[Closed] 3, On the Road: Arriving at Beiden Pass

[Rex]

Kenta

"You make some valid points Kogan, if you wish to pursue it I have no issues and will certainly be there if you need my support, but I am a poor choice for such delicate matters as my life of seclusion has left me not so good at dealing with such delicate matters."

[Starbeard]

Soft Wind Village, Beiden Pass [map]
Mid-morning (Hour of the Dragon)
"Evening Day" in High Week, 3rd of Long Month [calendar]
Weather is mostly pleasant and clear

With a quick goodbye, the spirit-priest Senichi mounts his prize horse and rides ahead to the lord's manor, his gawky young servant Saburo trotting along beside him.

The ascetic warrior monk Kenta and the country priest Shōe stay behind with the Mirumoto siblings Aiko and Kogan, doing their best to ease Aiko's discomfort and to discuss the puzzling mystery of this small hamlet further.

GreyWolfVT: would you like Osaru to accompany Senichi to the castle, or stay behind with the others and help investigate? It's your choice.



Senichi

Partway through your journey, you pass a pair of merchants walking in the other direction. I assume you have no interest in the incense, eggs, lacquered bottles, or bale of silk they have to trade.

You never catch up with the village runner Ryosuke, since Saburo (and possibly Osaru) have to keep up with you on foot.

Midway through the afternoon you come to the highest point in the pass, which levels out for several miles in a narrow valley with rivers on either side of you. A lone hill juts out of the ground ahead, almost blocking the way.



You ride around to the back of the hill until you find the road leading up to the estate, and notice a village farther off in the distance (you came up from the right side of the map).



The guard house at the bottom of the hill checks your papers and lets you pass. Winding up the steep hill is more strenuous than the whole rest of the journey, but there's no need to rush. Towards the top your horse is taken to the stable, and soon after you are led to the estate's wooden keep to meet Lord Nasu Mide.

The "keep" is really more of a great hall or lodge. Looking around, you get the impression that Lord Nasu is a small time country aristocrat trying to present himself as more powerful and important than he actually is.

In the meeting hall you are greeted by three women, one of whom is clearly the Lady of the Manor by the air of authority she puts on. They are standing in front of a mural painted along the wall, rehearsing a classical drama to be performed during the big festival.

Lady O-Chizu ends the rehearsal early and whisks you away to find Lord Nasu. She is talkative and intense, but with an impressive sophistication and confidence. Already you can tell that she is devoted to her husband and singleminded in her role as Lady of Beiden Pass, at least outwardly.

Lord Nasu, on the other hand, is the picture of a terrific warrior past his prime, irritable and not quite cut out for the bureaucratic aspects of governing a province. He is training with his weapons when you are brought to him, and he doesn't stop as you talk. "Yes, priest? What is it?"



Actions?



登場人物

• Matsumoto Senichi, Unicorn shugenja: TN10, Init +2, wakizashi 4k3 (DR 4k2) | Hnr 3;1, Wnds (4) -3;0 | Void Pts 2/2 | Spells: F3 - A2 - W3 - E2 (double heal rate)
  • Saburo: 3E/3W/1F/1A/1V | TN5, Init +1, DR 1k1 | Hn 2;7 - Gl 0;0 - Wnds (6) 0;0 | Void Pts 1/1

[Starbeard]

Placeholder for the other half of the party. I'll post tonight or tomorrow, unless you would all like to decide what your next course of action will be in the village. Are you going to talk with the headman, or one of the servants who stayed with you last night? Go check out the eta village? Your call.




登場人物

• Kenta, monk: TN10, Init +2, naginata 7k4 (DR 6k3) | Hnr 2;7, Wnds (6) 0;0 | Void Pts 2/2
• Kitsune Shōe, Fox shugenja: TN10, Init +2, wakizashi 5k3 (DR 4k2) | Hnr 2;5, Wnds (4) -0;0 | Void Pts 2/2 | Spells: F2 - A2 - W2 - E2
• Mirumoto Koga, Dragon bushi: no armor+daisho (TN15), Init +2, daisho 2k2/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Hnr 2;7, Wnds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 2/2
• Mirumoto Aiko, Dragon bushi: no armor (TN20/5), Init +3, daisho 5k4/6k3 (DR 4k2) | Hnr 3;6, Wnds (4) -2;0 | Void Pts 1/2 (crippled left arm; double heal rate)
• Yoshida Osaru, ronin: no armor (TN15), Init +3, katana 6k3/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Hnr 2;7 Wnds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 2/2

[ffilz]

Senichi will give an appropriate greeting with appropriate level of apology for disturbing the lords prayers of the blade (training). Senichi will pass on the regrets of Phoenix actor, Shiba Takeyuki, for not being able to make the festivities and present the gift tea set.

