Black Omega
First Post
“What?! But she was at the temple!” Toshiro managed to stammer out.
Shinjo Yuji nods, looking grim “Yes. Several monks and a shugenja were killed. Someone on the inside helped someone in past the defenses. The only survivor said they never saw who it was, the attacker was invisible when he was struck. O-Hisa had been given something to help her sleep. So, of course, she was in no shape to resist. A headcount at the temple has turned up one other person unaccounted for. Nagatori.”
Iuchi Nagatori. Mindra’s scholarly source and Mir’s date of a couple nights ago. If he was involved, it certainly explained his intense interest in Mir’s background.
The group was ready to rush out and track Nagatori and O-Hisa down, and Shinjo Yuji was already preparing for that. ‘I’ve got forces assembling now, ready to go to the four groves Fubuki-tai had as backups. There’s no doubt there was a connection between Fubuki-tai and Nagatori, they must have smuggled O-Hisa out of the city! I’ll be leading the group going to the south personally.”
This gave the group pause and warily Verick asked, “How many samurai will be left back guarding Bugaisha?”
“Not many, but we’ll be spreading out in all directions. No one will be able to attack the city without meeting one of your patrols.” Yuji assured.
“I think we’d better follow our own leads on this, sir.” Toshiro decided ‘It sounds like Bugaisha would be vulnerable to an attack from within. It sounds like anything happening outside the city you’ll be able to handle without us.”
A fact everyone agreed with after Yuji left. Everyone in the group agreed they had a bad feeling about to many samurai being sent out to look for O-Hisa. The group even assembled the Coins of the Seven Fortunes, identified not long ago as useful for casting an augury. The question was simple “If we remain in Bugaisha do we have a better chance of finding the Unicorn samurai named O-Hisa?”
Mir was left to invoke the magic of the coins and the answer was unequivocal ‘Weal’. Good fortune in their cause. That settled it.
But where to start? The Glorious Jade teahouse seemed promising. As quiet as the Bloodspeakers had been keeping the group had the link between it and Fubuki-tai. And Fubuki-tai had clearly been working for the Bloodspeakers. Kaz knew where the sleazy dive of a teahouse was. So early in the morning it should be closed. An excellent time to pay a visit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The direct approach seemed best, so the group simply walked on up to the teahouse and hammered on the door. An elderly man greeted them but had no time to speak before Toshiro and Kaz pushed him aside “Who else is here?” Toshiro demanded.
“No one, really, sir.” The old man stammered “A party from last night finishing up. But that’s it…”
“Where are they!” Toshiro snarled, backing the old man into a corner.
“At the end of the hallway! But I can’t let you see them, it’s a private party and…and…” the old man shrank back from Toshiro’s glare and the group marched on down the hall.
Yanking open the door, the group found several warriors in dark blue armor with the white snowflake emblem, as well as the white haired spell caster from earlier. The battle that followed was short and to the point, Verick recklessly charging forward and getting fairly cut up while distracting attention from the others. The white haired shugenja unleashed a fierce gale of wind down the hallway the group was in, blinding Toshiro and Kaz. But that only delayed the inevitable and the group managed to capture the white haired girl while killing the others. The old man was captured as well, having been blinded by the wind attack while trying to sneak up on Volar, knife in hand.
Both he and the white haired girl were bound tighter, the girl gagged to make sure she could not cast any spells. The old man cracked under the proper spells and interrogation and admitted Nagatori had made arrangements with him earlier for that room to be kept for his use and for Fubuki-tai. Nagatori would go in there for hours at a time, the old man never peeked, he has no idea what the shugenja was doing there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That gave Verick an idea, though, and he rushed back into the room. Pulling up the mats from the floor he started going it over, inch by inch. “Here’s the secret door!”
This got Yukiyo’s attention and between her and Verick they unlocked the door, finding a stone stairway leading down into the earth. Yukiyo took the lead, creeping down slowly. The walls were lined with crude carvings of what could only be Oni, nothing else could be so twisted.
Halfway down Yukiyo found something wrong with the stairs. The steps were carved perfectly out of stone but there was a tiny seam between the steps and the wall. Carefully, Yukiyo worked along the edge of the trap, finding the catch and disarming it.
Once the trap was fixed the group pressed on, following the hallway around a corner, finding a slate gray stone door. Through the gaps around the door they could make out firelight. And a strong voice.
“Are you ready to rise up and overthrow the samurai! They are willing to die to keep you down. Are you willing to give your lives to bring them down?”
“YES!”
“Are you ready to offer your blood to free you of the Shinjo once and for all!”
‘YES!”
The man’s voice rising and falling with his oratory and the thunder of many voices in reply. The samurai readied their weapons, Yukiyo got a arrow ready. And with a sudden pull they yanked open the door. They had a brief view of a number of cultists standing before an altar, Nagatori standing beside it, a obsidian, curves dagger in his hand. O-Hisa in a sheer kimono lay over the altar. That was all they had time to see before Volar gestured and the room mostly filled with a noxious, stinking cloud that blocked all line of sight. From inside the cloud came the sound of retching and fumbling as the fumes blinded and sickened the cultists. Maybe this would be easier than they had thought…
Shinjo Yuji nods, looking grim “Yes. Several monks and a shugenja were killed. Someone on the inside helped someone in past the defenses. The only survivor said they never saw who it was, the attacker was invisible when he was struck. O-Hisa had been given something to help her sleep. So, of course, she was in no shape to resist. A headcount at the temple has turned up one other person unaccounted for. Nagatori.”
