Arc 5, Session 26, L5R

June 6th, 1119 (Continued) 

 

The very air surrounding the men seemed to chill after the merchant’s confession. Gaijin pepper: gunpowder. Outlawed in Rokugan since the year 442, possessing it was a death sentence. Yet here & now, Takeshi found himself holding a box full of the substance.

After a few terse questions, Takeshi told Teruteru to take hold of the package once more...before drawing his blade on the merchant. The Lion marched him back to the path at swordpoint. As he approached, Takeshi called out to Choshi to have her ready to move on Toritaka Buro if needed.

Understandably, the Falcon yojimbo was taken aback upon seeing his charge being threatened. His hand flew to the hilt of his katana, but he hesitated to draw. The party's behavior thus far had been honorable & given him no reason to doubt them- a fact Takeshi leveraged as he explained the situation to the younger samurai. 

From the way the Falcon glared at Teruteru it was clear he had not known of the Dragonfly's illicit inventory. As a show of trust, the yojimbo peace-tied his blades to prevent them from being drawn. Thus prepared, the quartet began the trek back to Ie.

Back at the village, Yudai was performing upkeep on his equipment while Megumi spent some time walking the grounds. For a moment, she felt as if she were being watched- but nothing could be spotted. Hayata & Kiyuki were still enjoying their lovely discussion with Moto Shozo & Kitsu Nari. Thankfully, the Unicorn made an excuse to leave, followed shortly by the Lion.

A short while later, Takeshi's group returned. Seeing him with blade drawn at the merchant immediately caught the attention of the other samurai. The Nezumi kept to themselves as the group reconvened on the outskirts of the village.

It was not difficult to get Teruteru to repeat his explanations of what was going on. Terror was writ plain on his face, & his voice shook considerably as he "insinuated" that Takeshi's lord had directly purchased the gunpowder. When he began to feel the way the wind was blowing, he began to make desperate, flailing appeals of bribery to save his life.

Such things had no influence on true servants of the Empire.

With the deed done, Megumi & Yudai began preparing a funeral pyre. Takeshi dismissed Choshi & sought to meditate in his tent upon the matter. Kiyuki & Hayata, meanwhile, made their way to a nearby river to dispose of the foul substance. 

Yudai approached Toritaka Buro in private. Though he understood the sentiment, he told the Falcon that the dangers of this forest were ever-present: the group would need every able samurai to survive. Thus, he convinced Toritaka Buro to un-tie his blades.

When the samurai had each finished their respective tasks, they discussed how to proceed. There was still plenty of daylight left to them. It was eventually decided that they should return to the ruins of the Naga buildings.

Megumi explained what she had learned of Moto Shozo's ritual plans to the party. She was concerned about leaving him "unsupervised" in the Nezumi village. Would the group come back to find dead ratfolk in his wake? Though it took a bit of playing to his ego, the group was able to convince him to accompany them in their search. Thankfully, it was nowhere near as difficult to gather the Lion spiritualists to join as well.

Byako Nio & Ino once more led the samurai to the rubble-strewn field. They waited at the end of the path, as Ino was extremely discomfited by the location's aura. Our heroes began to search the area for any physical clues. 

After a bit of hard labor, they were able to excavate the largest heap of rubble, revealing the giant pearl from their earlier vision. Its size & weight made it near impossible to move but it appeared relatively intact. The only thing marring its surface was that odd, shifting "stain". Toritaka Buro explained that this is what had drawn him to the clearing: the pearl's stain felt "safe & familiar" in a strange way. From what the shugenjas could discern, the blackish spot felt...alive in some way that the pearl did not.

Leaving this matter to those attuned to it, Yudai moved to the edge of the forest. Megumi had warned them that she felt someone following her earlier- perhaps he could lure them out for an encounter. While he did so, the others attempted to discern more of the pearl. They failed, but their concentrated wills caused another time flash to occur.

This vision appeared to be a bit ahead of them. In it, Kitsu Nari & Matsu Domotai were preparing a spell. During the preparations, the teacher subtly hung a small charm on her apprentice's back without her knowledge. When the ritual finally began, the younger Lion let out a wail of shock & pain. Blackened veins began to spread from her right eye. The Taint bloomed on her face, a mirror to Kitsune Ryosei's own injuries.

Though seeing the young woman sacrificed for the Fox Daimyo sickened them, the party realized they had learned something important: if the Taint transferred to whomever was marked by the charm, they could potentially attach it to someone more...deserving.

