Into the Void (Legend of the Five Rings)

[Hello]

Hideo knew he had to think quickly. The two men were waiting for his answer, and every moment of indecision could cost him his life. Calling them out might work but Hideo was unsure if they had more men waiting in hiding. His initial reaction was to talk to them about where their lives had gone off track to force them to rob people but they did not seem the conversational type.

So Hideo put on a kind smile and walked towards the man on the right until he got within a sword length of the billowing green robe that the bandit had probably stolen.

"Of course I would be glad to assist in any way I could," Hideo said as he clasped his hands together and began a deep bow.

"This one has-" Using his tilted body to hide his hands Hideo grasped the now familiar hilt of his katana and brought it out in a flash of silver light. In one moment he was bent over almost to the ground in the next Hideo was holding his sword and sending the edge to bite his opponents flesh.

There was a spray of blood and the bandit went back holding his arm. The blood seemed to sail through the air to Hideo, each drop falling slowly like if he was dreaming. The surprised face of the bandit twisted in his vision as everything came into focus around his sword.

The bandit on the left reacted to the bloodshed the fastest (Hideo had the absent thought that he might have oversold the act) and drew his katana with painful slowness before running over to help his accomplice. Hideo knew that he would only have a second before he was trapped between the two of them. He had to strike fast and take down the guy in front of him before the other bandit found a new place to stick his sword.

Hideo put as much force into his strike as his arms could bear. The tip of his sword flashed in front of the bandit's eyes faster than even Hideo could follow. The sword was an extension of himself and he was death.

The next moment was confusing as everything became red. Hideo's vision was filled with a fountain of blood as the bandit's head was sheered off from his body. The spurts of red stained the front of his robes as he watched the man's body fall to twitch on the roots of a tree. His life began pooling out between the exposed roots to form a twisted mockery of a dragon on the forest floor.

Hideo's face froze as he stared down at the body of his fallen opponent. The sound of the other bandit's feet breaking the foliage snapped his attention back into focus. There would be time after to think about what he had done, right now he had bigger problems.

The remaining bandit stood in his stolen robes with one arm stained from the spurts from the body of the other bandit. His mouth was open in a giant 'O' taking up most of the real estate. The slight trembling of his upraised sword gave Hideo the impression that he was a few moments away from running.

There was no way Hideo could let him go and bring back help. There had not been any sneak attacks from the woods, but a dozen more bandits coming down the trail would likely end in Hideo ending up like those other poor samurai. Hideo was stuck between attacking the bandit and running into the woods and almost did not notice the danger until it was too late.

With a loud yell the bandit struck forward with his blade in one of the worst slashes that Hideo had ever seen. It was like he was trying to use the sword as a meat cleaver. While Hideo's inattention did cost him the initiative the man's inability to use the sword meant it did not matter. Hideo let the strike breeze by before launching his own.

He cut out with as much focus as he could use to disable his opponent and managed to draw a line of red across the bandit's chest. As the bandit recoiled in pain Hideo rushed forward to land a second blow which sliced the bandit's gut open. The bandit roared in agony, taking a single step before collapsing against the side of a tree.

Hideo watched him fall warily. The adrenaline of the fight was slowly wearing off and his knees were trembling. He pointed the end of his blade at the bandit while looking around to make sure that there were no hidden surprises waiting for him to lower his guard.

Slowly, drops of blood fell off the tip of his sword as Hideo's breathing calmed down until he finally relaxed. He reflexively attempted to put his sword away before figuring it would not hurt to be paranoid. After a final check on his surroundings Hideo stalked over to the fallen, but still breathing, bandit with his sword held ready.

"Who did you take these swords from?" Hideo asked "Those are the robes of a Dragon, my Clan, where did you get them?"

The bandit wheezed on the ground for a while unanswering. Hideo thought he would not get anything from the slowly dying man but then the man turned his head. He looked positively skull-like with his huge mouth and wain face, Hideo thought he could pass for a desiccated corpse.

"2 nights ago four moneybags" the samurai, Hideo corrected in his mind, "came screaming into our camp. They realized what we were soon enough..." here the bandit paused to wipe off some of the blood dripping from his chest. "We took their things, and buried four of our friends along side them. Sent them off with gold coins in their pockets for once in their lives. There were twelve of us when we left the village, ten when your friends came."

