In Thunder's Echo (Legend of the Five Rings Quest)
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Somewhere private. This is the most romantic night in the year, after all, and if you want to make the most of it you should stay away from prying eyes.
- [X] A mountain path, where you can look out over the entire city.
KISS.
- [X] A mountain path, where you can look out over the entire city.
KISS.
- Location
- United States
[X] Somewhere private. This is the most romantic night in the year, after all, and if you want to make the most of it you should stay away from prying eyes.
- [X] A mountain path, where you can look out over the entire city.
- [X] A mountain path, where you can look out over the entire city.
A Nation's Virtue
南國山河南帝居
[X] Somewhere private. This is the most romantic night in the year, after all, and if you want to make the most of it you should stay away from prying eyes.
- [X] A mountain path, where you can look out over the entire city.
- [X] A mountain path, where you can look out over the entire city.
4.09 - Watching the Sunset
- Location
- London, England
Side by side, the two of you make your way through the streets of the town - come to think of it, you don't know if this place has a name of it's own, or if the Lion just think of it as an extension of Shiro Matsu proper. It might be worth finding out, but honestly you doubt that such things are more than interesting trivia at the moment, and you have more important things to worry about.
The walk does give you and Mariko endless fuel for friendly conversation, however. The peasantry are doing their best to celebrate the festival in true style, and there are works of art and more basic decorations to be found everywhere you look. The air is alight with the sound of music and joyful singing, and as you pass through one of the minor junctions you take note of an ongoing dance competition of some kind further down the street. The local samurai, by contrast, appear divided. Some are all but radiating discomfort and disapproval over such flagrant displays of emotion, while others are seizing the opportunity to celebrate in ways that the bounds of propriety would not normally permit.
You and Mariko slip through the confusion of the streets with relative ease, drawing only the minimal amount of attention as you navigate around knots of pedestrians and through minor side streets, smiling and trading remarks about some of the more blatant displays of joyous affection around you. By silent agreement, you begin to head towards the edge of town, where the tightly packed buildings give way to the slopes of the mountains. While venturing into the wilderness proper is unlikely to be viable, there are several minor foothills nearby that should offer an excellent view of the night sky, as well as providing a substantial amount of privacy.
Investigation/Perception 3k2 = 6
As the sun dips behind the horizon, you find your ideal spot. Halfway up the slopes of one of the minor hills adjacent to the town is a small copse of woodland, reached only by a narrow path that winds its way up the slope, and at the edge of that copse is a small clearing that offers a clear view out over the town. From here you can see everything, and the scene reminds you of a shallow river - streams of people flow back and forth through the streets, winding their way around and between buildings that jut up into the air like stones from a stream. You are too far away to hear the sounds of the people clearly, but the rise and fall of their ongoing celebrations washes over you in gentle waves. The whole scene is stained in red and gold, the winter sun slowly fading over the horizon and painting the mountains with intricate patterns of shadow and light.
"The natural world can be so beautiful." Mariko says softly, looking into the sunset. "We try so hard to capture it in our poems and songs, like children chasing sunbeams, that sometimes I think we are in danger of forgetting what it is we truly seek."
"Certainly, I should hate to forget the sight before me now." You comment, speaking with equally gentle words as the situation seems to demand, observing the beautiful Crane as she is illuminated by the setting sun. "To lose such a memory would be among the greatest of tragedies."
"Flatterer." Mariko says with a smile. She seems to be waiting for something, and after a moment you decide to take a chance, stepping slightly closer and extending one arm to rest lightly around her waist. There is a momentary pause, both of you watching the sunset rather than each other, then Mariko steps relaxes slightly and leans into the embrace.
Winter's touch lies upon the land and there is a light frosting of snow on the ground, but Mariko is warm against your side and you barely even feel the chill of the evening air. Standing together, you watch as the sunlight fades and the shadows gather. It might be a little frightening, to be all but alone in a land of darkness, but one by one the stars begin to shine in the dark sky above. They glitter silently, like diamonds wrapped in silk, hundreds or even thousands of them dancing in the nighttime sky. Looking up, you identify the gleaming lights of the Cowherd and the Weaver stars, separated by the glowing trail of Amaterasu's necklace but burning bright for all to see. It is truly a beautiful sight.
