Talk of Toturi, talk of Kakita - were it not for the solid core of good sense that grows around a young Dragons bones living in the Shadow of the Mountain (which is a wonderful way to acquite perspective) it could turn the head of a young man, but Kedo simply bows in deep and respectful fashion and moves forwards once more to accept the offered tool with both hands, drawing it to him and weighing it in his hands.

 "You speak too highly of a blade yet to be tested... But I am grateful nonetheless, for your words, for your lesson and for your gift - which if I am ever to do what I seek to do, will draw the steel from the fire." he replies warmly, eyes shining despite himself.

"Do not thank me," Kakita Maru replues shaking her head, "steel is a harsh daimyo, unforgiving of sucess and failure alike.  No, it is I who should thank you, for reminding me of a lesson that I learned long ago:  a humble sheath may hold a fine blade.  It is a lesson that I taught to others in my youth, and it is my shame that I needed to be reminded of that myself."

 "Even upon the mountain it has been known for the wisest sages to benefit from returning to the lessons of their youth." Kedo replies diplomatically, though once more with the perfect honesty of someone who grew up squarely in the middle of the Rokugans most impressive and humbling (though far from hospitable) landscape wherein even the Imperial roads bow before the needs of philosophy.

 In many ways it's a sort of anvil for the soul, and one that at times throws up the most exceptional alloys of spirit rather than steel - which here and now lead Kedo on to the reason for his entering this forge, so many hours before; "I do not wish to intrude upon the preparations for the defence of this city - but if it should come to pass that we are granted to live through the battle, may I return here and speak with you of steel?"

"If we are both fortunate enough to survive," Kakita Maru bows, "it would be my honor to receive you."

 "The honour Kakita Maru-san, would be mine." replies Kedo with a smooth and graceful bow before making his fare-the-wells, mentally ticking off one of the three smiths he had planned to visit in this city before moving on with his quest, and still perhaps just a tad punch-drunk from the sheer intensity of his experience within.

 Which of course, since he's now on the street in the Smiths district on his way more or less towards his friends Dojo, should make him easy enough to find by those who have reason to look for him.

As Kedo leaves Kakita Maru's workshop, two ashigaru wearing the Daidoji mon approach him.

"Kedo-san," one of them says, as they fall into step to either side of him, "Daidoji Takamura politely requests your presence at your earliest convenience."

OOC:  they're not insisting that you come with them now, but it's a strong suggestion--the implication is that they'll stick with you until you go with them
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:44, Thu 14 Jan 2010.

 Having reclaimed his weapons, no doubt under the watchful and speculative eye of more than one apprentice or journeyman smith lingering near the scene of his most recent jackhammer blow to the serene self-satisfaction of the Crane (which with the Kami's blessing, will gradually turn instead into far more well-deserved self-confidence) Kedo is in a good position to tense subtly as he's approached by the Ashigaru, remembering with a touch of regret the last time he had cause to encounter such men upon the street.

 His manners however are impeccable as usual and he grants them a small bow of polite acknowledgement rather than humble self-effacement - for even a Ronin is of higher status than an Ashigaru - and replies, "I would be honoured to answer the honoured Lord's call." before setting deed to word and moving off at a steady jog, guards in tow.

 When a Lord calls, one does not dally.

The two Daidoji ashigaru take Kedo along the now familiar path to the Daidoji complex, through the labyrinthine halls that the ronin could probably walk blindfolded, and into the war room in which he had changed the course of the upcoming siege.  There, the Daidoji officers--excepting, of course, Daidoji Ryu and Daidoji Tokagero--stand studying the map of Toshi Ranbo intently.  Nearby, a large samurai wearing the mon of the Daidoji, but clearly of the lineage of the Crab, stands in the background.

"The ronin Kedo is here, Daidoji-sama," the ashigaru announce, bow, and retreat from the room.

"Kedo-san," the new Daidoji commander bows, "thank you for coming.  We are requesting some clarification of the battle plan that you outlined for for us the other night.  I am also personally concerned for your safety," he says, looking darkly at the other Daidoji leaders, "this is Hida Zenko.  I am assigning him as your yojimbo to protect you against...unfortunate incidents, so that your tactical expertise will be available to us for the upcoming battle."

