Session 43. (28/2/14)

Sahpo slips quietly away from the party with Karido, the Shimotsuke consul, to sneak into the Satake mansion while most of the VIPs are being entertained. They wear ashigaru-style armour as a disguise and sneak up to the wall at the back right corner of the mansion’s grounds. Karido gives Sahpo a bunk up, but drops him on his head for 0 damage. Sahpo tries to climb the wall by himself and falls down the other side, landing in a shrubbery to the accompaniment of snapping twigs and curses, doing 2 damage. A guard comes over to investigate the noise, but clearly has much better hearing than eyesight and doesn’t see Sahpo hiding in the shadows. Karido slips over the wall proficiently and silently. The two sneak over to the mansion and slip in through the door that leads to the (outdoor) privy. They can hear voices in a nearby room. They find a dark corner and stop to listen. There are several voices, but none of them seem to be Ishan Ashte’s. Sahpo hears someone mention a meeting tomorrow. The conversation becomes too quiet and confused to be followed. Then Karido picks out someone referring to the meeting tomorrow in the castle, which he reckons must be Mito castle, stronghold of the Satake. Then he hears someone asking what has happened to the Sudo delegate. Karido listens intently, as this is the cover Ishan Ashte has used, but the only reply is that they don’t know where he is, and wonder if he will be at the reps’ meeting in the castle tomorrow. Sahpo and Karido decide they have heard enough, and sneak out of the mansion and back over the wall. Sahpo manages the wall without mishap with Karido’s help, but they hear a guard running towards them as they scramble over the top. They jump out of their skins when they are met at the foot of the wall, but it is only Onuma, who has come to see what has happened to them. They re-join the others at the party and wait impatiently for it to end and the guests to leave. The following morning they discuss their findings.

“Did you find Ishan Ashte?” asks Yoshi Yeesu.

“He’s not with the others, and they don’t know where he is,” says Sahpo.

“I think he’s been discovered and taken to Mito castle,” adds Karido.

“We’ll have to break him out,” urges Tomtare.

“I’m not breaking into any castle,” grumbles Emishi. He is nursing a hangover and isn’t in the best of moods. “He knew the risks; I say leave him there!” Emishi is shouted down.

“Well, I think I could infiltrate the castle disguised as a geisha,” says Onuma. “Maybe I could go on the pretext of being a reward for the guy that won the archery contest.”

“Well it’s not safe to go on your own. I’ll go with you, in the role of a priest,” suggests Sahpo.

At dusk that evening, Onuma and Sahpo cross the moat and present themselves at the gate to Mito castle. It is on a hill in the middle of the city, defended by steep scarps on three sides and a moat on the fourth. A deep ravine splits the flat top of the hill, adding a second level of protection, with bridge and gate, before the inner bailey and donjon. Onuma explains her mission – to entertain the daimyo’s horse-archery champion – making the most of her acting skills. Sahpo adds that he is her chaperone, and can tell that the guard is completely taken in. They are told to report to the second gate.

At the second gate, Onuma repeats her performance with even more aplomb. The guard turns to Sahpo, wondering why the geisha has come with a priest and not her house’s Madam. “Why are you here? Where is the Oyabun?” demands the guard. Sahpo tries to give an explanation citing Shinto virtues, but his poor knowledge of shinten causes him to flounder. The guard is not fooled. “The girl can go through, but you must stay here,” he tells Sahpo. Sahpo is about to argue, but Onuma senses it will jeopardise the mission. “It’s OK,” she says, “I’ll be all right.”

The guard sends for a servant to guide Onuma to the horse-archery champion’s room, then directs Sahpo to a building in the outer bailey where he can get refreshments and wait for Onuma to return.

Onuma is taken to the donjon, which is a rather squat tower, three stories high. The servant shows her to a large room on the top floor and instructed to wait. Onuma has been studying the servant, and as soon as she has left she casts Mask of Deception to make herself look exactly like the maid. She waits as long as she dares then heads back downstairs. On the ground floor she sees stairs heading down to a basement, and runs towards them, but she has been seen by the guard on the front door. “Hey! Why are you running?” he shouts. Onuma stops and turns slowly, wondering what to do. The guard continues, “Slow down, you’ll cause an accident.” Onuma turns on the charm and acting skill and apologises, head bowed deeply. The guard is mollified. Onuma tiptoes away. As soon as the guard’s back is turned she takes to her toes and sprints for the stairs.

