Jwar Tales - Kitsune (part 5)

previous episodes here

we pick it up with K having silenced the guard who'd wounded him. with the treasure chest in hand, all they have to do is turn over more objectives to get a set and then escape the compound

Nitōhei  (private) Umemoto, closed the door carefully behind him.  He knew the intruder was in this part of the house somewhere.  The house guard was slowly turning out as the gunsos woke up to the news that one of their own had been found dead.  The general alarm had still not rung out, the Imperial delegation that had arrived the previous day, had the Daimyo and his family wound tightly and the master of the household had ensured that the staff knew the punishments that any disruption would result in.  Umemoto almost smiled at the indecision that must be tearing the bullying gunsos apart.  A quiet mobilisation of the guard would avoid disturbing the guests housed in the visitors compound, but it certainly slowed things down.  Peering into the inky black shadows of the supply rooms, the guard failed to spot the tiniest of movements in the far reaches of the closet...

the guards use a card to block K's escape and another to move an alert guard up close, unfortunately even though he was alert, the guard still failed to detect K

The Kitsune planted a vipers tooth in one of the guards wounds before once again resuming her favourite shape.  The small vixen darted out of the bloody barracks and into a narrow walkway that led to the servants quarters.  She would need to be extra stealthy now, Kyuubi's exploits had stirred the guards up and they could be seen rushing around, poking their yari into the shadows.

The Kitsune needs to aid her sibling as he gets cornered

the guards use a card to block the use of force for K and he has to think of a non-violent plan B

Kyuubi eased his paw off of the hilt of his katana, there were too many guards close by to simply take out the fool in front of him. Besides that, where was the fun in simply killing these hapless humans, far better to mock them, albeit without their knowledge.

With superlative stealth, the vexatious vulpine ghosted passed the sentry, soundlessly padding within inches of the clueless private to duck into the deep shadows of a dark corner when the bulky form of another fat, lazy and inept fool filled the doorway.

thanks to the guard's card, K only has stealth dice left and uses them to evade the guard blocking his escape, but he doesn't have enough move or dice left to evade the guard by the door!

Kyuubi, gloating in the corner of the closet, watched as a senior soldier, a female, relieved the fool at his post and sent him back to the barracks to get more troops. So intent was he on the exchange, that even with his sensitive ears, he failed to hear the soft approach of the guard that he'd ghosted until the blade of a spear came to rest just under his chin....

all the noise tokens generated over the last few turns had raised the alert level and allowed the guard captain to promote the guard by K to an amber alert guard.  The alert guard moves forward and passes a detection test, revealing K.  Also during their turn a guard moves just behind FF but fails to detect her.

The Kitsune froze, unlike her brother she had heard the heavy footsteps of a guard behind her and now she had to decide what to do.  The gunso and the guard in front of her were focused on the demon that they had cornered in the supply rooms, the guard behind her seemed unaware and was rushing to aid his comrades.  She would have to risk making noise if she was to rescue the mission and her brother.

In a flash of ki, the female yokai transformed right in front of the approaching guard, causing him to stumble backwards, his yari inadvertently blocking her initial sword thrust.  Growling in frustration at the loud clash of steel on steel, she struck with lightning speed with her twin blades and quickly cut the life from the outclassed guard. 

Turning, she saw that the gunso had heard the commotion and was reaching for her katana.  With incredible speed, the Kitsune sprinted toward the human.  At the last moment she leapt to her right, landing halfway up the wall and using the vertical surface to propel herself over the outstretched sword blow of the sergeant. With a swipe of her right hand sword she slashed open the chest of the female human, before landing with the grace of a dancer and finishing the dying woman off with a thrust to the heart.

she's a full on fighting machine in humanoid form, defeating an alert guard and upgraded amber alert guard in a single turn...

Umemoto, confused by the sounds of battle coming from the hallway, felt the sweat drip down his face.  Did this mean that there was more than one demon at large in the house? 

The Takashi family must be cursed he concluded.  The silence that followed was more disturbing than the ring of battle and he tentatively called out to the gunso that had arrived moments before.

"Sarge? are you there?" with no answer, Umemoto had no idea what to think. Reflexively, he wiped the sweat off of his brow with his sleeve.  A split second later he felt two feet of steel pass through his heart...

Kyuubi withdrew his katana from the poor boy's chest and quickly sprinkled some snake scales near the body of the guard and that of his superior.  Nodding to his sister, he silently complimented her blade craft; which she thoroughly ignored. He arched his brow at his sibling, finally gaining a response and soundlessly ascertained that the box was in her possession.  They just needed to plant the last of the "evidence" and they could call the mission a success.

