A Rising Tide

[Nina]

Kyuden Seppun, Winter Court 1122-1123 

 

The season was turning, snow had been melting though the skies were still gray, and the Winter Court was beginning to break up. The Emperor had returned to his palace in Imperial City while his son was sent to Ryoko Owari Toshi, to oversee the disposition of the Opium War that had occurred there. The war between Lion and Crane Clans had simmered during court, due mainly to the Imperial Advisors ability to avoid placing the opposing clans where they could make an excuse for a duel. It is a remarkable historic fact that the Imperial Winter Court had no fatal duels fought. But soon that war would begin to heat up.  

 

Shosuro Kamiko had been at court as part of the Scorpion entourage, a reward for her service as a deputy of the Jade Magistrate. The only recognition she had received for the duties she had performed at great risk.   She was preparing to leave Court herself when she was invited to tea. This was not an unusual occurrence as she was, in her own way, quite popular. At least among her fellow Scorpions.

No what made this unusual was the inviter.

 

Bayushi Kachiko, the Imperial Advisor.

 

Kamiko arrived at the appointed time and after formalities were observed, she was bade sit. Lady Kachiko sent the servants away and served the tea herself. Once the service was complete the Lady sat across for Kamiko and watched the younger Scorpion as she sipped her tea. “It has been some time Kamiko-san, I hope you are well. You are wondering why I asked you to tea.” 

 

Kamiko gazed at her host, though older by many years, Kachiko looked young and beautiful still. Before she could answer Lady Kachko continued, “Your service with the Jade magistrates has finished, you were integral to the success of the Swords of Heaven, though your contributions were oft ignored, rest assured they did not go unnoticed by all.

 

Do you know, Kamiko-san, what it is you wish to do now that you are …free?”

 

 

Tsuma Winter 1122-1123

 

Retsu was dead.

 

Kakita Zoyu stared at the river, the surface frozen solid just a day and a night ago, now once again flowing sluggishly its surface a field of floating ice islands.

 

Retsu was dead. And not by her hand. Not in battle. Not even by an assassin’s blade.

 

Retsu had died of sickness. Fitting perhaps, but unsatisfying.

 

All her effort, her position, wasted for nothing. With the miscreant dead she could not clear Rin’s name, could not prove anything except for after the fact and it would count for nothing. She had needed a confession. A confession she could not get. And Kakita Zoyu always got what she wanted.

 

“He will see you now Kakita-sama.”

 

The students voice brought her back to the here and now, and other worries. She turned to follow the student a girl of about fifteen, pretty, and her mind strayed again to wonder about Rin. Where was she?

 

Zoyu entered the dojo, it was one of the smaller practice rooms Kakita Toshimoko was across the room he was bare chested and Zoyu could see the sheen of sweat on his muscles. Even at his age he was fit and strong, only the lines on his face betrayed his passage from youth and even then, he did not look his age, whatever that may have been. He had obviously just finished practicing either alone or with another who was already gone.

 

She bowed and he smiled broadly at her.

 

 “That will be all Ami. Please have Kote bring wine.”

 

The student bowed deeply and left.

 

Toshimoko watched Zoyu as he dryed the sweat then put on his undergarment the smile never leaving his face.

 

“Did you except Dogi Namura’s ‘invitation’?” he asked as he finish wrapping the outer garment.

 

Dogi Namura was the Daimyo of the Crane and her, as well as Toshimoko’s liege lord. She had received a letter today, this morning as the sun rose Asking if she would Join his service as Kenshinzo. While She was a Crane and owed fealty to Dogi Namura, she had not been sworn to his service, she had been a Jade Magistrate and had been sworn to the Jade Champion and thus to the Emperor. But she had resigned and was now free, free to take service where she willed.

 

Being name Kenshinzo would be a great honor, especially at her young age, but it would also place her under the direct Service of the Crane daimyo. Her duty would be his will.

 

It also bothered her that the offer had come only a day after learning of Retsu’s death. And now somehow Kakita Tosimoko, her sensi knows about what should have been a private correspondence.

 

Ryoko Owari Toshi

 

Thunder shook Kaneteru awake, he rolled to his feet grabbing his staff as he rose. The sky was black with ferocious storm clouds, roiling, pierced by yellow lightning. The wind howled around him his robes lashed against his body, dust flew making it hard to see. The howl grew louder, closer. It was dry there was no rain despite the storm. The howl was louder but no longer sounded like a wind, now it sounded like an army. The dust blew around him, the wind like a tornado. He turned toward the howl and the wind and clouds parted. Before him a hill, step and rocky, beyond the hill jagged mountains wreathed in shadow, and coming over the hill an army. An army of demons howling with the voices of Hell.

 

Thunder crashed!

 

Kaneteru awoke with a start as the thunder crashed again, only it wasn’t thunder. The sound that had woken him was the noise of the carpenters tearing down the skeletons of burned buildings on the street his inn was located on.  He rolled over and looked up at the narrow shogi and the light it let in.

 

He had slept later than was his wont, the dream was probably at fault. It had been vivid and even now he could recall it with almost perfect clarity.

 

His stomach growled.

 

Later the Monk made his way down the rickety stairs. It was a poor inn but one of the few still standing that had had a place that he could sleep inside out of the cold. The dream bothered him still something he couldn’t put his finger on.

