Jwar Tales part 4

Once again Akari delved into the silver laced streams of Ki, determined to find a way to disrupt the plans of the Prefecture and Ito and divert the threat to the Balance.  Once again, a telltale flash of red fur in his peripheral vision indicated the presence of the Kitsune.

Further and further, the Tanuki master pushed back along the thread, looking for the point that could break the alliance between the two powerful houses.  Tracing the long journey back to it's origin, Akari found himself in a plaza, near the Takashi palace.  Under the cover of darkness, the Takashi lord - Hiro was gathering his retinue together.  

"Aha" the Tanuki chittered to himself, clearly the lordling was acting furtively and doing a terrible job at it too.  Akari sympathised (nearly), the young samurai held to his honour and found any attempt at subterfuge distasteful.  

"Maybe this is a better chance" he muttered.  "A little push here could dissuade the Dragon clan from allying with the Snakes of Ito"  Looking around he was unsurprised to see the Kitsune manifest next to him. With a nod, she indicated her approval and promptly dissipated from his senses, only to reappear in the plaza in fox form.

Once again the Tanuki focused his will and the images of his righteous warriors appeared in the inky shadows of the plaza. With a nod to the Kitsune as she lined up alongside his brothers and sisters, Akari started the thread once more.

With a comical jump of surprise, Hiro spun to face the sudden arrival of the band of monks. Drawing in a giant gasp of air he bellowed like a parade ground Gunso - "TO ARMS!"

The sound of  drawn steel filled the air like the hissing of many vipers, sending a shudder down Hiro's spine.  Already sceptical about the upcoming alliance with the duplicitous Snakes of Ito, the young lord nerves were on a razors edge, as he half expected to see the scaly hides of the hebi-samurai slithering out of the darkness.  He was therefore very surprised to see the furry features of some Ro-Kanese monks. What they hell were they doing here? and why the hell were they in the company of some very young looking children?

Whatever the reason, they were obviously intent on intercepting the Takashi delegation.  Hiro shrugged his armour clad shoulders, his fathers orders were explicit - convey the offer to the Snakes, secure the treatise and between the two clans, the threat offered by the Jung pirates would be neutralised.  Honour dictated that he complete his mission, but the back stabbing nature of the Ito offended him and his honour  as did the manor in which this mission had been organised.  

While he understood the political wrangling behind the scenes and the precarious grip of the Dragon clan on the reins of authority within the region, he despised the need to hide a treaty that was supposedly meant to protect the innocent inhabitants of the Jwar coastlines from the Jung deprivations. If this treaty was supposed to bring stability to the people then why not shout it from the rooftops? Why not march openly to meet with the Snake delegation and send a message to the pirate clans?

The argument between Hiro and his father regarding the mission had gone on for some time before the Daimyo had simply ordered his son to obey him.  Hiro seethed as the memory of the shame he had felt at being reduced to a little boy once again burned through him.  Almost gleefully he ripped his razor sharp katana from it's smooth, lacquered sheath.  At last he could regain some honour in a straight forward fight!

With a banshee-like shriek, Mizuchi launched himself into the air, stretching his elegant neck to gain height before crashing down in front of the great ape dressed in crafted armour and who easily swung a brass shod club that a muscular human would struggle to even lift.  Like a lightening flash, the dragon flicked his muscular tail at the orangutan like a bull whip, delivering a stunning blow that opened a line of bright red blood across the thigh of the powerful simian monk.

Undeterred by the agonising wound, Kosuke grabbed the stunted forearms of the giant serpent and pulled the surprised dragon closer.  With a twist of his barrel shaped torso, the red haired ape launched the juvenile beast clear across the plaza, narrowly missing the charging form of the Takashi ward - Iiju Makoto.  The great ape, panting from the show of immense strength in throwing the dragon, barely had time to raise his club before the scion of the Hare Clan cleaved through his pitiful armour with his No-Datchi.  With a sigh the Temple monk slid to the floor, a terrible, jagged wound across his chest.

