Into the Void (Legend of the Five Rings)
- Thread starter Hello
- Start date
- Fantasy
- Location
- Leeds
Away in a manger...
You're like a broken record aren't you?
[X] Veekie
- Location
- Hyperborea
[X] Precise (Aims for high-priority targets such as leaders, shugenja, and anyone trying to start fires)
[X] Yes
- Location
- Leeds
- Location
- Leeds
From a meta perspective I think this is our first chance to see the new (and improved?) mass combat rules.
The options seem to relate to the engagement level.
The options seem to relate to the engagement level.
- Location
- Leeds
I don't think tankiness is a good way to decide this, I don't think that wounds taken as engagement damage can be resisted (although I can't seem to find my core rulebook to check atm) better to go in moderately, see the changes that Hello has made and then decide if we want to be fully engaged.
- Location
- Moon-Station
[X] Defensive (Only there to protect lives, will not seek to fight)
Void points can be spent to resist 10 points of damage regardless of the situation so says the corebook. Fall damage, fire damage, everything but Nothing damage. Mainly because Nothing damage eats your Void.
keenscythe
No longer NEET
- Location
- WA, USA
[X] Moderate (Falls in line with the other defenders and listens to the guards)
[X] Yes
[X] Yes
What do you guys think about the idea of interludes? Like say a moment in the life of a Hida Berserker or Soshi Infiltrator?
I have a ton of background material that I don't want to waste, so I figured I could use it for a few interludes to give you guys something beyond Hideo's perspective, limited as it is.
I have a ton of background material that I don't want to waste, so I figured I could use it for a few interludes to give you guys something beyond Hideo's perspective, limited as it is.
- Location
- Hyperborea
I think that's a good idea.
Ok so I passed out for a little bit. I plan on beginning rolls at 9PM Pacific Time, which is in about a minute, in the rolz room. If there aren't very many people than I will just wait until there is more than just Andy (because everyone knows that Hideo will die if Andy has to roll for him) to begin. Right now I am typing a bunch of words so I can get the 140 mark and send out an alert to everyone who watches the thread because that important because democracy is important for some reason and I think I just hit 140. Nope wait, need 40 more words about nothing, about nothing, nothing, Nothing?
So yeah I got some feed back on whether or not you guys would want interludes and it seems like a good idea all around. Sadly I can't say that you guys will be able to use much of the information IC because well, OOC, but that is ok because hopefully you guys can make the right decisions anyway. I am hoping.
Roleplaying Dice Roller · Rolz
So yeah I got some feed back on whether or not you guys would want interludes and it seems like a good idea all around. Sadly I can't say that you guys will be able to use much of the information IC because well, OOC, but that is ok because hopefully you guys can make the right decisions anyway. I am hoping.
Roleplaying Dice Roller · Rolz
Last edited:
- Location
- Leeds
Nonsense GM asked Daboyz to do it, I wouldn't want to violate his right to work
Da Boyz
The Cutest Apocalypse.
charl rolls 4d10 = 27 #Intelligence-Plan
The defenders aren't braindead and so decide to try and stop the bandits at the seawall before they get a chance to use their advantage in numbers and raid the town.
Andy50 rolls explode=10 4h4 = 15 die
10 #SupressiveFireTN30charl rolls 4d10h3 = 22 #NotLeaving
The bandits manage to get to the seawall without taking any significant losses.
charl rolls repeat 4 1d3 = 1; 3; 3; 3 #Identity
Our section of the wall is crewed by one guard and three comically lost magistrates.
Andy50 rolls 1d5 = 1 #Agression
charl rolls 4d10h3 = 26 #Kyuujutsu
charl rolls 3d10h2 = 19 #Kyuujutsu
Andy50 rolls 2h2 = 3 die
10 #DamageAndy50 rolls 2h2 = 5 die
10 #DamageThe guard gets shot by some bandits below, one shot glances off his armor and the other manages to scratch him.
Andy50 rolls explode=10 5h5 = 23 die
10 #Attackerscharl rolls explode=10 6d10h6 = 46
Surprisingly the malnourished and poorly equipped peasants attacking a fortification manned by professional soldiers are not doing well
Hello rolls 1d10 = 9 #MoreBandits
Some of the sections of the wall are repulsed and so bandits start to concentrate on our section, luckily they have to climb up the wall first.
DaBoyz rolls 3d10 = 16 #Hideo
DaBoyz rolls 2d10 = 4 #Banditos
DaBoyz rolls 2d10 = 3 #Banditos
We roll initiative and Hideo does his best Scorpion impression
DaBoyz rolls 8d10 = 47 #Hideo Mad?
DaBoyz rolls 2d10 = 13
DaBoyz rolls 8d10 = 29 #Damage
We call two raises for damage and go Full Attack giving us 8k4 which we proceed to roll 45 for. Sadly we only roll 25 for damage which our opponent voids for 15 Wounds. We also spend a void here to
DaBoyz rolls repeat 4 3h2 = 17; 15; 14; 10 die
10 die10 die10 die10 #KyuujutsuArchers below try to turn the Magistrate into a pincussion but between their unimpressive aim and his Full Defense stance fail to score a hit.
DaBoyz rolls 6d10 = 38 #Defender
DaBoyz rolls 5d10 = 13 #Attackers
Across the wall career soldiers proceed to heroically kick the shit out of unarmored peasants.
DaBoyz rolls repeat 3 3h2 = 10; 17; 15 die
10 die10 die10 #KyuDaBoyz rolls 1d10 = 9
New round and despite a valiant effort the archers below don't manage to hit anyone.
DaBoyz rolls 3d10 = 18
DaBoyz rolls 2d10 = 7
We again proceed to crush our opponent on initiative rolls.
