Rokugan D20: The Winds of Blood (Chapter 1)

[Tokiwong]

"Iie, Gunso-Sensei Basho," replied Kyuzo spirited. While he would have been content to serve the rest of his life on the training round, if duty demanded it, the chance to step forward on the path of enlightenment by means of actually applying and testing his knowledge and abilites outside of the training routines had no small affect on Kyuzo.
Luckily even this excitement could barely touch his natural aura of calm and detachment. Still, he did his best to keep up the proper appearance.

"I surmise that we are excused now to begin our preparations, Gunso-Sensei?"

"Hai, Kyuzo-san," he replied, "If you have no questions then you are dismissed and report back here in the morning, I wish to have this matter neatly dealt with. My role is simply supervisory, hopefully the training you have recieved will have given you some knowledge to handle such a simple matter while I attend to the matter of properly disciplining the Yoriki and his assistants."

Gunso-Sensei Basho sighs, "Fortunes bless me, I am about to allow you all a small parcel of responsibility."

 

[Yellow Sign]

Michiba gives Gunso-Sensei Basho a deep bow. " I have no questions Gunso-Sensei Basho-sama and I wish to prepare myself for tomorrow journey. If you will excuse me."

With the Sensei's leave, Michiba will find his room and ready his weapons and equipment. He will find some food and then take a long hot bath. He will report here in the morning about a hour early to enjoy the morning and meditate on the journey ahead.

 

[Chauzu]

Takane gives Gunso-Sensei Basho a short bow and says, "I also have no questions, Gunso-Sensei Basho. If I may be excused I shall carry on preparations and meditate in my quarters."

With his leave, Takane will go to his room to ready his equipment, eat lots of food, take an evening walk, and then meditate before sleep. Early in the morning Takane will take a bath and then he will report back in 20 minutes early, as usual.

 

[Douane]

Kyuzo deeply bows towards the Gunso-Sensei:

"We will not fail you, Gunso-Sensei Basho!"

After leaving the hall, Kyuzo uses most of the remaining day to train his mastery of the "Way of Iaijutsu", since he seldom has the opportunity to do so without the teasings of his fellow samurai.

The late afternoon and early evening he will spend in mediation, reckoning he will lack the proper peace of mind to do so when Tadashi returns from his visit to the new Geisha House.

After the obligatory bath in the morning Kyuzo will report to the Gunso-Sensei with his travelling gear ready and in proper order.

 

[Tokiwong]

The Journey to Black Stone Village

The Hour of the Hare, the 16th day of the Hare in the year 1152 IC

The early morning comes, and Gunso-Sensei Basho is there waiting, dressed in his heavy armor, and fully armed, he nods to each samurai and monk as they arrive, thankfully on time.

I will assume you have your standard travel gear, and such, you can post what gear you are taking with you, on this rather short journey.

Basho is a man of few words in the cool morning, and gets the troupe out on the road in the morning, it is a brisk pace, but manageble for those less used to marching amidst Crab bushi. The rice paddies already have the peasants working to cultivate the new crop, their wide brim conical hats clearly visible. They avoid eye contact, and continue their work as the samurai pass.

Hour of the Rooster, on the 16th of the Hare

Perhaps four Rokugani hours have passed, 8 normal hours, as the trail begins a slight incline into the hills, and the land becomes less useful for farming and more so for mining, it is just before the fall of the sun in the West, that the troupe comes upon the three bodies, and a turned over wagon, which looks to be damaged.

The first of the three bodies looks to be a Crab official, the mon of the clan still emblazoned on his chest, along with two arrows in his back, and what looks to be a slit in his neck. The other two look to be servants with arrows in their sides. The arrows are of standard Crab design, straight forward and deadly. There corpses look to have been picked at by scavengers, and look to have been dead for some time.

Gunso-Sensei Basho frowns, "The fate of the tax-collector, most unfortunate."

 

[Yellow Sign]

"Humm, ambushed. They didn't know what hit them." Michiba then turns to address Gunso-Sensei Basho. "Did not the Tax Collector have any guards with him?"

 

[Tokiwong]

"Humm, ambushed. They didn't know what hit them." Michiba then turns to address Gunso-Sensei Basho. "Did not the Tax Collector have any guards with him?"

Basho looks at the scene, "I would assume he would have had some armed guard, perhaps they still live, or perhaps he felt strong enough to travel without armed guard. Bandits are rare in this region, only a fool challenges the might of Hiruma-sama."

 

[Lichtenhart]

Re: The Journey to Black Stone Village

Kaiji passed most of the day before on the seashore, communing with water kami, and those meditations always relaxed him. He woke up in the morning with no worries, and he traveled along with a smile, blessing the peasants they met with humble prayers to Inari, Daikoku and Ebisu. His fine mare made little effort on the Crab plains, nonetheless he dutifully dismounted every hour not to tire her. When the party found the body he quickly dismounted to examine the scene.

"How strange. If I was a bandit, and knew very well the might of Hiruma-sama, I would have never left the bodies in this way. I would have hidden them, so that those sent to investigate wouldn't have found so soon where they were assailed, and I could have hidden my band better. They're either fools or very self-confident. Should we find someone to carry them to the city? I could care after their cremation if needed."

Kaiji stops to murmur a brief prayer to their ancestors to accompany them in their last travel, and to Emma-O to judge them with benevolence.

Then he searches the wagon for clues, and possibly one of the arrows that were used to kill them. "Who uses arrows like those? Do you recognize them?"

 

[Yellow Sign]

Taking a arrow, Michiba examines it. (OOC: I will use my Craft: Fletchery)

"Gunso-Sensei Basho-sama, how close are we to this Black Stone Villiage? We need some eta to take care of the bodies."

 

[Tokiwong]

Kaiji inspects the wagon, and the arrow, it does not look atypical, at all, the arrowhead though is of shaved flint, cheaply made, something easily produced, perhaps even by local peasants.

The wagon itself is filled with loose bundles of cloth, stained with blood, he finds nothing of value outside of the loose bundles of rough cloth. There is an Imperial Writ with the seal of the Hiruma-sama upon it, though the seal has been broken. It reads:

By command of Daimyo Hiruma Aiko, Tase Agito is charged with the gathering of taxes from the Black Stone Village, Strong Ox Village, and North Mountain Village. He has full jurisdiction to gather all leveied taxes, obstruction of these duties will be dealt with quickly, and the fashion commensurate to the obstruction.

-Daimyo Hiruma Aiko, Lord of the Province of Strong Winds