Graded [Fallen Blossom Shrine] Falling to Rise, Part 2 (aka No Rest for the Weary)

[gmimperfecti]

View attachment 1040785

The Setup

Setting:

• Locations:The Republic, The Nara no Nox Shogunate, The Koyake Clan, Shrine of the Fallen Blossom[
  • The Koyake are one of the three founding families of the Nara no Nox Shogunate, owning one of the largest rice territory blessed by the Shrine of the Fallen Blossom.
  • The Tengu are the second of the founding families, who focus more on scouting, hunting Hill Toads, and shadow craft.
  • The Tuskar are the third of the founding families, making their homesteads upon the many lakes dotting the region throughout the Shogunate. They raise swine, craft gear, and make herbal remedies.
  • There are other smaller clans closer to families, such as the Ryozo clan, which is stable and strong despite being mostly known as assistants to the Koyake Clan.
• Time of Day: 10:00 AM
• Weather: Crisp autumn air with a chill breeze ushers in the Cherry Blossoms. Today is clear, cerulean skies.
• Goals: (1) Train in the way of the Spear, (2) Raise standing within the clan, (3) Advance the Koyake Clan.

Active Threats:

• Animals (G-F)
• Undead Zombies (E) & Skeletons (F)
• Vagabonds and Outcasts (F)
• Fey and spirits (E?)

• The Koyake Clan are best known for the abundance of Svelte Deer [G], whose glossy coats are like silk and meat succulent. There are also the full gambit of pigs [G-], hogs [G+], and boars [F]. The best and most sought after are the Hill Toads [F+ Large] called so, because at 8 feet and 500 pounds, they are large enough to treat the 2 foot Wolf Spiders [G] like flies.
  
• 
  Beastmen Zombies [E] are very rare in the woods and lakes around the Koyake Clan, but they are occasionally sighted feeding on the dead and dying. The biggest danger and something to watch out for is that it is never clear when an undead is truly dead or just waiting for the scent of blood and brain to animate it again! Beast Skeletons [F-] and Beastmen Skeletons [F+] are more common, arising from forgotten graves and corrupted shrines around the Carmine Dying Lake.[/spoiler]
  
• 
  While the Koyake Clan has rich rice fields, not all in the Shogunate are so fortunate. Villages are overran by the hungry dead, beast tides, and cursed with famine among other calamities that can bring otherwise prosperous clans down low. The same can happen to individuals within clans, especially those with little talent and less to offer who fail to find success at banditry or slaving. These vagabonds and outcasts are poor, hungry, and prey for so many predators in the Beastlands that they rarely last long!
  
• 
  Long thought extinct, the Gerbie were recently spotted and one killed in a copse of forest behind the Ten Thousand Peony Blossom. Mammals and reptilians have a desire to protect and generally feel goodwill towards a Gerbie while within 100 feet of them unless the person can actively resist vs E7. This assumes they want to get rid of the feeling or even realize it is coming from them or why. Assume E6 to realize or know with appropriate skills (e.g. survival, academia) or any other relevant reason (e.g. misanthropy).
  

This is an open thread! To participate, get your character approved. Please follow the rules Fantasy - Isekai Hell Rules and post your character Fantasy - Isekai Hell Characters and notify Novama , who will review your character and invite you to the Discord Server being used.

Some useful tidbits!

• A little about the Narrator
• Gaining Bonuses to effectiveness
• Bias for action!

• 
  A little about me. I am new to the Isekai Hell rule system, but I feel like I have a decent grasp on the rules. This is an exercise in exploring the rules while running a game. I really enjoy running games and find myself doing that quite a lot. In fact, I’ve been running games for over 20 years, and I have an Isekai campaign that I want to eventually run in this universe. Before that, I want to run a few one-offs or maybe it’s all tied together. We’ll see.
  
• 
  In reading the rules for Isekai Hell, I have observed that it’s largely deterministic with a rules-lite skeleton to keep things grounded and expectations easier to manage. I am a big fan of players helping to flesh out a scene proactively and without needing to put in endless qualifiers in their posts. As such, I will allow two situations where you can gain a bonus to effectiveness:
  
  1. Scene Enhancing Stunt. In Exalted there is a notion of stunting, which allows characters to take their skills and abilities beyond the bounds or at least be creative with them to enhance the story for everyone. While everyone who participates in IH is expected to write well thought out, multiple paragraph posts. A stunt in this sense, builds and enhances the existing scene making everything cooler and more fun. If you do this, you can take a +1 to the effectiveness during the post, limit once per scene.
  2. Acting on a Goal. All players are required to have 3 goals per thread. If a player takes an action to support or further their goal, they can gain a +1 to effectiveness during the post, limit once per scene.
  3. Other Cases. There are other things that could impact effectiveness, such as narrative situation, special ability effects at play, and any other mechanics from the Isekai Hell rules system. You cannot use an ability in combat without an item (as it pertains to dealing damage, special effects, or some form of defense). Actions without abilities treat the ability grade as being worth 0 points.
• 
  Using skills and narrating success. I would rather bias for pacing and momentum plus IH is designed to be a framework in which stories are made. The emphasis is on stories and pacing is an important component of a story’s success. As such, I’d rather you error on moving the plot forward. I can always introduce a twist or complication to balance things out or help ensure the story remains interesting.
  
  Scenes will often have a setup like this:
  
  Setting: 1-3 paragraphs of flavor text.
  
  1. Overall Scene Difficulty: E, if you want to do something not related to the below.
     1. Spoiler: “click after deciding to tackle challenge 1”

        Now that you are committed, here’s how difficult it is for this. This challenge turns out to be a difficulty of C! Here’s why: a,b,c.
     2. Spoiler: “click after deciding to tackle challenge 2”

        Now that you are committed, here’s how difficult it is for this. This challenge turns out to be a difficulty of G! Here’s why: a,b,c.
     3. Spoiler: “click after deciding to tackle challenge 3”

        Now that you are committed, here’s how difficult it is for this. This challenge turns out to be a difficulty of F! Here’s why: a,b,c.

The Cast

• Yukan
• Indicus
• Ceylan
• Ko

• 
  Yukan the Leader
  Goals:
  
  1. Protect/assist people by vanquishing hostile threat so it stops hurting/killing people (most important)
  2. Continue to leverage self to rise in rank in clan
  3. Increase chance of Successful hunt (edited)
• 
  Indicus the Survivor
  Goals:
  
  1. Indicus wants to get leads to find out who his parents are.
  2. Money to make travel easier.
  3. Formal training in combat to use his natural weapons as best as he can. (Teeth, claws(foot and hand) tail )
• 
  Ceylan the Soulful
  Goals:
  
  1. Attaining positives ties with the leaders/clans in the Republic
  2. Spreading the Syncretist gospel
  3. Spreading knowledge about his healing ability in the Republic
• 
  Ko the Blade Eternal
  Goals:
  
  1. Ko would likely answer the call to slay some rampant beasties. or simply be
  2. Walking around like the errant swordsmaster he is, dude ain't got no job.
  3. On a mission from his master to answer a Koan in a sense, to answer the question of "What is a sword?" theres been alot of answers, but the master hasn't accepted any as the true answer.
  4. Thus he travels. hes geared up offensivewise, as a swordsmaster thats really all he needs normally.

