keenscythe
No longer NEET
- Location
- WA, USA
[x] Volunteer for Yukiko's Spell.
Legend of the Ronin (Legend of the Five Rings)
- Status
- Location
- Leeds
We'll never run out of detours but we might run out of time.
[X] Volunteer for Yukiko's Spell.
[X] Volunteer for Yukiko's Spell.
- Location
- Moon-Station
[X] We'll make a further detour, support Ayeko's idea.
- Location
- Austrlia
- Location
- Moon-Station
Our Shugenja almost killed us and heavily delayed us with spell(s) and experiments the last time we volunteered. It is reckless and unnecessary to throw ourselves at this person and hope that some day there wont be side-effects which will put us completly out of commission.
Enthusiasm for testing out new pells aside, this is not the time to test the new limitations of our phoenix or our own mortality.
Enthusiasm for testing out new pells aside, this is not the time to test the new limitations of our phoenix or our own mortality.
- Location
- Austrlia
I get that, but when there were problems with a spell, or it was experimental, she said so, before.
This one has more problems for her, than us.
Still, now that I think of it, a desperate mountain climb sound cool as well.
So, quick, but risky, vs slow but safe-ish.
Eh. I'll keep with the risk. We are, after all, lucky.
This one has more problems for her, than us.
Still, now that I think of it, a desperate mountain climb sound cool as well.
So, quick, but risky, vs slow but safe-ish.
Eh. I'll keep with the risk. We are, after all, lucky.
Arc VI: Battle of the Oasis
--Volunteer
In the end, speed is more important than anything else. You look around.
"Princess, with respect, we should keep moving. Iuchi-san, cast your spell on me, and I will lead the way for you." You say standing up with confidence in your frame.
You can do this, you have to do this...you aren't going to let everyone be harried by these raiders until someone dies.
Besides magic has mostly worked out for you.
Yukiko nods and commands you all to move into a very specific arrangement of a five pointed star with you at the top, and her in the middle. She pours out all of the water you have and begins to chant. Her words flowing into a melodic symphony that sees water surround you in a cold ocean of movement and change. The feeling of limbs swiftly growing, boiling, shifting fills you, but it's not harmful....instead you are the oncoming storm swifter than lightning and unstoppable.
"RUN!" Yukiko calls, and that's all you need to hear as you move.
The others fall into line behind, the entire world seeming to shift into slow motion as you run, feet leaving impact craters in the land as you move. You dodge more by instinct than by sight, as you let the void guide you forward around hidden sand traps, dunes, rocks and cacti. For two days you run without stopping, your limbs too filled with energy, too filled with life for you to even think of slowing down.
It'd exhaust you if you didn't feel so alive.
Finally the second night falls as you come into the oases. A journey of weeks, done in two days. You feel the spell collapse as a wave of exhaustion hits you almost as hard as Tachimiko's kanbo did...but you don't fall over, but Yukiko almost does, leaning heavily on Sora. That spell really took everything she had. You expect that the Iuchi is getting some extra special care tonight.
Still you fight off the exhaustion to walk into the oasis, your senses straining out to feel...
Threat
Threat
Threat
Your mind blanks for a moment trying to process the overwhelming fear that seems to be coursing through your veins. You haven't felt like this since...that time in the cave, now so long ago, when your life was paid for with the blood of another, and you watched a man have his head literally bitten off.
Sagon is here, how is he here, why is he here? You turn to warn the others, but some hidden instinct has you whirling around and pulling your blade in a smooth motion parrying a claw strike that threatened to take your head.
A face filled with malice masked by amusement, Sagon lowers his claws.
"Well, you are here early aren't you?"
Finding your voice, you shake your head.
"What are you doing here?"
"Well I was waiting...for my slaves I guess to keep you harried and broken. But I had a thought, what if you got to these oases? Well that would be a respite for you and we can't have that. Since I was bored I decided to come and poison the water myself...never expected you to get here early."
"I won't let you take her" You say, hands tightening on the sword.
"Your compliance was never required." Sagon replies.
With curse you leap back, and concentrate your ki into two concentrated strikes, that cut the very ground in front of you as they impact onto Sagon's skin. Two slight scratches open up...but he seems oddly unconcerned.
