After an uneventful evening, the party says their goodbyes by blessing the fields and the village for the hospitality.
The weather today is not as hot but just as humid.
The party approaches West Hub Village, home of the rice storehouses of the Empire. The party is interested in investigating the scene of the moneylenders that line the street of this village. After one of the moneylenders offered the party loans, they decide to leave the village.
Before they leave the village, Kakita approaches a guard of one of the storehouses to ask what the building are. The guard infoms him.
The party leaves town and finds a camp spot where a farmers hut used to be. Kakita does a very find tea ceremony. Isawa and Kakita discuss story of the Great Bear as a gift for the Cab Daimyo.
Watches:
1st Nobunaga
2nd Togashi Kokobo
3nd Isawa Hito
During third watch, Isawa hears a single footstep and the party investigates. Togashi uses her speed to run after the sound and she hears three more quick footsteps. After finding nothing, they eat an early breakfast and head out.
They travel on and cannot find another sleeping spot off the road the next night.
Watches:
1st Isawa Hito
2nd Togashi Kokobo
3nd Nobunaga
Kakita’s tea ceremony is very good but not memorable. Isawa and Kakita work on the story scroll together.
The next morning, Kakita decides to practice his katas and cuts at some bamboo. Isawa decided to practice his flame abilities and lights the bamboo on fire and the part spends the better part of the morning avoiding a forest fire.
At dusk, the party hears two horses approaches on the road from the direction they are traveling. An Emerald Magistrate and a Mantis stop, ask if they have seen four bandits with mixed mash armor. The party says no and they are informed to keep an eye and arrest the bandits. The two ride on.
Watches:
1st Isawa Hito & Nobunaga
2nd Togashi Kokobo & Kakita T
Just after mid day, they arrive at the Dueling School of the Kakita.
Kakita visits the school but his teacher, Doji Giyujin, but she is not at the school currently. He sits in with a class.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party, looks around village. They taste test the sake houses and stay at the Rose, due to its excellent sake.
The owner offers them a fancy meal and they enjoy it. The monk gets drunk on the sake. The party all return to the Inn and discuss the day’s events and plan to ask the city’s daimyo permission if the can take sake of the city.
Kakita and Isawa return to the Rose to offer the owner two koku to pay for the cost of the meal. The owner is offended but handles it well and politely refuses the money. Kakita offers to take the money to the temple in the name if the Rose.
The next morning, after Isawa and Kakita pay the gift to the temple and the party leaves.
After an uneventful half day of travel, they camp out.
Watches:
1st Isawa
2nd Togashi
3rd Nobunaga
During second watch, a group of horses approach on the road from the own they just let.
The party end up in a fight, someone please add the details.
In the end, the party returns to Dueling School and turns the the bandits over to magistrate who buys them dinner and offers them the run of the town for a couple of days.
Quote of the night – “My tea ceremony brings all the boys to the yard.”
Comments
Battle:
Togashi hears the horses, and wakes up Nobunaga, and after informing him of what she heard moves out of the fire light and across the road to keep watch. Nobunaga wakes Kakita and Isawa quietly, and silently informs them that something is on the road, and then moves out onto the road with his sword drawn. Kakita and Isawa quickly prepare themselves for a confrontation. Meanwhile, the horses are stopped, and drawn off to the side of the road. One figure dismounts, and walks down the road towards the campfire. Kakita and Isawa follow Nobunaga down the road. Nobunaga calls out, loudly, for whoever it is to show themselves. Upon hearing this, the figure turns and runs, which causes the three samurai to follow, and Nobunaga calls out for the figure to stop or be slain. The figure stops, and turns to face the ronin while drawing a sword. The four other horsemen then remount and start up the road towards the conflict. Isawa creates a flaming sphere and rolls it around the ronin and towards the figure, but not fast enough for Nobunaga, who steps around it and charges into the figure, and as he cuts into the armored man, he takes note of not only the miss-mash of colors, but also the almost insultingly amateur way the man is holding his katana. As the horses charge in, the monk rushes out of the dark grasses, and tackles into one horse, knocking it into another, which causes both horses and their riders to fall to the ground. As the other two horsemen ride past the ronin and bandit, Kakita slices one with a beautiful draw, and the other barely manages to kick his horse to a greater speed to avoid Isawa’s flaming sphere as it leaps at him, blazing mightily. Another strike from the ronin fells the first figure, and the two fallen horses get back up, causing one of the riders to flounder on the ground long enough for the monk to strike hard enough to make sure he doesn’t rise again. Seeing the skill of the motley crew, the remaining three riders bolt down the road. Wasting no time, Nobunaga and Kakita leap upon the two horses that had just gotten back up, and a wild chase ensues, with fine horsemanship from both the Crane and the ronin. Eventually, Kakita catches up to one of the riders enough to strike him with the blunt back of his blade, knocking him off his horse, and out. The two riders, hearing the two samurai grow even closer, turn and charge into the woods, and the two wary samurai stop, with the ronin yelling after the two that they are cowards. Collecting the unconscious bandit and loading him like a sack of potatoes onto his horse, the two lead go back to Isawa and Togashi, who have tied up the surviving bandit and burned the corpse.