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Post by cassusaevum on Mar 6, 2019 23:32:52 GMT -5
Session 6: Of Fire and Silk
Experience Earned: 4 Dramatis Personae
- Kakita Meiko - A Crane duelist who struggles with her innate soft-hardheartedness and her quest for perfection.
- Kunis Daizu - A Crab purifier, intent on tracking down the Shadow wherever it may go.
- Togashi Jin - A Dragon bushi cursed with bad luck and destined to be a great soldier.
- Shosuro Ayame - A Scorpion courtier (so far as anyone knows) who secretly works as an infiltrator and, perhaps, shinobi for her clan.
Note: Just a quick recap this time as my allergies are currently doing their best to make my head explode... these are the high points... I may have missed a thing or two or three... Resolutions
The Salamanders
Meiko, Jin, and Ayame went in search of the Salamanders, hoping to convince them to give up their arsonous ways. After speaking with Tozasu (he whose home was burned) they learned the general location of the Salamanders' hideout and managed to track it down. Things went a bit sideways when Togashi Jin met disrespect from the peasant door guard with swift violence and barged into the gang hideout. Kakita Meiko managed to calm the Salamanders to the point that they did not immediately attack while Shosuro Ayame made her way around the back in case a fight broke out. The Salamanders seemed unimpressed by the samurai, knowing that they had no official capacity within the city and suspecting that the strictures of the ongoing Court would keep them from drawing steel. After some discussion, the samurai decided to obtain that official authority from the Lion clan rather than risk a political faux pas. They found the local Magistrate (who was quite apologetic) and managed to obtain the authority needed, deciding to go back the following morning.
Shosuro Ayame, however, unbeknownst to the others, decided that the matter called for a more Scorpion-esque resolution and went back to the hideout armed with accelerants and irony. She burned the Salamanders in their beds, finishing those few that made it out with well-placed arrows. Unfortunately, the fire spread to several nearby houses... and the local fire-fighters' guild all happened to be otherwise disposed. In a bout of rare luck, the peasants managed to escape their burning homes without injury... though many lost their homes.
The following day, the samurai, accompanied now by Kuni Daizu, returned, intent on exercising their new lawful authority. Unfortunately, they found burned-out wreckage. When Kuni Daizu inquired as to what happened, the peasants, awed by the presence of a bona fide Purifier, spun a story of angry, avenging fire kami. The samurai seemed to accept this story and considered the matter closed.
The Kimonos
Angered by the disrespect she received from the peasants, Kakita Meiko channeled that anger into her art. After an evening of late-night embroidery, she completed her kimono and that she made for Shosuro Ayame. When presented with the kimono, Ayame-san (stressed, though her friends did not know it, by the brutality of the murders she had committed) unmasked, breaking down in tears. Continuing ThreadsThe Jade Magistrate's RequestKuni Daizu pursued the mission that Kuni Minori assigned him, investigating the complaints of the Temple of Ebisu. He discovered that many strange omens had been happening and that the kami seemed... odd... in the city of late. Daizu-san tracked down one of the farms where these strange events had been happening and discovered a dark influence that seemed to be warping the livestock and staining the land. It seemed symptomatic of something else happening, rather than the source, however. Continuing his investigation, Kuni-san spoke with the kami, who seemed to point towards the heart of the Warehouse district where "something in the earth" seemed to be to blame. On his way to investigate, Kuni Daizu came across a terrified crowd. The crowd had gathered around a mostly-eaten body. Consoling the crowd in his own unique way ("You're fears are reasonable / you should be afraid") Kuni Daizu learned that several people, even a samurai, had gone missing in the area. He discovered some odd tracks leading away from the body and deeper into the district. Following them, he found a warehouse that was boarded up tight. A close inspection revealed that numerous wards were carved into the doors. The wards would keep tainted creatures from crossing. Daizu-san also felt a great darkness from somewhere within the building. He gathered his companions and, together, they made their way back to the warehouse. Upon entering the building (and closing the doors behind them) they discovered what one might expect - a bunch of broken crates and piles of trash. Things took a turn for the horrifying as emerging from the piles of trash were strange, beetle-like creatures with tentacled maws and mouths that, despite the monsters that bore them, looked shockingly human. Next Time: Warehouse of Horrors
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Post by cassusaevum on Mar 9, 2019 14:47:31 GMT -5
Session 7: Warehouse of Horrors Experience Earned: 3 Dramatis Personae -- Kakita Meiko - A Crane duelist who struggles with her innate soft-hardheartedness and her quest for perfection.
