IUCHI EVENT: Spirit Quest (D9, Early Night)

[Moto Butaj]

So Butaj is supposed to see the future? Okay, Butaj can try. But how? Butaj ponders the matter, and his logic gives the answer: he must be faster than time. He does not exactly know what could give him such an ungodly speed but he well knows that the milk of the poppy is potent, so he extracts some of that and imbibes it, then hops on Huludai and gallops to outpace what is and ride with what will be!

Day 9 - EN - Mixing Up Herbs - Int/Poison (Unskilled, VP +1k1) - TN15: 3d10 16 +1 Point

Soon, sooner than he would expect, the contours of the world become blurry, and more grey and black and white until they get color again, just shifting. It is night again, and the sky is full of stars. Butaj feels the air taste different, and it's not just poppy.

Day 9 - EN - Enter the Spirit Realm: - Void/Meditation (VP for Skill) - TN20 (1R): 4d10o10k3 31 +2 points

There is a small tent on the steppe, with a light inside. Butaj dismounts and approaches it. "What has taken you so long?" He hears, and the voice makes him grin wide. He gets into the tent quickly and greets the woman with a loving kiss.



"Ah, I just had to outride the contemporaneity." He replies. "Now that I know how to do it it should be easier next time." She cups his stubble with her palm and smiles warmly. "It's all right, I had a reading with me, and I have some new ideas." She sends him a wink. "Oooh. Yoga then?" She says nothing, just blows out the candle.

Butaj is happy to leave big futures to others and to instead inhabit his own pocket future.

Day 9 - EN - Glimpse the Future - Int/Divination (VP for 1k1) - TN15: 3d10 12 - 0 Points

---

3 Points

[Seppun Hideo]

Hideo spent a short while looking the potions over, and considering what the best way to create the potion was. However, he didn't do the greatest job...and soon felt a burning down in his stomach that would take all night to fully recover.

D9 EN Event - Mixing Up Herbs TN15 Poison/int: 3d10 10
D9 EN Event - Mixing Up Herbs damage from failed roll: 2d10o10k2 6
0 points

[Yasuki Tomonaga]

Tomonaga mixed some herbs. They weren't great.

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D9 Event, mixing herbs, unskilled int TN15: 3d10k3 11
Herb damage: 2d10o10k2 16, vp down to 6

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

Dong-Ha set to work, mixing the potent herbs into a concoction, or tryingto as such methods were not used in his school. The so called Nobane-line preferred their students sticking to the age old, well known magic that formed the core of what was commonly known as meishodo. In other words, tripping balls was left to to the branches that were influenced by the Moto and their primitive beliefs.

Dong-Ha spent the evening retching, curing the Moto and their children.

___________
0 points (3 damage after voiding the damage)

[Shosuro Yawarakai]

The Shosuro set about crushing and stewing the ingredients he had been given with an eager hand. Once the contents had steeped for long enough, he poured it into a cup of tea which had oversteeped for long enough it's flavor was overwhelming and bitter but it was enough to mask the otherwise vile taste of what he had blended in. Finally lay back, he settled in and waited for the promised blackness to take him.

He awoke half an hour later. In his sleep, he had flopped off the little bed of blankets he had made for himself and seemingly already wretched but it did not ease his roiling stomach. Only when he lifted his hand, slightly moist from lying in the puddle, did he notice it glinted with scarlet. He tried to stand and only succeeded in stumbling to his knees. He bent over and wretched again, where thin threads of crimson waved in ichor caught by the torchlight around him. Quickly he pulled a bottle of water and forced himself to drink as much as he could then began jumping up and down. Not much, just barely. Just enough to agitate. Just enough for- there. He bent over and gurgled until his stomach was empty and with it what ever parts of the cocktail that had not entered his system already. Once it seemed like it was over, he sipped some water and washed it around his mouth to rinse. This he spat out, and rinsed again. Gingerly, he drank some of the water to put some back into his system and staggered back to his bed for a very long and uncomfortable night.

