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[Pancaek]

"Because the odds of us landing in a brawl as we go on our way are more than likely.  Don't you want to fight better opponents, for actual coin?"

Turn 20

Nara, outside the bar

"Because the odds of us landing in a brawl as we go on our way are more than likely.  Don't you want to fight better opponents, for actual coin?"

She leans on her staff.

"Honestly? I'm perfectly content fighting these weaklings all day long. Some more coin sounds good though."

"The ways we intend to go are most likely to be filled with sake of all walks of life as well. There are surely drinks you've dreamt of tasting, no?"

"Hmm. More booze wouldn't be bad. But I could always get it myself and not get into life threatening situations along the way."

"Tell you what, if you come with us for now, drinks are on me at the next bar we stop at."

Otsu is quiet for a second, before she straightens up.

"Well, I suppose it can't hurt to go with you for now. I'll just get my bag."

As Otsu goes inside, Hideki turns to Ed.

"I thought you were flat broke?"

Ed smiles and shrugs.

"Well, yes. But I'm sure we'll figure something out. I can be quite the resourceful man when a night drinking with a cute girl is on the line."

Otsu comes back outside with a satchel across her shoulder.

What is Hideki's next move?

[somemildmanneredidiot]

So the solution is, we never stop at a bar ever again

If we had more time, we could figure some info on her we could use to more successfully recruit her, but Jolly Ed's bought us time to do that later. Good show.

If the coin is good enough, we might be able to swing Otsu's recruitment that way.

In any case, we can either go shopping real quick or head to the palace. Thoughts?

[NRDL]

Is there really anything we need?  Unless there's something specific to your plan, I say we go to the palace asap.

[somemildmanneredidiot]

Getting a bow for Jolly Ed so he can provide quiet and quick ranged support is on the agenda, but hopefully our Lady of Death will be able to supply us with such if necessary. Other than that, the only other things I can think of are a grappling hook, rope, more throwing knives, non-throwing knives, supplies aka food and water, flint and steel/fire starter, a katana for when we don't want to use our demon blade, duct tape, and the kitchen sink, as well as a few miscellaneous items.

Presuming we're being helped rathar than ambushed, it should not be difficult to acquire them from our boss.

[NRDL]

+1 to the stuff you suggest, in that case. 

[somemildmanneredidiot]

Presuming our Lady is not ambushing us, we should be able to acquire the supplies we need for whatever we decide to do after meeting with her or her representative. So to the palace we go I suppose. Otsu and Jolly Ed can stay outside if they like, we should be able to afford to buy the first round or two if they decide to wait in a nearby bar.

[NRDL]

Do we have a plan for getting betrayed, other than "be a badass and throw knives at everyone?"  Cause eventually we're gonna run into people that that's not going to work against. 

[vishdafish]

As a contingency plan for getting betrayed, we can sit next to an important figure, and take them hostage if things go south?

[somemildmanneredidiot]

The Lady of Death is the leader of the clan of spies and assassins. If she truly wanted us dead, now that she knows that we're alive and has sent someone with a message to us, we wouldn't reach the palace alive. We probably wouldn't have reached Otsu alive.

Any ambushes are going to come from sources other than our Lady. As such, if we make it to the palace alive, then we should be safe enough.

We should at least attempt to guide our companions down a stealthy path to the palace, in case we've picked up any tails.

[Pancaek]

The Lady of Death is the leader of the clan of spies and assassins. If she truly wanted us dead, now that she knows that we're alive and has sent someone with a message to us, we wouldn't reach the palace alive. We probably wouldn't have reached Otsu alive.

Any ambushes are going to come from sources other than our Lady. As such, if we make it to the palace alive, then we should be safe enough.

We should at least attempt to guide our companions down a stealthy path to the palace, in case we've picked up any tails.

Turn 21

Nara, city

The three of them make their way to the palace. Hideki opts for a long and winding route through the city, so he can make sure they aren't followed by anyone. He goes through the merchant district and the night market, looping back to the other side of the red light district and finally going through the park to head to a side entrance to the palace.

"So, Otsu, where do you come from?"

"Hokkaido."

"Hokkaido is a big place, dear."

"Well, I'm a big girl."

Satisfied that they aren't being trailed, Hideki goes to the palace. They are greeted by a maid, who says she will lead them to the Daimyo.

