The Day of Thunder

"It's... bad," Ayako confirmed, then fell silent for an awkward length of time. There was only the sound of the horse's movement as it carried the two women. After a long pause, Ayako added, "We've ... lost a lot of people. Clan members. Kin." She tried to look stoic. "Stopping this is... very impor...

"It never hurts to say a small prayer to the local spirits. You'll probably have a chance as part of the festival." Her smile slipped a little. "I don't want to assume that all these things tie together, but there's never coincidences around the Teacher." Ayako nodded. "I'll make sure to say a pray...

“Well, I have to admit we don’t have gods fall from the sky every day,” Ayako said. “I think that actually only happened once. Maybe twice.” “But I think you’ve come to the right place if you want to see great deeds,” she added. “The revered Shinsei is supposed to speak later today, and it seems a l...

“You speak really well for having learned our language from ratlings,” the Crab woman commented, with apparent sincerity. “I’m Yoshitsune Ayako, of the Crab Clan.”

“What brings you all the way to Blue Lotus Village?” Ayako asked. “Is the… madness… in the Kingdom of Ivory, too?”

"It's the realm of Hell, striking at our world through people's dreams." Otaku's quiet voice has the matter-of-fact quality of one who's had to explain this and hear it explained more than once. "From all I've seen, it's true. People dream strange dreams, and sometimes they turn strange. Then the l...

"I was traveling with the teacher, yes. Someone has to follow him to make sure he's not carrying two boulders instead of just the one." Ayako wrinkled her brow. "What, would he do that?" she wondered. The idea that the revered teacher Shinsei was unable to count to two seemed incredible to her. "I ...

"Praying is part of how we rescued Hisomu-no-kami. Never doubt the power of that." Ayako listened respectfully to the revered Shinsei's every word, before turning back to Matsu. "Well, that's quite a big revelation!" she remarked. "Nine Champions of the World, wow! I bet you'll be one of them, Mats...

"Maybe... I try not to pry too much. It makes him even grumpier," she sighs. "I think it must." "Ah well, let's forget about grumpiness for now," Ayako suggested, a little daringly. Her previous concerns forgotten, the Crab flung herself into dancing with Shizuku, moving to the music with even grea...

"In places where people's dreams have gone too far wrong for too long, sometimes there are strange clouds." Otaku says, quietly and a little tightly. "This place seems ordinary, but I can't find true north. So I mislike it." "It's this awful fog," Ayako said, nodding in agreement. "It's so easy to ...

"The ... Kingdom of Ivory?" the Crab woman said, looking startled. "Really? I don't mean to be rude but, uh ... I had thought it a myth. You must've traveled quite a long way to get here."

A monk! Ayako thought. She's bound to know where the shrine is! "Good morning, Crab-sama. Good to see a few from your ranks come down from the north," she said. "You seem a soul in search of something?" "Good morning, sister monk," the Crab woman said, bowing politely. "In fact, I was looking for t...

She grinned. "Silliness. Everyone's got their own specialness. And yours is cute." She made the declaration with the conviction of someone stating inalienable fact. At these words, Ayako's smile lit up her face. "I'm Shizuku! I'm from one of the farms around here, though I'm trying to get Enrou to ...

Canary wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 24, 2023 7:34 pm

She laughed a little at the blush as they began to dance. "Are all Crab women as cute as you?"

"Oh! I-I'm nothing special," Ayako demurred, but she smiled as she did so. The Crab was an adequate, but enthusiastic dancer.

"My name's Ayako," she said. "What's yours?"

The peasant woman smiled. "It's okay. It's a plant he grows - a mild stimulant, he called it. I think he uses it to help get along with people." She giggled a little, then looks thoughtfully at Ayako before holding out her hand. "You look a little stressed out. Do you want to dance?" Ayako blushed ...

The villagers sniffs the air, concentrating. "Um... it smells like someone might be using kava somewhere? It uh..." They glanced over to the porch where Enrou was now sitting alone with a smoking pipe. "It might be Enrou-san." "Oh~~!" Ayako looked chagrined, but turned to Enrou. Was his pipe smoke,...

One of the villagers looks around. "It just looks like dancing... Are you okay, samurai-sama?" "There's something in the air," the Crab samurai insisted. "Something.... foul ." Ayako sounded a little shrill, even to herself. Was she... overreacting? No, it must be the others that are wrong!

The foul stench was alien to Ayako’s experience. It was no herb nor plant that she was familiar with. It was the scent of …. evil. "NO! Don't dance!" the younger Crab cried out, over the sound of the music. "Something's wrong! We're under attack!" — D1 ME Festival Begins, Identify scent, Hunting/Int...

The foul stench was alien to Ayako’s experience. It was no herb nor plant that she was familiar with. It was the scent of …. evil.

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D1 ME Festival Begins, Identify scent, Hunting/Intelligence, +5 TN (Displaced) | 3k2 ⇒ 26 (TN: 40) no idea

Head lifting, she breathes deeper to try analyzing the scent. "Anyone else smell that?" Ayako wrinkled her nose again and covered her face with her kimono sleeve, managing to avoid the worst of the effect. "I smell it too, Auntie," she replied, moving to stand near Tai. "I think ... I think somethi...

Ayako wrinkled her nose again and covered her face with her kimono sleeve, managing to avoid the worst of the effect.

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D1 ME Festival Begins, raw Earth + Void Point | 5k5 ⇒ 46 (TN: 25)