Session 9. (30/12/05)

After a year-long absence from our screens (caused by work commitments of various of the cast), The Stone series 4 returns where it left off - in the middle of a fight! The five Troubleshooters have broken into the compound of a mansion housing a large yakuza gang, fought their way to the house and have entered the room in the southwest corner and slaughtered the occupants. Now they are considering their next move.

Kimori's next move is to go back out into the corridor that runs round the inner courtyard. He had already checked the (empty) rooms on the south side, causing him to miss the last fight. So now he goes up the west side and into the first room. Mariko follows, heading for the second room, with Sugiyama right behind her. Meanwhile Komako, about to follow the others, hears footsteps coming down the stairs into the room where he and Emiko still stand. They wait for the arrival of the yakuza. Kimori has found a L4 yakuza in the first west room while another L4 yakuza has emerged from the second west room and found Mariko. Sugiyama, unable to reach a foe but hearing the footsteps on the stairs, charges back to help Komako and Emiko. Sugiyama lands a blow on one of the two armed villains that have come down the stairs. The other villain gives Komako a light wound. Komako responds with a resounding punch. Emiko hits the first villain with her staff. The villain responds by hitting Komako, but only slightly. Sugiyama's opponent misses him (and continues to miss), so Sugiyama hits him again. Komako misses the other one. Out in the corridor Mariko scores a critical hit on the L4 and having used Emiko's blessing to boost her Armour Class to 17 is in little danger of being hit herself. However, it doesn't make her immune to critical failures as she then finds out, but this error causes her no bother. Kimori meanwhile takes just two swings of his big chopper to defeat the L4 yakuza, then, with one route blocked by Mariko's fight, heads off to explore the corridor on the eastern side of the house. He finds the corridor and adjoining rooms empty and heads towards the north-east corner of the house, unaware that high above him in the tower the guard captain has heard the noise and has sent two guards down to investigate. He is also signalling frantically to the staff house but no-one is looking. In the other corner of the house Sugiyama lands two hefty blows, sees his opponent unfazed, and starts to realise these aren't ordinary yakuza they are fighting. Komako lands two big punches with similar lack of effect, and Emiko swings her staff, loses her grip and watches it sail through the air and land on the far side of her opponent. She wishes she was allowed to curse. Up the corridor, Mariko gets a hit then lands a critical, sending the yakuza's inert body flying down the corridor, through a door and into a room. Mariko follows the body but the room is empty of live people. Just then a yakuza bursts out of an adjoining room, alerted by the unusual occurrence of a body sliding past the door, and attacks Mariko. However, he misses and Mariko turns and cuts him down with another critical hit. Across the house, in a room between the entrance hall and the base of the tower, Kimori is surprised by two guards hurtling down the stairs, but not as surprised as they are as one trips and is stunned by the woodwork and the other is cut in half by a critical sweep of the Big Chopper. Three more sweeps and the stunned yakuza's headache is separated from his stomach ache by more than the usual distance. Elsewhere in the house Sugiyama and Komako trade blows with their tough opponents; both sides are landing about half their attacks, but fortunately the Troubleshooters are doing more damage. Emiko receives a nasty wound and retreats, healing Komako on the way then herself. Eventually their persistence pays off and Sugiyama's opponent goes down, then he and Komako finish off the other one. Up near the front of the house Mariko is surprised by yet another yakuza attacking her from behind while she checks an empty room, actually receiving some damage. Mariko turns and slashes his arm, disabling it, then lands two more hits to disable the rest of him.

In their various locations in the house the Troubleshooters pause for breath. Sugiyama examines the bodies and realises that these are bushi, not yakuza. The stories he had heard about the Sharks being taken over by outsiders were right, but the reality surprises even him. The three head up the stairs cautiously. Kimori heads up the stairs of the tower with much less caution. Mariko completes her search of the north-west rooms then heads across the entrance hall into the north-east rooms, about a minute behind Kimori. Up in the tower, the guard captain is still signalling to the other buildings but the guards must be blind. Eventually someone spots the signal in the staff house and a detachment is sent immediately. Will Kimori or Mariko spot them?

