Dark Edge Village

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed as the storm drenched the plains below as the storm reached its height. It was difficult to make out much of anything in the pounding rain, but every so often, a sinuous, serpentine shape was illuminated by the lightning as it wove its way through the dark clouds.

Amidst the clouds, the Orokos snapped at the annoying little mujina which taunted it. One of the winged pests placed its fingers in its eyes, pulling them down as it stuck out its tongue and made a rude noise. The orochi's wings snapped downward, propelling it forward as it lunged at the trickster spirit. As its jaws closed around the mujina, however, the little creature disappeared amidst a burst of high-pitched laughter.

Two more mujina appeared below the orochi, tiny mallets in their hands, and they struck them against Orokos' belly scales as he flew past. Each strike made a sharp, musical note as it connected, further enraging the serpent as it twisted around and snapped at the creatures.

This time, one of the mujina was too slow. The orochi grabbed the trickster spirit in its jaws and plunged downward toward the ground, slamming against the ground like a meteor. Rocks and dirt all around the impact site were thrown into the air as the earth shook with the force of the impact. Orokos pulled itself up from the massive crater in satisfaction as it swallowed the remains of the mujina, its wings falling away into green smoke as rows of long, clawed legs pushed out from its serpentine body, allowing it to walk across the land.

The tittering of the little beasts put a damper on its victory. "Foul beasts!" the orochi bellowed into the storm, its voice louder than the thunder above. "Why doth thee vex me so?!"

There was a giggling sound from beside the orochi as the mujina reappeared. "You chased us all the way to Ningen-do! You were only plaid for a little while..."

Orokos slammed its new claws against the wet ground, splattering mud in every direction. "I shall have mine vengeance!"

One of the mujina caught sight of forms approaching in the rain and came up with an idea. "Oh, you may be able to defeat us when we're so small, but what if we take the shape of... samurai!" Catching on to the plan, the other mujina laughed as they faded from sight, just as the samurai from Dark Edge Village came into sight...

A confused and enraged Orokos is rampaging across the western fields!

Do you dare match your strength against that of an orochi?


Participants: Six characters (Make a placeholder post in this thread, and if you are among the first six, go back in and edit in your arrival and relevant combat stats. Characters after the first six will be removed. Horses will act on their owner's turns.)


Rules: This is a combat thread. Characters should include their Initiative, Stance, Armor TN in their first post; a character may not change their Stance on the first round of combat. All characters begin the battle 40 feet from Orokos. For the purposes of this thread, characters are considered to be in melee with all other characters within 5 feet of themselves.

Characters may flee from the battle as a Complex Action, provided that they are physically capable of movement. Doing so removes them from the combat (and the thread) at the end of the current combat round, but causes them to lose an appropriate amount of honor. Characters with the Overconfident disadvantage must pass a Perception Trait Roll (TN 20) before taking this action; on a failure, they must choose a different action, and may not further attempt to leave this thread until the event has finished.


Heavy Rain: Due to the heavy rain, characters suffer a -2k1 penalty on all Ranged attacks (such as Kyujutsu). If a shugenja casts a spell using a scroll, they must roll a 1d10 at the end of every round they cast that spell. On a roll of 1-3, the scroll is destroyed by the rain and the scroll (if it hasn't yet been completed) is destroyed. Similarly, if a ward spell is used (re: Yogo Wardmasters), a similar roll must be made at the end of every turn; on a 1-3, the ward is destroyed by the rain and ceases to function.


Victory: If the characters are able to defeat Orokos, each of them will gain +2.0 Glory, +1 Courtship Point, and the following advantage:

Slayer of Orokos [Spiritual] (5)
- This character has been imbued with some of the magic possessed by the mighty Orokos. This character adds their Void Ring as a flat modifier to all dice rolls. Unfortunately, other Orochi can sense that this character murdered one of their own and will attack the character on sight.

Yuzuki had heard strange voices telling her to come here. She had seen the sky. What the hell was going on? It didn't matter! Preparing herself she headed out in the rain. The thunder reminding her of home. Katana in one hand, kama in the other. Whatever was going on, she would be a part of it.

"What's going on out here!?"

She yelled to no one in particular as she headed towards destiny.

Initiative: 3d10o10k2 41
Stance: Attack
ATN: 21
Light Armor (3 reduction)

Hiroji approaches the field in his armor, attracted by the strange noises and coming to see what is happening, he receives much more than he prepared for. The heavy metal clanking as he walks, he sees the spirit and the rage init's eyes. That cold focused frown appears on his face once again.
[Armor: 25, Reduction 5] [Stance: Attack] [Initiative: Base 3k2, http://orokos.com/roll/506914, 11]

Udo comes walking forward to see what is happening, and we'll see how that goes.


