Ninja! – Attempt 6, Part 2

Divine Orchid (not to be confused with Singing Wind) escorts me out of the safe haven of Eo, and I manage to note the beautiful scenery on my way (cf. featured image).

I doubt that (soon-to-be) Avenger is someone to be swayed by pleasing countryside images, but I fake suitable interest as a courtesy to Singing Wind who has, after all, been quite helpful to my cause.

Aside : While I appreciate the efforts of the author, I can’t help but notice that the female NPCs all have suitably passive names such as the two noted above.  Any reason they couldn’t be called ‘Wrathful Storm’ or ‘Deadly Lightning’?

Anyway.

My mood just got a whole lot better, because the Australian football (what certain Philistines call soccer) team just went 2-0 up against Iraq in their World Cup qualifier. Match report here, for those who are interested,

In any event, after all this sight-seeing I head off along the mountain trail, confronting my old friends of snow and cold.  Lucky I’ve got my ninja costume, with the white colour on the reverse side! (And yes, Yankees, its colour, not color).

Since I don’t have an Orb of Eo (must have missed it at the provisions’ store) I seek shelter and, after a successful Fate roll, find a small cave in which to rest as the snow blows all around me.

After the snowstorm blows itself out, I make my down into the (greener) foothills and recover 2 points of Endurance.

There’s no real joke there, I just thought that was a nice picture.

Since I’ve now been through this path before, a few bullet points for your edificiation!

• I again run into Rin, as we meet over the corpse of a fallen ninja.
• I tell Rin that I am the enemy of the Way of the Scorpion ninja, and agree to travel together with him.  I guess we can look like a couple of mates on a golf trip.

Aside : Very respectfully, I think there is an editorial error here.  The book asks if “you have found a fellow contestant after the avalanche and want to seek medical help for him”.  At first glance, this would seem to describe the situation with Daon, but if you turn to the relevant paragraph, it is implied that you left Daon in the wilderness without help, rather than leaving him in the expert care of the temple of Eo.

Anyway.

• I travel with Rin, and he humblebrags about the origin of his ‘Rin of the Three Blades’.
• We set up camp near the ill-omened city of Mishina, and I regain another 4 Endurance (now at the maximum of 20).
• Rin and I face the monstrous Jikininkis, and one grabs Rin and I face the remaining creature.
• I defeat this Trump-esque monster, although it does reduce my Endurance to 12.
• In a delightful development, it sprays poisonous pus as it dies, taking me down to an Endurance level of 9.

• Rin’s field bandage restores 2 Endurance (up to 11) and I resolve to continue travelling with him.
• I again have the choice of travelling in the forest, or across the open ground.  Given the events last time, I travel with Rin across the open ground (keeping our eyes open for the Bakemono).
• We see a wagon of samurai being attacked, and, naturally, rush to their defence.
• We see off the Bakemono and I accept a book containing the war strategies of Xi, and undertake to transport same to Iga.  Rin, of course, continues as the Robin to my Batman.
• In summary, the two of us then run into Gorobei, before the three of us confront 6 Bakemono, who presumably seek to obstruct our path.
• My trusty Poison Needle takes out one of the (2) Bakemono who confront me, and I manage to kick the remaining one IN THE FACE until it collapses, dead, with no further damage to myself.
• Having conquered the Bakemono hordes (!) the three of us successfully enter Iga.
• I hand over the Tome of Eo, and receive a ‘one-off’ blessing, giving me a +2 modifier to my next attack.
• Gee, only one attack.  That’s…..actually quite a mediocre reward.
• Gorobei and I meet the Grandmaster of the Five Winds.  I hand over my three (3) flags, while being honest about the technically incorrect way in which I received one of them.
• The Grandmaster gives me the final mission (ie. SHIP SABOTAGE) and my stats are restored, with my Inner Force raised to a new maximum of 5, and receiving 2 more Shuriken.

• Stats : Endurance : 20, All modifiers : 0, Inner Force : 5, Shuriken : 8

 

Recommended web-page : For fans of trashy horror and similiar movies, you can’t go by 1000 Misspent Hours, which has great summaries and reviews of movies of all kinds.  The great part of this page is that its not merely limited to recent movies, but has great dissertations of movies from the black-and-white and silent eras.

Full disclosure : Going to a stand-up comedy show tomorrow night with my best friend, so there’ll be no update for another 48 hours.  Hopefully you’ll all cope.