[Captain Kinkajou]

Placeholder for the other half of the party. I'll post tonight or tomorrow, unless you would all like to decide what your next course of action will be in the village. Are you going to talk with the headman, or one of the servants who stayed with you last night? Go check out the eta village? Your call.

ooc: Some thoughts in response to your question. Aiko is taking somewhat of a back seat at the moment due to her injuries, but my vote would be that we talk to the servants and then check out the eta village. The headman seems to be the one most actively trying to cover up what's going on and get rid of us, so I feel that ideally we would have more information before probing him much further. Approaching others who seem more open was something Koga/SanguineAngel proposed, and a good approach I think. Koga is probably also well placed to take the lead on this, given Kenta's statement about his own aptitude for 'delicate matters' and Aiko's current condition. Kenta, Shoe and/or Osaru might support/assist depending on what Ed decide's Osaru is doing.

[Rex]

Sounds like a good plan to me.

[SanguineAngel]

OOC: In which case, I will plan start by approaching the servants myself to ask explicitly and frankly about the headman's bad mood and the wood shortage before heading out to the eta village with whom-so-ever would join me to talk to Yiki and see what they are doing about the Howling Strange/what happened to the body.

I'm not sure what the best skill check is to start this off - I imagine it might involve several stages!

[GreyWolfVT]

Honestly I am at a huge loss no idea what to do so the fact we have a plan I'm more than happy to roll with it.

[RotFuchs]

Shoe leans on the group and speaks low, so that no outsider can hear them. His voice is bass and low.

"I believe we should talk with the servants or some "talkative" villagers to find out more. No need to rush things or create a commotion. But if the villagers don't want any help, what we should do? I have seen good intended people getting bad reaction from others. I would like to meet this Yiki person too...

[Starbeard]

Soft Wind Village and Nearby Eta Village, Beiden Pass [map]
Late morning (Hour of the Serpent)
"Evening Day" in High Week, 3rd of Long Month [calendar]
Weather is mostly pleasant and clear

Koga and Shōe find the servants performing domestic tasks behind the headman’s lodge, doing a quick repair of some tatami floor mats under an open awning. Fortunately the peasants seem of the sort predisposed to gossip, and the samurai and shugenja find it almost too easy steering the direction of conversation.

For this situation, I think I will take the higher of Etiquette or Sincerity, since these are gossipy peasants and can be swayed to talk if they think they have a discreet and sympathetic ear. It doesn’t seem like the sort of roll where other characters can assist.

Both have Sincerity 5k3 as their highest value, so it doesn’t matter who rolls. It’s an easier task, only vs TN 10:
[1d10] = 4, [1d10] = 1, [1d10] = 1, [1d10] = 6, [1d10] = 1
Close call!

THE STRANGE HOWLING:
The pair immediately begin to regale you with the story of the Strange Howling, Sakemono. Every so many years, they say, the wind demon of Beiden Pass would awaken and grow restless, sweeping through and causing nightmares until it found its prey: that poor soul would go mad, compelled to amnesiac fits of gambling and vice, until at the last moment of exhaustion he or she fell into a murderous rampage. Running amok, gouging out his or her own eyes, and destroying one or both hands before the spirit finally fled the body with a howl to sleep for another generation, all feature in the tales.

This past year, Sakemono has become a constant, coming to seek his victim sporadically every few weeks or even days. No one knows what has made him so insatiable.

THE MYSTERY OF THE ENCHANTED WOOD:
When pressed about the headman’s odd behavior and contradictory remarks, the servants are quick to defend him. “Oh no, Hachiro is as honest as they come (apparently that’s his name, you finally learn). It is those sickening eta who can’t be trusted! It is they who deliver us the enchanted wood, in the dead of night like sorcerous criminals, using who knows what methods. And then last night, just like that, they say they will deliver wood no longer! After all Headman Hachiro has done for them, too. Good riddance, I say. The wood is probably cursed anyway: some say the whole village consorts with demons and devils! Vile people.”


The party then gathers together to review the gossip, and heads out to the eta village in search of this man Yiki.



It isn’t very far to reach the village, hidden out of sight down in a gully that cuts into the side of the mountain. From the Headman’s servants you learn that the whole eta “village” is actually just one extended family, numbering about a dozen. Yiki is the grandfather and head of the family.

When you enter the edge of the woods and look over the village, you see everyone gathering off to the side of the ramshackle huts, in the middle of a crude funeral full of shamanistic peasant rites alien to your noble ways. You are currently unnoticed.



登場人物

• Kenta, monk: TN10, Init +2, naginata 7k4 (DR 6k3) | Hnr 2;7, Wnds (6) 0;0 | Void Pts 2/2
• Kitsune Shōe, Fox shugenja: TN10, Init +2, wakizashi 5k3 (DR 4k2) | Hnr 2;5, Wnds (4) -0;0 | Void Pts 2/2 | Spells: F2 - A2 - W2 - E2
• Mirumoto Koga, Dragon bushi: no armor+daisho (TN15), Init +2, daisho 2k2/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Hnr 2;7, Wnds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 2/2
• Mirumoto Aiko, Dragon bushi: no armor (TN20/5), Init +3, daisho 5k4/6k3 (DR 4k2) | Hnr 3;6, Wnds (4) -2;0 | Void Pts 1/2 (crippled left arm; double heal rate)
• Yoshida Osaru, ronin: no armor (TN15), Init +3, katana 6k3/6k3 (DR 5k2) | Hnr 2;7 Wnds (4) 0;0 | Void Pts 2/2

[SanguineAngel]

As they discuss the gossip, Koga opines "Hachiro and the village's plight seems lamentable, and they certainly have apparent cause to be upset. However, it does not escape me that they are quick to criticise the etas' suspicious behaviour but eager to profit from it none-the-less. Let us see what this Yiki has to say..."

