[Mountain Witch] Session Two: Four Ronin, Five Ghosts

[Willow]

Session one is here:  http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=19194.0

Everyone came back for a second helping of samurai melodrama.

The second chapter opened up with the following requirements:
*Everyone uses an ability that has not yet been used.
*Everyone specifically uses their dark fate narrative power.
*There is a Player vs. Player conflict of some sort.
*The chapter will end with the company entering the fortress of the witch.

Seeking shelter from the storm, Shigeru scouted and Hiroshi used his farseeing trance. Together, they found a warm cave, which had a number of winding tunnels, and was safe from the wind.

They made a fire, and Shigeru and Hiroshi went off to scout some of the tunnels. Kasuke pretended to scout, but just snuck off out of sight of the fire, watching Yoshiro.

Yoshiro stayed to tend the fire, and the oni from before entered the cave, and visibly challenged Yoshiro. Yojiro accepted (with a duel). After a quick fight, the oni dealt a minor wound to Yoshiro, and then gave him a sealed letter, and then left peaceably. (DARK FATE THING!) Kasuke watched the exchange from the shadows.

Later, the ronin came back, and took watches. Hiroshi took the first watch, and heard/scryed an approaching Glass Golem. The ronin forced it outside, and Matt2 (Kasuke) got an early potentially take-out wound on the Golem, but chose to damage it and narrate saving Hiroshi instead. Aided by the force of the storm, the ronin were hindered, and Shigeru was swept away. Kasuke, Hiroshi, and Yojiro forced the golem back into the cave, and finished it off easily.

The next day, they went onward, and encountered a snowed-in temple occupied by three monks, who were on a pilgrimage. Discussion ensued about the safest way to protect the monks, and they decided that the monks were safer without the ronin nearby, but should follow later (hopefully to avoid any monsters cut down by the company.)

Next, they found a sedan chair with the symbol of the Imperial family, surrounded by a dozen freshly dead Imperial Guardsmen, and many more dead Tengu warriors. There was one not-yet-dead guardman, and Shigeru rushed ahead to heal him. Yoshiro started a challenge, wanting to talk Shigeru out of wasting his effort, and Kasuke stood in Shigeru's way! Shigeru won the challenge, and was able to heal the guardman. Meanwhile Hiroshi went off, and got a nebulous good vision. (A Dark Fate power. Matt had kind of a hard time telling what he wanted to have happen, so this really wasn't the best use of the power.)

After healing the guardsman, Shigeru learned that the tengu who attacked took the Emperor's daughter away. Shigeru led the guardsman back to the monks, who could tend to him, and then rushed back to the area. Hiroshi was in a trance, and Yoshiro was scouting for ambushes, so Kasuke helped himself to whatever coinage and treasures were laying around the runis of the Imperial Carriage.

Kasuke decided to challenge Shigeru to slow him down (therefore giving him more time to loot the carriage). His stakes (suggested by Daniel)- if I win, you get ambushed by Tengu! Shock and dismay all around, and Shigeru found himself beset by two Tengu warriors! I decided that Yojiro could see Shigeru- but Daniel used Dark Fate powers to dictate that there was a fleeing Samurai, who Yojiro proceeded to give chase after!

Two fights happened, with Yojiro vs. Samurai (catch/escape) and Shigeru vs. Tengu (get to camp/damage). Yojiro caught up with the Samurai, and switched his stakes to damage, and began slowly butchering away the samurai (who was still trying to escape.) Meanwhile, Shigeru made little progress with the Tengu, who then switched their stakes to capturing him! Fearing this, Shigeru won a round, with a Partial Sucess, allowing ONE of the other ronin to join in. Hiroshi charged in, helping to sway the tide of battle. The tengu changed their stakes to escape. Kasuke joined in the next round, but the Tengu got a partial success, so I decided that they drew the battle further out of Kasuke's reach. Kasuke didn't mind too much, and went back to looting. The ronin killed one Tengu, but the other got away, jumping up the cliffside, laughing at the ronin.

Shigeru, Kasuke, and Hiroshi joined up and followed after Yojiro, just in time to see him completely slaughter his opponent in a very feral fashion. Yojiro said that it was someone he knew, who had served the same lord. The other ronin were unsure what to do, and continued onward.