Kimori emerges into the tower room and is set upon by the last guard (a L1 yakuza) and the captain (L3); however the L1 doesn't even get to swing before being cut down by the big chopper, and the captain can't lay a blade on him. Kimori decides it is time for some flashy swordplay, but even with this handicap a hit followed by a critical end the fight very quickly. Kimori looks out of the windows but fails to see the guards crossing the courtyard. Mariko notices them though, when one swings a club at her as she searches the room next to the entrance. Mariko uses her trademark turn-and-hit manoeuvre, then sees that there are already four yakuza in the room with more following and misses her next attack. Then she pulls herself together, lands a critical and finishes the first opponent. Upstairs, Kimori notices the last two yakuza as they enter the building and decides to surprise them by climbing out of the window, along the roof and droping down into the doorway behind them. Kimori himself is surprised when he follows them into the room and finds not two but five yakuza, already fighting with Mariko. Meanwhile, in the upstairs rooms at the back of the house, Sugiyama, Komako and Emiko have run into two more L5 bushi. Komako floors the first with a punch, stunning him. Emiko lays into him with her staff, punctuated by Komako's fists - not a single blow misses. Sugiyama takes the other and they both land three hits on the other before missing. Sugiyama is down 11 points but has dished out 25! Then Sugiyama lands three blows without being hit, the last being just after Komako has joined the fight following his and Emiko's last swipes to knock the other bushi out cold. At this point Emiko realises that this part of the house must be the old ji-zamurai's private apartments, and this is where the big boss will be. She sits on the floor and chants, looking for hidden things, while Sugiyama and Komako sidle down the corridor in search of the boss. At the door they stop to listen. Sugiyama's acute hearing reveals that there is someone listening on the other side of the door, trying to be quiet. Sugiyama decides on a Silent Kill method that is not silent but involves bursting through the door and surprising the hidden listener. He does so and knocks the man back, stunning him. Komako immediately recognises Nishina, the newcomer who wants to replace Lord Chozo. Komako flies at him ...and misses. Then both he and Sugiyama land good blows on the stunned pretender. Before he can recover, Sugiyama lands another blow, Komako lands a critical punch, and Sugiyama finishes the job. Emiko appears, having found nothing hidden, and the three Troubleshooters gather the bodies and tie up any still alive to return them to Lord Chozo's justice.

Over in the entranceway, Mariko is being pressed on all sides by five yakuza, though with an effective armour class of 17 she is more likely to succumb to exhaustion than offensive action. She sets about her next opponent and gets three good hits to fell him. She receives relief when three of the yakuza turn round as one of them sprouts an arrow in his back - Kimori has arrived with Mr Bendy. Kimori switches to Big Chopper and sets about the nearest yakuza. The other two facing him have critical misses and one dazes himself. Kimori finishes the first with three hits of 12 points, then quickly dispatches the second who was already badly wounded by the arrow. Mariko gets a hit, a critical causing stun, and two more hits to down her last foe, then she helps Kimori, supplying the last hit on the last yakuza when Kimori missed (following two hits). At this point the other Troubleshooters arrive and they discuss their next move while Emiko heals their wounds.

