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[Pancaek]

((Man, throat infections are awful. Anyway, update time.))

+1, but also ask who is "the grass" and who commands them.


((I presume I understand the early grass reference but IC he doesn't. Worth following up. If they can betray, they must be commanded, right))

Hideki lets out a short chuckle at Ogino's misfortune, before inclining his head in agreement to the Daimyo's suggeestion.
"Yes, if you are ready to start."
He then turns back to Ogino, slowly asking the questions:
"Why did you betray your clan? Who else was involved in the murder? What was the purpose of replacing the Shogun's Shadow? Is there any greater cause behind the killings of my clan?

Turn 35

Nara, Dungeon

"Yes, if you are ready to start.", Hideki answers with a chuckle.

"Very well."

The daimyo turns towards Ogino. Her hands shoots out and slaps him across the face, the force of the impact being so hard and sudden that it sounds like whip cracking. Ogino wakes up, looking around blearily.

"Let's start with an easy one. Why did you betray your clan?", ask Hideki.

"That's easy, isn't it? Because of the money. Because of the power. They offered me a way out of the shadows and into the limelight."

"Who else was involved in the murder?"

"Do your worst, Shadow. You'll get nothing out of me."

Before Hideki can reply, the daimyo pipes up.

"Quite cocky for a man strapped to a torture chair." She says in a sweet tone while picking up several long, thick metal needles. She walks over to Ogino and grabs his hand. Sensing what is about to happen, Ogino tries to struggle, but the bonds on the chair are too tight for him to him. The daimyo inserts the first needle under the nail of his right index fingers, slowly pushing it further and further in. Ogino doesn't make a sound, yet. Undaunted, the daimyo continues sticking the needles under his fingernails, alternating hands each time. After the fourth nail, Ogino is sweating and shivering. Once all ten fingers have needles under them, she picks one at random and starts lifting it upwards. At this, Ogino starts grunting.

"Urgh. Fine. There's this crane clan asshole, Uehara Tekkan. Some kind of justice official or another from Shizuoka, though he regularely works in Kyoto as well. Then there's this phoenix clan seer, Misato something or another. Real holier than thou type, thinks she's fighting all the darkness in the world. I think she came from Niigata, but she talked about heading for Hokkaido. Then there's this Lion clan general, real full of himself. I don't know his name, you'll have to ask the other guy."

"How can you betray your comrades like that?! Have you no shame?"

Ogino laughs, though it's hard to tell if it's because of the pain or because he finds something humorous.

"Because our comrades sure as hell aren't going to help us in here, fool. We might as well talk."

The daimyo looks at the samurai and smiles, idly playing with a needle in her hands. Hideki can see him looking at the needle and swallowing.

"Commander Jinzaburo. He commands the garrison in Aichi."

"There you have it."

"What was the purpose of replacing the Shogun's Shadow?"

"Damned if I know. I assume the higher ups had plans, but they sure as hell never told me."

The daimyo violently wrenches the needle upwards, making Ogino's fingernail detach. He actually screams this time. This doesn't seem to bother the daimyo in the least.

"That's not good enough, my dear."

"Agh, I, I swear. I was never told the endgame, just enough to complete the attacks."

"Is there any greater cause behind the killings of my clan?"

"Not that they told me. probably to make sure nobody would come looking for revenge once we killed you."

"That sure worked out well for you.", Ed pipes up, rubbing his hurt arm.

"Lastly, who is the grass and who commands them?"

"The what?"

The daimyo tsk's at this and picks up a pair of plyers fromt he table. She begins yanking out Ogino's fingernails one by one.

"The grass, Ogino. Have you gone deaf? Answer the question."

"I don't know! AAGH, I DONT KNOW!"

She looks over at the samurai, raising an eyebrow while slowly yanking out another fingernail.

"I-I don't know either. I've never heard the term used like that. Please, you've got to believe me!"

