what would you have us do?

 Kedo returned wordlessly to Sakura's side as the meeting broke up earlier, seemingly feeling not the least put out that he, a ronin, wasn't taken into the innermost councils of a prestigious city in the most honoured clan in the Empire... Funny that.

 Passing the guards he once more goes through the expected little ritual of hanging his katana on the lowest display stand inside the door (he's spent less time wearing it since entering the city than at any time since he achieved manhood) and moves in in Sakura's wake, slipping ahead of her only to pass through doors in the approved fashion.

 It is of course going to be an opportunity for him to stand and look decorative some more given whom he is with, but there should be the chance to think on how best to arrange to make his midnight rendevous.

Daidoji Ryu has gathered nearly all of the Daidoji Harrier team leaders to this meeting.  Men and women who are used to accepting orders, no matter what those orders may be.  The room is quiet as you wait for him to start the meeting.

"I know none of you are courtiers, but our military situation may need a court intervention.  You all know the problem," he says, gesturing at a map of Toshi Ranbo, "we need to get outside of these walls to do those things which would disturb our more honorable brethren, but we don't have permission from the Lord of the City.  We thought...never mind.  Does anyone have any suggestions?"

 Once again, Kedo is stood politely at a distance from the meeting of the senior Crane, so as not to seem to be eavesdropping upon their innermost councils - which is of course the sort of action that can result in a mere Ronin developing a serious case of dead in the event that anything should ever be leaked, or a scapegoat needed to preserve face.

 It's a tad inconvenient of course, because as Sakura has had cause to discover, there's a first-rate tactical mind lurking in the depths of the gray-clad wanderers skull.

Sakura frowned at this latest news.

"If we cannot venture forth from these walls" she said bluntly, "then I suggest you start writing your epitaphs."

Sakura did not wait for a reply before shouting for Kedo to come closer.

"Kedo-Kun, would you please give us your tactical analysis and, for the benefit of those who were not there, the solution you provided earlier."

 Kedo looks up with faint surprise as he's addressed and then inclines his head, moving forwards from the boundaries of the chamber to move without any particular indication of self-consciousness to stand alongside the map, which he casts his gaze over for a long moment.

 "I have had time to think somewhat, since I put forth my initial thoughts on the defence of this city, and it occurs to me that I may have been guilty of flawed strategy." he states, a slightly rueful expression passing across his features as he admits this. "When I addressed the question of defence, I did so thinking in terms of lines of supply, of forces in the field and of the quality of soldiers - valid in matters of tactics and strategy, but lacking in one important area."

 He raises his head, looking towards Daidoji Sakura and Daidoji Ryu with that spark of brilliant inquiry in his eyes that, not for the first time makes him look every inch the Dragon he truly is... "Is it even desirable that the city be defended at all?"

 Now that might require a little explaining.

Sakura was surprised, to say the least, but a demure laugh quickly escaped her lips.

"This should be interesting!" she said with a lilt in her voice, "I think we would all like to hear this."

She then looked to Ryu for permission for Kedo to continue.

"If nothing else, you've peaked my curiosity, ronin," Daidoji Ryu nods, as Daidoji Tokagero makes strangled noises of protest, "you're no fool, else you'd never have survived being Sakura-san's yojimbo, so we'll wait until we've heard your arguments before making the obvious rebuttles."

 Offering a deep bow to the assembled members of the Crane clan, indiscriminately thanking them for their forberance in extending the invitation to unveil some of his thoughts.

 "Earlier, I spoke of the ways in which a force such as that at the disposal of the Crane might best be deployed to interupt the plans of one such as that which the Lion have fielded. Victory would best be sought not in the clash of open battle, but through the slow cuts of disrupted supplies and honourable withdrawal." Kedo begins, moving to where the map lays open for all to see, eyes flickibng over the symbols without laying upon any given one, seeing the territory rather than the paper.

 "Since then I have realised that I have been guilty of thinking in predictable patterns. A foe threatens and my instinct is to defend, without asking whether it is desirable that we fight at all, instincts that play to the strength of the Akodo." - he indicates the markers within the city, "The Crane have the advantages of position, superior courtiers and skilled Bushi." he states, before extending his gesture to cover the outskirts of the territory, "The Lion have the advantages of prepration, numbers, and the undeniable skill in battle of their armies - regretfully it is a truth that one Lion Bushi is no more or less dangerous than one of any other Clan, but one hundred Lion Bushi are far more than one hundred seperate swordsmen."

