Scroll 1 - The Master Craftsman's Tea Vessel

[Marullus]

"Perhaps it is best you just sneak in and I remain here in case of injury or emergency, " she says looking to the ground. "A distraction on the far side of the compound resulted in them being on you in mere seconds. I a deeply sorry."

"It seems they may have a party tomorrowor may go to honor the Kami on thr eveningof New Years. Either could be a target. But hoping for an empty home may be best."

(GM: did i read your post correctly?)

[jemmus]

Yes, I think so. But I'd like to point out that the nakama expects there to be a lot of activity during the days before New Year's Eve. If the family is staying home, there will probably be deliveries to the house. If they're traveling to visit family, they'll probably be carried in palanquins. (With a few exceptions, wheeled vehicles aren't allowed on the Emperor's roads, where they could make ruts). Also a reminder that during the day a work crew has been cutting down and chopping up fruit trees on the east side of the house. There should be a lot of activity, which the nakama can maybe take advantage of? Or which could make the probability of being discovered more likely? Anyway, some background information on the environment.

[jemmus]

Minoru, thoughts or an action?

[jemmus]

The nakama sit in the damp little copse of trees behind the merchant's mansion and the much smaller two-story merchants' residence-shops. The young members of the nakama sent from the mountain Village seem dejected. Over two days and two nights they've successfully entered the city of Kofu, decieved and avoided Takeda samurai clan guards, infiltrated and scouted the merchant's mansion, and penetrated and begun to search it. Inside, they've hastily searched four of 10 closets in the merchant's and his wife's bedroom. With their arcane dark vision granted by eccentric cousin Kaida's unworldly talents, they know that six more remain. Jinsei and Fuma note that Fuma's skill at lockpicking made the work quick. That was unexpectedly lucky. Fuma deserves a good pat on the back-- on some safe day, in some safe place.

The sky above begins to clear, the rain clouds parting and blowing north, away from the coast and over the mountains. Tomorrow night the Moon will be at half.

The nakama hear the sound of a cat mewling, as if hungry. Around this little copse? A starved stray cat desperately prowling this little stand of trees behind two merchant's houses shop and the mansion?

PCs can do Perception of Hidden Things rolls, or state active actions. (Reminder that Bushido is a roll under system. High stats that you want to roll under.

[ffilz]

Minoru is modestly perceptive:

[Marullus]

Perception of Hidden Things (BCS 9) [1d20]=4

[Grognardsw]

Jinsei thinks he perceives more than just his self pity…

Perception of Hidden Things (BCS 4) [1d20]=3

… The young members … seem dejected. Over two days and two nights they've successfully…

Young ninja these days, they’re such snowflakes… “Sensei didn’t tell me it’d be so hard. And why do they have to have a dog?!”

[Rex]

Fuma

Perception [1d20]=14

[jemmus]

Fuma hears the meow of a cat outside of the circle. He sees Minoru, Kaida and Jinsei perk up, listen, then quit and slump forward, as if contemplating something or gazing into an imaginary campfire. He knows they're feigning ignorance, boredom on watch, and indifference. It's the sign to be on high alert for intruders and ready to react in an instant.

Jinsei, Kaida and Minoru hear a cat's meow in the darkness outside the circle. But they recognize that it's the voice of a young woman, not a real cat. And that it's like the woman almost wanted to be recognized as not a cat, but a human mimicking the nakama's sign for... gathering here. A young woman slowly steps forward from the trees, hands hanging relaxed beside her sides. From he garb and the smell of her garments and the long bag slung over her shoulder, she appears to be the wife of city fisherman or low seller of fish, or both. But her figure is erect and lithe, as of budoka, bushi, or even ninja. And she's beautiful and young. Perhaps 22 or 23 years old, no more. The woman in the fishmonger's clothing has an undisguised elegance and poise about her. And the young members of the nakama can see the sadness of some things in the past around her eyes.