"Hmpf, useless. They're not even trying to lie to save their hides. Were there any other questions, Nagayoshi-kun?"

"No, that was everything. I have me next targets now."

"So, this means you'll kill us now, right?", the samurai asks. He seems to be stoically accepting the end.

The daimyo laughs. A high, icy laugh that sends a shiver through Hideki's spine.

"Oh no, my dear. Now the real torture begins." She turns to Ogino. "First you, dearest Ogino. We'll get out our best techniques to repay you for betraying our clan. My record is 37 hours of torture before they died. I do hope you'll help me break it."

"And, what about me?", ask the samurai, his voice wavering as his stoic nature begins evaporating due to this turn of events.

"Why, you'll be next of course. Two oppertunities to break my record, what more can a girl ask for?"

"But I answered your questions! He said he didn't have any more."

The daimyo walks over to him and caresses his cheek with the bloody pliers.

"Isn't that the beauty of it? No pesky questions to get in the way. Just you, me and a whole lot of pain. Just imagining all the wonderful things you'll tell me just to get me to stop makes me all warm inside."

If there was ever the face of a pure fear, Hideki is sure the samurai's face at this moment would be it.

Three more names to the list gotten. What will Hideki do next?

[lawastooshort]

((I think probably go after them in the order they are mentioned, that's probably the ascending order of difficulty...))

How about go after Tekkan in Shizuoka but also ask the daimyo to loan a spy to check if he is in Kyoto and come find us in Shizuoka if so. First rest, then travel - by boat if it's quickest but foot is fine.

[Pancaek]

((not necessarely, they've all got their particular brands of difficulty. Tekkan is a justice minister, so he's probably the easiest in a straight up fight, but he's a very public figure and has a lot of political clout. The lion clan is a straight up warrior with a garrison under his command, and the Phoenix has magical shenanigans. Make of that what you will.))

[Pancaek]

((Deary me, that throat infection into a bad cold really kicked my ass this past week. You really only realize how often you swallow when it feels like a bunch of thumbtacks going down.))

((I think probably go after them in the order they are mentioned, that's probably the ascending order of difficulty...))

How about go after Tekkan in Shizuoka but also ask the daimyo to loan a spy to check if he is in Kyoto and come find us in Shizuoka if so. First rest, then travel - by boat if it's quickest but foot is fine.

Turn 36

Nara, castle

Hideki tells the Daimyo that he will be going after Tekkan first.

"We will move to Shizuoka first, to go after Tekkan. If we could loan a spy from you to head to Kyoto and see if he is there, that would be much appreciated. If he is, we will need to divert our course from Shizuoka to Kyoto as soon as possible."

"Hmm," She hums absent mindedly, putting down the bloody metal spikes and picking out the next torture tool. "Why not stay here for a day or two? I will send word to my network and we'll have his real location soon enough. No need to head towards Shizuoka when you don't know for sure he'll be there."

"Can we? I'd like some time to recover. I swear, I don't get how you two are moving around so easily after being thrown about on that ship."

"I suppose we will then."

"Yes yes, run along now," She picks up a rather wicked looking set of scissors. "I have very important business with our two friends here, after all."

Hideki and his companions make their way out of the castle dungeon, leaving Ogino and the samurai to their grim fates.

Nara castle, guest rooms

The next day, Hideki spends his time in the guest rooms of the castle, enjoying some leisure time while waiting for the spies' report on Tekkan's position. Hideki and Otsu have some tea and generally just laze about, while Ed rests up.

On the second day, a magpie lands on the windowsill. It doesn't caw, but hops inside of the room and hops over to Hideki, looking up at him. Hideki notices that it has a small letter attached to it's leg and take it. The bird just looks at him quizically.

"I'm not sure what you want, uh..."

Otsu chortles and picks up a small rice cracker off of the table and holds it out to the bird, who snatches it up in its beak and flies off.

With that said and done, Hideki opens up the letter and reads it. After a minute or so, he gets up.

