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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Black Omega" data-source="post: 722383" data-attributes="member: 79">Akodo Setei-sensei simply stepped back to listen and watch.  There could be some good lessons for Verick from this later.  And Verick did have a plan.  He’d seen a side entrance to the teahouse.  He could sneak in there while the group went in through the front.  Not even dishonorable as long as no one saw him using such low skills.While Verick slinked off, Toshiro and Kaz prepared to break down the front door.  But suddenly the oily looking fellow who had pretended to be Kurocha pulled the door open again.  “I’m so sorry, but Kurocha just is not here right now.  Won’t you sit and wait on him please?”  Once again, he was stalling for time in his best, unctuous fashion.  And this time it worked.  Though more because the samurai were giving Verick more time to slip in the side entrance.Verick slipped stealthily around to the alcove that held the door and silently worked the lock loose.  Then he slipped inside, into a hallway.  On the stairs to his right he heard voices and the sound of men walking closer.  The first mans stepped down from the stairs, a tough looking thug with a red cloth tied around one arm.  He lasted just seconds as Verick gave a cry and leapt in to attack.Hearing the commotion from the back, Kaz and Toshiro rushed past the oily fake to help their comrade.  Seeing himself left alone with the silver haired Mir, Volar, and Mindra, all unarmed and only Mindra wearing any type of armor.  Smiling in cruel fashion he slipped a jagged looking Kama from within his robes.  Volar shook his head and smiled “You’ve never been to the western Kingdoms, have you?  You were safer with the samurai here.”“Shut up!”  the thug snarled “You’ve got a big mouth.  Think I’ll take those pointy ears of yours first…”Mindra lifted one monkey paw to cast a spell and a moment later the thug found himself totally paralyzed, not even able to blink let alone move.“Go on ahead the help the others.”  Volar suggested as he pried the kama from the man’s grasp “I’ll be along in a minute.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Deeper in the teahouse the battle had gotten bloody.  Verick on one side, Toshiro and Kaz on the other, and thugs pouring down from the stairs in the middle.  No match individually for the samurai, but there were more of them.  And from above on the stairs came chanting and then a figure of rock and earth forming to attack Kaz.  Toshiro cut down another thug but then he was rocked back by the heavy blow of a massive wooden hammer.  The next thug in line was no ordinary low life.  Standing not far off seven feet tall and very ugly, he proved to be a powerful fighter who drive Toshiro back.On the stairs a figure came strolling down, casually smoking a long, iron pipe as he watched the carnage.  Mindra used his healing to keep the samurai up and going, while Mir lifted her wooden staff, a symbol of the Oak Father.  Her chanting filled the hallway and within seconds Toshiro’s massive opponent was as unmoving as a tree.Volar joined the battle belatedly but took action immediately when he arrived.  He laid a hand on Mindra’s shoulder and the two disappeared, reappearing right behind Verick.  The young Lion had slashed down one of his thug opponents but the man with the iron pipe had charged into the melee.  A hard breath into the pipe spewed a blinding dust into Verick’s face and, and the precise, heavy strikes of his iron pipe into Verick’s body showed he was a cut above the other riffraff the group was fighting.Another earth elemental was summoned to hold Toshiro and Kaz at a standoff in the hallway.  Toshiro wound up and with several hard slashes cut his huge foe down.  And Volar got an idea.  As Verick recovered from the blinding and Mindra healed him, Volar quickly cast haste, then improved invisibility on the Lion Cub.  “Just watch.”  He told Mindra “Verick will cut through those guys in seconds.”And seconds passed.  The remaining lowlife and the pipe wielding thug rushed in, both Volar and Mindra taking hits as indeed, Verick did seem to have disappeared, even more than Volar had anticipated.  Only the earth elementals were holding off the other samurai now, while Volar was nearly stunned by the bash of that blunt iron pipe to his head.  Definitely hurting now, Volar took no chances.  He touched Mindra and popped the two of them back behind Mir and the other samurai.  And still there was no sign of Verick.The last of the thugs went down in a bloody heap thanks to Kaz and the Earth Elementals were crumbling fast.  The man with the iron pipe yelled out “Time to get out of hear, meet back at base!”  He never had time to do anything more, he suddenly fell apart into four sections, blood fountaining over the walls as he died.  And from thin air the group heard Verick’s voice “Sorry, it’s tougher to fight when you can’t see your katana.”[DM Note:  The idea of turning Verick invisible and hasted was a good one.  But the player rolled badly in his first few attacks, so it really was like he had disappeared.  But when Verick did hit, it was impressive.  Two confirmed crits were more than enough to take care of that last bad guy.]The shugenja, who had been casting the elementals, escaped by running up the stairs and jumping out of the window.  But one of the thugs in the hallway were saved from death by fast healing from Mir.  And the man frozen by Mindra was still there, though now missing his ears.  Interrogation revealed they were with a group called the Strong Arm Firemen, one of the local guilds responsible for fighting fires in Ryoko Owari.  They were sent by their boss, Matsu Shigeto, to find anything that might lead to finding Kurocha.  And in the meantime if they found anything valuable, collect that too.  The men didn’t seem to know any more than that, and were released after a fashion. Verick tossed them out of the second story window.  A search of the area revealed a secret compartment that had been opened with considerably more skill than the Strong Arm Firemen had shown.  Volar had looted around 150 koku from the dead bodies and captives, but nothing else of interest.  One thing out of place, there was a smashed mechanical clock, something nearly unknown in Rokugan.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Outside, Akodo Setei was in conversation with the city guards, samurai wearing tall purple plumes on their helmets.  