Sugiyama's next move is to sneak across the courtyard to the door at the east end of the gatehouse. The others dash across the open space, dimly lit by stone lanterns. Emiko isn't as quiet as the others and is spotted by a guard upstairs in the west end of the gatehouse, though she doesn't know this yet. She and Komako enter the stables, at the west end of the gatehouse. Kimori follows Sugiyama (of whom he has lost sight); Mariko heads straight for the main gates. She finds the area between the inner and outer gates empty, but there is a door on each side of this space. She goes to open one. Kimori finds Sugiyama inside the eastern gate house in a corridor with a door and some stairs. Sugiyama goes to creep up the stairs while Kimori goes through the door. Komako and Emiko find the stables empty of horses but full of yakuza. The crush forces them back out of the doors and in the dim light they find themselves facing more than a dozen yakuza. Komako invokes his blessing for speed and Emiko just prays. Fortunately the yakuza are only rabble - or worse. Komako and Emiko's first strikes both lay out their rabble opponents, and Komako's next punch staggers another yakuza. With the third action of his turn he renders him unconscious. In the gateway, Mariko opens a door and has to duck to avoid a sword coming the other way as a rabble yakuza attacks. She can see another yakuza behind him, but she can't see that behind her two more yakuza have come out of the other door and are about to attack her. Fortunately the nearer one critically fails and she has time to raise her guard. She gets in two good hits on the first yakuza, but he still stands and the four-to-one odds don't look good. Further along the gatehouse, Sugiyama has sneaked to the top of the stairs to find four yakuza distracted by noises from below - Kimori has found two L2 yakuza in the first room and dices the first with two swings of the big chopper, suffering only mild bruising from the yakuza's club as it contacts his head. Upstairs Sugiyama uses the distraction to sneak in for a Silent Kill and kills the most senior guard (a L2) in one blow. Then he sets to work on another L2. Outside the stables Komako and Emiko are swatting their way through the novice yakuza like a Jackie Chan cartoon. Two of the first wave manage to hit Komako but he is flooring one per punch and Emiko one per swing of her staff, so after two rounds there are seven more lying prone. Mariko scores another hit and finishes the first of her four opponents, then stabs a second, who turns out to be just rabble yakuza and dies on the spot. She turns to her third and he is another rabble and soon lying lifeless so she starts on her last foe (a L1) and stabs him. Kimori swings the big chopper three times and leaves the other L2 in four parts, himself without a scratch. Then he investigates a door leading to another room. Upstairs Sugiyama gets two good hits to polish off the L2 then after being clubbed on the head he scores triple damage against a L1 yakuza and spatters the walls with blood. In the courtyard Komako and Emiko render three more yakuza unconscious and Komako finishes the last in style with a critical blow to the eye. They proceed to search the stables. Mariko meanwhile has little trouble finishing the last of her opponents and unbars the gate so that reinforcements can come in, if needed. Kimori finds a L3 yakuza in the last eastern room and goes for flashy swordplay again. Two near-maximum blows of 13 secure him 4 budo and 9 On. Sugiyama hits his last foe then watches as the yakuza stuns himself making his attack, leaving him open to Sugiyama's last, killing blow.

In the stables Komako and Emiko find two yakuza extras, but the only reason the fight lasts four action phases is the difference in Komako's and Emiko's reaction times. They head up some stairs to see what else they can find. At the other end of the gatehouse, Kimori decides not to follow Sugiyama up the stairs and heads out and over towards the staff house in search of a challenge. As he is spotted by the guards in the staff house they pour down the stairs - 12 yakuza in all - to give him what he wants. Sugiyama creeps along to the room over the gate to find five rabble yakuza looking through murder-holes in the floor (at Mariko in fact) and preparing to drop rocks through them. Sugiyama charges in and slices the first in half, including the rock he was holding! On the upswing he cuts down another. Two of the remaining three score hits on Sugiyama but this only makes him mad. In three more swings the three yakuza lie on the floor, their blood dripping through the holes. Down below, Mariko saunters back out into the courtyard, unaware of the drama above her head. She heads for the staff house. In the room above the stables Komako and Emiko meet a L1 yakuza who has come down from a higher floor; simultaneously Sugiyama has been surprised by a rabble yakuza coming down another stairway and hitting him with a kiseru. Komako punches the L1 twice, Emiko hits him with her stick and Komako knocks him out. Two rooms away Sugiyama slices up the yakuza in one go then sneaks up the stairs his late foe came down. Emiko and Komako rush up the stairs their yakuza came down. They emerge into the same room high above the gates to be challenged by the L3 captain of the yakuza guard armed with a bo staff. Komako gets the first blow in, a punch to the head, while Sugiyama glides up behind the yakuza and applies the Silent Kill, finishing the yakuza. With the gatehouse cleared, the three Troubleshooters head back to see where the action is.