DaBoyz rolls 8d10 = 46
DaBoyz rolls 6d10 = 23
One raise for damage this time and no Void on our side, we deal a total of two wounds after Void.
DaBoyz rolls 3d10 = 12 #TN 15?
Despite us having attacked in Full Attack stance our bandit friend is unable to hit us.
DaBoyz rolls 6d10 = 31 #Defenders
DaBoyz rolls 5d10 = 24 #Attackers
Many of the bandits begin to seriously reconsider their choice in career.
DaBoyz rolls repeat 3 3h2 = 11; 19; 12 die
10 die10 die10 #KyuDaBoyz rolls 1d10 = 8
DaBoyz rolls 2d10 = 6
An archer actually manages to hit this time, but flubs the damage roll and only deals six wounds.
DaBoyz rolls 3d10 = 23
DaBoyz rolls 2d10 = 10
We win initiative again.
charl rolls explode=10 8d10h4 = 28
Arbit rolls 8d10h3 = 24
We do Full Attack and two raises for damage finally managing to land a hit that he can't void. The bandit goes down into injured.
DaBoyz rolls 3h2 = 15 die
10 #TN20DaBoyz rolls 1d10 = 7
Bandit proceeds to bail and surprisingly manages to pass an Athletics check to get down the wall without issue. While we could attack him here Hideo is unwilling to stab a fleeing enemy in the back.
charl rolls explode=10 6d10h6 = 36
DaBoyz rolls 5d10 = 25 #Attackers
Casualties are beginning to mount for the bandits here yet they are proving unwilling to break as of yet.
DaBoyz rolls repeat 3 3h2 = 12; 14; 9 die
10 die10 die10 #KyuArchers fail to hit anything.
Arbit rolls 2d10h2 = 5
DaBoyz rolls 3d10 = 15 #Hideo
A new challenger appears! Still as slow as the last one though. Hideo moves to attack a bandit who is currently engaged with the Full Defensing magistrate.
DaBoyz rolls 8h4 = 29 die
10DaBoyz rolls 10h5 = 37 die
10DaBoyz rolls 2d10 = 3
One raise for damage is called, a void is spent to compassionately stab someone in the back and it is at this point we realize that we've been forgetting to add 2k0 to our damage rolls for Strength. Even after voiding this results in us cutting off one of the limbs of the bandit and him falling to the ground in agony.
DaBoyz rolls 6d10 = 27
DaBoyz rolls 1d10 = 6
DaBoyz rolls 5d10 = 35
Attackers actually manage to win a round and get an advantage here.
charl rolls 1d2 = 2 #CriesOfMercy
DaBoyz rolls repeat 3 3h2 = 14; 16; 20 die
10 die10 die10 #KyuDaBoyz rolls 3d10 = 11
DaBoyz rolls repeat 2 2d10 = 15; 14
DaBoyz rolls 2d10 = 15
Magistrate moves out of full defense to kill the begging bandit at his feet. In a stunning display of karma the archers then manage to actually hit him and land 34 wounds worth of damage on him. Added to some damage which he'd taken previously and the Magistrate goes Down.
DaBoyz rolls 2d10 = 7 #Guard
DaBoyz rolls 2d10 = 11 #Banditos
DaBoyz rolls 2d10 = 8 #Banditos
DaBoyz rolls 3d10 = 26 #Our Hero
DaBoyz rolls 2d10 = 12
DaBoyz rolls 1d10 = 3
We then go decide to help the guard on the logic that someone needs to drag the magistrate out of there. Also because he's been fighting two bandits at once for a couple rounds now and the wounds are beginning to pile up. We roll 41 for initiative as the dice gods taunt us.
DaBoyz rolls 6d10 = 33
DaBoyz rolls 5d10 = 30
DaBoyz rolls 1d10 = 7
Attackers win another round and are close to some groups managing to break through to the town.
Andy50 rolls repeat 3 3h2 = 14; 10; 14 (high 2 of 1; 5; 9 = 14);(high 2 of 6; 1; 4 = 10);(high 2 of 1; 10; 4 = 14) die
10 die10 die10 #KyuujutusAndy50 rolls 1d10 = 8
Andy50 rolls 2h2 = 9 die
10 #DamageArchers attack again and manage to hit one of the two remaining magistrates.
Andy50 rolls explore=10 8h4 = 37 die
10charl rolls explode=10 9d10h3 = 22
We call two raises for damage and Full Attack. No void is spent on our end and our opponent voids so we deal 12 wounds to him.
charl rolls explode=10 3d10h2 = 19
charl rolls explode=10 5d10h2 = 21
For the first time in the night Hideo actually gets hit, we void the damage and between that and our innate 3 reduction only take 8 wounds.
Hello rolls 6d10 = 27 #Attackers
Hello rolls 5d10 = 26 #Defenders
Fighting stalls out for a moment.
Andy50 rolls 6h6 = 39 die
10Andy50 rolls 5h5 = 32 die
10Defenders manage to win a round, attackers are getting rather tired and 17 of their original 108 are either injured or dead.
Hello rolls repeat 3 3h2 = 19; 9; 15 die
10 die10 die10 #KyuujutsuHello rolls 1d10 = 5
Hello rolls 2h2 = 12 die
10Hello rolls 1d10 = 4
Archers shoot again at another magistrate who is currently down 21 Wounds.
Andy50 rolls 3h3 = 17 die
10Andy50 rolls 2h2 = 4 die
10Andy50 rolls 2h2 = 12 die
10Hideo's initiative continues to be superb.
charl rolls explode=10 8d10h4 = 28
charl rolls explode=10 9d10h3 = 20
We hit for 20 damage which goes through as our opponent is out of Void.