There was a long pause before the bandit smiled a huge angry grimace. "It will be coming for you...we heard it sometimes...it follows death and blood..." The man trailed off before his eyes closed and he seemed intent on ignoring Hideo.

The bandit is likely to die if Hideo leaves him there, he could possibly live if Hideo can get him to medical attention.

[] Pick the man up and find medical attention
[] Leave him there
[] Mercy of a quick death

What should Hideo do about the bandits?

[] Forget about it
[] Find the camp
[] Write in

Spoiler: Breakdown of fight

Everyone is in attack stance for duration of fight.
Hideo attacks the one on the right, sneak attack = free strike with TN 10, Hideo rolls 6k3 (Reflexes/Iaijutsu3) for 24, hits.
Rolls for damage (Strength/Katana+Void) 6k3. Does 26 damage.
Righty voids for 10 reduction. 16 damage, he is in the grazed bracket.
Roll for initiative: 3k3, 2k2, 2k2.
Hideo gets 15.
Righty gets 11.
Lefty gets 25.
Lefty uses his simple actions to draw his sword and move within striking distance of Hideo.
Hideo hits Righty again, TN 15 calls 4 raises for extra damage, Hideo rolls 6k3 (Agility/Kenjutsu3) for 49.
Rolls for damage (Strength/Katana+ExtraDamagex4+Void) 10k5 for 52.
Righty has his head taken clean off his shoulders.
Lefty rolls for Willpower (basically morale) rolling 3k3 (Willpower+Void) gets 14. Fear penalty of 5 to all TN.
Roll for initiative: 3k3, 2k2.
Hideo gets 11.
Lefty gets 12.
Lefty rolls for strike against TN 25. Rolls 2k2 (Agility/Kenjutsu0) for 13.
Lefty misses.
Hideo strikes at Lefty against TN 15, rolls 6k3 (Agility/Kenjutsu3) gets 26, hits.
Rolls for damage (Strength/Katana+Void) 6k3, gets 19.
Lefty voids for reduction, takes 9 damage. Moved into hurt bracket.
Rolls Willpower. TN10, passes with 13. Penalty taken away.
Rolls for initiative: 3k3, 2k2.
Hideo gets 16.
Lefty gets 7.
Hideo strikes against TN 15, rolls 6k3 (Agility/Kenjutsu3) for 22, hits.
Rolls for damage (Strength/Katana), takes the lowest for 9.
Lefty has no void, takes 9, is down.
Hideo took no damage, killed a bandit, and managed a takedown of the other.
Hideo rolls investigation (Perception/Investigation1+Void) 4k3, rolls 29. Beats variable TN up to 25. Receives information on group make up, samurai clothing, and mysterious evil in forest.

 

[Dark as Silver]

Nice update.

Hideo hits Righty again, TN 15 calls 4 raises for extra damage, Hideo rolls 6k3 (Agility/Kenjutsu3) for 49.
Rolls for damage (Strength/Katana+ExtraDamagex4+Void) 10k5 for 52.

Click to shrink...

Out of interest why extra damage rather than feint?

 

[veekie]

[X] Mercy of a quick death
[X] Find the camp

Compassion says to give him a clean finish. For his crime of slaying samurai and stealing their blades, he has already earned death.

Do we know anything like what the bandit described for the critter? If not, I say clean out the bandits if possible.
Theres four of them left though.

 

[Dark as Silver]

Do we know anything like what the bandit described for the critter?

Click to shrink...

...

"It will be coming for you...we heard it sometimes...it follows death and blood..."

Click to shrink...

This could be anything from a particularly smart goblin to an Oni or a Spirit.

 

[Hello]

Nice update.
Out of interest why extra damage rather than feint?

Click to shrink...

Extra damage seemed more thematic. He is fighting for his life, feinting is more of a Crane/Scorpion thing to do in that kind of situation.

 

[whydoyoubother]

[X] Mercy of a quick death
[X] Find the camp

Additionally: We should bring the Samurai-blades to their families/temples/clan again.