Kimori has entered the nearest door of the staff house. In front of him are some stairs leading up and to his right is a large room. The stairs and the room are full of yakuza all looking at him with weapons drawn. Kimori knows no fear and charges in to attack the more senior yakuza. He hits a L1 for 14 damage but of the six yakuza in reach, three manage to hit him back. Kimori misses his second attack, but fortunately the only two yakuza with two attacks both miss. Kimori scores another hit and makes his first kill of this particular fight. At this point Mariko slips in the side door to the staff house, which comes into the back of this room, under the stairs, and starts picking off the rabble yakuza from the back. She takes out two in two attacks. Kimori adds a third rabble on his second attack, suffering just one more hit himself. Kimori now turns his attention to the two L2 yakuza and with major hits of 14 and 13 downs the first of them. Mariko takes out another rabble yakuza then drops her tanto. She switches to another tanto. At this point Sugiyama, Komako and Emiko enter the staff house on the first floor, coming across a parapet from the gatehouse, and attack the yakuza on the stairs. Sugiyama and Emiko combine to take out a L2 yakuza and Komako scores a critical hit, sending a L1 flying down the stairs to unconsciousness. Komako and Emiko head down the stairs into the thick of the action while Sugiyama crosses the huge dormitory room to some stairs at the far end. Down below Kimori starts work on the second L2 and after a good hit scores a huge 45-point critical, sending the yakuza flying across the room stunned, unconscious, dead, and in several pieces. Mariko is less effective, forced to use her lower-quality tanto, and takes two hits to kill a rabble yakuza. Kimori takes two goes for his next kill, but the L1 yakuza was much tougher than Mariko's late foe. Komako arrives and knocks down another L1 with two punches. Mariko scores a puny hit on the last L1 and then breaks her reserve tanto, but Emiko comes to her aid and hits the L1 over the head with her fire-enhanced bo staff. Up on the top floor Sugiyama finds the tower room already empty and has to head back down. Kimori, Komako and Emiko gang up on the last yakuza to protect the weapon-less Mariko and each score a hit to finish it. Sugiyama reaches the ground floor and is disappointed to find all the rooms empty and the big fight over. The Troubleshooters search the rest of the grounds of the estate but find only two yakuza in the bathhouse, who give themselves up without a fight. The operation concluded, they return to the castle and give their report to Lord Chozo.

In the following weeks, the Troubleshooters are excused major duties and allowed to recuperate and train. Mariko travels back to Awaji province and her husband and son. Kimori returns to his wife and school and trains in his Fast Bow okuden. Emiko improves her knowledge of karma and gnana yogas and practises rhetoric. Komako works on his bajutsu and ha-jo-jutsu. Sugiyama also works on bajutsu, followed by Precision Strike and taisabaki. But the peaceful study cannot last forever; it's only seven weeks before Lord Chozo has their next major assignment.

It is week 8 in the Year of the Dragon. Peace has returned to Matsuyama and the Troubleshooters have had only light duties - keeping the peace, teaching, training and so on. But trouble starts as it often does with a meeting with their master. Lord Chozo announces that he intends to appeal to the Emperor to recognise him as Daimyo of Iyo province. His previous attempt to appeal to the Shogun has failed. He explains further that his emissary has been missing for months; but by chance one of his scribes recognised him in the local news sheet - the severed head found in Himeji harbour. Discreet inquiries indicate that the negociator had a meeting with the Shogun and was on the ferry back to matsuyama, but then was killed by an assassin and dumped into the sea - on the Shogun's orders. Lord Chozo sees this as a very clear answer.