 

He stopped halfway down the stairs. It was a poor inn the common room was open right off the stairs. To the left was a makeshift counter where the beer and wine were served from , there was a curtained door behind the counter between the shelves led back to the kitchen and storage. The room was square and had an uneven floor there were a quarter dozen short tables scattered around the room there were no cushion or benches for sitting. A small stage was against the far wall where a couple of musicians or performers could perform. Beside that was a narrow hall that led to the door.

 

A half dozen customers stood at the far corner and the Inns proprietor, an emaciated man with a cadaverous face, stood behind the counter. All of these people were watching a lone man sitting at one of the tables legs crossed one the floor. He was bent over the table eating noisily. His broad back was to him but  Kaneteru could see  that there was a bowl or rice balls a bowl of soup and a jug of water on the table there was also a wakizashi beside the jug, not on the floor. The man wore laborers clothes not the clothes of a Samurai. Kaneteru glanced toward the door there were two long swords leaning against the wall by the door and a dirty bundle.

 

“Are you going to stand on the stairs all day?”  The seated man spoke, and the voice was not that of a man. He was a woman! The woman picked up the jug of water and poured some into a wooden cup, “Join me if you wish There is too much for me alone and you look poorer than me.”

 

The woman picked up the cup and her sleeve slipped up on her arm revealing a Tattoo of a pair of Koi on her inner wrist that Keneteru could make out as she drank.

 

She never once turned his way.

[SalmonMax]

Do you know, Kamiko-san, what it is you wish to do now that you are …free?”

 

Kamiko did not bat an eyelash at the oddly familiar address from Bayushi-sama. In the company of Scorpions she often chose to go veiled rather than masked, and even an inquisitive lift of an eyebrow would be noted. Instead she lifted her teacup to her lips and sipped delicately, mulling the question over.

 

What she wished was not at issue here, she knew that at once. Bayushi-sama had purpose for calling her here, and was likely probing to test her loyalty or...compatibility, perhaps, with a task she needed done. To wish, to be free...these were curious things indeed for one's superiors to dangle in one's face, unless it was to gauge her reaction. But it wouldn't do at all to call her out on any of that.

 

"Yes, Bayushi-sama," she said after lowering her cup. "I do know. My work is far from done. Before being called to serve Clan and Empire at the side of the magistrates, I had heard distant murmurs of sacrificed animals in the hills north of the Painted City. If maho was involved, there may yet be some embers in the ashes of the trail to follow."

 

Her eyes lifted then, from her hands and cup to Kachiko's eyes...ever so briefly...as she added, "Unless Clan and Empire has some other task for me, of course."

[Nina]

Kachiko makes a slight, almost imperceptible, nod, "I admire your dedication," her eyes never leave Kamiko's, "but, it has been so long, I would hate to see you waste effort on a well that has likely dried up. I have acquaintances in that region. If you wish it, I can have them see if those clues still exist. If you wish it.

 

In the mean time, there is something. I don't know if you have heard but Kakita Zoyu, whom you worked with, resigned from the Magistrate to pursue a mystery. You may have heard about the duel she was to have with a minor Samurai that besmirched the reputation of a friend of hers. The details are scandalous. It was this duel which led to the Mirumoto magistrate, you know her too, Rin, to murder, pardon, kill, several would be assassins' or so she claimed. While acquitted of murder, she was forced to resign. But you know all of that.

 

Now the Kakita got it in her head that Doji Retsu. you know, the one who started this war between the Lion and the Crane. She believed that Retsu wanted her dead and arranged the duel and hired the assassins' to kill her. At least that is what the Mirumoto told her. Now the Kaita has spent the better part of a year searching for proof. But then Retsu died this winter. And so true or not it is moot. Luckily Kaita Zoyu did not make her suspicions public. So it seems the whole sordid affair is over.'

 

Lady Kachico sat back on her heels a hand slips into her kimono and comes out with a small tightly rolled scroll. "Or maybe not."

 

She leans forward again. "It seems there may be some truth to what the Mirumoto disscovered, but incomplete. Retsu you see did not die of the fever he was poisoned," she shakes her head, " do not ask how I know, I have my ways. But the Kakita is still in danger and now she is alone without the Swords of Heaven to protect her. Kakita Zoyu and I have our differences but we both desire the same thing. I wish to... inform her, but at the same time I do not wish to be seen getting involved.

 

But you, Kamiko-san, you are a friend, you worked together for along time. Perhaps you would like to visit with her again."

 

Kachiko is holding the scroll loosely, not so much handing it to Kamiko as allowing Kamiko to make a choice.

[SalmonMax]

Kamiko did not reach for the scroll immediately. This wasn't so much because she had any intention of refusing, but rather because she wanted to collect her thoughts...and did not wish to appear too eager to accept. A choice was a rare gift. Given one, it was expected to at least consider one's options. This situation did not, on the surface, address her usual interest in undoing the workings of black magic...but she had found that the embrace of such magic was almost always used by those seeking to undermine the Empire at one point or another. It was too powerful to ignore, and if one was already a traitor and outlaw, there was no reason not to pursue that power.

 

The war between Lion and Crane was a crisis in the Empire, more even than it seemed on the surface. The Kakita and Mirumoto samurai had, by fortune or design, found themselves swept up in some secret about its origin. A secret they were sorely unprepared to untangle...and, when discovered, use properly.

 

The presence of a Scorpion was required. More to the point, her unique relationship with the former Swords of Heaven made her the best one for this task.