ANV rolls explode=10 3d10h2 = 19 #TN 15
ANV rolls explode=10 5d10h2 = 29 #Bring the pain
Guard gets shanked for 19 Wounds after void.
charl rolls explode=10 6d10h3 = 32
Hello: Damage is 5k3
charl rolls explode=10 5d10h3 = 24
Guard throws caution to the wind and goes Full Attack to manage to finish the bandit off.
charl rolls explode=10 4d10h3 = 41
We direct the guard to get the wounded magistrate to safety which he manages to do despite a high TN and wound penalties.
Hello rolls 6d10 = 35
Hello rolls 5d10 = 32
Hello rolls 1d10 = 4
After some brief success the Attackers are losing hope.
Hello rolls repeat 3 3h2 = 14; 16; 18 die
10 die10 die10 #KyuujutsuNone hit.
charl rolls explode=10 8d10h4 = 31
ANV rolls explode=10 10d10h5 = 36
Hideo goes up to one of the bandits attacking one of the two remaining magistrates and compassionately cuts his arm off.
Hello rolls 6d10 = 32
Hello rolls 5d10 = 21
Along the wall attackers begin to break but our location remains in combat.
Hello rolls repeat 3 3h2 = 16; 9; 13 die
10 die10 die10 #KyuujutsuHello rolls 1d10 = 9
Hello rolls 2d10 = 10
Archers go again and now one of the magistrates is in his Crippled wound bracket.
charl rolls 3d10h2 = 17 #spear
charl rolls 3d10h2 = 16 #magi
charl rolls 3d10h2 = 14 #spear2
Attacks wiff.
charl rolls 2d10h2 = 13 #spear
Hello rolls 1d10 = 4
Hello rolls 3d10 = 19 (9 +6 +4)
charl rolls 2d10h2 = 13 #spear2
charl rolls 2d10h2 = 6 #magi
Hideo continues to be king of speed and initiative.
ANV rolls explode=10 8d10h4 = 34
charl rolls explode=10 10d10h5 = 37
We hit and deal 27 wounds after void bringing him down, at this point we have used Ocean.
Hello: You can decide to kill him or not
charl: we have decided to kill a lot and left some people go in this battle
charl: kill
ANV: Blood for the Blood Go-er, I mean Hachiman
Hello: ...
Hello: >.>
Hello: So yeah he dead
We
Hello: Attackers are fleeing
Hello: Last guy turns and runs
Hello: Attack of opportunity?
charl: no not in the back when we have magi to help
Hello: Ok
Hello: So Hideo helps out
Hello: Drag magistrates ass
Hello: I think that is everything I need a roll for
Hello: Hideo took 8 damage
Hello: But healed up 3
Hello: Because of Ocean
Hello: So is sitting at 5
Hello: 28 of the bandits are dead
Hello: Meaning 80 escaped
Hello: 10 defenders are dead
Hello: And 7 down
Hello: None of the bandits who were injured were left alive
Hello: So that is another 3
Hello: Meaning 31 dead bandits
Glorious victory!
Hello: I will see if I can get DB or Andy to post rolls in the morning
This is why you should never volunteer to help.
2.7 Cities End
Naturally I spend my vacation writing.
The moment you step out of your room it becomes obvious that leaving through the front door was going to be impossible. Largely because a massive swell of people had crowded the hallways and likely were blocking the stairs down the hall as well. Despite understanding that most of the inn's patrons were just scared and confused your face twisted into a grimace. Nothing you could do about it without starting a fight, or even worse a panic.
So naturally you took the most linear path to the outside by making a running dash through the window and landing in a crouch on the uneven stones at the bottom. There was little time to worry about any possible damage to the building or your person. The guard had turned around at the end of the street at the noise.
His perplexed face would have made you laugh but with every second ticking by you would not inclined to waste breath that could be used to save lives. So you dashed up to him flashing your mon at him to when he reached for his baton.
"Bandits where? How many?" You barked out. The guard's hands relaxed away from his weapon and he gave you a quick run down of what he had been told.
Apparently a group of boats had been spotted by the night watch as they sailed down the river, filled to the brim with archers and men wielding polearms. The watch had done their jobs by lighting the patrol fires but that had not deterred the scum from attempting to land on the shore. Anyone willing to fight would likely be welcomed, the guard stressed, this was the fourth time in two weeks that bandits had been active near the city and the guards were stretched too thin to ignore help.
This last part was said in a yell as once he had given you directions to the west portion of the harbor your feet began flying across the paved stones.
Houses, storefronts, and temples slowly turned into warehouses as you make your way through the city. No movement was wasted as you dodge the few carts and unlucky drunks still out. The feeling that you might already be too late drives you to move faster. Your feet slow slightly however at the thought that if you wear yourself out before reaching the defenders then you would just be dead weight.
But the city just seems too large, at this point the sound of rushing water had become so loud that you were sure the river was just behind the next building. Yet after each intersection there was another building and no sign of any fighting. The roar of the river seemed almost mocking.
Ironically the first sign that you were in the right place was an arrow that whizzed in front of you to embed itself into the dirt road. A single turn around a fishery and there it was.
Spread out across the horizon was the Tongshi River under a full moon. On the far side you could barely make out the banks of the other shore but what drew your immediate attention was the fleet of long boats. What seemed to be dozens of them dotted the river, each one filled with people. Bandits.
Little more than hollowed out logs slapped together with glue and nails they looked crude and unsuited to water travel. Yet in spite of this they floated every closer to the shore and brought their dreadful cargo closer to the city. The people being ferried looked more like farmers than fearsome warlords. Few, if any, had armor from what you could make out, and most were holding bows or long yari.
Your attention was caught by a yell from a figure further down the beach. Clad in blue armor and wielding what had to be the most ridiculous nodachi ever created the man leaped from his boat into the shallow water and roared something to the army behind him. An answering roar from the crowd preceded the flow of people off the boats and up the shoreline.
