Successful STs noted.
Taisho and Haruto read along as the kamunushi's hand makes bold black characters appear on the thin white paper. The brush stops. But after Haruto's question, it begins writing katakana strokes again. Haruto of the Takeda. Every kami, leaf of a weed, pebble beside a trail, drop of misty rain, flame of a peasant's smoky candle, rusty nail in a plank. All will teach you its wisdom, if you seek it and observe. And are sincere in every action. But this your spirit already knows this.
Taisho, you are quiet. By nature, always, you have no questions, but seek to purify others. That is good. Soon in your time you probably find much impurity. Foul corruption and the base wretchedness of some kami. In time, you will understand. Go forward and defend, Taisho-kun! Remember the blow from your wooden staff dealt on the back of the bakemono on the Neno mountain, below the Fuujin shrine. Small things done, with courage. An ant grabs a seed with will, and the fathers and mothers of the kami tumble from the sky.
The closed-lidded kamunushi's hand with the brush pauses. Then moves to the top of the paper to start a new column of characters.
You do not need to hear more mere words today, Haruto-kun. May you persevere you all with good fortune. It was a pleasure to meet with yourselves!
Haruto notes that the kami's message ended with the vaguely feminine and Yin energy entity addressing him as kun, as would a supportive elder person would to younger male in adolescence and growing into being an adult man. And that she/it omitted the "of the Takeda." And the odd and puzzling choice of humble "teachers."
Taisho reads and notes the same script, brushed upon paper in a cold inn just warming up again.
The kamunushi's face goes back to being the face of a 50+-year-old kamunushi master of a shrine on the edge Kai province and Sagami province. He exhales deeply. It takes him a minute and he rubs his brow. Well, visitors-san. As the kami departed, I was granted a prescience. I have seen that you will be in grave danger. A hideous, primal blasphemous crime... and a pathway will be opened. The taking of human life opens the door for ghosts and demon kami.... But I do not know when or where it will be. Or if it has already happened.
3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
The kamunushi takes his tea cup, drinks, and sets it on the table. He draws breath, tilts his head, and smiles. A gesture of discomfiture or embarrassment. I'm sorry if my selfish curiosity has ended by causing unease. He looks around at Taisho, Haruto, Buru and Akemi, solemnly and sincerely meeting each's eye. Please take care. And be watchful. And watch while If you care to visit this village's shrine, please come tomorrow. I do not think we will have the snow cleared before nightfall today. But if you do wish to come tonight, we will prepare and wait for you. Well then, please be safe on the road and return to this village safely. Things are not the same in the Kanto as here. Here, human politics and war. There, the old creatures. He rises, bows to the guests and the inn staff, dons his snow boots and departs, bowing again before exiting and sliding the outside screen doors shut.
The innkeeper approaches the travelers, bows and says, This post is the last in eastern Kai. Tomorrow, if you move on, you will cross the border into Sagami Province. He says to Hiroshi, You cannot wear o-yoroi or carry a dai-kyu in Sagami, guest-san. Sagami is governed by the Soga clan, and they are Taira-descent. They are allied with the Minamoto, the same as the Takeda of Kai. But they are suspect. And so they enforce the law of the Emperor's highways with special diligence. A bushi in o-yoroi armor or carrying a dai-kyu bow will be shot down on sight. If the Soga clan doesn't do it to be proper, the Minamoto clans will, because they are dominant, and watching.
At dark, the porters' foreman and his crew stamp into the foyer, with stiff fingers and trembling hands remove snow-caked boots. Auntie! the foreman calls. Hot tea, please! Leftover rice? Come on in, boys. Your ears are the color of fragrant roses! Heh? The road is clear, we go tomorrow again, first light. On to Kamakura and Edo. And one-way pay. Excuse me! Hot tea, please!
Akemi, friend of friends who fought in the battles between the Minamoto and Taira clans around Okitsu, seems to be betray her usual inscrutable demeanor at the mention of Sagami Province and the Taira clan. The young woman keenly listens to the innkeeper's admonishment.
Buru, his family victims of the Imagawa clan's atrocities listens with similar interest. The Imagawa, affiliated with the Taira, retaliated for their late show at Okitsu by slaughtering his border village. He suspects the Minamoto clans would have done the same, if the shoe had been on the other foot. But he is eta, and perhaps naturally cynical and suspicious.
