Mister Andersen
Shinobi 14
Mister Andersen
Mister Andersen
(Jan 24 - 28, 2011)
The streets outside have calmed down just a bit - less mobs, more people crossing the street from Kasumi and whispering to themselves. Still not the ideal climate for a stroll, but Kasumi's got enough of a "Don't fuck with me" look going on that nobody's going to mess with her. Not alone, anyway.
Takao's been in this city for two weeks, and more than ever before, he feels distinctly unwelcome. In his own mind, he is the farthest thing from the assassin these people seem all too eager to see hang from his neck, but that seems to count for little, if anything. He's an Imperial citizen, and audacious enough to carry a weapon, though their harsh rules have kept him from even practicing with his blade, nevermind use it. The people on the street look at him as if he might start a rampage at any time, kill ten or twenty with him before the city guard can put him down.
They fear him.
Other Imperial citizens in the city are few, and either dedicated to being lonely hermits or fiercely protective of a small circle of like-minded people, outside of which they do not spend time on anyone. All the more remarkable, then, that there is talk of a new group of Imperials who seem to be working with the city guard to solve the murder that has the city on edge.
Two weeks in the city have made Takao restless. He came here to learn more about the gaijin and their mysterious pepper, as well as the strange weapons that it powers, but his plans were ill-thought out. Being unable to speak their strange language, and unable to read the expressions in their strange round eyes, he has been slow to trust any of the foreigners, and the last two weeks have been fruitless. Just as he had decided to find an Imperial instead, who could explain the gaijin and their outlandish customs to him, and perhaps help him find more information, the city turns even more hostile with this assassination. As an additional complication, his coin is running out, having spent the last of it on cleaning himself up from his travels and acquiring lodging. Maybe a job should have a slightly higher priority at this moment?
Takao lowers his gaze back down to the road, about 5 feet in front of him, draws his arms back into his hakama, and hunches his shoulders a bit to appear less threatening. For a Japanese, he is fairly tall and certainly broad-shouldered, well-armed, with the steady and measured gait of a seasoned swordsman, and he can understand how a man like himself may inspire fear in these people here. He continues on his way to the location that has been given to him as the most likely place to find the new Imperials. Who knows? Maybe they will provide a solution for both of his problems.
The possible solution to Takao's problems happens to turn the corner in just that moment. She's Imperial, she's new, but most of all, she looks important. Fine clothing, a 'Get the hell out of my way' look on her face, and that sword on her side has the look of a minor national treasure about it. Her gaze meets his.
Kasumi's brisk walk takes her around a corner, where her seasoned eyes snap to the most interesting thing on that street - an Imperial citizen who doesn't look afraid. Unusually, instead of a daisho, he bears two katana: one that looks as worn as his drab, ocassionally threadbare clothing, another in a beautiful dark blue saya with an ornate tsuba that looks out of place on him. His poise and movement suggest that he is no stranger to using his blades. He doesn't bear any sign of allegiance - likely a ronin. Kasumi's eyes narrow as she sees him looking at her. Perfect. Just what I need, a mugging. He catches her looking at him, and the encounter is set: neither can be sure of what the other is going to do, and so they can't just quietly pass each other. Kasumi's fingers play over the hilt of her peace-bonded sword. What's his move going to be?
Takao pushes his arms into his hakama sleeves and lets them hang loosely at his side. This was the encounter he hoped for, but he is ill-prepared. If only there was a simple way to convince this lady, of high status and obviously a competent warrior herself, of his worth! But he dares not show his hesitancy on his face, worrying that she might deem him useless. After a few moments of tense silence, Takao bows, the polite bow of acknowledging a person of superior status. Etiquette demands that she addresses him first.
(As it happens, the virtues of Bushido don't exactly help with job interviews...)
Kasumi untenses a bit once the ronin bows. She returns the bow, but the suspicious look on her face does not relax. "So... what do you want, stranger?"
"Sama, your question humbles a lowly ronin. I was merely wondering where the retinue that befits someone of your station was, especially on a night light this where the streets are tense. I would be honored if you would allow me to remedy the situation and act as your yojimbo until you reach your destination."
"I don't have a retinue or retainers, stranger," Kasumi says. "Nor do I need them. All the companionship I need at the moment is right here." She puts a hand on her sword's hilt. And back at the house, but she's not here. "I'm just out for a walk, clearing my head. Again, I ask, what do you want?"
"Forgive me, then, for taking up your time." Takao bows again, and continues along his way. The lady did not appear to have any interest in hiring him, and, being new to the city and of high status, was unlikely to have the kind of information he was looking for. His search would have to continue.
"Hey!" Kasumi shouts, and quickly walks out in front of the man. "You never answered my question. You obviously are looking for something or someone. What did you want to ask me?"
Takao stops and bows again. "Sama honors me with her great interest in my person, but my needs are fairly simple. All I require right now is some coin to continue my musha shugyo, my pilgrimage, and thus I am looking for employemnt. Beyond that, the question of what I want is more philosophical, but if you must know, I am seeking for a person who understands the gaijin and their culture. And perhaps someone who can teach me of their strange weapon, the" Takao struggles with the foreign word", ha-ke-bu-su. But it would be inappropriate for me to ask sama for such a favor without being able to offer something in return."
Kasumi thinks back to Hilga. "I know someone who might be able to help. We can take... skill in trade." Kasumi crosses her arms. "What skills do you have? What's your pilgrimage for?"
"Sama is most generous. I am a swordsman. I travel the lands, seeking to master my art. I especially seek to adapt my style to defeat the new weapons the gaijin have brought, for I have seen the ha-ke-bu-su bring down a mighty swordmaster from afar. For surely, if we cannot learn to deal with this weapon, it will wreak great changes across our country."
Kasumi nods and smiles. "Well, we certainly see enough trouble, and if you're as good as you seem to think you are, we could certainly use the help. We're on a mission to...well, it's a long story. If you're looking to be attacked by gaijin weaponry, if you run with us you'll have no shortage of opportunities."
"I... had a different approach in mind, but as my way hasn't yield any results yet, maybe it's time to try something new." Takao raises an eyebrow in confusion. "So, you are offering me a position as a retainer after all? For surely a lady of your status wouldn't ask a ronin to be a partner in her venture?"
"Retainer implies we have some kind of official position. If you want to tag along, and you don't betray any of us and can fend for yourself in a fight, I don't see why not."
From the less-than-formal language that the lady has been using to this point, Takao gathers that the last sentence is not supposed to insult him, yet he still feels stung at the suggestion that he might betray others or break his word. "Lead on, then, and perhaps you might tell me what your troubles are all about."
Kasumi nods, and turns back around, taking a different route than the way she came. Retracing one's steps as an Imperial citizen in this city doesn't seem like such a good idea at the moment. Kasumi is still upset about her discussion with the Ayami messenger, but figuring out this new person who has come out of nowhere has occupied her attention.
The streets outside have calmed down just a bit - less mobs, more people crossing the street from Kasumi and whispering to themselves. Still not the ideal climate for a stroll, but Kasumi's got enough of a "Don't fuck with me" look going on that nobody's going to mess with her. Not alone, anyway.
Takao's been in this city for two weeks, and more than ever before, he feels distinctly unwelcome. In his own mind, he is the farthest thing from the assassin these people seem all too eager to see hang from his neck, but that seems to count for little, if anything. He's an Imperial citizen, and audacious enough to carry a weapon, though their harsh rules have kept him from even practicing with his blade, nevermind use it. The people on the street look at him as if he might start a rampage at any time, kill ten or twenty with him before the city guard can put him down.
They fear him.
Other Imperial citizens in the city are few, and either dedicated to being lonely hermits or fiercely protective of a small circle of like-minded people, outside of which they do not spend time on anyone. All the more remarkable, then, that there is talk of a new group of Imperials who seem to be working with the city guard to solve the murder that has the city on edge.
Two weeks in the city have made Takao restless. He came here to learn more about the gaijin and their mysterious pepper, as well as the strange weapons that it powers, but his plans were ill-thought out. Being unable to speak their strange language, and unable to read the expressions in their strange round eyes, he has been slow to trust any of the foreigners, and the last two weeks have been fruitless. Just as he had decided to find an Imperial instead, who could explain the gaijin and their outlandish customs to him, and perhaps help him find more information, the city turns even more hostile with this assassination. As an additional complication, his coin is running out, having spent the last of it on cleaning himself up from his travels and acquiring lodging. Maybe a job should have a slightly higher priority at this moment?
Takao lowers his gaze back down to the road, about 5 feet in front of him, draws his arms back into his hakama, and hunches his shoulders a bit to appear less threatening. For a Japanese, he is fairly tall and certainly broad-shouldered, well-armed, with the steady and measured gait of a seasoned swordsman, and he can understand how a man like himself may inspire fear in these people here. He continues on his way to the location that has been given to him as the most likely place to find the new Imperials. Who knows? Maybe they will provide a solution for both of his problems.
The possible solution to Takao's problems happens to turn the corner in just that moment. She's Imperial, she's new, but most of all, she looks important. Fine clothing, a 'Get the hell out of my way' look on her face, and that sword on her side has the look of a minor national treasure about it. Her gaze meets his.
Kasumi's brisk walk takes her around a corner, where her seasoned eyes snap to the most interesting thing on that street - an Imperial citizen who doesn't look afraid. Unusually, instead of a daisho, he bears two katana: one that looks as worn as his drab, ocassionally threadbare clothing, another in a beautiful dark blue saya with an ornate tsuba that looks out of place on him. His poise and movement suggest that he is no stranger to using his blades. He doesn't bear any sign of allegiance - likely a ronin. Kasumi's eyes narrow as she sees him looking at her. Perfect. Just what I need, a mugging. He catches her looking at him, and the encounter is set: neither can be sure of what the other is going to do, and so they can't just quietly pass each other. Kasumi's fingers play over the hilt of her peace-bonded sword. What's his move going to be?
Takao pushes his arms into his hakama sleeves and lets them hang loosely at his side. This was the encounter he hoped for, but he is ill-prepared. If only there was a simple way to convince this lady, of high status and obviously a competent warrior herself, of his worth! But he dares not show his hesitancy on his face, worrying that she might deem him useless. After a few moments of tense silence, Takao bows, the polite bow of acknowledging a person of superior status. Etiquette demands that she addresses him first.
(As it happens, the virtues of Bushido don't exactly help with job interviews...)
Kasumi untenses a bit once the ronin bows. She returns the bow, but the suspicious look on her face does not relax. "So... what do you want, stranger?"
"Sama, your question humbles a lowly ronin. I was merely wondering where the retinue that befits someone of your station was, especially on a night light this where the streets are tense. I would be honored if you would allow me to remedy the situation and act as your yojimbo until you reach your destination."
"I don't have a retinue or retainers, stranger," Kasumi says. "Nor do I need them. All the companionship I need at the moment is right here." She puts a hand on her sword's hilt. And back at the house, but she's not here. "I'm just out for a walk, clearing my head. Again, I ask, what do you want?"
"Forgive me, then, for taking up your time." Takao bows again, and continues along his way. The lady did not appear to have any interest in hiring him, and, being new to the city and of high status, was unlikely to have the kind of information he was looking for. His search would have to continue.
"Hey!" Kasumi shouts, and quickly walks out in front of the man. "You never answered my question. You obviously are looking for something or someone. What did you want to ask me?"
Takao stops and bows again. "Sama honors me with her great interest in my person, but my needs are fairly simple. All I require right now is some coin to continue my musha shugyo, my pilgrimage, and thus I am looking for employemnt. Beyond that, the question of what I want is more philosophical, but if you must know, I am seeking for a person who understands the gaijin and their culture. And perhaps someone who can teach me of their strange weapon, the" Takao struggles with the foreign word", ha-ke-bu-su. But it would be inappropriate for me to ask sama for such a favor without being able to offer something in return."
Kasumi thinks back to Hilga. "I know someone who might be able to help. We can take... skill in trade." Kasumi crosses her arms. "What skills do you have? What's your pilgrimage for?"
