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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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eaglejarl said:
Don't tell me the odds, you stinker!
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eaglejarl said:
pride (Kagome).
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D'aawww

eaglejarl said:
Try it and we'll blow your little mudhole into rubble and pick our teeth with the fragments.
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eaglejarl said:
"We are breathing, exhaling stress and distaction, inhaling calm and peace. Right? Inhaling...exhaling...great.
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eaglejarl said:
We don't have to kill anyone yet."
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These are so patronizing, I absolutely love it :D


I'm worried about how much info Keiko just dropped on them. Very worried.
eaglejarl said:
My team killed every chakra beast from Fire's Swamp of Death to the jungles of Tea
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They know where we've been, at least in part. The Swamp of Death in particular would tip them off as to our origin, if they look into it.

eaglejarl said:
We've crushed jounin, fought an entire village of ninja, and faced down Jiraiya of the Sannin.
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Hazou's eyebrows raise slightly at the double-meaning of 'crushed' :lol These are at least fairly ambiguous and paint us as opposed to Jiraiya, so we will be less likely to be suspected of coming after Arikada for him.

eaglejarl said:
I stood my ground in front of Pantsaa of the Adamant Scales, the Boss Summon of the Pangolin Clan, and made him fear me.
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Aaaaaand now it's out. If we use pangolins in any operation in the city, they know it was us. And rumors will start spreading regardless.

eaglejarl said:
My comrade"—she waved to Hazou—"killed three chunin in single combat when he was only a few months out of the Academy.
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At least this is extremely nonspecific, given that they don't know when we graduated and don't know which chunin we're talking about.

eaglejarl said:
Our leader fought his way out of a prison designed to hold sealmasters.
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'Hmmm, and why was he in there?', they will wonder. Oh I dunno, maybe because he's a sealmaster?

Overall: 4/10 opsec, god dammit Keiko.


Namer said:
So, off the top of my head, we want information, and we want to be subtle while we're drilling them about it. Which means more dice rolls. And then there's the chance of Akoma people showing up to interrupt us.
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Perhaps have Noburi go into the shop with the Irie and Hinago leaders to chat, and have everyone else outside to keep an eye on each other? 12 (or 13 if the Hinago have someone hiding still) people in a ramen shop sounds too crowded anyway, though at least it means we could immediately kill them all with explosion belts.

E: Idea: does Keiko get more dice than Noburi if she gets her Deal Making, and can she use Deal Making in the ramen shop?
 
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OliWhail said:
Overall: 4/10 opsec, god dammit Keiko.
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I mean Keiko was badass and the did the right thing to support both Hazou and Nobby in the situation, but 4/10 is way to generous if we're grading her opsec. I'd give her a 2/10 and that's taking into account the fact that otherwise she did an amazing job.

Now we should figure out if we can make armadillo costumes for our pangolin, just to confuse people ...

eaglejarl said:
<Keiko's Internal Monologue>
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Oh god, her bloodline is literally weaponised depression. This is hilarious. I actually have depression and use it to make me a better engineer. When it's a mild depressive mood, I can be incredibly critical of my designs/ideas and later, when I'm not feeling that way, actually act on that criticism to make my work better.
 
It... almost seems like Keiko's nearing the point where she unlocks a new talent of the Frozen Skein. Which would be pretty freaking amazing, tbh.
 
eaglejarl said:
"Odds?!" Kagome growled. "Odds?! Don't tell me the odds, you stinker! I'll show you odds! I'll show you so many odds you'll need to pick your eyeballs up to count them! Except you won't be able to because you'll be splashed—"

Hazou closed a hand on Kagome's bicep and shook him slightly. "Sensei," he said carefully. "Please breathe. We're still talking. We don't have to kill anyone yet."

Kagome turned and Looked at him, eyes wide and wild. "But—"
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Holy shit, Kagome's like a a kid who just got told Christmas was cancelled.

You adorable little lunatic, you!
 
On a totally different note, can we please get poor Yuu some social skills training? Having 1d100 is just depressing.