Taisho and Haruto ponder the day's events-- and it's still bright white snowlit daylight. The road goes eastward toward the Raijin shrine. And westward toward Kai, teachers, warmth and home.
Actions, Buru, Haruto, Hiroshi and Taisho?
The innkeeper approaches the travelers, bows and says, This post is the last in eastern Kai. Tomorrow, if you move on, you will cross the border into Sagami Province. He says to Hiroshi, You cannot wear o-yoroi or carry a dai-kyu in Sagami, guest-san. Sagami is governed by the Soga clan, and they are Taira-descent. They are allied with the Minamoto, the same as the Takeda of Kai. But they are suspect. And so they enforce the law of the Emperor's highways with special diligence. A bushi in o-yoroi armor or carrying a dai-kyu bow will be shot down on sight. If the Soga clan doesn't do it to be proper, the Minamoto clans will, because they are dominant, and watching.
At dark, the porters' foreman and his crew stamp into the foyer, with stiff fingers and trembling hands remove snow-caked boots. Auntie! the foreman calls. Hot tea, please! Leftover rice? Come on in, boys. Your ears are the color of fragrant roses! Heh? The road is clear, we go tomorrow again, first light. On to Kamakura and Edo. And one-way pay. Excuse me! Hot tea, please!
Akemi, friend of friends who fought in the battles between the Minamoto and Taira clans around Okitsu, seems to be betray her usual inscrutable demeanor at the mention of Sagami Province and the Taira clan. The young woman keenly listens to the innkeeper's admonishment.
Buru, his family victims of the Imagawa clan's atrocities listens with similar interest. The Imagawa, affiliated with the Taira, retaliated for their late show at Okitsu by slaughtering his border village. He suspects the Minamoto clans would have done the same, if the shoe had been on the other foot. But he is eta, and perhaps naturally cynical and suspicious.
Taisho and Haruto ponder the day's events-- and it's still bright white snowlit daylight. The road goes eastward toward the Raijin shrine. And westward toward Kai, teachers, warmth and home.
Actions, Buru, Haruto, Hiroshi and Taisho?
PCs
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
I didn't end with many significant choices for the PCs, so I'll continue. (Sorry for the recent piecemeal approach. Time has been a little short).
The travelers stand their accustomed watches during the second cold winter night in the inn. In the morning, the freighters rise and quietly prepare for the long, cold day ahead. The innkeeper advises, You will pass through village soon after entering Sagami Province. There should be places to lodge there. But if you want to have full day's travel, the next post-inn is in an isolated spot along the highway. As you know, the post inns are placed at a day's foot travel distance, no matter where that may be. Usually that puts the post in or near a town or village. But not this one.
Be careful, because its isolated location makes it vulnerable to bandits. But attacking an Imperial post-in is punishable by the most dire of any kind of punishment. Bandits know that. But other things may not.
The haulers, oxen, and travelers set out eastward on the snow-filled, downward-sloping highway. So far, the peasants have cleared a pathway through the thigh-high snow only a yard wide. The group must go single file, which the tacticians among them know leaves them vulnerable to attack from the side. But any creature that they know of that's large enough to be dangerous would be hard-pressed to charge in through this deep snow.
The group reaches the village the innkeeper spoke of. Wood smoke rises through the thatch of houses of various sizes. Six samurai with dai-kyu and han-kyu and in winter clothing come out of them to view the travelers pass. The haulers' foreman continues on, saying only, Sagami Province. It goes all the way to Kamakura, capital of the Minamoto. Where we drop this load.
The road continues and reveals to the right a vista of the great southern ocean. It lies at the foot of a cliff. Waves break on boulders 20 or more yards below.
At dusk the group reaches a thatch-roofed building with a small warehouse beside it. A wooden sign in front says in katakana and kanji, "Post Inn Number 348."
Please deduct 10 coppers for Haruto's two nights at the inn in Kai. The Hiroshi's, Buru's, and Akemi's lodging are covered by the yojimbo contract.
To be continued. Or you can state actions, of course. Sorry that this is sort of proceeding on rails at this point, but it's temporary.
The travelers stand their accustomed watches during the second cold winter night in the inn. In the morning, the freighters rise and quietly prepare for the long, cold day ahead. The innkeeper advises, You will pass through village soon after entering Sagami Province. There should be places to lodge there. But if you want to have full day's travel, the next post-inn is in an isolated spot along the highway. As you know, the post inns are placed at a day's foot travel distance, no matter where that may be. Usually that puts the post in or near a town or village. But not this one.