 

She had questions. How had Zoyu 'got it into her head' that Retsu was behind the war? How had Rin discovered the assassins, and what had she learned about them? Was this something they'd stumbled into, or a course that had been set for them? These answers, and more, she would have to tease forth from this grim tapestry.

 

"A friend is valuable beyond jewels and jade," she said, and reached for the scroll. "I should very much like to visit them again, in these trying times."

[Veral]

Kaneteru smiled weakly, "I may be poorer in the material sense, but spiritually, I have a feeling we are both gifted." He came down off the steps and sat across from the Woman with the Koi tattoo. He looked her over, his trained eye indicating that this woman was not what she was portraying. She may have been a "poor traveler" but she was still a samurai. What a samurai was doing here, in attempted disguise, was the true question. However that question would have to wait. "It would be an honor to share a meal with you. I am Togashi Kaneteru. Whom do I have the pleasure of sharing a meal with?"

[Nina]

The woman Samurai sniffed loudly and slid the rice balls toward Kaneteru. The monk now noticed that she had a tattoo on the left side of her neck, the leg and tail of a dragon, curling around her ear the bulk of the tattoo hidden by her unkempt hair. "Heh, well said."  She leveled her gaze at the men standing in the corner, "I am Mirumoto Rin," she turned back to Togashi, "It is a pleasure to meet you Togashi-san. I do not often find myself in the company of a brother."

 

She signals the proprietor and pointed at the bowl of soup and then at Kaneteru. "Pay no mind to those cowards over there. They are members of a gang, the side effect of the recent Opium War which gutted the normal power base here in the City of Lies. These dogs and their ilk have been extorting the businesses that didn't burn.' Rin spoke matter of factly between sips of soup and bite from her own rice ball. She also spoke loudly.

 

The proprietor shuffled up staying on the side closest to Kaneteru. He set a full bowl of soup in front of him.

[Asarasa]

Tsuma Winter 1122-1123

 

"This one has not yet decided, Toshimoko-sensei," Zoyu murmured, serving the wine the younger student had brought with airy grace while her mentor finished garbing himself. Though her mismatched eyes were half lidded, there was nothing demur in her gaze.

Kakita Toshimoko would make an exemplary husband, though he seemed committed to being a bachelor after the issue with his first wife. The finest duelist in the Empire, he may have been older than her father, but he was still more fit than a man half his age, and more than handsome to her eyes, with marvellous hands.

He was also a sensei of some renown, having trained many of high station in the Empire, including Prince Satorii, and the Daimyo of the Crane himself, as well as others. Though unexpected, she could see how Toshimoko may have learned of Doji Namura-sama's invitation so swiftly. She was Toshimoko's student with the greatest potential, after all, the invitation could very well have been at his behest.

However, that it had come a mere day after learning of Retsu's death sowed a seed of doubt within her breast. Perhaps, it was engaging with Tsukiko and her Scorpion brethren while investigating the truth behind Doji Retsu and who may have aided him in his perfidy which had cast a tainted cloud over Rin - which had turned up little - but the timing of Retsu's death and the great offer seemed a little too convenient. Something to distract her from her pursuit.

Which didn't mean she wasn't greatly tempted by the offer. Being accounted among the Kenshinzen had always been on the path she had been crafting for herself, and being offered the position by her Clan Daimyo was a tremendous honour indeed...

And yet, Zoyu was not resigned to being thwarted in clearing a dear comrade's name by a mere death. She had spent over a year pursuing her investigation as she decided. She had been a student of a Kenku swordmaster, and though amidst Tisuri-sama'a aerie and beyond, it had felt to be many times longer, when she had returned, she had found just a single year had passed. Though Honour and Duty made their demands, Zoyu had grown used to being her own mistress, walking her own path.

It could not be forever, of course, but she was relunctant to relinquish her freedom so soon. And to be fair, Doji Namura's invitation was a request, not a command from her Clan Daimyo. Still, she felt the weight of the invitation, slipped up the sleeve of her fine and flattering kimono - raven and azure and patterned with windswept sakura blossoms - and it had nothing to due with the mass of the sumptuous paper.

"It is a great honour being presented, to be sure," Zoyu said, gliding over to Toshimoko's side and taking a sip of wine. She made a please sound, it was a fine vintage, light and fruity and fragrant. There were advantages to being the head of the unequaled Kakita Dueling Academy. "And yet, it is hard to give up a self proposed quest, despite the chain this one has been following being terminally clipped short."

She tossed her head, long luxurious hair, half ebony, half ivory, tied up in a foxtail dancing across her shoulders and back. A bare curve to her full lips hinted at a smile. "If Empire and Clan called me to serve directly, this one will of course accede. But this ones believes her quest does serve the Empire and Clan, and has grown used to flying free." The faint curve deepened. "Much like certain elder samurai who have much to offer a household, but have not settled down, yet."

Zoyu sighed and finished her wine, then turned to look out a window. It was still outside, warm for this time of year. With the bare trees, the slow flowing river riddles with chunks of jagged ice, and the sun a blur behind grey clouds, it was a good scene for an ink wash painting, perhaps adding just a splash of colour of a single bird or flower.

"What think you of the offer, Toshimoko?"  Zoyu asked, more casual, even intimate, then she ever would be in public. "Mentor and friend, do you believe Doji-sama would be affronted if I asked for time before deciding on the answer to his request?"