Iiju Makoto allowed himself a nod of satisfaction as he wiped the simian blood from the broad blade of his two handed sword.  The orangutan had been dangerous, immensely strong and skilled, it was good that he had put down that beast.  That sense of accomplishment dissipated as he felt an even bigger hand thump down on his shoulder.  With a nervous twist of his head, he barely caught sight of the enormous leathery face of a silver backed mountain gorilla before being launched sideways with an incredible show of power.  With a crash, the heavily armoured ward clattered into lord Hiro, throwing both samurai to the plaza floor.

oops Damon's fingers...

More bestial roars filled the air as Kuma, the giant panda warrior monk of Ro-Kan powered into the fight.  With brutal efficiency he charged the slight figure of the female messenger, intent on ending the threat contained within her bag. Drawing her katana, Bachiko tried desperately to block the flurry of blows from the enraged monk's Bo-staff.  However, her vain efforts inevitably weakened as the onslaught continued unabated and with a final horrendous crack, the sturdy oak staff clubbed her to the ground.

Mizuchi the dragon subtly shifted his coils as he slowly fought through the haze in his head.  He had landed hard after being thrown by the enraged orangutan, his skull connecting with the pillar of an ancient Tori Gate.  Cracking his eye open, he glanced around the battlefield looking any immediate dangers.  Spotting the fallen body of the red haired primate, he snorted with glee (and a little relief) at seeing his enemy laid low.

Feeling stronger by the second the young dragon raised his head, only to find himself face to face with a young girl.  Mizuchi was unable to put an age to any human, they lived such short, fleeting lives but she clung to an old stuffed bear for comfort and had to be pre-pubescent.  Shifting his sight from the mortal world she virtually shone with the flow of Ki that penetrated her every fibre.  She was far to precious to the Balance and the Kami to destroy, but she did represent a threat to his warband.  Mizuchi pushed his gargantuan frame higher and higher, towering over the diminutive figure of the child, who was frozen in terror at the uncoiling beast.

Far across the plaza, the giant gorilla known only as Aiko's Guardian felt her fear.  With his hand still clutching the ankle of Prefecture samurai he turned, desperately searching for his tiny companion. Flinging the unfortunate soldier away, the mighty simian beat his chest with his huge fists.  Canines flashing in the failing light he roared his challenge to the dragon as it unfolded its muscular coils to tower over his diminutive charge.  Rearing to his full height, he goaded the powerful serpent into attacking him instead, to no avail as Aiko fainted dead away, leaving herself very vulnerable to the dragon.

The Guardian, seeing Aiko fall, blinked in confusion.  He could still feel their bond, but she lay stock still in the manicured lawn of the Tori.  Hiro Takashi, taking advantage of the giant ape's distraction, stepped behind the huge primate and drove his katana deep into the spine of the beast.  With a grunt of surprise the gorilla crashed to the floor and lay still.

Seeing his brethren fall, Kuma piled into melee with a yari armed samurai.  The human used the length of the weapon to try and keep the enraged bear at bay and almost succeeded, until he felt a razor cut through his hamstring dropping him onto one knee.  The Kitsune danced back away from the retaliatory swipe of his spear, lightly stepping over the weapon and offering an apologetic shrug before skipping away as Kuma lifted the human into a bone snapping bear hug, that crushed his spine.

Master Akari rifled through the documents that seemed to be so vital to the Prefecture retinue. "Ah" he muttered to himself, noting the details of the treatise and the promises made from the Lord Takashi.  "Right then, enough of this violence" he continued. 

With a shift of focus, the scene stilled.  Akari walked the perimeter of the plaza, noting with sadness the broken forms of his fellow monks and their companions.  "This will not do either" he chittered in the secret Tanuki language.  Spotting the Kitsune, he carefully picked his way over to the trickster Yokai and bowed deeply.  