Be careful, because its isolated location makes it vulnerable to bandits. But attacking an Imperial post-in is punishable by the most dire of any kind of punishment. Bandits know that. But other things may not.
The haulers, oxen, and travelers set out eastward on the snow-filled, downward-sloping highway. So far, the peasants have cleared a pathway through the thigh-high snow only a yard wide. The group must go single file, which the tacticians among them know leaves them vulnerable to attack from the side. But any creature that they know of that's large enough to be dangerous would be hard-pressed to charge in through this deep snow.
The group reaches the village the innkeeper spoke of. Wood smoke rises through the thatch of houses of various sizes. Six samurai with dai-kyu and han-kyu and in winter clothing come out of them to view the travelers pass. The haulers' foreman continues on, saying only, Sagami Province. It goes all the way to Kamakura, capital of the Minamoto. Where we drop this load.
The road continues and reveals to the right a vista of the great southern ocean. It lies at the foot of a cliff. Waves break on boulders 20 or more yards below.
At dusk the group reaches a thatch-roofed building with a small warehouse beside it. A wooden sign in front says in katakana and kanji, "Post Inn Number 348."
Please deduct 10 coppers for Haruto's two nights at the inn in Kai. The Hiroshi's, Buru's, and Akemi's lodging are covered by the yojimbo contract.
To be continued. Or you can state actions, of course. Sorry that this is sort of proceeding on rails at this point, but it's temporary.
PCs
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Haruto pauses, unwilling at first to go forward. He works through a series of mudras with his hands, considering as he regards the wayhouse ahead.
Magic Detection (BCS 11) [1d20]=18
"...I don't trust it," he says, remembering the words of the possessing spirit.
Magic Detection (BCS 11) [1d20]=18
"...I don't trust it," he says, remembering the words of the possessing spirit.
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Sorry, I will try and catch up next week. Between the holidays, transition of employment, Comcast upgrading infrastructure in our neighborhood, and more, I haven't been able to focus on this as much as I should. I need to read all the postings and come up with Hiroshi's and Taisho's responses.
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
The last light of the sun has faded away. The post inn stands with all but its door covered by deep and high snowdrifts. Its back to a rocky sea cliff. There are no other buildings around, other than the usual warehouse-stable. The sound of waves crashing on rocks far below can be heard. Haruto cautiously steps to the door and meditates, his hands going through a series of mystical mudra. The humans and oxen wait long, shivering, 200 or more heartbeats in the snow, outside the shelter of the inn. The young shugenja Haruto detects no magical energy beyond its door. But ...I don't trust it, he says.
Akemi, in her adopted and now accustomed role as the travelers' forerunner and scout, slides the inn's door aside. The dining room beyond the foyer is lit by only one lantern. Pardon me, Akemi calls. There is silence. But soon, a young and exceptionally girl in a peasant's winter kimono hurries into the room. She bows and says, Please come in, visitors-sama. She hurries off. The travelers enter, doff their snow boots, and step up from the foyer into the barely-lit dining room of the night's shelter.
A middle-aged woman in a plain but better-quality kimono hurries up. She appears to be of the merchant caste. We are sorry, the room is cold and there is no tea ready. We were not expecting visitors in this weather. It's what the travelers heard the first night at the last inn as well. The pretty young girl hurries around the room lighting lanterns, one by one. The last one she lights is exceptional and beautiful. It has fine white paper, with plum blossoms painted on it by an artist of skill. Something rarely seen. The beauty of a fine hand, painted not on a scroll or screen, but on the paper of a humble lantern.
Soon, a middle-aged man appears, also in a plain, better-quality kimono. He seems to a stolid member of the high merchant caste. Not a warrior, not a magician, not a farmer-- a profit-minded merchant and innkeeper. He bows and repeats the apology about not expecting visitors. The woman says, in a voice that's too loud for this quiet nighttime winter space, Shizuka! Fetch wood for the irori hearth and water for the teapot! Hurry! The man says, It's s a terrible, dark and cold night. I'll carry a lantern for Shizuka. The woman replies, Katsu, don't you see that man there holding an ox goad? See to the visitors' oxen. Shizuka can get wood and water on her own.
The man replies, It won't take a minute, dearm then we'll see to the oxen. The snow is deep, and its very dark. It won't do for Shizuka to approach the well and the cliffs in the dark. He takes the plum blossom lantern and follows the girl through the kitchen and out the back entrance.