"I had heard of what you did to Tachimiko...suppose it wasn't all exaggerated."
He leaps forward faster than you can block his head coming down and chomping into your shoulder. White hot pain surges through you as your Kaiu armour struggles against the force of the bite. Blood drips into Sagon's mouth as he let's go, you drop to one knee holding your shoulder, you can still fight, still...
Sagon falls back as he dodges one arrow and another cuts through his skin like you did, a sliver of jade paste on it.
"Get away from her" Sora orders.
You see Izu launch himself in front of Sagon, his first punch deflected but the follow up kick to the demon hitting true...and doing nothing.
A hand comes behind you and you feel the water kami...struggling and failing to do anything. Behind you Yukiko looks scared...and Kyoko is doing something.
You might be injured but you have to move. You draw again, trying to batter your way through Sagon's defences with your Ki....but again it doesn't seem to matter much.
Sagon looks at Izu and holds his paw up and makes a quick series of intricate gestures before pushing his palm at Izu's chest and lightning erupts into the Togashi sending him flying. You spot a glowing crab tattoo right before he hits the ground. He gets up, his chest still smoldering
Sora takes aim, as Yukiko again tries and fails to heal you. Izu comes back in swinging, his fists impacting into Sagon's chest like hammers, but they don't seem able to get through at all. Yukiko continues her chant.
You look at your sword. You had hammered him, but you couldn't seem to get any damage at all. He was still going strong no matter the wounds inflicted on him, what sort of demon was this? With heavy sigh you again draw your blade as quickly as you can.
Listen, please listen to me!
Again your sword draws out your ki cutting into Sagon with power as you finally begin to see him bleed he's hurt, not dead, but hurt. You can do this.
"That's quite enough of that."
He again makes his paws move in a complex set of gestures...and lighting shoots out at you. You'd like to say it didn't hurt. You'd be lying as your knocked off your feet as the fury of the storm hits you dead on. Only your armour and own ki manipulation saved you.
Sora lets loose her arrow, a single jade tip flying forward into Sagon's Eye. The tiger man screams as he's driven back. Izu tries to take advantage, but he doesn't have Jade nor the Lesson of Kaze-no-kami, and he can't break through.
Yukiko feels miserable as once again she proves too exhausted to have the kami help you.
Sora continues chanting. Whatever it is, it must be big. You stand up. You know that if you strike him again...Sagon will probably kill you.
So be it.
You stand up to unleash the winds of change once again...
But whether you're just too hurt to do it properly, or because he knows your technique now. Sagon dances between both strikes, finishing another spell as the entire area is blanketed in fog.
No...he's going to go for the princess. You let your hearing guide you as you run towards Ayako, who sensibly has stayed out of the fight that will see Sagon try to kidnap her. The other's had the same thought, but you can't see anything in the fog, neither can they.
You slide to a halt on loose dirt in front of Ayako just as Sagon reappears. Kayeko seems to be right behind you. The Rakshasa snarls.
"...Suppose this counts as my loss...but you haven't won yet."
You heft your sword as Kayeko's hands glow with a blue flame.
"Step away from the Princess" Kayeko says.
"Hmm...I could do that or..." Your eyes widen as he charges Ayako.
Ayako swings her fist aiming for his throat. The Rakshasa swings his claws out, cutting through Ayako's shoulder and tearing the arm off. In a smooth motion he grabs Ayako and throws her into Kyoko, even as you launch another attack. The demon dances around one strike, but takes the other in the back staggering even as he runs with Ayako's arm.
White hot fire shoots into the night as Kyoko changes her aim at the last moment to avoid hurting the princess more. Her spell seeming to carve into the sky your location from the heat. The fog boils around as the others arrive.
You collapse on the ground. You had...not defeated Sagon, but you had made him run, you knew that he would kill you or would have if he thought he could. He had ran not believing he could...but he had still gotten a portion of what he wanted, even if it wasn't the full thing.
Yukiko is already binding and tending to the Princess wound, being apologetic that she can't do more.
Ayako for her part seems to be fighting off shock. You can't really blame her.
