Glory of the Emerald Empire (Legend of the 5 Rings Quest)
- Thread starter Winged Knight
- Start date
- Fantasy
Dirtnap
Kanmusu Affecionado
Those shenanigans need to continue
Dirtnap
Kanmusu Affecionado
...awkward valentines exchange? idk but it promises to be heart-warming (hopefully)
You know me Dirtnap, I can do heart warming...I just don't usually.
2.128
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
[x] Then who is this enemy?
You can't help the scowl that crosses your face. For someone who claims to be 'up front,' this ogre is quite verbose and circumspect. Intelligent ogres are remarkably chatty, it seems. Frankly, you're beginning to think you prefer ogres as dumb brutes. They bellow spittle in your face and try to beat you to death with trees, but at least they are direct.
From the creature's grin, a monstrous display of teeth, you can tell it knows just how its words have annoyed you. You don't think the ogre is playing around with you, at least not intentionally. It could, however, be gaining some small amusement at your expense as the conversation goes on.
You've had quite enough of that. You'll not be anyone's fool, especially not to some Tainted brute who has only recently grasped language.
"Then what is this true enemy?" you demand. "Answer me, ogre. I would know just whose skull my tetsubo must break this evening."
"A servant of the slaver of my kind," the ogre responds, lowering the sword. It's mouth curls up in distaste. "What you call a Maho-tsukai."
"You speak the truth?" Shasa asks, her sword held to the side in both hands. It is not raised to attack, but can easily be done so in less than a moment. "A Bloodspeaker is here, taking children? Do you know why?"
"I don't make it a habit to lie," the ogre growls, looking offended. "That implies I have something to hide, and that is weakness." It glowers at the three of you. "I am not weak."
That seems to have touched a nerve. What little you know of intelligent ogres from your Clan's few encounters with them is that they despise weakness. That means this monster is likely going to be touchy about odd things. Shasa's perfectly innocent question, for instance.
Well, the ogre can just sit there and take it. You don't care if this beast is touchy about how it's addressed, or what implications you hurl its way. You've spent most f your life killing monsters like this one. It can get offended all it wants, but you'll still have your answers if you have to beat it out of the foul thing's hide. Which, frankly, might be preferable to continuing this conversation.
But you restrain yourself. Now is not yet the time for violence. The ogre appears to be telling the truth, for you cannot detect any lies in the creature's tone or posture. That means the real enemy is still out there somewhere, and for now that is the foe you must deal with. You can handle other matters at a later date.
"Answer her question, ogre," you say. "Why is this Maho-tsukai stealing children? For what purpose are they terrorizing these people?"
"To fuel some foul magic, I suspect," the ogre replies. "I came across him one evening weeks ago, and smelled the Taint upon him. So I assaulted him with a club. He set corpses upon me, and lit the club on fire." It pats the sword. "I decided I needed a more resilient tool in order to kill him, and I have destroyed four of his corpse walkers already."
"But why do you desire his death?" Shirou asks, looking oddly curious. The monk steps forward, hands at his sides. He looks seemingly harmless, but you know full well how deceiving such things can be. "You happened across him by chance, you say. What, then, has spurred you to this path? "
"Because he serves the one who enslaved my people and broke their minds," the ogre responds. "Willingly or no, it does not matter. He furthers the cause of Jigoku just by existing. For this, he must die." The monster glowers at you. "Do not get in my way, Samurai. I've finally discovered the fool's lair. My sword will taste his blood tonight."
[] Write in.
You can't help the scowl that crosses your face. For someone who claims to be 'up front,' this ogre is quite verbose and circumspect. Intelligent ogres are remarkably chatty, it seems. Frankly, you're beginning to think you prefer ogres as dumb brutes. They bellow spittle in your face and try to beat you to death with trees, but at least they are direct.
From the creature's grin, a monstrous display of teeth, you can tell it knows just how its words have annoyed you. You don't think the ogre is playing around with you, at least not intentionally. It could, however, be gaining some small amusement at your expense as the conversation goes on.