There is a faint scuff sound from behind you, as a sandled foot displaces the snow.
Slowly, you look around, the beauty and serenity of the moment giving way to a sinking feeling. Emerging from within the small copse of trees is a tall and slender man dressed in blue and white, his pale hair unsecured and waving slightly in the breeze. Whether he stumbled across you by accident or has been following you for some time you do not know, but while you have never spoken to him before there is no mistaking his identity.
Kakita Sekawa walks towards you, murder in his eyes and one hand upon his sword.
What do you do?
[ ] Write in
The walk does give you and Mariko endless fuel for friendly conversation, however. The peasantry are doing their best to celebrate the festival in true style, and there are works of art and more basic decorations to be found everywhere you look. The air is alight with the sound of music and joyful singing, and as you pass through one of the minor junctions you take note of an ongoing dance competition of some kind further down the street. The local samurai, by contrast, appear divided. Some are all but radiating discomfort and disapproval over such flagrant displays of emotion, while others are seizing the opportunity to celebrate in ways that the bounds of propriety would not normally permit.
You and Mariko slip through the confusion of the streets with relative ease, drawing only the minimal amount of attention as you navigate around knots of pedestrians and through minor side streets, smiling and trading remarks about some of the more blatant displays of joyous affection around you. By silent agreement, you begin to head towards the edge of town, where the tightly packed buildings give way to the slopes of the mountains. While venturing into the wilderness proper is unlikely to be viable, there are several minor foothills nearby that should offer an excellent view of the night sky, as well as providing a substantial amount of privacy.
Investigation/Perception 3k2 = 6
As the sun dips behind the horizon, you find your ideal spot. Halfway up the slopes of one of the minor hills adjacent to the town is a small copse of woodland, reached only by a narrow path that winds its way up the slope, and at the edge of that copse is a small clearing that offers a clear view out over the town. From here you can see everything, and the scene reminds you of a shallow river - streams of people flow back and forth through the streets, winding their way around and between buildings that jut up into the air like stones from a stream. You are too far away to hear the sounds of the people clearly, but the rise and fall of their ongoing celebrations washes over you in gentle waves. The whole scene is stained in red and gold, the winter sun slowly fading over the horizon and painting the mountains with intricate patterns of shadow and light.
"The natural world can be so beautiful." Mariko says softly, looking into the sunset. "We try so hard to capture it in our poems and songs, like children chasing sunbeams, that sometimes I think we are in danger of forgetting what it is we truly seek."
"Certainly, I should hate to forget the sight before me now." You comment, speaking with equally gentle words as the situation seems to demand, observing the beautiful Crane as she is illuminated by the setting sun. "To lose such a memory would be among the greatest of tragedies."
"Flatterer." Mariko says with a smile. She seems to be waiting for something, and after a moment you decide to take a chance, stepping slightly closer and extending one arm to rest lightly around her waist. There is a momentary pause, both of you watching the sunset rather than each other, then Mariko steps relaxes slightly and leans into the embrace.
Winter's touch lies upon the land and there is a light frosting of snow on the ground, but Mariko is warm against your side and you barely even feel the chill of the evening air. Standing together, you watch as the sunlight fades and the shadows gather. It might be a little frightening, to be all but alone in a land of darkness, but one by one the stars begin to shine in the dark sky above. They glitter silently, like diamonds wrapped in silk, hundreds or even thousands of them dancing in the nighttime sky. Looking up, you identify the gleaming lights of the Cowherd and the Weaver stars, separated by the glowing trail of Amaterasu's necklace but burning bright for all to see. It is truly a beautiful sight.
There is a faint scuff sound from behind you, as a sandled foot displaces the snow.
Slowly, you look around, the beauty and serenity of the moment giving way to a sinking feeling. Emerging from within the small copse of trees is a tall and slender man dressed in blue and white, his pale hair unsecured and waving slightly in the breeze. Whether he stumbled across you by accident or has been following you for some time you do not know, but while you have never spoken to him before there is no mistaking his identity.