The defenders were not unprepared but it made little difference. A flurry of arrows were released from the sea wall where you noticed groups of people were spread out. Guardsmen, magistrates, and figures you were unable to identify dotted the landscape. It took only a second to realize that each group was concentrated at choke points in the sea wall where the bandits would have to climb up to reach the city. It would difficult for anyone untrained to scramble up a flat surface half again as tall as any man.
Before you realized it your feet had taken you to the nearest knot of warriors standing on the edge of the sea wall. There were four of them, a guardsman with a tsukinari and three doshin wielding their katanas. They were all looking at the oncoming horde but their expressions could not be more different. The guardsman's face was tanned and divided in two by a scar which crossed his cheeks and nose complimenting the grim stare on his face. Two of the doshin had open panic splayed across their face and held their swords with trembling fingers. The last stared out from down his nose, the disdain on his face mirrored in the relaxed stance he had taken.
This made your brows furrow and you made a note to watch his back. Fear could be harnessed to give even the weakest a chance at survival. Contempt killed, eventually.
Your approach did not go unnoticed. The guardsman gave a short nod at your bow and turned back to the figures that were rapidly increasing in size. While the lack of proper respect gave you some pause, you decided he was likely more concerned with protecting the city than propriety at the moment. The doshin on the other hand were happy to see you if the smiles were any indication.
"Togashi Hideo" you said taking a position next to the guardsman. "I would know the names of those who I would fight and possibly die with."
"Togi" the guard said with a sidelong look at you.
As the doshin came out of their respective bows they returned the greeting.
"This one is Mirumoto Toku. I am honored to meet you Togashi-sama," said the one closest to you. He was wearing brown and green armor which bore signs of being older than the bearer.
"I am Mirumoto Shoshi, my friend is Mirumoto Samui," came the reply from the samurai furthest from you with a nod towards his visibly frightened friend. You did not feel like saying much more. There would be time for real greetings once the city was safe.
There was a short lull in which you continued to take in the scene. Shoshi's face had returned to staring contemptuously at the raiders while your arrival seemed to have shored up some of the other two samurai's confidence. At least their hands were not trembling any more. This only took a few seconds before more arrows came down in the sand in front of you. You drew your sword and waited.
The first group of attackers wore a patchwork of clothes. Some of them wore brown cotton vests with bandages around their wrists and hands, others had leather straps tied haphazardly across thick fur. There were only five of them to the five of you making this a more than fair fight.
They rushed up the sandy steps to meet your group at the top of the sea wall and were constrained by width of the steps to go up one by one. This would have made for an easy fight if your group had maintained any cohesion once they arrived. Sadly the doshin folded like paper allowing the bandits to tear through the center of the formation and get to the top of the wall.
You took on a bandit with a set of iron bracers along his right arm in a swirl of dust and steel. The bandit's face was pulled tightly together and he could hardly keep his yari straight. His thin arms and poor stance gave credence to your earlier thoughts that the majority of the bandits were poor farmers. The man had little training and it showed every time he tried to thrust his yari into you, failing miserably at every turn.
Initially you were hesitant to go all out on the poor man and so you danced around for a short time, avoiding his clumsy strikes and landing a few blows upon his body in the hope that you could find a way to compassionately incapacitate him. The ping of steel on steel drew you from your own fight to see that the contemptuous doshin from earlier (Shoshi was it?) was under attack from archers and his bandit foe.
Twice more arrows landed on the magistrate but did little more than fly off of his light armor though you knew from experience that would leave bruises.
It was obvious however that despite the poor quality of the bandit's weapon he had more vigor than your own opponent. His wild swings had caught the doshin off guard more than once, and only the tough leather plates of his armor had kept him alive.
This drove you to finish your personal battle quickly. There was a flash of steel as you delicately threw the yari off its course into your chest and quick stepped so close to the bandit that you could smell the sourness of his breath. Lord Moon was especially bright tonight putting the wide eyes and snarled face of the raider in stark relief.
It seemed he had not expected you to get so close to him but his recovery was remarkably fast. You had twisted your blade to take advantage of your momentum and land a strike on his chest. He twisted oddly at the waist and the katana only scraped the bottom of his ribs instead of running through his chest. Your robes were pulled beneath you as you rolled out of range of his steel to complete the move. Your caution proved unnecessary as your foe's eyes seemed to have begun bulging. His head turned from where you had been standing to where you had ended up with a look of sheer incredulity on his face. His mouth opened but nothing coherent came out and you took advantage of his shock to rush at him again.
This time you did not try any fancy moves and rushed past his poorly held yari to drive your sword between his neck and shoulder. He managed to dodge ever so slightly to avoid death but your sword cleaved a line down the front of his chest. He backpeddled yelling out in pain. A small trickle of blood fell down your blade as you readied for another strike but he was having none of it.
The second you crouched he turned tail and ran. He flopped down over the sea wall onto the brown-orange sand with a heavy thud before pulling himself up with his good arm and shooting sand up with his feet.
You took in the continuing battles with a glance. While you had been fighting a few more bandits had made it up the beach. The guardsman from earlier was now fending off two opponents with his tsukinari. His strikes whirled between the two of them keeping them off balance and unable to use their superior numbers. The hook on his polearm was also being used to great effect given the telltale puncture marks on one of the bandit's shoulders.
In the middle of the fray was two of the doshin fighting three bandits, all armed with simple wooden yari. The doshin appeared to be in bad shape but the combined inexperience of all the fighters seemed to be keeping the bloodshed down. The doshin's hands were slow and vaguely mechanical with their strikes, while the bandits just seemed to be striking at random.
