Kyuden Shika

Hajime nodded. "My apologies, Murato-sama. But I agree, our efforts will be all the more successful with such a broad array of expertise on hand."

He smiled. "And I am gratified, Kuni-sama, that my choice of location will be of use to you, but I expect not quite so gratified as my sensei would be to learn that I had remembered his teachings."

Yasu nods. "It's honestly reassuring to have someone who will know right off if a spirit just pops in though." She doesn't look as her hands untie and unloop her scroll case, blue an brown cord drawing through her obi to free the whole thing in a well-practiced set of movements.

"Which set of teachings is that, Kitsuki-sama?" she asks as she quietly draws out a scroll and several small packets of cloth and oiled papers.

"Tracking criminals." Hajime smiled. "We learned a great deal about how to identify locations strong in the elements in the criminal shugenja portion of the course."

Painted brows rose. "Well, that is a course of study I'd never much considered..." there's an odd look for a moment after. "Hmm, though I guess that's pretty much just fancier words for some of the same lessons in tracking maho-tsukai."

She lays out a small metal dish, then sorts through a waxed packet of bits of incense, broken sticks and cones, and a perfumed cord in the mix, large fingers surprisingly deft as she plucks out the one she's looking for. It's lit off the small flame in a lantern. No sense calling the fire spirits up just for that.

"While I know I simply want to ask the earth spirits about the stability of the slopes here, the void are so much trickier to interact with. This helps me clear my head. Agarwood and camphor. A little odd otherwise, but good for settling thoughts.

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Incense and quiet for assistance. Add one skill die.

Also meditation for potential strife reduction.
D10 EE: Meditation for head clearing and potential strife reduction | TN: 2 | Success: 0 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 0


Opportunity to sense supernatural stuffs should there be any that Murato doesn't spot. ^^

Hajime inhaled deeply, then quietly began: "I shall begin a sutra I was taught to help us."

Bowing his head, he intoned:

NO MO SAN MAN DA MOTO NAN
OHA RA CHI KOTO SHA SONO NAN
TO JI TO EN GYA GYA GYA KI GYA KI UN NUN
SHIFU RA SHIFU RA HARA SHIFU RA HARA SHIFU RA
CHISHU SA CHISHU SA SHUSHI RI SHUSHI RI
SOHA JA SOHA JA SEN CHIRI GYA SHIRI EI SOMO KO "

Boosted from here

Roll to assist Kitsu Murato's meditation. | TN: 1 | Success: 0 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 1

Spend 1 opportunity to give Murato 1 skill die on his roll.
Strife Count: 5

Sutra for assistance!

Murato listens, watches the other two and starts preparing his mind. He didn't need to do so for simple observation of spirits, though he did need to focus for reaching out to feel them.

He nods and watches Yasu work, but stays quiet.

As the meditation circle starts to take shape, he focuses. Little by little he looks into Ningen-do, piercing its walls with the other realms. Thought evaporates from conscious to unconscious. His eyes shift colors, as an inky black cloud leaks from the pupil, passing through the iris in a stream and begins filling in the sclera. Small dots of void speckle the now bright, reflective, vibrant orange. His sight extended to his other senses in that moment. He could hear, smell, touch and taste the presence of the spirit world...

D10 EE, Big Guns, Meditation [Void], Sixth Sense, Void Point, Yasu Assist, Hajime Assist | TN: ? | Success: 8 / Opportunity: 0 / Strife: 2


2

In the next moment his eyes widen... he can feel it all. The entire forest and village. It's so much... too much... a small trickling line of red starts below his nose. His eyes begin to flutter as though he were straining to stay conscious.

"They're everywhere. But there is a... " he sways a bit even while sitting, "...is something of water in the forest."

He concentrates in it's direction, then raises a hand to show which way. Then suddenly reaches out to grab a sleeve in each hand, one from Hajime and the other from Yasu. He nearly falls over and holds himself up using their strength.

"But there is also something evil in the Inn. Right now. Not cruel, not tricky, not... " again he nearly falls over, "... not just mean. I sense it and it's wrong."

Eventually, his grip would loosen and he would fall limp. If nobody grabbed him his head was going straight to the floor unprotected.

Yasu startles at the blood, but doesn't have time to do anything before the Lion has hold of her sleeve. Her training says not to interrupt, remember and hope it's not going to last too long for him to bear. She shifts to her knees in case she needs to stand.

"Shit!" This close, she wouldn't fail to catch him as he goes limp, cradling his head, checking his pulse. "Can you damp a cloth, or just fill something with rain?" There's no formal address, or actual address at all. Hajime's the only other person in the room capable of responding...well, unless she starts talking to Taiko, which doesn't seem super useful, right now. She dabs at the blood on his face with her sleeve.

"Mura-san? You have about a minute before I'm going to tuck you in the middle of the shelter here and run to the inn, so you need to wake up if you want in on that."

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D10 EE Med-check. From memory...Water seems right to see how Mura is doing. | TN: ? | Success: 3 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 0

Water opportunity to work with fewer supplies than might be needed

Hajime moves to do as bidden, damping a cloth and passing it to the Kuni.

His mind, meanwhile, wandered.

He wasn't entirely sure that he'd be a great help in a fight at the inn, but decided he was willing to give it a try. This mystical stuff was rather unnerving, but evil needs must be checked wherever it was found.

His eyes returned to normal, relatively quickly, but he had not heard a thing she said. The cacophony of spirit voices he'd been hearing was too loud, and the sound was only just fading. "Shit," was all he said in the moment, his eyes unfocused and delirious. His voice slurred a bit.

When he finally realized she is cradling him he reaches up to her cheek. But he still doesn't have full sense yet. "I think I musht be dereaming. Did I fell ashleep?"

And a few seconds later... "The Inn!"

He wasn't 100 percent okay, but he was quickly on his way. It became more clear as that minute passed that it was more like a bump on the head rather than a wound to it.

"Help me up, please."