Izu, and Sora look out in the distance, but see nothing.
"...Well that was a complete mess." Sora says angrily.
"Agreed, he took my strongest blows like they were nothing."
"And the arm of our Princess"
"I'm...alive" Ayako gets out between the binding.
"Alive but not whole. Probability the arm is enough for Sagon's purposes" Kyoko says.
"Which are?" Sora asks.
"We can only assume nothing good, perhaps something of Maho?" Izu says thinking outloud.
"That is unacceptable, the question is what to do about it. No doubt the demon has a march on us by the time we recover. It is incredibly fast" Sora frowns.
"...where is it going?" Ayako gets out as the binding is finished.
You think about the direction it vanished in on your senses...it had been going East.
"East...that's the way it went" You get out.
"East..." Kyoko frowns.
"Shinmon Mori you think?" Sora asks.
"Probable, largest area with likely unclaimed places to work out of."
"So the arm goes to Shinmon Mori, the Forest of Ghosts, and the Princess has to go to Toshi Ranbo" Sora says.
"We have to divide our forces then." You say quietly.
"Hai...one group will go with the Princess to Toshi Ranbo, and one group will go south. Megumi-san, you're the one who hurt it most...so you will lead the group to Shinmon Mori. Choose two others."
[] Write in who you pick and why.
AN: You guys did fairly well, Sagon will be weaker the next fight because of the damage you did, and was completely unable to kidnap Ayako.
Megumi is at 3 void and 51 Wounds
In the end, speed is more important than anything else. You look around.
"Princess, with respect, we should keep moving. Iuchi-san, cast your spell on me, and I will lead the way for you." You say standing up with confidence in your frame.
You can do this, you have to do this...you aren't going to let everyone be harried by these raiders until someone dies.
Besides magic has mostly worked out for you.
Yukiko nods and commands you all to move into a very specific arrangement of a five pointed star with you at the top, and her in the middle. She pours out all of the water you have and begins to chant. Her words flowing into a melodic symphony that sees water surround you in a cold ocean of movement and change. The feeling of limbs swiftly growing, boiling, shifting fills you, but it's not harmful....instead you are the oncoming storm swifter than lightning and unstoppable.
"RUN!" Yukiko calls, and that's all you need to hear as you move.
The others fall into line behind, the entire world seeming to shift into slow motion as you run, feet leaving impact craters in the land as you move. You dodge more by instinct than by sight, as you let the void guide you forward around hidden sand traps, dunes, rocks and cacti. For two days you run without stopping, your limbs too filled with energy, too filled with life for you to even think of slowing down.
It'd exhaust you if you didn't feel so alive.
Finally the second night falls as you come into the oases. A journey of weeks, done in two days. You feel the spell collapse as a wave of exhaustion hits you almost as hard as Tachimiko's kanbo did...but you don't fall over, but Yukiko almost does, leaning heavily on Sora. That spell really took everything she had. You expect that the Iuchi is getting some extra special care tonight.
Still you fight off the exhaustion to walk into the oasis, your senses straining out to feel...
Threat
Threat
Threat
Your mind blanks for a moment trying to process the overwhelming fear that seems to be coursing through your veins. You haven't felt like this since...that time in the cave, now so long ago, when your life was paid for with the blood of another, and you watched a man have his head literally bitten off.
Sagon is here, how is he here, why is he here? You turn to warn the others, but some hidden instinct has you whirling around and pulling your blade in a smooth motion parrying a claw strike that threatened to take your head.
A face filled with malice masked by amusement, Sagon lowers his claws.
"Well, you are here early aren't you?"
Finding your voice, you shake your head.
"What are you doing here?"
"Well I was waiting...for my slaves I guess to keep you harried and broken. But I had a thought, what if you got to these oases? Well that would be a respite for you and we can't have that. Since I was bored I decided to come and poison the water myself...never expected you to get here early."
"I won't let you take her" You say, hands tightening on the sword.
"Your compliance was never required." Sagon replies.
With curse you leap back, and concentrate your ki into two concentrated strikes, that cut the very ground in front of you as they impact onto Sagon's skin. Two slight scratches open up...but he seems oddly unconcerned.