As they approach and witness an ongoing funeral, the fate of the corpse seen earlier seems obvious. "We should keep respectful distance until the ceremony is complete. If that is the individual we encountered on the road then we have had our part to play in this."

OOC: Unless anyone acts, Koga will wait until the ceremony is complete before approaching with the maxmin degree of respect appropriate between their social ranks. He will not attempt to remain out of sight but with enough distance to make it clear he does not wish to interfere.

[Rex]

Kenta

Kenta will wait as well. Standing off a respectable distance.

[GreyWolfVT]

Osaru stays back so as not to interrupt or disrespect the ritual. Be bows his head to show his respects as well.

[RotFuchs]

Shoe stays back too. He does not make any effort to hide himself (either way he is towering above the others). He closes his palms and says a sermon for the dead, but low enough so no one will hear him, as he does not know how the villagers may react.

[Rex]

How tall is Shoe if he towers over Kenta?

[Starbeard]

That's true, you both have the Large advantage. Maybe Kenta just likes to hunch?

[Rex]

Couldn't see his sheet so wasn't sure, but I doubt the monk has bad posture.

[Captain Kinkajou]

Maybe Shoe thought he was towering over Kenta because Kenta looked smaller, but it was just that, being very respectful, Kenta was standing further away

[Captain Kinkajou]

Aiko

Aiko is uncertain whether to accompany the others to the eta village or not. Her wounds are still painful and she does not want to be a burden. It's not far however, and in the end she decides go along with them for as far as she is able.

Like the others, Aiko remains respectfully back from the small funeral. She offers a silent prayer for the deceased and meditates on the leaves in the trees that surround them, wondering if it was the howling of Sakemono that drove the man to madness. It seemed likely that it was. And, whether perhaps that was how the oni, Gekido, had gained its freedom? It was a beautiful place to be laid to rest at least, she reflects, listening to the song of the wind through the leaves.

It also seemed likely that Koga was right, and that Gekido and the demon's master, the madman the oni slew, were at the heart of the mystery here and more tightly linked to events in the village and the deliveries of enchanted wood than they had realised. Indeed, perhaps what they had witnessed and been a part of the previous day had been the breaking of a bond or pact that led directly to the eta refusing to deliver any more wood to the villagers.

[Starbeard]

Senichi

Beiden Hill Manor, Beiden Pass [map]
Early Evening (Hour of the Rooster)
"Evening Day" in High Week, 3rd of Long Month [calendar]
Weather is mostly pleasant and clear

Lord Nasu stops his practice long enough to go through the formal motions of receiving the gift, but you get the impression that he is brushing it off a bit, and might not even recall who Shiba Takeyuki is.
(Awareness+Courtier roll: [1d10] = 9, [1d10] = 6, [1d10] = 6)

Lady O-Chizu is right on point, though. She immediately steps and playfully begs forgiveness for her husband, "whose mind is always burdened by important matters of state, the plague of an independent daimyo." She regrets that the actor will not be here this year, and accepts your gift graciously on his behalf.
(1 point of Honor and 1 point of Glory gained)

At supper Lord Nasu tells you that his court shugenja will ride out with an escort of three soldiers as soon as the sun rises.
During the meal you are entertained with a small musical drama from the classic repertory about an unlikely hero who rids his province of corrupt rulers and becomes daimyo (you've seen much better performances in the city, but are surprised to have aristocratic theater at all; Lady O-Chizu has whipped these illiterate country servants into a somewhat passable troupe).

Lord Nasu really enjoys the play, especially the fight scenes. Occasionally he loudly congratulates the hero and holds a toast, promising that one day he too will have the support he needs to kick the clans out of Beiden Pass once and for all, and elevate his family name to the recognition it deserves. His retainers cheer each time, telling you here and there about how the Great Clans have never respected the sacred neutrality of Beiden Pass, always "visiting" with armed garrisons and gerrymandering control of the Imperial way stations along the road, while the Emperor does nothing. They complain mostly about the Scorpion, Crane and Lion (good riddance there!), so you have no reason to feel personally threatened.

Is there anything you'd like to check in on or ask about before heading back out in the morning?



登場人物

• Matsumoto Senichi, Unicorn shugenja: TN10, Init +2, wakizashi 4k3 (DR 4k2) | Hnr 3;1, Wnds (4) -3;0 | Void Pts 2/2 | Spells: F3 - A2 - W3 - E2 (double heal rate)
  • Saburo: 3E/3W/1F/1A/1V | TN5, Init +1, DR 1k1 | Hn 2;7 - Gl 0;0 - Wnds (6) 0;0 | Void Pts 1/1