----------
The mix, with one raise: failed
The cost: voided down to 11
0 points

[Bayushi Hotaru]

Hotaru gingerly mixed the ingredients together for the concoction. It's not like she had experience with poisonous herbs, though she was sure that the stereotype was there when it came to the Scorpion. She thought nothing else of it as she ingested her own created solution and closed her eyes, waiting for its effect to take place. To be honest, she was rather anxious to see the Iuchi's methods for herself.

It was rather strange, as didn't feel like she transcended elsewhere, as they said that's what the potion would do to her. Nevertheless, she felt like she was transported elsewhere, deep to the internal self. She had little say in the matter as her mind fell victim to the sway of what happened next, falling into a rather vivid dream-like state. In her state, she saw herself...no, was herself when she was an early age of 5. She was at the steps of the Shining Retreat and was sweeping the stone steps with a miniature broom. There was a breeze that rolled in and she looked to the leaves that were blown in the wind with much optimism and wonder...only to have a rock fly out of nowhere and knock her in the forehead. She cried out in pain and before she could tear up, she was a grown young woman at the same temple steps.

There was laughter coming from inside the temple and she made her way it doors and pried it open. She suddenly found herself in the sitting room of her family estate. Her siblings was seated at the table, taking up each side of the low square table. It looked like there were several toy blocks in the middle of the table and they divided it among each other, laughing it up like there was great fun to be had. Hotaru walked over with a small smile on her face, trying to join in on the fun. "Hey! What's so funny, everyone?"

None of her siblings responded and continued laughing it up with each other. She circled around the table, trying to get a peek at what they were doing, but seemed to grow increasingly tall and obscured her from seeing the table. It seemed rather futile, until one sibling turned to her. She was a woman with several red streaks in her hair and dressed in the rather scandalous fashion of an oiran.

"Do you wish to trade?" She asked her with a sly smile on her lips. Hotaru was about to respond to the giant woman towering over her but found herself at a loss for words...Her sibling reached for her hair and started pulling on it until her skin gave way and ripped apart like thin wrapping paper, revealing a rather oily and grotesque figure underneath. She leaned in closely and repeated the question.

"DO YOU WISH TO TRADE?"

The creature placed it hand around the very miniature Hotaru's head and...

"AHHHHH!" Hotaru screamed awake when she felt Mamoru licking at her hand, concerned about his master's delirious state. She almost thanked the Heavens that it was just a horrible psychedelic dream but she felt wet warmth dripping from her nostrils and lips. Blood.

(Failed) http://orokos.com/roll/513212
(14 Damage) http://orokos.com/roll/513214

Edit: Oh, I'm also going to void that, with this void I'm setting on. >_>

[Asako Yuki]

Yuki looked a little uncertain about all this hubbub. Yuki is given several bags with which to work with, and little explanation. The Iuchi explains in a mixture of Rokugani and Mekhem that only the truly enlightened can find the path to the future, and that path cannot be taught. Yuki sighs at the logic behind it, and begins to carefully mix the herbs before throwing them into water and putting the ceramic container into the fire. After several moments, Yuki feels a whisper behind her shoulder that the time is right and she pulls the container from the fire, pouring it into the bowl she has been given. Yuki only gives a moment for the brew to cool before lifting the container and drinking the entirety of it.

Closing her eyes, Yuki focuses on the self, and begins her meditation, she begins to use the constant rhythmic thumping of her heart as a beat as she begins to feel something slide diagonally, she blinks as she finds herself floating above the fire, and then everything turns to mist. "Ano..." She looks around, seeing figures arise and fade from the mists. The future, the past, it is almost overwhelming. Yuki stops, seeing Butaj, clad in white.



"Butaj!" She calls out to him, reaching out and moving in his direction before an elderly voice from behind her arrests her progress.

"Yuki? What are you doing here?"