The woman seems to forget about her guests and turns toward the kitchen. She mutters, “I'll hold the lantern for Shizuka. It won't do for Shizuka to fall down the well or off the cliffs. Every night, “I'll hold the lantern for Shizuka....”
The haulers look at each other. One makes the sign of a forefinger circling beside a temple, then all fingers opening to emptiness. Another whispers, Crazy country bumpkins. Another townsman laborer sits up and says knowingly, Mountain and country people. They spend more time with hogs than human. So they only know the manners of hogs. At that, they're experts. The can teach you how to do tea ceremony-- hogs-do! The men chuckle and sink down beside tables. Groans and sighs are heard, and it takes more than on porter to use his hands to get one foot over a stiff cold knee.
The woman slides the back door open a finger's breadth, bends and puts an eye to the gap. Then snaps it shut again. She can be heard muttering, as she measures green tea powder into an iron teapot. “I'll hold a lantern for Shizuka.” Indeed. “I'll hold a lantern for Shizuka.” She turns to the travelers and bows. Please wait a moment, visitors-sama. Hot tea and wood for the hearth will soon be here, and then the rice.
The man and girl return soon, she with an armload of firewood and he carrying a bucket and the lantern. The man carefully hangs the fine lantern from its bracket on the wall in the dining room. The girl bring dry sticks to the hearth of the room, lays them on, takes up a bamboo tube, blows through it, and soon a bright flame springs up. She rises and bows and scurries toward the kitchen.
Shizuka! The hearth and the tea! Katsu! The oxen! Hurry! Stop being a lazy and negligent innkeeper and postmaster! The woman enters the dining room and again bows, with an overly pleasant smile on her face.
Akemi observes closely and tenses for a moment, then goes back to an inscrutable contemplative, nonchalant moment. Taisho, Haruto...., shes says with concern across her face. She whispers first in gakusho Taisho's ear, then into old friend Hiroshi's ear: The woman is crazy unpredictable. Very dangerous. A daimyo or a samurai acts with reason. So we know how to think and plan. Steps, to next steps. There are methods for countering steps of crazy persons. Sadly, that is beyond my skill. We are taught that only gakusho and shugenja persons have such knowledge.
It seems that the ninja woman pauses to reflect on her time as a professional entertainer in the oiran quarter of the capital of Shinano Province. She whispers to gakusho Taisho.
This situation is very common, Taisho-san. The jealous wife murders the younger woman, and tries to reconcile with aqn old husband. And everything goes alright from there.. But I fear that this wife and husband are crazy..."
We're very sorry. The rice will take a quarter of an hour. Before that, visitors-sama, tea and miso soup to warm the belly. The middle-aged woman bows again and departs for the kitchen.
A hauler at the table shakes his head. No. Not enough time. Not enough time for it, ack too quick. That old goat may be excited, but he ain't no 13-year-old no more.
The haulers around the table agree and nod, sagely. And stoically await their hot hearth fire, tea, miso soup, and rice.
Akemi, in her adopted and now accustomed role as the travelers' forerunner and scout, slides the inn's door aside. The dining room beyond the foyer is lit by only one lantern. Pardon me, Akemi calls. There is silence. But soon, a young and exceptionally girl in a peasant's winter kimono hurries into the room. She bows and says, Please come in, visitors-sama. She hurries off. The travelers enter, doff their snow boots, and step up from the foyer into the barely-lit dining room of the night's shelter.
A middle-aged woman in a plain but better-quality kimono hurries up. She appears to be of the merchant caste. We are sorry, the room is cold and there is no tea ready. We were not expecting visitors in this weather. It's what the travelers heard the first night at the last inn as well. The pretty young girl hurries around the room lighting lanterns, one by one. The last one she lights is exceptional and beautiful. It has fine white paper, with plum blossoms painted on it by an artist of skill. Something rarely seen. The beauty of a fine hand, painted not on a scroll or screen, but on the paper of a humble lantern.
Soon, a middle-aged man appears, also in a plain, better-quality kimono. He seems to a stolid member of the high merchant caste. Not a warrior, not a magician, not a farmer-- a profit-minded merchant and innkeeper. He bows and repeats the apology about not expecting visitors. The woman says, in a voice that's too loud for this quiet nighttime winter space, Shizuka! Fetch wood for the irori hearth and water for the teapot! Hurry! The man says, It's s a terrible, dark and cold night. I'll carry a lantern for Shizuka. The woman replies, Katsu, don't you see that man there holding an ox goad? See to the visitors' oxen. Shizuka can get wood and water on her own.