She wasn't asking what to do, but she would hear the advice of a man she greatly respected and admired, and yes, even desired, who had known her practically since she had first held a wooden sword. The Bushido made of the people of the Empire something greater than the beasts in the wild or the uncouth barbarians outside Rokugan. But Tisuri, and Toshimoko himself - with his many dalliances and frequenting of geisha - had taught her that passion could be folded and folded again, like the steel of a blade, to be made into something greater...

Even if passion came into conflict with the Bushido. Perhaps, because it all too often did.

Zoyu smiled to herself. She had read far too many pillow books and romances.

[Nina]

Zoyu and Toshimoko

 

"Humph." grunted Toshimoko deep in his chest, his features, for a moment grimaced, as if wrestling with an unseen opponent. "What I think, it seems is of little concern to any but you, Zoyu. I was not consulted. Indeed were it not for a little bird whispering in my ear..." He lets the thought trail off and sips the wine.

 

"I have of course followed your career, but then you dropped out of sight for a whole year only to turn up here at winters onset. I will not pry. You have made a name for yourself. But you are young and in my opinion have not yet reached the heights for which that title was intended."

 

He turns to face Zoyu squarely. "I do not think Doji Namura thought of this on his own. Or if he did, his motive is not to honor you but to serve himself. If you accept he will send you to war. You are not a soldier, Zoyu, you are a fighter, fast, skilled, deadly. No, this is politics.  Accept this and you will not serve, you will be used."

 

 

[Veral]

Kaneteru smiled at the proprietor as he placed the soup bowl in front of him. He then nodded in thanks to the man. "So, Mirumoto-san. What can I help one such as yourself with? I do have some time available, as my next task is late in coming. However, I must say, it is a dangerous game you are playing here. If you wish to run the gangs out of town, wouldn't a magistrate or two and their entourages be more helpful than a simple monk? I can provide names if you are looking for someone to trust. Not that I am afraid, but it's just not practical to keep going to each gang and throwing every member out personally." Kaneteru took a small bite of his rice ball, and a sip of water. "But you are not quite the simple Mirumoto that you portray, are you?" He chuckled and hid his smile behind his hand, "Sorry, but even if I hadn't been trained by the Kitsuki, as a youngster, the tattoos give more away among our kind than you would probably like known in public. Perhaps we should continue this in a place with less ears and eyes."

[Nina]

In the City of Lies

 

Mirumoto Rin burst into laughter, after several deep guffaws she took a deep breath. "I don't know about that Tagashi-san, I am a fairly simple Dragon. I am not here to throw out gangsters, I am here for the soup. Grandfather there is a very good cook. That is why they didn't burn his inn. Where else would they get the soup."

 

Rin picks up her bowl and drains it loudly smacking her lips after. "Very good soup."

 

One of the gangsters had started edging slowly toward the stage and the corner where Rin's swords were. Keneteru could see the Duelists eyes moving to follow him.

 

"But it does raise a question," the gangster stops, "why are their six gangsters in this inn each with their collections, when the only other people here are you, me, and grandfather?"

[Veral]

"Perhaps not all is as it appears to be. After all, a recipe can be traded, can it not?" Kaneteru smiled. He took a long slurp of the soup. The monk looked over his shoulder at the inn owner, "The soup is lovely. What kind of soup is this? it is very tasty, but hard for my tongue to identify. Maybe I've spent too much time in the mountains." He said the last very quietly, aimed at Rin. "Maybe the gangsters could help me identify the ingredients. After all they must be well-informed, if they are collecting money from the survivors and other businesses. Should I call them donations or, what they truthfully are, shakedowns?" He carefully stood up, and stretched out his back by leaning back. While leaning back he glanced over at the 6 gangsters and 'grandfather.' "The world has such a wonderful variety of perspectives. I find there are three that matter. " He stood straight up. "The three are: Yours, Mine, and The Truth. In my perspective, forced payments are theft. Thieves should be punished, and cowardly thieves even more so. Would you care to provide another perspective, gangster-san?" He looked right at the one trying to make for the package in the corner.

[Asarasa]

Zoyu and Toshimoko

With her poise and pride, Zoyu did not let her shoulders slump, but a frown flitted across her exquisite features as she turned from window. To join the Kenshinzen, one typically had to defeat a member of the Kenshinzen. But of course, a Daimyo of one of the Great Clans can make their own decrees. And if she still had no doubt she would be accounted among their number, Zoyu had to reluctantly agree with her dear sensei's assessment, and perhaps she yet needed a bit of seasoning before she could legitimately be elevated to the rank of Kenshinzen.

That she would be sent into the war between the Crane and the Lion had been a concern. Indeed, she was a swordswoman, not a soldier, as Toshimoko had said, but she would have done as commanded by her Daimyo and her Honour, despite her wants. But it had not occurred to her that the leader of her own clan might have a nefarious reason to thrust her into a war. Her own growing greatness would brighten the Crane, not darken them.

Zoyu might have dabbled her toes in Court, but she was a blademaster foremost, and not a politician.

She stepped towards Toshimoko, a touch closer than propriety would dictate and looked up at him. "Doji Retsu. And now it seems, even Doji Namura-sama himself. Why? What has this one done to turn her Clan against one of its rising stars?" Her full lips firmed into a tight line, mismatched eyes glittered. "Links of investigation may have been severed, but perhaps there links yet to discover to piece together."