They crested the summit, and found a shrine at the top of the mountain, and saw the Witch's castle in a crater below. Otaki was there, praying at the shrine, and had a Dark-Fatey conversation with Shigeru. Kasuke used his Honor Reading ability to find out that Otaki has some mixed motives, but with a partial success, Matt2 narrated Kasuke's bag spilling out, containing treasures looted from the imperial procession- as well as a ring from Hiroshi's possessions. (I added the stolen treasure bit, not saying necessarily how it got there, and let Matt2 pick who it was from. He ran with it, saying he pocketed it while saving Hiroshi earlier.) Otaki mentioned that his pilgrimage was almost over, and after the encounter, the company saw Otaki go down the crater towards the Mountain Witch's fortress. Some more discussion about Kasuke followed, and the company approached the fortress.

The fortress had a High Gate, and twenty archers. (I used one die for the group of archers, and made them a Strong opponent as a group, and one die for the High Gate) In the final challenge of the chapter, Shigeru attempted to scale the outer wall (Acrobat ability), aided by all the other ronin, (notably with Yoshiro's Deflect Arrows ability.) They got a Double-Success, letting them get into the palace, and Matt1 narrated Hiroshi kneeling and helping to hoist Shigeru up a little bit, who then scaled the walls and opened up the gate. Yoshiro presented himself and began insulting the archers to draw attention to himself for arrow-deflecting purposes. Kasuke made some insults too, drawing more fire that way, deflected by Yoshiro. With the gate opened, the company made their way inside.

Trust:
Matt1 (Shigeru) took away all of his trust from Kasuke for the looting stunt and for not helping in the Tengu ambush (0). He kept Yojiro and Hiroshi constant (3, 3).
Matt2 (Kasuke) reduced everyone's trust to one, since he didn't think that they would trust him anymore, and he didn't want to take any chances. (1, 1, 1).
Matt3 (Hiroshi) reduced Kasuke's (1), gave +1 to Shigeru for fighting alongside him several times (5). and kept Yojiro constant because he was unsure about the duel he saw the end of. (3)
Daniel (Yojiro) felt he understood Kasuke's motivations more now, so he got a boost (+1, 1). He still identified strongly with Shigeru, and the bond grew (+1, 4). He kept Hiroshi's trust constant. (2)

Chapter 3 had these requirements:
*At least two characters have a scene where they are away from the other ronin.
*Any unused abilities get used.
*All the Dark Fates get revealed.
I made a mistake of not specifying an end-chapter scene here, but I don't think it was too big of a loss.

Entering the palace, the company met up with Yuki no Onna, Bride of the Mountain Witch, who served the ronin a delicious meal, and flirted dangerously with them. Some discussion followed, with Yojiro trying to get to the witch through Yuki, some discussion about her marriage, and Kasuke trying to read her. He said if he won, he'd find out something he could use to turn her against the witch. I said if I won, he fell in love with Yuki no Onna! She got a mixed success: Kasuke became smitten with her, but she decided it might be fun to favor him against her husband. When you're an immortal winter spirit, that's the kind of thing you do for fun.

Hiroshi wandered off, and tried to contact the Witch via his sorcery. He succeeded and revealed his Dark Fate: True Motives! Hiroshi was here to try and get support of the Witch to help him bring down the Emperor! The Witch expressed his amusement, and told Hiroshi he should make his way through the challenges and tests of the castle, and present himself to the Witch. The Witch told Hiroshi of a secret passage.

Shigeru wandered off, and took out a letter from someone, and soliliquized about why did she have to come her? Misaki, Otaki's daughter, and Shigeru's true love, was here, at the Mountain Witch's fortress, for some reason. Years ealier, she was betrothed to Shigeru's older brother, who he had killed. Shigeru refused to talk, protecting her, but causing himself to be cast out of his family. He revealed his dark fate: Lost Love!

Yojiro tried to get information out of Yuki no Onna, who was busy seducing Kasuke. Stakes: If Yojiro wins, she leads him to an emmisary of the Witch. If Yuki wins, he gives up and leaves. Kasuke used his die on Yuki's side, and Yojiro went off in a huff. Yuki gave Kasuke a brooch made out of ice, and said she'd see him again. Shigeru returned, Yojiro wandered around in circles and came back, and the three of them went off in search of the Witch. After a challenge to get the company reunited (opposed by the castle itself, as well as Hiroshi), they were off in a secret passage through the catacombs.

They came upon the ghost of Shigeru's brother, who accused him of killing him to take his bride, and coming here to steal his bride again. Threats were bandied back and forth (including Shigeru promising sepukku if Misaki died.) The ghost left. (Note to self. Shigeru's brother needs a name.)