"My thanks sister, for your aid in determining the path that we must follow.  The Balance as always remains on a razors edge and could go either way if we follow the path of blood.  Perhaps then we can employ a different stratagem and follow the path of guile?"

The Kitsune nodded her agreement, the alliance would fail before it began, she would see to it personally.  

This concluded the first two games between the same two factions, with Damon playing Prefecture and me playing my beloved Temple of Ro-Kan.  We then played a further game but I changed it up a little by playing another faction.  Part 5 will pick up the story from there.  However now writing these stories up, I'm a little dissatisfied with the abrupt ending here - what did the Kitsune do? The trickster Yokai has a mission still and all the tools she needs to complete it.  I think I may have to come up with a set of rules to cover the infiltration or I could use the "Rise of the Kage" rules by GCT.  Either way, expect a "spin off" adventure....

hope you enjoy

dGG

Jwar Tales part 3

Hi all

over the last couple of weeks I have been laying the groundwork for a short series of games of Bushido.  The games, played by Damon and I aren't particularly linked but I have taken them and turned them into a narrative AAR.  There won't be any rules or "he threw a double 6", just a short story each week that gives you a flavour of the games played (or how I remember them!) in, what I hope is an entertaining way.  

I hope you enjoy

dGG

Master Akari drew deep on the Ki that flowed through him and slowly the images became clearer and more focused.

His band of Righteous Warriors took shape until he could picture them clearly. The stalwart Kosuke, a visiting monk from the distant reaches of the Empire. The child Shugenja, Aiko and her powerful Guardian, a huge silverback mountain gorilla. The orphan boy, Koji and his pack of villainous monkeys and lastly Kuma, the giant Panda warrior.... "wait, was that a flash of red fur?" the Tanuki mused as a sleek creature streaked out from under some foliage.

To his surprise (particularly as this was HIS probability thread), the shape coalesced into the form of a Kitsune, who stood ready to fight alongside his fellow monks.  The enigmatic yokai often had their own reasons for lending aid to the Temple, but it was always welcomed, albeit with a sharp eye kept on them...

Akari recognised the young lordling that led the retinue, Hiro, a scion of the ruling family Takashi.  He was beginning to make quite a name for himself, both as a warrior and a general.  With him was a ward of the Hare clan - Iiju Makoto and a couple of retainers from House Takashi. Most impressively though, the samurai had managed to persuade the juvenile dragon Mizuchi to join him on the expedition - clearly the messages contained in that bag were pivotal!

Akari sat back, figuratively, on his haunches and watched to see how the encounter would unfurl.

With a huge snort through his simian nostrils, Kosuke lumbered forward.  His waddling gait belied the speed that he moved over the rough ground of the forest floor and he soon crashed into the armoured form of Hiro Takashi.  Swinging his huge club in a low arc, easily avoided by the young samurai, Kosuke followed through with a series of feints that used the handle and head of the great weapon in tandem to keep the lordling on the back foot.  Finally he finished his sequence with a flourish, pivoting on a single leg he grabbed the surprised Takashi with his other foot and using the weight of the giant club to gain momentum flung the samurai to the floor several feet away.

Both warbands rushed forward, the Takashi retinue keeping tight around their messenger and the juvenile Dragon taking to the air with a triumphant scream.  Aiko's Guardian responded with a huge roar that shook the trees around them, beating his mighty fists against his enormous chest. 

The powerful gorilla leapt forward and grabbed the dragon by it's tail disrupting its flight and bringing the creature back down to earth.  Matching the ferocity of the giant primate, the dragon ripped at the beast with it's talons drawing red furrows into his hide. 

Aiko, watching her mighty protector taking hideous wounds drew on her Ki, with a wave of her delicate hand she sent a stream of spirit energy toward her burly companion, easing his pain and partially healing the grievous wounds.