Kakita Sekawa walks towards you, murder in his eyes and one hand upon his sword.
What do you do?
[ ] Write in
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Okay, if there's a way to get out of this without fighting a duel, then I'd be willing to possibly throw my Free Raise at it. No promises, but this is pretty important.
Wade Garrett
Just trying to do the right thing
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
From the way it sounds, we're not looking at a formal duel so much as we are "Surprise! It's MURDER TIME!"
@Maugan Ra
Do we even have our sword on us?
I dont think that would make for a good opener for dialog.
- Location
- London, England
You have your sword, yes. You're a Bushi, it would be very odd for you to be walking around without it, at least outside of someone's home or the court.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
So... hooks we have on him for the moment.
- Our behavior so far has been honorable. Him stalking us through the night and then deciding to kill us for putting out hand around the girl he fancies is *not* honorable. Leaping into a duel to the death (and/or murder) without going through the forms adds another layer of not honorable.
- The leader of his delegation (also the girl he fancies) is right here. Presumably, she has at least some influence over him.
- ???
Right now, though, he has a script. It's probably a bit crazed, as it seems likely to include both "kill Soshi Naoto in cold blood in front of Doji Mariko" and, at a later point "Doji Mariko returns my affections", but he has a script. In order to get out without a duel, we very much need to break out of that script.
So.... potential outcomes (no comment as yet on how plausible these are).
Duel-related outcomes in rough order of descending good
- We manage to somehow goad him into admitting that he was at fault for falsifying Doji Mariko's orders (or at least making it clear that they were falsified, and he was in on it). We then kill him in honorable combat (unlikely, but possible. It's possible that we *might* be able to win a kenjutsu duel with him... and when one man decides it's an iajutsu duel, and the other decides it's a kenjutsu duel, the result is kenjutsu). Doji Mariko is able to make a full, formal apology to the court, citing the perfidy of this Kakita we just killed. Harmony reigns, and all is well.
- As above, but without the obvious moustache-twirling. Somehow, we comport ourselves well enough and/or he comports himself poorly enough that Doji Mariko thinks well of us as a result (in spite of the fact that we've just killed her childhood friend who's also her main shield against duels to the death). We somehow manage to talk her into going and apologizing on behalf of the Crane and blaming him *anyway* (possibly after convincing her to let us go through his stuff and check out the letter, possibly after fabricating some appropriate evidence).
- As above but without the apology. We set ourselves up as having to butcher a potentially relentless tide of Matsu who are willing to die in order to get at the Crane. Errr... maybe this one isn't so high on the list. Maybe we just don't step up next time? Maybe we convince Matsu Ketsui to stop approving of such things? This one starts getting a bit messy.
- As above, but we don't retain Doji Mariko's affection. Answering the Crane Conundum gets a lot harder. Doji Mariko is pretty much horked.
- We die in the snow. Game over.
Non-Duel outcomes, in rough order of descending good.
- We manage to talk Kakita-san down out of his homicidal rage, get to know the man, and have a friendly chat. He decides he's okay with us hanging around with Doji Mariko after all. Yeah, that isn't going to happen. Some of these are pretty unlikely. This one's impossible.
- We manage to convince Kakita Sekawa (probably with some significant backup from Doji Mariko) that dueling us, right now, is not actually the plan. This may well require deploying that grand old Scorpion standby of terrible, terrible Lies. It may actually call for making an honor roll in support of a Sincerity(lies) check, which would be hilarious. Indeed, we manage to convince him that dueling us to the death is in general Not The Plan. He doesn't like it, but he's at least unlikely to try to kill us, and our relationship with Doji Mariko is maintained.
- We manage to somehow give the man what he wants without dishonor to anyone involved (or death). He gets the last part of the evening with Doji Mariko, he gets the relationship with the girl - heck, he can even have our spot in that duel to the death with the Matsu, if he wants. We remain on relatively good terms with the Crane as a whole, and can continue to pursue the Crane Conundrum, if perhaps in a somewhat less intimate way.
