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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Black Omega" data-source="post: 1224350" data-attributes="member: 79">In the aftermath of the battle the firemen were finally allowed in to fight the fire raging over the back of Agnar Glitterune’s House of Foreign Mysteries.  In his usual fashion, Volar openly looted the bodies while Mindra and Mir healed up the fighters.  It had been a tough fight but as far as the group was concerned the war was over.  Ok, not quite.  They still felt the need to get Go Go,  even more now that she had set a building on fire in Ryoko Owari.  Just one more law the girl had broken.And the group still had a few things to do.  Mindra bought a new Iron Monkey statue to use as a focus for his Substitution spell.  Kaz checked in with his Thunderguards and found the trouble in the area was growing.  More violence, several bribe attempts reported.  And who knows if there were some never reported…and to add to it all, the local Scorpion merchant wished to meet with him to complain about how his Thunderguards were treating the merchant’s men.And there was another person eager to meet Bansho Kishu.  Ide Masaaki, their old friend from Mimura.  He had compliments for the group on their recent war with the Black Snakes, but really he was there to see Mir.  A conversation in private.  Mir agreed but when Masaaki snapped his fingers and his servants put up the silk ‘walls’ used by many in Ryoko Owari for such meetings, Mir immediately backed out.  Bansho Kishu was feeling very paranoid about now and while Mir danced around insulting Masaaki, she was clear she wasn’t going to meet with him there.  Masaaki’s smile turned thinner but he remained polite.  He understood their fear, of course.  Though was disappointed in their lack of trust for him.  And with that, he bid them a good day.The group returned to their homes to rest and then the next day they traveled to the Crab Caves for one last visit.  A meeting with the Ghost Dragons.  And some time spent working out the details of a agreement.  Verick was blunt in asking what grievance the Ghost Dragons felt they had with Bansho Kishu.  Daikubo, the leader of the Ghost Dragons, mentioned Mindra’s attack on the Ghost Dragon who was watching, as well as the child killed by the monkey in the first battle.  Mindra was unrepentant.  He felt threatened and had acted.  He didn’t feel he had anything to be sorry over.Volar grimaced more than once during the conversation.  He wasn’t quite sure why people wanted to bother dealing with criminals like this.  When Daikubo mentioned money on exchange for letting the grudge go, Volar could barely restrain his comments.  Mir agreed, a token sum of 50 koku paid over.  And an additional 50 paid for the child as well, with Daikubo promising “If the parents do not agree to let it go, we’ll toss them out of the Ghost Dragons.  We have no use for someone who puts their personal interest above the gang.”  He even offered, for an additional 150 koku, to kill the parents, if they did not agree, but the group did not wish to go that far.The money was paid by Hawk.  Daikubo accepted the money easily enough but then looked to  Bansho Kishu to confirm that this was indeed the payment from them.  With the deal confirmed, the group’s business in the Crab Caves was done.  Word was out the Black Snakes were dead down to the last man.  The war over their turf was ready to start.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back to their normal routine, Verick found himself assigned to write a briefing on the potential threat of the groups he had encountered at the edge of the empire.  Volodni, Spiders, and any others he cared to comment upon.  It was a task the young Lion threw himself into single-mindedly, getting the report finished in record time.[GM Note:  Though I hadn’t asked for it, the player did write up a actual report during the game to turn in.  I might post that later.]Kaz met with Lord Shinjo Jyaku to set a few things up.  He was bringing in some people he knew from Bugaisha to use as ‘undercover’ in his area to try and track down the real dealers in opium.  He also let Lord Jyaku know about the trouble with the Scorpion merchant.  No specifics, just a heads up he was investigating and expected political trouble if it went too well.  Lord Jyaku agreed with the assessment and told Kaz to act as he would with any normal criminal.Mir received a gift, a golden hairpiece that mimicked rain clouds.  And a simple note from Kaz expressing his remorse for attacking her, even though he was under a spell.  The note clearly was note written by Kaz, nor the gift selected by him.  