 

[gmimperfecti]

It was a long night quelling the patrons of the Five Thousand Peony Blossoms, the Masanori Geisha House. This was a time of revelry and it was a sore point in the Masanori House's honor that such an event had transpired. While it was true that Yukan was the commander of a group of hunters, it was also true that a potential crisis loomed for the Masanori House. Thus within thirty minutes one of the elders had showed up. The rich browns and tan coloring so common of the tanuki had turned silver and white with age.

Masanori Nyctereutes was the true owner of the Five Thousand Peony Blossoms, and his arrival was a humiliation for Masanori Tashigoto, who was the scion within Yukan's hunting group. Tashigoto for his part explained the situation and surprisingly Gyoubu didn't heckle. Yukan, Whiteclaw, and the logistics unit were interviewed in turn as well.

The most unusual story that came out was when Sawazuki the Tanuki Geisha was interviewed. She screamed and cried for help! She claimed that her family was being held hostage and many of them would die if she didn't return immediately! A succubus had bewitched her family and tortured them before her eyes. Using unusual alchemy, this seductress had weakened and broken the bodies of the men in her family, only to heal them again! After several demonstrations all of her family had become compliant. It was horrible! She sobbed and cried, snot even ran down her beautiful tanuki snout!

Both Yukan eager to see a resolution of the mystery of the Silver Vomiting Geisha Sawazuki and Masanori Tashigoto was eager to fix his standing within his house. Although several of Tashigoto's siblings were jockeying to take over, ultimately Tashigoto remained for now as he was a named unit leader of the hunting party and he had recruited most of the logistics core.

Borris and Crymaria were introduced to another human, although he looked more like a man-bear and could be mistaken as Borris' younger brother. Hudson Choi ( Shawazama Shawazama ) had been hired by Masanori as the other heavy lifter. His capacity to lift and haul hundred upon hundred of pounds was only exceeded by how cheap it was to hire. Granted by the time Masanori had gone to recruit the pickings had been slim.

Indicus tried to wander off and go to sleep. It was easy for him to find what he was looking for given his Survival skills. He moved like a passing shadow, so quiet that no one seemed to notice he'd withdrawn. He quietly walked outside and found a nice large tree near a courtyard. The large tree's boughs extended up thirty feet and spread over an equally large pond. As he tried to settle into the crook between two thick branches and the trunk, he noticed Maria Kemple just as she noticed him! While he was skilled at moving without being heard, she was equally skilled at hearing what couldn't be heard. And thus, it appears the mermaid had noticed Indicus.

What was worse, Whiteclaw fluttered in as the pair were looking at each other. Turning his head 180-degrees, Whiteclaw looked up at Indicus. "Ah, you found my fifth, Maria Kemple is our water scout. The swamps are wet this time of year and she excels in such environments, plus she has excellent hearing." After a pause, he flapped his wings and jumped up to join Indicus upon the large boughs of the massive tree. "Great look out point. Not much out of the ordinary." Whiteclaw scanned into the distance, but shrugged, "Even the guard towards on the outlying hills are manned during the festival. It's unlikely a massive force is behind the ambush upon our party, but Yukan has called for everyone to stay together and hunt down this lead before we leave. We need to make sure we won't have someone hunting us while we are out hunting the Hill Toad." Nodding to Indicus, Whiteclaw leapt down from the tree and motioned to Maria. "Where you able to track any of the Gerbie's?" It was a casual question, but Maria could see a glint of gluttonous hunger in Whiteclaw's predatory eyes that was usually only reserved for enemies.

Alas and oddly enough, Maria had neither heard nor seen any of the retreating Gerbies.

In this way, the majority of those under Yukan's command in the nearby area assembled for what would hopefully not be a wild wolf spider chase. Individually, wolf spiders could be quite canny and crazy.

"S-she said that the potions w-would be," Sawazuki blew her noise, large tears falling from her eyes. "In a la-large t-t-t-treeeeeeee," And she started crying all over again. "B..bb...yyyy." And she blubbered all over again. "P-please ssssaaaavvvvveeeee my, my family!"

Thus the group had three choices before them, hunt down any lingering trace of the Gerbie, rush to Sawazuki's house, or try to find this tree first. Of course there were no doubt an infinite number of options beyond these three, such as deciding none of this was worth losing sleep over. While discussions were good and great and any good commander should listen to the advice, especially of the logistical core, ultimately it was up to Yukan how to proceed.

 

[Shadow Dancer]

Disturbed just before he could fall asleep proper Indicus looked down at Whiteclaw and Maria with a wry grin. Figuring he wouldn't get any rest for the moment Indicus Jumped down from the tree and held out his hand to Maria. "Nice to meet you Maria, I'm Indicus acting as a forester scout and possibly cook if I recall my given job correctly." Indicus decided not to correct Whiteclaw's assumption about playing lookout as having a possible future employer seeing you in a good light was always a plus. "Well I guess we should go to the others." Indicus said concealing his annoyance as best as he could.

gmimperfecti Blackrose7

 

[saxon]

Crymaria​

Crymaria stood in the corner of the courtyard with Borris as she ran her hand through the bear's fur. The recent events, especially those of the last 24 hours, were strange. There was so much darkness, not even because of the evil that had happened thus far. There was just so much unknown to the group, making her think there was much more going on than many would probably admit. Letting out a sigh she continued to pet her companion.

The interrogation of the geisha didn't seem to lend too much to what was going on. Even Crymaria couldn't take the girl at her word; for all she knew, it could be another trap. On top of that, her employer seemed to have a knack for getting involved in the middle of trouble. But that didn't mean that the girl was lying about the succubus. "Comrade Borris if the pay wasn't good we would have declined this adventure. But I suppose there isn't much we can do about it now. Besides, there are plenty of comrades relying on us getting those supplies from point A to B," Crymaria concluded as she noticed the arrival of another human.

Another human? Well now, that was something I didn't expect to happen with this group. Though I suppose that's not a bad thing either. Crymaria thought to herself as she started to approach the new arrival. "Hail Comrade, it is good to see another human in the group though I'm surprised the employer hired another," Crymaria stated as she paused for a moment. "I am Comrade Crymaria and this is Comrade Borris," Crymaria introduced herself as she motioned to the bear.

Turning toward the Geisha Crymaria shrugged, "I don't see why we shouldn't visit the house to verify the story." Crymaria concluded.

mentions: TheTimePiece gmimperfecti @Akudon Shadow Dancer Shawazama

 

[TheTimePiece]

Yukan Koyake
​

Mentions: gmimperfecti Shadow Dancer Shawazama saxon
Yukan of course had listened intently to the information they could gather regarding what had happened with this apparent terrorist attack or assassination plot, whatever you wanted to call it and the connections they got from asking people questions. He tried his best to remain objective and collected, even as he heard the sobs of Sawazuki. He was well aware that she could have been a conspirator and was merely putting on a show. For Yukan's personal gain it might have been better interest to focus on the task at hand, but at the end of the day It was still Masanori's family who had to deal with the brunt of the security blunder. Mitsunari may have been problematic but Yukan's competitive nature got in the way of his better judgement and now he truthfully continued to feel bad for the lovely shrine Maiden he hadn't chosen thinking the way to wow leadership was to bring in a strange and powerful kitsune to assist them.

Yukan looked around at the group in his proximity, after thinking through and hearing everything out about what the best course of action was. With the facts at hand if there were really good people's lives at risk then Yukan didn't feel like he had much choice other than investigating the issue further at the house, it could be a key piece into finding out what was going on. Naturally he'd want to bring his actual spear with him this time around. Not having weapons beyond his claws had been somewhat problematic in the last events since it made it much harder for him to assist more directly in the moment.

