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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Black Omega" data-source="post: 17852" data-attributes="member: 79">Slowly, Toshiro rose, the fuzzy headed feeling still making it hard to think.  As three of the figures stepped back, the other lifted a wooden practice sword, a bokken. 'Remember that samurai you killed?  Now it's your turn to face a dishonorable end.  Beaten to death by a club, no one will ever know who or why, just an unknown thief leaving a Crab samurai dead.'The alcohol daze helped dull the pain as the first strike hammered into Toshiro's ribs but his reaction to the second strike was a little too slow, the disarm attempt foiled as the bokken slammed into his shoulder.  A couple of sharp strikes were taken on his arms before another struck the side of his head, leaving him seeing stars for a moment.'Come on, Toshiro, I thought Crab were tough!'  The masked figure lashed out with the bokken but Toshiro ducked low, his arms wrapping around the the masked figure, his momentum crashing both of them through the wall into the next door room.  Sho's room.  Both the masked figure and Toshiro wavered a moment, fumes almost overcoming both with an urge to sleep.  As the fumes leaked from the room, the noise awakened Sho, his eyes opening to see the two men locked together, struggling.At the same time, Volar and Mindra yanked open the door to Toshiro's room, coming face to face with the three masked men inside.  A fast sleep spell left one man crumbling to the ground in a doze.  The other two charged and the spell casting monkey and elf found themselves in melee with the two sword wielding masked men.Sho grabbed his two swords and engaged the warrior with the wooden sword as Toshiro rolled away, picking up the katana dropped by the sleeping figure.  A wave of color rolled from Volar's fingertips as he backed off, Mindra engaging with his quarterstaff as the two men were blinded and stunned.  Twin swords lashing out, Sho scored hit after hit on the masked man, the wooden sword no match for his steel.  Then Toshiro joined the battle against the other two, helping Mindra and Volar to finish the other two.Exploring the strangely quiet Inn, they found that everyone else in the building was asleep as well, sleep traps spreading their fumes into the various rooms of the Inn.  Volar related that earlier he had just been coming out of his trance for the night when he smelled something unusual.  A sickly sweet scent.  Curious, he asked a maid into his room and watched as she wavered and collapsed into sleep.  From there he had awakened Mindra and then the two went to find Toshiro when they heard the crash in his room.  One the sleep traps, small pots heated by a small flame, were removed, it became easy to awaken every.  Well, almost everyone.  Mir, Verick, and a couple of servants could not be awakened.  [DM Note:  the players were not present this week.]Once again, the local Yoriki was summoned once again, this time so the bodies could be turned over.  While Toshiro had suspected ninjas, the Yoriki was able to ID the men as local thugs who were known to hang out in one of the seedier bars in town, the Silver Okasan.  The Yoriki also commented to Toshiro that there had been rumors that he was associated with bandits.  That his fight with the samurai leading them had simply been a take over bid on his part, and perhaps this attack was simply part of that power struggle.  Toshiro denied all this, of course.  And the Yoriki did not push, but the suspicion obviously remained.As the group was finishing breakfast, a messenger delivering a note from a Yasuki Kome approached them.  The message invited Toshiro and his friends to tea and explains he had information he thought Toshiro might need.Yasuki Kome turned out to be a local sake merchant and after an exchange of pleasantries he apologized for all the trouble Toshiro that had happened to Toshiro.  As a fellow Crab, he was deeply disappointed to find a fellow clanmate in such difficulty in Kome's own town.  So he was offering a couple of things he thought might help them.  With two group members in comas, he suggested they could find a sword for hire.  A slight woman named Yukiyo.  And for the sleep potion, he slyly suggested a conversation with an herbalist named Yutaro might yield results.The conversation with Yukiyo didn't start smoothly, the young woman rather defiant toward the samurai and blatantly mercenary.  But once Toshiro decided to 'go for a walk' an agreement was worked out for her to help them.  [DM Note:  New character for a player who can only show up occasionally.]The trip to the herbalist was short and to the point.  Yutaro became instantly nervous the moment Kome's name was mentioned, even more so as the group questioned him on the sleep traps.  Finally, he admitted he might have something that could help.  Excusing himself, he moved into the back area of the store, behind a curtain.  A click was heard and Yukiyo peeked into the back, the herbalist having apparently exited through a back door.  Yukiyo and Sho caught up with him and with a little 'gentle' persuation he was guided back to the shop.Under pressure, he finally admitted he made the sleep poison for a slaver group run in town by Madame Sadoka.  And he had an antidote for people who fell more deeply under the effects of the poison.  In exchange for his life and his involvement not being mentioned, he agreed to help cure Verick and Mir and to make it easy to track the next shipment of the sleep poison.A fast trip to the Inn began the cure for Mir and Verick.  Yukiyo was the one set to keep watch on the herbalist's shop.  When a ronin left carrying a package marked with a red cord, that was the signal this was the ronin with the sleep poison.  Yukiyo followed him to the Silver Okasan, watching for a short while before informing the group.The group traveled over to the Silver Okasan, ready for a fight.  Toshiro and Sho just drew their weapons and kicked in the door, marching in and attacking.  Inside, Madame Sadoka was talking with several heavily armed ronin and one other without armor.The one without armor cast a spell invoking the blessings of the Kami, while Volar countered with a sleep spell that causes two of the ronin to slump down.  Yukiyo started to shoot arrows while Sho and Toshiro charged.  Sho went after the bartender, an ugly man who had pulled out a bow.  Toshiro went after the group of ronin by himself as the shugenja who had cast the blessing started waking up the ronin who had succumbed to it's effect.Sho chased the bartender behind the bar, where Madame Sadoka was hiding.  The remaining awake ronin flanked Toshiro, nearly overwhelming him.  Mindra was forced to run up beside him and start healing him, risking attack from the ronin as he cast the spells.With the two ronin awake, they moved in, trapping Toshiro and Mindra against the wall, katana's hacking into both of them with lethal intent while Sho kept chasing the bartender.  The shugenja kept moving to heal the ronin, then as arrows hammered into him, he cast a sleep spell that downed Yukiyo.  When Sho finally cut down the bartender Madame Sadoka made a run for it, a slash from Sho cutting her badly but she was able to dash past Volar and out the door.  By this time both Mindra and Toshiro were badly cut up, nearly out on their feet.  A grease spell cast by Volar downed one of the ronin and forced the other to crawl out of the grease.  Toshiro cut down the ronin who had fallen.  Another grease spell kept the ronin slowed down and forced them to fight Sho and Toshiro one on one.  Volar awakened Yukiyo and their arrows cut down the unarmored shugenja and without his magical healing the ronin were cut down one by one.  After the fight, Toshiro cut of the heads of the bartender and each of the ronin, sticking them on spikes outside the bar with a note to proclaim who did it and why.  Volar and Yukiyo checked into the back of the bar, finding what appeared to be an opium den.  Overstuffed pillows, drugs, dark.  Volar took one of the pillows while Yukiyo took the drugs.The party headed back to their in, met at the door by the innkeeper, the older man looking a little nervous.  "I have some good news, you..um..the woman, Mir.  She's recovering just fine.  But..um..about your friend..Verick.  There's been some bad news."[DM Note:  This was a brief but fun scene.  Mir's player was only gone for a week, and Verick's player gone for two weeks.  Even so,when the innkeeper said this some of the players where like "Oh no, we must have missed something, this is bad!"  Always cool to get players reacting first in character then reminding themselves "Oh right, he's not back next week."]</blockquote>

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