"Sama is most generous. I am a swordsman. I travel the lands, seeking to master my art. I especially seek to adapt my style to defeat the new weapons the gaijin have brought, for I have seen the ha-ke-bu-su bring down a mighty swordmaster from afar. For surely, if we cannot learn to deal with this weapon, it will wreak great changes across our country."
Kasumi nods and smiles. "Well, we certainly see enough trouble, and if you're as good as you seem to think you are, we could certainly use the help. We're on a mission to...well, it's a long story. If you're looking to be attacked by gaijin weaponry, if you run with us you'll have no shortage of opportunities."
"I... had a different approach in mind, but as my way hasn't yield any results yet, maybe it's time to try something new." Takao raises an eyebrow in confusion. "So, you are offering me a position as a retainer after all? For surely a lady of your status wouldn't ask a ronin to be a partner in her venture?"
"Retainer implies we have some kind of official position. If you want to tag along, and you don't betray any of us and can fend for yourself in a fight, I don't see why not."
From the less-than-formal language that the lady has been using to this point, Takao gathers that the last sentence is not supposed to insult him, yet he still feels stung at the suggestion that he might betray others or break his word. "Lead on, then, and perhaps you might tell me what your troubles are all about."
Kasumi nods, and turns back around, taking a different route than the way she came. Retracing one's steps as an Imperial citizen in this city doesn't seem like such a good idea at the moment. Kasumi is still upset about her discussion with the Ayami messenger, but figuring out this new person who has come out of nowhere has occupied her attention.
Mister Andersen
(Jan 28 - Feb 10, 2011)
Inaba Aiko still finds the feel of gaijin clothes strange, especially the — what were they called? Ah yes — boots. Not bad strange, just unfamiliar, even after a month spent wearing them. A month spent getting to know this strange extension of a foreign world into her homeland as well as a half-breed of the two could. A month spent trying to find answers to the Imperial absence and the discretely buried murder of her Lord, Hakuitami Baito.
It occurs to her that the recent assassination might be a reprisal, the murder of a gaijin magistrate to balance Lord Hakuitami's in a delicate game of brinkmanship and saving face. Although poetic in its symmetry, it simply means the true villains go unpunished in a perversion of the honour such an exchange would seek to maintain. It also has the problem of painting her as the conveniently obvious killer should her identity come to light.
So, chance then? In Aiko's time in her Lord's service, she'd seen enough people accused and found guilty of crimes further investigation could instead absolve. Or is it proof that she nears the answers she seeks and her enemies seek to counteract her with guile where more direct means might fail?
And now, mere hours after such a high-profile death, word has spread that a group of Imperials are working side by side with the gaijin to help them investigate. Not as witnesses — any right-thinking citizen of the Imperium would cooperate with the local authorities — but as agents of the gaijin investigator. And while Aiko has made it her business to get to know the business of every Imperial in the city, she finds that these investigators are strangers to her.
Worryingly, the reverse may not be true. Are these newcomers simply clever or well connected enough to remove themselves from scrutiny, or are they hunting her? If they are pursuing her, is she simply a loose end to be resolved, or was her absence from the massacre of her Lord and his retinue so that she could pursue the mystery here actually part of an even more insidious gambit.
To the ronin Inquisitor, it all looks just a little... suspicious.
One month in Kargbeck is enough time to knock on a great many doors and cross them all of your list. Aiko's gone through the big foreigner suspects - the magistrates, the mayor, the Count - and come up empty. Well, not quite empty - she certainly found out a lot, but none of it seemed to connect back to the murder of her lord.
However, one note of hers turned out to be applicable to the current situation - a local underground figure, the man who had the cheek to call his gang of teenage pickpockets and even younger beggars the Thieves' Guild - Herr Rudolf Adler. If anyone has some dirt on the new Imperials, it's him.
You don't get to see Adler without him wanting you to, but he does want to see Aiko - not at a place where he does business, of course, but in a nice, quiet, neutral location. A nigh-deserted tavern near the South end of the port suffices; Aiko enters to find the barkeep gone to the back for a lengthy round of inventory, leaving just a table with two mugs of the frothy alcoholic beverage the foreigners love so much. To his credit, Adler doesn't pretend to hide from her very long - he stays in the shadows just long enough to make a good entrance, his robe trailing behind as he moves. As always, a hood is drawn over his head, hiding his eyes and everything above.
"You flatter me greatly," he begins, blending a good working knowledge of the Imperial language with a particularly flowery way of putting his words. "What is it that you desire of this humble thief, milady?"
Aiko studies the thief's visible features with the cornflower blue eyes that betray her gaijin blood, comparing them to the image already committed to memory from the last time they had encountered each other.
As she does so, she recalls the advice of her Lord that even though she might disagree on a personal level with Adler's choice of career -- how could one sworn to upholding the Emperor's justice not feel so? -- there has to be some degree of worth in a person capable of rising to leadership.
"I believe our agreement was a question for a question, Herr Adler," she answers in his native tongue, reigniting their previous free-flowing linguistic dance. He was better at it, but Aiko finds herself enjoying it as a learning experience. "My answer is 'The 13th of the Chrysanthemum Moon'. My question is what do you know of the Imperial newcomers who are assisting your authorities in the hunt for the assassin?"
"Three are known to me," Adler says. "One, a wandering warrior - a woman. She's the trappings of a fine soldier - strong shoulders, commanding voice, a well-used blade. Another seems a noble, an ambassador - but her eyes are too sharp, and the steel on her side rivals the warrior's. The third, you might remember - the Blue Oni, one of your brigands. We've seen none of his men - his "demons -, but surely it is part of his plan."
Adler pauses for a moment.
"They seem to be traveling with a number of assassins," he adds. "Some of my men report none, others swear there are at least five."
Aiko's expression darkens. Brigands and assassins? Then perhaps they are the enemy she has been seeking.
"So how is it, Herr Adler, that these people of clearly dubious repute have come to align themselves with your authorities as investigators rather than the most natural of suspects?"
"Because our authorities do not know as much as I do," Adler says. "As for these people - I've not had the occasion to ask their motivation."
His eyes narrow.
"I do believe you owe me an answer now."
Aiko schools her expression once more. "That is true," she answers as she ponders how to best proceed now.
"My question is thusly," Adler says. "If it should turn out that they are connected to your lord's death - what would you do with them?"
The ronin Inquisitor regards the thief levelly. Clearly he has his own agenda intended to keep himself in power and insulated. Delivering her up to these strangers could easily achieve such a goal.
"Honour and Imperial law dictate that they be be brought to account for their crimes," she answers eventually. "But as I'm sure someone in your profession is doubtless aware, an actuary's ledger may not always tally in the manner expected of it."
Adler cracks a smile.
"Milady thinks in schemes," he says. "My runners are at your disposal, if you've need - and coin."
That is the question, isn't it? Do I have the need or the coin?
Aiko runs her finger around the rim of the... bier?... mug. It was so much easier when she was with her lord. Then, her duties and limits were clear and sometimes even explicitly defined: 'This far and no more' or 'You do this by my leave' or 'Sometimes it must be this way'.
And though her calling and her duty remain clear — avenge her lord's murder, solve the riddle of the Emperor's disappearance which may or may not have led to that same murder — how she should go about it remains unclear. Her lord had indulged in similar discrete encounters with others like Adler, tolerating the lesser evil in order to counter a greater one. Yet he had always possessed the authority of his office as guide and protection, the same office that had disavowed her.
The actions she must take, the compromises she must make: they are hers to choose now, hers to answer for and live with. And here with Adler she stands on the razor's edge.
"Why is your magistrate dead at the hands of an Imperial citizen?" she neither refuses or accepts Adler's offer. "It may possibly have been an accident, it may have been because he presented a threat or because the manner of his death presented an opportunity"
"An accident?" Adler asks, intrigued by the possibility. "I've no inkling how it could be so, but I'll gladly entertain the thought, if indeed there is one that could serve as explanation."
Aiko favours Adler with a small smile, choosing her words with care. "The.. lesser... criminal mind finds it difficult to cope with the unexpected. The killer may have been a burglar that responded to discovery with instinctive violence. If this was the case, the likeliness that the killer was an Imperial citizen are reduced: the garb of the ninja is not taken lightly, and to be discovered in its possession usually does not end well. And though the ninja are trained in many strange techniques, I do not know enough of your culture to rule out the notion that similar techniques are not in existance there, and the appearance of the ninja were chosen to deflect attention.
"However, as it seems likely such knowledge is as unusual in both our lands, accidental death becomes unlikely. And so it seems clear that the victim either knew something, or was about to discover something, inconvenient to a person or clan with the resources to hire such an assassin."
Adler smiles, clearly enjoying how Aiko reasons her way through what meager facts are known.
"If you were the assassin in question," he asks, "where would you be now?"
Aiko's irritation at being at such a remove from the investigation briefly flashes across her face. "We have only the word of the magistrate's retainers that there was a ninja involved. Having not interrogated them, I cannot speak to their honour in such matters. It's possible that they were complicit or even directly responsible for the killing and have used the spectre of the ninja to distract attention. I do not like doing so, but on the assumption they are men of honour and there was a ninja whom they wounded as they attest, I would be with my accomplices as it strikes me as unlikely any such assassination would be completed without facilitators already in place.
"Depending on the regard of my clan, I would now face the dilemma of whether to wait for them to assist my escape, or to commit sepuku in the hope my death might be used to further my clan's goals. My body could then be placed in such a way to absolve my co-conspirators and implicate further enemies."
Although doing so troubles her, it would appear that she seems comfortable enough with the notion of Adler's non-involvement that she is letting her guard slip and falling into the familiar pattern of nutting through a crime with her now-dead fellow investigators.
"You've a lot of speculation, then, milady," Adler says. "And I owe you an answer once more."
Aiko smiles again. "If you were in the position to be able to hire a ninja to assassinate this particular magistrate, who would you be?"
"Herr Tingarson's domain was the sea trade," Adler responds. "A paradoxical position — of no immediate consequence to the power struggles within the city walls, yet vital to our very existence. The other magistrates do not wish his power — the tedium is overwhelming, and they've no method to usurp his place even if they wished it. I know of none who would aspire to to this particular office, though many may scheme for any office at all - but even then, his is neither the easiest nor the most obvious target. Trade, then, must motivate the man who engaged the assassin; but who profits from disrupting it? Your Imperial lords? They cannot dislodge us so easily, not after all the time we've spent building our city — but mayhap they think to force us to trade with them for supplies. And thus, we arrive at profit — name me a finer reason for putting a man to the blade than greed."
"But like the utensil your people name fork, that can branch into many equally pointed paths. If the Imperial court wished you gone, they would simply blockade your city rather than assassinate an easily replaceable functionary. If it were trade... are there items Lord Tingarson refused to permit your merchants to import for sale to the Imperial nation that we might consider innocent? Illegal sales of... firearms?... would not be something easily facilitated through this city by our customs inspectors and constables and once you move that task to pirates and brigands who must therefore put ashore in hidden coves to conduct their trade instead of using your docks, the magistrate's involvement becomes unlikely.
"What products of Imperial lands make your countrymen's presence here worthwhile? Was Lord Tingarson enforcing or looking to break a monopoly?"
"We've need of nothing, yet want for a great many things," Adler says. "The exotic — your spices, your jewelry, your art — are highly prized in our homes. My interest turns to what we bring with us — the gonnes you have mentioned are arriving in force, though few leave the city. And do not speak to me of inspectors and constables, milady, for it is my trade — and that of others — to deliver product to customers, watchful eyes be damned."
Adler's eyes focus on the wall behind Aiko.
"I shall save my question for another time, milady," he says. "I've business to attend to that I cannot delay — would that I could, as I greatly enjoy your company."
"I shall owe you two questions. Adler-san. Whose eyes are the most insulting to a man of your skill?"
Adler scoffs. "Van Synt and his men, village idiots that they are. There is no threat to the 'peace' that they cannot find an excuse to squash, yet no serious crime that they fail to investigate in the manner most convenient to them. Would that they were corrupt and pliable! But no, they are merely mired in convenience and obviousness, dedicated to their simple laws and being seen as the heroes they are not. You'll have occasion to see their handywork when you meet your suspects - no doubt Van Synt is already arranging some method to convict *them* even as he has them run his errands."