-- Kunis Daizu - A Crab purifier, intent on tracking down the Shadow wherever it may go.
-- Togashi Jin - A Dragon bushi cursed with bad luck and destined to be a great soldier.
-- Shosuro Ayame - A Scorpion courtier (so far as anyone knows) who secretly works as an infiltrator and, perhaps, shinobi for her clan.The WarehouseAs the curtain rose, the samurai found themselves face to face with horrifying Shadowspawn and leaped immediately to the attack. They made short work of the strange beetle-and-squid-like creatures, but despite their ready victory, the feelings of unease continued. Kuni Daizu pointed out the way to the basement below - a simple trapdoor set in the floor. No kami seemed to be nearby to help guide his path, and everyone felt a sense of dread as they threw open the trapdoor and dropped into the darkness below. The Lair of Mukadi no'OniThat fear proved well-founded as the samurai took in the scene. The center of the warehouse floor had been torn open, revealing a dug out den of sorts that vanished into the earth. Worse, numerous piles of slightly glowing eggs, each almost as large as a man, were stacked all over the warehouse. Kuni Daizu unleashed a bolt of Jade at one such, half-destroying it. But as he did so, a nightmare creature burst forth from beneath the earth even as more creatures like those the samurai had already vanquished began to burst forth from the eggs. A desperate battle ensued. The oni - though small and weak for its kind - still proved to be a near deadly challenge as it threw the samurai about like puppets. But the relentless attacks of holy energy and cold steel eventually wore down the oni and, at last, it fell. Blood MagicThe heroes discovered runes written in blood all around the basement where ceiling and wall joined. Kuni Daizu correctly identified them as being part of a ritualistic summoning - the kind that might, for example, bring a minor oni into the heart of Rokugan. The spirit of Kakita Naomori - still haunting the Purifier - seemed very interested in a particular set of runes. Upon closer examination, Daizu-san realized that these runes were a scrying spell and that, even as they had dispatched the oni, they were being watched. Using his divine connection, Daizu had a sudden sense that the person on the other side of the scrying runes was "Always Watchful" (as in, this is an advantage he or she has). They quickly scrubbed away the runes, breaking the spell and blinding - for a time - the watcher. Return to the Palace of the Endless SkyCovered in the filth of the day and fearing the taint of the Shadowlands, Shosuro Ayame and Kakita Meiko immediately sought ritual cleansing at the nearby Temple of Ebisu. Meanwhile, Kuni Daizu and Togashi Jin made their way first to the local Lion magistrate to inform him of the dangers and then to their respective clan daimyos, to ensure that they, too, were aware of the presence of maho within the city. Then the Crab and Dragon went to see about their own ritual cleansing. Upon return to the Palace (where Meiko and Ayame had also returned), Meiko, in the capacity of adviser to Kakita Jomei and Daizu, as the closest thing to a Jade Magistrate within a hundred miles, were summoned to a council session of the visiting daimyos at Court. The true matter at hand - the presence of maho and shadowlands filth within the walls of the City of the Peaceful Hills - was almost lost beneath the ongoing feud of the Dragon and Phoenix. Only Kakita Meiko's impassioned speech prevented the council from degenerating into outright battle - though she risked her own honor, and perhaps even her life to interrupt her superiors. Fortunately, Mirumoto Bokai seemed to find the whole thing amusing and disaster was averted. The Council agreed to empower Kuni Daizu, a mere yoriki, to act in the capacity of a Jade Magistrate and scour the city for any source of maho or shadowlands taint. Meanwhile... In the courtyard, those samurai not part of the Council had gathered. Togashi Jin quickly became the center of attention (especially once Ayame-san let drop that it was the Dragon who had slain the oni). He regaled the gathered samurai with the tale of the battle, being careful to give each of his companions their just due. As this was happening, Ayame caught sight of a dark-clad figure moving along the walls. Despite the concealing clothing, she could not help but recognize her paramour, Kaito Takeo. The Phoenix, unseen by the rest of the crowd, hurled a shuriken towards Togashi Jin, a throw that had it landed true may well have slain the Dragon. Shosuro Ayame, however, stepped in front of the blade. She felt the bite of poison at once, and then the world went slowly dark... Next Time: The Hunt Begins...
