Jade Legacy [L5R 3eR] - Act 1: Atsumari/Gathering

[Sutiiven]

Exploding Die  

[Sutiiven]

[First shot: 13+7+8 = 28
2 Raises - Met
Hit: Inner White Ring - 60 Points]

The first arrow would land definitively in the 60 point ring. It wasn't terribly flashy, but it would do the trick.

Hisashi would take aim again, this time being a little more careful - he just needed to make 40 in order to make the point requirement, so there was need to overdo himself yet. He would nock another arrow, carefully aim, and fire.

[Total Score: 60]

(Kyujutsu Check 5k3 vs TN 10, 1 Raise)  

[Sutiiven]

[Second Shot: 5+2+2 = 9
1 Raise - Failed by 1
Hit: Outer Ring - 20 Points]

The second arrow would not land quite as definitely - only 20 points.

Hisashi wasn't going to let that shake him - he just had to hit the target once more in order to keep in the match. The final arrow was nocked, and aim was taken again. After a moment of quiet focus, the weapon would be fired once more.

[Total Score: 80]

(Kyujutsu Check 5k3 vs TN 5)  

[Sutiiven]

[Final Shot: 9+9+4 = 22
No Raises
Hit: Outer Ring - 20 Points]

The final shot would land in the 20 point ring near the preceding one. His score would just meet the requirements.

Letting loose a sigh of relief, he would back away from the target and allow the next competitor to take their turn. It wasn't the greatest shooting Rokugan had ever seen, but it was acceptable for the first round.

[Total Score: 100]  

[Rain Yupa]

@ Kyujutsu Competition:

Hisashi would fire off his three shots, and after being totalled up, found that he had passed the first round! Relieved, he would vacate his lane.

... and there would be no one to immediate replace him in the next one. Most of the samurai would look to one another, unsure who should step up next.

"Come on, Sayoko-san. We're waiting for you!" Kita would call out, waving to the girl that had been standing some distance off. With everyone turning their heads, the woman would apparently reluctantly begin her approach. As she neared, her clan colors became more apparent, and outside of her armor, people finally got to see the real Horiuchi Sayoko.

Her eyes were somewhat sunken in and darkened, and her hair was a tangled, unruly mess. One of her eyes had a massive scar across it, leaving the eyeball a blank white orb. Her lips were twisted into what appeared to be a permanent snarl as she made her way straight for the crowd.

Most, if not all, of the other samurai would vacate her path, giving her plenty of space as she stepped up to the proverbial plate. She didn't seem to take very careful aim as her hands were somewhat shaky and her breathing was too heavy. Still, she managed to get her first and second shots into the middle ring, and finished off with a more relaxed shot into the outer ring, qualifying her for the second round.

Without waiting for the score to be tallied, she would turn and leave back to where she started from, the crowd in silence. It would be Doji Kita who broke the silence first with a round of applause - one that wasn't shared by anyone else (unless one of the PCs declares otherwise).

Mirumoto Sozen would be the next one to step up, and quiet chatter would start up once more. Grinning to Kakita Zanzen, he would lift up his bow. "I'd like to see you top this, Crane." Going for a bulls-eye from the get-go, he would score the very first miss as the arrow went sailing off to reaches unknown. {8 vs TN 20}

Laughter would follow that first shot, as he scratched at his cheek sheepishly. "That one was just practice," he told Zanzen, before taking aim once more. {16 vs TN 20}

Louder laughter would sound as a result of this shot. He would once more look over at Zanzen. "New bow, haven't tried it out yet. You know how it goes. Looks like I have to make this last one count!" Spending a Void, he would once again STILL spectacularly fail {5k4 result of 14 vs TN 20}.

Without scoring a single point, Sozen would be laughed off, though he seemed to take it in stride. Walking up to Zanzen, he would clap a hand on the samurai's shoulder. "You score a single point after that, and I'll have to cut you down," he warned him, chuckling.

Shosuro Naizen would be up next, approaching the next lane without a word. He would take a lot of time aiming his shots, obviously unpracticed with a bow. He managed to hit his mark each time, though his marks were not extraordinary; he scored the central two rings twice, and the outer ring once, allowing him to pass the first round.