 

[Hello]

In order to write up something tonight I will be closing the vote in 2 hours.

I am building a map which will be filled with Hideo's knowledge of the world, in the same vein as the fog of war mechanic from Disciples. I was hoping someone could tell me of a way that I could make it on a computer. So far all I have is a bunch of sketches of different areas and while that might be ok, something that looks less like an epileptic kindergartner's handiwork would be appreciated. Maybe some kind of map making application?

On the stuff in the woods I will say that it is not an Oni, those are to the south.

 

[Da Boyz]

[X] Mercy of a quick death
[X] Find the camp

Heroics! Now how to kill four decently armed bandits on our lonesome when we only have our tattoo Void left.

 

[veekie]

Traditionally you'd pick them off one at a time, but we're a samurai, not a commando.

 

[Hello]

Looking down at the dying man Hideo felt his guts turning to knots and his hands began to sweat. His sensei standing before the corpse of a dead traveler they had found on the side of the road played in his head. 'Life ends and life begins; all things anew' his teacher had said once they had performed a short ceremony for the decaying corpse. He could not leave this man here to die a slow painful death anymore than he could pick up the blood pooling on the ground and put it back in the bandit's body. He knew what he had to do.

The man never stopped staring ahead while Hideo moved in front of him. A quick cut below the bandit's chin was all it took.

Hideo felt the knot in his guts come loose and hurried over to a nearby tree to hurl. He concentrated on the vile taste of the bile to drown out the picture of the bandit's face in those moments before death. He had killed two people.

Once Hideo finished dry heaving he laid the bodies under a mat of leaves and debris devoid of their stolen belongings and began to pray.

Blessed Ancestors, these two souls became lost to the desires in their hearts. They killed, they stole. But still I pray for their safe arrival to the arms of Emma-o, may their next life be better than this one.

With that he closed their eyes and set out. He had a camp to find.

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The stars were shining brightly above the tops of the trees and the soft sounds of the forest surrounded Hideo. He was looking out at the small camp before him with narrowed eyes. The camp was a ramshackle thing that spilled out in odd directions. He could see two bandits sitting across from each other on logs with what looked like rolled up mats behind them. There was the bright embers of a recent fire between the two men whose voices did not carry far enough for Hideo to make out more than murmurs.

Further along from the two of them was the only tent in the clearing within which Hideo could barely make out a third figure. It was there that Hideo figured the swords were being held considering he could not see much in the way of material possessions otherwise. It was only by luck that Hideo had spotted the fourth member of the bandit group. The bandit was wearing one of the green robes that he had seen the other two wear, though this one had a splatter of blood across the mon. More importantly though was the fact that he was playing sentry for the camp and was separated from the rest of the group.

Hideo could make out the faint rise and fall of the murderer's chest as well the end of what looked like a wine sack sticking out of the end of his robes. As far as Hideo could tell the bandit was completely asleep at his post, but he was the furthest away from Hideo's current position.

What do?

[] Write In

Here is a super cool map I drew. Blue is Hideo, black is the bandits, green are the trees, brown are structures, red/beige is the fire. Not entirely to scale.

 

[andy50]

[X] Throw your sword and try to impale one of their faces on it

Seems like this is the shonen thing to do.

I can't see how this could go wrong.

 

[Da Boyz]

[X] Cake your blade in mud and slowly make your way over to the sleeping guard and stab him through the eye.
-[X] Following that sit down and wait for the bandits at the camp to either fall asleep or for one to come and relieve the sentry of his watch. Your tattoo allows vigor to flow through your veins while they are tired from a long day of skulduggery. Launch an ambush either way.

Traditionally you'd pick them off one at a time, but we're a samurai, not a commando.

Click to shrink...

We Metal Gear Rokugan now. If Solid Dragon has to take a hit to his honor in order to protect the heimin from bandits then by all that is holy he will do so!

 

[Dark as Silver]

So, that guard by the tree is the sentry, and the one in the tent (the very strangely shaped tent?) is sleeping with the swords?
I have no idea how we could possibly sneak up on sleeper without being spotted by one or two of them from our current position, it'd take a while to circle round safely.
Honestly I think our best idea is to run at the tent and swords and risk getting grappled. Or wait and see if they get to the point where only one is awake and the others are standing guard.