Closest to you was the crazed bandit who was still attempting to skewer Shoshi to the sands. The defending samurai was backing up across the seawall with every exchange. The force of each blow by the bandit caused tremors to appear in the doshin's arms and it was all he could do to hold up his sword.
Your feet barely touch the ground as you fly after the fighters. The bandit's head turns at your approach but he is much to slow to avoid the quick touch of your blade as you catch him on the side. Blood pours onto the sand as he collapses in front of Shoshi.
Shoshi's eyes narrow as he takes in the sight of the prone man. There is a moment in which you see that their eyes have locked together and the bandit is mouthing something you cannot hear. It is silenced as the doshin drives his sword through the defeated man's abdomen and into the sand.
This moment of merciless torture strikes a sour note in your breast. There was no reason not to take the quickest option and behead him. Leaving him to bleed out on the beach is cruel. Your eyes narrow as you match gazes with Shoshi, but the stare is cut off as two arrows sprout from his chest. Shock pushes you forward to catch him as he crumples to the ground completely senseless. You crouch low to avoid more arrows and take stock of his injuries. Pulling off his armor plate takes a few moments as you work out the straps, and what is beneath is bad. Two arrows pushed up below his heart are your main concerns and you realize swiftly that he needs expert help.
You look around for a place to take him for treatment before realizing that the guard likely knows where triage has been set up. This thought leads you to pillow the downed samurai's head beneath his own bloodstained armor in an attempt at comfort before rushing to help the guardsman.
"Toku, the left one!" You shout as you move across the rocky top of the sea wall to his position. Thankfully he either realizes you meant your left or through blind luck and he strikes out with the blunted end of his tsukinari to shove the aforementioned bandit towards you.
Your sword comes down with earth shattering force upon the hasty defense of the raider you singled out. The strike drives itself through his weapon and his arm. A quick follow up across his neck earns you an attack from the remaining bandit.
The keening sound of his weapon was enough warning to avoid any serious damage though the bladed edge did manage to scrape off some of your knee.
The sharp tang of the pain was muted as you moved to stand next to the guard. His face was haggard and there was some blood dripping out from beneath his shoulder pads. Your foe seemed to realize the tables had turned and throws out a panicked strike towards the guard.
It takes only a blink to jab your sword into the bandit's thigh while the guard roars. As you move out of the danger zone your eyes catch the sight of the guard accepting the bandit's yari under his arm. This suicidal move is rewarded as the guard's blade runs clean through his opponent's head and lodges itself into the sand below.
Parts of the bandit's skull splatter the ground and the scene shortens your breath. The valiant guardsman is held up only by his tsukinari, the weapon of his foe still sticking out from between the plates of his armor.
There is a moment where you come back to yourself and yell at the guardsman. "Togi-san! Are you ok?!"
The guardsman breaks the shaft of the offending weapon off with a grunt and looks at you beneath his visor. "Hai, Togashi-sama. I thank you for your concern."
You are momentarily at the loss for words as the sight of the yari head still sticking out of the man's abdomen. There is an oddly zen moment in which both of you are standing still on a beach still filled with the screams and yells of battle. But there was a reason you saved the guardsman first and you quickly relay your request.
"Togi-san, over there is a magistrate who needs also immediate attention from a doctor. Can you tell me where to take him?" The words rushing out. You started pointing at the barely breathing doshin and the guard turned with your finger.
A moment passes before the guard turns back to you.
"I will take him. They need your help." He points to the still fighting magistrates who are now engaged with three enemies. The doshin in brown and green is sporting an arrow from his shoulder and the other is not much better.
You make to stop the guard, but he breaks into a run before you can do much more than scrunch up your face at him. Despite the blade still somewhere in his intestines the guard runs swiftly and has the downed doshin over his shoulder in a single move. Then he speeds off behind one of the buildings and out of sight.
Putting unnaturally tough guardsmen out of your head you head over to assist the remaining fighters.
You are upon them before the bandits realize the danger and one goes down as you execute a perfect lateral strike to his knees. He falls like a puppet with its strings cut as his feet go one way and his body the other. His scream is horror is silenced with a second strike and then the battle gets tough.
You dodge the bladed shafts as they spin about in predictable patterns and wait for an opening on the part of your two new foes. The doshins have backed up along the sea wall until they reached one of the warehouses. The two of them stuck between the wall of the building, the arrows still raining down, and the three bandits' vicious attacks were in a sorry state.
Indeed they are not much help but there is little need. At this point you activate your tattoo for a rush of energy that pushes you off the wall of the building and into their midst like a demon of steel. Two lines are drawn across one of the unfortunate bandit's neck while the other one tries a last ditch attack on one of the doshin.
Toku takes the yari to his leg at the same time as an arrow embeds itself between his shoulder and chest plates. He falls at the same time as the downed bandit with strangely mingling screams. The gurgle of the bandit is cut short as you finish the job of beheading him and raise your sword to the last remaining bandit. Your face at this point is covered in small drops of blood, and the remains of your foes are scattered around you. This horrifying visage is likely what causes him to drop his spear and flee screaming for mercy.
You lower your weapon once you are sure that no more attacks are coming and look out over the banks of the river. Boats are being pushed off the shore and it seems the majority of bandits were fleeing. The archers from earlier had already abandoned their position and floated off. Wounded and dead were spread out over the next li or so of the river which reminded you about the magistrate at your feet.
The other doshin, Toku, was trying and failing to stem the bleeding. The wound did not seem life threatening to you, but if left untreated would become infected. Your sensei had told you that disease killed more in war than any battle so it was urgent that he get immediate medical care.
Perhaps they could even save the leg.
You grabbed the fallen doshin under the arm and motioned Toku to take him under the other one and together you raised Samui to his feet. He came alive once raised and began clenching his teeth in pain. Short bursts of breath were the only sound he made before you pulled the yari from his leg.
