Session 44. (7/3/14)

Yoshi Yeesu, Tomtare, Sahpo, Onuma and an injured Ishan Ashte are climbing down ropes to escape from Mito castle. Half way down, Emishi, buoyed by the adrenaline of the recent fight, says, “Hey, this isn’t so high. I bet I could jump the rest of the way down!”

The others collectively sigh, and wonder whether daring him to jump will be more likely to achieve the desired result than ordering him not to jump: and then wonder what the desired result actually is. Emishi decides not to jump, but the amanojaku^* he imagines sits on his shoulder shouts, “Jump!” and he jumps anyway, falling fifty feet and doing 10 subdual damage on landing. The others climb down and find him at the bottom where he greets them with, “Come on, you slow lot!” and limps off at speed. The others help the genuinely injured Ishan Ashte back to the Shimotsuke consulate.

Back at the consulate the party is over and the guests have returned to the Satake mansion. Sahpo casts Pure Flesh on Ishan Ashte and restores 11 hit points. Onuma heals him for 4 points. Emishi says he wants payment for rescuing Ishan Ashte, and loses 5 On, reversing the 4 On he got, mostly in bemused admiration, for jumping down the cliff. Pointedly, no-one heals Emishi’s limp.

When Ishan Ashte is comfortable, Yoshi Yeesu asks him what happened. “Well, I got into the mansion without any trouble, using documents and a cover story provided by Karido. We had a few meetings, with Yoshimune’s aides and the delegates from the other families; nothing much was discussed, but everyone seemed to know that something big was going to happen. I’ll try to remember the bits of trivia to see if I can put the pieces together.

“Then one evening some guards came to my room and grabbed me. They beat me up. Tied my hands. Covered my head with a hood. Dragged me some distance across town. I remember falling down some steps. Pushed into a cell. Being beaten up again. They kept asking who I was. I didn’t tell them anything. I think. I’m not sure.” Ishan Ashte stops, upset. Sahpo heals him for 6 points restoring him to full health, physically. Onuma relents and heals Emishi’s fall damage. Sahpo uses the Saga of Critical Healing on the critical damage Emishi took during the fight to rescue Ishan Ashte. Then everyone sleeps for the few remaining hours of the night.

In the morning, over breakfast, Ishan Ashte recalls more of his memories. “I remember.... four men talking around a table in the large room next to my cell, talking about... a big operation... a band of ronin... marching north to cause trouble...

“I think Satake Yoshimune was one of the men.”

Karido, who is breakfasting with the troubleshooters, rushes out and can be heard talking to his staff. Meanwhile, Onuma tentatively suggests that Ishan Ashte should be out back in the prison cell to avoid raising suspicion. Ishan Ashte gives her a withering look. The others discuss what the big operation involving a band of ronin marching north could be – after all, north of Hitachi is Uesugi province, a backwater where nothing ever happens. A few ideas are thrown around, until Karido returns. “I have news from an informant. Something is happening in Yuki today. A messenger was sent there on a fast horse to Yuki. Apparently, as the messenger left, the Satake senior steward told him to ‘get them on their way… fast!’”

“Where’s Yuki?” asks Sahpo.

“It’s the home of the Yuki family, and right on the southern border of Shimotsuke. And Mibu seems to be involved in this too – that’s a castle town in Shimotsuke, half way between Utsunomiya and the border.”

“Yuki was mentioned by the men in the dungeon when they were talking about the band of ronin,” says Ishan Ashte excitedly. “I thought they were talking about the Yuki family delegate, but it makes more sense if they were talking about the town. And Mibu was mentioned, I remember now, but I didn’t know what it was. They said the ronin would cause trouble for it.”

“Ah, then that must mean the ronin are heading for Mibu,” exclaims Karido. “If they pretended to be a Hojo raiding party, that would indeed cause trouble, while uniting the families of Hitachi. I must get a message to the daimyo immediately.” He hurries off.

“What are we going to do,” asks Onuma.

“We can intercept them and cut them down before they reach Mibu,” states Tomtare.

“But we don’t know how many there will be,” protests Sahpo. “There could be hundreds.”

“If there are, we’ll wait until we’re in range of Mibu castle, then pepper them with arrows, hold them up with Traitor Ground then take them on one-on-one.”

