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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Black Omega" data-source="post: 1247117" data-attributes="member: 79">Mir immediately went to work letting people know the dead Vanara was not really Mindra.  But the chaos of the situation simply grew.  Thunderguards charged onto the scene, katanas out and ready, surrounding the Centaurs.  The two towering Centaur guards were ready to draw their swords and charge, but Hawk quickly got in the way and convinced them to stand down again, but they were clearly spoiling for a fight.Mir’s test of the Vanara’s corpse revealed it was tainted.   One of the few things that would prevent Volar from looting it.  A little surprisingly, however, the centaur guards also showed up as tainted.  Which might partially explain their extremely short tempers.  The Centaurs were escorted under escort to the Temple complex and shut away individually in rooms to be tested and observed.  Though there was little hope.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back in the Centaur Nation, one of the Warrior Vanara had a message for Mindra.  In that harsh, snarling voice he stated “Can you contact your friends?  Misura has not returned.  If he doesn’t return…or is not returned...we will kill you.  Slowly.  If you cannot contact your friends, then prepare yourself for death.  If you can…then you WANT to contact your friends.”Emphasis came a few hours later when the Warrior Vanara demanded Mindra stick his arm out through the bars of his window.  Monkey shrieks and the sounds of bones breaking lasted several minutes as the arm was mangled.  And then the massive ape snarled again “In the morning, we’ll talk again.  You’d better have something to tell us.  Or hope Misura returns.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~It was sheer good fortune Bansho Kishu was scrying on Mindra at this point.  An earlier sending to Mindra had failed thanks to the anti-magic field.  But with Mindra’s arm outside the field, the scrying found him, centering in on the Vanara.  Hawk was able to recognize the area.  Mir was able to describe the area well enough for Volar to attempt a teleport.Earlier plans had involved trying to sneak back with someone impersonating Misura.  Or trying to find a spot around the fort to sneak in a teleport.  But the plans were not popular.  To great a chance of being caught.  Too great a chance of massive violence and most in Bansho Kishu doubted their ability to overcome the Centaur Nation to rescue Mindra, especially since Mindra was the group’s healer.But the idea of a quick snatch and grab aimed at the prison holding Mindra was considered to have a greater chance of success.  As fast as possible and if it bogged down, Volar would simply teleport them out again.  It was a simple plan but to the point.  They had seen one guard on the Vanara, the samurai could handle him.  Hawk was willing to lend his axe to Toshiro for chopping through the wall.   Something Toshiro was thankful for.  He knew his ancestral katana of truth and honor would be even more angry with him if he used it to cut wood again.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Mindra was awakened from a pained sleep in the early morning hours by a knock at his barred window.  The centaur who waited there was older, his face lined with wrinkles and deeply tanned.“Mindra?  Are you ok?  Of course not…but come to the window quickly.  I don’t have much time.  The Warrior Vanara guards are tough, but not very bright.  Even so, I’d best not push my luck.  Things are getting worse around here.  If you can pass along a message to Hawk, I would appreciate it.  Let him know NOT to return here anytime soon.  It’s grown too dangerous.  He should stay where he is, gain power and allies.  I fear if he returns here he’ll simply be killed.”Mindra agreed to carry the message but had his own concerns.  “I’m not sure I’ll get the chance to pass your message along…”“That brings me to my other point.  I can try to get a message to your friends, if you wish.  A…well, unless they have great magic to bring you back, maybe any last words or what you wish done with your things.  If you trust me enough, you can even give me one of your fingers.  I’ll try to get it to your friends so they can try to raise you.  I can’t guarantee anything, though.”  He warned.Mindra nodded and after some careful thought he sliced off a section of his tail to offer to the wizened centaur. “Hopefully I’ll get the chance to pass the message along myself, though.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Centaur advisor was not long gone when Volar, Verick, Kaz and Toshiro appeared. Volar immediately acted to cut off the area from the rest of the city with stonewalls.  