Following one Scorpion would come another! Bayushi Kojiro, you're up!  

[Plainsfox]

Kojiro focused himself and aimed his bow at the target, trying to sense the target's chi as the scorpion regulated his breathing. When the moment was right, Kojiro let his arrow fly straight at the target's center.

OOC: TN 15 (BTN 5+3 raises (15) -5 (For mastery)
Result: 23

Score: 100  

[Plainsfox]

Kojiro would let loose a Kiai shout as he followed through with a second shot!

OOC Aiming at the bull'seye again. Same TN.
Result: 25
Score: 200  

[Plainsfox]

Flowing with the moment, Kojiro drew his final arrow and then sent it after the other two, again aiming it straight at the center of the target. Instead of joining its brethren at the center of the target, the arrow would be lodged just below them in the 40 pt bracket.

OOC: Same three raises, same TN.
Result: 18
Score: 240  

[Sutiiven]

Rain Yupa

Without waiting for the score to be tallied, she would turn and leave back to where she started from, the crowd in silence. It would be Doji Kita who broke the silence first with a round of applause - one that wasn't shared by anyone else (unless one of the PCs declares otherwise).

Hisashi would raise an eyebrow at everyone's reaction to the battle scarred woman. He would begin to clap along with Kita out of respect, but since he hadn't heard much about the events from the Bushi Duels the day before (his Yoritomo brethren hadn't cared to discuss his defeat at her hands the night before) he was extremely out of the loop.

Either way, he figured it would be best to be extra polite if the magistrate deemed it necessary - no sense in risking a faux pas.

Or pissing off the Bushi that intimidated the rest of the participants, for that matter.  

[Psychofish]

[Spending a void to 1k1 extra. Then editing in new length and story.]

"Well," Denbe put, shifting uncertainly after the last story and looking around. He wasn't going to talk about himself following that up. Or if he was ready to eat any of the food until he had a chance to ask what it was made with. So instead, he helped himself to a peach, and decided he'd go ahead and try to improvise something he could relate to a bit.

"There was once an exceptionally proud hare. Not myself. I'm sure you can tell," Denbe smiled and gestured humbly to the bandaged shoulder that had made him think better of entering the archery competition. "The long eared and small tailed sort. He had a talent, envied by all the other hares. He was born the swiftest of foot, and always managed to find a twist or turn when he needed an escape. This fortunate soul never worried about straying too far from his hole. All the other hares were afraid to travel too far from their safety for fear of sharp toothed things. Every day he'd play in the sunniest spots, and eat the sweetest grass, and always escape the foxes."

Not exactly complimentary to his clan, but he could afford to humor them a bit at his pride's expense. Not like he had too much of it at the moment.

"One day the hare's luck ran out. A sly old fox chased him down, and after this hare slipped away he searched all over until he found his hole. Then, he hid himself and waited for the hare to come out. Come morning, he left his burrow without a fear in the world. The fox struck, and lickity split the hair jumped back in his hole. But not before the fox snapped his teeth."

He made a sharp motion of his knife, violently dicing off a bit of the peach, and raising it to his mouth.

"And took his foot."

He chewed on that for a moment to let himself think.

"So he hid in his burrow. This hare now had just lost one of his lucky feet. He was the slowest of them all. And so he hid in his hole, and only peeked out his back door to nibble the thistle and dank grass about it. He limped everywhere he went, and saw all the other rabbits, scared as they were, go so much further than him. So he asked the young hares "how do you know you will be fast enough?" And they told him "we practice each day. We learn from the older ones how to run, and we run and run until we are swift." He asked the small hares "How do you know you will escape?" They said "we find all the hidden paths and see where we can fit and they can not." He asked the big ones and they told him "We make our kick strong, so we can knock them away if they catch us." He asked the old ones how they lived so long and they told him "Each day we run, and we kick, and we learn, and we practice and work even while they sleep, until they cannot catch us anymore.'"