Yuki turned to see a wizened old woman, smiling warmly in a way that felt somehow... safe. "Ah, I am sorry, I don't know where I am."

The old woman laughed a little. "Of course you don't dear, I don't think you're supposed to be here, but it is good to see you again anyway."

Yuki paused, looking confused. "Ah, I am sorry, have we met?"

The old woman laughed again and looked straight at Yuki. "Don't you know me? Children these days..." She shook her head, tsking a little.

Suddenly, from some animal part of her brain, Yuki realized. "Ah, Asako-Shiryo!" She cried out, kneeling before the founder of her Family.

The woman smiled kindly. "Up you go dear, it is good you are here. I have something to show you." Asako turned and started to move through the mists. Yuki got to her feet and dutifully followed after her founder. Coming to a stop shortly after she did. Asako stood quietly, holding open one scene, samurai fighting one another, some glowing, others looking normal. Yuki watched for a moment, then turned to Asako.

"I don't... what does it mean?"

Asako sighed a little. "Some souls are not content, and want more than what they were given by the heavens. War is coming child, a war for which the seed was planted in our very home. Go now, dear, warn the others."

Before Yuki could say anything more, she suddenly awoke from her trance, sweating profusely. Leaning over, Yuki vomits up whatever was left of the juice she had ingested and groans.

Mixing up Herbs: 21
Enter the Spirit Realm: 30
Glimpse the Future: 19

3 Spirit Points

[Iuchi Saksaha]

Saksaha is surprised to learn that her Family intends to initiate so many inexperienced young Rokugani into this rite--but on reflection, not unhappy. Maybe it will give the guests a better understanding of what it will mean to bring a Unicorn wife or husband into their tents. And anyone who manages to poison themselves really, really badly is probably too stupid or incautious to deserve a Unicorn marriage, anyway.

Kitted out in the ribboned and beaded robes of her calling, Saksaha prepares the ritual draught according to her grandmother's recipe, asking the power of the elements to sharpen her memory. Well, the old lady had used to make it extra-strong... better not try that this time. Still, the final result is more or less what it's supposed to be.





Wielding Grandmother's mirror and beating her spirit drum, Saksaha makes sure to drive all malign influences from the area, and for extra insurance calls on a charm to strengthen her spirit against anything that might try to seize her body while she's not at home. Then she swallows the potion, trying not to grimace at the familiar but still awful taste. Silvery-purple auras form almost immediately around the people and objects within her vision, and leaving her body quickly becomes easier than staying put...





Hurry, hurry, there's not much time. The bright voice of the magpie--saksaha, her namesake bird--fills her dream-ears under the pulsating moon of some in-between realm. Hurry, look, see! Warnings! Borne along in a hasty flurry of black and white wings, her shifting spirit passes through a mist that might be clouds or might be smoke, or stars. Suddenly she smells blood, and her feather-hackles rise.



Clashing steel seems to be everywhere around her, threatening to crush her. Ancestors make war on their descendants, grandparents make war against grandchildren! the other birds shrill miserably. Even the wicked cuckoo won't destroy the eggs of its own kind. But children of humans, beware!

The massive blade of a yari nearly skewers Saksaha's feathered form as it slices through the air in the hands of a masked warrior. As she flaps furiously away, her vision is transfixed by the chrysanthemum mon stamped into the watered steel, its lines highlighted by a bright smear of fresh blood. Then the swirl of wings carries her away again, through the smoke...

...and she opens her eyes in her own body. Her head is throbbing and everything is outlined in rainbow colors that hurt to look at. Across the fire circle, she sees Usagi Tomoe (hopefully!) being tended by some of the older Iuchi and winces sympathetically, remembering how journeys of the spirit had used to take her the same way.