The woman bows, hands on thighs, and says, I, a stranger, am so sorry to disturb you as you rest. It is only that I was observing the residence of the merchant Tanaka Jiro this evening, and chanced to see you exiting.... The woman changes the tone of her voice. And it has the decided edge of a fellow operative. I have an objective pointed toward the merchant Tanaka Jiro. Perhaps you do as well. If you do, I will share what I know, in exchange for what you know. She bows again.

[Marullus]

Kaida considers the interloper before her. Her eyes are keen and her mind shrewd - she looks foe telltales that might reveal the clan she is from.Perhaps likely she is a No Shadow... let us hope she is no Moth... but any Iga clan is problematic.
Perception of Hidden Things (BCS 9) [1d20]=13

Inscruitable... she hides her uncertainty. Unfortunately she could ruin everything.

"It is brave, to come among us so." The shadows begin slinking at the edges of their vision. Like a flutter of wings or scurry of a rat, but nothing is there. Like spiders weaving them in to their little grotto behind her. The mystic in Gakusha dress in a grotto with three dressed in black ninja garb.
"Now that you have seen us, and us you, it seems me must find a reason for trust between us, neh? I would here more of what you would say..."

Ledgermain BCS 10 [1d20]=7
So the effect moves her more in in a positive direction, with a Effect Number of 3. She either fears or respects the situation?

[Grognardsw]

Jinsei, thinking they need all the help they can get, welcomed the woman. He sensed somehow that she would not betray them.

[jemmus]

Do Minoru or Fuma have anything to add or other actions?

[ffilz]

Minoru will allow Kaida to lead the conversation.

[Rex]

Fuma

Nope, Fuma just listens.

[jemmus]

The pretty young woman smelling of old fish replies to Kaida, Yes, it may be considered foolhardy for me to approach you alone. You could easily...erase me. You know that, so I don't think I pose much a threat to you. So there is risk, but I believe the possible benefit of cooperation outweighs it.

I will ask what it is you seek in the house of the merchant Tanaka Jiro. In exchange for the information for the information I am about to give. Speaking first, with no promise of receiving information in exchange, is another risk I will take. I will begin with telling you what my aim is toward Jiro, in some detail. If you have been trained in the hensu-jitsu skill, you will have been taught that it is the details that convince the viewer. The traveling shugenja speaks with the accent of a distant province. The actor is vain and aggressive with the ladies. The fishwife smells of fish. Here, I will provide details not to deceive, but so that they may convince of the authenticity of the words. And so....

My aim is to see the merchant Tanaka Jiro punished for his greed, his stinginess, and his callousness. I know of them because he hired my friends and traveling companions and me to escort a train of goods from Kofu to the Kanto.* My friends all but two porters were killed by a sudden act of nature. The peasants in the area obtained their lord's permission to bury or burn the bodies on a mountain, each according to his religion, Shinto or Buddhist. I could pay for funeral rites for my friends with my money and their own money and equipment. But there was no money for funeral rites for the porters. The surviving porters and I returned to Kofu and told Jiro of the event. We presented him with a letter from the local samurai magistrate confirming that the goods, porters, and pack animals were lost due to a force of nature. The merchant was furious, and blamed us for negligence and incompetency. We asked him for funds for the porters' funeral rites, invoking the traditional obligation of a master to provide rites for servants in his service. He refused, and discharged the two remaining porters from their employment.

That was the first reason I came to dislike Tanaka Jiro.

Now back in Kofu, I used what money I had and could earn from clients to open a small teahouse. I was trained in my clan as an oiran*, you see. I took in a poor but attractive and intelligent girl of Kofu, Sanae by name. I took her in as an assistant and an apprentice and began training her in the basics of the work of an oiran-- carrying a tray, pouring tea into a cup, for instance. But the teahouse had not been open long before yakuza came. Although I had a teahouse license from the Takeda samurai, they said that I needed a permit from their oyabun* as well. I played the gentle, frightened oiran and agreed to pay-- in time, when I had the money. Which would give me time to observe them and learn their habits, of course. I saw that the thugs took note of still simple peasant girl, but noticeably attractive, Sanae.