Takeshi was spurred to speak with Kitsu Nari after this vision. He first suggested, then demanded that she teach both her spell to break the time loop & her spell to "cleanse" the Taint to her apprentice. If not to her, then to Kiyuki, who had recently revealed her own skills with the occult. 

The celestial scholar did not reach her position by being cowed easily. Why, if she were to teach those rituals to someone or write them down, then she would become expendable. As long as the magicks stayed in her head alone, the group was reliant upon her. She aimed to keep it that way. Both Lions ended this conversation with threats- veiled & otherwise.

Meditating, Yudai kept his back to the haunted eaves. He experienced a brief flash of a vision: the one Kiyuki had mentioned earlier, where the Byako brothers were killed by giant spiders. Yudai did his best to commit the location to memory.

It did not take long before he could feel eyes upon him. When he called out to the watcher, he didn't truly expect a response; he was shocked to suddenly hear his name called out in human tongue. He stood & stepped towards the voice.

Two eyes gleamed amidst the shadowed brush. When Yudai stopped advancing, the watcher moved into the light. A large hunting cat, grievously injured. One leg ended in a stump of bone, while its entire bottom jaw was missing. A broken boar tusk pierced the neck in what was clearly a killing blow. Yet still, there was a hideous light in the beast's eyes, & a chill voice resonated from its form.

"You. You met my student, in a forest far to the North," it said. "She I have named the Needle; to her I am the Thread. Some of our undead fell to your hands. We stood opposed then. Now, I think we do not." Yudai said nothing. He motioned for the corpse to continue.

"This spell woven around you, this web of time. It was not birthed here by chance. A trap, built solely for the Fox, to keep her off of the game board," she continued. "You are samurai, while I am Maho-tsukai. Opposed. Enemies. Yet...in this we are aligned. I would see the Fox freed. Your freedom is not desired but is a necessary cost in releasing her."

The Crab, of course, had questions. Putting aside whether or not anything the scum was saying could be trusted, it was always prudent to understand your enemy's motivations.

"Why have you come to me? Of what importance to you is the Fox?" he demanded.

"I have plans for this rotten Empire," the flat voice whispered. "These require the land itself, & its people, to continue to exist." A pause. "The likelihood of that happening is decreasing. An ancient yokai has been freed from her prison. A Jorogumo. She once led an army of her ilk in an attempt to overtake the land. She gathers her forces, West of your Capital city. The Fox threatens her plans in some manner- I know not how. And so: her spiders, her webs."

"This spell must be sundered from within. By you & your fellow 'nobles'. But damage to it will be swiftly repaired while her forces here yet live. I can guide you to where they lurk. Aid you in felling them. As much as this vessel will be able. Only with them dead can you escape."

Yudai kept any thoughts on this information hidden. The hunting cat said it would be watching, before melting away into the woods. Only when he felt he was alone did the Crab turn to rejoin his comrades.

He relayed all he had heard, though only to his fellow Crystal Magistrates. All of them were uncomfortable with the blood-speaker's words. The notion that they may be furthering her dark ends was cause for worry...but they could not stay trapped here forever. Still, this did not mean they must make any bargains with the filth on their doorstep.

Though the spiders were yokai, they currently existed in the material realm: this meant they were able to be tracked, hunted. So to this task they set forth. They returned to the site of the caravan ambush to find scraps of the webbing left behind. Then, between the keen nose of Byako Ino & Megumi's history as a ranger, the party was able to slowly find & follow a trail.

By a field of bamboo shoots they came upon the entrance to a cave. From where they stood, it was within bow-distance. The samurai began to debate on how to proceed. Kitsu Nari insisted that she & her student should head back to Ie, which Takeshi disagreed with. His talk of keeping her close by & visible only brought a sneer to her lips. The argument would likely have continued if Yudai had not suddenly urged everyone into silence.

It had taken him a moment, but he recognized this area: this is where the visions showed the Byakos being slain. This small warning came just in time to prevent an ambush. As one, the group looked up to see several Inugumo stealthily crawling towards them, accompanied by something much larger.

Our heroes had time to prepare their weapons & get in formation before the arachnids realized they had been made. When they saw their prey entering defensive positions, the yokai abandoned subtlety & dropped to the forest floor.

