L<\/span><\/p>\n ate last night, Dasi used his spell to learn more about our assassin, feeding into it all we have learned over the past few days. What he got back was a portrait of loneliness.<\/span><\/p>\n Kaibuninsho\u2014the only name he is known by\u2014comes from an unassuming background and a family of no particular significance. He grew up in Sakakabe where he built a reputation for himself as a talented spy. Eventually, he was recruited into the Oni\u2019s Mask clan, where he branched out from espionage to assassination. From that point on he withdrew from the world, living as an island in the sea.<\/span><\/p>\n He\u2019s a man who has no one and nothing. All there is to his life is what he does: the next contract, the next kill, and the waiting between them. It\u2019s rumored he even moved against members of his own clan when it suited his purpose. At least Kimandatsu had friends.<\/span><\/p>\n How do people live like that? Why do they even bother living at all?<\/span><\/p>\n K<\/span><\/p>\n iomasu\u2019s village was little more than blackened remains. We descended into a patchwork of char and ash that bordered a mass grave. This was Sennaka\u2019s leadership, laid bare.<\/span><\/p>\n The story Kiomasu told us was unfortunately not new. Sennaka is demanding more and more from the people he rules: more money, more tribute, absolute veneration, and so on. If you don\u2019t comply, if you even falter, his men-at-arms show up and crush you. And this isn\u2019t just about morality: Sennaka is also a fool. Dead men and burned villages don\u2019t pay taxes.<\/span><\/p>\n We held a brief burial service for the victims, and the man from Enganoka whose corpse served his future empress. Kiomasu is still in shock and his grieving has only begun.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re back at the fortress now. Kiomasu\u2019s been temporarily settled in the growing refugee camp which Jiro and Hatsue set up to house villagers that are likely to be in the path of the looming attack. We have a couple of days before we need to meet the Nine Pawns at the resort, and if we\u2019re here we can at least contribute while we pass the time. Qatana will be placing wards around the courtyard and the guard posts we used to gain entry, and Olmas has some ideas to help prepare the still-untested soldiers for the battle.<\/span><\/p>\n Me? I reached out to Kaibuninsho again in part because I was bored, and in part because I don\u2019t want him causing trouble for us in Enganoka. We still need to go back there to meet with the other ninja clans.<\/span><\/p>\n The image in my mirror resolved to show him in a nondescript room, packing for a journey. I guess word travels fast.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>I just wanted to let you know that we\u2019ve left town.<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He didn\u2019t say anything in response. This man is in serious need of a friend.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>I figured, we\u2019re all professionals here. I didn\u2019t want you to waste your time.<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He snorted in response.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>I admit, I am kind of sad that you won\u2019t talk to me anymore. I thought we had a thing going on here. Plus, you look lonely. Who else do you have to talk to?<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kaibuninsho pulled out a leather pouch and unrolled it on the bed, revealing a number of vials filled with a variety of colored liquids. So this was all I was going to get from him: a pointed display of what he had in store for us.<\/span><\/p>\n I watched him finish packing and then let the scrying drop. I got what I needed, anyway, which is that we can forget about him for the immediate future. First, he has to figure out where we are, then he has to get here, and he can only travel so quickly. Especially when he isn\u2019t sleeping well, something we\u2019ll be seeing to again tonight.<\/span><\/p>\n While I was visiting with our would-be assassin, Dasi was spending some quality time with Sikutsu Sennaka. He used the spell from the samisen to learn what he could about the man. What he got back was that Sennaka was a famed daimyo, accomplished general, and competent naval commander. He earned that reputation through conflicts with other daimyos and nations of Tian Xia, often fighting personally on the battlefield. After the emperor went into \u201chiding\u201d, the Jade Regent tasked him with maintaining order in the north, which he has done rather efficiently and ruthlessly. Though he\u2019s only the governor of the Enganoka province, it\u2019s an open secret that he has influence over the Sakakabe province as well. The governor there is weak and easily intimidated.<\/span><\/p>\n Off the battlefield, Sennaka is viewed by the populace as the epitome of honor, something that we found rather surprising (though in retrospect, it explains some of what happened at the market). Less surprising? His forte is military campaigns, not administration. This is probably why he responds to problems with military force. The man only has one tool and by the gods he is going to use it.<\/span><\/p>\n After his magical research, Dasi got a good look at Sennaka by scrying on him. It\u2019s a technique we\u2019ve honed to a fine edge, and I\u2019ve long since lost my aversion to it\u2026in certain circumstances, anyway. Like turnabout being fair play, and people who are morally bankrupt. Dasi didn\u2019t get much more than the man eating dinner, though, which is unsurprising given the time of day. He was surrounded by his elite, samurai guard, and they were telling stories about some battle or another. Dasi tried to produce a sketch so that others could play, too, but\u2026well, Dasi has many talents, but drawing is not one of them.