In order to appease the Emperor, Lord Chozo plans to collect and send a legendary set of seven Buddha statues. Each is a magical artifact in its own right, but when put together they become very powerful. The statues were given to the Head Priests of seven of Shikoku's 88 temples by Lord Chozo's grandfather, Chosokabe Motochika. Chosokabe was daimyo of Tosa province but became annoyed with the Buddhist temples and burned many of them down. Lord Chozo instructs the Troubleshooters to pursuade the Head Priests to return their buddhas to him, aided by bribes of money, objects or favours if necessary. Only when all seven statues are put together do they reveal their combined power - to give the holder complete control over another person. Lord Chozo wants to give this to the Emperor so that he can regain control of Nippon from the Shogun, and, counting on his gratitude, give him the power and motivation to finally realise Lord Chozo's dream of becoming daimyo.

After Lord Chozo's explanation, the four Troubleshooters get together to discuss what to do. They decide to make the task into a minor pilgrimage by visiting all 88 temples, as Kimori had done some years earlier. They send a message to Mariko telling her to meet them in Tokushima, the nearest place on the tour to her home. Then they set off, starting in Matsuyama and briefly visiting each of the temples, travelling clockwise around Shikoku on horseback.

Several days later the four travellers reach the first of the statue temples, number 61 "Incense Garden Temple" on the northern coast road. As they enter the temple building Sugiyama comments, "It's all right, but it smells a bit." Thinking on this a bit more, Sugiyama works out that it is the smell of the burned, dried petals of a certain flower - one that gives off a narcotic incense. "Odd," muses Sugiyama. Already Kimori is feeling a bit woozy, though the others seem unaffected. They press on and meet with the head priest. He receives them warmly and is interested to hear of Kimori's previous visit. Kimori asks to see the Buddha statue and the head priest agrees. The statue is a carved bamboo figure of the sleeping Buddha. Emiko and Komako make offerings to it, and while Komako meditates, Emiko broaches the delicate subject of acquiring the statue. The head priest is not offended but asks why they feel they need the statue more than the temple does. Emiko launches into an impassioned speech about the wrongs of the past daimyos and the fall from power of their divine emperor. The priest is moved and agrees that the party should take the statue with them. Emiko makes a donation of 1 gold piece to the temple from the petty cash and everyone gains 20 On.

Emiko is curious to find out what powers the statue has and uses a gnana yoga trance to investigate. At first she fails, revealing only that it has something to do with sleeping. This reminds Sugiyama of the narcotic incense and he theorises that this is a theme of the temple and perhaps part of a subtle defense. Emiko tries the trance again and this time discovers that if the statue is rocked back and forth it will make a subject feel hopeless, weak, lethargic and eventually fall into a deep, prolonged sleep.

Several days later the four reach the next statue temple, number 71 "Eight Valley Temple" on a hill overlooking the four provinces of Shikoku and four on Honshu. Before they go in, Emiko enters a karma yoga trance and sees eight hours into the future; meanwhile, Komako uses divination to inquire about their best strategy. A critical success tells him that they will be successful if they can exchange the statue for something that performs an equivalent function. Now they need to know what that function is.

The party enters the temple and goes to see the high priest. After the ease of the first task they assume their prayers and rhetoric will do the trick, but the head priest is not at all impressed. He is distinctly hostile. However, Komako ploughs on and explains that they just want to exchange the Buddha for a comparable item. The priest calms down but says that they won't have anything that can match the buddha's powers - the ability to heal critical injuries. Somewhat reluctantly, Komako takes from his pack the magical Buddha statue he found in the sumotori training school and explains that it has exactly those powers. Emiko chimes in with some good rhetoric and the priest is won over. The exchange is made and the Troubleshooters move on, after the customary offerings and prayers.

Once on the road again, Emiko examines the statue through the power of her trance. The statue is very small and made of gold. It seems to have two powers - the one the priest mentioned is to heal critical damage by pressing it to the affected part. The statue has seven charges, but can be recharged by someone with pure mind and body chanting the Lotus sutra over it for 24 hours. The other power is invoked by squeezing it and causes a subject to feel passionate, persuasive and also secure and confident. The party rides on, rich with an extra 20 On, except Komako who, for the sacrifice of his own Buddha statue, gains 40 On, not that this stops him grumbling about it for the next 20 miles!

< Previous  |  Home  |  Bushido  |  The Stone 4  |  Next >