 Familiarity it is said, breeds contempt - but that is far from the case as Kedo jogs steadily through the maze of chambers that lead to the war room, instead with each twist and each turn he gains a new appreciation for the simple cunning of its arrangement, possessed of countless places where a guard might both see and be seen only by his colleagues and numberless well-placed killing zones and points designed to redirect intruders away from the valuable core.

 Entering the war room at last he immediately offers deep and sincere bows to those officers who are present, flowing up out of it with a subtle grimace of apology for his condition - still glistening faintly with sweat and dusted with the soot of the forge.

 "I apologise for my appearance Daidoji-san, I was called from the forge of Kakita Maru and thought it better to present myself in response than take time to bathe." the somewhat scuffed Ronin states before settling back and listening to the commanders offer, first tilting his head slightly in consideration and then - for the second time this day - finding himself rather wide-eyed and startled.

 "I had agreed this morning to accompany Daidoji Tomoe, Doji Suou and Kakita Rokutunda - students of Tsutomu-sensei - during the course of the hostilities." he explains, subtly underlining once more that he has chosen to join the defence as one who is a guest, rather than as an employee of the Crane without being so crass as to actually come right out and say so, before taking a slow pace towards the map table and casting his eyes across it, marshalling his thoughts as Hida Zenko is introduced, "I... am honoured past words, Daidoji-san, though I feel you offer too much praise. My role in this was to remind you of what had been forgotten in the face of too many threats and too little time... To do battle not as the Lion would have you, but as the Daidoji always have, turning the strength of the foe to weakness and striking in a hundred tiny cuts that bring down an opponent too great to meet head to head."

 "All that you need, lies within you and always has." he states after a few moments of looking across the table and then up at his newly-offered companion, "I was offered only the insight to guide you to that understanding... But... if you feel that there is need, I will try and do what I may to help you."

 Dragons... it is never easy to be in the same room as one of the real, high-mountain ones... and by inference, Kedo was raised at the top of a ladder on one.

Zenko's kimono and clothing are rather plain with little in the way of affects, bu there is the mon of the Daidoji as well that of the Crab. Stepping forward upon his introduction, Zenko takes a moment to regard the man that he has been assigned to protect. As he comes closer, one can almost feel a quiet menace to the man something akin to the calm before a storm. Kedo-san, as has been mentioned I am Hida Zenko. I have had the honor of being trained by the Daidoji as a Yojimbo. By my life or death, I swear that none shall harm you. Bowing his head low, he takes up a position behind the ronin and says nothing more.

"I'm pleased to hear that you will be part of the defense of our city," the Daidoji commander replies, "but despite your modesty, some of our team leaders have some questions about your strategies."

"Yes," one of the other Daidoji interrupts, indicating one of the major thoroughfares, "like here, how are we to keep the Lion on this path through our blockades and not on this one?"

"And what about..." and so the questions keep coming.

OOC:  make an awareness/battle check TN 20 to explain the details of your insight so that they can understand (you can drop the TN to 15 by spending your free raise)

 For the first time since he arrived in the city, Kedo is put into a position where he can appreciate just how much of a trial he's been to Daidoji Sakura by following her around like some relentless Bushido-driven fortune-cookie-programmed slicing and dicing machine, but with typical cosmic justice fails to recognise the irony at first, instead bowing deeply to Hida Zenko and replying, "I have hopes that your protection will be unneccessary Hida-san, but I am grateful for your sword.", a polite formulae to cover just how unsure he is about the propriety of a well-born clan Samurai being ordered to protect a ronin, even one on pilgrimage.

 In any case, when he rises out of the bow it's to address the questions being fielded to him and he turns to address the group, half-closing his eyes as he tries to see that perfect, shimmering structure that is fast becoming only a memory, "By the time they reach this throughfare the Lion forces will have had to fight past these ambushes here, and here - they will be prepared for a third upon the side-street but as they reach this road the archers from the first ambush will be here." - he taps the map gently - "Or, if they are unavailable the Ashigaru from the second."

 This being a feature of his plan for the city of course - redundancy. No unit has more than a half-dozen orders, but those orders overlap at many points, allowing really quite serious reverses to be recovered from. The idea at the core being that it is not the breach of the wall that loses a city under siege, but the panic and loss of morale that follows. Make the breach part of a clear plan however... And the equation changes as a massive army pours itself without central control or command into a hundred tiny skirmishes that it's helpless to understand or respond to.

