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

[Raganui Minamoto]

@ Kyujutsu Competition:

Watching the third arrow sink into the 40 mark for a grand total of 160 points, he turned and bowed again, removing himself from the field.  

[Mongooseh]

"Well said..." Was Kagae's critique obviously not paying much attention as he was still occupied by his dinner.  

[Rain Yupa]

@ Kyujutsu Competition:

After chatting a bit with Kita and laughing, Sosuke would realize he was up. Passing Zanzen, he would smile. "Excellent shots. Me and you all the way to the end, hm?"

Taking up the final position, Sosuke would start the game off right. He would take careful aim, going for a bulls-eye immediately. {2 raises, void for free raise, 14 vs TN 20, miss}

His first shot would go wide, but Sosuke would only smile. Lowering the figurative bar, he would shoot for the inner ring next. {2 raises, 32 vs TN 20}

Pegging that shot, he would only need to repeat it once more. {2 raises, 22 vs TN 20}

A more difficult round, he would end up with two arrows in the inner ring, as he would wipe sweat from his brow. Turning around, he would see Doji Kita had already rejoined the rest of the group. Such a fickle heart...



"Well done, one and all! We are two rounds in, and two archers down! If this trend continues, we will be in for a long competition! There will be a short recess as the staff resets the targets, so please, wait patiently!" Kita would smile cheerfully as she went off to direct the staff.

Short RP'ing recess!  

[Plainsfox]

@ The Kyujutsu Competition

Kojiro moved over to the Phoenix yojimbo and greated him. "Hello, Isawa-san. This has been a most excellent competition thus far, hasn't it?" Kojiro would bow politely.  

[Rain Yupa]

@ Storytelling Competition:

The next one to compete would be the youngest one sitting in the circle. The magistrate-in-trianing, the hunter of wrongdoers, Kitsuki Wazuka. She doesn't declare any raises, and attempts to do her best. {Storytelling of 18}

"Wow, huh? I'm not sure if I can top that. Let's see..." she thought aloud, scratching her cheek awkwardly. "Oh! Sensei Yoriie! That should do... yes! This will be a story of my sensei, Kitsuki Yoriie, from his days as a newly ordained Magistrate in his youth!"

If anyone WANTS to roll Intelligence/Know the School: Dragon Clan (Kitsuki School) OR Intelligence/Lore:Law (Dragon Clan) vs TN 15 to know who Kitsuki Yoriie is, you may do so.

"When Kitsuki Yoriie was a young man, one of his first cases was the solve the Mystery of the Missing Doji. There was this fair Doji woman named Doji Sayuri, daughter of the Governor of Yufuku and Heigen Toshi, the Prosperous Plains City. He was a wealthy and powerful man, and she, his only daughter, was due to inherit his entire estate. That is..." Grinning and leaning forward, she would place one hand on her table, fingers splayed.

"...until the day she disappeared without a trace." Giving a sideways glance to Koan, the resident Doji here, he seemed not to mind as she continued. "Sayuri's father was understandably upset. The city guard, alongside skilled Doji magistrates, began to tear the city apart looking for her. He even hired traveling samurai, offering them a sizable reward for her safe return. But, as you can imagine, things are never that easy."

"But she would not remain missing without word for long. One day, three weeks later, when the Governor's hope was at the verge of breaking, he received a ransom note from the kidnapper, desiring a large sum of koku in exchange for her safe return. Far more than what the Governor had been offering for a reward. He would be able to pay, but not without losing nearly his entire fortune. But all investigations had proven fruitless, so what choice did he have?"

"That is when Kitsuki Yoriie showed up, offering his services. Having been explained the whole situation, he requested to see the ransom note. He managed to piece together three important facts from a mere five minutes of study: The origin of the form of parchment used to write the note, the type and composition of ink used to write the message, and the style of calligraphy used, attributing it to the Mantis clan. At once, he was off to the marketplace, searching until he found the merchants that provided the first two of these things. Piecing together the testimonies of both merchants, he narrowed down the list of possible suspects to a select few, all who have frequented the shop during the past month."

"A few stake-outs later, Kitsuki Yoriie managed to track down a Yoritomo with identical calligraphy, and arrested him immediately. It took little time to break him and seize a confession. He admitted to his entire involvement; however, he would not divulge Doji Sayuri's location, insisting he couldn't tell the magistrates what he did not know."

At this point, a twinkle seemed to form in Wazuka's eyes, as she clenched and lifted her left fist before her proudly. "But my Sensei... er, Kitsuki Yoriie, already had figured it out. The information the kidnapper had concerning the Governor's finances to know just how much to ransom, how to flawlessly abduct Sayuri without notice, combined with the fact that the products for the note were purchased before the kidnapping had taken place..."

Arms out to her sides, her excitement boiling, she explained. "Don't you all see?! It wasn't the Mantis man who orchestrated the kidnapping. It was Doji Sayuri herself! She was trying to extort money from her father, with plans to run off with a suitor afterwards! With Yoriie's keen observation skills, the kidnapper - or should we call him instead, the accomplice - gave the magistrates the contact information to the suitor to find Sayuri. Upon entering his home, Yoriie and the city's magistrates found the missing daughter, and returned her to her father for appropriate punishment!"

Slamming both her hands down on her table, she would wrap up her story with gusto. "AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS HOW JUSTICE IS SERVED!"

Critique with Perception/Storytelling (Oratory) vs TN 18!  