Aiko nods, gets to her feet and gives a small bow. "Thank you for your insight, Adler-san." She makes for the door, then pauses at the threshold. "As I arrived, I noticed one of those village idiots loitering on the other side of the square. He is still there."
She lets the announcement hang in the air for a moment before nodding and leaving.
Aiko exits Adler's haunt to find the suspicious man gone; either he took off by himself, or Adler had one of his men "deal" with him. She wouldn't put it past the thief, though with the city on edge like this, he really should tread carefully.
Which is why Aiko's head snaps upward when she hears a soft whump from the rooftops above. A singular sound, with no movement to be seen from down here. And here Adler just told her in his charmingly roundabout way that he wasn't involved in this...
Aiko's eyes narrow. It's just her luck that her katana is back in her apartment. Still, she's by no means defenceless, or helpless. Not wishing to tip whomever it might be that she's aware of their presence, she continues away from the inn, arms crossed so her hands are near the twin jitte hidden beneath her over tunic
Nobody pursues Aiko — nobody that she can see or hear, anyway. It looks like people are interested in Adler, not her. That should leave her free to do whatever she wants, now that she's got at least an inkling of the situation.
When it becomes clear that Herr Adler is the person of interest and not her, the ronin inquisitor finds herself in the middle of a quandary. The man is by both his own admission and the evidence of her senses a criminal, a man whose endeavours carry with them a certain and inevitable price.
And yet, she has observed him demonstrate proper and genuine filial devotion to those under his authority. He has never to her knowledge betrayed her. And most importantly, he's the closest thing she's found to an ally since being made ronin.
Cursing, she heads at a run into a side street where the buildings are closer together and it becomes trivial to ascend with long bounding leaps off the encroaching walls onto the rooftop. Drawing her jittes but keeping the blades tucked up her sleeves, she makes her way back to the inn.
Inaba Aiko still finds the feel of gaijin clothes strange, especially the — what were they called? Ah yes — boots. Not bad strange, just unfamiliar, even after a month spent wearing them. A month spent getting to know this strange extension of a foreign world into her homeland as well as a half-breed of the two could. A month spent trying to find answers to the Imperial absence and the discretely buried murder of her Lord, Hakuitami Baito.
It occurs to her that the recent assassination might be a reprisal, the murder of a gaijin magistrate to balance Lord Hakuitami's in a delicate game of brinkmanship and saving face. Although poetic in its symmetry, it simply means the true villains go unpunished in a perversion of the honour such an exchange would seek to maintain. It also has the problem of painting her as the conveniently obvious killer should her identity come to light.
So, chance then? In Aiko's time in her Lord's service, she'd seen enough people accused and found guilty of crimes further investigation could instead absolve. Or is it proof that she nears the answers she seeks and her enemies seek to counteract her with guile where more direct means might fail?
And now, mere hours after such a high-profile death, word has spread that a group of Imperials are working side by side with the gaijin to help them investigate. Not as witnesses — any right-thinking citizen of the Imperium would cooperate with the local authorities — but as agents of the gaijin investigator. And while Aiko has made it her business to get to know the business of every Imperial in the city, she finds that these investigators are strangers to her.
Worryingly, the reverse may not be true. Are these newcomers simply clever or well connected enough to remove themselves from scrutiny, or are they hunting her? If they are pursuing her, is she simply a loose end to be resolved, or was her absence from the massacre of her Lord and his retinue so that she could pursue the mystery here actually part of an even more insidious gambit.
To the ronin Inquisitor, it all looks just a little... suspicious.
One month in Kargbeck is enough time to knock on a great many doors and cross them all of your list. Aiko's gone through the big foreigner suspects - the magistrates, the mayor, the Count - and come up empty. Well, not quite empty - she certainly found out a lot, but none of it seemed to connect back to the murder of her lord.
However, one note of hers turned out to be applicable to the current situation - a local underground figure, the man who had the cheek to call his gang of teenage pickpockets and even younger beggars the Thieves' Guild - Herr Rudolf Adler. If anyone has some dirt on the new Imperials, it's him.
You don't get to see Adler without him wanting you to, but he does want to see Aiko - not at a place where he does business, of course, but in a nice, quiet, neutral location. A nigh-deserted tavern near the South end of the port suffices; Aiko enters to find the barkeep gone to the back for a lengthy round of inventory, leaving just a table with two mugs of the frothy alcoholic beverage the foreigners love so much. To his credit, Adler doesn't pretend to hide from her very long - he stays in the shadows just long enough to make a good entrance, his robe trailing behind as he moves. As always, a hood is drawn over his head, hiding his eyes and everything above.
"You flatter me greatly," he begins, blending a good working knowledge of the Imperial language with a particularly flowery way of putting his words. "What is it that you desire of this humble thief, milady?"
Aiko studies the thief's visible features with the cornflower blue eyes that betray her gaijin blood, comparing them to the image already committed to memory from the last time they had encountered each other.
As she does so, she recalls the advice of her Lord that even though she might disagree on a personal level with Adler's choice of career -- how could one sworn to upholding the Emperor's justice not feel so? -- there has to be some degree of worth in a person capable of rising to leadership.
"I believe our agreement was a question for a question, Herr Adler," she answers in his native tongue, reigniting their previous free-flowing linguistic dance. He was better at it, but Aiko finds herself enjoying it as a learning experience. "My answer is 'The 13th of the Chrysanthemum Moon'. My question is what do you know of the Imperial newcomers who are assisting your authorities in the hunt for the assassin?"
"Three are known to me," Adler says. "One, a wandering warrior - a woman. She's the trappings of a fine soldier - strong shoulders, commanding voice, a well-used blade. Another seems a noble, an ambassador - but her eyes are too sharp, and the steel on her side rivals the warrior's. The third, you might remember - the Blue Oni, one of your brigands. We've seen none of his men - his "demons -, but surely it is part of his plan."
Adler pauses for a moment.
"They seem to be traveling with a number of assassins," he adds. "Some of my men report none, others swear there are at least five."
Aiko's expression darkens. Brigands and assassins? Then perhaps they are the enemy she has been seeking.
"So how is it, Herr Adler, that these people of clearly dubious repute have come to align themselves with your authorities as investigators rather than the most natural of suspects?"
"Because our authorities do not know as much as I do," Adler says. "As for these people - I've not had the occasion to ask their motivation."
His eyes narrow.
"I do believe you owe me an answer now."
Aiko schools her expression once more. "That is true," she answers as she ponders how to best proceed now.
"My question is thusly," Adler says. "If it should turn out that they are connected to your lord's death - what would you do with them?"
The ronin Inquisitor regards the thief levelly. Clearly he has his own agenda intended to keep himself in power and insulated. Delivering her up to these strangers could easily achieve such a goal.
"Honour and Imperial law dictate that they be be brought to account for their crimes," she answers eventually. "But as I'm sure someone in your profession is doubtless aware, an actuary's ledger may not always tally in the manner expected of it."
Adler cracks a smile.
"Milady thinks in schemes," he says. "My runners are at your disposal, if you've need - and coin."
That is the question, isn't it? Do I have the need or the coin?
Aiko runs her finger around the rim of the... bier?... mug. It was so much easier when she was with her lord. Then, her duties and limits were clear and sometimes even explicitly defined: 'This far and no more' or 'You do this by my leave' or 'Sometimes it must be this way'.
And though her calling and her duty remain clear — avenge her lord's murder, solve the riddle of the Emperor's disappearance which may or may not have led to that same murder — how she should go about it remains unclear. Her lord had indulged in similar discrete encounters with others like Adler, tolerating the lesser evil in order to counter a greater one. Yet he had always possessed the authority of his office as guide and protection, the same office that had disavowed her.
The actions she must take, the compromises she must make: they are hers to choose now, hers to answer for and live with. And here with Adler she stands on the razor's edge.
"Why is your magistrate dead at the hands of an Imperial citizen?" she neither refuses or accepts Adler's offer. "It may possibly have been an accident, it may have been because he presented a threat or because the manner of his death presented an opportunity"
"An accident?" Adler asks, intrigued by the possibility. "I've no inkling how it could be so, but I'll gladly entertain the thought, if indeed there is one that could serve as explanation."
Aiko favours Adler with a small smile, choosing her words with care. "The.. lesser... criminal mind finds it difficult to cope with the unexpected. The killer may have been a burglar that responded to discovery with instinctive violence. If this was the case, the likeliness that the killer was an Imperial citizen are reduced: the garb of the ninja is not taken lightly, and to be discovered in its possession usually does not end well. And though the ninja are trained in many strange techniques, I do not know enough of your culture to rule out the notion that similar techniques are not in existance there, and the appearance of the ninja were chosen to deflect attention.
"However, as it seems likely such knowledge is as unusual in both our lands, accidental death becomes unlikely. And so it seems clear that the victim either knew something, or was about to discover something, inconvenient to a person or clan with the resources to hire such an assassin."
Adler smiles, clearly enjoying how Aiko reasons her way through what meager facts are known.
"If you were the assassin in question," he asks, "where would you be now?"
Aiko's irritation at being at such a remove from the investigation briefly flashes across her face. "We have only the word of the magistrate's retainers that there was a ninja involved. Having not interrogated them, I cannot speak to their honour in such matters. It's possible that they were complicit or even directly responsible for the killing and have used the spectre of the ninja to distract attention. I do not like doing so, but on the assumption they are men of honour and there was a ninja whom they wounded as they attest, I would be with my accomplices as it strikes me as unlikely any such assassination would be completed without facilitators already in place.
"Depending on the regard of my clan, I would now face the dilemma of whether to wait for them to assist my escape, or to commit sepuku in the hope my death might be used to further my clan's goals. My body could then be placed in such a way to absolve my co-conspirators and implicate further enemies."
Although doing so troubles her, it would appear that she seems comfortable enough with the notion of Adler's non-involvement that she is letting her guard slip and falling into the familiar pattern of nutting through a crime with her now-dead fellow investigators.
"You've a lot of speculation, then, milady," Adler says. "And I owe you an answer once more."
Aiko smiles again. "If you were in the position to be able to hire a ninja to assassinate this particular magistrate, who would you be?"
"Herr Tingarson's domain was the sea trade," Adler responds. "A paradoxical position — of no immediate consequence to the power struggles within the city walls, yet vital to our very existence. The other magistrates do not wish his power — the tedium is overwhelming, and they've no method to usurp his place even if they wished it. I know of none who would aspire to to this particular office, though many may scheme for any office at all - but even then, his is neither the easiest nor the most obvious target. Trade, then, must motivate the man who engaged the assassin; but who profits from disrupting it? Your Imperial lords? They cannot dislodge us so easily, not after all the time we've spent building our city — but mayhap they think to force us to trade with them for supplies. And thus, we arrive at profit — name me a finer reason for putting a man to the blade than greed."
"But like the utensil your people name fork, that can branch into many equally pointed paths. If the Imperial court wished you gone, they would simply blockade your city rather than assassinate an easily replaceable functionary. If it were trade... are there items Lord Tingarson refused to permit your merchants to import for sale to the Imperial nation that we might consider innocent? Illegal sales of... firearms?... would not be something easily facilitated through this city by our customs inspectors and constables and once you move that task to pirates and brigands who must therefore put ashore in hidden coves to conduct their trade instead of using your docks, the magistrate's involvement becomes unlikely.
"What products of Imperial lands make your countrymen's presence here worthwhile? Was Lord Tingarson enforcing or looking to break a monopoly?"
"We've need of nothing, yet want for a great many things," Adler says. "The exotic — your spices, your jewelry, your art — are highly prized in our homes. My interest turns to what we bring with us — the gonnes you have mentioned are arriving in force, though few leave the city. And do not speak to me of inspectors and constables, milady, for it is my trade — and that of others — to deliver product to customers, watchful eyes be damned."
Adler's eyes focus on the wall behind Aiko.
"I shall save my question for another time, milady," he says. "I've business to attend to that I cannot delay — would that I could, as I greatly enjoy your company."