Known as the Thunderguard, they were responsible for keeping order in the city.  And obviously a fight in a teahouse would draw their attention.  The group had a chance to listen in from the door.‘I’d not advise you to just charge in, Shinjo Nihao-san.  My student is inside and there have already been enough misunderstandings between our clans.  Another would be regrettable.  While we are talking…I understand your focus is on the strict and fair enforcement of the law, so you have little time to study tactical matters, but putting your two bowmen there and there would give you an excellent field of fire.  Much better than what you have now.”  Akodo Setei suggested to the Thunderguard officer.Akodo-Sensei’s stalling gave the group time to finish and come out.  Toshiro and Kaz was asked to come to the Dragon Gate, the Headquarters of the Thunderguard.  Not as prisoners, of course.  The Thunderguard officer was quick to reassure them on that point.  But to give their accounts of what had occurred and why.  Three rank and file Thunderguards were assigned to the rest of the group to take them to the a local inn where they could stay.  An inn that would be agreeable to ‘other people’, a very polite term for gaijin.The visit to the Dragon Gate did turn out to be more than simply a few questions for Kaz and Toshiro.  As samurai of Lord Jyaku they were asked about him.  What his plans might be.  Was there truth to the rumors he might be called upon to take over Ryoko Owari.  The two samurai were shown around while various officers tried to sound them out about various political matters.  No few officers implied they knew Toshiro and Kaz were really advanced scouts to check out the city before Lord Jyaku ever is assigned as governor.  They were also asked about the Lion traveling with them.  An ambassador to Lord Jyaku, it’s been announced.  Was this a sort of snub from the Lion Clan?  Are they favoring one Shinjo lord over the others?  Kaz and Toshiro were very careful with their answers, and denied almost everything.  They knew nothing more than rumors and possibilities, hardly worth discussing.  At the Inn, the others decided to wait on the samurai to return.  Volar grew bored quickly and decided to have a little fun.  He conjured invisible servants to start helping around the inn.  And spook the residents, of course.  After a while the innkeeper was talking to the various ‘others’ in the inn, Mindra, Mir and then Volar, asking about the spirits now haunting the inn.  And requesting they please go away.  That was not the end of Volar’s little tricks though.  That night Volar took special care to make sure he was safe.  He left pillows under the blankets to make sure it looked like someone was sleeping there.  Then he polymorphed himself into a rat and slept in the closet with his rat familiar.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The next morning Toshiro returned, but Kaz remained behind enjoying the hospitality of the Thunderguards.  The group had some plans now for following up looking for Kurocha.  First, a conversation with the Strong Arm Firemen.  And perhaps tracking down there that unique clock came from.[DM Note:  Kaz’s player missed this week, this was a convenient way to leave him in the background.]Volar had another surprise for the group as well.  He had decided to be really ‘elfy’ as he put it.  Dressed in bright shades of green, flowers in his hair, nancing about.  It was a most disturbing sight to the others.  The group was also not reassured to notice three Thunderguards were following them.  Mir was the one who got the idea of inviting the guards to walk with them, though.  The guards were surprised but more than willing.  The party saw it as looking like they had an official escort.  The guards saw it as having an even easier job keeping a watch on this strange group.The first stop was the headquarters of the Strong Arm Firemen.  Several strong looking men with red cloths wrapped around their arms stood guard at the door.  Evidently samurai didn’t impress them, because they didn’t back down when the group walked up.  But Verick was allowed in to speak to the boss while the others were left outside.  The Thunderguards took the chance to catch a snack.  Volar’s nancing had caught someone’s attention though.  A friendly looking fellow named Kikuchi started making friends with Volar.  Trying to find out whom he was with, if he was new to town, what was he doing here.  By lucky coincidence he knew someone who could get exactly the information Volar was looking for.  Of course, it could not be talked about in public.  They’d have to go to the shop and slip into the back.  Mir had come over by now and Kikuchi was willing to take the two of them there, but no more of his ‘friend’ would get nervous.  Neither Volar nor Mir were falling for such an obvious trick and when Volar started talking about elvish traditions that involved mass bloodshed, Kikuchi suddenly remembered he had an appointment he was late for.Meanwhile, Verick was in conversation with ‘Matsu’ Shigeto, the boss of the Strong Arm Firemen.  He would not admit to knowing anything about men sent over to steal things from Kurocha’s shop.  But the man has disappeared and Shigeto was very interested in finding out where the teashop owner had gotten.  Since both he and Verick’s group were looking for Kurocha, he suggested they cooperate.  Someone was offering 10,000 koku for the return of the tea man.  Shigeto would not say who was offering this money; otherwise then Verick’s group might try to cut them out of the action.  But he could tell Verick that the curious clock would have to come from the Glitterune House of Foreign Mysteries.  Some business run by someone from the West.  One of those short types.  A Dwarf, something like that.  Shigeto’s deal was simple.  We work together, each let the other know if we find something, and then split the cash.  Shigeto would never consider that with anyone else, but with a Lion…well…if one Lion can’t trust another, who can?Verick didn’t bother to try and figure out the logical contradictions in all that.  He said he’d consider the offer and left it at that.  Rejoining with the group outside, Verick passed along the information he had gotten.  The group’s next stop…the Glitterune House of Foreign Mysteries.</blockquote>

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