"I had heard of what you did to Tachimiko...suppose it wasn't all exaggerated."
He leaps forward faster than you can block his head coming down and chomping into your shoulder. White hot pain surges through you as your Kaiu armour struggles against the force of the bite. Blood drips into Sagon's mouth as he let's go, you drop to one knee holding your shoulder, you can still fight, still...
Sagon falls back as he dodges one arrow and another cuts through his skin like you did, a sliver of jade paste on it.
"Get away from her" Sora orders.
You see Izu launch himself in front of Sagon, his first punch deflected but the follow up kick to the demon hitting true...and doing nothing.
A hand comes behind you and you feel the water kami...struggling and failing to do anything. Behind you Yukiko looks scared...and Kyoko is doing something.
You might be injured but you have to move. You draw again, trying to batter your way through Sagon's defences with your Ki....but again it doesn't seem to matter much.
Sagon looks at Izu and holds his paw up and makes a quick series of intricate gestures before pushing his palm at Izu's chest and lightning erupts into the Togashi sending him flying. You spot a glowing crab tattoo right before he hits the ground. He gets up, his chest still smoldering
Sora takes aim, as Yukiko again tries and fails to heal you. Izu comes back in swinging, his fists impacting into Sagon's chest like hammers, but they don't seem able to get through at all. Yukiko continues her chant.
You look at your sword. You had hammered him, but you couldn't seem to get any damage at all. He was still going strong no matter the wounds inflicted on him, what sort of demon was this? With heavy sigh you again draw your blade as quickly as you can.
Listen, please listen to me!
Again your sword draws out your ki cutting into Sagon with power as you finally begin to see him bleed he's hurt, not dead, but hurt. You can do this.
"That's quite enough of that."
He again makes his paws move in a complex set of gestures...and lighting shoots out at you. You'd like to say it didn't hurt. You'd be lying as your knocked off your feet as the fury of the storm hits you dead on. Only your armour and own ki manipulation saved you.
Sora lets loose her arrow, a single jade tip flying forward into Sagon's Eye. The tiger man screams as he's driven back. Izu tries to take advantage, but he doesn't have Jade nor the Lesson of Kaze-no-kami, and he can't break through.
Yukiko feels miserable as once again she proves too exhausted to have the kami help you.
Sora continues chanting. Whatever it is, it must be big. You stand up. You know that if you strike him again...Sagon will probably kill you.
So be it.
You stand up to unleash the winds of change once again...
But whether you're just too hurt to do it properly, or because he knows your technique now. Sagon dances between both strikes, finishing another spell as the entire area is blanketed in fog.
No...he's going to go for the princess. You let your hearing guide you as you run towards Ayako, who sensibly has stayed out of the fight that will see Sagon try to kidnap her. The other's had the same thought, but you can't see anything in the fog, neither can they.
You slide to a halt on loose dirt in front of Ayako just as Sagon reappears. Kayeko seems to be right behind you. The Rakshasa snarls.
"...Suppose this counts as my loss...but you haven't won yet."
You heft your sword as Kayeko's hands glow with a blue flame.
"Step away from the Princess" Kayeko says.
"Hmm...I could do that or..." Your eyes widen as he charges Ayako.
Ayako swings her fist aiming for his throat. The Rakshasa swings his claws out, cutting through Ayako's shoulder and tearing the arm off. In a smooth motion he grabs Ayako and throws her into Kyoko, even as you launch another attack. The demon dances around one strike, but takes the other in the back staggering even as he runs with Ayako's arm.
White hot fire shoots into the night as Kyoko changes her aim at the last moment to avoid hurting the princess more. Her spell seeming to carve into the sky your location from the heat. The fog boils around as the others arrive.
You collapse on the ground. You had...not defeated Sagon, but you had made him run, you knew that he would kill you or would have if he thought he could. He had ran not believing he could...but he had still gotten a portion of what he wanted, even if it wasn't the full thing.
Yukiko is already binding and tending to the Princess wound, being apologetic that she can't do more.
Ayako for her part seems to be fighting off shock. You can't really blame her.
Izu, and Sora look out in the distance, but see nothing.
