Dark Edge Village

Iuchi Tareef sighed as she returned to her tent. It had been a long day, and something she had eaten - most likely one of those disgusting ocean-bugs - was disagreeing with her stomach. One hand pressed to her stomach, she pulled back the flap of her yurt and debated whether to undress for the night or sleep in her clothes. The latter would be less comfortable, but the former would result in far less embarrassment if she had to run outside to empty her stomach.

"...we can help with that..."

Tareef looked up, from side to side, her brow furrowing as she sought the source of the voice. "Hello? Is someone there?"

"...kekekekekeke... do you not recognize the voice of the kami, shugenja...?"

The Iuchi's eyes widened as she stared up into the night sky. "The kami? Our daimyo said that we may hear your voices again upon our return to the lady of our ancestors, but I had thought it would be a matter of years, no weeks..."

"...let us ease your burden... give us blood in the way of your ancestors..."

Lips pulling back in a relieved smile, Tareef drew the wakizashi on her hip and cut a deep wound across her hand. Turning it upside down, she closed it into a fist, allowing the blood to drip past her fingers and onto the ground below. "Blood you have, noble kami. What prayer must I invoke for your blessing?"

"...what is... your name...?"

"Iuchi Tareef, daughter of Iuchi Yoosuf and Iuchi Nakheel." She squeezed her hand a bit more as she rested the other on her roiling stomach.

"...give us... your name..."

Tareef's brow furrowed in confusion. "I... I just did, spirit. I am Iu...?"

Before she could finish the sentence, the blood-splattered ground burst apart, causing Tareef to stagger backwards in surprise. Hellish green light blazed upwards from the pit, and a moment later, a clawed hand reached out, closing around the ground. Another hand appeared, and then the demon Tareef had inadvertently summoned pulled itself free of the pit, its bone-wings stretching out behind it. Its back was armored, like that of a lobster, and the top plate curled forward, forming a hood-like shape. There was no head or face beneath the hood, only a sinister red light that radiated an intense heat. The demon's waist was an inky void that spilled out around it like a tattered robe.

Tareef fell backwards, her eyes wide with terror. "H-HELP! JINN!"

The whispers of the "kami" broke out into malicious laughter. "Kekekekekeke! Fooled you, fooled you, fooled you...!"

The demon joined in with the laughter, its voice like and held out its hand towards the woman. "Welcome home, little Ki-Rin." Fire flashed outwards from its palm, incinerating Tareef as her cries for help boiled away into an agonizing scream.

Tareef no Oni must be defeated!

But who is brave enough to stand against an oni?



Participants: Four characters (Make a placeholder post in this thread, and if you are among the first four, go back in and edit in your arrival and relevant combat stats. Characters after the first four will be removed.)


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 20 feet from Tareef no Oni. For the purposes of this thread, characters are considered to be in melee with all other characters within 5 feet of themselves.

Upon joining this thread, each character must test against Fear 3 (Willpower TN 20, and the character may add their Honor Rank to the total; those who fail suffer -3k0 on every roll they make for the remainder of the encounter. If a character fails this roll by 15 points or more, they automatically flee the event in terror, and suffer Honor losses as appropriate).

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.


Mischievous Kansen: The area is flooded with mischievous kansen. If an Elemental Spell Casting Roll is failed in this thread, a kansen will answer the prayer instead, offering to fulfill the desired spell. Should the shugenja agree, the spell is succesfully cast, but the shugenja also gains a number of Shadowlands Taint points equal to the spell's Mastery Level. This will allow characters to avoid the sickness caused by opened Black Scrolls. This gain of Shadowlands Points cannot be prevented by jade.

(Please note the Fear 3 addition)

Kitakuhime woke up. Her heart wouldn't stop beating. She could hear Gekko nearby, she was sure –– she could feel him.

How did he got out of the stables? Something is not right.

Hurrying up to lace up her armor on, she leaves the yurt and whistles. Within moments, her bonded steed appears as she had imagined. Gekko had a serious glare, one that she had seen before. Without wasting time, she mounts up, and rides away: the Otaku steed knew the way.

Arriving the area, though, and seeing the monstrosity in front of her, doubt strikes. The dream she had wasn't real at all. The demons and beasts have followed them to Rokugan. She looks around –– scared like never before –– but escape doesn't even cross her mind. She presses her tights on the saddle, and unsheathes her family blade.

--
Fear 3 (TN 20) = 18 Failed
Initiative: 15
Stance: Attack
Armor TN: 34 (Mounted)

Ah... Gekko Fear 3 (TN 20) = 21 Success
Aaaannd... Gekko's Initiative = 23
Gekko's TN = 20

What this action scene needs besides a murderous Oni is Moto! Perhaps she was shaken by the death birds but Khulun is ready for battle and although Oguro is shaken he will follow the Moto Princess into battle with Massacre in hand.

