Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
I like this guy. Lets not kill him.
Glory of the Emerald Empire (Legend of the 5 Rings Quest)
- Thread starter Winged Knight
- Start date
- Fantasy
You do realize he's a tainted monster right? From our perspective, the best he could hope for was the mercy of death.
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
I would rather not. But is a creature from the shadowlands so this ogre may have to die.
In fact, it would be easier for us if they both mutually destroy each other.
Hmm...
@Winged Knight, can I get a Investigation roll? Is to see if there's something odd around us, something that can tell us we're being directed into a trap.
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
Sure. Investigation roll: 5k2=16
You don't detect anything much out of place here, aside from the powerful scent of blood. You're pretty much in completely unclaimed territory now, or near enough. There's nothing around you save for hills and some relatively sparse forest. Also, from what you can see there is only one entrance into the hill. From this vantage, at least, there are no other openings available.
Sorry for not updating on Friday, everyone. My best friend is taking a venture that requires him to move out of state, and since he won't be as close by any more I traveled down to Houston to see him off. This coming week updates should be back on track with the regular schedule.
You don't detect anything much out of place here, aside from the powerful scent of blood. You're pretty much in completely unclaimed territory now, or near enough. There's nothing around you save for hills and some relatively sparse forest. Also, from what you can see there is only one entrance into the hill. From this vantage, at least, there are no other openings available.
Sorry for not updating on Friday, everyone. My best friend is taking a venture that requires him to move out of state, and since he won't be as close by any more I traveled down to Houston to see him off. This coming week updates should be back on track with the regular schedule.
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
I wish the best of luck for your friend, WK. Also, thanks.
Hmm... the only option here is to go in. If there's no openings, then there's also no alternative way out for us... and the maho-tsukai.
[] Get inside the cave. No torches, for it will tell the Blood user of yoour presence.
For now this. Thoughts?
Hmm... the only option here is to go in. If there's no openings, then there's also no alternative way out for us... and the maho-tsukai.
[] Get inside the cave. No torches, for it will tell the Blood user of yoour presence.
For now this. Thoughts?
Last edited:
Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
Uh, is fighting in the dark against a magic user really a good idea? I understand that we might want to sneak up on him, but as previously established, we aren't exactly built for stealth, and if we do get discovered and attacked in the dark, things probably won't go very well for us.
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
I'm sure the blood mage has a light for whatever chamber he's using. Also, I don't think he (she?) is expecting us.
Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
Well, possibly, but the only reason to go in there without torches is to try and be stealthy, and we can't do stealth. Since we are going to be discovered anyway, why not go in with all the advantages that we can get?
[x] Get some torches, and enter the cave carefully. Be ready for battle.
[x] Let Muharanok take the lead, and stay out of his way.
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
... yeah, fair enough I guess. Wanted to have an edge in the inevitable combat, honestly, but yeah, stealth.
[x] Get some torches, and enter the cave carefully. Be ready for battle.
[x] Let Muharanok take the lead, and stay out of his way.
Now... scent of blood? Many children disappeared? What you guys think the Maho Tsukai was trying to do? Summon a demon?
Also, if the MT name is Khosa I'll be very upset.
Last edited:
Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
I'm not entirely familiar with how magic works in l5r beyond the basics. What exactly can Maho tsukai so with this amount of sacrifices?
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
Bring a demon to ningen-do and bind it to your will if you're strong enough (and if not, that oni steals your name and controls you instead)
EDIT: Okay. So, a mahou tsukai would, mechanically speaking, either a summoned oni or a horde of undead at its beck and call. Also, with all the amount of blood around, yhe mahou tsukai would be able to pull all kinds of bullshit like inflicting pain on their victims, and drain our void points.
Hmm... yeah, blood magic is totally broken.
Last edited:
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
Gonna need some more votes if I'm going to update today.
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
@Ghost_msl you have a missing bracket.
2.130
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
[x] Get some torches, and enter the cave carefully. Be ready for battle.
[x] Let Muharanok take the lead, and stay out of his way.
The darkness of that cave makes you scowl. You can hardly see within, and it appears to go deep into the ground. You briefly consider just going in anyway to get the drop on the Maho-tsukai, but then dismiss that thought. Your experience earlier was a firm reminder that stealth is not your expertise. You've no desire to make a fool of yourself.
So you instead rip off some branches from the trees and tie some cloth around them. Shasa and Shirou catch on quickly to what you're doing and help you. Soon enough you have three torches burning, providing illumination beyond the moon's light as evening fully encroaches upon the world.