Iirc Mari was ruminating back in Hot Springs about how it would be much harder to watch out for his PTSD episodes if he was able to conceal his emotions at all, but it's not like we'd get him 30 dice or whatever ridiculous stat she has, just up to like 8. Akane as well, honestly.
 
OliWhail said:
On a totally different note, can we please get poor Yuu some social skills training? Having 1d100 is just depressing.

Iirc Mari was ruminating back in Hot Springs about how it would be much harder to watch out for his PTSD episodes if he was able to conceal his emotions at all, but it's not like we'd get him 30 dice or whatever ridiculous stat she has, just up to like 8. Akane as well, honestly.
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We tried that in Hot Springs IIRC, Kagome did some social stuff. I think he has 2d100 right now.
 
ChronOblivion said:
My previous designation for her, Mori "Fucking" Keiko, proves to still be an apt description. She is now taking her first steps towards the badassery she is destined for, and I am so very proud.
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@ChronOblivion your designation continues to be apt :rofl:

E: we pilot a kid who killed two chunin with his bare hands and one with her own weapon months after graduating the academy, invented two original seals not too long after that, and who killed a jounin not too long after that, and he isn't even the scariest kid on his team.

This is so great :D
 
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Not pleased with opsec breaches. The Summoner thing is the worst of it, but it probably helped with the intimidation.

Alright, so far so good. All we have to do is have an excuse to stay in town for a little bit, prevent them from finding out we have a sixth member, and wait for Inoue's plan to bear fruit.
 
Cariyaga said:
Marked for Death: A Sealmaster Rehabilitation Quest.
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Can I sig this??

Link Sol said:
I wonder if Keiko will like Noburi more since he seemed to be the only one that wasn't shocked at her speech.
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As a person? Perhaps. Kagome apparently looked proud of her, so merely nor reacting might pale in comparison.

Romantically? Probably not, I don't know if we have any indication of her even being into guys.
Thoughts on planning for the next update, before I disappear for the rest of the day to study for yet another midterm (*internal shrieking*)
  • Our party and rival clan patrols in a confined space is a recipe for a bloodbath - can we opt to have Noburi and the leaders of Hinago and Irie talk it out, while the rest of the assembled ninjas keep each other in check outside?
    • Better yet, send two of each group in, with Keiko accompanying Noburi so she can use Deal Making if it comes up once he's talked everyone down. This still leaves Hazou outside to keep Kagome in check, and cover somewhat for social rolls.
    • Not incidentally, this means that in the outside group, it'll be one Hinago and two Irie members, tied with our three, so they should be less inclined to make trouble, while our most dangerous combatant and diplomancer prevent things from going wrong inside the shop.
  • We need to know what we're trying to accomplish in these discussions, as well as what we're willing to give in exchange for it
    • It doesn't seem like they want to kick us out of town, which is useful.
    • Our story is about wanting to buy supplies and opiumIzanai Red/Vermillion Sigh. How much money we have on hand will affect how convincingly we can pull that off.
    • Information Noburi and Hazou should try to get from the two separate groups of Rice nin:
      • Etiquette as visiting ninja to the city
      • Which areas of the city that tend to be patrolled by which clans, and differences in their policies / behavior / reputation
      • Number of ninja in town / per clan
      • How to contact the different clans / these guys particularly
      • ???
    • We are NOT going anywhere non-public with them right now - not as prisoners, not to meet their bosses. To the market, maybe, if they feel like we need an escort there for some reason.
    • Try to sow confusion / misinformaiton about the intel Keiko leaked?
  • Things we should NOT do:
    • Blow up a large chunk of the town
    • Reveal we have a sixth member currently simultaneously seducingdiplomancing both the Mayor and the proprietor of the most important inn in town
    • Give up any more opsec relevant info, dammit Keiko!
      • Specifically, do not reveal that we're working for Jiraiya and here to capture a ninja who may be in one of the clans' employ