The man replies, It won't take a minute, dearm then we'll see to the oxen. The snow is deep, and its very dark. It won't do for Shizuka to approach the well and the cliffs in the dark. He takes the plum blossom lantern and follows the girl through the kitchen and out the back entrance.
The woman seems to forget about her guests and turns toward the kitchen. She mutters, “I'll hold the lantern for Shizuka. It won't do for Shizuka to fall down the well or off the cliffs. Every night, “I'll hold the lantern for Shizuka....”
The haulers look at each other. One makes the sign of a forefinger circling beside a temple, then all fingers opening to emptiness. Another whispers, Crazy country bumpkins. Another townsman laborer sits up and says knowingly, Mountain and country people. They spend more time with hogs than human. So they only know the manners of hogs. At that, they're experts. The can teach you how to do tea ceremony-- hogs-do! The men chuckle and sink down beside tables. Groans and sighs are heard, and it takes more than on porter to use his hands to get one foot over a stiff cold knee.
The woman slides the back door open a finger's breadth, bends and puts an eye to the gap. Then snaps it shut again. She can be heard muttering, as she measures green tea powder into an iron teapot. “I'll hold a lantern for Shizuka.” Indeed. “I'll hold a lantern for Shizuka.” She turns to the travelers and bows. Please wait a moment, visitors-sama. Hot tea and wood for the hearth will soon be here, and then the rice.
The man and girl return soon, she with an armload of firewood and he carrying a bucket and the lantern. The man carefully hangs the fine lantern from its bracket on the wall in the dining room. The girl bring dry sticks to the hearth of the room, lays them on, takes up a bamboo tube, blows through it, and soon a bright flame springs up. She rises and bows and scurries toward the kitchen.
Shizuka! The hearth and the tea! Katsu! The oxen! Hurry! Stop being a lazy and negligent innkeeper and postmaster! The woman enters the dining room and again bows, with an overly pleasant smile on her face.
Akemi observes closely and tenses for a moment, then goes back to an inscrutable contemplative, nonchalant moment. Taisho, Haruto...., shes says with concern across her face. She whispers first in gakusho Taisho's ear, then into old friend Hiroshi's ear: The woman is crazy unpredictable. Very dangerous. A daimyo or a samurai acts with reason. So we know how to think and plan. Steps, to next steps. There are methods for countering steps of crazy persons. Sadly, that is beyond my skill. We are taught that only gakusho and shugenja persons have such knowledge.
It seems that the ninja woman pauses to reflect on her time as a professional entertainer in the oiran quarter of the capital of Shinano Province. She whispers to gakusho Taisho.
This situation is very common, Taisho-san. The jealous wife murders the younger woman, and tries to reconcile with aqn old husband. And everything goes alright from there.. But I fear that this wife and husband are crazy..."
We're very sorry. The rice will take a quarter of an hour. Before that, visitors-sama, tea and miso soup to warm the belly. The middle-aged woman bows again and departs for the kitchen.
A hauler at the table shakes his head. No. Not enough time. Not enough time for it, ack too quick. That old goat may be excited, but he ain't no 13-year-old no more.
The haulers around the table agree and nod, sagely. And stoically await their hot hearth fire, tea, miso soup, and rice.
Last edited by jemmus on Thu Jan 19, 2023 9:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
PCs
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Haruto is uneasy... something here is wrong beyond their peculiarities. He sits and meditates at the low table while waiting for the food. His stomach rumbles, though. So distracting.
Magic Detection (BCS 11) [1d20]=13 taking [1d3]=3 Minutes
Magic Detection (BCS 11) [1d20]=20 taking [1d3]=3 Minutes
Magic Detection (BCS 11) [1d20]=16 taking [1d3]=3 Minutes
Magic Detection (BCS 11) [1d20]=3 taking [1d3]=1 Minutes
It was a long, cold day of walking for Buru. He is glad to sit and rest, chatting with the porters. He is naturally distrustful, though. He keeps a wary eye on the innkeepers and what they're not saying about the inn.