 

[veekie]

Okay, lets see. Two bandits talking to each other, who could cover the noise we make. One bandit in tent. The two chatting bandits are looking at the remains of the fire, and thus, have shit night vision.

One sentry, asleep.

@Da Boyz plan works great. Barring a reflection from our blade, they won't have the nightvision to see us. HOWEVER, we shouldn't dirty our blade, and thus, our soul.

We got a perfectly good way to keep the gleam off. The sheath.

Additionally, taking too long has issues, there is a monster out here after all, and it's attracted by death.


[X] Take a circuitous route(off to the left of the map) to approach the sentry with your blade sheathed but ready to draw. Kill him quickly and silently if possible.
-[X] If spotted before you make the kill, kill the sentry and retreat into the night.
-[X] If spotted after making the kill, retreat into the night.
-[X] Otherwise, circle around the camp through the denser forest to the north and wait for one of them to relieve the sentry, take a leak or go to sleep. Attack whoever is awake alone, then rush the remaining ones.
-[X] If the one in the tent doesn't emerge by the end, cut the tent open first. You don't want to accidentally kill an innocent captive or something.

Based on the previous fight, we'd win any 1 on 1, be at some risks in a 2 on 1, and be screwed if it's 3 on 1. So we want to make it attrition until there's too few to contest us.

 

[Da Boyz]

@Da Boyz plan works great. Barring a reflection from our blade, they won't have the nightvision to see us. HOWEVER, we shouldn't dirty our blade, and thus, our soul.

We got a perfectly good way to keep the gleam off. The sheath.

Click to shrink...

I have us cake our sword in mud so that if we are spotted and they catch up to us then we don't have to waste a simple action to ready our blade. Also because the sound of us drawing our blade might wake up the sentry.

[X] Take a circuitous route(off to the left of the map) to approach the sentry with your blade sheathed but ready to draw. Kill him quickly and silently if possible.
-[X] If spotted before you make the kill, kill the sentry and retreat into the night.
-[X] If spotted after making the kill, retreat into the night.
-[X] Otherwise, circle around the camp through the denser forest to the north and wait for one of them to relieve the sentry, take a leak or go to sleep. Attack whoever is awake alone, then rush the remaining ones.
-[X] If the one in the tent doesn't emerge by the end, cut the tent open first. You don't want to accidentally kill an innocent captive or something.

 

[Arbit]

[X] Take a circuitous route(off to the left of the map) to approach the sentry with your blade sheathed but ready to draw. Kill him quickly and silently if possible.
-[X] If spotted before you make the kill, kill the sentry and retreat into the night.
-[X] If spotted after making the kill, retreat into the night.
-[X] Otherwise, circle around the camp through the denser forest to the north and wait for one of them to relieve the sentry, take a leak or go to sleep. Attack whoever is awake alone, then rush the remaining ones.
-[X] If the one in the tent doesn't emerge by the end, cut the tent open first. You don't want to accidentally kill an innocent captive or something.

 

[Hello]

I will leave the vote open for 6 hours then write the next bit.

I will note that running into the forest is a perfectly good way to get away from the bandits, but might not work so well if you run into the mysterious evil in the woods.

 

[Dark as Silver]

I will note that running into the forest is a perfectly good way to get away from the bandits, but might not work so well if you run into the mysterious evil in the woods.

Click to shrink...

I think you should be a bit more subtle with your foreshadowing.

 

[whydoyoubother]

[X] Take a circuitous route(off to the left of the map) to approach the sentry with your blade sheathed but ready to draw. Kill him quickly and silently if possible.
-[X] If spotted before you make the kill, kill the sentry and retreat into the night.
-[X] If spotted after making the kill, retreat into the night.
-[X] Otherwise, circle around the camp through the denser forest to the north and wait for one of them to relieve the sentry, take a leak or go to sleep. Attack whoever is awake alone, then rush the remaining ones.
-[X] If the one in the tent doesn't emerge by the end, cut the tent open first. You don't want to accidentally kill an innocent captive or something.

 

[veekie]

Also because the sound of us drawing our blade might wake up the sentry.

Click to shrink...