During all this, Muharanok stays silent. The ogre merely waits with his arms crossed, and quirks an eyebrow at the sight of the torches. He grins at you, and once again you cannot help but marvel at the disturbing image that makes of the monster's teeth.
"Are you ready, Samurai?" the ogre asks. "I fear I might fall asleep waiting for you."
"You can take a nap if you want, ogre," you respond. "And we'll go on ahead to kill the Maho-tsukai." You motion toward the cave with your torch. "But if you're feeling awake enough, you can go in first."
"You do not trust me?"
"There is nothing in all of the Emerald Empire that would make me trust an ogre at my back," you answer. "Now are we going to kill this fool tonight or just stand around talking?"
Muharanok just shrugs and shakes his head. You get an impression the ogre finds your words amusing. Whatever the ogre thought, he still takes up the front and walks into the cave before your group. You step in close behind him, just out of striking range of the monster's sword.
The ogre has to hunch over to actually fit within the tunnel, and even you find yourself almost uncomfortably close to the ceiling. What the tunnel lacks in height it certainly makes up in width, however. There is enough room for almost four men to walk side by side comfortably, though all of you move in a straight line to better spread out.
These are the least things you notice, however. Most prominent on your mind is the scent of blood. It had been bad outside, but in here it is almost overpowering. You have fought in war, and killed many foes. The stench of battle is not unknown to you. But this… This is something else again.
The odor is almost like a living thing, closing around you and forcing its way into your lungs with every breath. The smell of blood, of life having been spilled, permeates the air here. It bounces off the walls and leaves no space unfilled. The smell cannot… No, it refuses to be ignored. There is no escaping it, no recourse from the ever-present stench of death.
What are we walking into? you wonder. How many have died here?
You can find no answer to your questions, and instead try your best to focus on the walk before you. Muharanok's expansive back takes up a great deal of the cavern's width, but you can still see ahead. The tunnel is sloping down at a gentle angle, going ever further into the earth with no branching paths in sight. It is just a straight line cutting into the world.
Eventually, though, after about half an hour the angle straightens out. You have no skill for this kind of activity, the realm of such things being more suited for the Kaiu, but at your best guess you might be almost a hundred feet underground. You truly rest now within the depths of the earth.
Before you stands an entrance to a larger cavern, where flickering firelight seems to be exuding. The smell of blood is coming strongest there, hitting you like a wave. You almost gag; it is so strong, and just manage to maintain your composure. There can be no doubt you have reached your goal. If a Maho-tsukai has taken residence within these lands it could only be in a place such as this, a place of filth and blood.
You open your mouth to speak, to bring forth a plan. The words die before they ever form when Muharanok simply strides forth, his sword held in both hands. The ogre seems to have little need of any kind of refined strategy.
You look at your companions, who just shrug in response.
"Well," you mutter. "It's probably what we were going to do anyway."
"It always does seem to come down to this, doesn't it?" Shasa asks. She seems pale in the torchlight, no doubt affected just as you are by the atmosphere of this place. "Time to go forth."
"It is always time to move forward," Shirou says. "It is only the question of whether we have the heart to take that step."
"There is no question at all," you say, striding forward. "Let's go."
The cavern you step into is wide and vaulted, the walls set with shimmering crystals that reflect the light of a great bonfire set at the back of the cavern. All around the cave are torches set into the walls, providing further illumination and reflecting the shine of those brilliant gems even further.
This would have been a beautiful; perhaps even awe-inspiring sight if it hadn't been for what also lay inside the cave. A small lake of blood was positioned within the center of the cavern, where it bubbled as if set under a low heat. Bones lay littered around it, along with the rotting remains of other viscera. This is not helped by the symbols painted in blood along the edges of that lake and across the walls, glyphs that you can't understand but burn your eyes and mind all the same with the evil they contain.
Looking at it brought the smell you've been experiencing to its full, awful potency, and you barely keep yourself from putting a hand to you mouth and retching. This place… It is a realm out of nightmare. It is pain and vileness and evil. It must be purged, burned with fire until nothing remains. Just being within these walls makes you feel unclean.
And there in front the great bonfire is the man you have been seeing in your dreams. Kohsa, clad in tattered, crimson robes. The man's black hair is coarse and stringy, and as he looks at you with wild eyes you can tell he has not been sleeping properly. Though his clothing is torn and faded, you think you can see the Mon of the Isawa there. This man is… was, one of the Phoenix. His arms are stained red with blood, and in his grip he holds a knife.
