The Day of Thunder

Hiruma Naraku wandered through the camp towards his tent. He had searched for a secluded place where he could be alone with his thoughts and where he could perform his research in peace. He had found that in the edges of the camp, away from the bustle that comes with such accommodations. As he entered in the tent, he undid the bandages covering his arm, revealing a heavily scarred arm with a coiled centipede tattoo

The sight of his scarred hand made him smile, each scar standing for a step closer towards his goal. He retrieved a small knife from his pack and cut the palm of his hand open, wincing slightly as the steel sank into his flesh. He clenched his fist and retrieved the vial with the river's water, the source of the village's folklore. He placed it under his hand and let a few drops of his blood drip into the vial, the water withing turning murky as the blood mixed with it. He mixed it a bit, letting the water and blood mix, and awaited to see what happened.

[1 wound suffered]

The blood and water mixed together. They took on an iridescent sheen, and the blood in the water no longer made it smell iron-like after a few minutes.

Naraku observed the reaction, taking mental notes of what had transpired. He shook the flask gently, trying to stir the liquid whilst keeping an eye to understand what is happening.

[Poison/Int = 20]

"You know, the more I see of you the more I wish that my people had a chance to recruit you instead." Reo isn't particularly subtle, but the Crab had done him a favor by putting their tent away from everyone else, and Naraku wasn't exactly close to any of them.

"I have been intending to do something similar, but you have such a unique combination to start with." Reo inclines his head. "I was hoping to ask when we first met this morning, but even I know to keep a secret when the children of the Kami start showing up."

The voice startles Naraku, making him quickly turn to the source with his hand on the hilt of his sword. He relaxes after seeing it is Reo, albeit he still seems wary. "I was not aware that it was customary among the Spiders to walk into other people tents unannounced," he commented. He is still holding the vial with his bandaged arm but the other one is still bare, the black centipede tattoo glistening under the candlelight.

He shrugs "You should have recruited my father then. He had already pledged himself to Hida-no-Kami by the time I was born."

"No. But it is for the Seekers. Unless you prefer that I ask about how your blood is literally poison in front of the others." Reo pauses. "At least, blood is what we know about. There are many possibilities that I haven't accounted for yet."

Naraku eyes the Spider with caution. He isn't surprised that the man knows about his gift, after all the Seekers are known as some of the greatest spymasters of the Empire. "You're wrong though," he sighs as he leaves the vial on top of his workstation. "It is not only my blood. All of my fluids are poison. My blood is just the strongest."

Reo can't resist breaking out in a grin. "Excellent. It seemed like an logical possibility, but it does not do to make assumptions."

Reo looks at the vial. "Some people would have been content to see a curse. But you are actively experimenting with it. I have to say that I am impressed."

"People enjoy calling anything a curse," he scoffs. "Perhaps at one time I also thought the same. But no, this is not a curse. It is a weapon to turn towards our enemy. The only enemy that matters."

"But I doubt you came here to skulk around and do a courtesy visit," he eyes the man with caution, waiting for him to explain himself.

Reo beams. "See, you get it!" Reo bends down to peer at the vial. "We face an opponent who is constantly shifting. Running through endless permutations to see what results it gains. The Empire goes out to fight this horror just as it did before. Perhaps they will win. Perhaps not. But every edge we can possibly gain, must be explored. If those like us as to suffer for it, then we will have contingencies to end us before we go too far. But until then, we shall wring every advantage we can from it."

Reo looks over the work. "What have you attempted so far? Concentration via heat? Coagulation? Suspension of secondary vectors?"

Naraku studied the man before nodding in agreement "We do not seek to be praised, or even rewarded, for our efforts. Some might prefer to hide their heads, to speak of empty platitudes like honor, while this insidious enemy spreads and saps your strength," his tone seems to carry a thinly veiled hatred. "We need to end them. Learn what we can of them and end them with extreme prejudice."

He shakes his head "At the moment I've only mixed it with my blood. It obtained an iridescent sheen but beyond that I couldn't tell," he admits. "There seems to be something in this water but I will need to study it further. I was thinking perhaps mixing it with addictive agents or even increase its lethargic properties by adding certain plants."