The tanuki then spoke up tapping into Leadership F once more,

"With all of the data presented my inclination is that we should investigate Sawazuki-san's house , it is definitely an area of interest. We must proceed with great caution, those who will be accompanying me on this travel should be combat ready should the need for it arise. It's become very apparent to me that at the moment we are in a serious situation of uncertainty, I am well aware that some of you were brought here, paid for another task entirely, but at the moment the security of our Republic's people is at risk, which triumphs the importance of leaving exactly on schedule for the hunt, particularly when members of our group were targeted by whatever foul play may be at hand."

Yukan said straight and to the point.

"I am however willing to hear out if anyone else would like to speak on the matter regarding our next course of action but this is where my mind is." He was certainly glad to hear that Crymaria was having similar thoughts to him nevertheless.

 

[Blackrose7]

Spoiler: Human Form

Maria Kemple
Interaction: gmimperfecti | Shadow Dancer
Mention: N/A
Location: Five Thousand Peony Blossoms, the Masanori Geisha House: Pond Area.​

Even though, Maria was grinning like an idiot for finding the scaled beast on the tree during her first day on the job. Whiteclaw, on the other hand, had something else in mind. He wanted to know if she was able to track down the Gerbies, but due to how inexperienced she is. Maria had to tell him about not being able to find the Gerbies. ‘I wonder why they are looking for them?’
Maria was thinking about that, because she doesn’t know what a Gerbie is. Whiteclaw only told her to look for a small creature with big eyes, look innocent, and have half-reptile and half-mammal features in which she would think of them as being ugly.

Indicus then introduced himself as the forester scout and a cook before putting his hand to expect a handshake from her. This caused Maria to tilt her head for a bit from the strange land folk gesture, but she shook his hand with her wet right hand from swimming around in the pond. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Indicus, and we should go do that. Especially when they don’t know about me being the fifth yet.”
After saying that to Indicus, Maria turned into her human form to set up her wheelchair and wooden bucket filled with water for her land trip. They are excited to meet the other three Whiteclaw had hired, since he kind of mentioned a bit about them before becoming his fifth.
‘I can’t wait to see them, because I get to meet more land beasts like Whiteclaw and Indicus.’
Her thoughts are just her being curious about the three people Whiteclaw hired, as she thinks they are going to become great friends with her.

Ability used:
Human Form - (Transformation F): Maria gains the ability to have legs and lungs exchanged for her gills and mermaid tail in order to look like a human. Duration: 0/1

 

[Shawazama]

Hudson Choi
[Human]

Spoiler: Stats

Strength B
Precision F
Intelligence D
Vitality B
Speed F

Spoiler: Skills

Appraisal D
Attentive Student D
Super Strength F

Spoiler: Possessions

Whetstone
Bedroll
Fire Starter Kit
Rations
Waterskin

Bumming it out and not giving a damn was Choi's idea of living the dream, and with his apparent death, he got it. It was cool for the first few days, but eventually it got boring. It turned into more of a hassle than some kind of blessing. Obviously, an idle life, especially one where you lacked the appropriate resources, had its limits, and it took Choi over two weeks to realize this. Growing tired of living on the streets and off whatever scraps he could get his hands on, Choi decided that it was about time he got off his ass and made something of his new life.

Wanting some much needed fresh air, both figuratively and literally, Choi left the confines of Ryken and headed wherever hitchhiking took him. With little to no cash, the most he could prepare for his journey was a comfy hooded cloak and some rations. Anything else he'd need, Choi hoped to get from whatever caravan that would take him.

Choi was never the talkative type and only spoke when he needed something. For the most of his travels, he kept to himself - albeit the few moments he became curious with things that he saw - and simply offered his services as a bipedal pack mule to prolong his stay within the caravan.

Eventually, his journey led him to the fur-filled republic. There, his talents were sought after. Well, kind off. They were in need of another heavy lifter for some sort of mission and fortunately, they didn't have that much of a choice. Choi didn't pry into the details of the work that was offered to him. As long as he got paid, he was fine with it.

Following the instructions given to him, Choi found himself in the presence of a young girl and what looked to be a bear. Such a sight would have been surprising a few weeks earlier, but given everything Choi had seen, this was kinda mild.

"Hey, girlie." Since there weren't that many humans around, Choi thought that it would be best if they stuck together. "The name's Choi." Choi didn't have the most friendly of faces and his voice along with his demeanor were not all that pleasant. Regardless the unideal impression he was giving off, Choi extended his hand towards Cry Maria for a handshake. "And, uh, nice bear ya got there." His eyes briefly veered towards Borris.

After a while, everyone who was anyone that was part of their little group had gathered. Though having seen several beastkin, Choi still found them strange. Borris was one thing, but he was just your typical bear. But the individual who was briefing them of their mission, he was like a talking bear. The republic was definitely an impressive place for someone like Choi. Paying more attention to Yukan's attire and how he looked like a bear and less on what he was saying, Choi didn't really understand what they were going to do or where they had to go. Not wanting to appear like an oaf, he decided to make his voice be heard when the opportunity was offered to him.

"I don't know about you guys, but I think comrade girlie hit the mark on what we gotta do. Kinda obvious if you ask me." Choi crossed his arms that rested against his chest while his had cocked backwards. He had to appear smug to back up his words.

 

[Shadow Dancer]

Indicus gave Maria a nod before following her to meet with the others. After hearing both Crymaria and Yukan speak along with the agreement of a human that was comparable to the bodyguards of the big gang leaders he did jobs for in his previous life, Indicus found no reason to object, "Sounds interesting I'm with you guys." Indicus briefly thought about asking for a raise because of this extra work before dismissing the idea, for now having good will was more important doubly so in a country he had no backing or connections this would let him build a network that could serve him well in his hunt for his birth parents and possibly other activities.

 

[gmimperfecti]

Yukan’s team consisted of two units at this point. The scout unit was lead by Whiteclaw with two Owlkin archers, two Tengu shadow assassins, and Maria the water scout. The other unit was the logistics unit lead by Gyoubu despite the fact that Masanori had spent considerable assets recruiting everyone. This was because Masanori had leadership over a squad of spear units and Gyoubu held too much status not to command something. Given everything going on, Masanori recalled his unit to serve as his body guard. Having heard what transpired and not to be left out, Tadakatsu the most competent spearman, showed up with the remaining two spear units. The massive and indebted Daisuke came leading the unit most loyal to Yukan.

In this way, the entire hunting party all 30 strong marched on Swazuki’s cabin, following and perhaps practicing for what’s to come. With so many assembled and marching through the streets, the hunting party was given a wide berth but attracted a fair amount of attention. Various Tanuki and even some festival attendees trailed in their wake.



Swazuki’s cabin was tucked away on the outskirts of town. It was a suburban neighborhood for rice workers and day laborers. The cabins were spread out in this stretch to allow for managing the rice paddies. Despite her beauty and grace, her family appeared to be wandering vagabonds that settled to tend one of the Masanori family’s rice paddies only a few decades ago. They were poor laborers from the looks of the cabin.

Whiteclaw deployed his unit to scout well before the arrival of the other units. Tadakatsu deployed his unit to one side and Masanori sent his spears to the other side. Behind over twenty onlookers gawked from further back. Daisuke and the rest of Yukan’s spears kept the gawkers from getting too close.