"I shall owe you two questions. Adler-san. Whose eyes are the most insulting to a man of your skill?"
Adler scoffs. "Van Synt and his men, village idiots that they are. There is no threat to the 'peace' that they cannot find an excuse to squash, yet no serious crime that they fail to investigate in the manner most convenient to them. Would that they were corrupt and pliable! But no, they are merely mired in convenience and obviousness, dedicated to their simple laws and being seen as the heroes they are not. You'll have occasion to see their handywork when you meet your suspects - no doubt Van Synt is already arranging some method to convict *them* even as he has them run his errands."
Aiko nods, gets to her feet and gives a small bow. "Thank you for your insight, Adler-san." She makes for the door, then pauses at the threshold. "As I arrived, I noticed one of those village idiots loitering on the other side of the square. He is still there."
She lets the announcement hang in the air for a moment before nodding and leaving.
Aiko exits Adler's haunt to find the suspicious man gone; either he took off by himself, or Adler had one of his men "deal" with him. She wouldn't put it past the thief, though with the city on edge like this, he really should tread carefully.
Which is why Aiko's head snaps upward when she hears a soft whump from the rooftops above. A singular sound, with no movement to be seen from down here. And here Adler just told her in his charmingly roundabout way that he wasn't involved in this...
Aiko's eyes narrow. It's just her luck that her katana is back in her apartment. Still, she's by no means defenceless, or helpless. Not wishing to tip whomever it might be that she's aware of their presence, she continues away from the inn, arms crossed so her hands are near the twin jitte hidden beneath her over tunic
Nobody pursues Aiko — nobody that she can see or hear, anyway. It looks like people are interested in Adler, not her. That should leave her free to do whatever she wants, now that she's got at least an inkling of the situation.
When it becomes clear that Herr Adler is the person of interest and not her, the ronin inquisitor finds herself in the middle of a quandary. The man is by both his own admission and the evidence of her senses a criminal, a man whose endeavours carry with them a certain and inevitable price.
And yet, she has observed him demonstrate proper and genuine filial devotion to those under his authority. He has never to her knowledge betrayed her. And most importantly, he's the closest thing she's found to an ally since being made ronin.
Cursing, she heads at a run into a side street where the buildings are closer together and it becomes trivial to ascend with long bounding leaps off the encroaching walls onto the rooftop. Drawing her jittes but keeping the blades tucked up her sleeves, she makes her way back to the inn.
Mister Andersen
(Jan 28 - Feb 16, 2011)
Yukio's waiting at the house's front entrance when she spots Kasumi and Takao approaching. Her reaction to the samurai is surprising; her left hand fully grips the hilt of her sword, but she gives the man a slight bow of courtesy.
"It's good to see you back," Yukio says to Kasumi, obviously trying not to mention a name, how long she's been gone, who she is — nothing that could potentially give the stranger next to Kasumi an advantage.
Kasumi nods to Yukio, a bit deeper than someone who knows them both would notice. "It's good to be back," Kasumi said. "Just took a walk, wanted to clear my head after what happened." She motions to her tag-along. "This is... I never caught your name, stranger. He says he's looking to understand the foreigner's weapons, and if he can fight as well as he says he can, he might be helpful."
"Takao is my name." Takao bows to the lady at the entrance. He makes no move of aggression, but neither does he move to remove his swords from his obi, as would be customary upon entering a private residence, nor does he let this new woman out of his eyesight while she still has her hand on her blade. These people are far too tense to let his guard down. Takao also is starting to wonder at the lack of etiquette. Are these people perhaps not of wealth and status? Takao will remain vigilant.
Kasumi nods, and cocks an eye at Yukio, out of the sight of Takao. It's your play, Yukio. You trust him?
"My name is Yukio... Mohime," the female samurai lies. Takao can tell she wanted to tell the truth for a moment, but then thought better of it. "And if you're looking for a fight, you've come to the right place. Trouble finds us with regularity. You will not want for the glory of combat."
"It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Yukio-sama. It is not glory that I seek, but perfection, and perfection comes with practice." Turning to Kasumi, he adds "How may I address you, sama?" Takao's choice of words indicate that he understands he's not being given real names, but is playing along for now.
"Kasumi is fine," she says.
Having received an answer, Takao turns back to Yukio: "It appears that trouble does not only find you regularly, but that you are expecting some any minute now." Takao lets his gaze briefly wander to Yukio's hands which still grip the hilt of her sword. "While I understand that you do not trust a stranger that has just walked off the road, may I ask you to share what manner of trouble you are expecting of late?"
Yukio sighs. "The entire city is on edge due to the recent murder of Tingarson-san. At this rate, I expect foreigner lynch mobs looking for any Imperial citizen they can get their hands on, Imperial citizens who are desperate to deliver one of their own to the authorities" - Takao notices a twinge in her voice there - "and, of course, the enemies we made before we even arrived here. An extra pair of eyes and another blade is most welcome...Takao-san." Another twitch. Takao can tell that she'd reflexively address him as -sama, as a superior, if he hadn't already placed her in that position with his address. She seems unused to being given formal respect.
"Why don't you go inside and meet the rest of the group, Takao-san?" Kasumi says, motioning past Yukio to the front door of Hilga's residence. "The others might be back by now, as well. You should meet the rest of the group, get to know them."
Takao nods and steps inside. He hasn't made up his mind about these people yet. It is clear that they not people of rank, but just using status as a convenient disguise. But what does that make them? Certainly not simple bandits or thieves. Takao has met his fair share of those during his travels. But what else could they be? Spies? Revolutionaries? He is glad now that he did not enter a retainership with Kasumi which would bind him to her commands, instead leaving him some leeway to act upon what he feels right. He will honor his word and not betray this group, but neither will he follow them blindly for now.
As soon as Takao steps into the house, Yukio takes Kasumi aside.
"Where did you find him and why did you bring him here?"
Kasumi shrugs in confusion. "I was walking down the waterfront, trying to clear my head after shouting at the messenger, and he just walked up to me and offered his services. He seemed to be looking for us, or someone like us, and I figured it would be better to keep him where we can see him, instead of letting him wander around. He didn't have anyone following him or watching over him that I saw, so I figure he's what he says he is. We'll just have to be careful about what he knows, yeah?" She shakes her head and takes Yukio's hand. "Either he's after you or us, and in which case it's better to have him here, or he's genuinely offering his aid, which we could certainly use."
"I see your logic," Yukio says. "It's just... we're in enough trouble as is. Who knows what he's adding to the pile?"
"Whatever it is, if he does have any problems, they don't seem to concern him that much," Kasumi says, then smiles at Yukio. "So, what did you want to talk to me about? I assume you were waiting out here for a reason."
"No, I just enjoy snarling at the passing foreigners a lot," Yukio quips. "But I'm worried about Sadatsugu. Toshi's told me more about his condition — he really needs to get out of that barn and into a warm place where a skilled healer can watch him."
Yukio sighs.
"What do we do if, despite everything, he dies?"
"We'll see what the messenger does if that happens," Kasumi says. "I don't know if I can move him, even with her help. It's really a three person job, two to move him, one to keep watch. I don't want to put you in harm's way, Yukio, but if you're willing to help..."
"I'll help carry him," she says. "There's plenty of sharp eyes among us, but some jobs do require physical strength like mine."
Kasumi smiles and bumps her hip into Yukio's. "Hey, I'm doing pretty good with your strength training." She lets one hand go of Yukio's and flexes a bit. "We'll just see how much of the lifting is all your doing."
"That sounds to me like you just volunteered to grab his feet," Yukio says with a grin. "Come on, let us go inside and see how this Takao fellow is doing."
"And then evening exercises?" Kasumi asks, a twinkle in her eye.
Takao walks into the room. He straightens up as he enters, turning out to be physically quite imposing, tall (at least for an Imperial), and broad-shouldered. His arms, usually tucked into his hakama (those who have seen Yojimbo or Sanjuro will have a good image of this) are currently loose at his side. He is in his mid- to late twenties, old enough to have seen and lived through combat, but young enough to still hold on to ideals. His general appearance is that of one who attempts to maintain a standard, but is short on money: his hair is cut, but his shave is already several days old. His clothing is of good quality, but worn, even threadbare in some places. Two swords are tucked into his obi, but atypically, they are both katana. One is as worn as its master. The saya has many scratches and scores, as if this sword had been used in combat without its sheath ever being removed. The other one looks very much out of place, stolen even: the saya is lacquered with a dark blue that is almost black, the craftsmanship of the tsuba and tsuka are exquisite without being ostentatious.
Takao bows in greeting to those present as he enters. He lets his gaze wander around the entire room trying to find out more about this group of strange people. Those paying attention will notice that he tries to keep everyone in his view as much as possible without being obvious about it.
Toshiba wanders down to catch the newcomer's entrance. He notes the obvious stance of one trained in combat, the unorthodox choices in weaponry, and the penniless look to the man. He'll fit right in, Toshiba thinks.
For his part, Toshiba Shiretoko is of course wearing the azure lacquered armor of the Blue Oni. He carries no sword, although Takao spots several knives strapped to the armor in an ad-hoc after-the-fact fashion. Toshiba's face is dark with many months spent in the wilderness, with premature lines showing at his eyes and mouth. While nowhere near as barbaric-looking as the devils wandering the foreign city, Toshiba clearly doesn't mind facial hair. His seeming disdain for regimented personal grooming is in marked contrast to how ridiculously nice and clean his hair actually is. He seems simultaneously embarrassed and proud of it.
Takao and Toshiba spend some time in the common room in comfortable silence. Neither of the two has seen fit to make formal introductions, and neither's going to let the other walk away without following them. Still, between two seasoned warriors, there's no edginess or nervousness to the situation - just a nice, relaxing sitdown.
If only it could stay that way!
The door flies open, producing Toshi — clad in foreign garb and wearing a large hat, as if to disguise his Imperial features. His eyes fly from Takao to Toshiba and back a few times; as if to make up for his hasty entry, he closes the door behind him.
"Uhm, hello," he says to Takao, not sure how to handle the stranger. "Do you know where my wife is?" he asks Toshiba.
Takao bows to Toshi as he enters, just like he bowed to Toshiba upon his entrance. Not sure of the status of the others around him, but fairly sure he as a ronin ranks pretty low (or at least should, given the appearance of the others), he will not speak unless addressed. He replies to Toshi's greeting with a "Komban-wa, sama." Seeing the uncertainty in Toshi's eyes, he adds "Kasumi-sama has offered me an opportunity to learn about gaijin and their exotic weaponry in exchange for my services. From my observations, I have come to assume that the two will be closely connected."
"Exotic weaponry?" Toshiba perks an eyebrow. "I happen to have just the thing!" He rushes off, clearly excited to find someone who might know how to work the damnable contraption he brings back down - one of the foreign devils' gunpowder weapons. Toshiba's also brought his arbalest, in case the ronin takes an interest in that as well. "I know how to operate it, more or less, but I am hardly a marksman with this thing. I much prefer the steadiness and silence of a good knife."
Upon seeing the weapon, Takao's calm warrior demeanor is gone instantly, replaced first by awe, then excitement entirely unfitting for a warrior. "You have one?!? This is most amazing! I do not know how to operate one, I only have seen it done from afar, and then have heard tales about it. Do you have balls, and powder? I know those are necessary. I am indebted to you for showing me this, and would be even more so if you would let me study it for a while!" Takao recovers a bit, remembering where he is and that he does not know much about his company, but the gleam of excitement remains in his eyes.
(Toshiba OOC: Do I have pot and chowder for it? Er, shot and powder?)
(GM OOC: I don't know, did you loot any from the corpses at the ninja fortress?
Yeah, we'll say you have some powder and a few bullets for the gonne. Not that you know how to use them, but Takao's heard enough about the foreign boomsticks that he can load one and fire it with only a low risk of blowing himself up.)
"Let's go out back," Toshiba says to Takao. "We can see if we can spot any cats or birds upon which to try this gonne."