Initiative: 25
Stance: Defense
Armor TN: 23 (20 + 3 for Stance)

The sound and mayhem drew a Scorpion who thought someone might need help.

Little did he realize, that someone would soon be him.

----

Initiative: 16 http://orokos.com/roll/506922
Armor TN: 20, +5 vs lower init.
Stance: Attack
Reduction: 3

Shinjo Liu Yue came out, clad in full armor, atop her mighty steed Hikazume. "Taira-dono! What is happening?!"

---

Stance: Attack
Initiative: 24
TN: 32
Reduction: 4

Horse Initiative: 34
Horse TN: 15
Reduction: 3

Horsemanship/Awareness TN 10: 16

((I'm going to regret this))

Chi-Pu lay in her yurt staring at the ceiling, listening to the war rage in the skies as the thunder rolled. The constant batter of rain on the leather of the yurt made the woman begin to doze off.

Then the ground trembled and Chi-Pu shot straight up, awakening from a nightmare, sweat dripping from her despite the coolness.

"Oni?!"

She dons her gear and sprints to the stables where Tianma was waiting for her. Her massive warhorse was uneasy and pacing in her stall.

The Unicorn Nikutai mounts her horse swiftly and presses her legs hard into her steeds sides, causing Tianma to race off toward the sound of impact.

----Rolls----
[D4 LE] Initiative - Chi-Pu: 4d10o10k3 16
[D4 LE] Initiative - Tianma: 4d10o10k3 25
Stance: Attack
TN - Chi-Pu (Mounted): 32
Reduction: 4
TN - Tianma: 20
Reduction: 5

The Orochi roars as it charges toward the "disguised mujina" at full speed, its clawed feet kicking mud up into the rain as it comes out of the darkness like a nightmare given flesh.


(Remember that you cannot change your Stance on the first round of combat)


Initiative

41 - Yuzuki (Defense, TN 24)
31 - Orokos (Full Attack, TN 20) (40 feet away)
25 - Togashi Udo (Defensive, TN 23)
24 - Shinjo Liu Yue (Attack, TN 32)
- Hizazume the Wonder Horse (15)
16 - Otaku Chi-Pu (Attack, TN 32)
- Tianma the Other Horse (TN 20)
16 - Soshi Taira (Attack, TN 20*)
11 - Kaiu Hiroji (Attack, TN 25)

Seeing the shape of the Orochi heading towards them, she recognized it immediately.

Instinctively, Yuzuki stepped forward... and then launched into a sprint; beating her chest with the hand the kama was in while raising her katana up into the rain.

"I am Yuzuk of the Mantis! Settle the hell down! We're friends!"



Sincerity/Awareness: Hey there friend!: 4d10o10k2 22
(1 simple action to move forward 20'feet, 1 simple action to be friends)
stance: defense
atn: 24
wounds: 0/0
void: 2/0

The orochi completely ignores the Mantis's words as it lunges forward, snapping its massive jaws closed around her and biting down hard. It shakes her a few times before tossing her to the side, blood pouring down its fanged teeth.


(44 damage to Yuzuki)

Seeing Yuzuki get bitten and tossed aside, Udo rushes forward and guards her.

(Moving up and Guard Yuzuki)

New TN: 18

"No retreat! No surrender!" Yue charged in with her steed!

---

Horse Attack: 15
Tetsubo Attack: 28
Tetsubo Damage: 24

The tetsubo slams into the tough, scaled hide of the land-serpent, though it doesn't seem to have harmed the huge creature all that much.

The wind and rain made it nearly impossible to see. Chi-Pu heard the warcry from a woman and the hoofbeats of a steed and that was all she needed to know.

Silent as night, Chi-Pu presses her thighs into Tianma's side and the horse takes off into a full blown gallop.

Lightning strikes and Tianma leaps over a log, her full force coming down onto the Orochi before jumping off it's serpentine back.

As her steed leaps, Chi-Pu lunges out with her blade, attempting to cut into the thick scales.



----Actions/Rolls----
Tianma: Free Action Move to get into base contact. Fear 2
[D4 LE] Attack (Trample) - Tianma TN20: 6d10o10k4 22
[D4 LE] Damage (Trample) - Tianma: 6d10o10k4 22
[D4 LE] Attack (Katana) - Chi-Pu, Bonus: +Honor, +Mounted TN20: 6d10o10k2+7 35
[D4 LE] Damage (Katana) - Chi-Pu, Bonus: +Mastery, +Katana Void Ability: 8d10o10k3 24

Void: 1/2
Stance: Attack
Chi-Pu TN: 32
Reduction 4
Tianma TN: 20
Reduction 5