Each Inugumo was the size of a large dog. Their chitinous hides shimmered in various hues, with bits of detritus webbed to their back for camouflage. Alone, the swam of these creatures would be cause for alarm- but they were not alone.

Shaking the very earth as it landed, a massive spider crashed into the fray. It was easily the size of a carriage. Two of its eight eyes were obscenely large, almost as big as a human head. At the end of each of its legs, foul pincers were tipped with razor-sharp claws. Yet, the worst thing about the Tsuchigumo was not its horrendous appearance. It was the low, dread hiss emitting from its cavernous abdomen.

The warriors moved quickly on the offensive. Though the Inugumo were not particularly hard to kill, their numbers meant they were still dangerous. Add to that the fact that the Tsuchigumo leading them was able to attack from both its front & back...

Each of the samurai had their hands full holding their own, making it all the more upsetting when Byako Ino was savagely clawed by one of the spiders. Just what presaged his death in the visions. His brother let out a roar & began desperately fighting to the fox's side. Both Megumi & Yudai did what they could to keep the yokai from killing the brothers, while Kiyuki slipped in to pick up the wounded fox.

This, naturally, meant there were less fighters to focus on the Tsuchigumo. Takeshi & Choshi circled the beast with their weapons flashing through the air. The drill sergeant let out a warcry that bolstered his allies' morale before suddenly pole-vaulting atop the monster's back. In doing so, he dropped all his weapons save his wakizashi.

In a blind fury he stabbed into the Tsuchigumo's hide repeatedly. An Inugumo moved to defend its mother, joining the Lion where he stood. The smaller spider intended to constrain him, but Takeshi was like a Deathseeker possessed. Still yelling, he threw both himself & the Inugumo down from their perch. The pair slammed into the ground & were immobilized.

Thankfully, the others had thoroughly winnowed down the Inugumo forces. The samurai moved as one to surround their sole remaining foe- which is when its incessant hissing rose in both volume & pitch to become a scream. Corruption roiled off of its form as its cry drove our heroes back. Still, they fought on.

What arms still held strength rose & fell in waves. The thick hair lining the Tsuchigumo's body resisted their weapons for as long as it could. But finally, a leg was severed from the beast, followed by another. It hobbled forwards, unwilling to give up, unwilling to stop, unwilling to die, die, die-

Takeshi swung his wakizashi into the thick meat of the spider's waist with all the power left in him. His breath came in shuddering gasps as he pulled back to swing again & again. When his blade finally sliced clean through, he fell to his knees amidst the Tsuchigumo's pooling blood. Its fangs opened & closed soundlessly as if it would even now try to kill the samurai...before finally lying still with a prolonged sigh.

Many of them were injured. All of them were covered in bits of viscera & gore. So when they all began to hear the sound of more spiders- many more- rumbling up from the cavemouth, their spirits sank. 

A massive wall of earth & loam began to rise to block the entrance. Kiyuki had her eyes closed, hands pressed firmly to the ground as she whispered prayers as fast as she could. Just as the first of the reinforcements began to squeeze through, the earth kami closed the gap. A handful of Inugumo legs fell to the ground, severed by the magical seal.

Finally- a moment to breathe.

The samurai began to tend to their wounded. While doing so, they questioned what their next move should be. If they ran, there was a chance the spiders could follow them when they escaped. If they charged into the cave...well, that was basically suicide. It was Hayata who recalled some of the group's tactics from Orakamono no rogoku.

Yes, the spiders would eventually tear the wall down: but what if the samurai did so first? Not the entire thing, but a small opening? Something too tight for further Tsuchigumo to fit through. If they could do this right, it would allow them to stem the flow of their enemies into something hopefully more manageable.

Whatever they wished to do, Kiyuki advised they do so quickly. The earth kami had not just blessed her with the soil, but with some of their sight as well; the Scorpion could "see" using vibrations in the earth & could tell that the number of spiders within the cave was decreasing. Not by much, but enough to be a concern.

Hearing that made up their minds. The bushi began to gather fallen brush to create a fire. The others took what rest they could afford. The sun was beginning to set by the time flames burned before the earthen wall. 

They were as prepared as they could be. If they could do this right, only a few Inugumo could leave at once, while the smoke should help sicken those still underground. What their plan after this battle would be, they had no time to consider. Either this would work...or they would be dead. 

Blades were readied as arrows were nocked. They took one last calm breath.

And with a thundering crash, they opened the gates of hell.