Halfway down the stairs, Onuma can hear someone moving around. Cautiously she descends the last few steps into a large room furnished with a low table, with a low chair at one end. It seems to be a meeting room. At the far end are some iron bars forming a cell; in front of them is a guard, who looks up and sees Onuma.

“What are you doing here?” he demands.

“I’ve come to see if the prisoner needs water,” she replies, drawing on her acting skill once again.

“That’s not your duty. Get out of here!”

“I’ve been instructed to do this,” counters Onuma, truthfully.

The guard isn’t convinced, but decides it isn’t worth arguing. “Be quick about it then,” he growls grudgingly.

Onuma takes a pitcher of water and a cup from the meeting table and goes over to the bars and sees that Ishan Ashte is behind them. He looks like he has been beaten up. “Do you require water, master?” she says, sweetly.

“About time! I could die of thirst for all this guy cares.” Ishan Ashte is clearly disgruntled, or at least has been threatened with having his gruntles removed. “I bet his mother was Ainu!” he spits. The in a whisper he says to Onuma, “They rumbled me. But I haven’t told them who I am.” Then he starts shouting at the guard again, “Tell your master my master will be very displeased.” The guard comes back to argue with Ishan Ashte. Onuma slips away and high-tails it out of the dungeon and donjon. She adjusts her geisha disguise and returns to the second gate, where the guard shows her where Sahpo went. She finds him playing dice with some off-duty guards. He has won 6CP so far, and Onuma has to drag him away. They leave the castle and return to the consulate.

Back at the consulate, Onuma tells the others of Ishan Ashte’s situation. There is little debate: they decide to go to Mito castle and rescue Ishan Ashte immediately. They don dark clothes and head to the foot of the scarp on the south side of the inner bailey. It is a difficult climb. But everyone manages it without mishap except Sahpo, who falls but is saved by Karido’s safety rope. He is pulled up and the party of five climbs the wall into the compound. A guard hears them and rushes over, but Sahpo hits him with three Darts of Wood and the guard succumbs to the narcotic poison within seconds. Tomtare props him up against the wall. The five now move in quickly and stealthily to the donjon. Sahpo fires three Arrows of Wood at the guard on the front door. The guard resists one, and fights off the others without completely losing consciousness. He slumps to the ground, moaning. Onuma rushes in and hits him with her sword still in its scabbard. Three blows to the head and he stops moaning. Tomtare props him up in the doorway and they all go in.

Inside, the five try to move quickly and silently, but Tomtare knocks over a sword stand. A guard runs into the lobby and straight into Emishi’s sword, taking 4 damage. The guard hits Emishi for 1 damage. Onuma hits him (the guard) three times, her sword still in its scabbard, and he collapses. Emishi picks up a wakizashi from the heap under the fallen sword stand to take to Ishan Ashte. Onuma leads the way down to the basement. Karido and Sahpo stay at the top of the stairs to guard their retreat. Karido reassembles the sword stand. In the basement, Emishi and Tomtare rush the guard. Emishi threatens him with his sword, but the guard just swings at him, landing a lucky blow and dazing Emishi for 6 damage. Tomtare thrusts his testubo and hits for 8 damage. The guard hits Emishi again for 5 damage. Tomtare misses. Emishi recovers and slashes at the guard, doing 10 damage. The guard misses and Tomtare connects for 6 damage. Emishi punches the guard, sword still in hand, and knock the guard back, dazing him and doing 8 damage. Tomtare hits for another 8 before Emishi knocks the guard out with a punch for 11 damage. Onuma has slipped past the fight and unlocked Ishan Ashte’s cell. She gives him some minor healing, then helps him as they all go up the stairs to re-join Sahpo and Karido. They get out and away unseen, over the wall and down the ropes Karido left for their escape. Half way down, Emishi wonders if he could jump the rest of the way down.

To be continued...

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