Buoyed with renewed vigour, the Guardian pounded on the muscular flanks of the dragon, dislodging scales and winding the powerful creature. In retaliation, Mizuchi latched onto the massive arm of the simian and drove it's dagger length teeth to the bone.  Too late the young dragon realised it's mistake as the gorilla with a roar of defiance simply smashed his arm into the earth with a jarring crunch that stunned the magnificent serpent. 

With incredible speed, the Kitsune shrunk into fox form and dashed forward. Ducking under the flailing dragon, locked in it's struggle with Aiko's Guardian, she emerged next to the struggling behemoths.  With a brief shimmer, she once again regained humanoid form and lunging forward with her sword, tore a long and mortal wound down the length of Mizuchi.

Iiju Makoto, cried out at the loss of his adopted clan's kami and charged forward intent on severing the tricky Yokai's head.  Sword held high, he slashed at the Kitsune, only to stumble to the ground when the magnificent blade failed to connect.  Shaking his head in puzzlement, the Takashi ward looked around only to find the Kitsune yards away, a smirk upon her fox-like features.  The mirage of her slowly fading away as Iiju screamed his frustration at the mischievous creature.

So far so good, Akari muttered to himself with a small satisfaction.  The dragon had been neutralised and his warband were in position to intercept the messenger, disrupting the plans of the Prefecture and the Ito and their disastrous impact on the Balance.  

Hiro shook his head to clear his vision, further aided when he adjusted the tilt of his helmet.  Skittering away from the powerful orangutan, the samurai adjusted his grip on his katana ready to re-engage the simian monk.  Before he took one step however, he was confronted by a small, wiry boy armed with a Bo staff. 

With a wave of frustration, he motioned for the boy to move aside.  To his amazement, the boy not only shook his head but with a wry smile stepped forward and levelled the staff at the astonished samurai. Shrugging his shoulders the Takashi lord readied his sword and took stance.

Before he could engage, the boy pursed his lips and gave an odd little whistle.  Another step was all Hiro managed before two brown bullets shot from the dense undergrowth of the forest trails and flung themselves at the lordling.  Two mature macaque monkeys clung to his arms, interrupting his movements and causing him to slow and drop his guard.  In a flash, the boy darted forward and swung the Bo in a hefty blow that rang Hiro's helm like a bell.  Stumbling backwards, Hiro almost crashed against the stocky build of the Temple monk Kosuke…

Hiro shook his head again to clear the fog from the child's blow, enough was enough! With an armoured gauntlet he reached across and in a swift move, snapped the neck of the macaque dangling from his arm.  With his sword hand free he parried the incensed boy's attacks.  Calmly, he stepped aside as the giant brass shod club thumped to the ground beside him.  With a swing of his other arm he threw the remaining monkey away from him, the tiny macaque colliding with a tree trunk with a bone crunching crack.  Once again he parried the increasingly erratic swings from the grieving boy, before stepping in and delivering a stunning kick that propelled the boy backwards to land in a crumpled heap.  Finally free from the annoyance of the child and his pets, Hiro faced the powerful orangutan.  Wise to the four limbed attacks of the beast now he drew deep upon his Ki and cleansed the fatigue from his limbs.

Narrowing his eyes, concentration at peak, Hiro launched a series of blows and feints that defied the laws of physics.  His katana flickered faster than a serpents tongue, cutting and slicing, forcing the simian's defences further and further away from his body until the precise moment came. With Ki boosted strength he powered the blade through the bronze chest plate of the ape and split the creature's heart in two.  With another sigh from his simian nostrils, the great ape slid to the floor.

Barely had he drawn the long blade from the orangutan's body when the air was shattered with the bestial roar of the giant panda monk.  Kuma - his fang lined snout pulled back in a snarl, sprang forward... to be met with a sweep of Hiro's katana. Stepping nimbly to one side, despite his cumbersome armour, Hiro drew his magnificent blade back and sheathed it in a single motion.  The monk stumbled forward for two more steps before crashing to the ground, his throat opened wide pouring his blood into the earth...