Next they encountered a ghost known to Yoshiro, who I let him descirbe (Dark Fate powers). It was a woman who had committed Jigai, and told him he was going the right way, and something about "we are almost all here." She let him to a passageway, that seemed to lead further into the fortress. Shigeru and Yojiro went on ahead, while Hiroshi and Kasume pondered things.

During the pondering, the ghost of Hiroshi's father, who was killed by the Emperor for treason appeared to the two of them, and ambiguously told Hiroshi to "do the right thing," and then disappeared. More discussion about ghosts. So of course, another one appeared.

Kasuke narrrated it being dressed in obvious finery, and had the death wound of being stabbed in the back, and had the ghost level accusations at Kasuke, who said that the ghost was holding him back. Matt2 was kind of stumbling here, so I took over the ghost, and had him accuse Kasuke of being a terrible son(!), and told him that he would die a peasant. This gave Matt2 what he needed, and he really fired back, with Kasuke really getting into this. He revealed his Worst Fear: Being a Nobody, with No Riches, and No Fame. Everyone aggreed this was a really cool Worst Fear. The ghost huffed, said that peasants are treated poorly in the afterlife, and went.

Kasuke and Hiroshi talked about this abit, and Kasuke gave Hiroshi back the stolen ring. Hiroshi accepted the gift, and gave it back, saying he didn't need it. Kasuke accepted it, and then gave Hiroshi a different gift in return, which he kept.

After their near-death experience, there was a trivial pit trap that Yoshiro fell into and was rescued from, and then a Riddle Door, which had a human face, and demaned the answer to a riddle (that was never defined in-game). Kasuke used his Ancestor Memory ability to challenge it, getting the correct answer (which he decided was Betrayal.) With his extra Partial Success from his critical, the door told him that Yuki no Onna loves men with power more than anything.

There was a room, and all eyes turned to Daniel to tell us what was there: a courtyard, leading to the next portion of the keep, defended by two samurai, one of whom was Tadashi, Yojrio's lord and father, who had sworn fealty to the Witch, revealing Yojiro's Old Alliance Dark Fate! Feeling that he had no choice, Yojiro stood with his father, and made it clear that he was going to oppose the PCs. (Some discussion about when this could be fully resolved ensued.) Tadashi was saddened at his son's choice, and in a moment of fatherly compassion/weakness, he released Yojiro from his service.

Yojiro immediately drew his blade and attacked his father.

Tadashi's yojimo stepped into help, and Kasuke and Shigeru joined Yojiro in battle. Hiroshi stayed out (which he justifed to the other ronin as saying he didn't want to interfere.) After a few rounds of combat, there was a tie, and some discussion ensued about what could happen next. Both Daniel and I thought a mutual success killing both father and son would be cool, but I felt that the Dark Fate really shouldn't be both revealed and resolved in the very same scene. Daniel pointed out that the father really needed to get away then, so we reached a compromise for the Ai-Uchi: Tadashi takes a permanent wound, but gets away. Tadashi used a smoke bomb and disappeared. His yojimbo felt dishonored for failing his lord, and knew that Yojiro was still honorable, and asked Yojiro to be his second for seppuku, to which he accepted.

Now truly having no master, Yojiro asked if Shigeru would be his lord, and Shigeru accepted.

Trust:
Matt1 (Shigeru) gave +1 Trust to Kasuke and Yojiro (1, 4), and took away most of his trust from Hiroshi for staying out of the fight and being very suspicious (2).
Matt2 (Kasuke) gave Yojiro +1 for killing his own father and not the party. (2) He added trust to Hiroshi (+1, 2), but took away from Shigeru (after all, he killed his own brother to get at his wife) (0).
Matt3 (Hiroshi) dropped Shigeru's a little(-1, 4), gave Yojiro a boost for siding with the company (+1, 4), and raised Kasuke's after their heart to heart (2).
Daniel (Yojiro) Kept Hiroshi and Kasuke constant (2, 1), and increased his trust in his new lord (+1, 5).

All in all, a very good session. (The last scene could have been handled a little better.) We got a lot more dilligent about stake-setting, everyone seemed to have a blast, and I've got some fiendish ideas for the conclusion.

Question for discussion:  how do these chapter requirements stack up (including any comparisons to those of the first chapter?) 

[Willow]

That's the wrong link for the first session report.

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=19118.0