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Post by cassusaevum on Apr 8, 2019 19:53:31 GMT -5
Session 8: A Less than Peaceful Interlude Experience Earned: 3
Dramatis Personae
-- Kakita Meiko - A Crane duelist who struggles with her innate soft-hardheartedness and her quest for perfection. -- Kunis Daizu - A Crab purifier, intent on tracking down the Shadow wherever it may go. -- Togashi Jin - A Dragon bushi cursed with bad luck and destined to be a great soldier. -- Shosuro Ayame - A Scorpion courtier (so far as anyone knows) who secretly works as an infiltrator and, perhaps, shinobi for her clan.
Sickbeds and Confessions
The curtain rose to find Ayame recovering in her sickbed, her life saved by the quick thinking of Togashi Jin who brought her posthaste to the Scorpion for care. While receiving visitations from her friends (and a spiritual cleansing ritual from Kuni Daizu) Ayame decided to come clean and inform Kakita Meiko that it had been her, acting on orders from her Clan, who had eliminated Hitoshi more than a year gone. Understanding Meiko-san's vow and knowing that her honor may demand satisfaction, Ayame offered to meet Meiko on the last day of the Court, in a duel of honor. But not until then, as both still had work to do for their respective Clans. Meiko took the news hard and left the presence of the Scorpion to contemplate what this might mean for their friendship and for her own ideas of what it meant to be Samurai.
The Passing Days of Court
None of the companions were destined to spend much time together over the next several weeks, as the ebb and flow of Court seemed to come crashing in, and all suddenly found themselves burdened with numerous duties.
Kuni Daizu lead an investigation into the maho being practiced within the City of the Peaceful Hills. He opted for a slow and steady approach, using his careful reasoning and the resources provided by the Lion Clan to track down the blood mages. The investigation lead him to the Bitter Leaves Tea House, where Daizu-san and the ashigaru in his command observed the tea house until they spotted some unusual activity. This lead to the capture of two men who seemed to be in league with the maho-tsukai and the capture of the proprietor of the Bitter Leaves. The interrogation that followed pointed to the crematorium located just outside of the city proper. However, Kuni Daizu had a strange vision - armies of the dead rising up and tearing down the City of the Peaceful Hills, particularly if he undertook his endeavors alone. After almost a month of investigation, Kuni Daizu set out to find his friends and companions so that the could help him save the Lion city from the Shadow that was sure to follow...
Shosuro Ayame set about the task of finding and dealing with Kaito Takeo, her erstwhile lover and the man who had tried to kill Togashi Jin and come within a hair's breadth of killing her. During her own search, she chanced to overhear the location of a much coveted prize - the knowledge of the item all sought in the Game of a Thousand Gifts. Unwilling to let such temptation pass, she infiltrated the quarters of the Lion Master of Games and retrieved the information. After a few more days of fruitless searching, she returned to her chambers to find Kaito Takeo waiting for her. The shinobi offered his life in exchange for almost taking hers, but warned that he had his orders from the Phoenix and he could not put aside his duty. He could die for Shosuro Ayame, but he could not stop his mission to kill Togashi Jin. Coming from her own recent admissions to Meiko-san, Ayame understood duty well, and did not take his life - though she warned Takeo that she saw it as her duty to keep Jin alive. They shared another night together and parted as friends, but with each knowing that they would shed the blood of the other should their respective duties demand it. The matter of Takeo settled - at least for now - Ayame turned her attention back to the tournament that she and Meiko had sponsored. Meiko might be upset with her, and yes, they might even have to fight come the end of Court, but that was no reason not to proceed with her plans to ensure that Meiko would be crowned champion of the Tournament of Falling Petals.
