Sakura silently climbed down and approached the Ashigaru bowmen. She was not trying to hide herself from her own party, but there was no sense in making herself a nuisance either.

She looked over the archers, trying to decide if she should "borrow" a bow from the dead. They did not need them, after all, and the Lion could hardly complain.

And they did shoot her.

[Looking to see if the bows are nice enough for a Samurai to use. What kind are they? Are they "Lion" or "generic"? Same question(s) for the arrows.]

OOC:  generic for both bow and arrows

Seeing Sakura searching the slain archers, Kenji offers his own hankyu and quiver.  "Daidoji-sama, please do not sully yourself with the slain.  Please accept this, if you must engage the Lion."

Sakura stopped and smiled a bit at the Scorpion Samurai.

"Your offer is too kind" she replied, "I cannot take your weapon from you. In truth, I should not even need a bow; but these ... creatures ignored standing practice, a rule that existed since Akodo no Kami walked the earth, and attacked a non-combatant Shugenja."

"And they paid the price for their treason. Their Samurai has fallen, the issue is no more."

There was no accusation to Kenshin's tone, nor sympathy. It was as if he were describing the color of the sky, or the waves of the sea shore.

[Where is our next position, anyway?]

"We should make out way to the next position," Kenji says, hitching his bow back over his shoulder.

Sumi kept her own bow in hand and ready. "Lead the way." She was ready to go.

ooc:  are you guys sneaking forward or taking on everyone you see?

OOC: I'll be sneaking.

OOC:  on the assumption that you're all proceeding sneaky-like...

You proceed further towards the Lion held portions of Toshi Ranbo, hiding in the chaos of the battle rather than engaging in direct combat.  As you advance, you see an injured ashigaru dressed in the colors of the Mantis staggering towards the central camp of the Crane.

Upon seeing the Mantic ashigaru, Sumi ceasessneaking and approaches the person. She remained a bit cautious however and kept an arrow ready to fire. "You, Mantis. Who are you?"

"Akutsu of the Mantis in service to the Yoritomo, Samurai-sama," the ashigaru bows, "member of the service guard to Yoritomo Yukiko-sama, the ranking samurai with my squad.  Yoritomo Yukiko-sama sent me to report to the Crane command that her position in the artisan district has lost four fifths of its defenders and the district will soon be lost to the Lion."

[Private to Tsuruchi Sumi: Yukiko is one of the Mantis bushi/diplomats in the city, she's a PC]

"Where exactly is Yoritomo Yukiko-sama in the artisan district?" Sumi asked. "We have successfully defended the barricade now we can help elsewhere."

"Our skills may be useful there, Tsuruchi-sama," Kenji says, "but we may be able to have a greater impact on this battle than by simply holding a district.  The Crane have soldiers in plenty.  We, however, may have a chance to strike a decisive blow and end this waste of the Empire's resources."


[Private to GM: Did I manage to glean any info as to the Lion general's whereabouts?]

Kenshin looked for a long moment at the bleeding Shugenja. Honor. Duty. To many these were words, but to Kenshin they were more important than life itself. Honor would always be important to him, but Duty ... he was Scorpion, after all.

Duty came first.

Besides, wasn't it Akodo-no-Kami that said that these sorts of things were expected in battle?

If the Lion Ashigaru would not respect the position of the Shugenja in this battle, then the Crane would be dead before dawn. Now ... now there was only one question:

What would Yojiro do?

In the end, there was only one choice. It came as something of an unpleasant irony that it was a Scorpion holding the group back because of his foibles of honor. So, this time, Duty would win out.

For his Clan.

------------------

"Are you thinking that we go after the Lion Commander in the Artisan district, Kenji-San? If so, I have an idea ..."

It was what Yojiro would do.

[I'm working under the assumption that the Tsuruchi has more authority over a Mantis Ashigaru than any of the rest of us; he should probably be sent on his way to deliver his message.

Basic premise of Kenshin's plan is simple: issue a challenge. When, err, "if" the Lion Commander disregards it we trash him like good little Scorpion devastating both his/her life and Honor. Die with Honor or Die with Dishonor -- their choice.

Cue evil laughter ...]

Sakura simply followed, keeping her council to herself. She did pay close attention to what was going on, however. She was not a battle shugenja, that was not her forte' -- stealth was. And with the Junshin present, that was not likely to come into play.

Still, something was changing about that one. Perhaps he was remembering that he was Scorpion?

Sumi looked between the two Beyushi, a little confused. "So, what you both are suggesting is attacking the Lion's commander? I agree with it of course, it is a better plan of action than mine."

"Yoritomo Yukiko-sama's position is four intersections in that direction, Samurai-sama," the Mantis ashigaru responds, answering Tsuruchi Sumi's original question, "if you have no further questions, Samurai-sama, I will go now to report to the central command."

