Packing the Chaos! [D1, EA, Event link]

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

Kyosei had finished his quite good meal, and headed to the place where the expedition was being planned to sort everything and gather.

What he expected was a few people gathered, acting in harmony, and doing what was needed. What he found was straight out chaos!

He looked around, disturbed by the yells, the arguments, the people who were negating the work done by others.

[Jin]

Jin had spent the majority of his life traveling alone and with minimal supplies. In the last few years he had learned to to travel with, and account for, a small band of students at a time. That, however, was still far from what it takes to understand the needs of an army nor, despite his station, did he have the commanding presence needed to bring chaos to the disorder in the courtyard.

What he could still do, at least, was find the quartermaster and provide what he could. A subtle cut to the stump of his right hand allowed a few droplets of blood to hit the earth as he focused his senses out to the spirits of the river nearby. Slowly, then gaining speed, a bubble of water emerged from the earth where his blood soaked in and, with a pop, revealed a small pile of fish to be dried and added to the stores.

His contribution, as meager as it may be, completed the sorcerer looked over the chaos of the courtyard before spotting a familiar face and he made his way over.

"Kyosei! Nice to see you again."

(OOC: 1 point towards Packing for the Expedition, 2 wounds taken)

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

Kyosei hears his name, and looks over. "Ah! Jin! Good to see you." He looks at the pile of rice, and the slightly bleeding cut, and smiles.

"Still trying to figure out how you do that. None of us have figured it out yet. Even our great leader, the Isawa, hasn't been able to."

He pulls out a small, black, shiny knife. "Have I shown this to you, yet?"

[Jin]

Jin returns the smiles "The spirits showed me the way once, when I was nearly starved in a winter storm. If even he still has not been able to get it perhaps the secret to mastering it then lies in not just the desire but the need. Something to ponder and bring back to him I suppose."

At the appearance of the knife he scrutinizes it for a long moment before shaking his head, "I think this is the first. It is stone but seems most sharp despite that. Is it something you crafted or that you summoned?"

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

"Crafted. Took time to figure out how to do it, but this is the first good one I made. It's the black stone I first found at Seppun Hill. Found a few pieces since, though nothing like the amount there. Sharp, as you noted, but strangely, it doesn't hurt for a bit after I use it. So sharp pain doesn't find you for a bit, I guess." He held it flat on his hands, extended to the other.

[Jin]

Jin gingerly picks up the blade, avoiding the edges as best he can, to inspect it further - holding it up to the sun, "Very sharp indeed! That is most impressive and such a strange property to cut without immediate pain. I've seen stone weapons before, spears and arrowheads and the like, but I can definitely say none of this nature or this well honed." The daimyo, again with utmost care, attempts to return it to Kyosei without cutting either of them, "Truly spectacular work. I think, as a healer, I'm glad the stone is rare."

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

Kyosei accepts it. "Hmm. Wouldn't it be useful, though? Cutting regular arrowheads out of the body, that sort of thing?"

[Jin]

"In the right hands definitely. I'm just more concerned if all the arrows had heads like this. So rarity has some benefits."

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

"Ah. I see what you mean. I have a few stones that might be usable that way, but haven't made them. All the ones I made are back in Isawa lands."

[Jin]

Another smile, "Well I have faith in you not to misuse them. War did not ever strike me as to your interest. I am just glad they are likely not widely available to others who might abuse them."

[Seppun Takako]

"Minna-san, please, stop fighting! Jo-san, please, we have enough space for spare cloaks, but not that many! Ichiro-san, put the wicker basket down. No, do NOT throw it away." She put on her stern mother-figure scowl, and it seemed it worked. "Good! Now, both of you, go process the boar Icaught this morning. It'll last us for a short while."

She let out a breath after she managed to calm things down.

[Noriaki no Yamadono]

EA1 - Packing the Chaos! - Organizing the Effort (Willpower 4, Intimidate 2, +1k1 VP, 2 Raises, TN30): 7d10o10k5 36

"You call that well stocked!? I've led raids against smaller villages that had better stocked wares than this trash! Start again!" The Large man barked as he inspected a shoddily packed supply, leaning down to a smaller Seidou as he growled in his face. Behind him, Matsu, leered in disgust at her father, and the ill equipped supplies.

"Listen up! We're going to rescue a Kami! And if you think this half assed approach is going to work, then just throw yourself on a spear now and save us all the trouble! Get serious, and get yourselves together! Or I'll get you togrther myself, understand!"

[Nozomi]

"You call that well stocked!? I've led raids against smaller villages that had better stocked wares than this trash! Start again!" The Large man barked as he inspected a shoddily packed supply, leaning down to a smaller Seidou as he growled in his face. Behind him, Matsu, leered in disgust at her father, and the ill equipped supplies.