No-one can think of a better plan, so they quickly gather their belongings, saddle up and set off for Mibu. Karido, having sent his message, joins them, eager to fight. At a gallop they reach Mibu in an hour and a half, then turn south onto the road that leads to Yuki. Only a mile out of the town they see the column of ronin. There are about 50 of them.

Tomtare, Ishan Ashte and Yoshi Yeesu open up with their daikyu when the enemy column is at a range of 180 yards, but only Ishan Ashte hits. The enemy continues marching towards them and they fire a second volley. Again only Ishan Ashte scores a hit. The ronin close to 160 yards and Tomtare decides to focus his ki and switch to his smaller, faster hankyu; Ishan Ashte and Yoshi Yeesu both score hits.

The ronin get fed up of being slow-moving targets and start running towards the bowmen, closing to 120 yards when the next volley of arrows is let loose. Emishi fires two arrows from his hankyu and scores two hits. Tomtare’s ki-focusing backfires as his first arrow misses and his second causes his bowstring to snap. Ishan Ashte and Yoshi Yeesu continue with their daikyu; Ishan Ashte’s fourth hit results in the first kill of the encounter. Onuma also starts firing her hankyu and scores two minor hits.

The running ronin close to 80 yards; Emishi hits with two more arrows and gets his first kill. Tomtare restrings his bow and tests it, scoring a good hit. Ishan Ashte misses, but Yoshi Yeesu hits for his first kill. Onuma fires two arrows and hits with one. Sahpo bides his time.

The ronin are now only 40 yards away, point blank for the daikyu and at easy range for the hankyu. Emishi still manages to miss with his first arrow, but scores with the second. Tomtare uses his strength to fire twice with devastating power to kill two of the ronin (16 and 22 damage). Ishan Ashte hits for less damage than Tomtare with his bigger, single shot daikyu (17 damage), but Yoshi Yeesu employs his Precision Strike to hit for 40 damage, killing the foe for double budo and On. Onuma fires twice (10 and 9 damage), getting her first kill. Now Sahpo casts Traitor Ground just ahead of the charging ronin, rendering it as hard to stand on as soft sand. The ronin plunge straight in, then stop, feet slithering everywhere.

Taking advantage of their confusion, Emishi fires two arrows and hits with both, though the damage is small. Tomtare fires his supercharged hankyu, misses with the first arrow but hits for 20 with the second to get his third kill. Ishan Ashte does his daikyu justice and hits for 3 damage and his second kill. Yoshi Yeesu criticals his Precision Strike for triple damage and rolls a massive 99 damage! The ronin is knocked back by the arrow and lands back in Hitachi province. Onuma fires two arrows, missing with one and hitting with the second. Sahpo casts four Arrows of Wood, hitting with all four and rendering three of his victims unconscious.

The ronin continue their charge, hampered by the traitor ground, and close to 20 yards. Emishi fires two arrows and hits with both, and though the damage is small it is enough for his second kill. Tomtare hits for 17, but misses with his second arrow. Ishan Ashte hits for 15. Yoshi Yeesu follows up his outrageous 99 with a non-critical hit for 50, still easily enough for his third kill. Onuma hits with her first arrow, claiming her second kill, then hits a new target with her second arrow. Sahpo casts another four Arrows of Wood, landing three of them and downing two ronin.

The ronin struggle through the Traitor Ground to just 10 yards from the heroes. Emishi draws his sword and steps forward to engage the enemy and allow the others to keep firing their devastating bows. Tomtare fires his hankyu and hits for 22 for his fourth kill, then draws his sword. Karido, without a ranged weapon, picks up a rock and throws it at one of the ronin commanders, who happened to have been badly injured by two of Ishan Ashte’s arrows. The damage, though slight, is enough to finish him off. Ishan Ashte, disgruntled, switches to a new target and puts an arrow in him. Yoshi Yeesu continues his Precision Strike success and hits for 54 damage and his fourth kill. Onuma hits with two more arrows and claims her third head. Sahpo fells another three with Arrows of Wood.