[OOC: assuming the plan is to sneak through the Lion lines and challenge the Lion commander to a duel, there are three problems that are immediately obvious:

1) if you approach him fighting (or sneaking), the commander has no obligation to listen to you or even give you the opportunity to speak your challenge--you're bushi during war time, killing you in combat (with or without a duel) is as honorable as it gets.

2) if you manage to challenge the commander (by whatever means, including, say a truce flag), the commander has no obligation to accept your challenge (you have no proof of authority to negotiate on behalf of the Crane--which would be the only inducement you could offer to get him to accept your challenge immediately) or accept you challenge during the siege (if you make him angry enough).  The commander is a Lion, but that doesn't make him/her stupid.  He may very well accept your challenge, but demand a later date.  (this is a similar problem to what Miya Momoko ran into in the Chapter 7 - Mission Impossible thread)

3) this is a big battle, you don't know where the commander is.

If the plan is just to find the commander and kill him, then disregard 1) and 2) but 3 still applies.]

"We only need to get behind the enemy's front line," Kenji says.  "Perhaps we may be able to glean the Lion plan, in the process.  We must move swiftly and cautiously, for this to work."
Kenji moves to scale a building that will afford him as good a view as he can get of the battle as it stands.  He keeps a low profile, attracting as little attention as possible in is reconnaissance.


OOC:
Scale a building- 44
Stealth- 45
Per/Battle- 35
This message was last edited by the player at 21:19, Sat 07 Jan 2012.

OOC:  Perception/Battle check, with a secret TN, you'll get more or less information on the location of the commander based on your roll.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:37, Sun 08 Jan 2012.

OOC: Sumi knows little about the subject.

Tsuruchi Sumi rolled 5 using 2d10, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. Perception/Battle.

Bayushi Kenji scrambles to the rooftops--and quickly realizes that traveling over them will be swiftest and least likely to attract attention from Lion attackers.  From the rooftops, Kenji can see several Lion command posts--clearly meant to improve communication in the comprimised urban environment--but it is unclear which one houses the Lion general.

OOC:  to travel along the rooftops will take an agility/athletics check
To travel through the city without being seen will take an agility/stealth check
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:10, Sun 15 Jan 2012.

Either Daidoji Sakura was not used to all this climbing and jumping or she was one of the worlds greatest actresses. Her natural agility helped her out, but it was clearly talent that was at work. Sneaking, on the other hand, was a different story. She stuck to the shadows like they were her best friends, and the shadows in turn cloaked her as they would one of their own.

Still, it seemed like the most she could do was try not to get anyone killed.

[Per/Battle (unskilled): 12
         Agility/Athletics (unskilled): 20
         Agility/Stealth: 33

19:25, Today: Daidoji Sakura rolled 33 using 9d10, dropping the 6 lowest rolls, rerolling max with rolls of 6,5,1,1,4,8,9,(10+6)16,7. Agility/Stealth (no crafty).
19:24, Today: Daidoji Sakura rolled 20 using 3d10 with rolls of 8,3,9. Agility/Athletics (Unskilled).
19:24, Today: Daidoji Sakura rolled 12 using 2d10 with rolls of 6,6. Perception/Battle (unskilled).]

It was quite clear that Kenshin was not used to all this sneaking about. He had learned how to be quiet, mostly as a matter of avoiding needless confrontation and keeping quiet during sentry duty. He was no scout; quite the contrary, he was used to making something of a spectacle of himself. Bragging. Standing in plain sight, challenging the opponent to an honorable duel.

Still, this was what Yojiro would do.


[Per/Battle: 40 (this is what's technically known as a "Kedo-Style-Lucky Roll". LOL.)
         Agility/Athletics (untrained): 16 (30 if Unskilled athletics rolls explode).
         Agility/Stealth: 18.

19:34, Today: Bayushi Kenshin rolled 18 using 4d10, dropping the lowest dice only, rerolling max with rolls of 5,8,1,5. Agility/Stealth.
19:34, Today: Bayushi Kenshin rolled 30 using 3d10, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(10+9)19,6. Agility/Athletics (Unskilled).
19:32, Today: Bayushi Kenshin rolled 40 using 5d10, dropping the 2 lowest rolls, rerolling max with rolls of 9,7,(10+6)16,(10+5)15,5. Per/Battle.]

Sumi, seeing that they were heading for the rooftops again, slipped her bow over her shoulder and began climbing. Once she hit the shadows, Sumi virtually disappeared, there was no sign of her.

Tsuruchi Sumi:
rolled 5 using 2d10, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. Perception/Battle
rolled 29 using 6d10 keep 3 with rolls of (10+3)13,5,9,2,7,3. Agility/Athletics.
rolled 51 using 7d10+4 keep 3 with rolls of (10+7)17,6,6,5,8,1,(10+10+2)22. Agility/Stealth.