Perception of Hidden Things (BCS 4) [1d20]=13
Magic Detection (BCS 11) [1d20]=13 taking [1d3]=3 Minutes
Magic Detection (BCS 11) [1d20]=20 taking [1d3]=3 Minutes
Magic Detection (BCS 11) [1d20]=16 taking [1d3]=3 Minutes
Magic Detection (BCS 11) [1d20]=3 taking [1d3]=1 Minutes
It was a long, cold day of walking for Buru. He is glad to sit and rest, chatting with the porters. He is naturally distrustful, though. He keeps a wary eye on the innkeepers and what they're not saying about the inn.
Perception of Hidden Things (BCS 4) [1d20]=13
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Taisho will Perceive Truth, BCS 11 - level or rank of the thing(s) that is (are) hiding:
So that's up to Level 5/Rank 5 perceived.
So that's up to Level 5/Rank 5 perceived.
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Magic Detection is Very Short range (1 yd/level of shugenja). So 2 yards per spell. Does Haruto walk around checking out different areas of the inn? The locals would of course see that).
Taisho doesn't detect any magical effect that hides reality.
Taisho doesn't detect any magical effect that hides reality.
PCs
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Haruto meditates for a long time, try to overcome his rumbling stomach and achieve a more spiritual awareness. As he finally does so, he looks about from where he is to see if any enchantments lie upon the whole area.
If not, he gauges how ready they seem to be to serve dinner, using a 'check in' as pre-text for getting close enough to the kitchen and inn staff. If the dishes appear ready, he stays seated and observes the staff as they come to him.
(It takes most of the 15 minutesjust to get started, so my expectationsare not high.)
If not, he gauges how ready they seem to be to serve dinner, using a 'check in' as pre-text for getting close enough to the kitchen and inn staff. If the dishes appear ready, he stays seated and observes the staff as they come to him.
(It takes most of the 15 minutesjust to get started, so my expectationsare not high.)
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Haruto investigates around the dining room. The woman, man and maid notice. The man and woman both apologize, and the comely maid doubles up on her grating of a daikon giant radish. The shugenja’s spells detect no magical fields or auras.
Taisho uses spiritual true seeing to pierce through veils of illusion. He sees nothing that appears illusory—it seems that it is just a common dining room, staffed by three ordinary humans.
At last, the rice is done and the travelers are served. From the kitchen, the woman can be heard saying, Shizuka, go make the fire for the bath water. The man again says, I'll carry the lantern, so Shizuka doesn't have an accident. He again takes the plum blossom lantern from the wall and departs out the back door with the girl. The porters eye each other and one makes an obscene gesture with the fingers of one hand held and a circle and the forefinger of the other.... The woman again mutters to herself, "I'll carry the lantern for Shizuka". Every night, "I'll carry the lantern for Shizuka." After quite some time-- the time one would expect for many buckets of cold water to heat-- the man and girl return. A hauler comments, This time the old goat would have had enough time. Neh?
The travelers dine, bathe, and retire to the guest rooms. The again stand their accustomed watches, wary of unknown and unseen dangers. But their are no unusual noises in the night, just the sounds of the exhausted haulers' awful snoring. The night passes without event.
The next morning the foreman rouses everyone before dawn. The group has breakfast and sets out eastward along the partially-cleared road, feeling some unease about the situation among the persons staffing lonely Inn #348 on the Tokaido highway in Sagami Province. They pass through a large snow-covered village. It is surrounded what looks to be miles and miles of dormant rice fields on the flat Kanto plain. Quite unlike Kai's and Shinano's fields lying along the floors of valleys between steep mountains. The travelers can see why this region is called "the rice bowl of Japan." It would seem that the Minamoto clans that control it should have great wealth. But their enemies the Taira have the wealth of owning estates throughout all of Nippon, and the wealth brought in by lucrative maritime trade. Which is greater-- and the related ability to wage protracted war-- the wealth of the Minamoto or of the Taira? Most think that of the Taira. But only the gods know for sure. And success in war is not only about wealth. It is about cunning, luck, and valor. Or so the bushi of Nippon believe.
Shortly after the day breaks, the ox drover says, More snow is coming. I can feel it in my bad knee. And soon it does. Big, heavier clusters of flakes silently fall to the ground. In the evening, as the Sun sets, the winds pick up and the snow begins to swirl and fall more thickly. It becomes hard to see more than a few yards ahead on the highway. There's flash in the distance to the northeast, then a thud. Thundersnow, the foreman says, in awe. My grandma told me a story from when she was about it. But I thought it was just something a little kid didn't understand and got wrong. The haulers look all around and at each other with fearful, superstitious looks on their faces.