<\/span><\/p>\n How Sennaka is able to maintain this reputation for honor is beyond me. In some ways, I think it speaks to a larger issue of class divisions within Minkai. If you are nobility, then different rules apply to you and you have the authority to harass and castigate those beneath your station. Honor is not an ethical standard here, but rather one of cultural norms. An amoral daimyo can abuse their authority without tarnishing their reputation since unwavering loyalty to one\u2019s lord is expected, not earned. There are also plenty of ways to hide your less savory activities so that your facade stays clean and this is exactly what Sennaka is doing. Of course, a true leader is also supposed to protect their subjects, but around here it seems that bit is viewed as optional.<\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s most disturbing is that this is not the work of the Five Storms. It\u2019s just how things are here, and it isn\u2019t sitting well with me. At all. Olmas and Qatana are struggling with it, too. And no one really knows where Ameiko stands. I understand that she has to work within the system for now, but is this how it\u2019s going to be when she\u2019s on the throne? It has me worried because I can\u2019t ignore it anymore. I was lucky to not have to grow up in a caste system. Why in the names of the gods would I choose to live in a different one?<\/span><\/p>\n T<\/span><\/p>\n he refugees here are living in a small tent city in the clearing behind the fort, and though that clearing is rather large, it is still a lot of people in close quarters, dependent on others for pretty much everything. They are all here basically on faith, and faith will only get you so far. There are rumblings that the rumored attack is just that, and when that sort of talk starts spreading people make up all manner of conspiracy theories.<\/span><\/p>\n Of course, we know better because we have seen the message that Jiro\u2019s men intercepted, but that\u2019s not something we can share because I am sure there are spies among the camp. It\u2019s the worst sort of lie: the kind where every word is <\/span>technically<\/span><\/i> true, but you\u2019re still deliberately misleading people. But the last thing Jiro needs is discord among the people he\u2019s trying to protect. So hopefully this will put a stop to it, or at least slow it down.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve sent Nihali off to scout with Qatana and Radella. Ivan and Hatsue have set out on the wind to find Sennaka\u2019s army, and ensure it\u2019s where we expect it to be. That leaves the rest of us here, literally minding the fort. To pass the time, Dasi used the samisen to check in on Sennaka again and saw him tinkering with his armor. You\u2019d think Sennaka would have people to do that for him. What exciting lives soldiers must live.<\/span><\/p>\n Earlier this morning, Olmas asked me if I could help him with a military exercise to help train Jiro\u2019s troops. I\u2019ll just let that sit there for a moment.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCan you create a realistic illusion of an enemy creature for them to fight? One that reacts to them? Or perhaps summon a creature that you can control, and prevent it from using lethal attacks?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He wanted something they can fight for real, that would be a surrogate for an actual battle. Summoning would certainly work, but I felt uncomfortable creating a creature for the sole purpose of target practice. Granted, summoned creatures are not \u201creal\u201d in the metaphysical sense: they are temporary constructs, generic members of a species rather than actual beings transported from somewhere else. But \u201creal\u201d or not, temporary or not, they are still infused with life. They experience the world through their senses, and they still feel pain. It is one thing to create life and use it to aid you in battle, and another entirely to create it merely to be destroyed. I wasn\u2019t sure how to explain that, or why the difference mattered, so I gave him an excuse instead.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cA summoned creature would actually be dangerous. Someone could be seriously hurt, as the control I have over them is limited. An illusion, however, can be very realistic. It will smell, sound, and feel very real unless they get close enough to touch it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCan you make it react to being \u2018injured\u2019?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf I am watching the battle, yes. It will be very convincing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n This seemed to be good enough for his purposes. And it might actually be fun.<\/span><\/p>\n W<\/span><\/p>\n e went with an ogre mage. We\u2019ve killed so many of them now that I know how they move, fight, heal from injuries and, of course, die. That, and they make for a supernatural foe that can still be taken down with sufficient effort. Jiro asked us to ambush one of the patrols, so I had the illusion emerge from the trees as they passed through a small clearing. From up above, I watched them form a firing line and pelt it with arrows, over and over as it advanced, shrugging off its \u201cwounds\u201d. The men and women scrambled to bring down their foe, several calling out in surprise and frustration, \u201cWhy aren\u2019t these stopping it?!\u201d, \u201cIt should be dropping!\u201d and \u201cIt won\u2019t die!