"...Well that was a complete mess." Sora says angrily.
"Agreed, he took my strongest blows like they were nothing."
"And the arm of our Princess"
"I'm...alive" Ayako gets out between the binding.
"Alive but not whole. Probability the arm is enough for Sagon's purposes" Kyoko says.
"Which are?" Sora asks.
"We can only assume nothing good, perhaps something of Maho?" Izu says thinking outloud.
"That is unacceptable, the question is what to do about it. No doubt the demon has a march on us by the time we recover. It is incredibly fast" Sora frowns.
"...where is it going?" Ayako gets out as the binding is finished.
You think about the direction it vanished in on your senses...it had been going East.
"East...that's the way it went" You get out.
"East..." Kyoko frowns.
"Shinmon Mori you think?" Sora asks.
"Probable, largest area with likely unclaimed places to work out of."
"So the arm goes to Shinmon Mori, the Forest of Ghosts, and the Princess has to go to Toshi Ranbo" Sora says.
"We have to divide our forces then." You say quietly.
"Hai...one group will go with the Princess to Toshi Ranbo, and one group will go south. Megumi-san, you're the one who hurt it most...so you will lead the group to Shinmon Mori. Choose two others."
[] Write in who you pick and why.
AN: You guys did fairly well, Sagon will be weaker the next fight because of the damage you did, and was completely unable to kidnap Ayako.
Megumi is at 3 void and 51 Wounds
Last edited:
Sirrocco
Pedantic
Wow. "He tore off the arm of the one you were trying to protect and got away. Nothing you did could stop him" qualifies as "you guys did fairly well". Huh.
Quick thoughts
- Everyone we take with us needs to be able to damage him somehow. Too bad we don't have any ivory.
- Probably best to split up the shugenja.
- Probably best to have Sora go with the other group, to maintain leadership. It'd be nice to have her jade arrows on our side when we face him again, but we don't know how many more of those she has, and the leadership (and the social tanking on the far end) are going to be important. That suggests Yukiko with them, and Kyoko with us, from a morale and cohesion standpoint. So... the monk goes with us, I suppose... which means that we need to figure out some way that he can actually hurt the beast. Any ideas? I don't suppose that Ayako would know any sort of blessing for him that might work? I don't suppose we lucked out and had him get just enough exp for learning a surprisingly pertinent kiho?
- We do want to take the time at this oasis to recover our resources, if we can. We need to recover our water, assuming he hasn't yet had the chance to poison it, and sleep a night, and hopefully have the shugenja tend to our wounds. It'll give him a bit more lead time, but chasing him while injured will cost us more in the long run, and, honestly, he moves quickly enough that we *want* him to get some distance away so that he doesn't just cycle back around and attack the princess team again while we're chasing him with half our group.
Quick thoughts
- Everyone we take with us needs to be able to damage him somehow. Too bad we don't have any ivory.
- Probably best to split up the shugenja.
- Probably best to have Sora go with the other group, to maintain leadership. It'd be nice to have her jade arrows on our side when we face him again, but we don't know how many more of those she has, and the leadership (and the social tanking on the far end) are going to be important. That suggests Yukiko with them, and Kyoko with us, from a morale and cohesion standpoint. So... the monk goes with us, I suppose... which means that we need to figure out some way that he can actually hurt the beast. Any ideas? I don't suppose that Ayako would know any sort of blessing for him that might work? I don't suppose we lucked out and had him get just enough exp for learning a surprisingly pertinent kiho?
- We do want to take the time at this oasis to recover our resources, if we can. We need to recover our water, assuming he hasn't yet had the chance to poison it, and sleep a night, and hopefully have the shugenja tend to our wounds. It'll give him a bit more lead time, but chasing him while injured will cost us more in the long run, and, honestly, he moves quickly enough that we *want* him to get some distance away so that he doesn't just cycle back around and attack the princess team again while we're chasing him with half our group.