"Do you think the report will go unnoticed in this area? While I am eager to try out this weapon, I am a bit worried about the attention we might attract. The crowds outside are still tense, and I have a feeling that Imperials with gaijin weapons will not go over well. Maybe there is a more out-of-the-way location?"
Takao is about to learn more about the gaijin weaponry in the next hour than he has learned in all of his previous travels, but he is overcome by a sudden uncertainty: is he breaking Imperial Law? Is this a dishonorable weapon? If it is for the good of the Empire, for the good of his former and maybe future Lord, isn't is his duty to take this dishonor upon him? Isn't this why he became ronin in first place, to keep the name of his Lord unsullied if the good of the Empire requires it? But what if the cost to his honore is too high? No, he cannot falter so close to his goal; he must at least use this "gonne" once, find out what he has learned so far is true, and learn more.
(Takao OOC: I want to use the Craft skill to load the gonne, and take time to get it right. Takao has of course heard of the mishaps as well.... Hopefully, that will reduce the chance of it blowing up in his face.)
Toshiba looks like he didn't realize the gonne would be so boisterous. "Oh, I suppose perhaps you are right about the racket. I'm afraid we have not been here terribly long and I'm not sure there is a place..." Toshiba trails off. "Wait! The docks! We could attempt to fire off into the water."
"A more remote place would be preferable. I believe I saw a small grove not far from the city, where this would go unnoticed."
(Takao OOC: Are there any upcoming festivals with fireworks and the like, or some other noisy event?
(GM OOC: Leaving the city right now is...difficult. I won't say it's impossible, but it's probably more trouble than it's worth for just one shot.)
Toshiba shakes his head. There's a momentary flash of annoyance. "One of their officials was murdered and they have closed their city until the culprit or culprits are found. I will speak to the lady whose house this is; I'm sure another person would be no trouble. That is, of course, if you did not already have a place to stay?"
"A place to stay would be most welcome. Indeed, I was just on my way to look for work, when I crossed paths with Kasumi-sama. I don't wish to impose, however, if it is any trouble."
"What is your purpose here in the city, if I may ask? It seems clear that you are expecting violent confrontation, if Kasumi-sama thinks that a person with my skills could be of assistance."
We came here following the trail of my former captain, killed by my own hand, in order to figure out who so desperately wants Yukio dead. To leave this city, we must frame an innocent man for a murder committed by my friends' clanmate. Toshiba thinks this as he instead explains, "We were kept here by the unfortunate murder I mentioned before, so in order to bring things to their conclusion we have offered our investigatory skills to the local magistrate. In my experience, investigating murders often makes you a target as well, hence our appreciation of your assistance. From a more... cynical perspective, I might add that it is better to have your sword at our side than take the risk of facing you as an enemy for whatsoever reason."
"Cynical it may be, but also honest. You need not worry; while I am ronin, I am as sincere as any samurai. It is my honor to have permitted to join a compassionate group such as yourselves, courageously risking your lives to find the perpetrator and ease the tensions and danger to all Imperials in this city." Takao bows once more.
"Forgive my audacity for asking, but I don't suppose there would be food to be had, while you and your companions are contemplating your next step?"
"Of course," Toshiba agrees. They retire to the larder and make use of it as only two famished fighting-men can.
Yukio's waiting at the house's front entrance when she spots Kasumi and Takao approaching. Her reaction to the samurai is surprising; her left hand fully grips the hilt of her sword, but she gives the man a slight bow of courtesy.
"It's good to see you back," Yukio says to Kasumi, obviously trying not to mention a name, how long she's been gone, who she is — nothing that could potentially give the stranger next to Kasumi an advantage.
Kasumi nods to Yukio, a bit deeper than someone who knows them both would notice. "It's good to be back," Kasumi said. "Just took a walk, wanted to clear my head after what happened." She motions to her tag-along. "This is... I never caught your name, stranger. He says he's looking to understand the foreigner's weapons, and if he can fight as well as he says he can, he might be helpful."
"Takao is my name." Takao bows to the lady at the entrance. He makes no move of aggression, but neither does he move to remove his swords from his obi, as would be customary upon entering a private residence, nor does he let this new woman out of his eyesight while she still has her hand on her blade. These people are far too tense to let his guard down. Takao also is starting to wonder at the lack of etiquette. Are these people perhaps not of wealth and status? Takao will remain vigilant.
Kasumi nods, and cocks an eye at Yukio, out of the sight of Takao. It's your play, Yukio. You trust him?
"My name is Yukio... Mohime," the female samurai lies. Takao can tell she wanted to tell the truth for a moment, but then thought better of it. "And if you're looking for a fight, you've come to the right place. Trouble finds us with regularity. You will not want for the glory of combat."
"It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Yukio-sama. It is not glory that I seek, but perfection, and perfection comes with practice." Turning to Kasumi, he adds "How may I address you, sama?" Takao's choice of words indicate that he understands he's not being given real names, but is playing along for now.
"Kasumi is fine," she says.
Having received an answer, Takao turns back to Yukio: "It appears that trouble does not only find you regularly, but that you are expecting some any minute now." Takao lets his gaze briefly wander to Yukio's hands which still grip the hilt of her sword. "While I understand that you do not trust a stranger that has just walked off the road, may I ask you to share what manner of trouble you are expecting of late?"
Yukio sighs. "The entire city is on edge due to the recent murder of Tingarson-san. At this rate, I expect foreigner lynch mobs looking for any Imperial citizen they can get their hands on, Imperial citizens who are desperate to deliver one of their own to the authorities" - Takao notices a twinge in her voice there - "and, of course, the enemies we made before we even arrived here. An extra pair of eyes and another blade is most welcome...Takao-san." Another twitch. Takao can tell that she'd reflexively address him as -sama, as a superior, if he hadn't already placed her in that position with his address. She seems unused to being given formal respect.
"Why don't you go inside and meet the rest of the group, Takao-san?" Kasumi says, motioning past Yukio to the front door of Hilga's residence. "The others might be back by now, as well. You should meet the rest of the group, get to know them."
Takao nods and steps inside. He hasn't made up his mind about these people yet. It is clear that they not people of rank, but just using status as a convenient disguise. But what does that make them? Certainly not simple bandits or thieves. Takao has met his fair share of those during his travels. But what else could they be? Spies? Revolutionaries? He is glad now that he did not enter a retainership with Kasumi which would bind him to her commands, instead leaving him some leeway to act upon what he feels right. He will honor his word and not betray this group, but neither will he follow them blindly for now.
As soon as Takao steps into the house, Yukio takes Kasumi aside.
"Where did you find him and why did you bring him here?"
Kasumi shrugs in confusion. "I was walking down the waterfront, trying to clear my head after shouting at the messenger, and he just walked up to me and offered his services. He seemed to be looking for us, or someone like us, and I figured it would be better to keep him where we can see him, instead of letting him wander around. He didn't have anyone following him or watching over him that I saw, so I figure he's what he says he is. We'll just have to be careful about what he knows, yeah?" She shakes her head and takes Yukio's hand. "Either he's after you or us, and in which case it's better to have him here, or he's genuinely offering his aid, which we could certainly use."
"I see your logic," Yukio says. "It's just... we're in enough trouble as is. Who knows what he's adding to the pile?"
"Whatever it is, if he does have any problems, they don't seem to concern him that much," Kasumi says, then smiles at Yukio. "So, what did you want to talk to me about? I assume you were waiting out here for a reason."
"No, I just enjoy snarling at the passing foreigners a lot," Yukio quips. "But I'm worried about Sadatsugu. Toshi's told me more about his condition — he really needs to get out of that barn and into a warm place where a skilled healer can watch him."
Yukio sighs.
"What do we do if, despite everything, he dies?"
"We'll see what the messenger does if that happens," Kasumi says. "I don't know if I can move him, even with her help. It's really a three person job, two to move him, one to keep watch. I don't want to put you in harm's way, Yukio, but if you're willing to help..."
"I'll help carry him," she says. "There's plenty of sharp eyes among us, but some jobs do require physical strength like mine."
Kasumi smiles and bumps her hip into Yukio's. "Hey, I'm doing pretty good with your strength training." She lets one hand go of Yukio's and flexes a bit. "We'll just see how much of the lifting is all your doing."
"That sounds to me like you just volunteered to grab his feet," Yukio says with a grin. "Come on, let us go inside and see how this Takao fellow is doing."
"And then evening exercises?" Kasumi asks, a twinkle in her eye.
Takao walks into the room. He straightens up as he enters, turning out to be physically quite imposing, tall (at least for an Imperial), and broad-shouldered. His arms, usually tucked into his hakama (those who have seen Yojimbo or Sanjuro will have a good image of this) are currently loose at his side. He is in his mid- to late twenties, old enough to have seen and lived through combat, but young enough to still hold on to ideals. His general appearance is that of one who attempts to maintain a standard, but is short on money: his hair is cut, but his shave is already several days old. His clothing is of good quality, but worn, even threadbare in some places. Two swords are tucked into his obi, but atypically, they are both katana. One is as worn as its master. The saya has many scratches and scores, as if this sword had been used in combat without its sheath ever being removed. The other one looks very much out of place, stolen even: the saya is lacquered with a dark blue that is almost black, the craftsmanship of the tsuba and tsuka are exquisite without being ostentatious.
Takao bows in greeting to those present as he enters. He lets his gaze wander around the entire room trying to find out more about this group of strange people. Those paying attention will notice that he tries to keep everyone in his view as much as possible without being obvious about it.
Toshiba wanders down to catch the newcomer's entrance. He notes the obvious stance of one trained in combat, the unorthodox choices in weaponry, and the penniless look to the man. He'll fit right in, Toshiba thinks.
For his part, Toshiba Shiretoko is of course wearing the azure lacquered armor of the Blue Oni. He carries no sword, although Takao spots several knives strapped to the armor in an ad-hoc after-the-fact fashion. Toshiba's face is dark with many months spent in the wilderness, with premature lines showing at his eyes and mouth. While nowhere near as barbaric-looking as the devils wandering the foreign city, Toshiba clearly doesn't mind facial hair. His seeming disdain for regimented personal grooming is in marked contrast to how ridiculously nice and clean his hair actually is. He seems simultaneously embarrassed and proud of it.
Takao and Toshiba spend some time in the common room in comfortable silence. Neither of the two has seen fit to make formal introductions, and neither's going to let the other walk away without following them. Still, between two seasoned warriors, there's no edginess or nervousness to the situation - just a nice, relaxing sitdown.
If only it could stay that way!
The door flies open, producing Toshi — clad in foreign garb and wearing a large hat, as if to disguise his Imperial features. His eyes fly from Takao to Toshiba and back a few times; as if to make up for his hasty entry, he closes the door behind him.
"Uhm, hello," he says to Takao, not sure how to handle the stranger. "Do you know where my wife is?" he asks Toshiba.
Takao bows to Toshi as he enters, just like he bowed to Toshiba upon his entrance. Not sure of the status of the others around him, but fairly sure he as a ronin ranks pretty low (or at least should, given the appearance of the others), he will not speak unless addressed. He replies to Toshi's greeting with a "Komban-wa, sama." Seeing the uncertainty in Toshi's eyes, he adds "Kasumi-sama has offered me an opportunity to learn about gaijin and their exotic weaponry in exchange for my services. From my observations, I have come to assume that the two will be closely connected."
"Exotic weaponry?" Toshiba perks an eyebrow. "I happen to have just the thing!" He rushes off, clearly excited to find someone who might know how to work the damnable contraption he brings back down - one of the foreign devils' gunpowder weapons. Toshiba's also brought his arbalest, in case the ronin takes an interest in that as well. "I know how to operate it, more or less, but I am hardly a marksman with this thing. I much prefer the steadiness and silence of a good knife."
Upon seeing the weapon, Takao's calm warrior demeanor is gone instantly, replaced first by awe, then excitement entirely unfitting for a warrior. "You have one?!? This is most amazing! I do not know how to operate one, I only have seen it done from afar, and then have heard tales about it. Do you have balls, and powder? I know those are necessary. I am indebted to you for showing me this, and would be even more so if you would let me study it for a while!" Takao recovers a bit, remembering where he is and that he does not know much about his company, but the gleam of excitement remains in his eyes.