- We don't give him anything he wants, but we somehow convince him that killing us here and now won't *get* him what he wants. He leaves us and Doji Mariko in peace for now. (Perhaps the evening is cut a bit short. Sadness.) Regardless, this is but a temporary reprieve, and he's totally intending to kill us later - perhaps after we duel that Matsu for him.
- We manage to give the man what he want by making ourselves look bad. Our life is spared, and he won't be coming after us again. but Doji Mariko's view of us is soured. We may or may not still be slated to duel the Matsu.
- We somehow manage to screw things up enough that we look bad to Doji Mariko, we get nothing out of it, and he's *still* intending to kill us when a better opportunity presents (probably after we get into a duel with that Matsu).
So, a rough planning space for possible outcomes, I think. Some of these are more plausible than others, and it's going to be a matter of which ones we think we can achieve and which ones we're going to try to go for. Also, as above, if we don't want to go straight to duel, we need to first do something unexpected to break him out of his script and force him to think.
- Our behavior so far has been honorable. Him stalking us through the night and then deciding to kill us for putting out hand around the girl he fancies is *not* honorable. Leaping into a duel to the death (and/or murder) without going through the forms adds another layer of not honorable.
- The leader of his delegation (also the girl he fancies) is right here. Presumably, she has at least some influence over him.
- ???
Right now, though, he has a script. It's probably a bit crazed, as it seems likely to include both "kill Soshi Naoto in cold blood in front of Doji Mariko" and, at a later point "Doji Mariko returns my affections", but he has a script. In order to get out without a duel, we very much need to break out of that script.
So.... potential outcomes (no comment as yet on how plausible these are).
Duel-related outcomes in rough order of descending good
- We manage to somehow goad him into admitting that he was at fault for falsifying Doji Mariko's orders (or at least making it clear that they were falsified, and he was in on it). We then kill him in honorable combat (unlikely, but possible. It's possible that we *might* be able to win a kenjutsu duel with him... and when one man decides it's an iajutsu duel, and the other decides it's a kenjutsu duel, the result is kenjutsu). Doji Mariko is able to make a full, formal apology to the court, citing the perfidy of this Kakita we just killed. Harmony reigns, and all is well.
- As above, but without the obvious moustache-twirling. Somehow, we comport ourselves well enough and/or he comports himself poorly enough that Doji Mariko thinks well of us as a result (in spite of the fact that we've just killed her childhood friend who's also her main shield against duels to the death). We somehow manage to talk her into going and apologizing on behalf of the Crane and blaming him *anyway* (possibly after convincing her to let us go through his stuff and check out the letter, possibly after fabricating some appropriate evidence).
- As above but without the apology. We set ourselves up as having to butcher a potentially relentless tide of Matsu who are willing to die in order to get at the Crane. Errr... maybe this one isn't so high on the list. Maybe we just don't step up next time? Maybe we convince Matsu Ketsui to stop approving of such things? This one starts getting a bit messy.
- As above, but we don't retain Doji Mariko's affection. Answering the Crane Conundum gets a lot harder. Doji Mariko is pretty much horked.
- We die in the snow. Game over.
Non-Duel outcomes, in rough order of descending good.
- We manage to convince Kakita Sekawa (probably with some significant backup from Doji Mariko) that dueling us, right now, is not actually the plan. This may well require deploying that grand old Scorpion standby of terrible, terrible Lies. It may actually call for making an honor roll in support of a Sincerity(lies) check, which would be hilarious. Indeed, we manage to convince him that dueling us to the death is in general Not The Plan. He doesn't like it, but he's at least unlikely to try to kill us, and our relationship with Doji Mariko is maintained.
- We manage to somehow give the man what he wants without dishonor to anyone involved (or death). He gets the last part of the evening with Doji Mariko, he gets the relationship with the girl - heck, he can even have our spot in that duel to the death with the Matsu, if he wants. We remain on relatively good terms with the Crane as a whole, and can continue to pursue the Crane Conundrum, if perhaps in a somewhat less intimate way.