"Otsu, go drag Ed out of bed. We're going to Kyoto."



Kyoto outskirts, 1 week later

The three of them arrive at the Kyoto city gate on horseback, wearing straw hats and a cloak against the rain that has turned this otherwise nice morning into a grey, soppy mess. Kyoto is in preparation for the Aoi Matsuri, a festival to appease the Kami, asking for clear skies and bountiful harvest. Colourful lampoons are being hung around the streets, decorations featuring holylcock leaves are being made and hung up, and in the distance they can hear the sounds of the horse tracks being prepared for the horse races and horseback archery events.

Beyond that, Hideki knows from the letter from the daimyo, Tekkan is in Kyoto. He has been called here to hold court on tomorrow's eve. A dispute between two clan leaders of the Crab and Lion clan that needs to be resolved. The day after that, Tekkan will walk in the procession of the Aoi Matsuri.

Now Hideki will just have to figure out how he wants to do things.

[vishdafish]

Scout out any potential spots for an archer to shoot Tekkan, preferably near the end of the procession.

[NRDL]

Scout out any potential spots for an archer to shoot Tekkan, preferably near the end of the procession.

+1

[vishdafish]

((Would it be feasible to hire an assassin, to assassinate him near the start of the procession? If that fails, we can get Ed to finish the job, at the end of the procession.))

[Wolfhunter107]

Scout out any potential spots for an archer to shoot Tekkan, preferably near the end of the procession.

+1

+1, though I'd also suggest trying to get information on Tekkan's security arrangements, if we can do so without being too suspicious.

[lawastooshort]

+1, though I'd also suggest trying to get information on Tekkan's security arrangements, if we can do so without being too suspicious.

An observer could be sent to his dispute resolution to see how many people go with him, what type, etc.

[Pancaek]

Scout out any potential spots for an archer to shoot Tekkan, preferably near the end of the procession.

Turn 37

Kyoto, main street

"We should look for spots along the way where someone can take down Tekkan at range. Preferably near the end.", Hideki says in hushed tones to Ed and Otsu after getting his horse to walk closer to them.

"Aye, I can that work. Though I feel like killing him that way during the procession won't be the hard part. The hard part might be getting away with it."

"He's right, Hideki. The Aoi Matsuri is a pretty major event. There will be people all over the place. Still, it's not a bad idea."

The trio rides through the city, following the road the procession will take. Hideki looks out for possible spots to ambush Tekkan as he's walking in the procession. Predictably, the security of one of the biggest festivals in Kyoto is pretty tight. Still, Hideki spots a few locations along the way.

First up is a large restaurant around the halfway mark. The restaurant clearly caters to a higher class of guests, and the roof is actually a small garden where the customers can drink their tea. The plants could easily hide a person from sight from the ground if they crouched behind them.
The second is a brothel near the end of the procession. It's a fairly large building, the top window being about on the same level of the restaurant roof. It has the added benifits of being slightly away from the streets and having thick curtains which could easily hide a man. However, it would also mean having to shoot between the gap of the two buildings in front of it, giving less of a window of oppertunity.
Lastly, there a fairly unconventional option. At the end of the procession Tekken will have to walk through a row of Torii gates up to a shrine to pay his respects to the local Kami. The Torii gates and the shrines are surrounded by a forest of bamboo and large trees. One could possibly hide in or climb up and attempt to shoot during the walk through the gates or during the prayer at the shrine.

Having come to the row of Torii gates, Hideki sees no better options.

"I wonder if we could nail him during that court case."

"Probably not during the proceedings themselves. The Kyoto courthouse is staffed by a large number of Crane Clan guard while the trials are in session. Considering the two involved parties, there will also be a bunch of Crab and Lion clan samurai there. It might be possible just after the court is over, when the officials go to change out of their ceremonial robes, or when they leave the building. Those are the only two times we might get him alone, or at least in a room with an acceptable amount of people."