"No more!" shouted Akari as he withdrew his consciousness from the thread.  Slowly the picture unravelled as he once again became pure spirit energy.  The cost was too high!  The loss was too much to bear.  There had to be a better way and he had to find it now.

Bloggers Day

hi all

Just a quick “in between narrative posts”

Dave Stone is looking to organise a bloggers get together. This sounds amazing and I fully intend to get there if I can, bringing my game Blood, Sweat & Horses with me.

Here’s the link for details...

https://thegamerscupbard.blogspot.com/2018/07/bloggers-day.html

Cheers
Andy

Jwar Tales part 2

Akari, Master Monk of the Temple of Ro-Kan, held up a furry paw and chittered softly in the secret Tanuki tongue into the wind.  The whispered plea, buoyed by a thread of the master’s spirit energy -Ki, spread out among the ancient boughs of his forest sanctuary. Akari rested back into a meditation pose, cross legged on the gnarled tree stump that had been moulded to his diminutive frame. Moments later, a pair of tiny birds, their bright plumage flashing in the weak light of the glade, flitted over to his outstretched arm and came to rest. Solemnly, the ancient Master addressed his avian messengers.

“Little ones” he began, once again reinforcing his words with gentle whispers of his Ki, to settle the nervous nature of the wild creatures.

“Fear not, we face a challenge to the Balance and you must carry my words to the others in my stead. We have little time and I must determine the truest path for us to follow. Gather the younglings, bring them to me, the children of Ro-Kan and their companions will be our instrument, their innocence will counter the conniving political wrangling of the Prefecture and will restore the Balance.”

The birds, their feathery breasts puffed out with the importance of their mission, bowed their heads and spreading their wings darted off into the forests surrounding the Temple grounds.

Akari nodded his satisfaction and returned to his prayer pose. Opening his mind to the shining streams of Ki, he gently pushed his spirit out once more, hoping to determine the best course of action to prevent the pride of the Prefecture from pushing them closer to the darkness that threatened to overwhelm the Jwar Isles.

Following the tiny thread of probability that he had discovered, he attempted to unknot the twisted skein of possible events that led to the upsetting of the Balance.  Satisfied that he had found the right thread he tracked back toward the nexus point – the crucial moment that tipped the Balance. 

“There!” he muttered to himself

“that point there”.

In his mind, he saw a powerful samurai clad in full battle armour surrounded by a small band of Ryu retainers.  The samurai, clearly a member of the ruling house – Takashi, handed an important looking scroll, dripping with seals and ribbons, to a human female and bade her to guard it with her very life. 

The retainer bowed deeply to her lord, clearly pleased with the honour of bearing such a prestigious document.  Placing the scroll into a leather bag and slinging it across her shoulder, she adjusted the large katana at her waist. With that, the retinue moved off setting a fast pace, clearly at haste to deliver the message.

Akari, with a quick focus of Ki, moved along the thread a little further, tracking the party across the cultivated lands of the Ryu clan and into the foothills that marked the border with Ro-Kan.  Here in the southern reaches of Akari’s adopted homeland the samurai drew his party to a halt.  A gentle nudge of Ki and the timeline edged forward a few hours to the point where a small group of green clad humans approached the Takashi lordling. 

“Ito Clan” the Tanuki chittered

“what brings the Snake to parley with the Dragon?”

Whatever it was, it signified a shift in the Balance and that needed to be addressed.  Akari reached for his Ki and shifted the timeline back to the arrival of the samurai and his band. Drawing on his spirit energy he created a replica of himself and his companions and inserted the band of monks into the probability thread.  With that done, he drew back on his view until he could watch the events unfold.

Unbeknown to the ancient Tanuki, a small flash of red fur streaked across the unfolding conflict, ducking in between the twisted trunks of the woodlands and peered out from the thick undergrowth. 

Jwar Tales part 1

High in the jagged and heavily forested mountains, the monks of Ro-Kan tended the sprawling gardens of the temple.  Simply clad acolytes flitted here and there, running errands for the elders or sat in clusters, studying the lore of the Great Kami under the close tutelage of the Masters.