 Having summed up the odds and the situation he then moves around the table slowly, now studying the lands around the city proper, "It therefore becomes obvious that you must use the strength of your foe as a weakness, and his weakness as your strength. But it is not obvious whether it is necessary to contest the city to do this."

 "Should the city be contested in battle the devestation will be considerable. There is no doubting the courage or tenacity of the Crane, nor the ferocity or determination of the Lion - whomever wins, the coming Winter Court shall be hosted in the ruins of shame. However, it is conceivable that, should the Crane suggest that in all honour they are willing to cede the city in order to offer the Emperor unblemished hospitality, placing the needs of the Empire before their own, they could parlay this into great credit in the eyes of Heaven."

 A mall, wry smile flickers over the Ronins lips as he then makes what might be a deadly suggestion upon the lips of a wave-man in the company of anyone other than the Daidoji, "Sadly however, I suspect that if it was known in advance that this might happen by independant partisans of the Crane, then the Court would be less successful than it might otherwise be, perhaps shamefully so for the unfortunate Lion..."

 "Perhaps shamefully enough to revoke a change of ownership undertaken out of open and obvious honour, if the words of courtiers were well-chosen?" he suggests at last, eyes by now glinting with the delightful concept of extending the battle from the clash of swords to the clash of supply trains and numbers before finally resolving the art into the flawless gleam of the spoken word where no blood is spilt.

 There might just be a reason beyond the terrain alone that no-one has ever won an offensive war against the mountain clan.

 "Or, of course... there are thoughts I have had upon the actual defence of the city, should it prove necessary. I merely did not want to fall into the trap of reactive thinking - responding only to what the foe did, rather than acting to secure the battlefield of my chosing."

I'm not sure that I follow what you are suggesting, are you saying that we do not put up a fight?

"If it were just the Honorable Lion, I would not be concerned. They are skilled, yes, but so are we. Unfortunately we are not just fighting the Honorable Lion -- we are also dealing with a rather dishonorable, and very skilled, foe that has designs on this city."

"A foe that easily dispatched a squad of very well-trained ..." Sakura's eyes flickered to Ryu for only a moment, but her voice did not falter, "bandits."

"There may be some merit to Kedo-Kun's suggestion ... given the circumstances. If we were permitted to, well, be Daidoji then the Lion would not have a chance."

"The good news in all this is that Lord Kuwanan is very aware of the situation and will undoubtedly do something about it ..."

"That is exactly what he is suggesting, Kumi-san, Daidoji Ryu laughs,  You think like a Scorpion Courtier!  I like that!  Your suggestion has merit, Kedo-san," he says seriously, "but if it should come to that we will leave such things in the hands of our Doji cousins--they are far better trained in the subtleties of court than us.

"What enemy would that be, Sakura-san," Daidoji Ryu says, his face and voice betraying nothing.

[Private to Daidoji Kumi; Daidoji Sakura; Kedo: make an Awareness/Investigation (interrogation) check--the emphasis is not required, but it does apply]
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:01, Mon 23 June 2008.

"I did not say that they were the enemy" Sakura replied cautiously, "only that we are dealing with a third party -- pardon me, at least one third party -- that has designs on this city."

For some reason, Sakura thought it best to be a bit coy on the subject. It was not a matter of clues or personalities, it was pure intuition -- something that Shosuro Kasumi had learned long ago to pay attention to.

"As many of you are undoubtedly aware, we had the privilege of escorting one of the Miya to Toshi Ranbo. She had been attacked by bandits once before we joined, and once after. While I would love to take credit for dispatching these bandits, I cannot -- our mysterious third party did that for us."

Sakura looked around to those present, pausing for dramatic effect.

"I do not know what these two parties are up to" she continued with intensity, "And that is the point. They might mean nothing to the defense of this city -- but that is a rather large 'might'."

"I am not a tactician, but I do know this -- I would be very careful making battle plans when I do not know anything about two of the parties I might be fighting."

"But" she added with a bowed head, "I am just a humble Shugenja ..."

[Private to Kaze no Kage: Sucky roll ...

16:49, Today: Secret Roll: Daidoji Sakura rolled 28 using 8d10, dropping the 4 lowest rolls, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1,5,7,1,7,7,7. Awareness/Investigation.]