 "When the foe see the ambush force in the open, they will almost certainly give chase - past the market stalls into this courtyard, where the archers from the second ambush will be on the rooftops or, if they are unavailable, Ashigaru from the next street over. They break contact by closing the market gate here, which will take some few minutes to breach. By which time they will have moved onto their next objective."

 The questions are gradually fielded - not always with the haunting, ethereal elegance of the night when he devised the plan, but with solid competence that plays heavily to the Daidoji strengths and finds uses for each little blossom upon the great Crane tree, the plan rarely repeating itself as such but always using the twists and turns of the city as force multipliers, encouraging cavalry charges in market throughfares and archers or thrown spears in narrow confines, making use of countless stockpiles of weapons and arrows so that as the Crane forces fall back, they need not carry all they need to do battle, but can instead prick and slash and bleed the increasingly angered, fevered Lion into thrashing impotence.

 When you fight a stronger foe, make use of every advantage seems to be the theme, though to Hida Zenko it probably all seems a little old hat - the Crab being after all, the acknowledged masters of this art form.

 The hardest answer of all of course, is the simple one that is fielded against the question 'but what if a unit is cut off and unable to fall back?' - to which Kedo must honestly and simply reply; "Then they must sell themselves as dearly as they may. And be honoured for their sacrifice."


 ---

 11:14, Today: Kedo rolled 23 using 8d10, dropping the 5 lowest rolls, rerolling max with rolls of 5,3,2,8,3,8,2,7. Trying to put across the idea..

 Finally, a normal roll. ^_^

 A success with one raise.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:32, Fri 22 Jan 2010.

Zenko stands quiet and stoic throughout Kedo's tactical analysis of the situation, when the man finishes up Zenko steps forward and says Kedo-san, your analysis and tactics are sound and the men should be honored to do as you ask. But we Crab use such tactics quite frequently and if I may, I would like to add some ideas.

Looking down at the map, he pauses for a moment before he says anything.What are these buildings here?, he points to an area on the map in the second ambush. Perhaps some engineers can weaken these walls so they may be collapsed and thereby slow down the Lion forces and give the first ambushers extra time to get to the third ambush. Is there anything not represented on the map terrain wise that the Crane might use to their advantage? Carts, merchant stalls, anything small and mobile that gives us the advantage.

Turning to Kedo again, he asks What are the unit sizes? Smaller groups are more mobile, especially in city streets but the Lion will realize this as well. I would expect the Lion to have a few skirmishing units. How many scouts do the Crane have? How are you using them?

Thinking for a moment, Zenko adds Back to carts, I would suggest filling a few carts with straw and soaking the straw underneath with oil. Have a few archers ready to ingite the carts when the Lion draw near. The heavy smoke should slow them down as well.

"Thank you both for your valuable insights," Daidoji Takamura bows, "I will not interrupt your business this day any further, Kedo-san.  Please, feel free to go about your business."

 Kedo is quite obviously unconcerned by the offerings that his new bodyguard and protector offers up - and is if anything pleased by them, since they address areas that he, for the most part did not. Unqualified to take part in planning the fine minutiae of siegework he left a great deal of discretion to men on the ground - and as a result there are no engineering traps or incendiary barricades in his great scheme of defence, but rather a great deal of insight into the way men react in time of battle, sweat-streaked and angered by their losses, fiercely determined to cut down the foe before them as repayment for what they have suffered.

 As a result there is a gap between strategy and individual tactics into which Hida's observations fit like a puzzle-piece alongside those of the Daidoji themselves and the Ronin swordsman-smith and strategist seems glad to listen and observe as they are brought together, interjecting only to answer the question regarding infiltration squads and Crane scouts by stating, "My purpose was simply to remind the Daidoji of the strength that was theirs all along - once that was accomplished, I was wiser than to attempt to tell them how to arrange skirmishers in battle." with a measure of dry humour.

 All too soon however, the questions are done and the duo are dismissed, which leaves Kedo at something of a loose end for a few hours, causing him to look thoughtfully at his new companion for a moment and ask, "I should return to my companions at some point Hida-san, but if there are those you would first wish to speak with within the city, it would be a pleasure to take the time for you to do so?"