But the gift was accepted in the spirit it was offered.  Kaz was almost more comfortable getting help from their little old lady in matters like this.Hawk made sure to get letters of introduction sent around to the Scorpion merchant to help him open relations with the Centaur Nation.The group attended a preview of an upcoming play to be shown during the theater season in Ryoko Owari.  Written by Emerald Magistrate Bayushi Sakura, the play was a historical piece about the Battle of White Stag, an event from far in the Empire’s past when Hantei VI was killed in a treacherous attack by gaijin traders.  The play contained all the usual characters.  A noble Emperor.  Honorable and Fierce Lions.  A somewhat hapless Crab samurai pawn.  And dishonorable Gaijin, who are inevitably wiped out after their treachery is revealed.About midway through the kabuki play Toshiro leaned over to Mir and asked, “So, should we be insulted here?”Mir watched the play a few more seconds then admitted “I’m really not sure yet.”Despite this, the group had some very polite praise for Bayushi Sakura, especially Verick.  Clad in the emerald green of a magistrate and her usual white mask that showed a rather lovely face of a young woman, Sakura was quite friendly with the group and never once openly suggested there was any connection between her play and Bansho Kishu.Mir found herself in the awkward position of trying to emphasis that like the Moto, many in Bansho Kishu were from outside the empire but could be trusted.  A position the Ide were taking as well.  The Unicorn are Rokugani, and so of course, they agree completely that such a treacherous attack had to be annihilated.There was also more in depth analysis that wondered if this was a further sign of a growing Lion-Scorpion alliance, as well as more pretentious discussions on the true meaning of the play from an artistic sense.  It had been well written and superbly acted, so was certain to be popular in the upcoming theater season.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Toshiro had slowly noticed things were changing in his area.  The commoners, who had been so eager to stay on his good side, were even more servile about it now.  But the samurai as well were more stiffly polite and less friendly toward him.  In some fashion, Toshiro didn’t mind this.  He felt he was finally getting more respect and so perhaps the Scorpion had done him a favor.What sort of favor was unclear.  The rumor was that Toshiro was a coward who let his lackeys do the killing for him while he fled from a direct battle with Black Snake.  The rumor of Toshiro and Mir had also grown, to the point where Toshiro was even confronted by O-Hisa, her hammer in hand.  She had heard the rumors.  More to the point, a friend of her’s said she had seen an amorous encounter between Toshiro and Mir.  O-Hisa put it bluntly “You can’t lie for $#!^, so I’m asking you directly.  What’s going on between you and Mir?”Toshiro was perfectly honest and it was true.  He really could not lie convincingly.  O-Hisa believed Toshiro’s denials that there was anything other than friendship and the fact that Mir was useful because she was a courtier and could speak much better than he could.  For the moment, peace was restored.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Mir experimented with her circle dance, first in Ryoko Owari then at the grove in  Bugaisha, and was able to determine that Nezu was someplace to the north of the City of Lies and to the east of Bugaisha.  No place close by they could easily get to.Mir was also visited at the grove by her old friend, Yoenki.  She was in the area to work on a few things and wanted to stop by and chat again like old times.  Mir was guardedly pleased to see the eerily cheerful young lady, and did hope things had not gone to badly for her since the defeat at Kuzo.“Oh, no.”  Yoenki cheerfully commented “We later won a great victory.  Oh, speaking of battles.  I understand you are having some trouble with the Moto.  Simply terrible.  I’ve been thinking about things to do to them.  I won’t give the details, it’s best if you do not know.  I promise it’ll be memorable. It might even get you in good with the Moto.”Mir wasn’t quite so sure about that and put all her diplomatic persuasiveness into turning whatever plot Yoenki had toward the Ide.  It wasn’t easy but then Yoenki seemed to get positively enthusiastic over the things she could to the courtiers of the Unicorn.  As always, their meeting ended with well wishes and a promise to meet again soon.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hawk had been busy over the previous days as well.  He could not buy land in the Ryoko Owari area, but a place could be provided for him to set up a sort of ‘embassy’.  