The Day of Thunder

Roll Status/Courtier for initiative in the meeting thread!! Don't forget to state if your stance is Full Attack or Defense.

"Umm.... pardon my saying so, but instead of arguing with each other, maybe we should be practicing how to fight as a unit?" the younger Crab woman said tentatively. "My sensei teaches that two warriors standing in formation are stronger than two warriors fighting on their own. Is that something the...

“Are you any less committed than the kami’s children?” She asked. "Well... um..." Ayako stammered, uncertain how to answer this. "I think I'm committed to helping?" "This 'real' hero of the Empire was born on some Fortune-forsaken hillside in the Spine of the World with no knowledge of the Kami's e...

"Could rakshasa be behind the madness that's spreading in our lands?" Ayako wondered. "We've seen some corrupted monsters, and I could easily believe that demons are spawning them somehow. Where would we even get ivory to hurt them with? I doubt there's an elephant within a thousand li!"

"If you ever have kids you can do the same to them, pass on what you've learnt, make it a bit better, a little smarter. That's wisdom right there." This got a small smile out of Ayako. "Well, I'm in no great rush to have kids," she said. "I need to do something , make a name for myself or something...

"Ahh, too bad," Ayako said regretfully. "She must've been quite a brave lady, and you do her honor by telling her story. I'll be sure to remember her example if I see any raka... rakashasa."

Firmly " Any of us , Ayako. Destiny will make its own choice for its own reasons. Just because you are young does not mean it won't choose you." She gives the other Crab a long look. Ayako looked taken aback. "I... uhh..." She shuffled her feet, unable to contradict a Crab daimyo, especially one wh...

Ayako listened raptly as Sugri told the tale. "I wish I could be a hero like in the stories," the young woman confided. "Knowing the exact moment of truth, then delivering a perfect strike. I've trained a lot, for when that moment comes. Maybe someday I'll get a chance to do it." "What was the name ...

"Spoken as if you might not be one of them, Yoshitsune-san." "Well, it'd be nice to be one of the big Champions, but I'm no one important," Ayako said, looking a little downcast. "I don't have a drop of kami blood; I'm just a regular girl. There's no reason the monks would pick me over one of the r...

"But I don't really know how to shape the final form of destiny," Ayako protested. "I mean, I can hack at monsters and stuff, but that's about it. I suppose we'll each just have to do what we can and hope for the best."

She tilted her head to one side, “They’re good people… Real salt of the earth self-sacrificing types. Always busy though… the seasons don’t stop for anybody.” She smiled, “I was never the best kid though. I probably gave them more trouble than they deserved.” "I feel like that sometimes, too," Ayak...

"Not that you shouldn't be calm, Ayako. We're both finding ways to use that time to prepare us. After all, any of the Crab could be expected to represent the Clan as a champion. When the time comes the empire will find us ready." "It seems certain that you should be our champion, Lady Anjing," Ayak...

"Either we can defeat the enemy with the power of compassion and friendship, or we cannot. And if we cannot you will want to be armed, armoured and standing besides someone similarly garbed." Shrugging slightly. "Perhaps it will be a matter of purity as the 9 recite prayer. Or maybe they will be ex...

Han-Hei wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 27, 2023 9:27 pm

“Your mother seems like a strong woman.” She said with a nod.

"Yes, she's an armorer, so she had to be," Ayako said, tapping one of her shoulder plates. "She made me my first set of armor, in fact."

"What about you? What's your family like?"

"Quite a few, actually," Ayako said. "It seems like every clan has sent warriors to Blue Lotus Village to hear the revered teacher speak. Let's see: I met a Ki-Rin lady patrolling outside the village, and one of the Spider daimyo in town; she was huge, I'm sure she'll be one of the Champions!" "Ther...

“Yeah… a lot more mind games it seems.” She said with a nod. “Luckily we were all kids once… And had mothers deploy similar tactics.” She smiled. "My mother wasn't like that," Ayako protested. "She had her rules and if you didn't obey them, you got switched, and that was that. Yours was different, ...

Ayako's heart swelled at the praise, and she stood a little straighter.

"Of course, Lady Anjing," she said, bowing in acknowledgement. "You know we'd all die for you, if need be."

“You have the bearing of someone who has some experience fighting things tougher than a straw man.” She remarked. Ayako ducked her head modestly. "I've been in a couple fights," she admitted. "I'm not afraid of battle. In fact, I kind of wish this new enemy was something you could just beat by forc...

Ayako waited and watched for the evil to appear. She scanned to her left, then to her right. Constant vigilance!

LATER:
After a few more minutes of constant vigilance, Ayako ventured, "Well, maybe they drove the bad guys back before they reached town."

“Seems like a good strategy. We can probably use all the help we can get, right?” "Yes. The more help the spirits can give us, the better," Ayako said with a nod. "Informal as the ritual seems to be, nobody seems to have minded too much..." "I guess it's to calm our nerves as much as anything else,...