Iuchi Nagatori. Mindra’s scholarly source and Mir’s date of a couple nights ago. If he was involved, it certainly explained his intense interest in Mir’s background.
The group was ready to rush out and track Nagatori and O-Hisa down, and Shinjo Yuji was already preparing for that. ‘I’ve got forces assembling now, ready to go to the four groves Fubuki-tai had as backups. There’s no doubt there was a connection between Fubuki-tai and Nagatori, they must have smuggled O-Hisa out of the city! I’ll be leading the group going to the south personally.”
This gave the group pause and warily Verick asked, “How many samurai will be left back guarding Bugaisha?”
“Not many, but we’ll be spreading out in all directions. No one will be able to attack the city without meeting one of your patrols.” Yuji assured.
“I think we’d better follow our own leads on this, sir.” Toshiro decided ‘It sounds like Bugaisha would be vulnerable to an attack from within. It sounds like anything happening outside the city you’ll be able to handle without us.”
A fact everyone agreed with after Yuji left. Everyone in the group agreed they had a bad feeling about to many samurai being sent out to look for O-Hisa. The group even assembled the Coins of the Seven Fortunes, identified not long ago as useful for casting an augury. The question was simple “If we remain in Bugaisha do we have a better chance of finding the Unicorn samurai named O-Hisa?”
Mir was left to invoke the magic of the coins and the answer was unequivocal ‘Weal’. Good fortune in their cause. That settled it.
But where to start? The Glorious Jade teahouse seemed promising. As quiet as the Bloodspeakers had been keeping the group had the link between it and Fubuki-tai. And Fubuki-tai had clearly been working for the Bloodspeakers. Kaz knew where the sleazy dive of a teahouse was. So early in the morning it should be closed. An excellent time to pay a visit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The direct approach seemed best, so the group simply walked on up to the teahouse and hammered on the door. An elderly man greeted them but had no time to speak before Toshiro and Kaz pushed him aside “Who else is here?” Toshiro demanded.
“No one, really, sir.” The old man stammered “A party from last night finishing up. But that’s it…”
“Where are they!” Toshiro snarled, backing the old man into a corner.
“At the end of the hallway! But I can’t let you see them, it’s a private party and…and…” the old man shrank back from Toshiro’s glare and the group marched on down the hall.
Yanking open the door, the group found several warriors in dark blue armor with the white snowflake emblem, as well as the white haired spell caster from earlier. The battle that followed was short and to the point, Verick recklessly charging forward and getting fairly cut up while distracting attention from the others. The white haired shugenja unleashed a fierce gale of wind down the hallway the group was in, blinding Toshiro and Kaz. But that only delayed the inevitable and the group managed to capture the white haired girl while killing the others. The old man was captured as well, having been blinded by the wind attack while trying to sneak up on Volar, knife in hand.
Both he and the white haired girl were bound tighter, the girl gagged to make sure she could not cast any spells. The old man cracked under the proper spells and interrogation and admitted Nagatori had made arrangements with him earlier for that room to be kept for his use and for Fubuki-tai. Nagatori would go in there for hours at a time, the old man never peeked, he has no idea what the shugenja was doing there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That gave Verick an idea, though, and he rushed back into the room. Pulling up the mats from the floor he started going it over, inch by inch. “Here’s the secret door!”
This got Yukiyo’s attention and between her and Verick they unlocked the door, finding a stone stairway leading down into the earth. Yukiyo took the lead, creeping down slowly. The walls were lined with crude carvings of what could only be Oni, nothing else could be so twisted.
Halfway down Yukiyo found something wrong with the stairs. The steps were carved perfectly out of stone but there was a tiny seam between the steps and the wall. Carefully, Yukiyo worked along the edge of the trap, finding the catch and disarming it.
Once the trap was fixed the group pressed on, following the hallway around a corner, finding a slate gray stone door. Through the gaps around the door they could make out firelight. And a strong voice.
“Are you ready to rise up and overthrow the samurai! They are willing to die to keep you down. Are you willing to give your lives to bring them down?”
“YES!”
“Are you ready to offer your blood to free you of the Shinjo once and for all!”
‘YES!”
The man’s voice rising and falling with his oratory and the thunder of many voices in reply. The samurai readied their weapons, Yukiyo got a arrow ready. And with a sudden pull they yanked open the door. They had a brief view of a number of cultists standing before an altar, Nagatori standing beside it, a obsidian, curves dagger in his hand. O-Hisa in a sheer kimono lay over the altar. That was all they had time to see before Volar gestured and the room mostly filled with a noxious, stinking cloud that blocked all line of sight. From inside the cloud came the sound of retching and fumbling as the fumes blinded and sickened the cultists. Maybe this would be easier than they had thought…
