Jade Legacy [L5R 3eR] - Act 2 Chapter 1: Daiippo/First Step

[Rain Yupa]

GM's notes:
Kojiro: -1k0 earth/water.
Denbe: -1k0 earth/void.
Kagae: None
Seichiro: -1k0 earth/void.
Zanzen: -1k0 earth/water.
Kyumi: -1k0 fire/void.
Hisashi:None
Miyako: None
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@ Jade Majority:

Kojiro and Zanzen would depart to go find Miyako, while Denbe leads the excursion to go find Kagae. Luckily, samurai in heavy armor do tend to weigh a bit, and there seemed to be a nice trail leading into the woodline. Hisashi, if you go with Denbe, give me a stealth check!

Denbe seems to slip through the branches and bushes with relative ease, making extremely little sound as he advances into the darkness...

Denbe, what are your plans? Following the trail directly to its source?

--------------------

@ Miyako & Iwao:

Bowing his head, Iwao would pick up and restore his daisho to his side. "Trust me. If I was the type to strike unarmed people down to serve my own ends, this mess with the bandits would have been resolved a long time ago. I do not like killing, and have gone to great lengths to prevent myself from doing so."

He nodded at Miyako, nodding his head as she explained. "I am unfamiliar with such a person, but I've mostly spent time with the Yasuki and Hiruma. But if it's a mission from the Kuni, I highly doubt it involves anything in a small, out of the wa... hold up," he said suddenly, gesturing with his left arm out to his side, indicating Miyako get back.

His right hand would slowly go towards his katana, and in his voice as Bayushi Sanzo, would call out, "Identify yourself."

--------------------

@ Kagae and the bandits:

Kagae would awake, unarmed, unarmored and tied up, and with a pounding headache. Ginko would be kneeling nearby, a damp cloth in her hands, and a bucket next to her. She was currently turned away from him though, towards an individual in dark clothes, arms crossed over his chest. Kagae couldn't make out his face from this angle, due to the lighting of being outside at night, and because Ginko was partly blocking his view.

"Tenshin hit him pretty hard. I don't think he'll be coming around anytime soon," she would say to the person.

"Stop fussing over him. He's alive, and that won't be changing anytime soon. We'll see how Sanzo handles a hostage negotiation. If he's really who he says he is, the life of a Crab samurai will mean nothing to him. If he's not, then we attack and kill them all."

The figure would turn and walk away, as Ginko lowered her head.  

[Mongooseh]

@COME AT ME BRO!:

(3k3 +2 dice in case of splodeys vs tn 25 Result: 7 )

Kagae tries to struggle to his feet due to the weird way his legs are tied up but looses balance as he tries to swing one his feet round to stabilise. As all things do he falls to the floor with a audible 'oomf'.

"I'll kill you for this!"  

[Rain Yupa]

As Kagae suddenly begins to thrash around to get to his feet, Ginko panics. She quickly tackles him to the ground, pinning him down. "Good news, boss. He's come around."

"Hmph. Crabs. Hit him over the head again if he gets uppity; otherwise, just gag him so I don't have to listen to his whiny voice. I don't want him giving away our location. If he proves too much to handle, kill him."

Kagae hears a tearing of fabric, and another pair of footprints coming from the opposite direction.  

[Mongooseh]

@Like a crab:

(3k3 agi to bite Gink tn 16 result: 17 )

"NO QUARTER!"

Kagae would rear his head back, loosen his jaw, throw his head forward and sinking his teeth into Ginko's arm.  

[Mongooseh]

(damage 2k1 Result: 8 )  

[Psychofish]

Denbe had a plan- and mostly, he was scouting things out. He wanted to find out where Kagae had been taken to, but if the Crab had been beaten or cut down and dragged away, he didn't want to stumble blindly into those dangers. So if Denbe caught sight of any signs of life (natural forest life aside) he was going to want to stop and take a good look before following the trail anywhere that could expose him.

If it was too dangerous to try and pull Kagae out solo, he'd rather come back with help than become another body.  

[Plainsfox]

@Back in Town

Kojiro would call out to the voice of the other bushi. "Me and one other, Cousin." the Scorpion bushi nearly stumbled over the word. He was suspicious of the man, still. "The others are searching for Hideyoshi-san. You will forgive me if I ask you a question? " The scorpion paused as he framed it in his head. It was an easy way to determine Miya's condition. It would have to be a fairly intimate question though...and then it struck him. The biwa that his grandmother gave Miya when she learned that Kojiro was engaged to the girl. "Yasuki Minako gave Shosuro-san a gift. What was it? Shosuro-san should more than happy to give you the answer."  

[Tei Kae]

As she heard Kojiro's statement through the door, she couldn't help but smile. It seemed the Bayushi could be taught. If if the going was slow. She glanced at the 'Crab' and debated. She could make his life much more difficult, but she'd found she was actually fond of him or at least what she'd seen so far. She'd play it out.

"Yasuki Minako gave me biwa as a gift when she found I had a talent for it. If you give him that answer, he should be satisfied." She offered quietly, letting him take the lead should he so wish.  

[Sutiiven]

Agility/Stealth - 2k2 (No Explosions) to follow behind Denbe cautiously as support.