At the end of the day, he wanted to kidnap Ayako entirely, and was unable to do that. Yes it's not a complete victory. But it is a victory, you can still get Ayako back to the Capital. Which I was honestly unsure of if it would happen when I started the combat. Fact is you nearly killed him, and it was only a bad damage roll from Megumi's last attack that let him get away with the arm.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
So, does anyone else have any ideas about what we might be able to do to give our monk friend jade-equivalent effects? Kihos? Spells? anything?
@gman391 - in support of that, how much jade do we have currently in the party? Did anyone happen to pick up a jade finger in their starting pack? I'm sure that no one has any real crafting skills, but it might at least be worth knowing what we have to work with, especially with the ability to burn void to kind of pretend to know a skill, and generally high stats.
@gman391 - in support of that, how much jade do we have currently in the party? Did anyone happen to pick up a jade finger in their starting pack? I'm sure that no one has any real crafting skills, but it might at least be worth knowing what we have to work with, especially with the ability to burn void to kind of pretend to know a skill, and generally high stats.
Sora had about five jade arrows, it's down to four now.
Yukiko and Kayeko both lack any Jade beyond what they in theory can summon
Ayako and Izu both lack Jade.
But Ayako does known the potent 'Touch of the Storm' Kiho but is currently unable to cast it as she's still realigning her Chi (She has most 6th level and lower air Kiho known but can only do the 3rd level ones at the moment, and a smattering from the other elements)
Izu is packing a fairly decent suit of tattoos, and a few water and air Kiho for mobility.
Yukiko and Kayeko both lack any Jade beyond what they in theory can summon
Ayako and Izu both lack Jade.
But Ayako does known the potent 'Touch of the Storm' Kiho but is currently unable to cast it as she's still realigning her Chi (She has most 6th level and lower air Kiho known but can only do the 3rd level ones at the moment, and a smattering from the other elements)
Izu is packing a fairly decent suit of tattoos, and a few water and air Kiho for mobility.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
Ehhh... yeah. Think that's as good as we're going to get.
[x] Group: Kyoko and Izu come with us.
[x] Reasoning: If we're going after the beast, Sora needs to stay with the princess, both to maintain leadership, and because her status and associated social ability are going to be important for dealing with the politics once they arrive. Additionally, while her arrows would be very useful when facing the beast, having some access to jade attacks may wind up being critical for protecting the princess. We want to have one shugenja for each group, for all of the things that only a shugenja can do. Given that, which shugenja should be with each leader is obvious. Izu could fit in either group, but the princess obviously needs to be part of the princess-rescuing group, which means he's coming with us.
The only other answer that I think I could get peopel to agree to would be to have Sora going with us, swapping in her and Yukiko, swapping out Izu and Ayako. That bow *would* be awfully useful... but the trade would also completely hork over the "save the princess" part of the mission in two or three different ways, and we really do have two objectives here.
[x] Group: Kyoko and Izu come with us.
[x] Reasoning: If we're going after the beast, Sora needs to stay with the princess, both to maintain leadership, and because her status and associated social ability are going to be important for dealing with the politics once they arrive. Additionally, while her arrows would be very useful when facing the beast, having some access to jade attacks may wind up being critical for protecting the princess. We want to have one shugenja for each group, for all of the things that only a shugenja can do. Given that, which shugenja should be with each leader is obvious. Izu could fit in either group, but the princess obviously needs to be part of the princess-rescuing group, which means he's coming with us.
The only other answer that I think I could get peopel to agree to would be to have Sora going with us, swapping in her and Yukiko, swapping out Izu and Ayako. That bow *would* be awfully useful... but the trade would also completely hork over the "save the princess" part of the mission in two or three different ways, and we really do have two objectives here.
- Location
- Leeds
Well new plan.
[X] Retire to be monks. Never speak of this failure again.
Time to finish this update.
- Location
- Leeds
Izu is the princess?
Sirrocco
Pedantic
No. We're the Rakshasa-killing group. The princess-rescuing group is the one that's going the other way.
- Location
- Leeds
Oh of course I'm being dense.
For some reason when you said .but the princess' I didn't recognise you were changing the subject of the sentence so I read it as 'the princess(Izu)'.
- Location
- Moon-Station
[X]Sirrocco.
keenscythe
No longer NEET
- Location
- WA, USA
[X]Sirrocco.
- Status