The falling snow is lit by another flash in the distance and another snow-muffled thud. An ox stops in its tracks. The whites of its eyes show, and it bellows a terrorized complaint. Come on, Peony, the drover says. It's just thundersnow. I doesn't mean we're cursed. The snow kami and Raijin don't care about us cold little ants. But the ox refuses to move. The other oxen stop as well and join her in the bellowing, as an oxen herd. They back up the road westward, back toward Kai and Kofu.
Taisho uses spiritual true seeing to pierce through veils of illusion. He sees nothing that appears illusory—it seems that it is just a common dining room, staffed by three ordinary humans.
At last, the rice is done and the travelers are served. From the kitchen, the woman can be heard saying, Shizuka, go make the fire for the bath water. The man again says, I'll carry the lantern, so Shizuka doesn't have an accident. He again takes the plum blossom lantern from the wall and departs out the back door with the girl. The porters eye each other and one makes an obscene gesture with the fingers of one hand held and a circle and the forefinger of the other.... The woman again mutters to herself, "I'll carry the lantern for Shizuka". Every night, "I'll carry the lantern for Shizuka." After quite some time-- the time one would expect for many buckets of cold water to heat-- the man and girl return. A hauler comments, This time the old goat would have had enough time. Neh?
The travelers dine, bathe, and retire to the guest rooms. The again stand their accustomed watches, wary of unknown and unseen dangers. But their are no unusual noises in the night, just the sounds of the exhausted haulers' awful snoring. The night passes without event.
The next morning the foreman rouses everyone before dawn. The group has breakfast and sets out eastward along the partially-cleared road, feeling some unease about the situation among the persons staffing lonely Inn #348 on the Tokaido highway in Sagami Province. They pass through a large snow-covered village. It is surrounded what looks to be miles and miles of dormant rice fields on the flat Kanto plain. Quite unlike Kai's and Shinano's fields lying along the floors of valleys between steep mountains. The travelers can see why this region is called "the rice bowl of Japan." It would seem that the Minamoto clans that control it should have great wealth. But their enemies the Taira have the wealth of owning estates throughout all of Nippon, and the wealth brought in by lucrative maritime trade. Which is greater-- and the related ability to wage protracted war-- the wealth of the Minamoto or of the Taira? Most think that of the Taira. But only the gods know for sure. And success in war is not only about wealth. It is about cunning, luck, and valor. Or so the bushi of Nippon believe.
Shortly after the day breaks, the ox drover says, More snow is coming. I can feel it in my bad knee. And soon it does. Big, heavier clusters of flakes silently fall to the ground. In the evening, as the Sun sets, the winds pick up and the snow begins to swirl and fall more thickly. It becomes hard to see more than a few yards ahead on the highway. There's flash in the distance to the northeast, then a thud. Thundersnow, the foreman says, in awe. My grandma told me a story from when she was about it. But I thought it was just something a little kid didn't understand and got wrong. The haulers look all around and at each other with fearful, superstitious looks on their faces.
The falling snow is lit by another flash in the distance and another snow-muffled thud. An ox stops in its tracks. The whites of its eyes show, and it bellows a terrorized complaint. Come on, Peony, the drover says. It's just thundersnow. I doesn't mean we're cursed. The snow kami and Raijin don't care about us cold little ants. But the ox refuses to move. The other oxen stop as well and join her in the bellowing, as an oxen herd. They back up the road westward, back toward Kai and Kofu.
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Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Double post deleted
Last edited by jemmus on Tue Jan 24, 2023 12:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Jemmus, it looks like you updated twice to different stories/end points? Or am I just confused? Are we telling stories for the night in this scene, or did the night pass and we set-out to get stuck in thundersnow?
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Oh wow. Please ignore the second post. I didn't see the first post on my phone and thought it had gotten eaten. So grimly started drafting again.... And decided to give you guys some more agency instead of moving you a day forward.
To confirm, you're in the thundersnow.
To confirm, you're in the thundersnow.