Before him is a low stone table, where a child lies unconscious. Thick leather straps bind him tight, and you can only surmise at what was about to happen. The thought makes you draw your lips back and show teeth.
"Intruders?" Kohsa asks, looking up from his work. "I have no time for this."
"You have time enough to die," you growl. "Release the boy and I'll make it mostly painless."
"I make no promises," Muharanok snarls. "You escaped me twice. There will not be a third time."
"Ah… I see you're back," Kohsa says, scowling. "I've no time for you either, beast. My work is almost done, and I will brook no interruptions!" He spread his arms wide. "I will defeat the Great Kharmic Wheel and rectify a mistake that should never have happened! I will see my children again!"
"Enough talk!" Muharanok bellows, charging forward. "Time to die!"
"Never!" Kohsa screams. "Not until Michiko and Taru are with me again! Not until the insanity of Moto Shinichiro's brutality has been cleansed!" He draws his arms close, as if hugging himself. His maddened eyes, however never leave you. "You will not stop me!"
Six bloated, rotting corpses ran out from behind the bonfire with far more speed than dead things should have. They were clad in peasant clothing, wielding simple weapons like knives and farming tools. Muharanok slammed into them, but three zombies intercepted and stopped him short, though one fell quickly as the ogre pulped it into so much refuse with his shoulder. The remaining two laid into him, forcing Muharanok to defend himself.
The final three, however, come shambling toward you.
[] Attack the zombies.
[] Attack Kohsa.
[] Write in.
[x] Let Muharanok take the lead, and stay out of his way.
The darkness of that cave makes you scowl. You can hardly see within, and it appears to go deep into the ground. You briefly consider just going in anyway to get the drop on the Maho-tsukai, but then dismiss that thought. Your experience earlier was a firm reminder that stealth is not your expertise. You've no desire to make a fool of yourself.
So you instead rip off some branches from the trees and tie some cloth around them. Shasa and Shirou catch on quickly to what you're doing and help you. Soon enough you have three torches burning, providing illumination beyond the moon's light as evening fully encroaches upon the world.
During all this, Muharanok stays silent. The ogre merely waits with his arms crossed, and quirks an eyebrow at the sight of the torches. He grins at you, and once again you cannot help but marvel at the disturbing image that makes of the monster's teeth.
"Are you ready, Samurai?" the ogre asks. "I fear I might fall asleep waiting for you."
"You can take a nap if you want, ogre," you respond. "And we'll go on ahead to kill the Maho-tsukai." You motion toward the cave with your torch. "But if you're feeling awake enough, you can go in first."
"You do not trust me?"
"There is nothing in all of the Emerald Empire that would make me trust an ogre at my back," you answer. "Now are we going to kill this fool tonight or just stand around talking?"
Muharanok just shrugs and shakes his head. You get an impression the ogre finds your words amusing. Whatever the ogre thought, he still takes up the front and walks into the cave before your group. You step in close behind him, just out of striking range of the monster's sword.
The ogre has to hunch over to actually fit within the tunnel, and even you find yourself almost uncomfortably close to the ceiling. What the tunnel lacks in height it certainly makes up in width, however. There is enough room for almost four men to walk side by side comfortably, though all of you move in a straight line to better spread out.
These are the least things you notice, however. Most prominent on your mind is the scent of blood. It had been bad outside, but in here it is almost overpowering. You have fought in war, and killed many foes. The stench of battle is not unknown to you. But this… This is something else again.
The odor is almost like a living thing, closing around you and forcing its way into your lungs with every breath. The smell of blood, of life having been spilled, permeates the air here. It bounces off the walls and leaves no space unfilled. The smell cannot… No, it refuses to be ignored. There is no escaping it, no recourse from the ever-present stench of death.
What are we walking into? you wonder. How many have died here?
You can find no answer to your questions, and instead try your best to focus on the walk before you. Muharanok's expansive back takes up a great deal of the cavern's width, but you can still see ahead. The tunnel is sloping down at a gentle angle, going ever further into the earth with no branching paths in sight. It is just a straight line cutting into the world.
Eventually, though, after about half an hour the angle straightens out. You have no skill for this kind of activity, the realm of such things being more suited for the Kaiu, but at your best guess you might be almost a hundred feet underground. You truly rest now within the depths of the earth.