Kedo and Hida Zenko arrive at Kakita Tsutomu's dojo, where Daidoji Tomoe and Daidoji Yukito sit discussing strategy with their friends.

"Ah, Kedo-san," Daidoji Yukito smiles, "please, come and join us.  I see you have brought Hida Zenko-san with you.  Both of you, feel welcome here.  We were just discussing the skirmishing order--dependent on the terrain, of course."

 "A matter upon which Hida-san is no doubt more qualified to speak than I." Kedo replies with his usual humility, despite having just been summoned to the Daidoji military centre of the city and invited to expand upon his insights into the art of war (which if nothing else will have the benefit of being Dragon to the core, and so utterly unlike anything the Lion will be expecting to face here in the lowlands), then assigned a Yojimbo on the strength of that understanding.

 He offers a small bow to those present and then undertakes to introduce Hida Zenko to each of those who do not already know him, using the term 'Who has been asked to watch over me' rather than embarrassing the man by naming him as Yojimbo to a Ronin.

"Well, no plan survives contact with the enemy," Daidoji Tomoe shrugs, "but it helps to have one anyway.  Before we get into details, however, perhaps we ought to determine what we can do."

"For example, Yukito and I would both prefer the range granted by our naginata, set to defend against a charge, but Michio, here, who is a monk of Osano-wo on a training journey, is likely more comfortable in a different style of combat.  He is better able to discuss his strengths, however."

OOC:  blech, that was awkward
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:28, Sat 20 Feb 2010.

 "Of course." agrees Kedo without even having to question the assertion, it being a fundamental truth that using warriors in a fashion that they're not trained to support, or failing to use the varied skills of your companions well is a recipie for disaster irrespective of the intentions of the foe, "I would suggest that it might well be wise also to practise in some time as is made available, that we might know one anothers timings and prefered stances." he adds, before looking down at himself with a rather distasteful expression, the stains of forge-work quite obviously marking his clothing, "But I do no honour to your house or hospitality with my appearance - might you excuse me for long enough to repair the damage that the day has wrought?"

"Hello Samurai-Sama," Michio says.

 Turning slightly, the smoke-stained and sweat-streaked (And obviously unhappy about both for all the lingering high of his having been privilaged to be the vessel through which Lesson chose to enter the world) Ronin offers a polite bow to the monk, albeit one not as deep as he would offer to other members of the martial classes (and yet respectful enough for all of that - there was never a Dragon born who did not appreciate the monastic life), "I am honoured to make your acquaintance Michio, have you come to lend your insight to the defence of the city?"

"My apologies, Kedo-san," Tomoe bows apologetically, "for failing to notice your discomfort.  Please feel free to use Tsutomu-sensei's facilities to freshen your appearance.  Our eagerness does not excuse our rudeness."

 "Nor mine for appearing so before you Tomoe-san... I am afraid that events have moved more swiftly under my feet than I might have wished." replies Kedo, simultaneously absolving his host of any possible wrongdoing and making plain his belief that the fault is his, before repeating that bow to each of the others present and making for the nearest small bathing facility - he might not have a change of clothes to hand, but he can at least make an effort to do something about the worst damage the day has done, and ohhhh but it will be good to be clean once more.

Michio quietly observes the group.

"That's the 'Kedo' we've been hearing so much about?" Kakita Ginta sneers, "he's little more than a dirty ronin, politer perhaps, but not much else.  It's hard to believe that our general would accept any plan that he developed, let alone the 'genius' that rumor makes it out to be."

"That 'dirty ronin' also dispatched several assassins single-handedly, Ginta-kun," Daidoji Tomoe points out, "unarmed and in a bath house.  I would not dismiss him so lightly, if I were you."

"And what did you think of the ronin Kedo, Michio-san?" Doji Shinichi--the most level headed of the squad--asks.

***

The ronin Kedo emerges from the bathhouse, no longer as dirty as when he arrived.  His hair still damp and his clothes refreshed, if not clean, he feels like a new man.  It is with some surprise, then, that he notes the presence of a young woman waiting near the bathhouse entrance.

She is dressed in the greens and blues of the Mantis, though she wears an orange and black obi, reminiscent of the Centipede.  At her side are the wakizashi of a samurai and the scrolls of a shugenja.

OOC:  enter Moshi Reiko
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:51, Mon 29 Mar 2010.