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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Black Omega" data-source="post: 571986" data-attributes="member: 79">The group rushed straight over to the Fubuki-tai Dojo, accompanied by five Unicorn samurai.  An unusual sight in the Barbarian Quarter, to say the least, the guards for the various merchants in town going on alert and watching carefully.  But the group marched straight up to the Dojo.  The Unicorn samurai were sent around to cover the rear and make sure no one escaped.  Volar was still in his Pegasus form, circling the Dojo from above and keeping watch.Once the Dojo was surrounded, Toshiro and Kaz walked up, Toshiro hammering on the door before yelling, “I’m Hiruma Toshiro, serving Shinjo Jyaku-sama!  Everyone inside come outside and surrender to our authority!”From inside came the swift reply “Fubuki-tai Surprise Attack, Type 2!”  And then the door was suddenly yanked open, five archers letting loose with arrows at Toshiro.  Two of the arrows struck Toshiro solidly and then the door snapped back shut before the samurai could even think of getting inside.With Mir and Mindra both low on spells after all the healing they had done, it was up to Kaz, Toshiro and Verick.  A couple swift kicks bashed the door in and the three fighters rushed in, but the six Fubuki-tai inside had already switched to katanas as well.  Kaz and Toshiro both scored hits on their opponents, but then the leader yelled  “Fubuki-tai Cuisine Attack, Shell the Crab!”A fighter took Toshiro and Verick each, fighting defensively to keep them busy while the other four rushes around, flanking Kaz.  With miraculous luck, three of the four strikes found critical spots in Kaz’s armor, nearly finishing off the tough Crab samurai in seconds.  Kaz yelled “Healing!” and made a strategic retreat back out the door, taking another strike as he escaped being surrounded.Toshiro retreated to block off the door so Fubuki-tai could not chase Kaz to finish him off.  But then the leader shouted “Fubuki-tai goes Hunting! Pile on the Lion!”  The one on Toshiro stayed there, on the defensive as he tried to block the door while the other five surrounded Verick now, one going sword to sword with the young man while the others piled on to grapple him down.Verick resisted mightily but the numbers were too much and he was dragged down and held by three while the other two started bashing him with the hilts of their swords, trying to subdue.  Mir and Mindra both lent the last of their healing to get Kaz back in action and from the air Volar knew Kaz retreating from any battle was a bad sign.  He flew over the house and landed on the roof before returning to his natural elf form.“You need to get inside, Toshiro and Kaz need help!”  Volar yelled down to the Unicorn samurai behind the house.  The samurai didn’t move, though.  They had their orders and if Toshiro or Kaz needed the help, they would be the one’s yelling.  Fake orders were one of the oldest tricks in the book and they weren’t falling for it.Kaz and Toshiro had regrouped by then though and the two Fubuki-tai trying to hold them off were losing ground fast.  Verick was fighting back with his wakizashi but a couple critically placed strikes finally knocked him unconscious, just as Kaz and Toshiro hacked down their opponents.  The others had no time to try and escape with Verick’s body before Kaz and Toshiro were on them.  Volar pried up a bit of the roof and slipped down into the roof, starting to explore as the combat got ugly below.  No longer underestimating Fubuki-tai, Toshiro and Kaz worked together as a team to cover each other’s backs and finally the battle turned in their favor.  One after another the Fubuki-tai fighters were cut down, until only one was left.He tried to flee out the back, but stopped when he saw the Unicorn samurai guarding the rear.  With no chance of escape, he turned his katana on himself, stabbing himself through the belly.  Toshiro simply watched this, then he stepped to behead the man before the pain got to be to great.  Barely conscious, Verick staggered up to try and join the fight, too late.“Why did you finish him off?”  Verick growled angrily “He deserved to die slowly.”Toshiro shrugged “He fought bravely and refused to surrender.  I can respect that in an opponent.”[DM Note:  This was a very tough combat for the group.  Even considering the spellcasters were nearly down to nothing.  But for this combat I rolled seven confirmed criticals to the PC's one.  This and the next combat was the best I've rolled for one night.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Volar had already gotten a head start exploring the dojo by now.  Entering from the roof had certain advantages, he had bypassed the Alchemist’s Fire trap at the door and was able to warn the others.  Verick managed to disarm the traps on the other doors and the group set to searching.  Two of the rooms were basic dorms where the students evidently lived when not training.  The other room had a pleasant, feminine style with ink paintings and a soft scent of roses, and was clearly lived in by only one person.“This must have been the white haired girl’s room.”  Toshiro commented.But Volar looked around, puzzled “Then where did Oyuki stay?”“The sensei would not sleep in the dorms.”  Verick agreed. “Maybe this says something about Oyuki.  