Before you stands an entrance to a larger cavern, where flickering firelight seems to be exuding. The smell of blood is coming strongest there, hitting you like a wave. You almost gag; it is so strong, and just manage to maintain your composure. There can be no doubt you have reached your goal. If a Maho-tsukai has taken residence within these lands it could only be in a place such as this, a place of filth and blood.
You open your mouth to speak, to bring forth a plan. The words die before they ever form when Muharanok simply strides forth, his sword held in both hands. The ogre seems to have little need of any kind of refined strategy.
You look at your companions, who just shrug in response.
"Well," you mutter. "It's probably what we were going to do anyway."
"It always does seem to come down to this, doesn't it?" Shasa asks. She seems pale in the torchlight, no doubt affected just as you are by the atmosphere of this place. "Time to go forth."
"It is always time to move forward," Shirou says. "It is only the question of whether we have the heart to take that step."
"There is no question at all," you say, striding forward. "Let's go."
The cavern you step into is wide and vaulted, the walls set with shimmering crystals that reflect the light of a great bonfire set at the back of the cavern. All around the cave are torches set into the walls, providing further illumination and reflecting the shine of those brilliant gems even further.
This would have been a beautiful; perhaps even awe-inspiring sight if it hadn't been for what also lay inside the cave. A small lake of blood was positioned within the center of the cavern, where it bubbled as if set under a low heat. Bones lay littered around it, along with the rotting remains of other viscera. This is not helped by the symbols painted in blood along the edges of that lake and across the walls, glyphs that you can't understand but burn your eyes and mind all the same with the evil they contain.
Looking at it brought the smell you've been experiencing to its full, awful potency, and you barely keep yourself from putting a hand to you mouth and retching. This place… It is a realm out of nightmare. It is pain and vileness and evil. It must be purged, burned with fire until nothing remains. Just being within these walls makes you feel unclean.
And there in front the great bonfire is the man you have been seeing in your dreams. Kohsa, clad in tattered, crimson robes. The man's black hair is coarse and stringy, and as he looks at you with wild eyes you can tell he has not been sleeping properly. Though his clothing is torn and faded, you think you can see the Mon of the Isawa there. This man is… was, one of the Phoenix. His arms are stained red with blood, and in his grip he holds a knife.
Before him is a low stone table, where a child lies unconscious. Thick leather straps bind him tight, and you can only surmise at what was about to happen. The thought makes you draw your lips back and show teeth.
"Intruders?" Kohsa asks, looking up from his work. "I have no time for this."
"You have time enough to die," you growl. "Release the boy and I'll make it mostly painless."
"I make no promises," Muharanok snarls. "You escaped me twice. There will not be a third time."
"Ah… I see you're back," Kohsa says, scowling. "I've no time for you either, beast. My work is almost done, and I will brook no interruptions!" He spread his arms wide. "I will defeat the Great Kharmic Wheel and rectify a mistake that should never have happened! I will see my children again!"
"Enough talk!" Muharanok bellows, charging forward. "Time to die!"
"Never!" Kohsa screams. "Not until Michiko and Taru are with me again! Not until the insanity of Moto Shinichiro's brutality has been cleansed!" He draws his arms close, as if hugging himself. His maddened eyes, however never leave you. "You will not stop me!"
Six bloated, rotting corpses ran out from behind the bonfire with far more speed than dead things should have. They were clad in peasant clothing, wielding simple weapons like knives and farming tools. Muharanok slammed into them, but three zombies intercepted and stopped him short, though one fell quickly as the ogre pulped it into so much refuse with his shoulder. The remaining two laid into him, forcing Muharanok to defend himself.
The final three, however, come shambling toward you.
[] Attack the zombies.
[] Attack Kohsa.
[] Write in.
Last edited:
Note I'm assuming that it's all in for the part or not. I'm not okay with that.
[x] Write in:
Okay there's two problems. Maho-Tsukai given time to do stuff is a terrible thing, but zombies are kind of a problem.
So do something unique.
"Sahsa, Shirou take the sorceror, I'll handle the Zombies. Don't give him another time to cast."
Attack the zombies on your own.
[x] Write in:
Okay there's two problems. Maho-Tsukai given time to do stuff is a terrible thing, but zombies are kind of a problem.
So do something unique.
"Sahsa, Shirou take the sorceror, I'll handle the Zombies. Don't give him another time to cast."
Attack the zombies on your own.