Kaz wounded the hulking Warrior Vanara guard, but it was Verick’s blindingly fast series of perfect strikes that killed the creature in seconds.  Toshiro set to work chopping through the wall with Hawk’s axe, wood chips flying.Though the walls were noticed quickly, they did serve to cut off the rest of the city from the area and few centaur were up at this hour.  Mindra’s cell door was yanked open, however, an alert Warrior Vanara rushing into the room to try and grab the monkey.  Mindra was ready for this, though.  His magic wasn’t working but he had some non-magical tricks left over.  A smoke bomb taken from a ninja months ago filled the cell with thick, acrid smoke that cut off most sight.  Even so, Mindra was luck to slip past the massive ape.  If he had been pinned, he likely would have died.The wall was just starting to give way to Toshiro’s chopping when Mindra appeared next to the group.  Well, a Mindra who was missing part of his tail.  Verick stopped his strike just short of the Vanara’s neck and growled “Better prove who you are, and quickly.”Luckily, after the last time Mindra was impersonated they had worked out a system for preventing something like that from happening again.  Volar was just being attacked through the bars and it sounded like other of the Warrior Vanara were on the roof of the house, jumping toward them when Mindra completed his ‘proof’, the code and countersign given.  Volar focused past the pain to complete the spell and the group vanished, appearing back at the Bansho Kishu estates just as Warrior Vanara leaped down into the area.As soon as they were back, Mindra swore he was never going back to the Centaur Nation again.  He’d been captured far more often than he was happy with and it –wasn’t- happening again.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With Mindra back, life more or less returned to normal.  Mindra wasn’t returning to work in the city, so he was settling for doing the woodworking that needed to be done around the estate and meditating on his pearl now and then.  He had a very specific idea in mind, he was going to look for Go Go twice a week until he finally found her.Toshiro’s reputation remained the same.  Many samurai were stiffly polite to him.  Commoners were fearful whenever he swaggered by.  However, Toshiro’s new assistant’s help was a little overboard even for him.  When they came upon a crowded street, Kuma stepped toward and shouted out “Bow down!  Bow down!  Lord Toshiro is coming through!”Later Toshiro made a point to meet with Kuma and start explaining things.  “We need a lower profile.  I don’t want people to always know I’m coming.  DON’T do that again.”Kuma thought this over “Then, we should walk along quietly?  Oh!  Then we walk up on someone, he didn’t see you coming in time and down’s bow fast enough, and we kill him as a warning for people to always be watching for you?”Toshiro shook his head “No, nothing like that.  Look, don’t ask questions.  This is just how it is going to be.”Kuma sighed and bowed deeply “I understand.  Well, I don’t really understand but it’s not needed.  I follow your orders, Lord Toshiro.”Toshiro suspected there was still more trouble to come of this, though.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kaz heard word back from the torturer.  He’d found who had hired the thugs to attack Kaz recently.  An opium dealer in the area named Hanzo.  Kaz put out word to find the drug dealer and then waited.  When word came in the next day he led ten of his Thunderguards over to the building.  A sake house with unlicensed gambling in back. Kicking the door in, Kaz charged in, his katana drawn and ready. “Hold it right there, Hanzo!  You are under arrest!”The opium dealer shouted “A 1,000 koku to the man who kills that fool!” and three of his bodyguards leapt forward to try and claim the award.  While a fourth took advantage of the confusion to try and slip to the side and out the front door of the sake house.Kaz simply charged past the bodyguards, however.  He was willing to take a few hits in order to corner the man he was after.  The Thunderguards trailing him took care of the bodyguards.  And from the from came Kaz’s chief assistant, Kato, with the other bodyguard in hand as well.  The prisoners were sent on to the Torturer so they could gain information on the local networks. And Kaz returned back to the estate, satisfied with a job well done.At the Bansho Kishu estates, one of the guards had news for him, however.  ‘The kid you asked me to look after and help with his training?  There’s been a slight problem…”</blockquote>

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