Togashi Jin, spurred on by the clear approval of his daimyo, Mirumoto Bokai, continued his efforts to undermine and belittle the Phoenix. At first this seemed to be progressing nicely, with the Phoenix doing little to counter his efforts. Then a new samurai showed up at Court, a wandering Unicorn with a dangerous air about him by the name Moto Renga. Without so much as a single word, Renga struck Jin and challenged him to a duel to the death, tossing at his feet a single scroll. Upon the scroll was the mon of the Imperial Family, and the words authorizing the duel, Emperor's Peace or no. Jin, his honor in question and knowing how his daimyo would want him to address such, accepted at once. the date was set for two weeks hence. Jin-san split his time between training for the fight to come and using what resources he could to determine who Renga was and why he had shown up. He learned that Renga was known to be a somewhat dishonorable man and a duelist for hire, a deadly combatant with many victories under his belt. It wasn't much of a leap to assume that the Phoenix had found a way to try to silence Jin. Still, true to his word, Jin met Renga on the field of battle. The battle was quick and brutal, and though it was a near thing, in the end, only Togashi Jin was left standing on the field.
Kakita Meiko and all of the Crane Clan courtiers were brought before Kakita Jomei and impressed with the knowledge that all efforts of the Clan must be turned towards stopping the budding conflict between the Dragon and Phoenix lest it spill over and result in a war that could pull apart all of the Empire. Jomei-sama suspected the Scorpion were behind things, and that all of them must work together towards thwarting their will. Sensing Kakit Riku's reticence to work with her, Meiko sought out Riku-san, confronting her (albeit gently) about the rift between them. It came to light that Riku-san felt displaced by Meiko, as it should have been her, as Toshimoko-sensei's first student, who acted as his second. Though she did not say as much, Meiko also suspected that Riku's loss to her in the finals of the tournament was playing a role in her distance as well. Meiko, her eyes more fully open to the truths of the world, comforted Riku, agreeing that, perhaps it should have been Riku and not Meiko, and informing Riku that for her it had been duty and not honor that made her act as Toshimoko's second. To cement the peace between them, Meiko gave Riku the blade of the Topaz Champion, to hold until such time that the two of them could meet in an honorable duel and determine who was its rightful bearer. Later, as she continued her efforts to block the plans of the Scorpion, Meiko was approached by an unexpected visitor, a wealthy peasant named Yotogi. The man came to Meiko with a plea for compassionate intervention - a peasant woman named Tsuko had rebuffed the advances of a young samurai and, as such, he had had her arrested for her insolence. Tsuko was set to be executed for her "rudeness" to the samurai, but Yogtogi had heard that Meiko-san was a compassionate woman. He also knew that the Magistrate had invested her with a certain amount of authority and that intervention on her part may well save Tsuko's life. Meiko agreed and upon verifying the woman's story, managed to get her released from prison. Rather than have the woman simply return to the city where the young samurai might find her again, she offered to take Tsuko into her service. The Lion agreed. The days continued to pass and Meiko-san found that the Tournament of Falling Petals was upon her. She made her way quite easily through the earlier rounds (unknowing of the subtle aid that Ayame had provided) and found herself once more in the championship match. This time she faced off against none other than Moto Batbayar. Meiko-san made short wort of the Unicorn, but acted in such a way that Batbayar's honor was not damaged. Meiko even earned a grudging respect from the Unicorn who had, until their match, a less than flattering opinion of the Crane.
The Crematorium
Despite their differences and the busyness of their days (and the fact that it had been three weeks since most of them had spoken to one another), when Kuni Daizu called upon the young Samurai to join him in his mission to stand against the Shadow, the others readily agreed. They made their way to the crematorium where Daizu-san ordered the ashigaru to stand guard and make sure no creature tainted with Shadow made it from the grounds. As they approached the squat stone building, the well-manicured lands seemed to shift, to twist, taking on the taint of evil. From the ground flowed the spirits of the hungry dead, creatures who cold touch seemed to drain the very life force from the heroes. The fight was short and ugly, but the heroes managed to triumph. They caught their breath for a moment, staring at the monstrosity of stone and death that awaited them. They had vanquished a few guardians, but they knew that somewhere within that stone shell dwelt...
The Maho-Tsukai (next time....)