---
Fluff casting of Earth's Touch (Willpower)

Craft: Poison, no Raises: 25 +1 point
Meditation/Void + Medium bonus, no Raises: 21, +1 point
Divination/Int, one Raise: 28, +2 points
(Cast Reversal of Fortunes on the two rolls prior to entering the out-of-body vision, which I gathered is okay?--but in fact both succeeded on the first roll anyway so rerolling turned out to be irrelevant.)


Total: 4 Spirit Points

[Iuchi Batul]

Humming a tune of the deserts, Batul mixes her herbs with adept skill. She is no botanist, but she has seen the recipe been done before, so it does not take her much to create the concoction. With a quick smell, the samurai-ko is sure of the results and takes the elixir without a second thought. She can already feel the pull of the dose as she steadies herself on the floor before the bonfire. Nearby she can hear the song of her cousin Saksaha calling the spiritual ones to them. Batul looks to her arms, as they feel strange. Once more the young one has adopted her astral form for her voyage, a desert serin, yet with the colors of her clan shading her feathers.



It had been a while since her last spiritual trip, but she could already feel the strong pull of the Void on her, drawing her to a peaceful state of mind where all is one and yet nothing is. She picks up her flight and soars the skies in her new form. The world turns and swirls before her until settling again, Batul floats back into reality and in her form she perches over a tall tree of leaves that have shaded gray before the battle that it witnesses. It is a great battle of the samurai of the Empire against spiritual beings. Batul tries to take a better look, she lifts flight but the herbs decide to fade the effect and the samurai-ko is drawn back to her body. As much as she tries to return to her vision, the pull is too strong, and the samurai-ko opens her eyes to the bonfire.

-----
-Herb Mix, TN 15: 20 - 1 SP
-Enter Realm, 1 Raise, TN 20: 29 - 2 SP
-Future Glimpse, TN 15: 22 - 1 SP

TOTAL 4 Spiritual Points

[Kitsune Takeo]

Takeo approached and sat as instructed by the Iuchi. He paid as much attention as he could.

But it seemed the Fortunes had other ideas in mind for the young Fox.

He didn't die, but he might as well have.

(Craft Poison: TN 15 : 11 mmmkay

2k2 damage: 15 mmmmmmmmmkay

Void down to 5, if that's a thing we can do)

[Ide Samai]

Samai joined the Iuchi, looked over the herbs, and chose the pretty ones. The blood she coughed up was a nice color as well.

Craft: Poison/Int: Fail
Damage: Voided down to 10

[Moto Baatar]

Moto Baatar brewed up the herbal concoction and took a taste. He made a face at how bitter it tasted. This tastes worse than that tea granny brewed out of bark and dirt, he thought to himself.

A spoonful of kumiss will help the medicine go down, he decided.

Adding a little kumiss did help the flavor, but the bitter medicinal taste was still there. Maybe a little more kumiss?

SOON:


Baatar downed the delicious potion and smacked his lips. Nine parts kumiss, one part shochu, and one part poisonous herb bitters was the perfect cocktail for parties!

Unfortunately, the narcotic effects of the herbs was completely diluted away, and the only sensation Baatar felt after drinking them was mild indigestion.

--
Craft: Poison 11 missed TN15
14 damage, void to reduce damage to 4.
0 points

[Kakita Nanami]

:: Fluff Placeholder ::

OOC - Rolls:
Mixing Up The Herbs: Craft: Poison / Intelligence vs. TN15 - 20 (Success, 1 Point)
Enter the Spirit Realm: Meditation / Void (+1k1 Void, 1 Called Raise) vs. TN20 - 18 (Fail)

Total: 1 Point

[Mindshred]

As the night comes to a close, the Iuchi move quietly among the gathered samurai, gently waking drowsing, drooling, and poisoned samurai. Once everyone is back to the world of the living, they announce the results of the event.

Tonbo Misa earns 3 Courtship Points.

Usagi Tomoe and Isawa Nonin earn 2 Courtship Points.

Moshi Asakiko, Soshi Bantus, Seppun Hitako, and Iuchi Saksaha earn 1 Courtship Point.