Nakatura Valley -- Ninja's Prologue

[mfrench]

The last remaining member of House Ichikawa stood alone in the stony wastes of the Labyrinth of Inaba. This place had been a refuge to him during training, and throughout his secret one-man war against the wily House Shiba and their allies in the mountain town, the cruel House Kaiu. But never before had he truly been so alone, for tonight highly trained Shiba assassins had worked their art and poisoned his mentor, managing to kill him slowly. Still, they had failed at their objective: to sweep the last remains of the hidden Ichikawa from the lands. As the house of his mentor burned down around him on the way out the secret exit, the last scion of the House made an oath that he would back with his life.

The Shiba would only learn of their failure when Sen brought the killing blow down upon them once and for all.

 

[OnlytheStrong]

Sen just sat there, a million thoughts running through his mind. He could still see his master laying there dead. He could still smell the smoke and feel the fire. He could hear the building groan in protest as the flames consumed it. Most importantly, he thought of the ones that had accomplished a task so many others had failed at. House Shiba. They were responsible for so many deaths in his life. Sen vowed to pay them back tenfold.

 

[mfrench]

The reverie of the young man was broken by the sound of voices echoing in the walls of the maze. Thoughts of vengeance came back to the forefront: did the assassins manage to follow him in here? The half moon hung low in the sky, giving night-attuned eyes an abundance of light. No one could hope to take him unaware in this portion of the labyrinth - if there were ghosts and oni lurking in the twisting passages of the maze, they respected his reign here. But from the sounds of it, some intruders were entering his territory.

 

[OnlytheStrong]

Sen listens carefully to the noises, trying to decide exactly what direction they are coming from.


ooc: Are the walls stone? If so, I'd like for him to climb one.

**edited to include rolls*

http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1428908

Listen=28
Climb=22

 

[mfrench]

The walls are tall, usually in the 15'-25' range in this part of the labyrinth. One of the features that makes this place unique and unsettling is that the walls appear to be a seamless piece of dark obsidian. There are no visible joints in anyplace that you've explored. It also goes inderground at some points. The final thing restricting visability is the mist the seems to perpetually coat the ground here (rumored to be the breath of a giant, terrible oni that dwells in the heart of the structure), making footing uncertain for those unfamiliar with the place.

Sen is familiar enough with the place to sort out two voices amongst the echoes, and to venture a good guess at the origin. A couple of turns away in the maze is a larger open area, raised up in the center, with multiple exit passages. It has a fire pit there in a circle of sitting stones, as it is a prime spot to rest out of the reach of the mist.

OOC: Do you still want to climb? It might not be worth it in your experience, but you certainly can if you want to.

 

[OnlytheStrong]

Sen looks around at the opening he is in. He figures he has 3 choices and really wasn't fond of any of them. He could leave multiple trails and see if they were actually trying to follow him, hide and prepare for a fight, or flee the maze altogether. He stares at the maze and tries to hurry and make the best decision.



ooc: Nah, I figure trying to climb that wall is not worth it yet. I am going to try to get Sen to a place that favors him more. He's not fond of being on a level playing field as them right now.

 

[mfrench]

Sen listens as best he can, and manages to make out some of the conversation: ". . . happenin' with that fire, Rat? I'm to freeze my . . ."

And then another garbled exchange, a loud shout, "Come off it, Rat! You think you hear something every minute, ever since we got in this place." The gruff voice resumes its normal volume: "Ain't none here but us, leastwise no one I'd look twice at. Nothin' but beggars and skulks more timid than you, if those such haven't died out of fright.

"Just get that lit so as I can sort out this loot."

Sen suspects that he could manuever around to one of the entrances to that area without their detection. Even if they do give chase, it would be tough to track him through the passages that he knows so well.

 

[OnlytheStrong]

Sen hears the magic word "loot." "That loot had better not be from my fallen House." Sen weaves his way through the maze, attempting to locate the duo without being seen or heard.


ooc: feel free to roll for me if a roll is needed.

 

[mfrench]

Sen creeps to the corner of a passage and peers out to view a pair of thugs on the raised area of land some dozens of feet away. The shorter one, presumably Rat, is fumbling about at the firepit, while the bigger and fatter one rummages through the contents of a sack, seated on a rock on the edge of the circle. It isn't obvious whether or not they're armed, though they definitely don't wear any armor.

 

[OnlytheStrong]

Sen sits in the darkness, watching and listening. He had learned long ago that observing a target can mean the difference between a kill or your death.