K kills the alert guard and goes onto flip another objective

Lady Oka Takashi swept majestically down the corridor, her patterned silk kimono billowing around her slender yet muscular frame. The scowl on her normally serene face, caused seasoned warriors to fall back and away from the fierce noblewoman.  The long naginata (bladed spear) held loosely in one hand, clacked on the ceramic tiles as she stormed toward the servants quarters. She rattled off a string of orders to the overwhelmed gunso trailing her.  She would deal with the intruders personally and then there would be a reckoning with the instigators of this daring raid, which according to the reports of her officers was the treacherous snakes of the Ito Clan.  

Her stream of invective came to a stuttering halt as she rounded the last corner to be confronted by a beautiful, yet strange looking woman standing over the bloodied form of one of her guards.

Hefting her naginata, she strode forward confident that her skill matched and indeed exceeded that of  the female before her.  Blinking, she finally clicked to what was so wrong with the woman, she had a ruddy brown tail! A Kitsune! The classically educated noble recognised the mischievous yokai instantly.  But surely they were not natural allies of the snakes? 

finally the alert level is high enough to trigger the Lady Oka and she comes onto the board at the nearest barracks.  Using three action points she rushes to the area where the ninjas are.  The ninjas have yet to be able to "fade into the shadows" meaning that they are automatically detected when in a guards Area of Influence or AoI.

Kyuubi heard the approaching woman and quickly went about his business, scattering more pieces of evidence in the armoury and about the common dining area for the servants. A rattle of blades as the two deadly females engaged in combat rang from the corridor, causing Kyuubi to curse in the kitsune tongue.  The noise would pinpoint their position like ringing the dinner bell to hungry farm labourers! Slipping a paw into a hidden pocket he withdrew a small object the size of a pigeon egg.  

Slamming the object to the floor and smashing the shell made no noise whatsoever, in fact the sounds of the fight from the corridor immediately ceased as well!  A toothy smile split his muzzle as he soundlessly chuckled at the effects of the Ki laden device.

KH and Oka battle it out while K flips objectives

The Kitsune fumed as yet another of her well orchestrated attack patterns were turned away by the viper-swift movements of the broad bladed weapon.  The human female was a formidable warrior and easily her match in open combat. She needed to change the dynamic and gain the advantage once more.

Lunging low with her left handed blade, she forced the woman to block the strike with the long shaft of her naginata before following instantly high with the right and dragging the warrior's defences up and out with the bladed end.  Using her extraordinary agility she leapt forward and double kicked the noble in the chest, her sharp nails drawing blood across the top of the human's breasts before using the momentum to spring away.  Mid-flight she began her transformation, landing on all fours, before scampering away in her fox form and blending with the shadows.

KH barely wounds the Lady Oka, using all her dice and flees into the shadows unable to press the attack and finish the lady off!

Lady Oka grimaced as she wiped the bright red blood from her torn kimono, the vixen would pay for the insult!  "Guards!" she cried, just loudly enough to carry to the barracks up the passageway.  More determined than ever to catch the shinobi that were running riot in her home, she strode into the servants quarters looking for the bitch's accomplice.  

Her sharp eyes swept across the darkened room, penetrating the gloom for shadows that did not quite fit the landscape. Aha! with a thrust of her polearm, she sliced the heavy blade into the inky shadow by the heavy wooden table.  A mewling growl confirmed the accuracy of her strike, as did the line of blood that ran down the blade to splatter to the tiled floor.  An indistinct shape, covered by a billowing cloak scuttled out from beneath the table, clutching a wound to it's side.

more cards get played bringing more guards onto the board

Oka has a better chance of spotting the ninjas and reveal K, before using more action points to leap into combat, wounding the ninja

Kyuubi snarled his anger at the human female, his jagged canines showing as he fended off her attacks.  She was proving to be very troublesome!  With an exaggerated swipe of his katana that forced a block from the noblewoman, he used the momentum to drop to his knees and slide sideways and away from Oka.  Gaining distance he sprung to his feet and darted backward and around the corner, running for the back door he had seen earlier.  

In the gloom ahead he could see the heavy lock that barred his escape and growled in frustration, with the human female bearing down on him, he didn't have the luxury of time in order to be able to pick the lock.  Instead he once again, with incredible agility, ran up the door as if it were a horizontal surface and leapt for the safety of the rafters.

the kitsunes scatter, both diving for the shadows. K fails to wound Oka and fails to open the door blocking his escape!