Within was a terrible sight. In the middle of the cabin was a large hole, where the bamboo floor appeared to have burst apart and gone a foot deep. Dirt and bamboo chunks flew everywhere. Laid out around the floor were several male Tanuki of varying ages. It looked like three generations were present. All of the males had broken bones and blood leaking from compound fractures. Thier eyes were rolled up so only the whites of thier eyes were visible. Some of them no longer seemed to breath while others made shallow wet coughing sounds.

Seven Tanuki females of varying ages were either trying to care for the males, crying and weeping, or just staring despondently at the door. The eldest female threw herself at the first person through the door, begging for aid.

Gyoubu was still outside, flicking bits of dirt off of her robes. She seemed more interested in the state of the rice paddies and so had wandered over towards where Masanori and Whiteclaw were in a hushed discussion.

 

[Shadow Dancer]

Indicus walked through the cabins door and had to force himself from gagging from the smell alone. He did not get much time to gawk before the eldest female threw himself at him, her pleading almost impossible to decipher. Indicus put a hand on the woman's shoulder and spoke calmly and quietly, "Slow down ma'am tell me what happened here from the beginning so my friends and I can see how we can best help you."

 

[TheTimePiece]

Yukan Koyake
​

Mentions: gmimperfecti Indicus Shadow Dancer Hudson Choi Shawazama Maria Blackrose7 Crymaria saxon

Yukan kept his Yari on his back, this time carrying the real deal a far cry from his training one he had used not all that long ago. While he knew this might not have been the most strategic for the hunt but it felt like the right thing to do. They needed to figure out what exactly had happened, and what sort of treachery had occurred to cause something like that. Based on the destruction he could see it definitely didn't look like it had been fabricated, as far as something going arry with all of these people around and the shape the house and field was in. When Yukan saw the state of the Tanuki and family people all around the bodies of their loved ones he was quite surprised. It looked like the scene you'd expect to see from the aftermath of a war. This was quite a bit.

Tapping into Leadership F Yukan continued, "Approach and interact with caution, we should do our utmost to secure the area, watch out for anything suspicious for all we know enemies are already in our midsts, I do not want any sudden surprises like what transpired with the gerbies earlier if we can avoid it." He spoke out clearly. so that those in his proximity could hear them, as he kept his distance from the group. Fortunately for Yukan it didn't seem anyone was charging in, except of course for Indicis, who was now in the house that could have very well have been rigged with a trap or something of the like should this have been an illusion, before getting too close himself he waited to see what happened with this interaction before intervening or letting it go as need be.

"Could I get a status on the injured and if any of them are still viable?" He called out around him, unfortunately, he did not have skills to heal them, and he was unsure if they were all dead, or in some magical state or something. As he listened to what the woman was going to say to Indicus for further action.

 

[Shawazama]

Spoiler: Stats

Strength B
Precision F
Intelligence D
Vitality B
Speed F

Spoiler: Skills

Appraisal D
Attentive Student D
Super Strength F

Spoiler: Possessions

Whetstone
Bedroll
Fire Starter Kit
Rations
Waterskin

Hudson Choi
[Human]​

Once everyone had gathered, the hunting party began to march forward. While the rest focused on their mission and the responsibilities given to each of them, Choi stayed in the back. Delegated to lugging around equipment and whatnot, he aimlessly watched the clouds pass by. He was thankful that the weather was cooperative and the scenery that surrounding him was somewhat soothing. It was honestly boring, but he didn't mind. It seemed like an easy way to earn some cash. Unlike the armored and armed beastkin, the group Choi was assigned to was some sort of maiden given the fanciful attire she was donning.

"Hey, comrade." Choi leaned to his side, whispering to Crymaria as he picked his nose. "Who's she?" His lips pouted, pointing to Gyoubu. He didn't really pay that much attention to her, but seeing her wandering off and not really handling the unit she was assigned to lead, he wondered what her actual role was. "Is she like a big deal?"

Before he could continue with his idle chatting, Choi heard Yukan's commanding voice and caught a glimpse of the tragedy, or what was left of it, upfront. "Damn. Those boys got wrecked." He whistled, slightly impressed at the amount of violence that was probably made use of to injure that many beastkin.

 

[saxon]

Crymaria​

Crymaria strapped up Borris as the large bear was now loaded with the supplies. With that being done, the other human companion Choi didn't make the greatest first impression ever. So she kept close to the bear as the group went on their way. As they approached the cabin in question Crymaria looked around at the surroundings. She noticed a few of the locals though she figured there would be a bit more. Though she didn't expect the traveling party to be this large either.

"Keep your ears open Comrade Borris, we might be surrounded by villagers though that doesn't mean we are exactly welcomed here either," Crymaria whispered to the bear. As she noticed the locals in the area were looking at the door she cocked an eyebrow as she wasn't sure what was going to be on the other side of that door. As one of their party members rushed off to the cabin Crymaria stiffened for a second as she expected there to be a trap or something going off when that door was opened.

As Yukan spoke Crymaria loosened the strap on the bear as she removed the supplies from Borris to let the bear be a bit more agile in case something happened. Plus she figured the bear would like a break from the weight it was carrying. She was focused more on protecting the supplies at the moment as she scratched the bear behind his ears as Choi once again spoke up asking questions about some members of the party.

"Gyoubu, some kind of a shrine maiden I think, I don't really know much about her Comrade," Crymaria replied as she saw Choi pick his nose. To which she started to look around the immediate area for anything of note. She was still concerned that there might be a trap like before but, who knows.

mentions: TheTimePiece gmimperfecti @Akudon Shadow Dancer Shawazama

 

[Shawazama]

Spoiler: Stats

Strength B
Precision F
Intelligence D
Vitality B
Speed F

Spoiler: Skills

Appraisal D
Attentive Student D
Super Strength F

Spoiler: Possessions

Whetstone
Bedroll
Fire Starter Kit
Rations
Waterskin

Hudson Choi
[Human]​

"A shrine maiden? Thought so." Choi spoke out loud as he flung the nugget he had mined from his nostril from his little finger. "What the hell are those?" He pondered to himself. Choi didn't actually know what shrine maidens were, but that was as far as he'd go regarding that subject matter. He wasn't that hungry for knowledge in the first place. Though somewhat lax and uncaring, Choi couldn't help but notice that everyone was on their toes, being cautious and wary. He believed that mimicking such behavior was a above his pay grade. For now, he decided to stick around Crymaria and Borris. Aside from being under the same unit, both of them gave of an air of experience. Choi knew that they knew what they were doing. "I guess lugging around supplies and keeping in check fall under us too, huh?" It was a slight complaint that needed to be vented out but disguised as a rhetorical question.

Crouching down, Choi positioned himself into a deep squat with his legs a bit spread apart (similar to his image). "Sucks to be them." He scratched his lower back while waiting for something to happen.

"Got any idea who did them dirty?" Small talk wasn't the most appropriate thing given their situation, but Choi was someone who didn't know any better.

Mentions: saxon

 

[gmimperfecti]

Tapping into Leadership F Yukan continued, "Approach and interact with caution, we should do our utmost to secure the area, watch out for anything suspicious for all we know enemies are already in our midsts, I do not want any sudden surprises like what transpired with the gerbies earlier if we can avoid it." He spoke out clearly. so that those in his proximity could hear them, as he kept his distance from the group. Fortunately for Yukan it didn't seem anyone was charging in.

Indicus walked through the cabins door and had to force himself from gagging from the smell alone.

