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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Black Omega" data-source="post: 67767" data-attributes="member: 79">The 26th Day of the DogThe group slowly came together the next morning; somewhat the worse for wear from the previous night's activities, but with morale greatly raised.  Finally they set out on the return trip to Bugaisha, taking their time as they recovered on the road.  At the very first checkpoint they got a clue of what was to come.  Their papers were checked and double-checked, every little detail studied, delaying them on the trip by 20 minutes before they were finally waved on.  And at every stop it was the same, delays and distractions slowing their progress.Meanwhile, back in the castle Hida Toshiaki was deep in thought.  Many of his thoughts were pleasant remembering, but one thing still bothered him, gnawing away at him.  Finally he summoned another Crab Samurai named Toritaka Kazu, thundering "Kaz-san!  I have an important mission for you!  There is a Crab Samurai named Hiruma Toshiro, he just left this morning with that group of barbarians."  The muscular Samurai shook his head sadly "Toshiro is serving with a Unicorn Lord and totally forgetting what it is to be a Crab.  He needs a reminder life is not just fighting and duty but also sake houses, women and gambling!  You can't miss the group he is with, he has a talking monkey with him."  Kazu accepted this 'mission' and road out later that day, trying to make up for lost time.  [DM Note:  Kaz is Sho's player's new PC.  He wanted to try a Crab this time and this seemed a good way to add him.]The 1st Day of the BoarA few days later the group arrived in a small village, dealing with the usual flood of red tape.  They did the usual set up, one large room for the group.  The lacquered container with the obi set in the middle of the room with people sleeping around it and two revolving on watch.The second watch was Toshiro and Mindra.  The alert monkey heard movement in the hallway some two and a half hours after midnight, the Hour of the Goat.  Mindra crouched down low, preparing to wake the others as Toshiro crept closer to listen, getting between the door and the box, remaining eight feet back from the paper and wood door, out of reach.Then suddenly through the door a pole arm, a wood shaft and metal bars and tines, snagging into Toshiro's armor and yanking him forward into the flanking attacks of two others with kusari-gama.  The figures were masked and shrouded in black, classic Ninja garb.With a piercing monkey shriek, Mindra woke the others as another two ninja charged into the room.  Shiko was up in a flash, katana out as she engaged one of the ninja in a fight.  Deviously, Mir lay where she was, pretending to sleep as she slide out her Wand of Magic Missiles.Volar snapped out of his trance, taking a moment to size up the situation before he gestured, words flowing from his lips, conjuring a huge Web that filled the hallway and spilled out into the room, tangling up one of the ninja and slowing the others.Toshiro was also slowed by the web as well as by the Sleevecatcher, the ninja keeping him held at a distance as the other two kept slashing at him with their kusari-gama. Verick stood over the box, shooting arrows at the ninja at the edge of the web.Suddenly, from behind a volley of arrows from the windows behind the group, Mir, Verick and Shiko all struck.  Toshiro struck down one of the ninja trying to slip past him, his katana chopping the ninja's head off as the burly samurai freed himself from the Sleevecatcher.  Volar took cover against the wall where the windows where so the archers could not shoot him while casting a sleep spell that had no effect.As one of the ninja escaped the web Mir zapped him with a magic missile.  Already hacked once by Toshiro, the ninja fell.  With the frontal assault failing, one of the ninja at the windows tossed a smoke grenade into the room, over the box Verick was guarding.  Smoke filled the area, just as a blood stained Shiko finally slashed through the ninja she was fighting.Alertly, Verick saw what was coming and grabbed the box, sneaking off to the side through the smoke and into the corner.  Noticing this, Volar made Verick (and the box) invisible.  A couple of ninja moved through the smoke, following the noise from Verick but only one got a attack on the boy and that missed badly.  Then they totally lost track of him.Volar cast a grease spell that caused one of the ninja to fall.  At this moment everyone head a bamboo flute, a string of notes and then the remaining ninja fled, using the smoke as cover.  The ninja that had fallen in the grease was arrowed before he could rise and Mir added a minor healing spell to keep him alive.  The ninja left dangling in the web had been unable to escape for the entire combat [DM Note:  Something like 9 rounds, with me rolling single digits for his checks to escape.]  