"And so he learned to run with only one foot, and ate only thorns until he learned every secret path in the forest, and kicked the trees until he could knock their leaves free, and worked each day from before the sun rose until after it fell. He worked and worked and thought each day. Until he was quick again. Knew every turn. And was strong as could be. And each day he thought about what he was learning."

"And so the next time he left the front of his burrow, and that fox came to finish him, he ran and he ran and kept just beyond its teeth. He led it through every twisting turn of the forest until it was lost. And then he led it to a great hole, and with all his might, kicked it into the bear's den. And never again did that fox chase him, and once more he could eat the sweetest of the grass."

Denbe shrugged his aching shoulder a few times, and then took another bite of the peach, savoring the juices. And imagining one day his philosophy would truly bear those sorts of fruits.

"So, tell me, would you rather me lucky, or good?"

Or clever and diligent.  

[Rain Yupa]

@ Kyujutsu Duel:

Mostly everyone in the archery competition would manage to succeed in hitting their respected targets. Then Bayushi Kojiro would step up, and hit three bulls-eyes in a row.

He would receive a round of applause from all the samurai there, though Sozen would lean in close to Zanzen, whispering to him, "Tch. Show-off."

Though when he walked away, Kita would be there to greet him. The first thing she would do is lift her bow so the end of it was pressing against the underside of the taller Scorpion's chin. "Why, if I recall correctly, you're married, Kojiro-san. So stop trying to win my heart with bravados like that, or I'll have to make you pay." However, despite this threat, she was smiling and staring him straight in the eyes. {Kojiro is the victim of an Etiquette (Sincerity) roll of 30, disguised as a Deceit (Seduction) check, disguised as a Deceit (Intimidation) check}.

Pulling her bow away, she would look over to the remaining Crane. "Kakita Zanzen, you're up!"  

[Plainsfox]

@ Kyujutsu Duel:

Kojiro would come out of the near trance like state he was in to Lady Kita's words. "But I just shotlike my sensei...." The Bushi's face had turned beet red and decided that the best course of action would be to bow to Lady Kita and then step back towards Naizen. After everyone had turned their attention to the other Crane, Kojiro would talk to his fellow clanmate "I was ...amm...too absorbed in making my shots. How many others made it?  

[Rain Yupa]

@ Kyujutsu Duel:

Naizen would shake his head, sighing. "Focus, Kojiro." Nodding his head to the Dragon, he would respond quieter, "All but him, so far." He would look around before signaling his counterpart closer for more secrets.

"It'll be up to you. I had to use everything I had to make those shots, but without time to meditate and regain my focus, I won't be able to clear the next round."  

[Plainsfox]

@The Kyujutsu duel

Kojiro nodded. The next round looked like it would weed out many of the nearly didn'ts in this round. He would have to think about his shots.  

[Plainsfox]

@Taryu-jiai Duels

Kojiro cheered enthusiastically for Soshi Maru's victory. It was good to see Maru get off to a good start. It was even better to see the other shugenja in action. He did not know any of them and this was his first exposure.

The Shinjo fell quickly to the Scorpion tactic of striking first, striking last, but refused to be baited by Maru after the match was over. The next match brought forth a familiar face (at least after he saw that she lacked the make up she usually wore.) in Kuni Kaori.

Kaori's opponent reminded Kojiro somewhat of Koyuki. The girl appeared for all the world like the typical daughter of many noble lines and would probably seemed to be more at home discussing available marriage partners than a shugenja duel. However, during the Phoenix's duel, Kojiro thought he saw a spark not unlike the spark Koyuki sometimes had when slicing into an opponent in the battle ground known as a Scorpion dinner party. The Scorpion felt bad for Kaori. She would have to deal with the formidable Kuni that had incapacitated Naizen, but the right Shugenja won the duel.

The next two duelists were the Kitsu shugenja that had introduced herself so brightly yesterday and a Dragon shugenja that sported multiple tattoos. Kojiro wondered if the Kitsu had the same spark inside her that the Isawa before her seemed to have. As far as the Tamori went, the Bayushi decided he did not like the man. He seemed to take this both too seriously and not seriously enough at the same time. Dragons loved to appear as enigmas and this one had just managed to do that.