"The enemy seems to have certain narrative properties. Perhaps something that could dissipate them or perhaps something that could unleash sufficient paint would be helpful," he continues. "I've tried with a few poisons before. Firebitter, Night Milk... it did the trick, but I'd hardly call them definitive answers."

Reo nods. "Twenty-five years ago, the creatures of the Shadowlands recoiled to the touch to jade. It had the ability to bypass the spiritual defenses that protected them from other weapons. Posion can work on them, but those who are affected have constitutions that can overcome it. Which means that I have continued to look for new drugs to use. And there is...something here."

Reo pauses, thinking. "What do you know of Enrou?"

"I am aware of that weakness. I acquired a bit of jade for my experiments, perhaps I could bind the jade to the concoctions and bypass their resistances. My blood also helps on that regard; it makes poisons be more insidious, more difficult for the body to reject. I hope to catch lightning in a bottle with my studies."

His expression grows silent when he asks about Enrou. "Well about as much as I know about you Hisomu-san," he answered noncommittally

Reo pauses for a beat. "What I knew before I arrived here was that this village had an impressive survival rate over this last winter. That alone was worth a visit. However, he spoke of a personal tragedy regarding a wife and children...as a member of the Isawa. The last of them were integrated with the Spider three years ago, but I joined the area twenty years ago. I had heard nothing of his departure, which either means that I failed spectacularly and let a talent go away. Or Enrou left before my arrival and had aged spectacularly."

Reo seats himself. "There are many of us who have aged such, but we had direct contact with the kami. Why anyone who was a close companion would wind up out here?" He shrugs. "I doubt that man is ordinary. The real question is how unordinary he is"

"He is a member of the Isawa?" Naraku replied with barely contained excitement. "Well then, that explains one of the tales I heard today. It was so obvious why didn't I think of that before..."

He turns to Reo, his otherwise dour face brightened with a wide smile. "The locals chieftess told one of the monks, Sukuna I believe, that this village had been home to a particular sect of heterodox Isawa with an interest for Name Magic among other things. We discussed, a group of us, what had happened since apparently they had left very good records. Some of us thought they had died, others likeme thought they simply had migrated. But it was so simple, they actually remained here. "

" This village hides more than it shows Hisomu-san"

"That's...a possibility that I hadn't seen. He said "Tribe of Isawa" and I assumed that meant Spider lands. And he spoke of not speaking to the kami, nor they regarding him. Name magic would fulfill some of those requirements. This...this might be how to account for the discrepancies." Reo furrow his brow. "It doesn't make the village inherently malicious. But that there are secrets hidden? Absolutely. And secrets are a gnawing itch."

"I do not like secrets. Secrets rarely hide surprises of the good kind," he frowned thinking about Enrou. "I do not know much about Name Magic, or the Nezumi for that matter, I only know things my father said. That we attacked them and that we cease hostilities and uproot our Clan. I heard that Name Magic is as powerful as it is ancient and, curiously enough, that the Nezumi seem to be immune to the taint from other realms? I do not know how much is fact and how much is fiction but... I would really like to get my hands on one of them."

He tapped the table as he thought on what to do. "Do you know much about Name Magic?"

"Names have power" Reo speaks the words. "The basics I know is that a true name of something gives you power over it. But I am not a magical specialist. Other than the basic of theory, I have no way to experiment with it, so it is a subject I mainly stay ignorant of. Speak to Jiyo Sora, he knows more than any non-priest about it."

"We should talk to the man. It would be nice to have some insight on that type of magic" he comments as he ponders about the name magic; did the Nezumi Empire perhaps sprawl further than its current size?

"There's also another thing. The graveyard. Something strange is happening there," he eyes the Spider. "I am not certain it is the work of the Corrupted but... something is happening."

"The Graveyard? I have not been there yet." Reo thinks on it. "What kind of poison do you...produce? Excrete? Are? I am trying to think of ways to increase its potency"