature on his way with a 15-point hit from his tetsubo. Sahpo pulls himself out of the water while fending off the third kappa.

At the camp, Ishan Ashte scores a hit of 8 and a critical hit of 20 on the bandit leader, who is dazed but not downed and manages a reply for 8 damage. Onuma casts Hand is Faster than the Brain, misses her next attack but then whirls into action with hits of 11, 12, 7 and 12, felling four bandits in quick succession. Yoshi Yeesu tries not to be put off by the flashing blade, not put out by the piles of bodies, but overdoes a hit for 13 damage on a one-hit-point extra and underdoes a hit for 9 damage on a 10-hit-point level 1 bandit.

Back in the swamp, Emishi is grappled by the kappa and squeezed for 4 damage before he manages to break free. Before he can bring his sword round the kappa grabs him again and does 6 damage with its supernatural strength. Emishi breaks its hold again. Tomtare swings his big club and fells his foe then goes to help Sahpo, whacking the kappa that is squeezing six damage out of him and gives it a sizeable headache.

At the bandit camp, Ishan Ashte scores another critical hit on the bandit leader, killing him. Yoshi Yeesu finishes his opponent and Onuma looks around and realises they have run out of bandits. "I guess we won't need the others after all," she comments.

In the swamp it is also all over bar the shouting. Emishi has managed to get clear enough of his kappa foe to score a 13-point hit with his sword, then when it closes in and grapples him we merely swings it into Tomtare's moon shot and it is launched into a pond several yards away. Sahpo finishes the other kappa with two stabs of his tanto.

"Where's the little one?" asks Emishi, realising that it isn't among the dead kappa. A quick search reveals a badly wounded young kappa in the reeds at the edge of the island.

"Why... did... you... attack us?" it croaks.

"Because you're filthy horse thieves," snaps Sahpo.

"And you take horses and suck out their entrails," adds Emishi menacingly.

"No, we... love horses," protests the kappa. Sahpo heals him and he proceeds to tell them a story. "Many years ago, there was a young kappa, as young as me, who found a man asleep beside the river, his horse tied to a tree. As the man slept, the kappa started to drag the horse by its hind legs into the river, there to feast on its entrails. But the man woke up, snuck behind the kappa and grabbed it. Binding its arms behind its back, the man then tied its legs and hung it upside down from the tree. The kappa begged for mercy, promising never to take horses again. The man relented and agreed, provided the kappa would swear most solemnly not only to not kill horses, but actually to protect them. The kappa promised and the man let him go. That kappa is now our chief, and he has kept his promise and made all the clan swear not to kill horses also."

"Where is your clan?" asks Tomtare, a feeling of dread coming over him.

"Over there," says the kappa, pointing to the north, where the others are.

"Come on," says Tomtare, "We've got to stop a massacre."

"Of frogs," mutters Emishi under his breath, but jumps on his horse and follows Tomtare. They navigate the path back to the road, along the road, back into the swamp and turn left then right, and are very relieved to find the others picking over the remains of the bandit camp and not a kappa nest.

"What kept you?" asks Ishan Ashte.

"I think we've done a terrible thing," admits Tomtare.

"Well we've found the daimyo's wife's horse, the one we lost and six others besides, if it makes you feel any better," says Yoshi Yeesu. "This appears to be a transit camp the bandits used for raids. It's not a permanent home."

"Do you want to tell us all about it on the way home?" asks Onuma sympathetically. Tomtare buries his face in his hands as Emishi and Sahpo stare at the ground.

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