OOC: Fear Roll + Void + Honor TN 20: 4d10o10+3 53 and Fear Roll + Horse TN 20: 3d10o10 16 for Oguro, damn it horse but he does not run away. Attack stance, TN 27; Initiative: 3d10o10k2 27. Initiative - Oguro: 1d10o10 8

Taichi was taking a small evening ride, still a little too awake from the events of the day for sleep. Seeing the shape of Otaku Kitakumime after so long, Taichi smiles and approaches. Immediately realising something is wrong, he draws his weapon and charges forward, determined to protect the Heiress.

[ooc]
Fear Roll - VP spent - pass
Initiative - 19
Stance - Attack
ATN - 25

Karukaze
Control roll (for the whole skirmish) - TN10 - success
Fear roll horse - fail
Initiative (Harukaze) - 8
ATN: 15

Hearing the whistle stirs an already restless from food poisoning Chi-Pu

"Otaku-sama?"

The sleepy woman calls out as she exits her Yurt, eyes half open.

Seeing the Otaku heiress in full armor and dashing away in the night makes Chi-Pu's eyes widen fully.

"Kitakuhime!"

With expert practice from years of combat during the ride through the Shadows, Chi-Pu dons her armor and secures her daisho, darting to the back of her Yurt where Tianma is tied.

In a fluid motion, the warhorse is untied and mounted, kicked into a gallop.

Seeing the demon, Chi-Pu's heart begins to race and she clenches her hand around the handle of her katana.

Tianma whinnys and seems to run faster forward.

----Rolls----
Day 1 LN Fear, Chi-Pu TN 20: 3d10o10k3 6+7 Honor, 13. (fail)
Day 1 LN Fear+Honor, Tianma TN 20: 4d10o10k4 25 (pass)
Day 1 LN Initiative, -3k0 Fear.: 1d10o10 3
Day 1 LN Initiative Tianma: 4d10o10k3 22

Stance: Attack

TN Chi-Pu: 32
TN Tianma: 20

The oni turns as it hears the Unicorn samurai approaching it. Two yurts are already burning behind it, silhouetting its inhuman form against the flames. Its bone-wings spread out as the inky blackness of its waist spread outwards from it like living darkness.

"Come, children of Shinjo... let me show you the true power of darkness."



Initiative

27 - Moto Khulun (Attack, TN 27
22 - Tianma (Chi-Pu's horse, TN 20)
19 - Shinjo Taichi (Attack, TN 25)
18 - Tareef no Oni (Attack, TN 25)
15 - Otaku Kitakuhime (Attack, TN 34)
15 - Gekko (Kitakuhime's Horse, TN 20)
8 - Oguro (Khulun's Horse, TN 15)
8 - Harukaze (Taichi's horse, TN 15)
3 - Otaku Chi-pu (Attack, TN 34)

(Horses move on their controller's turn but attack on their turn. On a horse's first turn, the rider can attempt a TN 10 Horsemanship/Awareness roll. On a success, the horse may attack on its turn for the rest of combat. On a failure, the character may try again on the horse's next turn. Otaku battle steeds automatically pass this roll.)

Khulun urges her mount forward and gives out a ululation to lead the charge of the Unicorn! This time the thunder crashes before the lightning! Massacre finds purchase…. Hopefully such a thing will die to her red steel blade.

OOC: Attack - Massacre: 6d10o10k3 44 and Damage roll is bleh... Attack - Massacre: 8d10o10k2 12!

The blade cuts into the demon's flesh, dealing a shallow wound that oozes black ichor. The creature's insides reek of fresh vomit, and it pulls back in surprise, almost seeming to flinch in pain.

(since Tianma isn't in combat, Taichi is up)

Taichi charges forward gallantly, lashing out against the creature that threatens his past charge.

[ooc]
33 - hits
17 damage

Taichi might as well have cut into a stone statue, for the demon's flesh refused to give way before his weapon.

The oni spreads its arms, palms facing toward the ground, as its lower half spreads out across the ground, covering it in inky darkness. Tendrils rise up from the darkness, grasping at the horses of the samurai, trying to pull them and their riders down to the ground.


[Any creature in a 15-foot-radius around the oni (just horses for now) is instantly Entangled and cannot take any actions until it makes a Strength roll at TN 15 to break free on its turn. For each subsequent Strength roll on future turns, the TN increases by 5 as the subject becomes more entangled, to a maximum TN of 30, at which point the riders will become Entangled at a TN of 15, as noted above.]

Kitakuhime follows her clanmates. Her doubt in herself strengthens as she sees Taichi's blade leaving the creature unscathed. She looks to Gekko, and her steed simply shakes his head, charging in.

Understanding his request, the young Shiotome uses her blade to guard him while he tramples the beast with his righteous fury.

--
Kitakuhime's TN = 29
Gekko's TN = 30
Gekko's Strength Roll (TN 15) = 29 - Success
Gekko's Trample (TN 25) = 26 - Success
Gekko's Damage = 31

The demon is unmoved by the terrifying sight of Gekko bearing down upon it. When the horse slams into it, the demon grabs it in its claws, pushing the horse aside as it avoids Kitakuhume's blade. Despite the Otaku steed's momentum, its hooves seemed to have had no more effect than Taichi's blade.



(Oguro and Harukaze can make their TN 15 Strength rolls to break free of entanglement, and Chi-Pu can take her turn as well)