Unable to escape, he killed himself.  Mir leaned out the window to zap a ninja with a Magic Missile, but the figure swiftly joined the rest, blending into the early morning darkness.The group searched the dead ninja, recovering various weapons, a few smoke bombs, and discovering each ninja had a tattoo behind their left should of a spider in a web, ironically enough.As they were searching they heard voices in the hallway, the innkeeper yelling out to them "are you ok?  Is anyone hurt in there?  Should I summon a healer?"  The group answered they were ok, then got a little chuckle as they heard a less loud "Ok, let's get to work on this web, no don't touch..  Sigh, ok, someone help get him free..."The group tied the ninja up securely, revealing the masked figure to be a she, silent and glaring at each and every one of them.  Toshiro took his turn first, a snarl and glare of his own, making himself a truly menacing figure as he growled out his questions "Who sent you!"  Though clearly frightened, the ninja didn't say a word, her glare gone.Mir stepped in at this point to play 'good interrogator', introducing herself and being far more pleasant while Toshiro talked around in the background.  Verick chimed in with various comments about how they skin people alive out in the Hordelands.  And Volar was in the background, with off hand comments about how he had a spell that could turn the ninja girl into his love slave. Under all this pressure, the girl did let slip she had been warned the elf had a spell that could make him like her and that the orders had come from the palace, Shiro Ide.  But she had not been told whom; she was just given orders to get the box and to -not- touch what was inside.There was some brief discussion over waiting until the morning and Charming her but Volar and Verick though they'd probably gotten all they would get out of the girl.  Finally Verick went over to free the girl's hands and left a dagger there in front of her, the rest of the group pulling back well out of reach, suspecting some sort of ninja trick would follow.  But the girl settled for grabbing the dagger and stabbing herself through the heart.By this point the Web was melting away, allowing in the local authorities.  The Yoriki simply took down their accounts of what happened and accepted it, mentioning there were already search parties out looking for the ninja that had escaped.  A little suspicious of that, Toshiro and Verick were quick to volunteer to hang around and help with the search.  Then they started talking about how to do it, going door to door, tearing the village apart from one end to the other.  Talking about how it might take a day or more.  Perhaps too quickly, the Yoriki agreed!  In fact he went a step further, mentioning there were a couple of spots and ruins outside the town that might be worth looking over, it shouldn't take longer than a couple of days to clear up though.At this point the group did a fast 180, both samurai and barbarians alike just getting more suspicious.  When the Yoriki went to get Toshiro's agreement to helping this, the Crab Samurai back tracked quickly, admitting his duty didn't allow him to linger, much to the evident disappointment of the Yoriki.  The 3rd Day of the BoarAs the group was settling in at their inn a Samurai in Crab colors approached, looking them over before nodding to himself "You must be who I'm looking for.  I'm Toritaka Kazu.  I bring greetings from Hida Toshiaki, he asked me to follow you, Toshiro.  To help remind you what real Crabs act like."The 4th Day of the BoarA few days passed without any additional trouble beyond the usual.  Stops, delays, and red tape slowing them down.  Finally they reached the Plum Blossom pass, marking a third of the way back to Bugaisha.  As they made their way along the pass, three riders came into view ahead of them.  Clad in dark gray armor with a symbol in white that they could not quite make out.  As they rode slowly into view, the unarmored rider was already casting a spell over himself and his companions, a burly Samurai with his katana already drawn, and another Ronin carrying a bow.In a loud voice the lead Ronin shouted "you have something that belongs to the Sun.  Give it up or perish!"  The group's answer was blunt and to the point, Toshiro shooting an arrow at the Ronin.  "Challenge accepted!" the lead Ronin roared back and charged, the battle begun.Mir was first, casting Mage Armor on herself before starting her bardic song, a Crab War Chant.  Kaz took a shot at the Ronin Bowman but missed.  Toshiro and Shiko formed a line, letting the Ronin make the first move.  Volar dismounted, making Mindra invisible with a wave of his hands before the nimble monkey ran up behind Toshiro.  The Ronin with katana out charged forward, closing the 100 foot gap toward the group at a gallop.  