Maybe the roses really –were- from him.”  He teased Toshiro again.Between Volar’s and Mindra’s searching skill and Verick’s trap disarming, they located a secret compartment in the rose scented room.  Hidden inside was a box, containing 1,000 Koku and a map showing Bugaisha as well as four points around the town.  North, south, east and west.  The point to the east Mir recognized as her grove.  Kaz and Toshiro had been on enough patrols by now to remember the other areas as groves of trees as well.  Most curious.Searches of the dorm turned up pocket change in Koku that Volar pocketed.  As well as a diary.  Speed-reading through the dairy, it was obvious it belonged to a woman who had worked previously as a courtesan at the Glorious Jade Teahouse, an establishment Kaz had heard of, quite the sleazy dive.  The diary covered her time there, her intense hatred of the samurai class, her recruitment by Oyuki, his arrangements with the owner of the Glorious Jade teahouse, and her training in Maho.  Armed with this diary, the group left the Dojo in the hands of the Unicorn samurai and headed back to question Kuroiyuki.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The young monk was tightly bound to a pole by the time the group got back.  On the authority of Toshiro and Kaz, the group was let in to speak to him.  After a fashion.  Mir was the one who did the talking, and only after successfully Charming the young man.It turned out Kuroiyuki’s real name was Kong-sang, an unusual name for Rokugan, though those in Unicorn lands were known for unusual names.  He had chosen the name Kuroiyuki ‘Yellow Snow’ because...well...what was the one snow everyone was told to beware of?  Listening in, Kaz had to admit there was a silly form of logic there.Kuroiyuki had be training at the Temple, but he had a talent for getting into trouble and his careless over exuberance sometimes caused problems.  After a particularly memorable misunderstanding, a shugenja named Nagatori had suggested his place might lie outside the Temple.  Soon after he’d been recruited by Oyuki to Fubuki-tai.  He had only been with Fubuki-tai a short time but was impressed by their team spirit.  He confirmed the room with the feminine feel had indeed been Oyuki’s room.  In any case, Oyuki had often been absent from the Dojo for ‘special individual training’.  Oyuki and his top students often had meetings at the Glorious Jade teahouse.He didn’t know a thing about the fireblast at the teahouse being an attack on the group.  But he had been told the elf might be planning some sort of attack like that.  After Volar had given him the insulting the letter for Oyuki, he could believe it.  They had gone there to confront the group but obviously it hadn’t gone as expected.  If things went badly, they were to disperse and meet back at pre-determined locations.  Normally he could not reveal that…but he trusted Mir needed to know.  The locations matched what they had found on the map.  Depending on where they were, they were to meet at the grave closest to where the order was given.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~While Kuroiyuki had been giving him all the information he had to his trusted friend Mir, Toshiro had heard O-Hisa’s patrol had returned that evening.  The moment Mir was done he was determined to go over and visit her.  Though he didn’t admit it out loud, he had started to have doubts about just his visitor of the previous night had truly been.On the way back home, the group stopped by O-Hisa’s house.  The patrol had not treated the Unicorn lady well, she looked tired and pale, though she waved off any questions Toshiro had about it.  Volar had grown suspicious though and excused himself to do some checking around.  The conversation went on politely, but Toshiro’s pressure was building, like a teakettle about to overflow, until finally he exclaimed “So, did you visit me last night?”O-Hisa just looked at Toshiro puzzled “Um...no.  The last time I saw you was our date.  Why do you ask?” she added on with great curiosity.Toshiro froze.  He had his answer, but it wasn’t the answer he’d been hoping for and he hadn’t thought ahead to what to say if O-Hisa did say ‘No’.  Now he was stuck.While Toshiro tried to talk his way out of his predicament, Volar had been prowling around O-Hisa’s house. In the moonlight it was almost as bright as day for him and he had something particular he was searching for.  Along the underedge of a window he found it.  Magic.  A fading magic engraved beneath window in symbols Volar didn’t recognize.  But he could smell the dried blood there.  And he knew only Maho used blood here in Rokugan.Volar’s arrival back in the house with this news was just in time to save Toshiro.  O-Hisa was reluctant to talk about what it could be but admitted she’d been having bad dreams.  VERY bad dreams.  No one in the group could detect taint, but that was the concern now.  Reluctantly, O-Hisa agreed to visit the temple to be checked on.At the temple it was decided she should spend the night, just to be safe.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The next morning at the crack of dawn Shinjo Yuji was visiting again, looking even more out of sorts than previously.  “Terrible news from the temple.  Several monks have been killed and Shinjo O-Hisa has been kidnapped!”</blockquote>

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