Unfinished parts of the last two plans: Hunt-Run-Watch the Monkey's Tail
  1. Team actions
    1. Go over this heist thing - what's being planned and why does Keiko think we're selling things back to their owners..?
    2. Ask about why people don't go around henged as themselves most of the time to prevent aging/illness.
    3. Talking with Akane.
      1. I hope you know that all of us will support and understand any choice you make.
      2. I would really miss you if you left, but I would be happy knowing that your life is safer and stabler.
  2. Mission-relevant actions
    1. Team Stalky
      1. Map out locations that seem better guarded than others
      2. Start surveillance of the area/road to the west
      3. Prepping our escape routes
    2. Team Talky
      1. Mari wins Mayor Emiya over:
        1. Make sure no clan ninjas are listening in on the conversation
        2. Why should she help us:
          1. Arikada will throw a sack full of wrenches at the local power balance
          2. Her sealcraft relies on experimenting on humans, meaning it's the civilians of Rice who will pay the price if she gets away
          3. She is part of something bigger going on in Rice, we have a hunch that outsiders are messing with clan politics, but we have no proof of this
        3. Why did we come to her:
          1. We know Arakida will be in town, but if we find and fight her in town or without proper preparation it will create a huge amount of collateral damage and we don't want that
          2. She is the authority figure in town, it makes sense to work with her to catch a dangerous criminal
          3. We have heard good things about her (competent, on the side of the civilians)
        4. What we want from her
          1. Help to identify, keep track, and ultimately isolate Arakida so we can take her out
          2. Information on local players so we don't step on too many toes
          3. Help identifying what organization Arakida is working with (low priority for us but it probably aligns with what the mayor wants.
          4. Her best guess as to who Arikada's new employer will be, given available information.
      2. Mari takes point on sniffing out/ hunting down/ eliminating Arakida's contacts, but the boys should be present for backup whenever possible.
        1. Focus on any notable newcomers to town, the local Yak guy we heard about, the Yak-involved clan, and the medical clan.
      3. Figuring out how many / how skilled ninjas are in town
    1. Keiko keeps working on contracts, or help puzzle out who Arikada may be meeting if she's already found a sufficient number
    2. Get team feedback on basic options for our plan of attack.
      1. Ambush options on her way into (or out of?) town
        1. Full-on lethal barrage before she can set up her seals, under cover of mist to blow up her seals as a last resort
        2. Delaying and defensive tactics to let Noburi drain her dry, switching to Code Black if things get bad (see Contingencies #5)
      2. Slip poison/paralytic into her drugs (e.g. by getting Smiling Miki on our side), then capture/kill
      3. Try and drain her while asleep, using e.g. mist and an open window
    3. Collate collective information and assess our next move
      1. Use pen and paper for the conversation to throw off anyone spying on us. Remember to burn the papers.
 
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OliWhail said:
Idea: does Keiko get more dice than Noburi if she gets her Deal Making, and can she use Deal Making in the ramen shop?
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faflec said:
@eaglejarl @Velorien If we go to Diplomacy with the Irie/Hinago clans, would the conditions be reasonable for Deal-Making to be used?
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Nope, sorry. Too much tension flying around. These people are willing to talk, but only barely. Everyone still has their hackles up. That's no sort of atmosphere for win-win diplomacy.
MadScientist said:
@eaglejarl @Velorien

Medical ninjutsu has some kind of biosense, right? For diagnostics?

Could Noburi level MedKnow by dosing a rat with Izanai Red and then using his med jutsu to watch the details of what the drug does to the rat's systems?
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He needs to get to MedKnow 10 before he has enough background to self-teach. After that, yes, that would probably work.

faflec said:
@eaglejarl How much cash do we have on hand?
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I'll talk with @Velorien about it and get back to you.
 
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faflec said:
I mean, I know we got some local currency from Jiraiya during our debriefing, and we also have a large down payment from Mr. Shady Guy in Tea, just wanted to know if it was substantial enough to do stuff with.
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It's after midnight in the UK, so Velorien probably won't be back until tomorrow. You definitely have enough for living expenses and a little overage, and it might be more than that.
 
It seems like the general consensus is to keep deescalating. Like someone mentioned above, the more we try to do in this situation the more we have to roll and risk things going horribly. To that end, let's not try anything unrealistic like making any deals when we were about to fight each other to the death. Maybe just ask them about good places to buy supplies and agree on a way to contact them?
 
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