You've had quite enough of that. You'll not be anyone's fool, especially not to some Tainted brute who has only recently grasped language.
"Then what is this true enemy?" you demand. "Answer me, ogre. I would know just whose skull my tetsubo must break this evening."
"A servant of the slaver of my kind," the ogre responds, lowering the sword. It's mouth curls up in distaste. "What you call a Maho-tsukai."
"You speak the truth?" Shasa asks, her sword held to the side in both hands. It is not raised to attack, but can easily be done so in less than a moment. "A Bloodspeaker is here, taking children? Do you know why?"
"I don't make it a habit to lie," the ogre growls, looking offended. "That implies I have something to hide, and that is weakness." It glowers at the three of you. "I am not weak."
That seems to have touched a nerve. What little you know of intelligent ogres from your Clan's few encounters with them is that they despise weakness. That means this monster is likely going to be touchy about odd things. Shasa's perfectly innocent question, for instance.
Well, the ogre can just sit there and take it. You don't care if this beast is touchy about how it's addressed, or what implications you hurl its way. You've spent most f your life killing monsters like this one. It can get offended all it wants, but you'll still have your answers if you have to beat it out of the foul thing's hide. Which, frankly, might be preferable to continuing this conversation.
But you restrain yourself. Now is not yet the time for violence. The ogre appears to be telling the truth, for you cannot detect any lies in the creature's tone or posture. That means the real enemy is still out there somewhere, and for now that is the foe you must deal with. You can handle other matters at a later date.
"Answer her question, ogre," you say. "Why is this Maho-tsukai stealing children? For what purpose are they terrorizing these people?"
"To fuel some foul magic, I suspect," the ogre replies. "I came across him one evening weeks ago, and smelled the Taint upon him. So I assaulted him with a club. He set corpses upon me, and lit the club on fire." It pats the sword. "I decided I needed a more resilient tool in order to kill him, and I have destroyed four of his corpse walkers already."
"But why do you desire his death?" Shirou asks, looking oddly curious. The monk steps forward, hands at his sides. He looks seemingly harmless, but you know full well how deceiving such things can be. "You happened across him by chance, you say. What, then, has spurred you to this path? "
"Because he serves the one who enslaved my people and broke their minds," the ogre responds. "Willingly or no, it does not matter. He furthers the cause of Jigoku just by existing. For this, he must die." The monster glowers at you. "Do not get in my way, Samurai. I've finally discovered the fool's lair. My sword will taste his blood tonight."
[] Write in.
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cokerpilot
Here comes the rain.
Would it be considered dishonorable to fight with the ogre at our side. Taking out the blood speaker seems like the most pressing mater.
Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
What I really want to do is to aid him, but I'm not quite sure it would be IC for Sousuke to do so, considering what he thinks of Ogres. That said, the Ogre is an enemy of Jigoku, and "The Wall welcomes all stones.", after all.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
IC? IC, Sousuke is So Conflicted right now. This ogre has basically just declared unending emnity against Jikogu, and all its creatures, and all its works. This is so far outside of Sousuke's expectations that it isn't funny. Among other things, that means that leaving him alive is likely to do more harm to Jikogu than killing him. As far as Sousuke's worldview is concerned, that's crazy-talk.
We're... not a magistrate. Also, our orders from Yasuki Goro were pretty clear on the "fight the ogre if you have to" (and not if you don't).
So, we have some interesting things to balance here. Pretty sure we want to have the ogre show us to the lair, kill the maho-tsukai, and, preferably, wind up with everyone on our side (including the ogre) alive at the end. (if nothing else, he makes it a lot less liekly that any *other* tainted thing settles in this forest) However, there are other objectivnes to consider.
- How much are we looking to warp Sousuke's worldview on this one? This is a character development moment. How do we want this character to develop?