[Rain Yupa]

@ Kyujutsu Break:

Sosuke would turn around and smile joyfully at Kojiro. "Haha, indeed! Please, call me Sosuke. I'm hardly a skilled archer, but I guess I underestimated my abilities. How fare you, Bayushi... Kojiro, was it?" All in all, Sosuke would have a friendly enough demeanor, and didn't seem too bothered by the competition.  

[Plainsfox]

@ Kyujutsu Break

"Indeed it is! Please call me Kojiro. There's nothing like the flight of an arrow, is there? To watch it fly, knowing that it is your strength and your guidance that send the arrow to it's target." Kojiro shrugged. "But enough of that. How goes your contingent? Surely the atmosphere was better than ours last night. One of yours pulled a win from the Go competition, didn't she?"  

[Rain Yupa]

@ Kyujutsu Break:

Sosuke would snort once when Kojiro wound bring up the scores. "Sumi-san mostly keeps to herself. She's not happy unless she has a nose in a book. Ultimately, I think this is a matter of personal scores over clan rankings, so I'm not too worried about how any one 'group' may be doing. The only one I care about how well she does, is Isawa Toyoko. I am but a simple yojimbo."

He would bow his head, as if out of habit, though he seemed terribly amused by this. "If you're in it to bring glory and honor to the Scorpion, do you think you'll take the prize in this competition? Though I'm not in it to win, I won't be defeated easily."  

[Psychofish]

[3k3 Clan Lore: 17 vs TN 15]
[2k2 Storytelling: 7 vs TN 18]

That piqued Denbe's interest; a story about an actual person, and one still alive at that. It meant a chance to see what her perspectives on her sensei were like and hear a bit of his past. Fictional stories were quite a bit of fun, but real tales were very interesting in their own way, and potentially much more useful. Gave one a chance to flex the old brain muscle. He tried to see what he could remember or piece together logically about this man to give the story a bit more context and depth.

He found himself further liking it as it was delivered, nodding and smiling.

"Well delivered. It's good to hear tales about sharp wits, and not only sharp swords."  

[Plainsfox]

@The Kyujutsu break

"Your Sumi sounds like someone I once knew." Kojiro commented. "It may be a matter of individual scores, but each victory affirms the training we received from our respective clans and families. It gives us an example to go by.

Kojiro put his hand to his chin. "As far as whether or not I can win the round goes, I will say who I think the finalists will be. I think they will be yourself, the Asahina, the Matsu, and finally, myself.  

[Agent Sinistra]

@ Taryu-jiai competition:

Rain Yupa

Tamori Makoto's highest rings are Earth and Void. His lowest rings are everything else. His Earth ring is 3.

Declaration

"Unlike your friend Toyoko-san, I do take pride in my emphasis. Throw everything you have against my Earth, and I will repay you in kind, Kyumi-san!"

With scroll in hand, he would summon forth an avatar of earth, though this one was different from Kaori's. His would be made of tiny pebbles and sand, taking a rough humanoid shape as it stood near the center of the ring. Sand would filter off and define it's form, forming a shirtless, well-muscled monk.

{Earth-3 Water-1 Fire-2 Air-2 Void-1; TNtbH=12, 3 wounds/level}

It looks eater to rumble with a 21 initiative!

Declaration
"Then let's begin."

Regardless of what element her opponent had gone with, Kyumi would use an avatar of water. While she had been a little disheartened when she saw that the shugenja who had used water in the first match had lost... Kyumi was confident that if she were to win this duel, she'd do it with water.

With her own scroll, Kyumi began to summon forth her own elemental avatar- an avatar of water. As it began to take form in the circle, it's appearance became clear- Literally. Kyumi's avatar took the form of a translucent bushi; its form was feminine, and resembled that of a Matsu bushi armed with a katana and ready for battle.

(Earth- 2, Water- 3, Fire- 1, Air- 2, Void- 1

Attack roll:3k2, Defense: 1, 2 wounds/level

First 2 are for init; rest are in case of Explosions;

Initiative is 8. )  

[Keith Valken Lionheart]

Seichiro tightened the string of his bow, adjusting the bow to suit his needs then walked to an empty spot, and kneeled down, meditating and thinking of his luck in the kyujutsu competition so far. He won 2 rounds so far, but in the next round, it'll be pushed back 50 feet. The target gets progressively blurrier the farther it is. To Seichiro, this is getting exciting. He never cared much for archery, but now he's getting a rush out of it.  

[Rain Yupa]

@ Taryu-jiai Competition:

Makoto's monk would take a martial stance, and rush forward with a fierce blow, attempting to disrupt the liquid Matsu. It would punch the being in the chest, sending ripples coursing throughout. {28 vs TN 12, hit}

The blow would cause the Matsu avatar to shimmer slightly, but reform thereafter, the blow not sufficient to put it down! {7 damage, and it is Hurt!}

Kitsu Kyumi, time to retaliate! You attack with 5k3+1 (-10), and wound with 3k1+3!  

[Rain Yupa]

@ Kyujutsu Break:

Isawa Sosuke would raise his brow. "I can see the exclusion of the Horiuchi woman and the Matsu, but what of the other Crane, and the Mantis? Both have been performing admirably. How can you be so sure they won't make it?"

It would appear that they were finishing up setting up for the next round, and they would be ready in another minute or two.  

[Plainsfox]

@Kyujutsu Break

"The fortunes seemed to favor the Matsu, I'm not willing to bet against him just yet. The Mantis seems to lack the raw ability of the Kakita or the skill you and I share. As for the Kakita, unless other arrangements are made, will not be able to continue to compete with us. He uses a hankyu. Surely you've noticed how he had to compensate more than we have? His bow doesn't have as much pull as ours do."