Total: 11  

[Rain Yupa]

GM's notes:
Kojiro: -1k0 earth/water.
Denbe: -1k0 earth/void.
Kagae: None
Seichiro: -1k0 earth/void.
Zanzen: -1k0 earth/water.
Kyumi: -1k0 fire/void.
Hisashi:None
Miyako: None
--------------------

@ Kagae and the bandits:

Ginko - 8 damage, grazed

"OW!" she would cry out, looking down at her arm. "You... you bit me! You bit me, you b*****d!" Ginko stumble-crawled back away from Kagae's head.

"That's my sister, you a*****e!" a male voice would suddenly say aloud, kicking Kagae in the side. Kagae would feel Ginko begin wailing into him as well. For the most part, he would be helpless to prevent the beating he would receive.

Kagae continues to receive Jiujutsu damage until he is Down, and then is promptly gagged, since he has no void to spend to resist it.

"Let me see that wound," the man would say as Ginko backed up a few paces, breathing heavily. Kagae would see him step over his body, the man with short cropped red hair trying to crouch down in front of her.

Pushing him away, Ginko scowled at him. "Leave me alone! Just... leave me alone, okay?" she would say, before storming off.

The man would grumble under his breath as Ginko disappeared into some bushes, before turning and walking next to a beaten Kagae. He would draw his machete with his right hand, and Kagae would feel the man grabbing for his fingers with his left.

"No quarter, as you put it. I'm sure they don't need you intact to trade you."

--------------------

@ Recovery Squad:

It wouldn't take much effort for Denbe to follow the path that they had dragged the heavily armored Kagae. It was not a straight line, as they veered off in a different direction once they got a little ways in to the woodline.

Hisashi would be following a bit behind, presumably with his bow still drawn?

A few minutes in, off in the distance, a sound of a scuffle would be able to be heard. Well, not so much a scuffle as a beating. What do you do? It's in the general direction the path has been leading, so Denbe hears it first, of course.

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@ Back in town:

Iwao would give a look to Miyako, the facial movements of raising an eyebrow would be seen through the eye socket of his mask. "Ah, brother! Our sister tells us of the biwa that she had received as a gift. Though I find your suspicions quite insulting. Do you not trust me to keep my word, as a fellow Scorpion? We are kinsmen, after all."

Not wasting time, Iwao, as Bayushi Sanzo, would slide open the door, revealing no deception to his claims.

Except the... well, you know.

Kojiro! Zanzen! If you enter, please give me TN 15 Perception/Investigation (Notice) checks!

"Searching, brother?" Turning to Zanzen, the man would smile and nod. "Bayushi Sanzo. Charmed."  

[Plainsfox]

@The Village

"Forgive me, Sanzo-san. I intend no disrespect. I fear I have succumbed to one too many ghost stories about the Crab lands. Again, forgive me." Kojiro said as he bowed deeply. "I am Bayushi Kojiro and this is one of our troops."

OOC:
First 3k2 Perception/Investigation (Notice) Check. No explosions
Results: 19
Second 5k3 w/3 to handle explosions
Awareness/etiquette roll to handle his apology.
1 raise called to make it seem as genuine as possible.
Results: 23  

[Psychofish]

Denbe would pause, frowning, and sink to the ground as though he was expecting someone to walk by any moment. After waiting and listening to that sound for a moment, it seemed almost certain it was no wildlife.

Turning back to where the Mantis was quietly following him at a short distance, the Hare waved him forward, letting him get close enough to hear the sound as well. Continuing to keep low and move quietly, the Hare would try and get to a place where he could see what was going on.

[1 Raise to not be spotted while peeking out.]
[4k2-5 Perception/Investigate: 10 to see what the noise is.]  

[Rain Yupa]

As Denbe listened, he would hear a voice not too far off say, "No quarter, as you put it. I'm sure they don't need you intact to trade you."

Denbe, you work your way closer to see what's going on, and see Kagae, tied up and unarmored, face down in the ground. A guy seems to be about to take a machete to his hand, when he turns his head suddenly.

"What are you doing, Tenshin? You're supposed to be patrolling this area, in case any of this Crab's allies come looking for him." He doesn't bring down the crude blade to Kagae's fingers YET, instead looking directly at Denbe.  

[Sutiiven]

Rain Yupa

"What are you doing, Tenshin? You're supposed to be patrolling this area, in case any of this Crab's allies come looking for him." He doesn't bring down the crude blade to Kagae's fingers YET, instead looking directly at Denbe.

Still attempting to stay hidden, Hisashi would watch the scene before him, bow drawn and ready in case things got nasty. He would not approach unless Denbe called for him or he was visibly in need of support.

Which, depending on how Denbe handled his being mistaken by the bandits as someone else, would presumably require assistance sooner rather than later.  

[Psychofish]

For a moment, Denbe considered trying to trick the bandit and get away clean. It probably wouldn't have been hard at all for him and the Mantis Courtier to get away safely and report on this. And had there been a lot of bandits sitting out there, or had Kagae looked safe for the moment, he probably would have.

But not only did it look like a lone ruffian was about to kill the Crab, but the Hare also recalled at about that time that he was a rather terrible liar.

"Cover me-"

Rather than try and make a likely excuse, the Denbe ripped his katana from it's scabbard and burst from his cover, practically flying down the hill toward the bandit threatening Kagae, and making a fearsome shout as he sprung into the air, striking at the man as he passed him.

[Full Attack Stance: Leap of the Hare]
[2 Free Raises to damage, 1 Raise to Damage]
[6k4+3 Agility/Kenjutsu(Striking): 46 vs TN ??+5]