- Brash is a thing, and getting into a fight with the Ogre would be Poor. Need to keep away from triggers
- Shasa has been acting... funny, lately. At minimum, this means that we're going to have to not push her past her own Brash threshold. It's possible, though, that this really is Maho-tsukai Shasa - and if it is, she's going to have a very different view of what's going on here. It's entirely possible that at some point during this process, she and the ogre are going to get into a fight, where *he's* the one who's cleansing the taint of Jikogu from the face of Rokugan (...and she, naturally, is calling us to assist). Of course, Rokugan is far more a place of appearances than it is of truth. This plotlet gets ugly *fast*. We'll want to avoid it as best we can. On the flip side... well, if she does go full-on evil out here, in a way that's *obvious* to both Sousuke and Shirou, having her die in the epic battle to kill a maho-tsukai that threatened the people of Rokugan is a lot better for the crab than having her revealed *as* a maho-tsukai a few years down the road - let alone the damage she could do if she is not so revealed.
- Shirou is a lot more manageable as a companion for now, but does become suddenly far more complicated if Shasa starts showing her dark side.
We're... not a magistrate. Also, our orders from Yasuki Goro were pretty clear on the "fight the ogre if you have to" (and not if you don't).
So, we have some interesting things to balance here. Pretty sure we want to have the ogre show us to the lair, kill the maho-tsukai, and, preferably, wind up with everyone on our side (including the ogre) alive at the end. (if nothing else, he makes it a lot less liekly that any *other* tainted thing settles in this forest) However, there are other objectivnes to consider.
- How much are we looking to warp Sousuke's worldview on this one? This is a character development moment. How do we want this character to develop?
- Brash is a thing, and getting into a fight with the Ogre would be Poor. Need to keep away from triggers
- Shasa has been acting... funny, lately. At minimum, this means that we're going to have to not push her past her own Brash threshold. It's possible, though, that this really is Maho-tsukai Shasa - and if it is, she's going to have a very different view of what's going on here. It's entirely possible that at some point during this process, she and the ogre are going to get into a fight, where *he's* the one who's cleansing the taint of Jikogu from the face of Rokugan (...and she, naturally, is calling us to assist). Of course, Rokugan is far more a place of appearances than it is of truth. This plotlet gets ugly *fast*. We'll want to avoid it as best we can. On the flip side... well, if she does go full-on evil out here, in a way that's *obvious* to both Sousuke and Shirou, having her die in the epic battle to kill a maho-tsukai that threatened the people of Rokugan is a lot better for the crab than having her revealed *as* a maho-tsukai a few years down the road - let alone the damage she could do if she is not so revealed.
- Shirou is a lot more manageable as a companion for now, but does become suddenly far more complicated if Shasa starts showing her dark side.
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Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
Well, I'm not exactly one of the primary drivers for Sousuke, but personally, I would like to see Sousuke develop in a more, well, pragmatic direction. It does not matter what you are, human, peasant, samurai, Ratkin, or even Ogre, as long as you stand against Jigoku, you can be counted as an ally. Perhaps not a friend, but an ally, none the less. It's a viewpoint that he already mostly holds, to some degree, and I would like to see it brought to the forefront during this incident.
Just my two cents.
The Sandman
So Zetta Slowpoke
- Location
- Wherever I am, which isn't where I'm not
The Crab do have precedent for letting the mildly Tainted live if they intend to fight Jigoku until they die. Also, we probably can't beat the ogre except by luck, and if we die here we fail both Yasuki-sama and the village. Throwing our lives away for less than nothing isn't samurai, it's just stupid.
We might want to ask Yasuki-sama if there's some way to have one of the Kuni sent to the area, however. A Witch-hunter would be far more able to determine whether the ogre needs to die, would be better able to accomplish that feat should it prove necessary, and could make the most of this opportunity to study a free ogre.
