1st Scroll - The Will of Nobles - 1st - 3rd Days

[Enoch]

I'd like to see if I notice them. My Perception of Hidden Things is a 6.
Discover Hidden Things: [1d20]=5

"Your armor may make them think we're bandits," he mutters to no one in particular.   "Wait here; I'll find out." He moves with quick, light steps away from the fire until he disappears into the darkness between the boles of the trees, unwrapping the knife-handled rope from around his waist as he does so.

Once beyond the light of the fire, he slips into a half-crouch and begins stealthily trailing the peasants through the woods, listening for any incriminating conversation.

Ninjitsu (BCS 14): [1d20]=14
If they do seem to be planning on alerting authorities to the "bandits" in the woods, Katsumi will attempt to prevent them from reporting. Otherwise, they can go to sleep tonight blissfully unaware that death trailed them home.

Yes, I have 2 rolls linked in that post: a Perception of Hidden Things and a Ninjitsu roll.

[spanningtree]

Ito has a slight trust in Kentaro... he rocks back and then forward coming to his feet. Donning his helm he will come to Kentaro's side, right hand hovering over his katana, solid. Trouble?

[Marullus]

Kentaro remains crouched on his mat, pensive. "People say 'jumping at foxes,' but I assumed it an expression. I've never seen someone actually do so, but I have also never camped at the edge of the Forest of Lost Souls." he pauses, frowning deeply. "Katsumi is not of infirm mind... he did say 'wait here'..." He waits, looking uncertain, looking from his nice safe campfire to the dark and foreboding haunted forest, to Taisho the wise priest, and back.

Neither Kentaro or Ito knows what he's chasing. Hopefully Taisho provides some wisdom about peasants and Kami.

Picture of this forest...

[jemmus]

Katsumi slips away into the woods. The Moon is gibbous, and the pines and maples let through enough moonlight to illuminate the forest's floor the young ninja's good eyes. He sees the two peasants in their big straw hastening along the little animals' and woodcutters' trail, downward toward the highway. They move surprisingly fast. The novice ninja remembers his training. "Peasants spend most of their lives outdoors, from birth to death. The fields and mountains are their homes. When they are in nature they can be as canny as boar and as elusive as a pheasant. Their weaknesses are their ignorance, their fear of anything new or any kind of change, and their dread of the authorities. They can be controlled by their distress at any threat of trouble."

Katsumi stealthily closes the distance and hears who he thinks is the the middle-aged peasant say, "...samurai captain." The other, older one replies, "No, no samurai. The mura no banjin [village guards/protectors]. Katsumi has never heard the term "mura no banjin" before. The farmer puts a gnarled, leathery finger to his lips, then emphatically gestures "come, come." The two quickly step off of the trail and into the rough up and down terrain, the boulders, the fallen logs and the slippery dead leaves of the downward mountain slope.

Katsumi needs a successful Ninjutsu roll to keep up and overtake them. BCS = Deftness + Speed + Wit / 5, round down. + level bonus. (Ninjutsu is actually the skill of moving stealthily, so using it for trying to follow through rough terrain is improvised. But I thought the three Attributes used were a good fit.

[Enoch]

OK, cool. I just wanted to make sure that the original Ninjitsu test hadn't been missed.
Ninjitsu (BCS 14): [1d20]=14
wow, 14 exactly, twice in a row.

Katsumi slips quietly in a half-crouch through the forest behind the two, stepping heel-to-toe and alternating between quick glances at the terrain ahead of him and the figures he's following. His careful steps take him over and around the dead twigs and leaves, from patches of bare earth to wet leaves to firm-looking stones. He focuses on his breathing exercises so as to not compromise himself as he arranges the length of his weapon in his hands.

Mura no banjin. Whatever those are, it means trouble for us.

Would Katsumi's training/cultural knowledge give him any insight into whether it would be better/more appropriate to confront and/or bluff the peasants or to simply make them disappear?