Her eyelids lowered and a faint, enigmatic curve grow on her lips. "Of another mystery, should you ask, one day, this one will tell you of her year missing from the Empire."

[Nina]

In the City of Lies…

The gangster froze, eyes wide staring at the Monk and the Samurai, then his eyes shifted to the other criminals and back to the table.

 

The old man scuttled away.

 

Everyone was still, except Rin, who picked up her bowl of soup with one hand and slurped loudly.

 

The tension crackled like the air after a lightning strike. The Gangster narrowed his eyes, he was offended by the disdain the dirty samurai showed him.

Eyes darted around the room from one to another, hands bunched into fists, muscles tensed…

 

The rage and fear took hold of the semi brave gangster they were six, them only two. With a cry he dashed to the swords as his fellow criminals charged the table some drawing small one handed clubs and one a cooking knife…

 

Spoiler

Initiative needed roll and post in the discord combat channel

 

Tsuma Winter 1122-1123

 

Shosuro Kamiko settled into the quarters set aside for her by her benefactor. The journey by wagon had been quick and pleasant, though still cold, the melting snows had made for a picturesque countryside to travel through, and it was good to be doing something.

 

And the first thing she did was compose a message to her friend…

 

Spoiler

at this point zoyu does not know that Kamiko is now in Tsuma. it has been over a year since they have seen each other. adress any questions on discord

 

[Veral]

Kaneteru just let out a belly laugh at the thought of these criminals trying to take down an acolyte of Togashi's on his own, let alone one paired with a Dragon samurai. As they approached closer, bunching together to be the first to strike, he took in a deep breath, focused his energy on his chest tattoo and when the breath felt like it was burning his lungs, he let it out. From the monk's mouth a wave of black and purple flame erupted, spreading out to encompass many of the criminals. The breath didn't seem to burn them, or freeze them, but they reacted in pain, nonetheless. His eyes glanced over at the one trying to grab the swords, as he made sure that one was affected. Once his breath was released, with blinding speed, he reached into his sash, drew out 3 fine pointed throwing slivers, and tossed them at the one focused on the blades, the one with the cooking knife and one with the clubs. Once the little slivers hit, they embedded themselves in the flesh of their targets doing much more damage than one would think. The ones just hit with the breath looked ragged, but the ones hit by the needles looked very bad. The monk gazed right at the one going for the swords, "No. Bad gangster. Those aren't yours." Kaneteru was speaking to the gangster as if he was a recalcitrant puppy. 

Spoiler

Dozer — Today at 3:49 PM

Breath damage

[3:49 PM]

/r 3d6

 

Dozer used /roll

 

Dice Maiden

BOT

 — Today at 3:49 PM

Dozer Request: [3d6] Roll: [6, 4, 3] Result: 13

 

Dozer — Today at 3:51 PM

Kunai shower damage

NEW

 

Dozer used /roll

 

Dice Maiden

BOT

 — Today at 3:51 PM

Dozer Request: [1d6+2d4+3] Roll: [4][4, 4] Result: 15

 

 

 

13 points of Psychic damage to all the gangsters.

15 Additional to the three with the Kunai attacks.

They all have the weakened condition, the three with kunai have bleeding as well.

 

 

[SalmonMax]

Kamiko wrote her missive in an elegant hand, dipping pen to ink and setting it to calligraphy in a courtly style. The language was flowery, its meaning couched behind simple-seeming platitudes.

 

Dearest friend,

It has not been so long a time since we saw each other last,

But it feels already as though it had been too long.

The sun that shone so brightly upon us while together has set, casting

long shadows that rise up around you, closing in.

With distance comes clarity, the sages write.

I see now that our paths have not yet diverged.

For the sake of the old times, and the new, let us again come together.

 

The one who's hand bears this message is trusted by me. Tell them a place and time

and I will be there.

 

She weighted the edges of the paper so it wouldn't curl, then left it to dry as she gathered a few items she'd be needing. Kamiko had planned this to the day of the delivery. The night sky was dim this night, the moon new and hidden. With pinches of thumb and forefinger, she extinguished each candle flame in her room.

 

"Twelve willow branches stripped of bark," she said, arranging the offering in a brass bowl and setting them alight. The light from the dull fire set shadows leaping crazily around the walls of the room. "in oil rendered from the fat of the fox. Cleverness and guile, mischief and malice, I call you to be in this room with me tonight. The moon's eye is closed, Yokina Uso no Kami. We are safe here in the dark."

 

The flames went out.

 

whaaaaaat do you waaaaant mortal thiiiiiiiiing

 

The voice was sibilant and rasping, heard as much in the skull as with the ears. It set the skin of any natural thing crawling.

 

Kamiko smiled.

 

===

 

It was a peasant girl who came to the door of the Kakita estate that night, bare faced and dressed in humble, drab clothing. She looked down away from even the servant who came to investigate, offering up a scroll with the wax seal of Shosuro on it. Though the servant moved to take the scroll, the messenger fearfully whispered that she was to deliver it herself, and that she dared not cross the lady who set her to it.

 

The messenger was searched of course, for any weapon or instrument of guile, but there was nothing. She was just a girl, no matter who had hired her.

 

Finally she was escorted through the Kakita home, still clutching the scroll as if it was a life preserver...visibly wondering if this terror was worth the money paid for the delivery.

 

Before being brought to Zoyu, the servant announced her.