Lady Oka took a deep breath, banishing the fury that was threatening to overwhelm her good sense.  The Shinobi that had infiltrated the compound had once again disappeared into the shadows.  She swept the room trying to pierce the gloom with her sharp eyes and found nothing!  So be it, she snorted to herself.

Turning to the flunky cowering behind her she bellowed at him, beyond caring about the disturbance it caused. "Go to the master of hounds, bring the dogs!".  When the lackey had scampered away, the noblewoman stood stock still, mulling over the mysterious attackers.  Kitsune were not known to ally with the Ito Clan, no something else was going on here.  

She needed to wake Lord Takashi and bring this news to him personally. With a small upturn of her lips that might generously be called a smile, she spun on her heel determined to get to the bottom of tonight's raid.

the alert is now high enough to place the dog

and the Akita is released from his kennel

The Kitsune heard the orders from the human female and winced, the guards would be greatly aided by the superior senses of the hounds.  The mission needed to be completed before they were discovered again and the net tightened around them.  Ahead of her, silhouetted behind a shoji door, stood a guard.  Knowing how close the deadly female was to the Kitsune's current location she couldn't risk a noisy fight.  Gripping a wooden scrubbing brush in her powerful jaws, she crept to a small window overlooking the entrance to the Manor house and tossed the brush onto the gravelled floor with a soft crunch.  Sitting back, she watched as the silhouette of the guard moved off to investigate the sound.

Kyuubi silently drew his katana from its scabbard, the long blade held loosely in his grip as he dropped without the merest whisper of sound behind the human female as she stood in contemplation.  Rearing up behind her, his cloak billowing around him like the demon he had been so often though of by the Takashi household this night, he prepared to drive the sharp steel through her heart.

He was startled then as the woman suddenly whirled around. But not as much as she clearly was to see him looming behind her!  Punching out quickly with the hilt of the weapon, once, then again he was relieved to see her eyes roll up into her head and crumple to the ground unconscious.

Standing over the prone form of the human who had sorely wounded him, he was tempted to finish her with a quick slice to her exposed throat.  She had fought valiantly and had even matched the ferocity of his sister with her blade work, which impressed the male despite his distaste for humans.  With a shrug of his shoulders, he decided to let her live and with a final salute from one warrior to another, he slunk off into the shadows...

K uses a ninja card to ensure the final wound on Oka and she is removed from the game

with the guards bunched up behind the door....

the ninjas take a different route!

The Kitsune, in her fox form prowled the narrow corridor cloaked in the shadows.  Behind her, her brother was nigh on invisible as they sprinted up the hallway and away from the servants quarters.  They were pretty much done, just one more piece of evidence, the most damning piece! needed to be planted.  The piece that would push the Takashi's over the edge of reason, unable to sift the facts from fiction and destroy the treaty for ever.

All around the yokai, guards poured out of the barracks and continued to search for the intruders.  Clumsy human senses unable to pierce their superior stealth, they stumbled blindly in the pre-dawn gloom.

despite recruiting an amber alert guard right beside the ninjas, the guards fail their detect tests (3xd6 needs a 6)

so the kitsunes ghost passed them using evade tests. (d6 against the guards awareness!)

The Kitsune rushed into the large audience room, where the lord Takashi heard the petitions of his nobles.  From beneath her collar she withdrew her pouch, reaching in she picked out the last piece of damning evidence.  

The lock of black hair, nondescript in its way, was tied around a snake fetish in the manner of a lucky charm.  It had been incredibly difficult to "procure" this particular fetish though, involving a midnight burglary of a high ranking Ito princeling.  The hair was clasped in place by a very distinct barrette, a gift from a doting father to a beloved daughter, the Takashi family symbol clearly picked out in shining gold.  The barrette given to the lady Asama Takashi by her father - the Daimyo himself just prior to her disappearance!

The fetish, taken from the lord Itsunagi's chambers would ignite the conflict between the powerful clans.  The Kitsune placed the evidence carefully, ensuring that it looked like the thin leather leashes had snapped and fallen away.  With a quick nod to her brother, who stood impassively beside her, she passed him the wooden box she had pilfered from the strong room. 

Tucking the box away deep within his billowing cloak, the male gave his sister a toothy grin and waved goodbye, before sprinting for the zen gardens where they had scaled the high walls of the compound and disappearing into the inky black night.

With the baying of the hounds closing in and the shouts of the guards as they finally turned out in greater numbers, the Kitsune, cloaked in her favourite fox form slunk away.  She would report back to Master Akari on the success of the mission later on that day, after a much needed rest...