Within was a terrible sight. In the middle of the cabin was a large hole, where the bamboo floor appeared to have burst apart and gone a foot deep. Dirt and bamboo chunks flew everywhere. Laid out around the floor were several male Tanuki of varying ages. It looked like three generations were present. All of the males had broken bones and blood leaking from compound fractures. Thier eyes were rolled up so only the whites of thier eyes were visible. Some of them no longer seemed to breath while others made shallow wet coughing sounds.

Seven Tanuki females of varying ages were either trying to care for the males, crying and weeping, or just staring despondently at the door. The eldest female threw herself at the first person through the door, begging for aid.

Gyoubu was still outside, flicking bits of dirt off of her robes. She seemed more interested in the state of the rice paddies and so had wandered over towards where Masanori and Whiteclaw were in a hushed discussion.

Indicus walked through the cabins door and had to force himself from gagging from the smell alone. He did not get much time to gawk before the eldest female threw himself at him, her pleading almost impossible to decipher. Indicus put a hand on the woman's shoulder and spoke calmly and quietly, "Slow down ma'am tell me what happened here from the beginning so my friends and I can see how we can best help you."

The old matriarch begged. Her joints creaked and popped. A line of tear streaked pink gunk ran down from both her eyes, sign that the geriatric tanuki had been crying for hours at least. “Please help them! She…” The old lady blinked and sniffled. “She broke all my boys!” She sniffled and cried all over Indicus. Her wet facial fur rubbing and nuzzling Indicus feet as she continued to beg and plead. She spoke about how a witch had come and lured the menfolk of the house to drink silver liquid and then their bodies started to break. The witch tortured them and would heal them with a kiss.

Her story had some voracity to it.

[ooc=“Indicus Survival Perception”] Indicus perceived some oddities in the room. The hole doesn’t appear to have been made with strength, rather there’s a warren of small tunnels under the house! Also something about the hole and the injuries to the men itches at a racial memory or perhaps at an early memory that is just out of reach…Finally, your danger sense is quiet.[/ooc]

"Could I get a status on the injured and if any of them are still viable?" He called out around him, unfortunately, he did not have skills to heal them, and he was unsure if they were all dead, or in some magical state or something. As he listened to what the woman was going to say to Indicus for further action.

Gyoubu perked up from her conversation with Whiteclaw and Masanori. The trio walked back from behind the house towards Yukon.

"Got any idea who did them dirty?" Small talk wasn't the most appropriate thing given their situation, but Choi was someone who didn't know any better.

Masanori split off towards Crymaria and Hudson. Borris perked up now that the burden on his back was eased. Masanori nodded to Borris then looked Hudson up and down. “There’s a small harvest of rice in a crockpot back there. Less than it’s supposed to be.” He frowned and looked to Crymaria then back to Hudson. “Why don’t you gather it up and bring it with.”

Meanwhile, Whiteclaw sniffed, gave a salute to Yukon and brought his group into the cabin. Whiteclaw and his people spread out. They inspected the injured but didn’t touch them. They looked around but became really interested in the pit. Through some light questioning, it came to light that the “witch” had stomped once in anger and created the hole.

Gyoubu watched from near Yukon within eyesight of the interior of the cabin. With a gesture and a haiku, “Cherry blossoms bloom. The air is warm and sweet. Are you still viable?” The air grew sweet and warm as she whispered out her spell, cherry blossoms floated on the wind, swirling around inside the cabin. White-pink petals landed about the different tanuki males. Bones realigned and bruises faded, but the males still appeared weak and sickly.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Yukan Koyake
​

Mentions: gmimperfecti Shadow Dancer Shawazama saxon

Yukan focused in on the matriarch curiously, listening with great discretion to what she had to say. It was a good thing so far that there didn't seem to be any sort of trap that had been set off, hopefully they weren't in yet another illusion like last time, with the types of enemies they were dealing with. "I'm terribly sorry to hear what you've had to go through.." Yukan said apologetically towards the ones who were grieving sounding. Truthfully it was a bit painful for him to look at, but he kept his serious expression even as it had soften some in that moment towards them, as he continued to look at them.

"I will do everything in my power to make sure that the one who did this is brought to justice for what they have committed here." He spoke seriously. He meant every word of it, people who tortured the innocent like this needed to be dealt with swiftly, and he'd put an end to their wicked deeds personally if he had too.

Yukan acknowledged Whiteclaw back with the standard gesture of acknowledgement stepping over to make room for the group to get through if need be. He too was curious about the crater of sorts that had been made. Yukan turned to those around them. "Based on what she's told us it sounds like we have a magic user on our hands.which could help explain why we've been seeing so many strange things. caution should be maintained during this investigation." He continued, serious sounding to everyone who was present while they looked around.

Upon seeing Gyobu come in and say her healing Haiku, Yukan looked to her and gave her a small bow of respect. Republic of Kuridan Etiquette F "Thank you Shrine Maiden Gyoubu, your assistance once again is greatly appreciated." "Do you have any sense on what on what could have caused their condition?" He kept focused on the task at hand. They needed to extract more information, but for the time being unless Indicus spoke up, the picture was incomplete despite the details. Since the Shrine Maiden was the most knowledgable one about magic there no doubt at the moment, he figured it was appropriate to ask incase she had a sense of the sort of enemy they could be up against.

 

[Shadow Dancer]

Indicus saw the hole and thought he saw tunnels in the ground then there was the hole itself it was a bit too perfect the wood around it was not strained from force pushing downward. It was like something shot through it rather then a simple stomp. Indicus walked over to the hole to take a closer look as he did his suspicions were confirmed it was not made by stomping and some sort of creature or creatures were borrowing tunnels in the ground under the house. Once more Indicus got a sense of familiarity from the sight before him the condition of the men and the hole it was similar to the feeling he got around the illusionary flames.

Indicus shook his head of the thought for the moment deciding to think about it after they figured out more about this witch. "Everyone something is odd about the hole it was not made by stomping or physical force there isn't enough splintering in the wood. On top of that dose anyone know of small local wildlife that burrow? Something has been busy digging under the house as well. Last thing is I believe that the silver liquid is the same as the stuff that was involved in the attack yesterday."

 

[Shawazama]

Spoiler: Stats

Strength B
Precision F
Intelligence D
Vitality B
Speed F

Spoiler: Skills

Appraisal D
Attentive Student D
Super Strength F

Spoiler: Possessions

Whetstone
Bedroll
Fire Starter Kit
Rations
Waterskin

Hudson Choi
[Human]​

If Choi had to choose, he’d rather be bossed around than be left guessing what he had to do. Thinking wasn’t his strong point, but hitting and lifting were. Masanori wasn’t the most friendly of employers, and to be honest, he felt overcritical. But at the end of the day, he was stern and direct, which made Choi’s work less taxing. He felt Masanori's judgmental gaze and expression, but as a working man, he couldn't do much about it.

Though his brow furrowed in annoyance, Choi still put on a smile and nodded to the beastman. "Gotcha, boss. Let good ol' Choi grab that crackpot for ya."

From where he was, it didn't seem that much and looked like Choi alone would be enough for the task. "You guys just rest up. We've still got a long way to go." He turned to Crymaria and Borris before heading over to the harvested rice.