(Toshiba OOC: Do I have pot and chowder for it? Er, shot and powder?)
(GM OOC: I don't know, did you loot any from the corpses at the ninja fortress?
Yeah, we'll say you have some powder and a few bullets for the gonne. Not that you know how to use them, but Takao's heard enough about the foreign boomsticks that he can load one and fire it with only a low risk of blowing himself up.)"Let's go out back," Toshiba says to Takao. "We can see if we can spot any cats or birds upon which to try this gonne."
"Do you think the report will go unnoticed in this area? While I am eager to try out this weapon, I am a bit worried about the attention we might attract. The crowds outside are still tense, and I have a feeling that Imperials with gaijin weapons will not go over well. Maybe there is a more out-of-the-way location?"
Takao is about to learn more about the gaijin weaponry in the next hour than he has learned in all of his previous travels, but he is overcome by a sudden uncertainty: is he breaking Imperial Law? Is this a dishonorable weapon? If it is for the good of the Empire, for the good of his former and maybe future Lord, isn't is his duty to take this dishonor upon him? Isn't this why he became ronin in first place, to keep the name of his Lord unsullied if the good of the Empire requires it? But what if the cost to his honore is too high? No, he cannot falter so close to his goal; he must at least use this "gonne" once, find out what he has learned so far is true, and learn more.
(Takao OOC: I want to use the Craft skill to load the gonne, and take time to get it right. Takao has of course heard of the mishaps as well.... Hopefully, that will reduce the chance of it blowing up in his face.)
Toshiba looks like he didn't realize the gonne would be so boisterous. "Oh, I suppose perhaps you are right about the racket. I'm afraid we have not been here terribly long and I'm not sure there is a place..." Toshiba trails off. "Wait! The docks! We could attempt to fire off into the water."
"A more remote place would be preferable. I believe I saw a small grove not far from the city, where this would go unnoticed."
(Takao OOC: Are there any upcoming festivals with fireworks and the like, or some other noisy event?
(GM OOC: Leaving the city right now is...difficult. I won't say it's impossible, but it's probably more trouble than it's worth for just one shot.)
Toshiba shakes his head. There's a momentary flash of annoyance. "One of their officials was murdered and they have closed their city until the culprit or culprits are found. I will speak to the lady whose house this is; I'm sure another person would be no trouble. That is, of course, if you did not already have a place to stay?"
"A place to stay would be most welcome. Indeed, I was just on my way to look for work, when I crossed paths with Kasumi-sama. I don't wish to impose, however, if it is any trouble."
"What is your purpose here in the city, if I may ask? It seems clear that you are expecting violent confrontation, if Kasumi-sama thinks that a person with my skills could be of assistance."
We came here following the trail of my former captain, killed by my own hand, in order to figure out who so desperately wants Yukio dead. To leave this city, we must frame an innocent man for a murder committed by my friends' clanmate. Toshiba thinks this as he instead explains, "We were kept here by the unfortunate murder I mentioned before, so in order to bring things to their conclusion we have offered our investigatory skills to the local magistrate. In my experience, investigating murders often makes you a target as well, hence our appreciation of your assistance. From a more... cynical perspective, I might add that it is better to have your sword at our side than take the risk of facing you as an enemy for whatsoever reason."
"Cynical it may be, but also honest. You need not worry; while I am ronin, I am as sincere as any samurai. It is my honor to have permitted to join a compassionate group such as yourselves, courageously risking your lives to find the perpetrator and ease the tensions and danger to all Imperials in this city." Takao bows once more.
"Forgive my audacity for asking, but I don't suppose there would be food to be had, while you and your companions are contemplating your next step?"
"Of course," Toshiba agrees. They retire to the larder and make use of it as only two famished fighting-men can.
Mister Andersen
(Feb 12 - 28, 2011)
Getting in through the inn's roof hatch is easy work for Kage-"Rooftops is my middle name"-maru. He makes his way downstairs, where he finds a man who must be Adler, judging from his cloak and the way his sneaky mojo seems to cancel out Kagemaru's quite nicely. The two men look at each other — Kagemaru's face hidden behind his mask, Adler's under his hood. The thief breaks the silence.
"And what might your name be, man of shadows?"
(GM OOC: Aiko will come in in a bit, I just want to get the basic introduction out of the way. How do you want to enter? Sneaky, or confront Adler?)
"You can call me Tsubasa. You are 'Adler' I assume?" Kagemaru says, while moving into a more favourable position. He finds a corner with a very low probability of surprise attacks. Because as all Ninjas, Kagemaru prefers to be on the dishing out side of one of those.
"The very same," Adler replies, moving to the corner with Kagemaru in a careful, intricately-plotted dance - neither man wants to give the other an opening for a sudden attack. "I've not had the pleasure, so let me expound on my modus operandi - tit for tat, an answer for an answer. If you've the mind for it, I'm sure you'll quite enjoy the sensation of me owing you information. And to be a good sport, I shall begin the game. Are you the assassin this city is seeking?"
Kagemaru nods slightly and adds "sounds fair." The first question of his opponent seems easy enough. "No, I'm not. If I were, they wouldn't be searching for a scapegoat now," Kagemaru says with a hint of sadness in his voice. "Why were your underlings watching the imperials at the crime scene?"
"A quick and honest answer that flatters your skill, my friend," Adler replies, smiling under his hood. "If I had mind to toy with you, I would answer the truth - that my men watch many things in this city - but I shall be forthright: the assassination is simply terrible for business, and I suspect Van Synt will use it as a pretext to smother me and build his own power. I am quite interested in keeping the balance of power where it is."
His eyes bore into Kagemaru.
"What is your relationship with the Imperials who aid Van Synt's quest? Art thou ally, foe... observer?"
"I am one of them," Kagemaru says without hesitation and carefully asks his next question, "What can you tell me about the ninja clan, that seems to be hunting your runners?"
"I..." Adler begins, then stops, as if thinking. "I do not know of which clan you speak," he says. "But an answer owed is an answer given; I will endeavor to identify the clan, if a description is provided."
Kagemaru is honestly surprised, that a man as good informed as Adler did not yet hear about at least the incident he witnessed. "Just before coming here, I ran into one of my allies who was battling four ninjas. She tried to save two of your runners, but sadly failed. I cut a sample out of the ninjas clothes," Kage says and hands Adler the small piece of cloth.
Adler's face — well, what you can see of it — sours instantly upon seeing the piece of clan uniform.
"Confound it!" he spits. "They are Killer Bees. A plague upon the Eastern regions of your Empire, and no strangers to this city. I thought I'd made it clear to them that they are unwelcome, but they must feel emboldened by the recent chaos to move against me. Yet... I do not think them the work of Van Synt. He is a lowly dog, but he lacks the means and ways to have a clan of Imperial assassins do his work. No, this is someone else's handiwork."
Adler claps his hands together. "Our acquaintance may be brief, 'Tsubasa', but I've a proposal. I will provide a name, and you see to it that you find him the culprit in the assassination of Herr Tingarson. You may not even have to resort to trickery; he is in league with the Killer Bees, and is not the entire city aflame for an Imperial assassin? Why, it would be a simple matter to convince the good citizens that it was this troublesome clan that struck down our magistrate...and provide them with someone to punish."
Aiko's pace as she legs it back to Adler's chosen meeting place is relentless; the investigator pushes herself (and her environment), a direct route through the two blocks is found, and a bare minute later, her latest jump, drop and roll lands her at the back of the inn. Aiko presses up against the wall, too mindful of her heavy step and heavy breath to risk going inside and be discovered before she knows what's going on.
(1d20+1 (Aiko's Sneak, untrained) =
(1d20+8 (Aiko's Search) = 13. Not enough to hear what's going on inside - DC 20. Go in loud now, try sneaking inside, different approach?)
Aiko attempts to silently move closer, mentally cursing her blunt nature now when a more subtle approach would benefit her. Of course, when there were others to whom such an approach was natural in alliance with her it hadn't been a problem.
(1d20+1 (Aiko's Sneak, untrained) = 3)
Aiko opens the door — really quietly. Her footsteps through the kitchen past some flickering candles and precariously balanced pots are silent as well, tip-toeing as she does to get closer to the conversation.
"--would be a simple matter to convince the good citizens that it was this troublesome clan that struck down our magistrate... and provide them with someone to punish," she hears Adler say, clearly in conversation with someone. She creeps close to the main room's door and chances a look. Adler and a man wrapped head to toe in dark fabric sit at a table in the corner, obviously sunk into conversation. A ninja! Maybe even the one who's responsible for this mess.
"Won't you join us, Aiko?" Adler says, not turning from facing the ninja but loud enough for the whole (empty) inn to hear. "You cast a long shadow, dear."
Aiko's eyes dart for the wall: the candlelight silhouettes her against the wall, seemingly clear as day. Damn, this stealth thing really does have nuances.
The ronin inquisitor purses her lips, then shrugs phlegmatically.
"Deception is not my forte," she answers in the imperial tongue, returning her jitte to their sheathes beneath the jacket of her gaijin clothes; in the half-light it's difficult to determine which race claims her as its own. "I was aware of this one's presence as I left and once I realised he was not pursuing me, I felt obliged to return and ascertain your safety."
"My safety is assured, Aiko, but I convey my thanks to you nevertheless," Adler replies. "Now please have a seat and do play by the rules of my house."
Aiko raises an eyebrow as she grabs a chair and places it between the two men along the side of the table, maybe a little closer to Adler than the ninja. "And what do your house rules have to say about three player instead of the usual two?" she asks.
"The precise amount of nothing," Adler says with a slight smile. "It strikes me that you and I, as well as my new friend and I, should keep our previous scores, such as they were, while you two should start on even ground. I trust we can each follow two scores instead of one, yes?" Adler chuckles to himself. "Oh dear, I seem to have given you a freebie."
Aiko shrugs. "Only fair, since you have already given the freebie to him."
"I assume the freebie is used on both sides for the same question: 'Who is this?'" Kagemaru says, while eyeballing Aiko.
"Your choice," Adler says to Aiko.
Aiko casts a glance in Adler's direction, then back to the ninja. "Inaba Aiko," she introduces herself.
"And this is Tsubasa," Adler says. "Now that we can all address each other — you have both sought me out in search of answers. Mayhap you leave tonight with a single purpose, mayhap you shall be at each other's throat one question hence. I must admit to being terribly excited, though I would thank you to keep the inventory out of any eventual fights."
"I'm sure the best effort will be made by both parties," Aiko assures the thief lord.
Adler notices the two Imperials stare at each other for a while, both carefully maneuvering their words for defending their secrets.
"I am satisfied that I have reached agreements with both of you individually," he says, "but perhaps you are not comfortable revealing information in questions to each other while I get to freely grasp your secrets out of the air. If neither of you have further inquiries of me, I pose as suggestion that I leave you alone — or that you both meet in another place of your choosing. It matters not to me, I just find a table where none dare make a move dreadfully boring."
Aiko nods. "I think we shall both be happy with you as a distant referee," she answers Adler's suggestion
Kagemaru nods to Adler and waits until he's gone.
"Alrighty then. What brings you to this town, Aiko?" the Ninja asks, hoping to get the conversation rolling.
Aiko considers her answer for a moment. "Vendetta," she says at last. "You?"
"Manhunt," Kagemaru replies and adds "So, who are you hunting?"
"Murderers with access to gaijin firearms who were either careless — or very careful — to leave evidence of their use where it would be found. And you?"
"Someone who hired ninjas to assassinate a friend of mine," Kagemaru answers.
"Other ninjas," Aiko specifies.
"Actually no..." Kagemaru says slowly and continues after a long pause, "they hired our clan to do it. A contract full of lies and deception."
Aiko raises an eyebrow. "I'd never have thought the ninja clans would accept an outsider's contract on one of their own."
"It's a tad more complicated than that. Our target became a friend while we were looking for her," Kagemaru tries to condense a whole Adventure into as few words as possible. "To come back to your problem though, we have encountered these 'Gonne' before. We are also looking into how they got here and what they are planning to do with them."
