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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Black Omega" data-source="post: 870444" data-attributes="member: 79">In the aftermath of the battle, Mindra remained invisible while healing everyone.  Volar remained invisible as well, checking the area out before the cautious elf was ready to admit the battle was finished.  Toshiro went into the burning house to look for Itoshi.  Verick checked the body of the Golden Scorpion, recovering a pouch of gems, some of which were obviously pried from golden fittings.  Once that was done he stood guard over the body of the Golden Scorpion, making sure it was properly treated and nothing was taken.  Even though Volar did try to tempt him by commenting that the Golden Scorpion’s mask, armor and weapons were all magical.Not everyone was so careful, though.  Yukiyo retreated from the burning house after deciding there was nothing of Itoshi’s worth looting.  Then she remembered the Scorpion shugenja.  The body had returned to normal once the puppy was killed and the vividly red and black armor was obviously of fine quality.  Dragging the dead lady off to the shadows, Yukiyo quickly stripped the body, tucking the gold and armor away into her magical bag.Mindra also made good use of his invisibility, a quiet detect magic revealing the Kusari-gama of the ninja was magical, as was a box tucked inside his armor.  Gold was also ‘recovered’ from the body.  The monk had been left inside the burning house.Making his way into the burning building, Toshiro found Itoshi bound to a table in a room off to the side.  The thin man was very weak, but alive and Toshiro wasted no time cutting him free of the bonds and helping him outside.Toshiro and the others also thanked Shinjo Toru for his help in the fight.  As much as they had trouble with the Thunderguard previously, they had to admit Toru had laid it all on the line for them.  Firemen soon arrived to help fight the fire before it spread.  Additional Thunderguards were summoned to secure the situation, and Verick made very sure the body of the Golden Scorpion was treated with all the respect due an honorable samurai.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Volar confirmed the jewels Verick had recovered were magical, though he could only guess at the spell.  Even so, the Scorpions had obviously thought the information could be hidden on them.  So Toshiro took the jewels and kept them well hidden so he could take them back to Lord Jyaku.Mir was ‘in seclusion’ during this period, suffering the aftereffects of some terribly debilitating Scorpion poison.  In fact, Volar, Yukiyo, and Mindra were conferring over what could be done.  Mindra felt he could restore Mir to life, though he would need time communing with the spirits before he would know the spell needed.  Until he had the free time to train, he had another spell that could partially revive Mir.  It would trap her for a week in a place between true life and death.  Yukiyo volunteered to look after Mir during this period.  Mir would be aware, after a sort.  But sluggish and easily confused.  This would allow them to get her back to Bugaisha so Mindra could do his training with the spirits and revive her fully.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In the meantime there were a few last minute things to do before the group could leave Bugaisha.  Toshiro, Kaz, Verick and his Sensei all got to have dinner again with the Lord of the city.  They also found out Shinjo Toru was being promoted to full officer, thanks to a recent opening in the ranks.  Toshiro took this as confirmation that heads had indeed rolled behind the scenes.  And with Toru getting a good report, his uncle could promote him without it looking like nepotism.Volar, Verick and Mindra also followed up with Agnar Glitterune about a project they wished kept secret.  A special golden clock for Toshiro’s wedding.  They wanted to get this underway well in advance so they could surprise Toshiro later.  Agnar took down notes on what they wanted.  A golden clock with little figures that would come out every hour.  One was to be Toshiro carrying a katana.  The other was to be O-Hisa, Volar made this easy by producing a illusion of the Unicorn girl so Agnar could get her appearance down.  O-Hisa’s figure would appear with a large war hammer.  Every hour the figures would come out, have a little mock battle that ended with a kiss.Yukiyo snuck out to do some work of her own.  Working with Mindra, she’d opened the magical box and found it contained a set of enchanted brushes and inks for calligraphy, that could also work well with her forgery skills.  Mindra had given the kusari-gama to Verick as a present without revealing where the weapon had come from.  Finally, with some work Yukiyo found a shady merchant willing to buy the heavy Scorpion armor, and for a good price.Verick had a secret project of his own.  He got in touch with Agnar on his own for a special project.  A clock for a certain Phoenix Lady he had competed against at the Topaz Championships.  He’d be in touch to work on the details later, for now he was getting the ball rolling with a downpayment and working up some ideas on how it should look.Volar had one little hidden project as well.  Using the knowledge gained from Buka during the Speak with Dead spell Mindra had cast as well as his own magical investigations, he found a way around the magical safeguards at the Golden Carp bank in the merchant sector.  A way to look like Buka without using illusionary magic.  He had previously popped around to visit the shady merchant, Whisper, to keep the word out that Buka was alive and hiding.  Then he visited the bank Polymorphed to look like the pudgy fellow.  Magical auras were no unusual thing in Ryoko Owari for one who was looking.  As long as it wasn’t an illusion, the bank security didn’t seem to concerned.  Volar knew from past experience, Shugenja didn’t have much experience with spells like Polymorph.  Appearing as Buka, he withdrew 10,000 koku from the man’s account.  Then on his way out of the bank, he used a smoke pellet to create a cloud of smoke, while he changed to look like a ninja, then disappeared suddenly and ran like hell before anyone could react.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Later that day, the group left for Bugaisha, just as word of the daring, mysterious robbery was spreading.  It was a two-week ride back to Bugaisha.  During that period the gaijin in the group, with Yukiyo’s help, maintained the illusion that Mir was simply badly ill.  Unlike the patrols they had encountered previously, the group now saw large groups of samurai on the move, heading to the east.  The group passed by Mir’s Grove on the way in, Cracked Nut offering a cheerful wave as they passed.  They didn’t want to pause, Volar would have to have a chat with him later about Mir’s condition and make sure there would be no trouble.Bugaisha was undergoing some repairs to the wall when the group arrived, and they soon learned why.  During their two month absence, there had been an attack by Hordeland nomads that was driven off only after a full month of fighting.  While Lord Jyaku had led a mobile force attacking the rear, Shinjo O-Hisa and Shinjo Yuji had been left in charge of the defense of Bugaisha and it’s surrounding villages.   They had distinguished themselves, with O-Hisa killing a Hordeland chieftain in battle.  Reporting in to Lord Jyaku, he accepted the jewels, confirming that they were indeed what he had been waiting for.  He would examine them later to find out what had been so important it cost Kurocha his life.</blockquote>

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