 

"Kakita-sama, this girl has a message from a..." and here even the doorman's face let slip a pinch of disgust, "...Scorpion. One Shosuro Kamiko."

 

The girl flung herself to her knees and held the scroll up with both hands, shutting her eyes tightly as if expecting the stroke of a sword at any moment.

 

"I beg your pardon great samurai," she gasped. "I was asked to receive your reply to this message! I could not give it away!"

 

 

For Nina's eyes:

Spoiler

I rolled a 21 on Deception to impersonate this peasant lass. Using a 1 hour casting of Mask of Wind to change appearance.

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by SalmonMax

[Asarasa]

Tsuma

Zoyu had taken a few days to compose a response to the Crane Clan Daimyo. And it had a been a few days later when his reply arrived. Though she had a taken care to make her refusal of his invitation to the Kenshinzen polite, wishing to earn her way into the august organization in the typical fashion rather through the beneficence of a Clan Daimyo, it had been a refusal all the same. Doji Namura's acceptance of her refusal had been curt with edged anger behind the façade of noble disappointment. 

It was but a day later when another messenger arrived for her. Zoyu hadn't yet determined where to even begin her unauthorized investigation. When the servant found her, the stunning swordswoman was just finishing an evening of swordplay. She had grown used to varying her times of practice, training, and exercise. The Kenku could be... unpredictable.

The peasant girl was presented to a striking, uncannily beautiful Crane woman dressed in a thin white kimono patterned with blue cranes and black ravens that flattered her curvaceous form. Fair skin and long, loose hair, half ivory, half ebony, still shone with her exertions. The fine blade rode her hip as though a part of her. Mismatched eyes of jade and topaz eyed the girl coolly as she received the scroll.

"Shosuro Kamiko? A name this one has not heard in sometime." Zoyu's voice was low and smooth. It held a faint note of coy danger, an aural bared blade. There was the softest of rustling as she gracefully unfurled the missive. "A reply you will have when the message has been read."

Perhaps is was Doji Retsu's perfidy, Doji Namura's possible connection to it and attempting to send her into mortal danger, but Zoyu couldn't help but be suspicious of the unexpected. The peasant girl looked the part of a peasant girl, sounded the part of a peasant girl, acted the part of a peasant girl. But she did not quite move like a peasant girl. Zoyu's eyes flowed over the elegant kanji on the paper. She pursed her full lips. If Shosuro Kamiko trusted this girl, then Zoyu doubted she was indeed a mere peasant girl.

It was couched in allusions, but yet another message of danger towards her. Zoyu frowned. Perhaps, even from one she had counted a companion. Which did not mean she would not accept the invitation to a meeting. With no obvious leads to the threats aimed her way, Zoyu was willing to step towards the danger to find some.

Zoyu was very good friends - at one time, more than friends - with a very adept Scorpion Actress. This girl, she was playing the part of anxious, almost obsequious, peasant girl tasked with presenting a message to one well above her station, and she was playing it well. Too well. It lacked the small imperfections, personal affectations to truly add the verisimilitude of a real individual.

"This one's reply is thus: Kakita Zoyu will treat with Shosuro Kamiko at the House of the Laughing Carp, two days hence, at the hour of the Horse. Will you be accompanying your mistress, 'girl'?"

Though Zoyu's tone was pleasant, almost merry, her eyes danced with something almost wild. Her hands were folded demurely in the sleeves of her kimono, but the 'girl' couldn't help but be aware Kakita Zoyu's blade was less than a breath away.

 

Spoiler

The Hour of the Horse is 12pm-2pm. Rokugani hours are two hours long.

 

[SalmonMax]

"Then you'll meet her," gasped the peasant. She stayed prostrate though and added, in meek tones, "I am to deliver...one more message in that case, but it is for your ears only."

 

She doesn't look up at the servant who had escorted her in, but he is the only other presence in the room.

 

Zoyu and the servant's eyes met briefly, and she motioned her head just so, angling it towards the door. He looked conflicted for a moment, but only for a moment. Who was he to argue with a lady of this house? With a deep bow, he left the room.

 

The peasant stayed on the floor for a moment, then slowly got to her feet, still bowed, her hands showing. She said, in just a whisper, "I invoke the protections of the third compact of the Legion of Brass. Stand with us, o' blind and mute guardian and let what transpires be known only to those present." Something whirled through the room, like a breeze but less substantial. The walls seemed to almost flex, every so slightly. Then all was quiet and calm.

 

Then she straightened herself...and as she did, shadows and colors streamed off of her, smearing around her as if she were a watercolor painting in the rain. The display drained away, leaving a taller figure in their wake, dressed in a red and gold kimono with an ornate golden mask covering the upper portion of her face. The only truth from the seeming she'd worn was her lack of weaponry...though Zoyu well knew that for a shugenja, that was less of a limit than it might be for others.

 

Kamiko inclined her head, recognizing Zoyu's recognition, and smiled.

 

"I ask your forgiveness for the ruse, though I am gratified you sensed something amiss as well. I did not go to this trouble just to test your household and perceptions though. As it is, it is known that a message was delivered, one known and one unknown, and that we will meet. Our true meeting will be here though, and now. My message took care only to mention the danger to yourself, but what I am far more concerned about is the danger to another. A mutual friend of us both."

 

She shook her head. "We will need her help...and she will most definitely need ours. You have both stumbled into very deep waters, old friend. Both the storms overhead and the currents below conspire against you now."