 Kedo inclines his head towards Daidoji Kumi in faintly humourous acknowledgement, but even as Sakura is stepping in to defend and expand upon his words and Ryu is mingling insult and respect as readily as only a Crane could manage, Kedo's eyes are widening and he's stepping up to the map, hands reaching out once more, this time to caress the fabric of the paper as though to wring meaning from it through the very pores of his fingers, before he speaks in an almost dreamy fashion, letting the muse of war flow through his mind in a way that suggests epiphany.

 "Knowing then only that we must plan a defence in which but one foe is to be considered, and that the Lion arrayed beyond the walls we must turn their strength to weakness. If it is forbidden for the Daidoji to leave the walls of the city to strike then we must discard such thoughts as carrying stones of the wall upon the person of each Bushi who goes forth and striking in the here and now at chains of command or lines of supply." (a throwaway, if hair-splitting evasion of honour that would allow the Daidoji to do their work)

  "And look instead to the defence of the city itself and how it might best be used to channel, to redirect the force of an invader once the wall is breached." - as he speaks, he takes up a number of small carven wooden markers from a little wooden tray, indiciating the available forces of Ashigaru or Bushi, barricades or siege machines and begins to place them in patterns of unspeakable subtlety upon the map, blocking this road but exposing this one so that breaches on the walls will lead an attacker into circular charges along 'easy' paths that are bordered with high walls and stone warehouses, that will bleed soldiers forced into tight spaces into open ones for the slaughter... that may allow many to defeat few.
 No token is placed so that it has more than two or three tasks, no one marker situated where it cannot find its way to aid - yet as the pattern grows like stones on a Go board, it grows intricate beyond belief...

 "On these roads, it may be possible to distract and redirect with archers here, and here... Each Ashigaru squad, each Bushi must know where they are to stand and where they are to retreat - here, and here." - his hand caresses a shape in the air, describing the evasion of one force by another through a section of the city that would lead pursuers into crossfires and dead ends - "In this district, the gardens will provide open killing-fields that they will expect to storm - do not contest them directly, but brace these buildings - here and here - against storm and open their cellars to provide retreat for archers who will strike at the back and flanks."

 Minute by minute he talks and his sketched suggestions start to crystalise into something that partakes of both wholeness and beauty, balance and terrible, absolute lethality.

 It's a moment he will likely never know again... And if he were not caught in this moment of crystaline purity, it would sadden him to his core.

 ---

Dear sweet Kami... (It's Intelligence+Battle, by the by, since that seems more appropriate in this instance)

23:08, Today: Kedo rolled 102 using 9d10, dropping the 5 lowest rolls, rerolling max. Planning a defence, given time.

You rolled 102 using 9d10, dropping the 5 lowest rolls, rerolling max of 3, 3, 4, 5 & 6 ((5,6,3,3,(10+10+10+10+8)48,(10+10+10+9)39,4,6,9)).

 Basically he's proposing a mobile defence - let the Lion into the city proper, and there break them up in order to destroy them with locally overwhelming or better-positioned forces whilst never giving them a strongpoint to mass against - bleed them from a hundred tiny wounds using the defenders superior knowledge of the city in order to bring them down, rather than spend lives trying to hold walls that ultimately cannot be defended past the moment of decision.
 Horrifyingly, if we assume that 'beating an Akodo general' is the equivalent of 'Forging a Kakita blade' then I just made four raises on doing so. ^_^

 Oh, and in the same terrifying vein...

 23:24, Today: Kedo rolled 46 using 6d10, dropping the 3 lowest rolls, rerolling max. Awareness and Investigation.
 You rolled 46 using 6d10, dropping the 3 lowest rolls, rerolling max of 3, 3 & 4 (((10+9)19,3,4,3,(10+8)18,9)).
This message was last edited by the player at 01:14, Tue 24 June 2008.

"Hmmm..." Daidoji Ryu responds to Sakura, "you have a point there.  The enemy that you don't know is far more dangerous than the enemy that you do..." he trails off as Kedo begins to outline his plan, "Kedo-san," he bows deeply, awe and respect in his voice, "you have just reminded an old Daidoji how to be Daidoji.  Tokagero!" he snaps, eyes alight, "start mobilizing the Harriers and arming them for an urban engagement.  If we can't adapt the terrain outside of our walls, we'll do it inside!"

The Daidoji outpost is suddenly abuzz with activity.