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Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Haruto listens to the men reassuring the beasts. What the man says is a lie, he thinks. The Kami care very much about these particular little ants. He leaves the man secure in his belief of insignificance, however. The samurai pilgrim rides silently upon the wagon bench, contemplating the storm ahead. It is not a blizzard's winds, as last time, but perhaps he can still use his teachings to prevent the lightning from harming the peasants under his charge... but perhaps not. At the least, knowing the Kami come for him means that he can avoid harm to the innocent.jemmus wrote: ↑Sat Jan 21, 2023 12:42 am Come on, Peony, the drover says. It's just thundersnow. I doesn't mean we're cursed. The snow kami and Raijin don't care about us cold little ants. But the ox refuses to move. The other oxen stop as well and join her in the bellowing, as an oxen herd. They back up the road westward, back toward Kai and Kofu.
The samurai pilgrim dismounts from the wagon as it sits still, ignoring the struggle between drover and oxen tied to the wagon's front. Looking sideways to Taisho, he nods knowingly, only the two of them knowing the truth about the kami standing in their way. He squares his shoulders confidently and, without a word, walks forward down the road ahead of the caravan, disappearing into the heavy flakes.
He will walk far enough ahead to be out of sight and alone on the road ahead of them, then waits.
Buru watches the flash and boom of the thundersnow, feeling in his heart the same unease as the oxen. But he is a man, and they beasts. They need comfort when they cannot use logic. He thinks to walking the rice fields with his father, guiding the oxen and the plow, and moves from his position at the rear up to the bellowing oxen. He offers a comforting touch, the repeated susurration of soothing words to calm and comfort the beasts. He aids the drovers, hopefully preventing a calamatous rout.
Farming (BCS 8) [1d20]=4
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Does Taisho have an action or post? Admittedly, the last GM post didn't seem to leave many significant action decisions to me made. If you don't have a post, we'll move on.
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Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
I'm not sure if there's anything that Taisho or Haruto can specifically do in this situation, unless again, somehow Taisho can petition the Kami (which somehow I feel like there should be something he can do, but I just don't know the mythology to have any idea what are reasonable things to call on Kami about...).
Honestly I'm feeling pretty lost so far in this scenario, just bumbling along...
Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
That's totally understandable. The stay at the inn was odd, but didn't lead into anything needing any actions or decisions by the PCs. Some things on this trek to the Raijin shrine might be like that. They might resolve later, or be clues for later, or tie into future events (depending what the PCs do along the way).
Also, to be honest, if it seems like the players don't have many decisions to make that day... it might because they really don't. Or... it might be because they missed something.
You guys are both veteran RPGers, so it's more likely than not that there just wasn't really anything to decide about or act on. Part of the travel is just ordinary, mundane travel, with no classic "adventuring" or dice rolling that day. If we did that, it could take a long, long time to get to the Raijin shrine.
The PCs are out of Kai province and into Sagami province now. So a little less than halfway there, in terms of days and nights in inns. GM post coming soon.
Also, to be honest, if it seems like the players don't have many decisions to make that day... it might because they really don't. Or... it might be because they missed something.
You guys are both veteran RPGers, so it's more likely than not that there just wasn't really anything to decide about or act on. Part of the travel is just ordinary, mundane travel, with no classic "adventuring" or dice rolling that day. If we did that, it could take a long, long time to get to the Raijin shrine.
The PCs are out of Kai province and into Sagami province now. So a little less than halfway there, in terms of days and nights in inns. GM post coming soon.
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Re: 3rd Scroll - God of Thunder
Haruto walked into the snowstorm ahead and really, really hopes that Taisho comes along.
If there's an encounter/action in this scene, I expect it's a Kami coming in the storm and we'll have spiritual battle. (That's what we were just warned about, and why Haruto is making a decision to move away from innocent bystanders.)
Perhaps some more general information on roleplaying Animist religions would help? That's basically what you are. Small, low-rank spirits are totally within what you can and should be able to regularly work with. With so little guidance in the book, I would say that you should feel free to be creative and get some outside ideas to help you do so. Here's a link from some initial googling... these look at Anamists in other RPGs. It might help get some ideas for what you can do in RPGs with this.
https://tao-dndwiki.blogspot.com/2018/0 ... n.html?m=1
https://rpgbot.net/pathfinder/character ... rchetypes/
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Animist_(3.5e_Class)
It is throwing me, too. I keep looking for the consequential reason for stopping at a scene, but Jemmus' style is more linear. We're going day by day, whether or not there's something consequential. Like here... I was like "if there's an encounter, it's probably Kami coming for us like the guy said!"