Finally the ronin reach melee range. Emishi seeks out the ronin’s leader and engages with his sword. He lands a blow for 13; the ronin leader hits back for 8; then Emishi gets a critical hit for 42, chopping off the leader’s arm and killing him. Tomtare wades in against another leader and clobbers him for 21, dodges the ronin’s response and hits again for 20. The ronin is tough and hits back for 3 damage. Karido leaps off his horse behind a ronin charging at Sahpo, administers a Silent Kill and does 18 damage, critically injuring the ronin. Ishan Ashte draws his two swords and whirs into action, hitting with one of them. The ronin responds with a weak hit for 1 damage. Ishan Ashte and the ronin then miss each other with their next attacks. Yoshi Yeesu is still using his daikyu and Precision Strike – safe enough firing into melee, barring a critical failure – and hits a ronin for 39 and his fifth kill. Onuma invokes Hand is Faster than the Brain and makes six lightning attacks, missing with only one: the others hit for 10, 12, 8 and 10 (for her fourth kill), 10 and a critical 36 and outright kill for her fifth head. Sahpo chants the Saga of Healing for Emishi, but he is distracted by the fighting and it fails.

Seeing their attack failing, many of the remaining start to run away. Emishi finds new, willing foe and hits for 11; the ronin swings and misses. Emishi hits again for 11; the ronin swings and misses. Tomtare hits the leader for 16 damage and claims his fifth head. He turns to another ronin and hits for 22 damage. Karido shouts in a booming voice, “Give up! You are outmatched! Throw down your arms!” Two more ronin turn and flee. Ishan Ashte attacks with his two swords and criticals with one, doing 20 damage and giving him his fourth head (if you include the one finished off by Karido’s rock). Yoshi Yeesu hits a veteran ronin for 46, which he manages to survive! Onuma Casts Breath of the Dragon, but it fails, so she continues with her sword, using the continuing Hand is Faster than the Brain spell and applying Precision Strike, Thrust and Flashy Swordplay on her six remaining attacks. She hits for 11, 9 and 14 (for her sixth kill), 9, 9 and a miss. Sahpo tries again to chant the Saga of Healing over Emishi, but again is distracted.

All the ronin are now fleeing or fighting for their lives. Emishi hits for 10 and claims his fourth kill. Tomtare hits for 23 and claims his sixth kill, then strikes again as another ronin runs past, doing 20 damage but the ronin gets away. Ishan Ashte hits for 17 but the ronin flees, badly injured. Yoshi Yeesu hits for 36, definitely finishing off the veteran ronin for his sixth head. Onuma’s sword is a blur and hits for 10 (seventh kill), 9, 7, 12 and 7 (eighth kill) before she runs out of enemies. Sahpo fires two arrows of Wood at the fleeing ronin’s backs, but misses with them both.

The troubleshooters decide not to ride after the fleeing ronin, now only 16 in number. Sahpo and Onuma rouse the eight ronin felled by Sahpo’s Arrows of Wood and march them to Mibu where they arrange for eta to go to the scene of the fight and clear away the bodies. Then they take the prisoners to Utsunomiya and report to Hidasue and the daimyo. The daimyo is full of praise for the troubleshooters (worth 20 On each) and they are feted for days.

A few days later, Hidasue rushes into their quarters and tells them to pack their things quickly. “I’ve no time to explain! Get your staff, your stuff and let’s go!” he exclaims. Within minutes the troubleshooters, Hidasue, their housekeeper, gardener and stable boy are riding at top speed out of Utsunomiya along the Tosando (Eastern Mountain Road), which leads all the way to Kyoto. The first night they spend camped a little way from the road, concealed by the wooded slopes. Hidasue has his first chance to explain.

“I was in the daimyo’s residence when I overheard a conversation. They said that all the talk in court and in the town was all about the capture of a Shimotsuke spy in the capital of the neighbouring, and allied, province of Hitachi. The rumour was that a delegation from Hitachi would arrive at any time. There was also talk of the attack on Mibu Castle, and that although everyone knows Hitachi was behind it, there will be no way to pin it on them.

“I immediately realised that we are caught in the middle of scandal, and the daimyo has either to go to war or to publicly apologise to Hitachi and sack me – a massive loss of face and very unlikely – or execute all of us and marry his daughter Miyako off to Satake’s son. You know that I was rather fond of Miyako?

“Miyako came to warn me that her father planned to do exactly that, and made me promise to leave immediately. She gave me a letter of introduction to her uncle in Kyoto, promising me a job with him. She was very sad that she could not come with us.”

The troubleshooters console Hidasue, and wonder what the coming weeks of travel along the Tosando will bring.

* A small demon that instigates people into wickedness.

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