Session 13. (30/3/12)

We rejoin our heroes in the captured pirate base on the marshy northwest shore of Lake Hachiro. Sahpo and Emishi are holding a council of war to decide what to do about the prisoners - the bandit wives - and the expected imminent return of their husbands. Sahpo is the thinker; Emishi is the strategist. Onuma and Yoshi Yeesu are there to stop them fighting (not about the plans, but about whether Emishi's father was the greatest but unluckiest strategist of all time). Emishi ponders fighting the pirates from the outhouse next to the dock, but soon realises that if they are overrun they will be unable to fall back to the comparative security of the house. Sahpo is considering other practicalities, such as where to keep the pirates' wives and children, and who should man the watch tower on the roof. 'Man' being the inoperative word, he says to Onuma, "I want you in the watch tower."

Onuma is mildly offended by Sahpo's brusque manner and poor choice of words. "I'll turn you into a frog!" she mutters under her breath.

Around noon a sail appears on the lagoon. It turns out to be Tomtare and Ishan Ashte in the customs skiff. A humming bulb arrow gets their attention and they are guided through the reeds to the dock next to the house. They have brought fresh supplies of food and bandages. The six law-bringers apply bandages and heal each other, then Sahpo sings the Saga of Healing and everyone feels a bit better, except for the self-inflicted wounds brought on by the tedium of listening to Sahpo sing for an hour. Then they eat, and feed the prisoners.

Feeling better, the six start preparing for battle. They decide to fight from the house, barricading the door and cutting arrow slots in the walls, hoping to catch the pirates by surprise when they cross from the dock to the house. Nothing much needs to be done to the door as it is already built to be defended, so the woodworkers start cutting clots in the outer walls. While doing this they find that there are window openings in all the rooms, with weatherproof shutters across them. They fasten the shutters tightly closed.

Onuma considers posing as a pirate's wife, but dismisses this idea as it will rely on the pirates getting into the house without suspecting anything, thus losing the chance to cut them down on open ground, and it will also put her on her own in a position of great danger (see below).

Sahpo takes up station in the watch tower as the most observant of the young half-Ainu and readies himself to cast Traitor Ground on the space between the dock and the house to slow the pirates down and maximise the time they have to shoot them with arrows. The women and children are herded into the largest room and the doors and shutters firmly fixed shut from the outside. All preparations made, the young adventurers settle down and wait.

...and wait ...and wait.

The sun sets without the pirates appearing. "Totemo warui kimochi ga arimasu," comments Tomtare, practising his new tongue.

Night falls. The castaways decide that the pirates won't turn up at night as it is not possible to navigate the lagoon in the dark. They set watches: one in the lookout tower, one to keep an eye on the women and children.

The night is uneventful. Onuma and Sahpo greet the dawn and restore their magical powers. The others heal their wounds naturally with a few hours' sleep. Onuma and Sahpo look out across the lagoon. They cannot see any boats. "What a beautiful sunrise," comments Onuma, her chin resting on her hands which are clasped together on the balcony rail of the lookout post.

"It sure is," agrees Sahpo. "Just look at how the light dances on the surface. Especially there, where there are lots of little waves... Err, what's making those waves? Look, if you half-close your eyes, isn't there a dark shape..."

"...that could be a very large boat? Yes, I think... oh-oh, it's already at the gap in the reeds. PIRATE SHIP APPROACHING!! AWOOGAH! AWOOGAH!" shouts Onuma as she leaps down the stairs.

By the time the others have shaken the sleep from their eyes, picked up their bows and taken up station at the arrow slots on the wall facing the creek, the pirate flagship has already moored at the dock - right next to the sloop and the customs skiff. Pirates pour ashore, armed and looking determined. Onuma casts Hand is Faster Than the Eye to improve her reactions, and Sahpo casts Traitor Ground under the feet of the leading pirates. They start to stumble; on cue, Emishi, Tomtare, Onuma, Ishan Ashte and Yoshi Yeesu open fire.

Five pirates are cut down in the first volley, four rabble and a Level 1 (by Tomtare), and Sahpo seriously weakens one with an Arrow of Wood. The next volley is not so good: Emishi misses, Tomtare picks out one of the stronger L1 ronin pirates and wounds him, Onuma gets a pathetic hit on a rabble pirate and only wounds him (5 hit points - 4 damage!), and Yoshi Yeesu wounds one of the weaker L1 ashigaru pirates. Sahpo puts another Arrow of Wood into the rabble he hit first time and leaves him sprawled on the earth, too weak to move. There is time for one more volley before the first pirates arrive at the front door. Emishi misses again, Ishan Ashte misses and frays his bowstring, but Tomtare, Onuma and Yoshi Yeesu finish off their wounded targets with well-paced arrows. Sahpo casts an Arrow of Wood and weakens another foe. A few arrows come Sahpo's way from the handful of pirates carrying bows, but none come too close.

...Unnoticed by Sahpo, a second contingent of pirates arrive on the opposite side of the house, having been sent in the dragon boat from the main ship to land south of the house before dawn and sneak through the reed beds to where they suspected the customs men would have captured their home. They undo the fixings on the shutters and start climbing in the window to the room where their wives are being held...

Now pirates arrive at the front door and start breaking it down. Emishi, Ishan Ashte and Onuma continue firing at pirates still crossing the Traitor Ground. Emishi wounds a L1; Ishan Ashte only wounds a rabble, but by chance Onuma has picked the same target and finishes him off. Tomtare moves to an arrow slot next to the front door and fires at point blank as the pirates flash across his sightline. Luckily he hits one and kills him. Yoshi Yeesu takes up position by the front door, ready to repel boarders.