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I tried to keep it as real as possible. They got several good shots in so I had the ogre mage collapse as it reached their positions. Then Jiro, who was observing from somewhere nearby, called out that it was a training exercise and we all returned to the fortress to debrief.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cReal oni will be a lot like this,\u201d Olmas said. \u201cThey can shake off attacks, and heal rapidly from injuries. When confronted with them, you want to concentrate your fire and stay focused on one target at a time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While good advice, it is in all honesty probably not enough. Without magic weapons, most oni just aren\u2019t going to go down very easily. But the exercise was as much about mindset as it was tactics: weapons won\u2019t matter if they can\u2019t even keep their wits about them in the fight. On that front, Jiro had obviously trained them well. I was actually quite surprised at how quickly they recovered from the initial shock of the \u201cattack\u201d and how disciplined they were in coordinating their defense. Maybe they\u2019ll actually live through this rebellion.<\/span><\/p>\n Radella and Olmas plan on a nighttime exercise, too, by surprising the guards pretty much the same way we ambushed the previous occupants: with a sneak attack on the guard posts up above. That sort of thing takes some serious mettle. The two of them can hold back enough to make non-lethal strikes, but Jiro\u2019s men won\u2019t be in on the secret. They will be swinging for blood. Radella and Olmas can more than handle themselves, obviously, but\u2026anyone can get lucky and <\/span>I<\/span><\/i> certainly wouldn\u2019t want to be skewered as part of a training exercise. Hopefully this little stunt will not get out of hand.<\/span><\/p>\n Ivan and Hatsue returned and informed us that Sennaka\u2019s army is exactly where we expected them to be. He\u2019s traveling with a small battalion of about 200 soldiers. Either he takes his personal security very seriously, or he\u2019s compensating for feelings of inadequacy. We expect him to arrive at the resort in three days. We\u2019ll be there tomorrow afternoon to ensure we are ready for him.<\/span><\/p>\n W<\/span><\/p>\n e have our first meeting with the Nine Pawns tonight. I told Nihali to make contact, and sent her to perch on the roof of the resort. After a couple of hours one of the former samurai, disguised as a tradesman, approached her.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you doing here, little raven? Are you lost? Are you looking for shiny things?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not lost,\u201d she answered.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIs your home in the woods?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWest of here. We arrived early.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAll is as it should be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019d like to go over things,\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cUnder cover of night.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Nihali said he seemed unfazed talking to a magical creature in the form of a bird. That is good news, as it means we won\u2019t have to waste time convincing them that we\u2019re capable or that they should take us seriously. So, points to Itsuru for getting that message across.<\/span><\/p>\n And now we wait.<\/span><\/p>\n Kaibuninsho spied on us a couple more times: once last night, and again a little over an hour ago. We\u2019re moving around again, so he\u2019s going to have to make a decision: continue to try and play catch-up, or make a guess as to where we\u2019re going to be at some point in the future and then get there first. When I checked in on him myself yesterday, he was poking around the teahouse and learned we hadn\u2019t been there in a while.<\/span><\/p>\n He looked like he hadn\u2019t gotten much sleep the previous night. Qatana\u2019s spell caught him in the small hours that morning (and then again late last night).<\/span><\/p>\n Shit! We don\u2019t have much time. We\u2019re going as soon as Radella, Ivan and Zosimus get back which I hope is very, <\/span>very <\/span><\/i>soon.<\/span><\/p>\n I checked in on Kaibuninsho and he\u2019s in a refugee camp of some sort and at first I was like, \u201cthere are so many of those, it could be anywhere,\u201d but while talking that out it dawned on us that there\u2019s one <\/span>at the fortress<\/span><\/i>. So now\u2015<\/span><\/p>\n W<\/span><\/p>\n e got him!<\/span><\/p>\n We packed up camp and were standing in the shrine room of the fortress in just shy of 10 minutes. I brought most of the group with me, and Ivan brought the rest using a spell that teleported himself and the others to his designated sanctuary\u2026which he had just happened to name <\/span>here<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n The conversation I spied on between Kaibuninsho and the other refugees was not 15 minutes old, which meant he was probably still out there. We gathered Jiro and Hatsue and hastily explained the situation, then with a combination of magical disguises and invisibility, we went hunting. I stayed in the air above the crowd, waiting for Dasi and Hatsue to sweep the encampment for hostile intent. It took time.<\/span><\/p>\n Hatsue first picked out someone suspicious, but Dasi read his thoughts and determined he was just a common thief. Not our problem. They kept searching until Dasi found someone contemplating violence. Someone who felt like our man. I descended just close enough to see without giving myself away\u2015no one ever looks up\u2015and recognized his disguise.<\/span><\/p>\n It was him.