His shout of pain left your ears ringing and you almost dropped him. There was no need to be so loud.
Toku seemed to know the way and together the two of you managed to haul the injured samurai back behind a building leaving a small trail of blood. There were stretchers with injured in them just around the corner and your party was able to deposit Samui into the waiting arms of two eta and what looked like an overworked field doctor. You stayed only long enough to make sure that Samui was bandaged properly before leaving the rapidly filling alleyway as more wounded were brought in.
You took in a breath. Than another one. You were alive. The city was safe.
Your return home was mostly a blur of buildings and streets. There was little to remember of your dreams either, though the image of a drop of blood hanging from a sword was the last image before you awoke with a start. The sun still had not risen though this was likely because of the time of year. Winter was only just starting to lose its grip on Rokugan and the Lord Moon roamed the skies more frequently during this period. You moved from the mat to the same position you had taken last night and began your daily prayers and meditation. This was the start of a new day.
Hideo has an appointment to keep but aside from that has free reign. 2 activities only please. You can do anything from sit in your room and meditate all day to help old ladies cross the street.
[] Write In
[] Write In
More importantly now is the time for build votes. Hideo has gained 2XP for the experience of fighting and winning with others having killed three people and saving 4. DaBoyz also got an XP for his clerical help so that is a total of 13XP to spend.
[] Write In
The moment you step out of your room it becomes obvious that leaving through the front door was going to be impossible. Largely because a massive swell of people had crowded the hallways and likely were blocking the stairs down the hall as well. Despite understanding that most of the inn's patrons were just scared and confused your face twisted into a grimace. Nothing you could do about it without starting a fight, or even worse a panic.
So naturally you took the most linear path to the outside by making a running dash through the window and landing in a crouch on the uneven stones at the bottom. There was little time to worry about any possible damage to the building or your person. The guard had turned around at the end of the street at the noise.
His perplexed face would have made you laugh but with every second ticking by you would not inclined to waste breath that could be used to save lives. So you dashed up to him flashing your mon at him to when he reached for his baton.
"Bandits where? How many?" You barked out. The guard's hands relaxed away from his weapon and he gave you a quick run down of what he had been told.
Apparently a group of boats had been spotted by the night watch as they sailed down the river, filled to the brim with archers and men wielding polearms. The watch had done their jobs by lighting the patrol fires but that had not deterred the scum from attempting to land on the shore. Anyone willing to fight would likely be welcomed, the guard stressed, this was the fourth time in two weeks that bandits had been active near the city and the guards were stretched too thin to ignore help.
This last part was said in a yell as once he had given you directions to the west portion of the harbor your feet began flying across the paved stones.
Houses, storefronts, and temples slowly turned into warehouses as you make your way through the city. No movement was wasted as you dodge the few carts and unlucky drunks still out. The feeling that you might already be too late drives you to move faster. Your feet slow slightly however at the thought that if you wear yourself out before reaching the defenders then you would just be dead weight.
But the city just seems too large, at this point the sound of rushing water had become so loud that you were sure the river was just behind the next building. Yet after each intersection there was another building and no sign of any fighting. The roar of the river seemed almost mocking.
Ironically the first sign that you were in the right place was an arrow that whizzed in front of you to embed itself into the dirt road. A single turn around a fishery and there it was.
Spread out across the horizon was the Tongshi River under a full moon. On the far side you could barely make out the banks of the other shore but what drew your immediate attention was the fleet of long boats. What seemed to be dozens of them dotted the river, each one filled with people. Bandits.
Little more than hollowed out logs slapped together with glue and nails they looked crude and unsuited to water travel. Yet in spite of this they floated every closer to the shore and brought their dreadful cargo closer to the city. The people being ferried looked more like farmers than fearsome warlords. Few, if any, had armor from what you could make out, and most were holding bows or long yari.
Your attention was caught by a yell from a figure further down the beach. Clad in blue armor and wielding what had to be the most ridiculous nodachi ever created the man leaped from his boat into the shallow water and roared something to the army behind him. An answering roar from the crowd preceded the flow of people off the boats and up the shoreline.
The defenders were not unprepared but it made little difference. A flurry of arrows were released from the sea wall where you noticed groups of people were spread out. Guardsmen, magistrates, and figures you were unable to identify dotted the landscape. It took only a second to realize that each group was concentrated at choke points in the sea wall where the bandits would have to climb up to reach the city. It would difficult for anyone untrained to scramble up a flat surface half again as tall as any man.
Before you realized it your feet had taken you to the nearest knot of warriors standing on the edge of the sea wall. There were four of them, a guardsman with a tsukinari and three doshin wielding their katanas. They were all looking at the oncoming horde but their expressions could not be more different. The guardsman's face was tanned and divided in two by a scar which crossed his cheeks and nose complimenting the grim stare on his face. Two of the doshin had open panic splayed across their face and held their swords with trembling fingers. The last stared out from down his nose, the disdain on his face mirrored in the relaxed stance he had taken.
This made your brows furrow and you made a note to watch his back. Fear could be harnessed to give even the weakest a chance at survival. Contempt killed, eventually.
Your approach did not go unnoticed. The guardsman gave a short nod at your bow and turned back to the figures that were rapidly increasing in size. While the lack of proper respect gave you some pause, you decided he was likely more concerned with protecting the city than propriety at the moment. The doshin on the other hand were happy to see you if the smiles were any indication.
"Togashi Hideo" you said taking a position next to the guardsman. "I would know the names of those who I would fight and possibly die with."
"Togi" the guard said with a sidelong look at you.
As the doshin came out of their respective bows they returned the greeting.
"This one is Mirumoto Toku. I am honored to meet you Togashi-sama," said the one closest to you. He was wearing brown and green armor which bore signs of being older than the bearer.
