Sorry for the postsplosion, been too lazy to clean out the docs. Also, it's official, we're all going to level nine. I've already updated Kiara, Toshiba is next. Mike, I'd appreciate it if you can put Takao up on the Wiki when he's current. Also, currently trying to figure out if anyone is using Reputation or tracking silver - if so, I will catch you guys up, but it hasn't really come up so far. Leave your thoughts here or contact me if you have any questions.

I am tracking Reputation, mainly to increase my renown. I'm also interested in a pair or two of gonnes; if I can just get them, I don't need to track cash, but if I have to buy them, now would be a good time to start tracking silver.

Alright, I don't give a damn about my bad reputation, but you clearly do.

Kiara gains 36, Kagemaru 42, Kirika 45, Toshiba 36 and Takao 45 Reputation. Spend it wisely or hoard it.

Are we going to have a discussion here on what our next step is?

Clearly, we need to weaken Ikishi's position, and it appears that there is general agreement that this will happen by separating her from her allies (which, given her extremely suspicious attitude as I remember it from the interlude shouldn't be hard at all; she seems to have people assassinated before they even think about becoming dangerous).
The question is the how, and the order:
- do we scout out relationships in advance by placing someone in court?
- do we just appear with Toshi and see who reacts how?
- do we do some prep work first and scout out Ikishi's strongholds, or maybe even attack one of them and either blame it on a strong rival or an ally?
- do we try to learn something about Ikishi's network first, and maybe try to sabotage that end?

It seems to me we should learn as much as possible about Ikishi before we appear on her radar. Or rather, some of us do and the rest stay apparently uninvolved so that they can meet Ikishi in court without her being suspicious of them to begin with.

Takao is not stealthy, but he is a rather good investigator and can certainly be useful in putting together the pieces. He is also not a good front person at court, but if he has the chance to stand back and observe while others provoke, he should be able to learn a lot.

Sure, you can discuss it here. I'll be adding another scene with Kagemaru and Kiara, but the short of it is that you also have some unfinished business with the Ayami to attend to, in addition to the situation at the Sarano household and the capital with its seven (well, six, Homi doesn't really need saving at this point) High Lords, all of whom Ikishi is claiming influence over.

Oh, and if anyone's not looking at it, the current Shinobi scratch document on Google Drive has the most current stuff - I draw from there when things are ready to post. I know it's kind of a bad habit to leave things in there, but given that we're all over the map (literally) it's proven a decent method to write scenes cooperatively. I am trying to get back to more use of the thread, though. Stay tuned.

MikeS wrote:

Are we going to have a discussion here on what our next step is?

- do we scout out relationships in advance by placing someone in court?
- do we just appear with Toshi and see who reacts how?
- do we do some prep work first and scout out Ikishi's strongholds, or maybe even attack one of them and either blame it on a strong rival or an ally?
- do we try to learn something about Ikishi's network first, and maybe try to sabotage that end?

It seems to me we should learn as much as possible about Ikishi before we appear on her radar. Or rather, some of us do and the rest stay apparently uninvolved so that they can meet Ikishi in court without her being suspicious of them to begin with.

I agree. I think other than your second idea, we could probably do all 3 of the remaining ideas. Plant a retainer or servant or lady-in-waiting - hell, wasn't there a plan to use Toshi himself in disguise as some long-lost noble? And we need to learn about her network before we can sabotage any of it. Homi's info will only go so far, as I'm sure Ikishi keeps secrets even he doesn't know.

The Killer Bee has only met the ninjas, apart from Takao, correct?

Yep.

Toshiba doesn't really have a report to give, as he's not exactly a current Ayami member nor was he on any sort of mission. Kage? Kiara?

Can you describe this house we are in a bit more? I am envisioning the type of construction seen in the movies: wood frame, paper or cloth walls, high ceiling with ceiling lights and smoke vents on the side.

If I got your description correctly, they have barred the only door, making the secret crawlspace the principal exit, but also a dangerous one, if they expect us to go that way.

Can the ninjas get out over the roof? How long does it take to get through the wall, if one is determined?

Essentially, yes, albeit with a lot more sturdy wooden walls. Due to the layout and size of the house, many of the walls are load-bearing and therefore couldn't be built shoji-style. You will see shoji used more liberally in the inner sanctum of the house, where they subdivide large halls, but the walls around the "courtyard" are solid wood. The ceiling is a suspended one, with a framework holding wooden panels.

You got the exits right.

The ninjas would have to scale the walls, push aside the ceiling panels and make their way out through the crawlspace above. It's doable for the ninjas, but Toshi and Karla would have a hard time. As for the walls, tools would help a lot. Like I said, those are built to exterior wall standards and therefore will take some effort to go through. For someone like Takao? Call it a couple minutes to make a hole big enough to squeeze through.

General info for everyone: when you open a thread, in the right top corner, click on the leftmost symbol to subscribe to the thread. That should keep you up to date on posts so you don't miss any movement on the game.

I can't believe you worked in the Golden Girls lyrics to the end of that post. Well done.

Alright, the chapter's winding down. Still on your to-do: make a story for Boota to tell, and talk to Kei, plus actually set the damn place on fire. Also, big future choice time: are you heading to the Firelands to check out the secret army, or straight to the capital? Somewhere else? Splitting up? Share your thoughts!

Also, it's time for the numbers part of the game, i.e. level 10. I'll be talking to each of you to get that done.

Okay, so here's how it's looking right now:

Kirika has more personal stuff to take care of.
Takao's joining Yoshi on a direct trip to the capital, where he'll meet High Lord Shira.
Toshiba is off to the firelands to, as he said, steal an army.

Anything you guys want to do together, or are you all good to take off?

I can go ahead and do the leveling for Takao. I was going to take another level of Sweeper, thus increasing my value for the cloak-and-dagger game.

The plan you put down looks good to me, though...

... stealing an army sounds really tempting...

Before Takao leaves, he wants to have a chat with Homi.

Just in case anyone's wondering, the threads are not occurring at the same time - Takao's events are transpiring earlier than Kirika's. Just so you guys don't think there's a clone army of bandaged-arm archers running around.

...maybe next game, though.

Whee, I think that's everything correct now. I hope it's as much fun to read as it was to write. Tons of rolling, though.

The truth is, of course, that bears and boars do range through swamps. Nikochi's just being a prick about it.

Side note: Nikochi is disguised as a tanuki (raccoon creature), not a kitsune (fox demon).