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Post by cassusaevum on Apr 21, 2019 13:33:06 GMT -5
Session 9: The Maho Tsukai Experience Earned: 4 Dramatis Personae
-- Kakita Meiko - A Crane duelist who struggles with her innate soft-hardheartedness and her quest for perfection. -- Kunis Daizu - A Crab purifier, intent on tracking down the Shadow wherever it may go. -- Togashi Jin - A Dragon bushi cursed with bad luck and destined to be a great soldier. -- Shosuro Ayame - A Scorpion courtier (so far as anyone knows) who secretly works as an infiltrator and, perhaps, shinobi for her clan. The House of HorrorsAfter fighting off the hungry dead, the intrepid samurai ventured into the crematorium itself, a place whose very existence smacked of unpleasant and dishonorable things. Within the first chamber, they found a scene right out of nightmare. The dead of the City of the Peaceful Hills had been taken to the crematorium for proper disposal as was customary, but the cremations clearly hadn't been taking place. Bodies were stacked like cordwood in the chamber, covered with rough canvas tarps. As the heroes entered, the doors slammed shut behind them and a disembodied voice laughed maniacally. "Too late! Too late! Now you'll have to join me!" At those words, the foul taint of Shadow fell over the room and the dead began to stir. In the ensuing battle, the swords and spells of the samurai cut through the dead... only to have them rise again. Only through the holy magics of Kuni Daizu and the relentless assault by the other samurai did the heroes prevail. But what horrors had they found? Kitchen of the DamnedIn odd counterpoint to the outer chamber, the next chamber proved to be a well-stocked kitchen, complete with meals laid out for at least a half-dozen people. As the samurai fanned out to search (and Jin-san couldn't resist the temptation of a bite of chicken and some sake), they heard chanting coming from up a set of stairs in the back of the room. Meanwhile, Ayame found a door that felt somehow wrong. When she opened it, a wash of green energy flooded the room, carrying with it all of the horrors and nightmares (and subsequent strife) of the foul and tainted blood magic. No one could set foot in that room... not with such an aura pouring from it. In fact, the aura was so strong that it caused Kuni Daizu to unmask, revealing his rage at the presence of Shadowlands taint as he rushed headlong up the staircase, intent on putting an end to whatever strange magics might be taking place above... The Cultists... And into a trio of black-clad cultists. Daizu's sudden appearance interrupted their ritual, but also caught his friends off guard, and he was forced to try and fend off the cultists alone (at least for a round). Then his companions rushed to his aid, and though the quarters were tight and the enemy skilled, they still made short work of the tainted cultists. That left them facing three obsidian orbs, each rife with dark energy. Already close to being overwhelmed by the strangeness and darkness of this place, the samurai decided that the direct approach was best and set about smashing with a vengeance. With the orbs broken, the sense of taint - and the strange green light - vanished from the chamber below. But Kuni Daizu could still feel the presence of something dark and despairing in the depths. The heroes caught their breath for a moment, and then descended, making their way into the basement of the crematorium. The Maho TsukaiThere they found the giant ovens gone and a throne of bones standing in their place. A Lion - dressed as a samurai, but unknown to them - waited upon that throne. Before him rested a pile of corpses, a thing so horrible that even looking upon it tore at the sanity of those who beheld it. Clearly in the throws of madness, the mage again assured them that they were "too late!" The meaning of the words was made clear when the pile of corpses began to stir and then move. As one crawling, writing mass, the corpse golem crawled forward. The ensuing battle was a thing of nightmare. On the maho-tsukai's word, corpses crawled free of the pile, rising as zombies in their own right even as the golem kept trying to finish the party. Kuni Daizu and the Maho Tsukai traded magical blasts. The battle seemed to teeter on the razor-edge of a tanto until Ayame, using her Shosurro training, put all of her reserves into a massive strike, severely wounding the golem. It spun, and with dozens of fists pummeled her into unconsciousness. Driven by the injury - perhaps death - of her friend (or is it enemy?) Meiko, in turn, unleashed a powerful attack, finishing off the corpse golem. Wounded and with his minions defeated, the maho-tsukai had one final trick up his sleeve. He drew his knife and made eye contact with Kuni Daizu. "Tell her I did my best," he said as he slit his own throat, spraying them all with his life's blood. Nothing happened. Kuni Daizu felt drawn to the throne, where he found a second obsidian geisha. As he touched it, there was another flash of pain, and another resurgent memory. A blurry vision of the scarred and shattered land that he knew to be the Shadowlands A hazy view of... someone... his master? The certain knowledge that what was about to happen was going to be painful beyond all imagining. The knowledge that Daizu accepted it, wanted it, even. Another flash of pain. Blackness as Daizu-san collapsed. The AftermathIn the end, all four samurai emerged from the Jigoku-cursed crematorium. Despite trying to destroy it, Kuni Daizu now had two obsidian geisha statues in his obi... and more of his fractured memories restored. Honor and glory was sure to follow as the battered and bloody - but triumphant - heroes made their way back to the Palace of the Endless Sky. Next Time: The Beginning of the End (of Court)
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Post by cassusaevum on Apr 28, 2019 15:52:26 GMT -5
Session 10: Four Samurai Experience Earned: 3 Dramatis Personae
- Kakita Meiko - A Crane duelist who struggles with her innate soft-hardheartedness and her quest for perfection.