The Bowman let fly with a shaft, the arrow sinking into Toshiro's shoulder through the armor.  The Ronin Shugenja chanted, summoning spirits of sleep, to no avail, Toshiro and Shiko were both unaffected.Keeping her chant up, Mir climbed up the slope along the side of the pass, drawing her Wand of Magic Missiles, just to be ready.  The exchange of arrows continued, the Ronin bowman hitting Toshiro again with a glancing shot to the arm and taking a glancing shot from Kaz for his troubles.  The satisfied look on Kaz's face didn't last long however, as the Shugenja waved his hands and a rolling ball of fire formed around him, taking him off guard and burning him badly.  The charging Ronin reached Shiko and sparks flashed as their swords crossed, neither breaking the other's guard.  Toshiro rushed in from the side, slashing a minor cut into the Ronin's leg.  Volar remained in back, casting Mage Armor on himself next as the now invisible Mindra cast Bull Strength on Toshiro, the already powerful Samurai nearly bursting out of his armor with raw power.  Verick joined in the archery duel, hitting the charging Ronin with an arrow.Mir's song ceased as she activated the Wand, zapping for Shugenja for a little damage.  Volar brought his own sleep spell into play, but it failed just as totally as the Shugenja's had.  Obviously everyone had gotten a good night's sleep.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  Verick's next shot was toward the Shugenja but missed badly wide.  Pissed off over the Sphere of fire, Kaz charged forward, running toward the two horsemen and hitting the Shugenja with an arrow.  The ball of fire followed, though this time Kaz did a better job staying away from the flames.  Perhaps distracted by that, a gush of blood was drawn by a well placed arrow from the mounted bowman.  Invisibly, Mindra stayed in close to Toshiro, healing him of his wounds.  Refreshed, Toshiro slashed powerfully upward, hacking through the Ronin's armor and drawing a gout of crimson as the warrior wavered a moment, then his sword flashed back, two strikes though only the first hit, slicing down into Toshiro's shoulder.  Not having a very good day, Shiko's slash missed as well.Mir settled back on the slope, biding her time, then when the Shugenja was ready to cast again, he was zapped with another Magic Missile.  The Shugenja was unfazed however, holding his concentration, the flaming sphere sizzling Kaz and then fire's swept up around the robed rider, sweeping out in a wave over Kaz, followed a moment later by another arrow from the Ronin bowman.  Alertly, Mindra ran forward invisibly to heal the  overdone Samurai, only to watch in surprise as Kaz turned and ran past him, choosing that moment for a tactical withdrawal.  Helping gang up on the Ronin in front, Volar cast Acid Orb, the acid sizzling into the Ronin's armor.  Now was he the only one, the Ronin in front picking that moment to turn and flee, riding fast and easily outdistancing the pursuing Toshiro.  Riding fast, Shiko kept up but missed once again.As Mir readied to zap the Shugenja when next he invoked the spirits, Volar did a chant of his own, waving his hands and crafting a web nearly across the entire pass.  Though the bowman escaped, the horse of the Shugenja and the fleeing Ronin were caught in the troublesome Web.  Shiko charged on in, missing a strike on the held Ronin but Verick's arrow struck true, piecing in through the man's eye, leaving him quivering in the web, lifeless.  Kaz finally held up to watch the battle, when moment's later he head a vaguely familiar voice out of thin air, saying "Hold still."  Then he suddenly felt better, the invisible monkey healing him.Shiko rode nimbly around the web, getting in a slash that draw blood from the Shugenja before the two remaining riders fled, wavering a moment as Volar shot an arrow past them that hit a rock, spouting out in Common "Come on men, this way!"  the ruse didn't slow them though, flight firmly on their minds.The group gathered back together once Shiko gave up the chase and after nearly deciding to go on, Volar was asked about Detecting Magic.  On the dead Ronin two Magic, or perhaps one should say Spirit Blessed, items were found.  An Amulet bearing the symbol of the Lion Clan, and a kimono under his armor in the golden brown of the Lion.  After a brief discussion Verick claimed both items by simply putting them one, then waiting to see if anything happened.  Volar suggested they could throw rocks at him and see if they hurt less, but Verick wasn't very agreeable to that.  The body of the Ronin was collected, Toshiro tossing it over the Ronin's horse before leading it on with the group toward the next town.Onota was a town at the end of the Plum Blossom Pass and the group's greeting there was the same as all the other.  An officious guard checking over their papers carefully, point by point, not letting a single detail slip by unverified.  