"Listen up! We're going to rescue a Kami! And if you think this half assed approach is going to work, then just throw yourself on a spear now and save us all the trouble! Get serious, and get yourselves together! Or I'll get you togrther myself, understand!"

It was the sound of the last of the Noriaki barking like a rabid hound that caught her attention. Phi was more than a little amused by the sight of it. Nothing about the man's ramblings sounded even remotely wrong. Whatever they were on about, it wasn't going to be so easy as a jaunt out and into the woods to come back with a snatch of rabbits. They were supposed to be fighting to rescue a god, so... of course one needed to take the matter seriously.

But, when she approached one of them to try and serve as the carrot to his stick, those eyes just made the workers that she approached widen in fractional fear before breaking eye contact, any words she tried to say lost on them. They busied themselves off to do what he told them rather than make eye contact with her. "Tch," she growled. "Typical." Turning towards Yamadono and his daughter, she approached. If they weren't going to bloody well listen to her, she could make herself useful. "Phi. Hikaru. Where do you need me?"

(-1 VP, 0 Points netted. And since we're at it.... Don't bother asking her about commerce. she'll help load shit. Haha.)

[Noriaki no Yamadono]

It was the sound of the last of the Noriaki barking like a rabid hound that caught her attention. Phi was more than a little amused by the sight of it. Nothing about the man's ramblings sounded even remotely wrong. Whatever they were on about, it wasn't going to be so easy as a jaunt out and into the woods to come back with a snatch of rabbits. They were supposed to be fighting to rescue a god, so... of course one needed to take the matter seriously.

But, when she approached one of them to try and serve as the carrot to his stick, those eyes just made the workers that she approached widen in fractional fear before breaking eye contact, any words she tried to say lost on them. They busied themselves off to do what he told them rather than make eye contact with her. "Tch," she growled. "Typical." Turning towards Yamadono and his daughter, she approached. If they weren't going to bloody well listen to her, she could make herself useful. "Phi. Hikaru. Where do you need me?"

(-1 VP, 0 Points netted. And since we're at it.... Don't bother asking her about commerce. she'll help load shit. Haha.)

"Yamadono. The Last of the Noriaki. This one." He indicated to the taller than average young girl, who seemed to easily heft a sack of something in one arm, and brushed past her father, shooting him a look before she went about helping the others he berated. "Is Matsu. The apple of my eye." There was warmth and pride in his voice he regarded his daughter, before looking to Phi.

"Any where, really. These Seidou mean well, but there isn't a sense of urgency." He looked to a group that were milling about. "Knees to chest, or I'll snap you in half! Daylight is dying around us!" He chuckled quietly, regarding the masked woman.

[Nozomi]

"Yamadono. The Last of the Noriaki. This one." He indicated to the taller than average young girl, who seemed to easily heft a sack of something in one arm, and brushed past her father, shooting him a look before she went about helping the others he berated. "Is Matsu. The apple of my eye." There was warmth and pride in his voice he regarded his daughter, before looking to Phi.

"Any where, really. These Seidou mean well, but there isn't a sense of urgency." He looked to a group that were milling about. "Knees to chest, or I'll snap you in half! Daylight is dying around us!" He chuckled quietly, regarding the masked woman.

"They're lowlanders," she grunted with a shrug, looking at them with a gaze that might have been sympathetic, really. "I'm not surprised. It's been peaceful in the lowlands for a while. Hard to feel the urgency when you have food growing on hand." She started to heft a sack, following his order with an immediacy that spoke to someone much more accustomed to taking orders and operating alone than they were to issuing them herself. She wasn't good with people.

She looked over at Matsu for a moment, red eyes staring through the young girl from over the veil and nodding briefly. She was young, but she didn't look any younger than Phi had been in her first hunting trips, and her foraging when they'd reached that blighted swamp. "Good to meet you both." It was said as an afterthought, not rudely, but more like she wasn't used to saying it. She hadn't seen a new person in months before coming down out of the mountains. "Hadn't heard there still were Noriaki. Someone said they hitched up with one of the shining ones."

[Noriaki no Yamadono]

"They're lowlanders," she grunted with a shrug, looking at them with a gaze that might have been sympathetic, really. "I'm not surprised. It's been peaceful in the lowlands for a while. Hard to feel the urgency when you have food growing on hand." She started to heft a sack, following his order with an immediacy that spoke to someone much more accustomed to taking orders and operating alone than they were to issuing them herself. She wasn't good with people.