Mentions: saxon

 

[gmimperfecti]

Yukan focused in on the matriarch curiously, listening with great discretion to what she had to say. It was a good thing so far that there didn't seem to be any sort of trap that had been set off, hopefully they weren't in yet another illusion like last time, with the types of enemies they were dealing with. "I'm terribly sorry to hear what you've had to go through.." Yukan said apologetically towards the ones who were grieving sounding. Truthfully it was a bit painful for him to look at, but he kept his serious expression even as it had soften some in that moment towards them, as he continued to look at them.

“Aye,” she said, bent over and about to fall apart herself from old age. It was clear she was one of the oldest Tanuki Yukan had ever seen. “Thank ye kindly youngster, most of your age think us rice pickers are no better than nose pickers! Ah eh ah!” She gave an odd chuckle, half insane.

Yukan acknowledged Whiteclaw back with the standard gesture of acknowledgement stepping over to make room for the group to get through if need be. He too was curious about the crater of sorts that had been made. Yukan turned to those around them. "Based on what she's told us it sounds like we have a magic user on our hands.which could help explain why we've been seeing so many strange things. caution should be maintained during this investigation." He continued, serious sounding to everyone who was present while they looked around.

Whiteclaw nodded and they continued their inspection of the interior. It was a very small hovel to contain over thirteen Tanuki. For those who hadn’t been raised amongst the well known houses it wasn’t all that uncommon. The story was confirmed and there was scant evidence besides the sunken hole that Indicus was inspecting.

Indicus shook his head of the thought for the moment deciding to think about it after they figured out more about this witch. "Everyone something is odd about the hole it was not made by stomping or physical force there isn't enough splintering in the wood. On top of that dose anyone know of small local wildlife that burrow? Something has been busy digging under the house as well. Last thing is I believe that the silver liquid is the same as the stuff that was involved in the attack yesterday."

Whiteclaw and Ixtal perched nearby, squatting down and cocking their heads. They both inspected the hole alongside Indicus.

”Mhmmm,” Whiteclaw muttered, a perplexed look on his owlish face.

“It is as Longfeather said,” Ixtal shook her head, poking around at the holes. In diameter they were less than a foot, but it was hard to judge some the hole had collapsed three of the small tunnels. Still it was odd.

“Mhmm,” Whiteclaw seemed quiet and withdrawn, “Most odd.”

Ixtal grinned, “Most delicious if we could get a few more gerbies.”

“They were all gone.” Whiteclaw shook his head, “They are all gone from here.”

Ixtal nodded. “Too bad.”

Upon seeing Gyobu come in and say her healing Haiku, Yukan looked to her and gave her a small bow of respect. Republic of Kuridan Etiquette F "Thank you Shrine Maiden Gyoubu, your assistance once again is greatly appreciated." "Do you have any sense on what on what could have caused their condition?" He kept focused on the task at hand. They needed to extract more information, but for the time being unless Indicus spoke up, the picture was incomplete despite the details. Since the Shrine Maiden was the most knowledgable one about magic there no doubt at the moment, he figured it was appropriate to ask incase she had a sense of the sort of enemy they could be up against.

Gyoubu shrugged. “Our girl drank a potion and they are talking about the same. I suspect an alchemist or something like it.” She nodded towards Inidcus, “As our dragon boy says, they are related and the geisha said as much too. The return of the Gerbie is probably unrelated, as legend says they are good natured peace keepers…before they were hunted to extinction.” Gyoubu cracked a smile and nodded towards Whiteclaw, “By the ancestors of the Ryozo clan.” She shook her head.

Though his brow furrowed in annoyance, Choi still put on a smile and nodded to the beastman. "Gotcha, boss. Let good ol' Choi grab that crackpot for ya."

Masanori nodded, patting the much bigger Choi on the back. “Good lad.” Before Masanori wandered off to check in with the others inside the hut. “Bring the rice.”

Walking over to the hut, Masanori surveyed the situation, “So, the family was used as leverage to get the girl to assassinate me.”

“No!” Sawazuki struggled from her shackles and the clutches of two Yari soldiers in training. “She said he’d find it funny!”

”Eh?” Masanori whirled, “Funny? You nearly killed me and my men!”

“Him!” She said, her eyes locked on Indicus.

All eyes turned to Indicus. “Him?!” Many said in a chorus. Spears were lowered and arrows raised towards the potential assassin hiding in their midst all along.

 

[Shadow Dancer]

Indicus watched the scene unfold around him and as soon as the captured geisha looked at him and spoke his eyes widened in surprise the flaring of his danger sense knocked him out of his stupor as he watched all the guards point weapons at him. Experiences with guards wanting him dead from his past told him misunderstanding or not to get the hell out of an encirclement of pointy sticks then he could try and defend his position when he was not a nervous guard away from being a reptile skewer.

So Indicus looked up (Perception F) and found a slight weakness in the fragile roof, braced himself and Jumped (Jumping F). His experiences, instincts, and durable body (Survival F+ Strength E+ Precision D + Vitality F+ Natural armor F (light)) letting him move his body in the best way to break through the roof and land on top.

Now out of direct line of sight of most of the bowmen and spears Indicus shouted "I'm not the damn assassin." Indicus snorted a wisp of blue and silver flame coming from his nostrils and the corners of his mouth it was then the memories of the familiarity of the illusory flame silver flames at that, then the more recent familiarity of the ailing men in the house. (DM's "subtle" hints F + Perception F + Intelligence E )

Indicus cursed at not connecting it together even a little before as he thought he couldn't help but chuckle "I fucking think it get it now, what a damn joke it is. Whoever is trying to kill ya boss somehow knows about or is connected to me I have no fucking clue how exactly as I know nobody here or even back at Ryken very well but they are leaving breadcrumbs. I didn't mention it before but the silver shit spewing that illusory flame felt oddly familiar in an instinctual way and the same feeling is buzzing in my head here. Cocky bitch either knows we won't find her or doesn't care and wants us or at least me to so they leave magical traces that cause some sort of feeling of familiarity."

Indicus couldn't help as his chuckle turned to dark laughter "I don't care what you all think of this little revelation of mine but I'm gonna chase after this bitch with or without you so fire me if you wish Masanori but I'm not gonna die here."


gmimperfecti Shawazama TheTimePiece saxon
OOC: TLDR: Indicus got out of way of pointy sticks by finding weakness in (Perception F) and jumping through the roof (Survival F+ Strength E+ Precision D + Vitality F+ Natural armor F (light))

Indicus then put brain to use and through deductive reasoning guessed why the witch mentioned him (DM's "subtle" hints F + Perception F + Intelligence E )

Indicus let out crazy laugh stopped giving a shit about his employment status or bosses (Masanori) alive status and swore hell or high water to find the "I'm uncultured" and "ask" some questions

 

[saxon]

Crymaria​

Crymaria glanced over at Choi as he was digging in his nose as she had a disgusted look on her face. Glancing back over at Comrade Borris she let out a sigh. "Nope, no idea probably the same people that caused a stir back at the compound. But yeah our job is to get the supplies to the destination. So we just have to make sure we don't get attacked from the rear," Crymaria stated as she turned around to face the opposite direction.

Needless to say Choi was not making the greatest impression on her at all. As Choi spoke up again she didn't bother to turn around to face him. "Just stay close by and don't be careless, that's when you are as good as dead comrade," Crymaria stated as she folded her arms across her chest looking around the area scanning for anything rushing toward them at the very least.