<\/span><\/p>\n I hit him with a spell to anchor him to the material plane. There would be no quick escapes this time. Bathed in a glowing green light, he was now an obvious beacon to the others, and Radella was on top of him in seconds with Olmas and Hatsue close behind.<\/span><\/p>\n Kainbunshisho looked <\/span>terrible<\/span><\/i> and it was not just part of his disguise. He had clearly not slept well in several days, almost certainly thanks to the nightmares we had been sending his way. Wanting to make the most of this, I hit him with <\/span>another<\/span><\/i> spell, this one leaving him physically exhausted. Within seconds he was surrounded, blinded, and unable to escape. Even in this condition, he managed to stab three of us. Then Ivan dealt the killing blow.<\/span><\/p>\n And just like that, it was over.<\/span><\/p>\n Only now we have a <\/span>new<\/span><\/i> problem, this one potentially much bigger than the assassin, himself. He was carrying what Dasi called a \u201cfuhonsen\u201d\u2015an ancient, Tian coin that no longer has a monetary face value but is prized by collectors and sometimes worn as a charm. This <\/span>particular<\/span><\/i> one, however, is much, <\/span>much<\/span><\/i> more than that. I went to examine its magical aura and it was like reading the sun. It\u2019s an <\/span>artifact<\/span><\/i>. A minor one, granted, but an artifact nonetheless. This went a long way towards explaining Kaibuninsho\u2019s bag of tricks. He had some very powerful help.<\/span><\/p>\n Dasi used a spell to learn more about it. According to legend, it was the first coin used as payment for a ninja\u2019s services in Minkai. Over generations it has become infused with magic, its powers emblematized by the symbols on each side. It would be a boon for us in more ways than one, except there\u2019s a catch. Because there\u2019s <\/span>always<\/span><\/i> a catch.<\/span><\/p>\n Now that I was prepared for it, I was able to work out its talents after studying it a bit more carefully. And I uncovered some very nasty surprises.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe two blank spaces on this side of the coin are powers that have not yet been\u2026developed. Assuming they are worthy\u2014and I\u2019ll get to that in a minute\u2014the coin <\/span>creates <\/span><\/i>a new power that is related to a skill embodied by its new owner,\u201d I explained.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe bad news is, you must excel at <\/span>all <\/span><\/i>of these skills, <\/span>and <\/span><\/i>you must excel at a skill of your own, for the coin to find you \u2018worthy\u2019 as an owner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I could see a couple of my friends were about to ask the obvious question, so I answered it preemptively. \u201c<\/span>It<\/span><\/i> decides what that means. I can\u2019t put it into words. But I do know this: you are judged at the new moon. If you are not found worthy by then? It vanishes and seeks out a new owner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I slumped back in my chair and sighed heavily. I was suddenly very, <\/span>very<\/span><\/i> tired. \u201cThe <\/span>really<\/span><\/i> bad news is\u2026that it <\/span>changes <\/span><\/i>you. The longer you possess it, the more corrupt you become.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And therein lies the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n We can\u2019t take possession of it because using it would, eventually, corrupt the owner. We can\u2019t keep it out of circulation because it will <\/span>seek out <\/span><\/i>an owner if it\u2019s not claimed. We can\u2019t destroy it because, according to legend, only a sovereign dragon can do that and we don\u2019t have any of those on hand. And we shouldn\u2019t sell it because that will put it in the hands of someone who will most likely become a problem for Minkai in the future. Oh, and legend <\/span>also<\/span><\/i> says that a great calamity will befall the world once its full powers are realized, which is just two owners away.<\/span><\/p>\n So, we are completely screwed. There is just no good answer here.<\/span><\/p>\n We argued over this for what felt like <\/span>hours<\/span><\/i>. Do we keep it and take our chances, until we find a way to destroy it? Do we sell it to one of the ninja clans, turning it loose on the world with even <\/span>more<\/span><\/i> power? Do we just let it vanish, and hope it doesn\u2019t turn up in the next few generations?<\/span><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know what we should do.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sarenith 9 (Enganoka, Small Hours) L ate last night, Dasi used his spell to learn more about our assassin, feeding into it all we have learned over the past few days. What he got back was a portrait of loneliness. Kaibuninsho\u2014the only name he is known by\u2014comes from an unassuming background and a family of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_import_markdown_pro_load_document_selector":0,"_import_markdown_pro_submit_text_textarea":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-4116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal","tag-kali"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4116"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5729,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4116\/revisions\/5729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Sarenith 9 (Seinaru Heikiko, Night)<\/h3>\n
Sarenith 10 (Seinaru Heikiko, Noon)<\/h3>\n
Sarenith 10 (Seinaru Heikiko, Evening)<\/h3>\n
Sarenith 11 (Shuryo Onsen, Late Afternoon)<\/h3>\n
(night)<\/h3>\n
Sarenith 11 (Seinaru Heikiko, Late Night)<\/h3>\n