 

Spoiler

Threshold Barrier to ward living beings away and make eavesdropping harder, with extra favor sprinkled on top to make it ward off scrying spells.

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by SalmonMax

[Asarasa]

Zoyu arched a brow as Kamiko revealed herself and magic swirled around them. She had no skill with communing with the Kami, but she had witnessed many strange things during her time with the Kenku.

But when Kamiko mentioned danger aimed towards a mutual friend, Zoyu couldn't restrain a soft gasp. "Rin."

It didn't need to be said, but the taller woman gave the striking, exotic Crane a nod of acknowledgment.

Reserved and elegant, the Scorpion sorceress still noted the subtle shift in the other woman. A straightening of sleek shoulders, a firmness to an elevated jaw, a hardness to her mismatched eyes. Another source to lend credence to her suspicions. 

"No forgiveness is necessary," Zoyu said with a dismissive wave. "This one has grown wary of the dangers hiding in black waters and it is gratifying to know another can confirm these dangers do exist." A frown cross her lips. "Alas, the path of my destiny has taken many twists and turns. I have been... away for the last turning of the seasons. I know not where Rin-san wanders. Has that who has availed you of the danger to I and she also give some hint as to where we may find her, Kamiko-san?"

[SalmonMax]

Kamiko nodded. There was the steel she needed. The steel all of them would need.

 

"The whereabouts of a masterless samurai are notoriously hard to predict," she said lightly, and let her words dwindle for a moment before adding, "...but there have been whispers. Make yourself ready for travel, make what excuses you must to leave, and meet me in the city at the White Blossoms Inn."

 

She stepped back then, and bowed; ever the courteous guest. Then with a murmured invocation to the spirits, her guise melted like wax, and was revised into that of the peasant girl who'd first come in.

[Asarasa]

"Hai," Zoyu said with a gracious nod, an eagerness entering her practiced reserve. "This one need not make excuses and will not take over long to prepare."

She summoned the servant to see her guest out and to have her horse prepared for travel. Zoyu wrote a non-specific missive for her parents, simply stating she was traveling to find the path of her life - they could not reveal her location if they did not know - then took a bath to wash away the exertions of her practice, less languorously than her want. The Kenku could be unpredictable in their mentorship, and the Crane had learned not to dally when the need arose, if she wished not to be left behind or punished.

True to her word, Kamiko found out that she didn't have to wait for Zoyu nearly as long as she was prepared for at the White Blossoms Inn. Walking her horse, Zoyu still wore a kimono patterned in white, blue, and black cut to flatter her curvaceous figure and fluid movements, but of more spartan design and durable fabric, suitable for travel. Her freshly washed hair was plaited in a thick braid, ivory and ebony colour interwoven fetchingly.

The striking Crane swordswoman was unmistakable.

Zoyu's Daisho rode her hips as ever, a small pack on her back. A bow was strapped to her horse, a more substantial - though less so than what Kamiko recalled - pair of saddlebags over the rump. With a deceptive lack of concern, Zoyu approached the inn, curious as to what guise Kamiko had taken for her stay, but sure the Scorpion had noticed her arrival.

[SalmonMax]

Whatever she was or wasn't expecting as far as Zoyu's arrival, Kamiko was ready. She was at a table with a bowl of rice in front of her, sipping at a cup of tea. Her mask was one of her more ceremonial, ornately painted and engraved in crimson and gold, covering only her eyes and nose; extending a little out in emulation of a bird's beak. Her kimono too was red with gold trim; she'd worn one like it to diplomatic functions. The garb of someone meeting a courtier.

 

As Zoyu took a seat with her, the Scorpion inclined her head to greet her.

 

"You have my gratitude for attending my little show," she said, smiling beneath her mask. She took another sip of tea, holding her cup, Zoyu realized, in a position where it would hide her lips from anyone observing from nearby tables. "Such artifices will soon be mercifully behind us. For now we will be two friends, and perhaps rivals, having a civil meeting after too long a time apart."

 

Kamiko set her cup down, and with a slightly impish upturn of her lips produced a fan, which she brought up into a position to similarly obscure her mouth from the room as she fluttered a cooling breeze at herself.

 

"And, all else aside, I am curious about how this time has passed for you. Lets catch up, since we have a moment where it's expected. How have you been?"

[Nina]

On 11/2/2022 at 2:58 PM, Veral said:

Kaneteru just let out a belly laugh at the thought of these criminals trying to take down an acolyte of Togashi's on his own, let alone one paired with a Dragon samurai. As they approached closer, bunching together to be the first to strike, he took in a deep breath, focused his energy on his chest tattoo and when the breath felt like it was burning his lungs, he let it out. From the monk's mouth a wave of black and purple flame erupted, spreading out to encompass many of the criminals. The breath didn't seem to burn them, or freeze them, but they reacted in pain, nonetheless. His eyes glanced over at the one trying to grab the swords, as he made sure that one was affected. Once his breath was released, with blinding speed, he reached into his sash, drew out 3 fine pointed throwing slivers, and tossed them at the one focused on the blades, the one with the cooking knife and one with the clubs. Once the little slivers hit, they embedded themselves in the flesh of their targets doing much more damage than one would think. The ones just hit with the breath looked ragged, but the ones hit by the needles looked very bad. The monk gazed right at the one going for the swords, "No. Bad gangster. Those aren't yours." Kaneteru was speaking to the gangster as if he was a recalcitrant puppy. 