The Inquisitor nods. "So, you chose your friend over your duty to your clan. I've known those who have committed seppuku for less. You must care for your new friend very much."
"Well, it's hard to explain without going into the rules of our clan, but let's say that the clan decided to cancel that contract because of all the deception behind it." Kagemaru explains and adds with a smile behind his mask "But yeah, we do care for her."
She nods. "Honour of a different kind. There is comfort to be had in that. And so your hunt for her malefactors has led you here, as my hunt for mine has me. Is it possible that the two are one in the same?"
"It is possible," the ninja admits. "And if it is - would you add your strength to ours?"
Aiko nods. "It would seem the prudent thing to do."
Getting in through the inn's roof hatch is easy work for Kage-"Rooftops is my middle name"-maru. He makes his way downstairs, where he finds a man who must be Adler, judging from his cloak and the way his sneaky mojo seems to cancel out Kagemaru's quite nicely. The two men look at each other — Kagemaru's face hidden behind his mask, Adler's under his hood. The thief breaks the silence.
"And what might your name be, man of shadows?"
(GM OOC: Aiko will come in in a bit, I just want to get the basic introduction out of the way. How do you want to enter? Sneaky, or confront Adler?)
"You can call me Tsubasa. You are 'Adler' I assume?" Kagemaru says, while moving into a more favourable position. He finds a corner with a very low probability of surprise attacks. Because as all Ninjas, Kagemaru prefers to be on the dishing out side of one of those.
"The very same," Adler replies, moving to the corner with Kagemaru in a careful, intricately-plotted dance - neither man wants to give the other an opening for a sudden attack. "I've not had the pleasure, so let me expound on my modus operandi - tit for tat, an answer for an answer. If you've the mind for it, I'm sure you'll quite enjoy the sensation of me owing you information. And to be a good sport, I shall begin the game. Are you the assassin this city is seeking?"
Kagemaru nods slightly and adds "sounds fair." The first question of his opponent seems easy enough. "No, I'm not. If I were, they wouldn't be searching for a scapegoat now," Kagemaru says with a hint of sadness in his voice. "Why were your underlings watching the imperials at the crime scene?"
"A quick and honest answer that flatters your skill, my friend," Adler replies, smiling under his hood. "If I had mind to toy with you, I would answer the truth - that my men watch many things in this city - but I shall be forthright: the assassination is simply terrible for business, and I suspect Van Synt will use it as a pretext to smother me and build his own power. I am quite interested in keeping the balance of power where it is."
His eyes bore into Kagemaru.
"What is your relationship with the Imperials who aid Van Synt's quest? Art thou ally, foe... observer?"
"I am one of them," Kagemaru says without hesitation and carefully asks his next question, "What can you tell me about the ninja clan, that seems to be hunting your runners?"
"I..." Adler begins, then stops, as if thinking. "I do not know of which clan you speak," he says. "But an answer owed is an answer given; I will endeavor to identify the clan, if a description is provided."
Kagemaru is honestly surprised, that a man as good informed as Adler did not yet hear about at least the incident he witnessed. "Just before coming here, I ran into one of my allies who was battling four ninjas. She tried to save two of your runners, but sadly failed. I cut a sample out of the ninjas clothes," Kage says and hands Adler the small piece of cloth.
Adler's face — well, what you can see of it — sours instantly upon seeing the piece of clan uniform.
"Confound it!" he spits. "They are Killer Bees. A plague upon the Eastern regions of your Empire, and no strangers to this city. I thought I'd made it clear to them that they are unwelcome, but they must feel emboldened by the recent chaos to move against me. Yet... I do not think them the work of Van Synt. He is a lowly dog, but he lacks the means and ways to have a clan of Imperial assassins do his work. No, this is someone else's handiwork."
Adler claps his hands together. "Our acquaintance may be brief, 'Tsubasa', but I've a proposal. I will provide a name, and you see to it that you find him the culprit in the assassination of Herr Tingarson. You may not even have to resort to trickery; he is in league with the Killer Bees, and is not the entire city aflame for an Imperial assassin? Why, it would be a simple matter to convince the good citizens that it was this troublesome clan that struck down our magistrate...and provide them with someone to punish."
Aiko's pace as she legs it back to Adler's chosen meeting place is relentless; the investigator pushes herself (and her environment), a direct route through the two blocks is found, and a bare minute later, her latest jump, drop and roll lands her at the back of the inn. Aiko presses up against the wall, too mindful of her heavy step and heavy breath to risk going inside and be discovered before she knows what's going on.
(1d20+1 (Aiko's Sneak, untrained) =
(1d20+8 (Aiko's Search) = 13. Not enough to hear what's going on inside - DC 20. Go in loud now, try sneaking inside, different approach?)
Aiko attempts to silently move closer, mentally cursing her blunt nature now when a more subtle approach would benefit her. Of course, when there were others to whom such an approach was natural in alliance with her it hadn't been a problem.
(1d20+1 (Aiko's Sneak, untrained) = 3)
Aiko opens the door — really quietly. Her footsteps through the kitchen past some flickering candles and precariously balanced pots are silent as well, tip-toeing as she does to get closer to the conversation.
"--would be a simple matter to convince the good citizens that it was this troublesome clan that struck down our magistrate... and provide them with someone to punish," she hears Adler say, clearly in conversation with someone. She creeps close to the main room's door and chances a look. Adler and a man wrapped head to toe in dark fabric sit at a table in the corner, obviously sunk into conversation. A ninja! Maybe even the one who's responsible for this mess.
"Won't you join us, Aiko?" Adler says, not turning from facing the ninja but loud enough for the whole (empty) inn to hear. "You cast a long shadow, dear."
Aiko's eyes dart for the wall: the candlelight silhouettes her against the wall, seemingly clear as day. Damn, this stealth thing really does have nuances.
The ronin inquisitor purses her lips, then shrugs phlegmatically.
"Deception is not my forte," she answers in the imperial tongue, returning her jitte to their sheathes beneath the jacket of her gaijin clothes; in the half-light it's difficult to determine which race claims her as its own. "I was aware of this one's presence as I left and once I realised he was not pursuing me, I felt obliged to return and ascertain your safety."
"My safety is assured, Aiko, but I convey my thanks to you nevertheless," Adler replies. "Now please have a seat and do play by the rules of my house."
Aiko raises an eyebrow as she grabs a chair and places it between the two men along the side of the table, maybe a little closer to Adler than the ninja. "And what do your house rules have to say about three player instead of the usual two?" she asks.
"The precise amount of nothing," Adler says with a slight smile. "It strikes me that you and I, as well as my new friend and I, should keep our previous scores, such as they were, while you two should start on even ground. I trust we can each follow two scores instead of one, yes?" Adler chuckles to himself. "Oh dear, I seem to have given you a freebie."
Aiko shrugs. "Only fair, since you have already given the freebie to him."
"I assume the freebie is used on both sides for the same question: 'Who is this?'" Kagemaru says, while eyeballing Aiko.
"Your choice," Adler says to Aiko.
Aiko casts a glance in Adler's direction, then back to the ninja. "Inaba Aiko," she introduces herself.
"And this is Tsubasa," Adler says. "Now that we can all address each other — you have both sought me out in search of answers. Mayhap you leave tonight with a single purpose, mayhap you shall be at each other's throat one question hence. I must admit to being terribly excited, though I would thank you to keep the inventory out of any eventual fights."
"I'm sure the best effort will be made by both parties," Aiko assures the thief lord.
Adler notices the two Imperials stare at each other for a while, both carefully maneuvering their words for defending their secrets.
"I am satisfied that I have reached agreements with both of you individually," he says, "but perhaps you are not comfortable revealing information in questions to each other while I get to freely grasp your secrets out of the air. If neither of you have further inquiries of me, I pose as suggestion that I leave you alone — or that you both meet in another place of your choosing. It matters not to me, I just find a table where none dare make a move dreadfully boring."
Aiko nods. "I think we shall both be happy with you as a distant referee," she answers Adler's suggestion
Kagemaru nods to Adler and waits until he's gone.
"Alrighty then. What brings you to this town, Aiko?" the Ninja asks, hoping to get the conversation rolling.
Aiko considers her answer for a moment. "Vendetta," she says at last. "You?"
"Manhunt," Kagemaru replies and adds "So, who are you hunting?"
"Murderers with access to gaijin firearms who were either careless — or very careful — to leave evidence of their use where it would be found. And you?"
"Someone who hired ninjas to assassinate a friend of mine," Kagemaru answers.
"Other ninjas," Aiko specifies.
"Actually no..." Kagemaru says slowly and continues after a long pause, "they hired our clan to do it. A contract full of lies and deception."
Aiko raises an eyebrow. "I'd never have thought the ninja clans would accept an outsider's contract on one of their own."
"It's a tad more complicated than that. Our target became a friend while we were looking for her," Kagemaru tries to condense a whole Adventure into as few words as possible. "To come back to your problem though, we have encountered these 'Gonne' before. We are also looking into how they got here and what they are planning to do with them."
The Inquisitor nods. "So, you chose your friend over your duty to your clan. I've known those who have committed seppuku for less. You must care for your new friend very much."
"Well, it's hard to explain without going into the rules of our clan, but let's say that the clan decided to cancel that contract because of all the deception behind it." Kagemaru explains and adds with a smile behind his mask "But yeah, we do care for her."
She nods. "Honour of a different kind. There is comfort to be had in that. And so your hunt for her malefactors has led you here, as my hunt for mine has me. Is it possible that the two are one in the same?"
"It is possible," the ninja admits. "And if it is - would you add your strength to ours?"
Aiko nods. "It would seem the prudent thing to do."
Mister Andersen
(Feb 19 - 20, 2011)
With Kasumi's skill at disguise applied intelligently, both she and Yukio quickly learn that finely-dressed and armed samurai women draw far more attention than two Imperial workers with a horsecart. The journey to the stables goes without incident, and inside, Yukio's strength makes it easy to move Sadatsugu into the back of the cart, where you hide him in the hay. The ninja's looking worse for wear since you last saw him - for starters, he's unconscious and sweaty with a fever, and the bandages on his wounds are now more useful for cultivating infections than staunching the bleeding. His pale face is a grim reminder of his dire need for a very skilled physician.
The tension on the streets is a simmering one - people who cast dismissive glances at you if they notice you at all, localized displays of passion around street criers, and few other Imperials out and about, save for the day laborers who cannot afford to huddle up in their homes. You wonder what's worse for the city at this point - letting the tension keep simmering as the murderer eludes the authorities, or let all this pent-up anger come to the surface in a big, showy execution.
The messenger's hiding spot is the back room of a blacksmith's shop — undoubtedly an Ayami clan safehouse. The foreign blacksmith running the front seems trustworthy enough, and such a shop has loud noises and a stream of people going in and out, making it a good choice of hiding place. The back door gives you a well-hidden way to usher Sadatsugu inside, where the messenger already awaits. The guarded ninja is definitely less so in the presence of her brother, eagerly helping you move him into a warm bed and grabbing for a wet towel to wipe the sweat from his face.
"I hope you have good news," she says to Kasumi and Yukio. "Because we have a new problem. A rival clan is in town. And they're working for our best target."
"One problem at a time," Kasumi says. "Your brother is in trouble, and we need to get this wound cleaned and bled now. Does your man here have any clean sponges and soap?"
"Few things are clean in a blacksmith's shop," the messenger replies snippily, then bites her lip. "I will see that I can find something suitable."
"Fine, then get just any sponge or a rag or anything I can use to scrub out his wound," Kasumi snaps back. Once the messenger walks off into the shop, Kasumi starts undressing Sadatsugu's wound and cleaning it out with water. "That woman," she says, leaving it at that.
Yukio steps next to Kasumi, ready to offer her help.
"It's a dark time for her," she says. "What can I do?"
Kasumi looks at Yukio, then back at Sadatsugu. "We're going to need to change his bandages a lot tonight. Can you look around the room, see if you can find any rags that we can boil for bandages?"
"Got it," Yukio says, and starts tossing the room. A few rags are in ready supply, though it looks like they'll need quite a bit of boiling to become anything approaching clean and sterile.