This guard was even more careful though, glancing with distaste over the body of the Ronin and asking, "Your papers give leave to seven, but he makes eight.""He was a bandit who attacked us!"  Toshiro growled."Ah.  I see.  And the horse then, it's his?  Or did you pick up another horse someplace?"  The guard whined on, haggling over each point one at a time.  The undue delay soon explained when the local magistrate came riding up, smiling as he saw the party."Ah, Toshiro-san!  And friends.  I've been waiting on you!"  he explained "I'm sorry for all the delays, we've received some special instructions for you. I'm Ide Naoya. I'll be happy to explain later, but if you all would do me the honor of having dinner with me tonight at my home, I'll be happy to explain all.  And if you are interested...I have a guesthouse that visitors often use.  I understand there has been trouble on your travels so far, this would spare our local Inn and probably be more comfortable as well.  You would be under my protection, of course, guards will be posted to make sure nothing happens."A little warily, the group accepted.  Their horses were housed in the stables, but just to be safe, Verick kept the box with the Golden Obi with him, strapping it over his back.  The dinner was as fine as would be expected from a important local official.  Excellent sake and tea, good food and all tastefully arranged.  Kaz started with his first bottle of sake enthusiastically, with a little urging from Volar and soon moved on to his second and third bottles as the conversation meandered politely at first.Then Ide Naoya started to get to the point, murmuring, "There have been rumors about you, Toshiro.  Scandalous how such things get around, they can do such damage to a Samurai's reputation.  My Lord Tadaji-sama asked me to do my very best to clear you and your friends of these rumors."As Kaz moved on to his fourth bottle of sake Toshiro and Verick both began to look annoyed, Toshiro demanding, "What are these rumors?"Ide Naoya coughed politely, ignoring the increasingly drunk Kaz as he said "Rumors of banditry and smuggling.  False of course, I cannot imagine a Samurai such as you being involved in such things.  Though one wonders about your friendsc"Suspicious looks started to go around the table between the group as they went on heightened awareness.  Except for Kaz, who was on his fifth bottle of sake and trying to drag a servant girl into his lap.  Ide Naoya went on to explain that it would be a simple matter to solve these rumors.  A fast search through the group's possessions could quickly enough confirm that the group wasn't smuggling anything.  A suggestion greeted with icy stares from nearly everyone.  Verick began playing provocateur, prodding Toshiro about the implied insult to his honor and Toshiro was quick to state that he was not involved in any such activity and he would not allow any searches, he would vouch for all his friends.  Verick was right there with him, suggesting Toshiro might consider demanding a duel over such an insult.  Meanwhile Kaz was leering drunkenly at some of the women at the table while they did their best to ignore him.Ide Naoya turned his attention to Verick at this point, gazing over the 16 year old boy coolly before murmuring "You are not a Samurai, what concept do you have of honor?"Verick, glaring "I am Akodo."Naoya smiling slightly, an expression that never reaches his eyes "But have you sworn yourself to a Lord of the Akodo?  If so, whom?"Verick's glare simply grew angrier "I don't need to, I am Akodo.  Through my dad I continue to serve the clan.  Do you keep track of every single samurai?"Naoya, sniffing in disdain "Yes, as a matter of fact we do.  When someone is born there is a record of that.  When they die that is noted as well.  As is who is sworn as Samurai.  I can show papers for every samurai in my service.  Who do you serve, Verick?"Verick's glare just grew, his anger threatening to rage out of control before he calmed himself "I am Akodo.  Their Honor is my Honor.  Their way is my way.  I am Akodo by training and by blood!"Verick would not back down.  Ide Naoya would not back down.  Toshiro would not back down.  The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife before a squeak from a servant girl Kaz had grabbed distracted everyone from the confrontation.  While Naoya tried to guide the conversation back to quieter territory, Verick and Volar started to chat in Common, insulting Naoya in no uncertain terms.  Though Ide Naoya gave no indication he knew what was being discussed, a couple of his samurai did, though they did their best to hide that they understand the barbarian language.Finally the dinner was cut a little short, the unruly Crab providing the excuse Ide Naoya needed.  Guards were assigned to show the group to the guest house and to patrol around the outside.</blockquote>

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