The first pirate charges in through the broken door - and Yoshi Yeesu hits him for 8 damage. Another one follows and Tomtare clubs him for 6 damage. Emishi and Ishan Ashte leave their arrow slots and wait for the invaders to arrive in the courtyard. Yoshi Yeesu hits his foe again, killing him. Another pirate pushes past Yoshi Yeesu, giving him a wound in passing, and makes it to the courtyard. Tomtare swings his long club and misses in the confined space of the entranceway, and his foe gives him a minor wound. Yoshi Yeesu sets about the fourth pirate through the door and adds a 12-point sword wound to a six-point arrow wound he got from Emishi while crossing the Traitor Ground. Meanwhile, Onuma disappears in a puff of smoke(!) and Sahpo, after disabling his second pirate with his fourth Arrow of Wood, starts down the stairs from the watchtower to help the others... then notices a large crowd of pirates just outside the southern wall of the house.

"PIRATES ATTACKING FROM THE WIVES' ROOM!!" shouts Sahpo, taking the stairs two at a time... then stops dead as he finds pirates at the bottom of the stairs. He casts an Arrow of Wood which weakens one to the point of collapse, and retreats back up the stairs. The other Ainu-Wajin peacekeepers are still busy fighting the first wave of pirates. Emishi dispatches the first pirate to break through into the courtyard and Yoshi Yeesu the second. Ishan Ashte draws his two swords and attacks with both, but on his first attack drops his wakizashi while hitting with his katana. The pirate takes advantage by hitting Ishan Ashte on his undefended side. This annoys Ishan Ashte and he brings his katana round in a double-handed critical sweep that silences the pirate. Tomtare downs a passing pirate and then advances out of the front door where he can swing his enormous weapon without hindrance. Onuma is also outside, having rematerialised behind the last of the pirates from the boat, and strikes him unawares from behind. The pirate suffers a nasty wound, turns on Onuma and misses and Onuma hits him again. He still stands, and a burly pirate to his right hits Onuma for 5 damage. Tomtare takes on the last of the three pirates remaining outside but misses and gets a minor wound for his pains.

Emishi polishes of another pirate in the courtyard and turns to the ones now emerging from the wives' room but misses on his first strike. Ishan Ashte and Yoshi Yeesu join him and cut down a pirate each. Sahpo pulls his weight by reducing another to jelly with two Arrows of Wood. Outside, Tomtare lands a solid blow on his foe but the pirate shows no sign of discomfort. Tomtare winds up for a big second strike but hits only himself, doing 5 damage. Onuma hits one of her two opponents again but he doesn't go down. 31 damage and he's still standing?! The two pirates both hit her and she reels under the blows. Only 6 hit points left! Onuma is very relieved when her next blow finishes the fight. Now just one to go. But he looks very strong. Onuma and Tomtare, cut off from the others, come to the realisation that the senior, stronger members of a gang of outlaws are likely to send the weaker, low-ranking ones in first, and that taking on the enemies at the back is a very dangerous thing to do. They feel very lonely!

The courtyard is a target-rich environment, and Emishi, Ishan Ashte and Yoshi Yeesu are surrounded by 15 pirates - fortunately very low-ranking ones (the ones who have to paddle the dragon boat). Emishi dispatches two, Ishan Ashte one and Yoshi Yeesu two more, while Sahpo, from the slight safety of the stairs, hits with one of two Arrows of Wood which, unfortunately, the pirate shrugs off. Only one pirate manages to land a blow, on Yoshi Yeesu, but his sword is so blunt that it doesn't cause any injury except for a slight bruise to the upper arm. Outside, Tomtare hits his opponent and bashes him back a yard, stunning him slightly. Onuma turns to the pirate captain and, fearing that she cannot survive much longer, casts Stage Flash, hoping to blind him. However, the pirate manages to close his eyes in time, and swipes at Onuma doing 4 damage. Frantically, Onuma sets up to parry his attacks until help comes.

But help is some way from arriving. Tomtare gets his foe to the brink of defeat but can't land the final blow: miss, critical miss, miss - it was easier in the cramped hallway! The others are still busy in the courtyard. Emishi goes through the pirates like a hot tanto through yak butter - literally, scoring a critical hit of 33 damage on a 5-hit-point foe; Ishan Ashte takes down two; Yoshi Yeesu another one; and Sahpo, switching to his tanto having run out of magical power, knifes another. The final pirate is the leader of the dragon-boat contingent, a much tougher target. Emishi, Ishan Ashte and Yoshi Yeesu combine to defeat him, but this takes time, and Onuma does not have time.

One more hit and I'm done for, thinks Onuma.

The pirate captain rolls a critical...

"I have you now!"

"Oh no, I'm dead!"

...miss! The captain misses so badly that he dazes himself, leaving him open to any attack. Onuma seizes her chance.

"Woomph!!" she goes as she casts Breath of Dragon. The pirate captain is engulfed in flame. He suffers some burns, but more importantly, his armour catches light. Onuma steps back from the flames and heals herself with Stage Blood. The pirate drops his sword, which Onuma notices in a distracted way has a jewelled handle, and he beats frantically at his armour. The flames roar and do him 6 damage. He beats even more frantically but the flames will not subside. He suffers 5 more damage. Onuma steps in and helps the process with hits for 8 and 9 damage, while the fire does another 6. Tomtare finally lays out his L2 opponent and turns to help Onuma, just as she lands the final blow. The pirate captain fall, smoking, to the floor. Onuma picks up Hidasue's jewelled sword with quiet satisfaction.

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