- Kunis Daizu - A Crab purifier, intent on tracking down the Shadow wherever it may go.
- Togashi Jin - A Dragon bushi cursed with bad luck and destined to be a great soldier.
- Shosuro Ayame - A Scorpion courtier (so far as anyone knows) who secretly works as an infiltrator and, perhaps, shinobi for her clan.
The Bandit HuntAfter returning from the horrors of the crematorium, the young samurai spent some well-deserved time healing their wounds, recovering their frayed sanity, and being ritually cleansed of the foulness of the maho-tsukai's abode. During this time, the Court of the City of the Peaceful Hills lapsed into a quietness of its own, the tempers and political machinations cooled by the notion that an army of the dead may well have marched upon the city.But not even this could quell the Court for long, and tensions began to rise, with accusations falling on the Lion for the seeming inability to control their own citizens. The general bellicose air fueled the tensions between the Dragon and Phoenix as well, and things seemed close to the point of shattering the Emperor's Peace and having steel drawn and blood shed at Court. The city Daimyo, Akodo Kusamoto, acting to quell the potential violence, opted to channel it in a different direction. He declared a grand event, a sweeping bandit hunt that would send all the young, hot-blooded warriors (and no few of their older cousins) into the hills around the city to hunt down the bandits that plagued the area. He who returned with the most heads would be named Champion, and earn great influence.
Kuni Daizu, fearing that the taint of Shadow may be behind the increased banditry, convinced the others to join his cause (though, in truth, most of them wanted to get out of the city and doubted the presence of any dark magics or Jigoku-tainted things). They were assigned an area of the countryside to explore that included the Village of Clear Waters, which had already asked the city for help, a series of isolated farmsteads that had not been heard from for several days, and a suspected bandit camp.
In Defense of Clear Waters
They opted to make their way to the village first, since the village request for aid had, as yet, went unheeded. Upon arrival, they found the villagers piling up all of their worldly possessions. Talking first to a peasant girl and then to the village headman and elder, the samurai learned that dozens of bandits, perhaps more, were operating in the area and had threatened the destruction of the village if they did not pay tribute.
Kuni Daizu elected to leave at once, to scout the area north of the village and report back. Meanwhile, Meiko, Jin, and Ayame worked to convince the villagers that it would be in their best interests to stand up for themselves. Their arguments wore down the villagers who, at length, consented to gather what weapons they had and, under Togashi Jin's leadership, fight the bandits.
An A-team style montage followed, showcasing Kuni Daizu's scouting efforts (where he learned the bandits numbered in the hundreds, but appeared to be poorly equipped and more than half-starved), Shosuro Ayame supervising the construction of numerous traps to slow the progress of the armies and Kakita Meiko and Togashi Jin training the peasants and preparing their grand strategy.
A Battle Joined
By noon the following day, the bandits arrived and the battle was joined.
By grace of the preparations and the sheer battle skill of the samurai, the battle was largely one-sided. The highlights included:
- Kakita Meiko charging into the thickest fighting and singlehandedly eliminating a dozen enemies
- Shosurro Ayame dispatching one wounded and cowardly enemy officer and defeating a second in an honorable duel
- Kuni Daizu retrieving the fallen banner of the army and protecting it against the bandit hordes while rallying the peasant defenders
- Togashi Jin holding the line against the enemy while simultaneously directing the tactics and strategy that, in the end, won the day
When the dust finally cleared, the bandits had broken. Half their numbers lay dead, the other half scattered to the four winds. The heroes surveyed the battlefield, knowing the these bandits had been defeated, but that there was yet much left to do...
Next Time: It's not skull mountain...
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