That evening the yakuza returned, but with their oyabun. And the merchant Tanaka Jiro. Jiro did not recognize me in my oiran makeup, clothing and coiffure. He only knew me from my other hensu-jutsu guise. He looked Sanae over from head to toe, and made her turn around for him. He said, "You owe money to this man" and indicated the oyabun. "I'll buy this peasant girl from her parents. There's some extra in here for you, so you can pay part of your debt." He handed a bag of coins to the oyabun, who took 30 silver coins from it. "This if for now until the summer. Thirty more before the end of U-Tsuki.." Sanae silently wept, but she said, "Please, mistress, do not cause trouble for parents. They are destitute, and in this time of war the Takeda will not consistently send soldiers to protect them. The... these men... could do anything they want with them." The merchant Tanaka Jiro, the oyabun, and their thugs took Sanae away. For the parents losing the daughter and girl losing the rest of her life, seventeen silver coins remained in the purse.

That is the second reason I dislike the merchant Tanaka Jiro.

So those are the details of the story, so that you may trust the information offered to you. The thing of value for in exchange for another thing of value. I will present my own to you now.
Sanae is a maidservant in Jiro's house. I speak with her periodically, at variable times and in various places.
She is privately abused by Jiro. She is bullied and sometimes slapped or pulled by hair the mistress.
She does every family member's laundry, and has access to their clothing and bedding.
She prepares their baths, and has access to their bathrooms.
She assists the older woman servant in the kitchen and vegetable gardens, and carries their food from the kitchen and serves it on the table. Reportedly unobserved. And I have trust in her observation skills.
She is friends with and probably the in-love lover of the outside grounds boy Makoto-kun.
She considers the two ashigaru guards dolts. Cheap hirelings doing a cheap job for cheap pay. They have no loyalty to the merchant. And they wouldn't likely risk their lives for him .

The seated young woman ends her speech to the shinobi in the copse off of the streets of the city of Kofu. I have selfishly spoken too long. Please forgive my rudeness. There is one thing that I have learned from Sanae-san that I may convey. But first, for trust, I will ask... What is your aim inside Tanaka Jiro's mansion and gardens? What did your clan send to you do, young shinobi and actor girl? That we might work together.

*Kanto - An area of southeastern Japan. It has extensive fertile flatlands and grows a lot of rice.
Oiran - A trained female entertainer/companion. They were predecessors of the geisha.
Oyabun - Yakuza gang boss.
U-tsuki - "The Month of Rain"

[Marullus]

Kaida nods once, listening thoughtfully.
"I already know the girl Sanae, as I have been a guest in their home. She tells you truly that she moves freely to a significant degree. They also are very critical of her insufficient oiran education."

"Is she your objective, then? To secure Sanae from the home? Or do you have a greater aim to bring ruin on the merchant?"

"Surely she has told you of the yurei as well, then? Of the servant girl who died, that Sanae was purchased from you to replace? Do you have empathy for the ghost as well?"

[Grognardsw]

Jinsei listened, turning over ideas of how the stranger and Sanae could aid in stealing the tea cup. Sanae may know where the cup is, which would eliminate the extensive searching. The guard patterns and household traffic…

[jemmus]

The young woman replies, Yes, Sanae told me of the yurei. The spirit of the deceased servant bound to the house at first made her uneasy. But now she has come to think of her almost as a friend. "Ah, you have come," she says she thinks when the yurei bumps, or hums or sings.

Shugenja-san, I am sorry to be rude, but I cannot answer any questions as yet. I have other things I can tell you about the merchant Jiro his plans, and the interior of the house. But I ask that you share with me your objective first. I am sorry to be like a crass merchant, demanding a thing in exchange for a thing. But we of the craft of stealth do the same thing with each other. Not exchanging a good for money, but knowledge for knowledge, or aid for aid.

[Grognardsw]

Jinsei was about to reply but deferred to Kaida.

[Rex]

Fuma

Fuma also defers to Kaida.