Hawk finally convinced Mindra to teleport him back home so he could get a little help for the embassy from his own people.  Mindra and Hawk teleported in, only to find themselves immediately surrounded by guards.  Though the guards relaxed when they saw it was a Vanara and a centaur, they held the two there until the Captain of the Guard could be summoned.  The Captain of the Guard turned out to be Lord Lionheart “As brave as a lion and twice as strong!”  he boasted.The new security was his idea.  The king was very sick and shut away from the others.  By his own orders, no one was to see him.  Hawk was liking the sound of this less and less.  He didn’t know Lionheart and wasn’t sure how this arrogant jerk had gotten to be the Captain of the Guard so fast.Mindra was more interested to find that indeed there was another Vanara present.  Many in fact, though most were what Lionheart called ‘Warrior Vanara’, something Mindra had never heard of.  Mindra quietly requested to see the other Vanara and was taken to their house.  The door was guarded by a nine foot tall gorilla looking creature he snarled loudly “Who are you?”[GM Note:  This was fun.  Describing everything quite calmly and quietly, then when the gorilla spoke it was a loud snarl that made Mindra’s player jump.  It’s a lot of fun catching the players off guard.]Mindra was so taken aback he didn’t answer right away, but  finally he managed to convince the gorilla to take him to the master of the house.  Misura.  A black furred Vanara with a white face and only half a tail.  It took a moment for Mindra to remember him, but Misura remembered Mindra –very- well indeed.  The Naga attacking him.  The chase.It wasn’t long before Mindra feared the Vanara was totally insane.  From the way he went from talking about having Mindra’s arms ripped off to prevent him casting spells, then calling Mindra his friend and suggesting they both teleport to Ryoko Owari so he could see the great city.“Do they let you carry weapons around in Ryoko Owari, or do you have to be unarmed?”  Misura asked.“Unarmed.”  Mindra replied.Misura’s eyes lit up “And they think if you don’t carry a weapon you are unarmed?  I’m going to LOVE this city.”  He rumbled happily.Even so, Mindra kept digging himself in deeper.  Barely remembering the Vanara he had set up with the Naga.  Then simply saying it was a mistake, without any sign he felt bad about it.  He finally said he could teleport Misura back with him to Ryoko Owari, all the while planning to only teleport Hawk and himself back.  But obviously they could not go back right away, so Mindra accepted the offer of a room to sleep in, and was given a ‘Warrior Vanara’ to act as his bodyguard.  Certainly the room was very secure.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hawk spent some time with Lord Lionheart, who...had some bad news for Hawk about his parents.  Sicked with the same wasting illness that had struck the king.   “But it’s ok, I’ll look after you.  Just call me your uncle Lionheart!”  he said.There was much drinking, an arm wrestling contest that Lionheart won but Hawk acquitted himself well, and as Lionheart put it “Being in the company of humans so long, you must miss females you can spend some time with, if you know what I’m saying.  Grrow!”  As friendly as Lionheart was, Hawk wasn’t trusting him a bit.  To much had changed in the time he was gone.  When he had the chance he looked up a royal adviser from before.  There had been an attack on the Centaur Nation by the Shadowlands.  Zombies and other undead.   Lionheart had brought warning of the attack, as well as his allies, Misura and the warrior Vanara.  Lionheart was then in the middle of the fight to defeat the Shadowlands.  The advisor admitted Lionheart was an arrogant buffoon at times, but also a very powerful warrior.  In this battle, the Captain of the Guard was found ripped into pieces, no doubt by zombies.Hawk suggested the King might have been struck down by ‘taint’ but could possibly be healed by the right healing from a Rokugani shugenja.  The adviser wasn’t so sure but did comment there was Rokugani human staying as a guest of the palace.  That got Hawk’s attention and he immediately asked to meet this human.[GM Note:  A generally fun scene that took the players off guard.  A few are wondering if Mindra and Hawk will ever make it back to Ryoko Owari.  For Lionheart I was channeling Lord Flashheart from the Blackadder series.  Misura was a little Jack Palance and a little General Thade from the Planet of the Apes remake, with frequent baring of teeth to get the feral effect.]</blockquote>

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