Possibly, but given Iaijutsu, by the time we're drawing the blade it's too late for him.

I will leave the vote open for 6 hours then write the next bit.

I will note that running into the forest is a perfectly good way to get away from the bandits, but might not work so well if you run into the mysterious evil in the woods.

Click to shrink...

Well, that's why I leave a bleeding corpse near their camp
It's attracted to those!

 

[keenscythe]

[X] Take a circuitous route(off to the left of the map) to approach the sentry with your blade sheathed but ready to draw. Kill him quickly and silently if possible.
-[X] If spotted before you make the kill, kill the sentry and retreat into the night.
-[X] If spotted after making the kill, retreat into the night.
-[X] Otherwise, circle around the camp through the denser forest to the north and wait for one of them to relieve the sentry, take a leak or go to sleep. Attack whoever is awake alone, then rush the remaining ones.
-[X] If the one in the tent doesn't emerge by the end, cut the tent open first. You don't want to accidentally kill an innocent captive or something.

 

[Hello]

The night went on as Hideo slowly maneuvered over to the sentry's position behind the camp. The dry leaves and broken branches from the nearby trees made his journey extremely arduous as he attempted to be as silent as possible. The plan was to kill the sentry by sneaking up to him and then stabbing him before he could make a sound. It made Hideo feel quite dishonorable. But it was the best plan that Hideo could think of for restoring the blades to their rightful owners and he kept reminding himself that was the important part.

While he waited next to a maple tree with obvious cut marks from blade practice, Hideo took a moment to glance through the camp. Up close the bandits appeared to be wearing samurai clothes, hued in that specific green that he recognized as the Mirumoto colors. One was poking the fire with a stick every few moments seemingly in awe of the brilliant dance of sparks. The other was laying on the top of the log by this point, with his robes pulled tightly over his body against the chill.

The camp was simple, a tent, two bed rolls, some logs for chairs, but the occupants somehow managed to make it look as unorganized as possible. Nothing was put in any recognizably deliberate fashion and Hideo could smell that they did not have a dedicated place for waste.

Hideo was tired of skulking around by the time he managed to get close to the sentry's position, having taken two hours just to move a few hundred feet. Still he did not think that the effort was wasted when he gazed upon the slumped form of the sleeping bandit before him. There was a wine skin underneath the bandit's hands that was propped between his skull and the tree. Hideo figured it was likely that he had drunk himself into a stupor while on duty.

He hesitated for a few moments before the sleeping man. This would be the opposite of brave combat against worthy advisaries and it left a bad taste in his mouth. The glint of the sword in the man's robes convinced him however to go through with it. The bandits had likely been terrorizing the surrounding peasants and had killed four samurai for the clothes off their backs. This was both an act of justice and mercy.

Hideo rolls Agility/Iaijutsu 6k3 - 34

Hideo's blade slides from its sheathe without a sound and pierces towards the left eye of the sleeping bandit. It finds purchase in the tree truck behind the man's head before Hideo pulls it out with a squelching sound. At the sound Hideo's eyes pop open wide and he drops to the forest floor to provide less visibility. There are several long moments as he anxiously waits for any sounds that someone else had heard.

Hideo sweats there on the dirt when he hears the sounds of the bandit's murmurs start up again. There is not much he could do if they all came over to attack him but run away without having collected all the swords. The fear of failing to put to rest the duty he had promised himself to take over was also warring with his very human desire not to end up dead.

Thankfully no one comes over to check on any noises they might have heard. It is with a low groan that Hideo manages to pull himself off the ground and drag himself behind some trees near the sentries position that offer him a view of the campsite. Nothing seems to have changed.

The Taoist Swordsman settles into wait.

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Spoiler: QM note

I am not going to list the entire fight's technical details here because it went for 7 rounds of combat, and L5R is incredibly complex at its combat. If you want, you can find the details in the Rolz room.

The moon was settling in beyond the line of trees when a faint stirring began in the tent. Hideo peaked his head out from behind the trunk to get a better look at the man who was rising from the tent flaps. He was a tall man with a sword at his side and thin strips of burnished wood and metal as armor. Hideo watched as he stretched and wandered around the campsite. The two men made conversation with the third before pointing to grove where the sentry's body still lay.