The Kitsune turns over the final objective and tests against the mission.  With over 12 completed objective token, I don't even need to roll a d6 to beat the mission number and automatically pass.

Turning over the escape points, I find that it is number 1 which is so close that the guards literally have no way to stop the escape and I call that a ninja win.

Lady Oka lay motionless on the narrow cot of the healing room, the ragged cut to her chest had been cleaned with salves and oils.  Dazed and bleeding she had been carefully moved by the guards under the watchful eyes of the seneschal.  She had still not regained consciousness yet and that troubled the healers as they mixed the pungent herbs and spices needed for their potions.

The Daimyo had been roused from his chambers and strode furiously around the compound listening to the reports pouring in from his officers.  Lord Kenta, head of the household guard, his grim face full of portent, approached the elder Takashi and bowed low.  With outstretched hands he presented a small bundle to his master and kept his face pressed to the floor as the howl of grief ripped through the air, tearing his heart in two at the loss held in that primal sound.

Kenta, unchecked tears pouring onto the polished tiles of the audience chamber, knew what that howl preceded and he felt the grief turn to anger.  The treacherous snakes would pay, blood for blood, they would feel the full fury of the Dragon.  The Takashi's were going to war!

hope you enjoy

dGG

Jwar Tales - Kitsune (part 2)

Hi all

hope you enjoyed the prologue for this upcoming tale from the Jwar Isles.  For those of you who didn't read the previous tales of Master Akari and the tricksy Kitsune (shame on you!) you can find them on the newly made Bushido page of my blog, where I gathered all of my previous stories from the world of my favourite skirmish game - here

Go on, I'll wait....

All caught up? cool.  Let's proceed then.

The Kitsune, had ridden along with  Master Akari on his Ki journey in an attempt to thwart an alliance between The Prefecture of Ryu and Clan Ito that would disturb the Balance.  The Balance is an ethereal line between the dark and the light, night and day, death and life.  The Temple of Ro-Kan and it's allies seek to preserve it at all costs knowing that if the scales were to tip too far toward one or the other, then the Jwar Isles would fall.

Akari, embarked on a Ki journey to determine the best course of action that would disrupt the two clans from joining forces.  Each time the monks clashed with the Prefecture, the death toll of the monks was too high.  Too many young lives and innocent souls lost for no benefit.

In desperation, Akari delved deeper, looking for other methods.  Finally he turned to the Kitsune, believing that espionage might be more effective than outright war.  With her tricks and supreme stealth, she could succeed where the supreme fighting skills of the monks had failed.

The Kitsune, had a plan that would sow dissention among the two factions and turn them from their path but she knew that she couldn't do it alone.  Risking discovery by her secretive shadow clan, she sought her brother - Kyuubi.  As a male, he was unable to fully transform into fox form.  None the less, his stealth was unrivalled and his hatred of any threats to the Balance would be invaluable in her quest.  It would cost her though...

I really enjoyed playing the 3 Bushido games that led to the "Tales" and was intrigued by the story line that developed from them, particularly the subplot that "spun off".  I wanted to play this as more of an RPG type game and so decided to use the rules from "The Rise of the Kage" - the boardgame by GCT Studios (the makers of Bushido).  This stand alone game (with a single supplement) is set in the  Jwar Isles and pits the shadowy Kaze Kage ninjas against the ruling family - The Prefecture of Ryu.

This was perfect! RotK is played with the Prefecture guarding a Manor House (or dockyards or artisan district depending on which board you use) and the ninjas trying to infiltrate and complete a mission before escaping into the night, before the general alarm is raised.  The ninjas use a combination of stealth and force to achieve their objectives and rely on the shadows to keep them from the blades of the guards.

I simply replaced the ninjas with the Kitsune and Kyuubi and away I went.... 

Of course it wasn't that easy! I needed to make some simple adaptations. The game requires 3 ninjas and I had two Yokai, however one of those Yokai could assume two forms - whoop! whoop!

So I assigned each form to one of the ninja profiles in the game.  Although the Kitsune could only be in one form at any given time, she could freely choose between the forms by sacrificing a movement point.  The fox form would be the most stealthiest, taking on the Shizuki role and in the humanoid form much more fighty! so she would become Katsumi. Kyuubi would be somewhere in the middle - a balance of force and stealth and take on the Yuto role.