Nara palace

The three are lead through the winding halls of the palace. They pass a large room where maids and other workers are setting small floor tables and cushions for the coming banquet with the Crane Clan representative. They don't stop, however, because the daimyo is waiting for them in the tea room.

"Say, I can't help but notice that we haven't passed any guards."

"I had noticed as well. One would think a palace would have guardsmen at regular intervals."

Hideki knows better, of course. Like much of the Scorpion Clan, things aren't quite what they seem on the surface.

"You forget that this was once an imperial palace. There are hidden passageways and other hiding places all over. I would say that we are being watched by no less than two hidden guards at all times. All palace workers have also recieved some degree of ninjutsu training. I would bet that the good maid we are following can cook up some mean poisons."

The maid doesn't reply. Ed has a smile on his face after hearing this, Hideki is starting to think that this man has a smile on his face about 90% of the time. He can't see Otsu's reaction, her face being obscured behind the hat and scarf. After some time, they round the corner into the tea room. The room is sparce, but elegant. On the other end, the courtesan of death is seated at a small black laquer table. She is a beautiful woman in her mid-thirties, with  long jet black hair done up in traditional courtesan style and pirecing grey-blue eyes. She is wearing Her mannerism is cold and her face betrays any emotion. Hideki knows that some say her family has the blood of the yuki-onna running in it, but such rumours are always said in a whisper and with many glances over the shoulder.

In the middle of the room are three brown laquer tables and cushions. On them are cups of green tea and some small sweets.

"Hideki Nagayoshi. It has been quite some time since we last spoke, several years in fact. I had recieved word from my little magpies that you arrived. Come, sit down and tell me everything you know. The banquet with the Crane clan commissioner isn't for another few hours, and your information may lead us to change the way we handle things quite drastically."

[somemildmanneredidiot]

Alright so options. Tell her all the things, tell her some of the things, ask her for information first. Consume the food, obviously don't consume the food, pretend to consume the food.

Paranoia: She's in on the coop. She only let us get this close to confirm what information we know and who we shared it with. After that, we're dead.

We've come this far and are in the center of her power. We haven't set up any safeguards nor failsafes.

I say we got out on a limb and fully commit to this. Sure, the tea and food could be poisoned, sure, she could be just waiting to kill us, but I say we dive right in.

First, we join in the Tea Ceremony. I'm rusty on all the implications of it, but bare minimum it represents that we trust and respect her. Whether or not that's a good idea is a question for after this next update.

We then provide the important information. A brief overview of our escape from the assassins which lead to the searching for the hermit and the sloppy assassins, including that the one we interrogated before he killed himself was named Okuda Ryosei and that he used the phrase "The grass cannot betray the sun." when asked about who sent him. From there we encountered the hermit whom allowed us to see a vision of the attack. In it we saw [relevant details] including the face of [Target] whom the vision heavily implicated to say the least. From there we came here as Nara is where [Target] is most likely to be or where we would be able to track him from.

Upon arriving in the city we sought to learn of the current state of politics. From what we've learned about Crane positionings and the potential implications with the increase in Nanban trade, it is entirely possible that elements of the Lion, Phoenix, and Crane clans staged the attack on [our family] to emplace the Crane as the Emperor's eye and ears in the Empire, from which the three would seek to encourage major changes to the way the Empire operates, potentially including a coop.

We currently lack definitive proof of any of what we've just said. All we have is our word, our wits, and our will. If our Daimyo wills it, we will continue to pursue this matter and seek to get to the truth and heart of the matter, and still its beating as necessary.
______

That's about it from what I can think of. Either we're in, we're dead, or we need to run REALLY fast. Our companions are about to get something of a rude awakening if they bother to pay attention to what we're talking about.

One mark in favor of our Daimyo being trust worthy (enough). We haven't been weapon checked. This either means that she trusts us and those we bring with us to that degree, or that she trusts in her guards to kill us before we can harm her. Good for us either way.

[NRDL]

+1 to go big or go home, if we die by putting our trust in this woman's let's go down swinging.

[Sl4cker]

ptw

[VoidSlayer]

We should make clear that we are only telling her out of loyalty so that she can maneuver politically if she must and provide aid if she wants.  The people who killed our family will die by our hands.

I doubt she would even believe that we would just let it go at her word.  Being honest about our quest for vengeance shows that she can trust us to act how we say and then she can make other arrangements based on that. 

[Haspen]

PTW.