She looked over at Matsu for a moment, red eyes staring through the young girl from over the veil and nodding briefly. She was young, but she didn't look any younger than Phi had been in her first hunting trips, and her foraging when they'd reached that blighted swamp. "Good to meet you both." It was said as an afterthought, not rudely, but more like she wasn't used to saying it. She hadn't seen a new person in months before coming down out of the mountains. "Hadn't heard there still were Noriaki. Someone said they hitched up with one of the shining ones."

"I am the last." He looked back to Matsu, who, despite her own inner rage and demeanor, was aiding a few others with loading the gear in an efficient manner, displaying even Compassion. "Because I want to be. The World has changed, and I am a remnant of that old one. My daughter... was born to be a part of this new one. She has taken to them very well. I... have not." He chuckled, hoisting a large bundle of materials over one shoulder, the strength of Bishamon being highlighted.

"Most of my former kin went with Akodo. A good fit, from my measure of the kami."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

Ayumu was more a doer than someone asking other people to do things. But he was technically invested by imperial authority, and he was someone who took everything he had to do (whatever that meant) very seriously.

"No, no need for a third coat, thanks you. I can assure you the Emperor would already be overjoyed by how nicely the chariot is painted at the moment if he was there. Maybe you could help with the waterproofness of that other wagon instead? You there, could you store the meat and the vegetables in different containers? We have people with very specific diet, and it will save a lot of time to people doing the cooking. I don't think you need to guard this pile. There is nothing precious there, and I or one of my colleagues will deal with thieves if it comes to that. Could you help with the heavy lifting instead?"

Though he did his best to make it feel like the situation was under control, he wasn't so sure about that internally. Lots of strange people roaming around indeed.

(+1 Provision Point)

[Reo]

So, goods were needed. I guess it was too much to ask for them to, oh, I don't know, but out the word before we came here so we weren't scrambling over everything. Maybe that's part of the test.

Reo doesn't approach any of the vendors right away. He instead wanders and listens, hearing bartering take place around him. Finally, he approches a vendor.

"I'll take that." Reo points to a pile of dried herbs.

"Oh, a practiced eye. That'll be 20 zeni." The shop keeper seems excited by the interest

"No. You charged 15 to the person three customers ago."

The smile on the shopkeeper's face begins to fade."Well, they bartered-"

"Not well enough if they knew that you've stuffed half of it with broken willow leaves. They'll be very upset when they try to make a paste. It'll take me a good chunk to pull them out myself."

The smile is gone now, but Reo has already moved on. "We'll bundle that cost in. Let's see those foodstuffs...and lets make sure it's not spoiled."

Reo does not make friends with the shopkeepers, but at the end of the trip he's managed to acquire the essentials.

Commerce, TN 20, VP spent: 5d10o10k4 24
(+1 Provision point)

[Nozomi]

"I am the last." He looked back to Matsu, who, despite her own inner rage and demeanor, was aiding a few others with loading the gear in an efficient manner, displaying even Compassion. "Because I want to be. The World has changed, and I am a remnant of that old one. My daughter... was born to be a part of this new one. She has taken to them very well. I... have not." He chuckled, hoisting a large bundle of materials over one shoulder, the strength of Bishamon being highlighted.

"Most of my former kin went with Akodo. A good fit, from my measure of the kami."

She nodded and looked after the girl. "The old ways will not last for long. In time, there will be no Hikaru, no Noriaki. We are being swept away with the chaff of the grain in the wind," she growled out. It was hard to say if it was a bitter thing, or a resigned one. Her hands hefted one of the heavier loads with the ease of someone used to physical labor. "My kin never had too much kind with yours in the old days, but it's good to see one still remembers the past while it is among us. The shining ones will claim us all one day."

She frowned and shook her head. "Forgive me. I do not know these colors well. Which one has claimed you. It is not this... Akodo by what you say."

[Noriaki no Yamadono]

She nodded and looked after the girl. "The old ways will not last for long. In time, there will be no Hikaru, no Noriaki. We are being swept away with the chaff of the grain in the wind," she growled out. It was hard to say if it was a bitter thing, or a resigned one. Her hands hefted one of the heavier loads with the ease of someone used to physical labor. "My kin never had too much kind with yours in the old days, but it's good to see one still remembers the past while it is among us. The shining ones will claim us all one day."

She frowned and shook her head. "Forgive me. I do not know these colors well. Which one has claimed you. It is not this... Akodo by what you say."

"I am one of the followers of Fu Leng. The one we are going to rescue. Likely... my last lesson to my daughter." His knuckled tightened around the sack as he held it, walking with Phi. "Family must never be abandoned. All must be spent in loyalty to not leave them behind. In the end, all we will have is the name, and those that bear it. Family never gets left behind, or forgotten. These kami almost forgot him. We will show them that was an error."

He smiled. "They call us Spider. An apt name, especially for young Matsu."