"Hey, you sleepin'?" The tall bandit called out. Obviously there was no reply.

The bandit's face darkened over and he made for the treeline. Hideo got up from his position and slowly moved between the trees on an intercept with the angry murderer.

The bandit passed in front of his crouched position a few moments later with his sword drawn. Hideo knew that this would likely be the only chance to even the odds against him and pounced. With a deft twist of his arm Hideo drew his sword and drove it at the man's chest from behind his back.

With a clang Hideo's katana sliced through the bandit's shoulder pads and flung drops of blood into the air. In the moment between drawing Hideo's sword and striking the bandit seemed to have eyes in the back of his head to fling himself to the side so quickly.

As he rights himself on the brush beneath his feet Hideo looks into the face of the man that he is going to kill and sees a play of emotions across his face. The bandit had seemed terrified when he had moved out of the way as his face was pale and eyes wide. But now anger and other emotions were twisting his face into a terrible swirl of rage.

"AAAAAHH" The bandit yells as he charges Hideo's position. Hideo strikes out first however, knowing that if he can disable his opponent then he has a chance of melting into the surrounding trees.

The bandit earns a second slice this time stretching from his chest to under his dominant arm as they clash. Hideo barely notices the cut he takes along his wrist as the thrill of the fight overtakes him. He does notice his tattoo swirling beneath his skin and he could almost swear he heard the faint roar of the ocean. The power in his arms is incredible Hideo cannot think of anything like it.

At this point Hideo realizes that the other two bandits have scrambled to get their weapons and are rushing over to help their comrade. This makes everything so much more complicated. Hideo thinks that maybe he should not have pressed his luck as the rush from his tattoo fades.

The thinner of the two bandits arrives in what looks like a flurry of green robes, setting up a position in front of his wounded bandit friend. Hideo would have to get through the naginata wielding fiend before striking down his original enemy. But the next few seconds get quite confusing as the sword wielding bandit screams out and rushes Hideo's position.

"DIE MOTHERFUCKER" The bandit screams out as he hits Hideo's bewildered face.

The strike was the most textbook hit that Hideo had ever seen and would have likely taken his head off if it was not for the condition of the bandit. Hideo's previous two strikes seemed to have taken a toll which was splattered over the surrounding trees. Instead the blade slides across Hideo's eyebrows and blood begins to pour from the wound as Hideo lashes out at the even more confused naginata wielder.

While Hideo rolls to orient himself again he is forced to blink out the blood that is dripping into his eyes. The pain is intense, but Hideo is in control and centering himself successfully dulls any adverse reaction.

By now the third member of the bandit group has made his way over and Hideo is struck by how incredibly large and muscly the man is.

He resembles a battering ram more than a human, and the sword in his hand looks comically small. Indeed the armor that covers his body has obviously been broken and refit to cover his large frame. This mountain of flesh's arrival gives Hideo pause long enough for the very slowly bleeding robe covered bandit to grab his angry companion from off the ground and pull him to the camp.

Hideo knows he has to take this chance to strike down this hill of muscle but his hesitation is obvious. Hideo's blade swirls slowly before the man's face before driving at the mountain's chest. A grunt is all the warning Hideo gets before the katana the bandit was holding comes down in a simple chop.

Hideo dodges as his reflexes take him to jump backwards. The blade strikes deep into the tree beside Hideo before the musclebound giant pulls it out with another grunt.

The astonishment on the Taoist's face is clear as he imagines what would have happened if he had stood still. The bandit appears to not even notice the wound on his chest and moves into a clearly practiced defensive stance.

As he stands there with a small scratch on his wrist and the cut across his forehead Hideo weighs his options before the voice of his sensei comes to him. 'Mountains are there to be climbed,' he would say in explanation of any trips they had to take. So Hideo moves into a low crouch before springing up with explosive force.

The wind is soft as it moves through the trees...

Hideo's leap takes him by the bandit's head and his sword is directed to the hollow of the mountain's neck. Hideo's strike does not land entirely however as even though the bandit was obviously surprised, his reactions were surprisingly fast. Instead Hideo only manages to land a punishing strike on the armor that dents in the flesh in a way that speaks to breaks in the bandit's collarbone.