- We don't give him anything he wants, but we somehow convince him that killing us here and now won't *get* him what he wants. He leaves us and Doji Mariko in peace for now. (Perhaps the evening is cut a bit short. Sadness.) Regardless, this is but a temporary reprieve, and he's totally intending to kill us later - perhaps after we duel that Matsu for him.
- We manage to give the man what he want by making ourselves look bad. Our life is spared, and he won't be coming after us again. but Doji Mariko's view of us is soured. We may or may not still be slated to duel the Matsu.
- We somehow manage to screw things up enough that we look bad to Doji Mariko, we get nothing out of it, and he's *still* intending to kill us when a better opportunity presents (probably after we get into a duel with that Matsu).
So, a rough planning space for possible outcomes, I think. Some of these are more plausible than others, and it's going to be a matter of which ones we think we can achieve and which ones we're going to try to go for. Also, as above, if we don't want to go straight to duel, we need to first do something unexpected to break him out of his script and force him to think.
Da Boyz
The Cutest Apocalypse.
I'm pretty sure that we if we can get him to stop for a moment then we can at least manage to get him to back off here. If he kills us here then he's essentially murdering us in cold blood and (though I'm not entirely up to date on Rokugani law here) would probably be executed for killing a fellow guest at the Winter Court. This essentially leaves Doji Mariko staring down a duel to the death with her only option being asking Daidoji Chen to fight for her. If we can get that through to him then he's going to back off unless he thinks he can get away with killing us here.
Of course this could all fail if:
A. He wants to kill us so badly that he's willing to bet that Matsu Ketsui won't demand his head for killing a fellow guest.
B. He can convince (or is convinced that she will) Mariko into testifying that we were acting dishonorably towards her and he stepped in to save her. Essentially convincing everyone that this was a reenactment of what happened with Bayushi Kachiko and Doji Hoturi.
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- Location
- Leeds
Was the investigation/ perception to spot him following us. Also wow, two ones and a two. I guess we had to stop rolling well eventually.
- Location
- Canada
OK, I think we really need to prioritize combat skills more given the shear number of duels being thrown our way.
- Location
- London, England
If an appointed champion can no longer represent you in a duel - whether that be because of death, illness or their lord commanding otherwise - you are freely allowed to request that someone else serve as your champion in their stead.
- Location
- home
The easiest way to do that might be to bring up the duel firsthand. The fact that Mariko was insulted, and that she has challenged someone to a duel over it, might be enough of a, 'wait, wut' moment for his rage to lose its momentum.
- Location
- Earth
To the suprise of no one.
Also, are you all not making a bunch of assumptions? Let's see how this looks from his side. Hell If I had the skill for it i'd write an omake. $(/&#"(%, I'll give it a try.
Wade Garrett
Just trying to do the right thing
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
"Mariko I love you and I will protect you forever and also I will kill any man that so much as looks at you!"
Freaking Yandere Kakitas.
Night
Widow Null
- Location
- Hoff
[x] "One who follows their liege, untrusting in their wisdom, and murders those they associate with in cold blood. Have you considered acting, Kakita-san? You would have made an excellent Scorpion upon the stage. Where were you when Doji-san was forced to issue a challenge?"
A little self-awareness of how most people look at Scorpion. A whole lot of "what the fuck, dude" about Kakita and who and what they are supposed to be.
Feel free to find a politer way to express these concepts.
A little self-awareness of how most people look at Scorpion. A whole lot of "what the fuck, dude" about Kakita and who and what they are supposed to be.
Feel free to find a politer way to express these concepts.
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
Actually, it comes to mind that Sekawa might be furious with us for reasons other than conspiracy. I think he might be pissed because of Naoto championing Mariko in a duel, which is supposed to be his job. To him, this might seem a huge step forward in the Scorpion's courting of the woman he holds affection for, a blatant and public show of interest and intent. Combine that with the torch he's carrying and his senses very well might have flown away from him. I fully admit I might be wrong here, but this seems a bit more likely to me than Sekawa being in on any Crane plots and Naoto getting murdered in the snow is part of some overarching plan.
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