[Private to Daidoji Kumi; Daidoji Sakura; Kedo: Daidoji Ryu knows something he's not telling]
[Private to Daidoji Sakura; Kedo: Daidoji Ryu definitely knows something about those 'bandits'--in fact, he was probably the one who gave them their orders]
[Private to Kedo: Daidoji Ryu was definitely the one who gave the Harriers who attacked Miya Shiko their orders and the most likely explanation would be to prevent the messages that she carried from being delivered]

Is it not honor that the Lion prize? Why not do something, anything to dishonor them and break their spirits and sense of honor before they enter the city and we should have now problem dispatching of them at that point.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:45, Tue 24 June 2008.

Sakura was surprised, in several different ways. Kedo had, indeed, come up with a great plan -- one that surprised even her. And Kumi surprised Sakura with her suggestion ...

"Kumi-San" Sakura began politely, "a Lion can be dishonored -- but if one dishonors the clan, or even just a large part of their army, they produce Death Seekers."

"I think we would like to avoid that right now."


Sakura then looked around, paying close attention to the flurry of activity and all that it stood for. Loyalty. Duty. Hope.

"I take it the meeting is over?" Sakura asked politely. She hoped so, for she had much to think about ...

 The moment hangs over Kedo as he works, until the last wooden token that represents the forces of the Crane has been placed and the last ink-stroke has formed on clean white sheets, insight so clear as to be painful reduced to stark black lines on simple paper...

 ...but enough of it lingers, enough of purely human vision and mortal understanding that when he looks up at Daidoji Ryu it's with Dragons eyes that see through deceit as though it were polished glass and worse yet, make no secret of how stark and bare the other man stands before him for a long, lingering moment of disconcerting honesty.

 But the moment passes and soon enough Kedo is nothing but a simple ronin once more, returning the Daidoji's bow to a fractionally greater degree even though it risks his sense of balance before wincing very faintly at Kumi's suggestion and inclining his head to agree wholeheartedly with Sakura's assessment.

 ---

 To be truthful, I think to understand how good a plan Kedo's come up with is a DC 30-odd Battle roll by itself... But then again, the Daidoji reaction is probably a good clue. ^_^

Daidoji Ryu's response to Daidoji Kumi is significantly more elaborate than Daidoji Sakura's:  "The Lion see our occupation of Toshi Ranbo as one of the greatest dishonorable events in their long history--right alongside the continued existence of the Tonbo and the Tsuruchi," he replies, "nothing we could do could possibly dishonor them any more than our victory."

"For now, Sakura-san," Ryu replies, "we may be required to call upon you to lead a squad during the battle--or even coordinate with our more honorable cousins--but we'll detonate that bridge when we come to it."

Sakura bowed politely and then turned to leave. This had been an ... intriguing evening to say the least.

"Oh, Commander" she said, almost as an afterthought, "we still need that crystal that I spoke of earlier."

Then she bowed once more and left. It was going to be a long night ...

 "Duty calls honoured Daidoji." murmurs Kedo, bowing once more to the assembled Crane as he prepares to depart with his war, leaving in his wake a scattering of new ideas, a measure of confused respect and a plan of such breathtaking elegence and simplicity that it may well take the rest of the night for the members of the noble clan to come to grips with its potential...

 ...the Dragon come down from their mountains so seldom that it's sometimes hard to remember why they spend so much time apart. Until they do.

 He moves to follow Sakura with a smooth gait only subtly thrown off by the missing weight on his hip where his Daisho would normally hang.

"I will see what I can do..." Daidoji Ryu replies as you depart.

After they had been walking for a while in silence, unusual for her, Sakura finally broke her silence. When she did speak, however, it was in very low tones.

"I am in need of a Dragon's Wisdom and a Scorpion's Cunning" she finally said aloud, "regrettably I seem to be lacking somewhat in both areas."

"Tell me, Kedo-Kun -- have you heard of Ura Bushido?"

[Ura -- Hidden, as opposed to Obvious]

 "If there is a secret to the wisdom of the Dragon." muses Kedo idly as the two of them walk to their next destination, answering the question only in the most roundabout of ways, "It lies only in the realisation that insight is found in the most commonplace realisations."

 "Few are more commonplace than realising" - he says, returning to the topic from a tangent - "that people will justify their needs and desires, and that there is something to be learned by following their methods."

"I see ..."

It was the only thing that Sakura said for quite some time ...