We might want to ask Yasuki-sama if there's some way to have one of the Kuni sent to the area, however. A Witch-hunter would be far more able to determine whether the ogre needs to die, would be better able to accomplish that feat should it prove necessary, and could make the most of this opportunity to study a free ogre.
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
We also have a duty to acomplish. Honor and Duty have one and the same weight to Rokugani laws.
Now, I agree that if the ogre wants to kill the maho tsukai then we can "lend" our strength. We're not here to aid the ogre in its personal crusade against those who have opressed its kind for centuries. We're here to terminate what is spreading the terror among the village, by command of Yasuki.
His exact words. Basically, what to do with the ogre if he's not the one behind the kidnapping is carte blanque.
From what I've read each clan has their own take on the virtues involved in Bushido - and the Crab focus on the Duty aspect the most, contrasting the Loyalty of the Scorpion or the Valor of the Lion.
It might not be really mentionable, but we use any weapon possible against Jigoku - even the Tainted.
Why should we hesitate to use a willing ogre, a creature Tainted against it's will, against someone so foul that they EMBRACED the Taint by using Maho?
It might not be really mentionable, but we use any weapon possible against Jigoku - even the Tainted.
Why should we hesitate to use a willing ogre, a creature Tainted against it's will, against someone so foul that they EMBRACED the Taint by using Maho?
Sirrocco
Pedantic
Okay, so it sounds like we're pretty much established on the "work with the ogre to kill the tainted thing". OOCly, any ideas on how to handle the (potential) Shasa situation? If she hauls off and attacks the ogre (possibly because she's being influenced by nearby tainted kami) he *will* try to kill her - and the only way to stop him would be to turn on him, which might wind up killing us and Shirou (particularly if the timing is bad, and the maho-tsukai is still around).
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
Hmm... I'm trusting Shasa understands this ogre is our ticket to get to the one behind the disappearances, as well as she also understands her recklessness would get us three killed.
Again, throwing our lives for less than nothing is stupid, as @The Sandman said.
Again, throwing our lives for less than nothing is stupid, as @The Sandman said.
Alright let's get an actual vote in shall we?
[x] Write in:
Calm yourself, even if this....thing may be a monster, but it's also a useful monster.
While you have no intention of recreating the mistakes of the Great Bear. Orders are orders.
"Ogre you know where this maho-tsukai is? Tell me so I can go kill it, if you want to come...fine, but stay out of our way."
[x] Write in:
Calm yourself, even if this....thing may be a monster, but it's also a useful monster.
While you have no intention of recreating the mistakes of the Great Bear. Orders are orders.
"Ogre you know where this maho-tsukai is? Tell me so I can go kill it, if you want to come...fine, but stay out of our way."
Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
So, do we have a vote? My tentative vote is
[x] Ally with the Ogre.
But I'm not sure how to do it in a way that is Rokugan Kosher.
[x] Ally with the Ogre.
But I'm not sure how to do it in a way that is Rokugan Kosher.
There is legitimately now way to align with an Ogre in a kosher sense within Rokugan. I mean you can do it, but it'll cost honour, mine is the closest I could come up with.
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
The idea is go along with the ogre, without the word "Allies" in the middle of it.
[] Gman391
And I think this achieves it.
Now, what would happen is the ogre still going with its word games for fun and giggles, or to test our patience.
[] Gman391
And I think this achieves it.
Now, what would happen is the ogre still going with its word games for fun and giggles, or to test our patience.
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Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
Doesn't this imply that we think that the Ogre is weak? Isn't that a bad idea, considering his reaction to Shasa's lying accusation?
It implies we don't care if he comes or not. Or that's the intent, and in any event to not screw with us.
Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
I'm pretty sure that he will take it as an accusation of weakness. See how he treated Sasha's accusation of him lying. If he doesn't treat it as an insult I'd be very surprised.
We need to make it clear that we aren't working with him, our interests just happen to coincide here
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
Less "you're weak", more "we don't care if you come with us" (or "we come with you", I don't know. Either way is valid.)