Now the mountain of flesh is hurting and begins to back away from Hideo with his eyes wide in fear. The reaction from the scum gives Hideo a visceral pleasure that surprises him. What is even more surprising is the willowy spear-sword wielder shows up in Hideo's view for a brief second before falling over in a heap.

Both the mountain and Hideo are stuck for a moment in shared confusion as the other bandit gets to his feet and attempts to stab Hideo. The strike is almost lazily pushed out of the way by Hideo's blade before Hideo turns his attention the larger bandit. Who is currently running back to the camp.

Hideo's next few moments are a whirl of motion as he dodges the naginata's every move or pushes the deadly blade away from his body. It is clear that this bandit is highly trained with the sword-spear and Hideo is only barely keeping up as he begins to get pressed back. Then suddenly the spear stops.

By now two figures have appeared behind the naginata wielder, the fiery angry one and the mountain. The angry one appears to have expertly bandaged the wound under his arm and is as ready for battle as the mountain. Hideo is confused for a few moments as to why the deadly dance of steel had stopped before he hears a weird sound.

It first starts a clicking noise which increases in intensity and tempo rapidly. As Hideo turns, making sure not to put his back to the bandits, he sees a hulking shape over by one of the nearby trees. A monstrous mass of flesh and bone is leaning over the body of the sentry that Hideo had killed earlier. A dozen hands and legs stick out from the ball and grasp unceasingly towards the air as a skull detaches itself from the top of the putrid conglomeration to bite down on the neck of the corpse.

A sucking sound like a group of children eating soup rings out as the blood is pulled from the bandit's body to flow over the skin and bone of the ball of corpses.

While Hideo still staring in horror at the abomination the naginata wielder screams out "GAKI" and points the tip of his sword spear directly at the skull.

"Kaze!" the angry bandit shouts as he and his friends rush at the terrifying shape. As he passes Hideo the bandit takes a moment to turn and throw a bandage which Hideo reflexively catches.

Hideo has currently bandaged up the cut over his eye moving him into the grazed category (+5TN). He has a few options here.

[] Betrayal. While the bandits rush to attack the Gaki Hideo will stab them in the back and take their ill-gotten gains. (Big honor loss. Get the swords. If successful the Gaki will likely eat the corpses before chasing after Hideo)
-[] Write In

[] Assistance. Between the four of them they have a chance of driving the Gaki away or killing it entirely. (Fight the Gaki.)
-[] Write In

[] Flee. Running away to leave the bandits to their fate seems poetic, but then Hideo will have failed to return the swords. (Smallish honor loss. Don't fight the Gaki. Hideo is bleeding in the woods.)

As a note, this Gaki is not like any of the normal ones in the bestiary. I cooked him up myself. Also the bandits were supposed to be named characters with backstories and everything. Their names were Fire (Angry), Mountain (Mountain), Wind (Sentry), and Forest (Naginata).

Oh and the write in directions should be pretty simple like: "Go around the Gaki and stab it really hard while not getting too close". I don't want a blow by blow of "Full attack stance and then move forward two meters to strike Fire from behind".

 

[Da Boyz]

[X] Assistance. Between the four of them they have a chance of driving the Gaki away or killing it entirely. (Fight the Gaki.)
-[X] You have 3 wakizashi on you which you could throw. Use them.
-[X] Once you run out assume center stance while closing the distance and then attack.

As a note, this Gaki is not like any of the normal ones in the bestiary. I cooked him up myself. Also the bandits were supposed to be named characters with backstories and everything. Their names were Fire (Angry), Mountain (Mountain), Wind (Sentry), and Forest (Naginata).

Click to shrink...

Mooks 2-4 will be remembered for their valiant service as a speedbump before the super Gaki.

 

[andy50]

[X] Assistance. Between the four of them they have a chance of driving the Gaki away or killing it entirely. (Fight the Gaki.)
-[X] You have 3 wakizashi on you which you could throw. Use them.
-[X] Once you run out assume center stance while closing the distance and then attack.

I am the bone of my sword

 

[Arbit]

Won't we get a honour loss for throwing the wakizashi of other samurai?