The Day of Thunder

[Haka Tae-soo]

The young tribesman still doesn't say a word, eyes following the flowers and bushes, ears focused on the sounds around.

He does step forward to take a look at the document though. The cypher... he looks at it. It's nothing like he's ever seen before. Maybe if they took a while trying to put things together, asked the spirits for help again...

... but was here and now the time for it?

He looked ahead, saw the Hisomu rushing forward. Looked at the others, then at Otaku.

"The cave, this dreamstone... the river spoke of it, I think. An underground lake, and iridescent stones...", he finally says in a rather low, hesitant voice. "It says it... I think it's what's keeping the River hurting."

That didn't strictly mean the Dreamstone was corrupted, of course. But his tone suggested he was rather convinced it was.

The offers made by the rodent-kin are received with uncertain looks. It... she didn't seem dangerous, but it was all so new ... he didn't know what to expect. For now, he just looked and heard the exchange, although he did nod to Tai's comment on the rodentkin's abilities.

[Haka Tae-soo]

A moment more looking at the area, another minute in silence listening to the surroundings, ans Tae-soo speaks again.

"The River... it comes from the cave. This underground lake... it's what feeds the river of forgetfulness. I'm pretty sure now."

[Hiruma Naraku]

snips

Naraku blushes at her chiding. "Of course she is not a pet. She is the Great Number. One so young and still showing so much bravery," he turns to her and smiles, his eyes warms as he looks at the tiny shaman. "I hope I did not offend you Chuchu."

He looks at the Scorpion. "That confirms one of my suspicions," his tone more serious. "When I saw the underwater lake I assumed it should be feeding the river or rivers in the town."

"A word of warning to all," he looks at the assembled. "We did not enter the main chamber but even at the doorstep the urge to sleep was staggering. We should steel ourselves before we enter."

[Chuchu]

"She's not a pet, Naraku. Pretty sure the reward for gettin' this right is a lot more important than dumplin's and you're sellin'...Chuchu, is it?"

"Yes, Grandmother!" Chuchu chirps happily. Her tail wags at the elder's recognition.

"I hope I did not offend you Chuchu."

"'Course not," She answers warmly. It's Naraku -- he's one of her favorite humans so far!

Seriously, the shaman adds, "If the water is impure, would purifying it help the people here?"

[Hiruma Naraku]

"To purify the water without dealing with the stone," he shook his head. "It would hardly fix it. The stones would still seep their poison into the water and the river would still suffer."

"If we are to do something, we need to handle the dreamstone," he looks at Tai. The old woman should be the most experienced Earth shaman there.

[Otaku]

Otaku listens quietly to the others as they unfold their theories about the cave and the river. "That makes much clear. It may be that if the river is poisoned by whatever's in here, it is affecting this wretched fog, too."

She unhooks her lantern from Tsubame's saddle. "Are you all ready to go in and see what can be done, then? I brought this for light. Hiruma-san can guide us the way the scouts went before. If this stone might be corrupted, we must stick together and be careful of it."

[Kaiu Tai]

(sorry, still at work, so a bit scattered and brief).

Tai snorts lightly at the eagerness of the little nezumi. Not a pet, but hard not to find just a bit amusing, under the circumstances. Naraku gets a nod. No point clearing the river when the source was still polluted.

"Goin' in makes sense. I'd like to see how things lay before hearin' what the earth spirits have to say." She answers Otaku's question. Good thing someone brought a lantern!

[Haka Tae-soo]

Tae-soo nods at Naraku, then at Otaku.

"The River says the fog is caused by... dreams. So if the dreams and the cave are connected..."

Another nod at Naraku.

"The water's spirits can get the water cleaned... but as Hiruma Naraku-nim said, that won't do it while the colourful stones keep affecting it."

A look at the lantern, then at the entrance.

"Will just one source of light do, Otaku-nim?" Then, tilting his head. "Uh. Hisomu Reo-nim inside... did he just walk into the dark? Will he be fine?"

[Otaku]

"One is what we have." Otaku shrugs one shoulder in answer to Tae-soo's question, then bends to coax fire from her flint and iron striker to light the lamp's wick. "It's a good traveling lantern from Lady Shinjo's stores."

She straightens up holding the lit lantern--an oil soaked wick whose flame is protected from stray breezes by a thin silk screen on a square bronze frame. The light shows up every irregularity of the fabric's texture--far-future generations in the Empire with their fine rice-paper lanterns would probably find it primitive--but it does the trick.

"Ah... one of you taller ones should carry it." She'll hand it to anyone who volunteers.

Her brows draw together a bit as she glances into the pitch darkness where Reo is apparently determined to set out ahead. "Hisomu-san is the slowest of us. We'll catch him quickly, as long as there are no shafts for him to tumble down in the dark?" A glance at Naraku comes with this implicit question.