[jemmus]

As quick as the peasant men are at moving down the wooded slope, Katsumi is quicker. He approaches them from behind, as yet unnoticed.

Katsumi would guess that that if a peasant fails to return home after dark, the village will send out a search party the same night. They will hope that he wasn't a victim of bandits, wild beast, or bakemono. However, bandits usually don't bother villagers, because the little loot they have isn't worth the crime. You're at the edge of the Forest of Souls at night, which may affect a search party's behavior.

If a peasant isn't found by the morning, the village headman would probably report it to the local samurai landowner. A peasant is a valuable serf farm worker, and the samurai will be concerned that he hasn't absconded. Some do that a flee to join a peasant militant religious order. I'll post notes on that in the Campaign Setting thread.

[Enoch]

Katsumi slides through the woods, timing his steps to match the older peasant, moving from shadow to shadow. When the older man pauses, Katsumi steps toward the pair and addresses them in a loud, commanding tone:

"You there! Why do you spy upon the honored Samurai? What harm do you intend? Are you skulking ninjas? Answer me!"

[jemmus]

Katsumi
"A-Yaaaa!!" escapes the farmers' open and scantly-toothed open mouths, almost simultaneously. The jump back, wide flat conical hats bumping and knocking askew on there heads. They stare at the plain robed stranger with wide eyes. Then their eyes briefly left-right-left. The hesitate, and look at each other dumbly. The older farmer, perhaps 60 years old, perhaps 70, perhaps only 55, faces Katsumi and answers. "You gave us a surprise! No, outsider-san. We heard the sound of a samisen in the mountain woods after dark. We thought it might be a ghost woman luring woodcutters, or a jibakurei [bound to its death spot] ghost. So we came to check it out. Quite brave of us, no? When we saw that it was humans with a fire just talking with other as usual, we left. We just want to go home."

At the Campfire
Everyone hears a faint sound of two human male voices yelling a-yaaa in the distance down the slope toward the highway.

[jmacatty]

Uesigi Omi, the young, arrogant samurai traveling with Ito, says is it necessary to follow and offer assistance?

[jemmus]

[sheet]The mannerisms of peasants aren't that unfamiliar to the young ninja. But those vary greatly between local isolated regions. In event, Katsumi must make a + 2 Wit ST to accurately suss them out.[/sheet]

[Enoch]

Wit ST (BCS 4 +2): [1d20]=1
My rolls are on fire right now. I think I might have figured out a secret hack of the Dice roller and don't realize it.

[Marullus]

Uesigi Omi, the young, arrogant samurai traveling with Ito, says is it necessary to follow and offer assistance?

Kentaro shifts uncomfortably on his mat, carefully putting away his samisen in its case while his face shows the laborious turning of his mind.

"Katsumi is a capable opponent, and he wished us to wait here," he states slowly. "I... well, I don't think he was possessed by Yūrei when he left us, and we might face worse stumbling into the forest blindly, at night." He turns to the Shinto priest, indecision still written on his expression. "What say you, Taisho-san?"

[jemmus]

The unspeaking middle-aged man on the right had a scared look on his face, but he held it an instant too long. Play acting. The speaking older man on the left spoke ingratiatingly, but his eyes betrayed his thoughts. "How strong is this stranger, against two of us? How smart is he and hard to dupe?"

Katsumi read the situation perfectly. They were assessing ways to take him out or fool him, and find some way alert someone about the camp. These 'guardians of the village,' perhaps.

[Enoch]

Katsumi nods sharply. "Hai, very brave." His voice takes on a warning tone. "But you would need to be much braver still to disturb samurai-san. He is on an important mission for his lord, and neither would be pleased if his progress were interrupted. You are brave- and I hope you are wise as well."

Liars. The moment I am gone, they will report to these mura no banjin, and like as not we'd have a welcoming party in the middle of the night, and samurai-san's armor would soon be hidden below some farmer's barn, and his body as well.