In among the deep shadows of the dark woods, a small gap in the trees opened to the thin mountain air, allowing weak sunlight to gently illuminate the secret glade.  Master Akari sat atop a small ancient tree stump, contoured from thousands of hours of meditation to perfectly accommodate the mysterious Tanuki’s unique physiology. With barely a twitch of his sensitive nose and swish of his lustrous bushy tail, the Master sat in a comfortable prayer pose and allowed his mind to drift down familiar conduits.  The Balance is all, the Balance is key, the Balance must be maintained at all costs.  Ying and Yang, night and day, all must be in perfect harmony or the Jwar Isles and their unique place in the world would be lost.

Further and further, Akari allowed his spirit to wander the ethereal realm of the Kami.  At times soaring among the cottony clouds with the carefree lesser Air Kami, then diving into the sparkling oceans of the playful lesser Water Kami. Carefully he ghosted through the fiery intensity of the blasted lands of the lesser Fire Kami and conversed with the serious golem like lesser Earth Kami.  All around him he felt a vague disharmony, a slight disjointing of what should have been perfectly balanced.  A putrid darkness gathered again at the edges of the real world and bled its poison into the unreal realm, threatening to destroy that which he held dear.

Casting his mind deeper than he had for many years, he probed the darkness, searching for the tiniest thread of probability to follow, a small series of incidents that would lead to the coming darkness gaining ground. Deliberate or not, all actions have consequences, all decisions determine a path that can change people, places or even the very fabric of reality/unreality.  There! The barest hint of shadow, twisting and winding like a coiling viper. Akari, concentrated his formidable mind, focusing his Ki on the darkness in an effort to gain some insight into the cause of the disruption. 

Slowly, very slowly the knotted skein of shadow unravelled until…

Withdrawing his mind, with a degree of effort, the Master snapped back into his body with a minor jolt and sighed. Drawing his plain, homespun robes around his diminutive frame, he picked up his gnarled Jo staff and rapped it loudly on the tree stump three times and sat back down to wait. 

Minutes later and with the barest whisper of rustling leaves, a large and powerfully built orangutan moved into the glade.  Clad in armour and dragging an enormous brass club, Kosuke a monk from the distant Empire moved with a grace that denied his size and heavy equipment. Settling into a crouch with a heavy snort from his simian nostrils, the giant ape grunted a question to the Master.

“Yes, my brother the Balance is in peril once more.”

Another huff, another question…

“Ah this time it starts with the children of the Dragon”

Fire! Fire!

Hi all

I've actually started doing some bits for the Flash Point Zoo project for Uncon. I will be putting it out on the video diary but I thought I'd give you a sneak peak of the 3D fire tokens that I've been putting together.  I used Vallejo paints throughout this project bar the black primer.

First I had to buy the mdf tokens, I got 35mm rounds from Minibits specially made and these would form the bases. I then made a trip to a pound shop and got myself some white bathroom sealant.

and made these...

starting with a little blob of sealant, I let it dry completely before using the gun to add little cones of sealant all over the base, in an effort to make a vague fire type shape.

after that I sprayed the whole thing with black primer, to add shadow and to cover the base.  Once dried I very roughly covered the flames in white paint, more of a very heavy drybrush. 

I then took a big brush and started to roughly paint a bright yellow across he model, leaving a white rim at the bottom of the flames. Then a bright orange...

after that I switched to an orange red...

then a bright red, followed by a dark red. All the time I let a small amount of the previous colour show at the bottom and all the time starting the next layer as the previous was drying - almost a wet blend.

once dried, I covered the whole thing with GW red wash...

then drybrushed the whole thing with a brown/orange...

then a lighter drybrush of bright yellow...

and finally a very light drybrush of pure white....

then I just tidied up the bases and voila...

hope you enjoy

dGG