Reaching out she started to pet Borris between the bear's ears for a few moments. "Have you guys found anything yet?" Crymaria called back over her shoulder toward the hut as she saw several of them going in but she hadn't seen anyone come back out quite yet.

mentions: TheTimePiece gmimperfecti @Akudon Shadow Dancer Shawazama

 

[TheTimePiece]

Yukan Koyake

​

Mentions: saxon gmimperfecti Shadow Dancer Shawazama

Yukan looked over at the old woman, and gave her a small bow with Republic of Kuridan Etiquette F out of respect for her age. He felt bad seeing such an elder having to experience these awful things as there was definitely a frailty to her which reminded him that life was not infinite for a many in the realm. "Part of serving this Republic is serving the interests and benefit of the people, to me all of Kuridan's citizens deserve that much." he continued, sounding serious remaining calm unaware of what was about to unfold.

Yukan then continued to watch what was unfolding with the investigation curiously, as Whiteclaw moved around. Hopefully they'd be able to catch this person before another day would pass there had to be something here that could give them a better idea of what was going on. Yukan perked up some when he heard Indicus make those connections. That was most useful actually. But it was most curious just the same.

He tuned in to what the shrine maiden had to say. Despite her line of reasoning he was curious if the Gerbie weren't playing a larger role than they thought. Why did they keep showing up where ever this person was? Legend and tradition were important of course, but what if they were under the influence of whoever was committing these egregious acts and assisting them somehow? After she spoke her piece he nodded.

Suddenly everything started getting tense again when he heard one of the main suspects Sawazuki placed blame on Indicus.

Yukan stood once more, completely understanding why Indicus was upset. "Halt." Yukan raised his voice once more with Leadership F. "We cannot be too hasty in our assessment of this situation, I have a strong feeling that whoever is behind this is trying to sow seeds of doubt among us so that we focus on fighting with ourselves. What has happened up until this point from the Gerbie, knowing very well that we'd be at odds with one another, and now we have Sawazuki, a dubious source at best, claiming that Indicus was involved? Or even the illusion in the attack earlier, ALL of it, has been to put us at odds with another another." He spoke giving his analysis of the situation. He then heard Crymaria call out. "Someone tell those still outside what's been going on here."

"Instead of playing into her hand and fighting amongst ourselves, we need to go through the details." He'd then turn to the one who started the drama to begin with. "And I suppose with this claim, you have sufficient backstory to back up it up? Simply stating it as if Indicus's connections he made through his extrasensory abilities's which I will remind all of you MANY of our ancestors have; implicates him, isn't good enough for me and it shouldn't be for all of you." he said matter of fact walking up closer to her with a stern serious expression.

 

[Shawazama]

Spoiler: Stats

Strength B
Precision F
Intelligence D
Vitality B
Speed F

Spoiler: Skills

Appraisal D
Attentive Student D
Super Strength F

Spoiler: Possessions

Whetstone
Bedroll
Fire Starter Kit
Rations
Waterskin

Hudson Choi
[Human]​

Choi couldn't tell whether his employer liked him or not, but chose not to ponder on the thought too much. At the end of the day, what was important was getting paid. Seeing as Crymaria had her eyes focused elsewhere, with hands resting atop his head, Choi nonchalantly made his way to the rice that Masanori tasked him to fetch. He was a glorified pack mule, but he was fine with that. "A job's a job. And the easier it is, the better." He talked to himself, as if giving himself a mild pep talk.

Reaching over for the large crackpot and lifting it overhead before resting it on top of his shoulders wasn't all too hard. It had a bit of heft to it, but it wasn't something that Choi found overly difficult. It gave him an excuse to get his body moving since he'd been lazing around for most of the day.

Glancing at Crymaria and Borris momentarily, he noticed that they were preoccupied with their own things. "Nah. No point in botherin' them." With a skip to his step, Choi headed towards where Masanori had went. He wasn't to keen on what was happening among the guards, so it came as a surprise to him to see everyone seemingly on the edge and with their guards up.

"....Uh. Do ya guys need some rice?" He awkwardly asked.

 

[gmimperfecti]

Now out of direct line of sight of most of the bowmen and spears Indicus shouted "I'm not the damn assassin." Indicus snorted a wisp of blue and silver flame coming from his nostrils and the corners of his mouth it was then the memories of the familiarity of the illusory flame silver flames at that, then the more recent familiarity of the ailing men in the house. (DM's "subtle" hints F + Perception F + Intelligence E )

Whiteclaw cocked his head, "And in proving your innocence you've destroyed these people's hut!"

"Our home!" wailed the elderly matron and several of the other female tanuki rice workers. The males were still in a daze, staring hollowly at all the weapons drawn and the giant hole in their meager roof.

Indicus managed to find purchase, but he found the wisps of blue and silver flame fell like hungry children reaching out emaciated hands for the dry thatch roof. Thankfully none of the wisps survived the two feet it would take or the entire place would go up in flames! Still his actions had drawn all attention to him. Even the spear minion Tanuki outside watched and rattled their spears eager to finally put them to use!

Yukan stood once more, completely understanding why Indicus was upset. "Halt." Yukan raised his voice once more with Leadership F. "We cannot be too hasty in our assessment of this situation, I have a strong feeling that whoever is behind this is trying to sow seeds of doubt among us so that we focus on fighting with ourselves. What has happened up until this point from the Gerbie, knowing very well that we'd be at odds with one another, and now we have Sawazuki, a dubious source at best, claiming that Indicus was involved? Or even the illusion in the attack earlier, ALL of it, has been to put us at odds with another another." He spoke giving his analysis of the situation. He then heard Crymaria call out. "Someone tell those still outside what's been going on here."

Before anything could spiral out of place, Yukan reasserted command. He was the anointed and agreed upon leader.

Still an impression had been made and while his words found purchase in the minds of those around and weapons were lowered, a perceptive person could see that somehow Indicus actions had left a bad taste in many.

“Ha!“ Tadakatsu, a well liked, pureblood from one of the 3rd branch families of the main clan spoke up. Amongst the soldiers, he was the best at the spear. He was the one who had spent the day training all three units of spear minions and that experience had endeared him to them all. "Does the innocent man flee at first accusation? Must we accept such dishonor against our unit as to encourage desertion at first sign of hardship?"

Spoiler: Bushido: Culture, étiquette, or relevant skill F+

Bushidō amongst the spear warriors under Yuken and pervasive through much of the clan's customs condemned dishonorable fleeing, better to to die a noble death than live as a coward.

Tadakatsu is clearly using Etiquette to attack Yukan's command and less him in the eyes of the soldiers.

If relevant ability is E+, feel free to influence or change the Bushido code to make it even easier to save or gain face.

Indicus cursed at not connecting it together even a little before as he thought he couldn't help but chuckle "I fucking think I get it now, what a damn joke it is. Whoever is trying to kill ya boss somehow knows about or is connected to me I have no fucking clue how exactly as I know nobody here or even back at Ryken very well but they are leaving breadcrumbs. I didn't mention it before but the silver shit spewing that illusory flame felt oddly familiar in an instinctual way and the same feeling is buzzing in my head here. Cocky bitch either knows we won't find her or doesn't care and wants us or at least me to so they leave magical traces that cause some sort of feeling of familiarity."

Indicus couldn't help as his chuckle turned to dark laughter "I don't care what you all think of this little revelation of mine but I'm gonna chase after this bitch with or without you so fire me if you wish Masanori but I'm not gonna die here."