[Hiruma Naraku]

Naraku took some paper and charcoal from his pouch and drew a makeshift map of what they had explored previously.

"As you can see the cave follows a narrow corridor into the main chamber with the water reservoir and the dreamstone deposits. We did find evidence of someone using a small boat in this cave, so there might be other passages," he explains. "We did not find any shafts in our first visit but we should still be careful."

[Hisomu Reo]

Reo is reaching the darkness, continuing his tests as he awaits the remandinder of the group.

Yes, I know I am eager, but I didn't expect the cripple to be the fastest one in.

[Otaku]

…

Otaku nods. “Very well. Please lead the way, Hiruma-san. Let’s go find Hisomu-san before he trips on something.” She gestures the group forward.

((Entering the cave?))

[Hiruma Naraku]

Naraku leads the way into the cave.

((Entering))

[Hisomu Reo]

"Good. I was going to march back to the camp, make torches and walk back." Reo calls when he sees the light coming and Otaku and Naraku join him. His eyes flash with enthusiasm at the sight of this place.

[Kaiu Tai]

Tai nods and follows, shooting a sour look at the Spider. "So quick to run straight into the dark and danger then? You may as well run back for torches still as we'll likely be too cautious for your need."

[Haka Tae-soo]

Reo's comment as Tae-soo steps inside following the others is received only with a few blinks. He wondered if the Spider was someone of special import. It was hard to tell, at times - he wasn't particularly used to all those matters of hierarchy, but his words seemed to suggest he was... although the Ki-Rin, as a family founder, probably outranked him?

A few more blinks. These things were so complicated... and they had other complicated things to deal with!

Hearing Tai, the tribal youngster hesitantly takes another step ahead and speaks, again in a Low voice.

"I... guess I could help, if we do want another light source. But it would take a while."

(OOC: Mostly saying that for RP reasons, but I'm guessing a Hunting roll could do it if we want a torch of sorts - maybe kami-assisted if necessary since the weather ain't helping)

[Hisomu Reo]

"You're talking to an old hunter." Reo pulls out some bundles from his pack. "That's how I fed myself before the clan days." Pitch and bandages are close at hand. he looks at his large walking stick and jams it into a crevice, snapping off the tip. Wrapping the bandages with layers of pitch the wet wood actually serves as a insulator, keep a grip.

Survival, drum up materials for kami assisted torch-D4 EM | 3k2 ⇒ 31

[Haka Tae-soo]

The young tribesman looks at Reo, the makeshift torch, the walking stick, now missing part of an end, then Reo again.

"... that might do, I guess."

Another look at the now shorter walking stick. It should be rather obvious he's worried about the man, but he says nothing for now.

"Otaku-nim... we could try to light that up on the lantern, I suppose? And then proceed... carefully."

[Chuchu]

As the humans enter, Chuchu begins preparations for her own work.

Resting the scroll over her heart with one hand, she raises the other to whisper into, eyes closed as her tail flicks slowly. Her palm glows briefly as she swallows the blessing before the shaman tilts her head back and draws down shimmering air to breathe in through her nose.

Sneezing once, she blinks, then holds up the scroll to start sniffing out the scents upon it. Her ears perk up and she starts after the others and into the cave.

[D4EM] NAMEBOUND spell Name Talent, TN 20 for 2 hours of Hunting 4 | 8k5 ⇒ 31 (TN: 20) SUCCESS
[D4EM] Name spell: Bless Name | 7k4 ⇒ 33 (TN: 10) SUCCESS
9/12 spells left

[D4EM] Hunting/Perception w/ Name Talent Hunting 4, Bless Name active for reroll if failure, Nezumi Scent feature for +1k1 | 7k3 ⇒ 23 (TN: 20) SUCCESS

(Entering cave now c:)

[Otaku]

snip

Otaku nods and lifts the lantern's cover for a few moments so that Reo can catch his makeshift torch alight off the burning wick, though she winces a little at the waste of a good seasoned walking staff.

"Let's go. Stay together."

Unless the cave gets too narrow, she'll even lead Tsubame in with them, rather than leave him outside in the chancy woods of this haunted place.

There's light at the beginning of the cave, but as you move deeper, it gets much darker.

[You need a light to be able to see farther.]

The cave goes deeper, into a winding corridor. A little while of walking, and it opens out to a ledge on the edge of a large underground lake. It's hard to see the ceiling, but around the water level, you can see deposits and veins of what appear to be dreamstone, given their milky, oddly colored iridescence reflecting the light. It creates a play of shifting rainbow colors in patterns that make no sense based on their shape.

You also find yourself starting to feel a little sleepy.

Otaku blinks at the uncanny sight. "Well, that looks... wrong."