 

The gangsters wreathed in dragon flame writhed and convulsed, each wailing at the pain from burns that were not of the physical world. The gangster who had made a dash for the swords stumble clutching his throat trying to dislodge the silver needle and then he fell to the ground dead. The other two who had been struck by slivers also fell dead.

 

Rin had sat motionless as the monk had upset the cart of criminal intentions. then in one fluid motion rose and smoothly drew her tanto and finished off the convulsing bandits. When she was done she wiped the blade on the tunic of the last one and looked at the old grandfather who was standing immobile shaking, a pool of piss gathered at his feet from where it had run down his leg. 

 

"Nicely done brother dragon, This one," Rin pointed at the old man with the tanto then put it away," is the master-mind of the operation I think he will show you where the money he gathered from the thugs is. I think you should have the Honor of taking him and his ill gotten gains to the authorities at he Prince's barge at the docks. After all it would not be seemly for a ronin to approach such august personages." 

 

Rin stepped to the table picked up her short sword and placed it in her obi, then she finished up her soup in two large gulps. "If an give you trouble give the Princes guard my name. I will meet you after."

[Veral]

Kaneteru looked over at the proprietor of the Inn, and sighed. He stood up, bowed to Rin and walked towards the old man. "I will make sure he sees justice at the docks, and I look forward to meeting you after. You must have some delightful stories to tell." He looked at the old man again, this time with the full weight of his dark gaze. "Do not do anything stupid or more dishonorable than you have shown to be capable of already," his voice taking on a slightly deeper register.  The old man led Kaneteru to a small storage room, filled with food staples such as rice, dried fish, dried seaweed, and other long term ingredients. He pointed unsteadily to a barrel underneath a box of what looked like salt-encrusted river trout. 

 

The dragon monk sighed, and poked the innkeeper with a fingernail in the back, "You get it. I trust you as far as I can throw the Imperial Palace." The old man nodded, sweat streaming from his forehead, which he wiped with a small handkerchief. He then proceeded to lift and move the salted fish, and opened the barrel of what looked and smelled like brine for pickling. The old man reached in to the brine, and after a few seconds the side of the barrel opened and inside were bags of precious stones, money, and gold coins. Kaneteru nodded, and the old man gathered up the filled bags with a strength that belied his advanced years. Once all the money, gold and jewels were extracted, Kaneteru motioned to leave the room to the innkeeper.  Outside, seeing that Rin had left, he kept the proprietor going, out of the inn and towards the river. 

 

The old man started breathing heavy when the were finally approaching the river and the Prince's Barge. The monk reached over and took what looked to be the heaviest bag from the old man, and kept him going forward. Approaching the barge and the guards, Kaneteru stopped the old man and stopped walking himself about thirty feet from the first guard. "Good evening, Guard-Sama. May we approach. I have a criminal to place into your custody, if you would be so inclined as to offer him the inside of your most uncomfortable cell. I am Togashi Kaneteru of the Dragon Clan. " Upon being called forward, Kaneteru continued,  "This man is the ringleader of a protection racket. An associate of mine found the gang, as it were. We managed to isolate the fact that this thug is the ringleader. Upon being confronted, the lapdogs of this scum rushed and attacked me and my associate. That was unacceptable, as you can understand. We dealt with them in a manner befitting their status."   

 

The monk then handed over the large bag of gold he was carrying and indicated to the old man to do so as well. He also pushed the scum forward and one of the guards reached out and grabbed the innkeeper by his arm. "I am sure this "gentleman" would be more than willing to give you a full detailing of his crimes. I will however require a good inn to be recommended to me, as the last in was his," Kaneteru said as he pointed to the old man. He bowed and stepped back as one of the guards took the criminal below, and to an awaiting cell. The other guard remained on the land near the gangplank, and turned to Kaneteru, "Thank you, Brother Togashi. I hope that is wasn't too much of a hassle in dealing with this filth. Now, if you are true need of someplace to stay, I recommend the Owl and Doe. Whichever you decide on, let us know, just in case we need to verify any information." He bowed slightly, indicating the converstation was over, and resumed his watch over the area. Once dismissed, Togashi Kaneteru smiled to himself, and started making his way off the dock and towards dry land.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Veral
Because...

[Nina]

"Wait!"

 

The voice came from the deck of the barge, Kaneteru looked up as the guard turned and bowed deeply. Kaneteru saw a man, broad shouldered and narrow hipped, His Kimono was plain but of very fine manufacture, his topknot was an unusual reddish color and he had a narrow beard that ran along his jawline and his chin.

 

"You said the thugs attacked you and your associate.  You are alone, was your associate killed?"  The man who spoke was not looking at Kaneteru but was rather scanning the docks and the nearby roof tops.

 

Spoiler

This post is mainly for Keneteru. once I establish this scene with him I will be adding Zoyu and Kamiko who will have already traveled to the city and are here. Until i introduce them here asa and max you are free to rp together.

 

 

[Veral]

Kaneteru bowed to the man, and smiled, "My associate had other matters to take care of in regards to this attack. They were more interested in finding more of this scum's known associates to make sure we were both safe. Perhaps this was a wise move as well, since you seem to be most wary of possible retaliation. I find it most intriguing that this matter has seemingly brought Interest from others, and not just the locals. Perhaps there is more in action than it seems."