Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Black Omega" data-source="post: 1215500" data-attributes="member: 79">“So, you got my message?”  Toshiro bluffed, arms crossed as she looked to Nihao and Kaz calmly.Shinjo Nihao looked over the criminals in the den then to Toshiro and Kaz “I’ll clean up here.  Kaz, I’m assuming you would prefer to take Toshiro back to headquarters to get his statement?”Kaz was perfectly agreeable to this and Toshiro was taken back, relating the story of how Mindra came to him with news of that plot.  Then the two went quickly back to the Bansho Kishu estates to track down Mindra.  Just as well.  Toshiro had mentioned the monkey led him into a trap.  If Mindra had been in the city and met one of Toshiro’s loyal guards, the guard might have taken it upon himself to avenge his master’s honor.Toshiro had believed the incident was a joke by Mindra, right up to the point where he confronted the Vanara and saw the complete shock in the monkey’s face.  It wasn’t Mindra who had set the trap.  But then…whom?  Someone trying to discredit Toshiro, certainly.  Rumors started to curculate about a tea house full of people who were massacred to protect Toshiro’s pursuit of dubious pleasures.  The exact details were not known, all the witnesses were dead.  But it must have been pretty bad for so many people to be killed.  On the plus side, Toshiro found himself treated with greater and greater deference by the commoners in his area, clearly they were afraid of his wrath.Between that, the ambush on the way to the duel, and the shadowing of Mindra by thugs, the group decided it was time to get some answers.  Volar could not cast divination spells, it was a school he could not learn.  But Mindra and Mir certainly could.  Summoning the group to her grove on the Bansho Kishu estates, they worked on questions, then she cast a Commune.  The questions began with the ambush on the way to the duel.  Was it Stavros or anyone from Kuzo?  No.  Scorpions?  No.  The plot against Toshiro was confirmed as a Scorpion trick.  Perhaps the most surprising was that none of this was being done by the bandits of Kuzo.  The group knew they were hated by the Sons of Rodrigo.  But the answer to how to find who was attacking Mindra was to go to the Dead Rat.  And to find out who had been behind the ambush?Seek your old friendThe frightened ratHe lies to the northFleeing the catsThis gave the group ideas.  But a sending to Nezu got no answer.  And a scrying was blocked.  Which wasn’t reassuring.  They knew Nezu had sent a letter saying he was leaving to find out what happened to his old village.  But nothing beyond that.  Basic searches in Unicorn lands revealed no news of Nezu.Hawk was in favor of asking Shinjo Nihao over to dinner and asking some pointed questions.  But the group wasn’t ready to go that far.In Ryoko Owari rumors were flying about Toshiro, the great hero of Bansho Kishu.  About how he had taught Verick how to win the duel against the Phoenix.  And Toshiro’s affair with Mir.  While Mir was amused over her side of the rumor,  Verick seethed.  But quietly.  He would prove himself.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Bansho Kishu estates soon had a surprising visitor.  Akodo Jusho stopped by to meet with Toshiro.  Despite the harshness of their previous meeting, this time Jusho brought words of encouragement.  “I’ve heard the rumors about you, Toshiro.  In 15 years as a Emerald Magistrate I’ve heard plenty of rumors.  When criminals and the Scorpion can’t defeat someone with swords, they do so with lies.  My advise is to stand firm.  This is the sort of challenge any honorable man faces at some time in their life.  Don’t let it eat at you or you might become the sort of man the rumors make you out to be.”  The Lion and the Crab weren’t friends, but for once there was some understanding between them.Mindra was summoned to meet with Lord Jyaku.  He’s had word the Vanara had made contact with the Centaur Nation.  Since Jyaku vassal merchants were working on a deal to bring over a shipment of jade to Ryoko Owari, he was a little surprised and concerned with this.  As was Mindra, he had no idea what Vanara was doing this, but he didn’t think it was his tribe.Volar wanted to deal with the people behind the ambush first, he strongly suspected the Red Wizards now.  But the attack on Mindra was closer to home.  And probably more easily dealt with than the plot against Toshiro.  So Bansho Kishu traveled to the Dead Rat to gather information.  There they were met by a broad shouldered man, his face covered in scars.  The man introduced himself as Otsuka the Butcher, the man in charge of food and drink at the Dead Rat.  After a brief meeting in which gold passed from Bansho Kishu to the Butcher it was revealed the Black Snake gang was responsible for the attack on Mindra.  They were one of the gangs in an area called the Crab Caves.  An area built by the Kaui engineers when the Crab Clan captured Ryoko Owari centuries before.  It was a twisting area of strongly built brick and stone buildings and narrow allies.  Easily defensable.It was night by the time Bansho Kishu went into the area and found just how unpleasant this slum was.  Only 30 feet down the alley they were attacked by arrows from ahead and above.  Verick and Mir went up top to deal with the archers as Kaz charged forward, following the archers into a side room.  The door closed behind Kaz and he was immediately assaulted by five men, shirtless tos how off their tattoos, their only armor was forearm bracers, their weapons were fists and feet.  But they fought well.  Volar opened the door with a spell and Toshiro charged in to help his friend.  But the leader of the men immediately  slammed a fist between Toshiro’s eyes, stunning him, leaving him vulnerable to the following kicks and punches that left the burly crab reeling.  Mindra was simply standing back on watch.  His keen monkey eyes spotted someone peeking around the corner, watching the fight.  Acting quickly, he cast an Ancestral Vengeance, striking down the 13 year old boy who had been watching the fight.  The other gang members were killed relatively easily, but the man who had stunned Toshiro was able to escape, a swift leap grabbing the doorframe, then a kick off Toshiro’s body sending him swinging around the corner and out of the room where he expertly disappeared into the dark. Toshiro, Kaz and Mindra tried to chase but settled for kicking in the first door they came to.  From the bedroom to the side a burly man covered in tattoos came into view, pants hastily pulled on, two kama held before him as he growled “Who the hell are you?”  Behind him, a woman pulled up the covers on their futon, watching warily.“We’re looking for Black Snakes.”  Toshiro said, his bloody katana held at ready.The man shook his head and gestures with one kama “Down the alley, it curves to the left.  Watch for the triple snake markings on the walls.”To the man’s surprise, the two samurai and the Vanara simply left.  Toshiro pausing only to prop up the door that had been kicked in.Verick and Mir had met with the leader of the Tonpachi Arrows, another of the gangs, and found a guide to lead them to the Black Snakes.</blockquote>

Verification