Gyoubu shrugged. "It's not unreasonable what he says." Even she appeared less than enthusiastic at Indicus' hasty upward retreat. Still the effectiveness of Indicus movements might have saved him from taking an arrow or spear. "Whomever is at play, Yukan needs a Hill Toad." She looked at Yukan with a faint smile that turned into a frown.

Whiteclaw nodded, "It might..." he trailed off, cocking his head to the side.

Ixtal seemed to sense something as well and frowned, reaching for two knives which the other tengu shadow assassin mirrored. The pair moved towards the doorway.

With a skip to his step, Choi headed towards where Masanori had went. He wasn't to keen on what was happening among the guards, so it came as a surprise to him to see everyone seemingly on the edge and with their guards up.

"....Uh. Do ya guys need some rice?" He awkwardly asked.

Choi's massive body completely blocked the doorway, obscuring anything going on outside. The massive pottery containing the rice was held easily on one of his shoulders.

Ixtal and the other shadow assassin snorted. They cocked their heads to the side.

Masanori groaned, rubbing his temples. His eyes flickered up towards Choi and then back towards Indicus.

“Ha!“ Tadakatsu shouted, "Masanori your choice in staffing the logistics core is as bad as Yukan's judge of character. What is this now the second poor choice the pair of you have made in as many days!" Many of the spear minions were nodding and responding to Tadakatsu's unrelenting direct feedback on the situation. "Regardless of whether or not this whole situation is a distraction. We should have left last night and been on our way!" He nodded towards Choi, "At least he has the right idea. Let's requisition what supplies we need from the common folk and be on our way!"

"Instead of playing into her hand and fighting amongst ourselves, we need to go through the details." He'd then turn to the one who started the drama to begin with. "And I suppose with this claim, you have sufficient backstory to back up it up? Simply stating it as if Indicus's connections he made through his extrasensory abilities's which I will remind all of you MANY of our ancestors have; implicates him, isn't good enough for me and it shouldn't be for all of you." he said matter of fact walking up closer to her with a stern serious expression.

"Yes!" Sawazuki the Tanuki Geisha said, on her knees, hands clasped. Her wide eyes and lips dripped seductive innocence ((effectiveness 7)). "I've served the Masanori's since I was three years old." Her wide eyes turned from Yukan to plead to Masanori Tashigoto, "Please! I only speak the truth."

"It's true, lord!" The other female Tanuki from Sawazuki's family of various ages clamored to Sawazuki's defense, agreeing in every possible way so much so that it was hard to make out the individual attestations. Even the males who had gone through unspeakable torture, bones broken countless times until they became catatonic, at least nodded and drooled their agreement. They all fell to their knees and bellies pleading for everyone to believe their dear, sweet Sawazuki.

"See!" Tadakatsu said, "Even Masanori's employees cast doubt upon the dragon kin. What sort of judgement have you, Yukan, that you would so quickly distrust a Tanuki over Gaijin who destroys property to evade his accusations?"

Reaching out she started to pet Borris between the bear's ears for a few moments. "Have you guys found anything yet?" Crymaria called back over her shoulder toward the hut as she saw several of them going in but she hadn't seen anyone come back out quite yet.

A few of the bystanders drew closer from afar, drawn in by the commotion and explosion in the roof of the hut. Indicus cut quite the figure as he stood upon the roof heaving flaming spittle, shouting his defense. It was for that reason that Crymaria was in a unique position as she wasn't as drawn into the drama amongst the Tanuki.

Spoiler: What Crymaria sees|Indicus danger sense|anyone else if you can justify it

From the corner of her eye she catches sight of movement. Someone from the onlookers moved into the copse of trees. A moment later a flaming arrow shoots from the same location! She doesn't see the figure come back.

Suddenly and it's not obvious because everyone is focused on Indicus, but the roof of the hut begins to smoke and catch fire! The fire is greedy and hungry, starting from somewhere near Indicus...it's hard to say unless you were outside and not particularly paying attention to the drama happening inside and through the door. The result though is quick and immediate. Flames quickly spread as the hut is little more than thatch and bamboo. Smoke pools and flame descends down. Is this another illusion? It's hard for those who had just experienced to tell, but the heat feels hot. The smoke rapidly filling up the interior of the hut makes it hard to disbelieve this as anything other than real! The weaker and older Tanuki began to cough.

OOC
I think everyone but Crymaria and Borris are outside the hut at this point, all the other major unit leaders and logistics core is in or on the hut. I could be wrong. Act accordingly!

 

[Shadow Dancer]

Indicus darkly chuckled. "I'm not proving my innocence here I'm declaring it. As for the home I have some money I saved and even earned during my trip from Ryken I'll pay for the roof and floor to be restored that is of no problem." Indicus knew he was now not very well liked and had to respect Yukan for speaking up if not in his defense at least in the notion that all the facts are unknown and the one involved was still out there.

Indicus looked at the spearman that questioned Yukan with astonishment at the sheer stupidity of the statement. "Does the innocent man flee at first accusation." Indicus repeated in a very mocking tone. "Have you not noticed the fucking spears and bows you point at me. You all were a hares breath away from turning my scaly ass into a skewer. I decided to reduce the risk of that happening. As for your notion of honor, I am not of this land I am at the end of the day a hired hand or mercenary if you will. As such I refuse to play fucking twenty questions about my innocence while I voluntarily help with an investigation I am earning nothing from nor was hired to enact so with all do respect, go fuck yourself kind sir."

Indicus sighed and his voice softened. "Look here, I really don't care how much you all believe me and I will deal with the accusations and questioning after one we find this witch and I get some questions answered and two after I finish the job I was hired to do. Thanks for the support Yukan but it is pointless with this crowed they already have found me guilty
It was then Indicus' Danger sense alerted him he stepped to the side to avoid the arrow though it was pointless as it was not aimed at him but near him as he did (Perception F+Danger sense F + Precision F) he thought he saw in the forest from where the arrow came from some of the bushes still shaking and not from the wind.

It was then moments after the arrow landed he noticed the arrow and fire around it and shouted "Fire! Get out of the building!" Indicus felt that had to be enough and quietly made his way to Yukan (Stealth F+ undetected sound F+ Precision D) who was a bit further back outside of the hut. It was to him Indicus quietly spoke. "Yukan I sensed danger from the direction of forest over there before afire arrow hit the roof I'm going to try and find the archer help here and act as if you just saw me running away to the woods.

With that said Indicus once more used the confusion to slip away and sprinted to the woods where the arrow came from. (Stealth F+ undetected (sound) F+ Precision D+ Fast F) Once In the woods he started tracking down the bowman. Indicus made sure to leave obvious tracks to follow while keeping himself hidden from his prey the, dark of the forest not posing any problem to the Dragonborn (Survival F + Stealth F + Undetected (sound) F + Precision F + Dark vision)

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Talks to TheTimePiece

Summary: Indicus stops caring about pointless arguing and tells off a spearman that he doesn't know nor care is a noble.
Notices an arrow from the forest pointlessly dodges (Perception F + Danger sense F + Precision F)
Warns everyone about the fire moments before they notice
While everyone is distracted stealth's (Stealth F+ undetected sound F+ Precision D) to inform Yukan ( TheTimePiece ) about his intent to find the archer and for Yukan to make himself look good by informing everyone about Indicus running off.
Stealth's away to the forest (Stealth F+ undetected (sound) F+ Precision D+ Fast F) to chase and track the archer while making a trail for Yukan to follow (Survival F + Stealth F + Undetected (sound) F + Precision F + Dark vision)