Now I needed to find a mission that suited the scenario that I wanted to play.  Our foxy friends would be sowing dissention and planting false flags.  As there was no such mission, I had to come up with my own.  So my vulpine virtuosos would need to collect objectives (the numbered triangular markers in the photo below) and have a set of 4 of one colour out of the 4  available colours.  In order to collect an objective, the kanny (yes I know) kitsunes would need to roll either force or stealth dice, matching the number shown on the top to reveal either a coloured marker or a trap, traps will not count as a set/colour but do count toward the number of objectives gained. Additionally they must collect the chest marker (Kyuubi's price) Once the required number and type of objectives have been gained they will need to roll against the mission number, which for this game will be (10).  This means that the nefarious ninjas need to roll a d6 and add the result to the number of objectives they have, if this total matches 10 then the Ro-Kan rogues will have completed the mission and must escape via the randomly drawn escape point.

In the photo below I've added (badly) some coloured circles around objects of interest.  Most importantly is the blue circle - the chest, forming part of the mission it is crucial to the ninja side winning! However it is in a room with multiple closed doors, one of which has a bell on it - green circle.  The yellow circle is a lamp and this increases the "area of influence" for the guards, allowing them to spot ninjas (kitsunes) from further distances.  The red circles are the barracks, these are where extra guards including more powerful guards will deploy from.

The ordinary guards have been deployed, there are ten of them and they are all "unalerted" at present.

The guards, all fat and lazy are unalerted

And unpainted - eugh!

 The pic below shows the stat line for the Kitsune in fox form.  Black stat line and black dice are her stealth dice and white her force, this shows her penchant for sneakiness.

Kyuubi's card shows his balance between stealth and force, I drew two random equipment cards and got shuriken, giving him a ranged attack and sacred sword, allowing him to ignore the special armour card should the guards draw it.

Kitsune in humanoid form is a lot more fighty and gets more force dice.  I also drew a Kusarigama card for her which will allow her to fight multiple opponents.

For this game I decided I wanted to use Lady Oka as the guard boss, as I had her painted up for my Prefecture Bushido faction and I love the miniature.  For the guards I chose Tesaki for yellow alert, Yoriki for amber alert and Lady Oka can only have Machi-bugyo for red alert.

She does get to activate Shinobu the Akita dog during amber alert.

With all the board laid out and the guards chosen I set up my two Kitsunes. with Kyuubi (K)deploying in the cherry trees at the front of the Manor House and Kitsune in Fox Form (FF) deploying in the zen garden at the side.

and that's where I'll leave it until next time.  The AAR will be written in my narrative style but with some rules being placed in the captions of photos, so as not to interrupt the flow of the story.

hope you enjoy
dGG

here comes the girls

Hi all

last time I showed my growing Prefecture of Ryu faction for Bushido we had the twins Geiji and Eiji Takashi, a pair of well matched samurai, complementing each others fighting style.  This time  we have the ladies of the house, starting with rather appropriately - Lady Oka.

Lady Oka is as deadly as she is beautiful. Raised in the luxury of Ryu she is a great power in the court and has learned to use the weapons gifted to her just as expertly as those crafted of polished steel and lacquered wooded in the dojo. A nimble and dexterous warrior she wields the traditional weapon of a lady of the samurai caste, with a natural ease and elegance. She moves across the battlefield with the poise and grace of a dancer, avoiding blows and missiles as if they were not even there. 

Not a great deal to add regarding her paint job.  Prefecture colours and base as per the rest of my faction, however I did add a corner of matting to her base using an old conforming bandage, its a little ragged and didn't translate as well as i'd hoped but it does look better in the flesh as it were.  The only other thing to add is the lack of patterning on the kimono compared to the studio version, again I shied away questioning my painting skills but I'm determined to revisit her after I've finished the rest of the faction and add a floral pattern. **

I see her very much in the role of fast attack, grabbing objectives and fending off attacks until reinforcements arrive or slipping away in the face of overwhelming odds.

Next up is Hagane Takashi

Another daughter of the Takashi clan has taken up the fight. Hagane wields her twin Katanas to devastating effect. More like her uncle Hida than his own son, Hiro. Her ruthless streak has endeared her to those that tread the halls of power at the very top of the Prefecture. Hagane can be relied upon to get the job done.

Hagane is a scion of the Prefecture and therefore needed to be dressed appropriately, i based her colour scheme on an icon of Ryu - Mizuchi.  Underside is Fenris Steel and armour Lothern Blue with a Iyanden Darksun trim.  Just to break up the colours she gets a dark red scabbard.

Hagane is pure melee and can be used to bolster any attack, backing up Lady Oka or any other objective taker, charging in and taking out threats.

thats all for this post
hope you enjoy
dGG

** I actually went back and painted Oka and here she is...

61:52 (-9)

figs bought:painted (difference)