"I know that it's a hard time for her," Kasumi continues while washing Sadatsugu's wound, "but she's never been more than a dangerous cipher the entire time I've known her, which is after Kagemaru and Kiara knew she was watching us, I might add. She could have opened with 'my brother is in trouble, I need your help in getting him out of town,' and that would have been enough for me. Instead, she brings her clan into it, threatens to bring them all down around our heads, or at least make them distinctly uninterested in helping us find your assassins, and the whole time basically acts like she's better than we are, like we're beneath her and that we're somehow in need of proving that we're worthy of helping her. If she's looking for our aid, she knows who we are. She could have just asked, but instead she threatens us, she threatens you." Kasumi shakes her head. "I get it, this is a hard time. But that is incredibly poor behavior even for that."
"She is not a pleasant person," Yukio concludes, but adds a sigh. "I was inconsolable for a week when I heard of my brother's death. But at least it was a done deal, and I could tell myself that it had nothing to do with me, that there was nothing to be done. She feels like she's responsible - and failing very badly." Yukio shakes her head. "It's no excuse, I know. But I wonder how I act when my Toshiro is in danger. What I would do were he struck and dying. How I would treat the people who try to help me..."
Kasumi kisses Yukio on the cheek before going back to Sadatsugu. "Better than she treats us, I know. Mostly because you'd be too busy cutting a bloody swath through the enemy ranks to say much." She smiles.
"Would that every problem could be solved with sharpened steel and sure hands," Yukio says.
"I found some stuff," the messenger says, carrying a wooden crate with various quote-unquote hygienic supplies in it. You spot several pieces of soap among the collection, along with what passes for basic suturing items. "Water will take a while still to heat up. How is my brother?"
(Kasumi Medicine: [1d20+4] = 5)
How is Sadatsugu? Not so great, Kasumi concludes. Keeping him warm and his wounds clean is the obvious treatment, but beyond that, there doesn't seem to be an easy fix in reach.
"Not good, but not about to die," Kasumi says. "I can clean and maybe close his wound, but he's hurt badly. I only know very basic medicine, if you have any medical training or can find a doctor..." Kasumi's eyes stop focusing on the messenger and look out the door towards the blacksmith shop.
"What are you looking at?" the messenger asks, oblivious to Kasumi's meaningful glance.
"I need a piece of steel from your blacksmith's shop," Kasumi says. "Do you have any clothes besides your uniform?" she asks the messenger.
"I brought a few disguises," the messenger says. "Are you going to explain your plan to me now?"
"We need a doctor, and a plausible reason for one to come here," Kasumi says. "This is a blacksmith's shop, there's lots of ways to injure yourself in exactly this way. If we dress him and you like his assistants and bloody up a suitably sword-shaped piece of steel, it should look like you simply tried to get our help to clean his wound."
The messenger raises an eyebrow. There's probably a few more things going on with her face, but it's hard to see behind her mask.
"A good plan," she agrees. "But we must open up and bandage the wound again; the doctor would hardly believe that we did not send for him for two days, would he?"
Kasumi stands and her body language shifts towards panic. " 'Oh, a doctor, thank the Gods! We thought we could take care of him, but it's been a few days now and his wound's really starting to smell and we don't know what to do!'" Her display over, she goes back to cleaning the wound. "Think that will work?"
"...yes," the messenger admits. You realize that she's never had to send for a doctor who was not part of her clan, an instant response to any injury she is now denied. "I will acquire the costumes and hurry back." She turns, hesitates, then turns back to Kasumi.
"Take care of my brother," she says. "Please."
Kasumi looks back at the messenger. Her face doesn't soften, but her expression does communicate how serious she is about getting her brother to safety. "I intend to. Don't worry, we'll get him out of here."
"I should hurry," the messenger says, and does just that, dashing through the door with silent steps. Kasumi can hear the smile on Yukio's lips.
"Give it a few months and she may even thank you," Yukio says.
"Maybe," Kasumi says, and wets a clean rag to start cleaning the fluids out of the wound. Kasumi shoots Yukio a quick smile. "I have to say, I was hoping to spend my first night with you elbow deep in something very different."
Yukio winces at that. "I choose to believe you meant a philosophical debate there," she says. "You might not guess it looking at me, but I prefer a gentler approach." She grins. "And my husband Toshi well understands the virtues of such."
Kasumi stands and takes an exaggerated bow. "Then please, excuse me, my lady. Come, help me sew his wound closed and then we can discuss philosophy until the messenger comes back." She smiles at Yukio's skeptical look. "A court geisha needs to be well-versed in all manner of fields of discussion."
"Perhaps we can discuss one of my passions, then," Yukio says. "What do you know about theatre?"
Kasumi hands Yukio the thread while she takes the needle as she sits down shoulder-to-shoulder with her. "What play would my lady prefer to discuss?"
"I'm quite partial to Sakura Samurai..."
With Kasumi's skill at disguise applied intelligently, both she and Yukio quickly learn that finely-dressed and armed samurai women draw far more attention than two Imperial workers with a horsecart. The journey to the stables goes without incident, and inside, Yukio's strength makes it easy to move Sadatsugu into the back of the cart, where you hide him in the hay. The ninja's looking worse for wear since you last saw him - for starters, he's unconscious and sweaty with a fever, and the bandages on his wounds are now more useful for cultivating infections than staunching the bleeding. His pale face is a grim reminder of his dire need for a very skilled physician.
The tension on the streets is a simmering one - people who cast dismissive glances at you if they notice you at all, localized displays of passion around street criers, and few other Imperials out and about, save for the day laborers who cannot afford to huddle up in their homes. You wonder what's worse for the city at this point - letting the tension keep simmering as the murderer eludes the authorities, or let all this pent-up anger come to the surface in a big, showy execution.
The messenger's hiding spot is the back room of a blacksmith's shop — undoubtedly an Ayami clan safehouse. The foreign blacksmith running the front seems trustworthy enough, and such a shop has loud noises and a stream of people going in and out, making it a good choice of hiding place. The back door gives you a well-hidden way to usher Sadatsugu inside, where the messenger already awaits. The guarded ninja is definitely less so in the presence of her brother, eagerly helping you move him into a warm bed and grabbing for a wet towel to wipe the sweat from his face.
"I hope you have good news," she says to Kasumi and Yukio. "Because we have a new problem. A rival clan is in town. And they're working for our best target."
"One problem at a time," Kasumi says. "Your brother is in trouble, and we need to get this wound cleaned and bled now. Does your man here have any clean sponges and soap?"
"Few things are clean in a blacksmith's shop," the messenger replies snippily, then bites her lip. "I will see that I can find something suitable."
"Fine, then get just any sponge or a rag or anything I can use to scrub out his wound," Kasumi snaps back. Once the messenger walks off into the shop, Kasumi starts undressing Sadatsugu's wound and cleaning it out with water. "That woman," she says, leaving it at that.
Yukio steps next to Kasumi, ready to offer her help.
"It's a dark time for her," she says. "What can I do?"
Kasumi looks at Yukio, then back at Sadatsugu. "We're going to need to change his bandages a lot tonight. Can you look around the room, see if you can find any rags that we can boil for bandages?"
"Got it," Yukio says, and starts tossing the room. A few rags are in ready supply, though it looks like they'll need quite a bit of boiling to become anything approaching clean and sterile.
"I know that it's a hard time for her," Kasumi continues while washing Sadatsugu's wound, "but she's never been more than a dangerous cipher the entire time I've known her, which is after Kagemaru and Kiara knew she was watching us, I might add. She could have opened with 'my brother is in trouble, I need your help in getting him out of town,' and that would have been enough for me. Instead, she brings her clan into it, threatens to bring them all down around our heads, or at least make them distinctly uninterested in helping us find your assassins, and the whole time basically acts like she's better than we are, like we're beneath her and that we're somehow in need of proving that we're worthy of helping her. If she's looking for our aid, she knows who we are. She could have just asked, but instead she threatens us, she threatens you." Kasumi shakes her head. "I get it, this is a hard time. But that is incredibly poor behavior even for that."
"She is not a pleasant person," Yukio concludes, but adds a sigh. "I was inconsolable for a week when I heard of my brother's death. But at least it was a done deal, and I could tell myself that it had nothing to do with me, that there was nothing to be done. She feels like she's responsible - and failing very badly." Yukio shakes her head. "It's no excuse, I know. But I wonder how I act when my Toshiro is in danger. What I would do were he struck and dying. How I would treat the people who try to help me..."
Kasumi kisses Yukio on the cheek before going back to Sadatsugu. "Better than she treats us, I know. Mostly because you'd be too busy cutting a bloody swath through the enemy ranks to say much." She smiles.
"Would that every problem could be solved with sharpened steel and sure hands," Yukio says.
"I found some stuff," the messenger says, carrying a wooden crate with various quote-unquote hygienic supplies in it. You spot several pieces of soap among the collection, along with what passes for basic suturing items. "Water will take a while still to heat up. How is my brother?"
(Kasumi Medicine: [1d20+4] = 5)
How is Sadatsugu? Not so great, Kasumi concludes. Keeping him warm and his wounds clean is the obvious treatment, but beyond that, there doesn't seem to be an easy fix in reach.
"Not good, but not about to die," Kasumi says. "I can clean and maybe close his wound, but he's hurt badly. I only know very basic medicine, if you have any medical training or can find a doctor..." Kasumi's eyes stop focusing on the messenger and look out the door towards the blacksmith shop.
"What are you looking at?" the messenger asks, oblivious to Kasumi's meaningful glance.
"I need a piece of steel from your blacksmith's shop," Kasumi says. "Do you have any clothes besides your uniform?" she asks the messenger.
"I brought a few disguises," the messenger says. "Are you going to explain your plan to me now?"
"We need a doctor, and a plausible reason for one to come here," Kasumi says. "This is a blacksmith's shop, there's lots of ways to injure yourself in exactly this way. If we dress him and you like his assistants and bloody up a suitably sword-shaped piece of steel, it should look like you simply tried to get our help to clean his wound."
The messenger raises an eyebrow. There's probably a few more things going on with her face, but it's hard to see behind her mask.
"A good plan," she agrees. "But we must open up and bandage the wound again; the doctor would hardly believe that we did not send for him for two days, would he?"
Kasumi stands and her body language shifts towards panic. " 'Oh, a doctor, thank the Gods! We thought we could take care of him, but it's been a few days now and his wound's really starting to smell and we don't know what to do!'" Her display over, she goes back to cleaning the wound. "Think that will work?"
"...yes," the messenger admits. You realize that she's never had to send for a doctor who was not part of her clan, an instant response to any injury she is now denied. "I will acquire the costumes and hurry back." She turns, hesitates, then turns back to Kasumi.
"Take care of my brother," she says. "Please."
Kasumi looks back at the messenger. Her face doesn't soften, but her expression does communicate how serious she is about getting her brother to safety. "I intend to. Don't worry, we'll get him out of here."
"I should hurry," the messenger says, and does just that, dashing through the door with silent steps. Kasumi can hear the smile on Yukio's lips.
"Give it a few months and she may even thank you," Yukio says.
"Maybe," Kasumi says, and wets a clean rag to start cleaning the fluids out of the wound. Kasumi shoots Yukio a quick smile. "I have to say, I was hoping to spend my first night with you elbow deep in something very different."
Yukio winces at that. "I choose to believe you meant a philosophical debate there," she says. "You might not guess it looking at me, but I prefer a gentler approach." She grins. "And my husband Toshi well understands the virtues of such."
Kasumi stands and takes an exaggerated bow. "Then please, excuse me, my lady. Come, help me sew his wound closed and then we can discuss philosophy until the messenger comes back." She smiles at Yukio's skeptical look. "A court geisha needs to be well-versed in all manner of fields of discussion."
"Perhaps we can discuss one of my passions, then," Yukio says. "What do you know about theatre?"
Kasumi hands Yukio the thread while she takes the needle as she sits down shoulder-to-shoulder with her. "What play would my lady prefer to discuss?"
"I'm quite partial to Sakura Samurai..."