"I am Mirumoto Shoshi, my friend is Mirumoto Samui," came the reply from the samurai furthest from you with a nod towards his visibly frightened friend. You did not feel like saying much more. There would be time for real greetings once the city was safe.
There was a short lull in which you continued to take in the scene. Shoshi's face had returned to staring contemptuously at the raiders while your arrival seemed to have shored up some of the other two samurai's confidence. At least their hands were not trembling any more. This only took a few seconds before more arrows came down in the sand in front of you. You drew your sword and waited.
The first group of attackers wore a patchwork of clothes. Some of them wore brown cotton vests with bandages around their wrists and hands, others had leather straps tied haphazardly across thick fur. There were only five of them to the five of you making this a more than fair fight.
They rushed up the sandy steps to meet your group at the top of the sea wall and were constrained by width of the steps to go up one by one. This would have made for an easy fight if your group had maintained any cohesion once they arrived. Sadly the doshin folded like paper allowing the bandits to tear through the center of the formation and get to the top of the wall.
You took on a bandit with a set of iron bracers along his right arm in a swirl of dust and steel. The bandit's face was pulled tightly together and he could hardly keep his yari straight. His thin arms and poor stance gave credence to your earlier thoughts that the majority of the bandits were poor farmers. The man had little training and it showed every time he tried to thrust his yari into you, failing miserably at every turn.
Initially you were hesitant to go all out on the poor man and so you danced around for a short time, avoiding his clumsy strikes and landing a few blows upon his body in the hope that you could find a way to compassionately incapacitate him. The ping of steel on steel drew you from your own fight to see that the contemptuous doshin from earlier (Shoshi was it?) was under attack from archers and his bandit foe.
Twice more arrows landed on the magistrate but did little more than fly off of his light armor though you knew from experience that would leave bruises.
It was obvious however that despite the poor quality of the bandit's weapon he had more vigor than your own opponent. His wild swings had caught the doshin off guard more than once, and only the tough leather plates of his armor had kept him alive.
This drove you to finish your personal battle quickly. There was a flash of steel as you delicately threw the yari off its course into your chest and quick stepped so close to the bandit that you could smell the sourness of his breath. Lord Moon was especially bright tonight putting the wide eyes and snarled face of the raider in stark relief.
It seemed he had not expected you to get so close to him but his recovery was remarkably fast. You had twisted your blade to take advantage of your momentum and land a strike on his chest. He twisted oddly at the waist and the katana only scraped the bottom of his ribs instead of running through his chest. Your robes were pulled beneath you as you rolled out of range of his steel to complete the move. Your caution proved unnecessary as your foe's eyes seemed to have begun bulging. His head turned from where you had been standing to where you had ended up with a look of sheer incredulity on his face. His mouth opened but nothing coherent came out and you took advantage of his shock to rush at him again.
This time you did not try any fancy moves and rushed past his poorly held yari to drive your sword between his neck and shoulder. He managed to dodge ever so slightly to avoid death but your sword cleaved a line down the front of his chest. He backpeddled yelling out in pain. A small trickle of blood fell down your blade as you readied for another strike but he was having none of it.
The second you crouched he turned tail and ran. He flopped down over the sea wall onto the brown-orange sand with a heavy thud before pulling himself up with his good arm and shooting sand up with his feet.
You took in the continuing battles with a glance. While you had been fighting a few more bandits had made it up the beach. The guardsman from earlier was now fending off two opponents with his tsukinari. His strikes whirled between the two of them keeping them off balance and unable to use their superior numbers. The hook on his polearm was also being used to great effect given the telltale puncture marks on one of the bandit's shoulders.
In the middle of the fray was two of the doshin fighting three bandits, all armed with simple wooden yari. The doshin appeared to be in bad shape but the combined inexperience of all the fighters seemed to be keeping the bloodshed down. The doshin's hands were slow and vaguely mechanical with their strikes, while the bandits just seemed to be striking at random.
Closest to you was the crazed bandit who was still attempting to skewer Shoshi to the sands. The defending samurai was backing up across the seawall with every exchange. The force of each blow by the bandit caused tremors to appear in the doshin's arms and it was all he could do to hold up his sword.
Your feet barely touch the ground as you fly after the fighters. The bandit's head turns at your approach but he is much to slow to avoid the quick touch of your blade as you catch him on the side. Blood pours onto the sand as he collapses in front of Shoshi.
Shoshi's eyes narrow as he takes in the sight of the prone man. There is a moment in which you see that their eyes have locked together and the bandit is mouthing something you cannot hear. It is silenced as the doshin drives his sword through the defeated man's abdomen and into the sand.
This moment of merciless torture strikes a sour note in your breast. There was no reason not to take the quickest option and behead him. Leaving him to bleed out on the beach is cruel. Your eyes narrow as you match gazes with Shoshi, but the stare is cut off as two arrows sprout from his chest. Shock pushes you forward to catch him as he crumples to the ground completely senseless. You crouch low to avoid more arrows and take stock of his injuries. Pulling off his armor plate takes a few moments as you work out the straps, and what is beneath is bad. Two arrows pushed up below his heart are your main concerns and you realize swiftly that he needs expert help.
You look around for a place to take him for treatment before realizing that the guard likely knows where triage has been set up. This thought leads you to pillow the downed samurai's head beneath his own bloodstained armor in an attempt at comfort before rushing to help the guardsman.
"Toku, the left one!" You shout as you move across the rocky top of the sea wall to his position. Thankfully he either realizes you meant your left or through blind luck and he strikes out with the blunted end of his tsukinari to shove the aforementioned bandit towards you.