"I wouldn't have thought there'd be that much muscle for a court case."

"There were incidents in the past where the losing party didn't really like the verdict and tried to muscle their way out to freedom. Honestly, the Crab and Lion samurai are probably good enough warriors to take on a lot of the Crane guards, but there's no way they would work together. And why would they, they're on opposite sides on this one. Knowing Tekkan, the Crab clan has probably already lost the case before it's started since the Cranes are buddy buddy with the Lions. There's oppertunity here, but it would require careful planning."

"To hell with careful planning. Do you remember when things used to be simple and straightforward?"

Otsu and Hideki both look at Ed.

"Not really, no. Where thing ever easy and straightforward for you?"

Ed hangs his head.

"No, I guess not. But a man can dream."

Hideki has worked out a number of options. What will he do now?

[Loki987]

I choose the brothel.

[vishdafish]

I choose the brothel.

This, but send Ed to the brothel, and hide in the bamboo and trees near the shrine, in case Ed fails. Give Ed a lethal poison vial. Tell Otsu to arrange some sort of getaway.

[Wolfhunter107]

I choose the brothel.

+1 to this.

[Pancaek]

((So, it's been quite a while since the last update. The reason for this has been a combination of just being tired, not being able to find the inspiration to write a turn and being pretty dang busy with my internship. Said internship ends next week though, so I should be less busy then.

Anyway, I'm going to change it up a bit and try for a CYOA kind of dealio. Mostly to see if it will draw in more people so that maybe we could have smaller, but more frequent turns. If none of the options appeal to you, feel free to change them up or present something else.))

I choose the brothel.

This, but send Ed to the brothel, and hide in the bamboo and trees near the shrine, in case Ed fails. Give Ed a lethal poison vial. Tell Otsu to arrange some sort of getaway.

Turn 38

Kyoto, side street

"All right, we'll set up two spots. Ed, you'll take point in the brothel. If you get a good shot, take it. Coat your arrow in this poison to be sure. Otherwise, let them pass and fall back. I'll take up a spot near the end of the trail in the bamboo forest, in case you don't get a clear shot. Otsu, you hang around and make sure we both have a way out if shit goes down. Got that?"

"Yes. I can handle that."

"Sounds like a plan, boss."

"All right. Ed, do you think you can get into the brothel without raisin suspicion?"

"I don't think that's going to be a problem at all."

Hideki and Otsu both give Ed a look, but he shrugs it off and heads to the brothel. Otsu gives Hideki a small bow before heading off to secure the getaway routes.

Hideki walks towards the shrine, taking his time. The parade won't start for another hour or four, so he can afford to stroll a bit. He passes the festively decorated streets where the parade will pass, with the lampoons and decorations. He walks underneath the many torii gates, the bamboo forest blocking out the sun. He finds a large sturdy tree and climbs up, agile as a monkey. Climbing castle walls is a lot harder than this. He snuggles up in one of the higher branches, with a good line of sight on the path but still hidden behind the leaves, and waits.

Four hours later

The parade has been underway for a good half hour now. Hideki can hear the festive music even here, at the end of the path. After a while, the music comes closer and closer, and people start walking along the torii path in small groups. Ed must have not had a good enough shot. Coming just around the bend, Hideki can see Tekkan, in his regal magistrate's clothing, come into sight. He is flanked by two other magistrates and holding up a bowl with incense, praying to some shinto god or another. They walks slowly, and Hideki estimates he'll have sight of Tekkan for about 4 minutes or so, though part of that will be obscured by the torii gates.

What will Hideki do?
A. Attempt to hit Tekkan with a throwing knife coated in poison?
B. Climb down and try to sneak up to Tekkan the other two, cutting him down with his katana?
C. Climb down and bull rush Tekkan and the other two, cutting him down with his katana?
D. Let Tekkan pass and follow him to the shrine, to see if he's got an oppertunity to kill him there?

[vishdafish]

A!