Katsumi bows slightly, then turns and stalks back toward their camp. Once out of sight, however, he stops and circles around, trusting to his keen eyesight to allow him to see them before he's detected.

My intent is to make them think I'm heading back to our camp, then ambush them (preferably with the Silent Kill bugei). Ninja have the ability to see in near-total darkness. Should I make another Ninjitsu roll to sneak up on them again?

[jemmus]

The two men adjust their hats back to level, look at each other, then do quick bows to Katsumi. They turn and hurry away, again down the mountainside toward the highway.

I believe the rules say that ninja can see in perfect darkness for 1 yard per the PC's level. So Katsumi should be able to see quite well in the shadowy moonlight. Yes, please make another ninjutsu roll for silently sneaking up on them.

Does anyone at the campfire have an action or dialogue, before we move forward a little in time?

[Enoch]

Ninjitsu (BCS 14): [1d20]=15

Katsumi steps back out of the shadows, shaking his head sadly even as the metal ring at the end of his kyoketsu-shoge begins to spin. He speaks in a soft voice. "Always know who you are lying to. Now I'm afraid I can't let you leave here alive."

[spanningtree]

Seeing a lack of great concern from Kentaro, Ito relaxes a bit as well. Returning to where he was sitting before: Uesigi-san, where have you been? Please join us, we were just about to turn in when.... well I am not sure what happened. He says with some embarrassment.

Kentaro-san, Taisho-san, please meet Uesigi-san, a fellow warrior that I have been sharing the road with... as well as my half baked thoughts.

[jemmus]

Katsumi
As the peasants hasten away, they look behind to see if they're being followed. They see Katsumi's shadowy figure directly behind and closing quickly. The older man jumps over to a fallen tree branch, picks it up, and brandishes it like an awkward club. Katsumi speaks in a soft voice. "Always know who you are lying to. Now I'm afraid I can't let you leave here alive." The younger man lets out a frightened screams, turns, and runs headlong down the mountain, heedless of dangers of the rough terrain.

The rules say using ninjutsu in bright moonlight is -1 to BCS, using in a stormy night is +2. I'm going to say the shadowy gibbous moon moonlight in this forest is +1 BCS. Using ninjutsu while walking is -1 to BCS. So net +0 to BCS, the ninjutsu roll failed and the NPCs saw Katsumi. (Apparently ninjutsu works best while immobile).

The NPCs BMA (Base Movement allowance is 3. Katsumi's is 9 (25 Speed / 3, round to nearest number = 8. Plus the PC's level = 9. I'm going to say the rugged mountainside terrain is equal to heavy undergrowth, -3 to BMA for Katsumi. The peasants have known this mountain their whole lives, so -1 for them. NPC's adjusted BMA 2, Katsumi's 6. He easily overtakes them without having to run (-3 ninjutsu BCS).

At the campfire
The sound of a frightened scream comes from the distance. It sounds like the voice of one of the two screams first heard, and it is coming from the same direction.

[Marullus]

He easily overtakes them without having to run (-3 ninjutsu BCS).

What does the above mean? Does that -3 make the Ninjitsu roll successful, or are you requesting another roll?

Ninjitsu is also key to the surprise attack that allows other ninja abilites; I assume those are lost? Or can he still use Silent Kill or Garotte?

How do you want to handle entering combat and Detailed Turns?

[Enoch]

He easily overtakes them without having to run (-3 ninjutsu BCS).

What does the above mean? Does that -3 make the Ninjitsu roll successful, or are you requesting another roll?

Ninjitsu is also key to the surprise attack that allows other ninja abilites; I assume those are lost? Or can he still use Silent Kill or Garotte?

How do you want to handle entering combat and Detailed Turns?

My understanding is that it means that they definitely know I'm giving chase, and I will overtake them almost immediately. Silent Kill and Garotte are out, as they definitely not surprised.