Your sword comes down with earth shattering force upon the hasty defense of the raider you singled out. The strike drives itself through his weapon and his arm. A quick follow up across his neck earns you an attack from the remaining bandit.
The keening sound of his weapon was enough warning to avoid any serious damage though the bladed edge did manage to scrape off some of your knee.
The sharp tang of the pain was muted as you moved to stand next to the guard. His face was haggard and there was some blood dripping out from beneath his shoulder pads. Your foe seemed to realize the tables had turned and throws out a panicked strike towards the guard.
It takes only a blink to jab your sword into the bandit's thigh while the guard roars. As you move out of the danger zone your eyes catch the sight of the guard accepting the bandit's yari under his arm. This suicidal move is rewarded as the guard's blade runs clean through his opponent's head and lodges itself into the sand below.
Parts of the bandit's skull splatter the ground and the scene shortens your breath. The valiant guardsman is held up only by his tsukinari, the weapon of his foe still sticking out from between the plates of his armor.
There is a moment where you come back to yourself and yell at the guardsman. "Togi-san! Are you ok?!"
The guardsman breaks the shaft of the offending weapon off with a grunt and looks at you beneath his visor. "Hai, Togashi-sama. I thank you for your concern."
You are momentarily at the loss for words as the sight of the yari head still sticking out of the man's abdomen. There is an oddly zen moment in which both of you are standing still on a beach still filled with the screams and yells of battle. But there was a reason you saved the guardsman first and you quickly relay your request.
"Togi-san, over there is a magistrate who needs also immediate attention from a doctor. Can you tell me where to take him?" The words rushing out. You started pointing at the barely breathing doshin and the guard turned with your finger.
A moment passes before the guard turns back to you.
"I will take him. They need your help." He points to the still fighting magistrates who are now engaged with three enemies. The doshin in brown and green is sporting an arrow from his shoulder and the other is not much better.
You make to stop the guard, but he breaks into a run before you can do much more than scrunch up your face at him. Despite the blade still somewhere in his intestines the guard runs swiftly and has the downed doshin over his shoulder in a single move. Then he speeds off behind one of the buildings and out of sight.
Putting unnaturally tough guardsmen out of your head you head over to assist the remaining fighters.
You are upon them before the bandits realize the danger and one goes down as you execute a perfect lateral strike to his knees. He falls like a puppet with its strings cut as his feet go one way and his body the other. His scream is horror is silenced with a second strike and then the battle gets tough.
You dodge the bladed shafts as they spin about in predictable patterns and wait for an opening on the part of your two new foes. The doshins have backed up along the sea wall until they reached one of the warehouses. The two of them stuck between the wall of the building, the arrows still raining down, and the three bandits' vicious attacks were in a sorry state.
Indeed they are not much help but there is little need. At this point you activate your tattoo for a rush of energy that pushes you off the wall of the building and into their midst like a demon of steel. Two lines are drawn across one of the unfortunate bandit's neck while the other one tries a last ditch attack on one of the doshin.
Toku takes the yari to his leg at the same time as an arrow embeds itself between his shoulder and chest plates. He falls at the same time as the downed bandit with strangely mingling screams. The gurgle of the bandit is cut short as you finish the job of beheading him and raise your sword to the last remaining bandit. Your face at this point is covered in small drops of blood, and the remains of your foes are scattered around you. This horrifying visage is likely what causes him to drop his spear and flee screaming for mercy.
You lower your weapon once you are sure that no more attacks are coming and look out over the banks of the river. Boats are being pushed off the shore and it seems the majority of bandits were fleeing. The archers from earlier had already abandoned their position and floated off. Wounded and dead were spread out over the next li or so of the river which reminded you about the magistrate at your feet.
The other doshin, Toku, was trying and failing to stem the bleeding. The wound did not seem life threatening to you, but if left untreated would become infected. Your sensei had told you that disease killed more in war than any battle so it was urgent that he get immediate medical care.
Perhaps they could even save the leg.
You grabbed the fallen doshin under the arm and motioned Toku to take him under the other one and together you raised Samui to his feet. He came alive once raised and began clenching his teeth in pain. Short bursts of breath were the only sound he made before you pulled the yari from his leg.
His shout of pain left your ears ringing and you almost dropped him. There was no need to be so loud.
Toku seemed to know the way and together the two of you managed to haul the injured samurai back behind a building leaving a small trail of blood. There were stretchers with injured in them just around the corner and your party was able to deposit Samui into the waiting arms of two eta and what looked like an overworked field doctor. You stayed only long enough to make sure that Samui was bandaged properly before leaving the rapidly filling alleyway as more wounded were brought in.
You took in a breath. Than another one. You were alive. The city was safe.
Your return home was mostly a blur of buildings and streets. There was little to remember of your dreams either, though the image of a drop of blood hanging from a sword was the last image before you awoke with a start. The sun still had not risen though this was likely because of the time of year. Winter was only just starting to lose its grip on Rokugan and the Lord Moon roamed the skies more frequently during this period. You moved from the mat to the same position you had taken last night and began your daily prayers and meditation. This was the start of a new day.
Hideo has an appointment to keep but aside from that has free reign. 2 activities only please. You can do anything from sit in your room and meditate all day to help old ladies cross the street.
[] Write In
[] Write In
More importantly now is the time for build votes. Hideo has gained 2XP for the experience of fighting and winning with others having killed three people and saving 4. DaBoyz also got an XP for his clerical help so that is a total of 13XP to spend.
[] Write In
Last edited:
- Location
- Leeds
That goes without saying.
- Location
- Leeds
Well I think we ought to purchase Stamina 3. Extra wounds. 'Nought said.
Save the extra xp.
As for what to do?
[Q] Help ALL the old ladies across the street.
Save the extra xp.
As for what to do?
[Q] Help ALL the old ladies across the street.
