Akodo Hetotsu's journal entry 1 The Emerald Champion had decided to send us to Naga View village to help deal with the problem of a bandit lord named Noru. Naga View is a small village primarily based around the caravans and a watch point for the Unicorn's Naga guardians. That said it was right on the edge of the Shinomen and thus the surroundings were heavily wooded. This Noru had plenty of places to hide. Kitsune Mitai has offered to go do some reconesience of the area. I gave him permission as it is best to let Mitai deal with the forest as he is a skilled woodsman. If he can hunt the bandits half as well as I've seen him hunt deer, we shouldn't be here more than a few days. None the less I do have a certain dislike of the way he goes about things, far too shifty for my likings, and Maehime somehow manages to manipulate him dispite his thinly vieled animosity towards her. I have aquired several maps of the local area from the mapmaker in the village. After much consideration I have decided that we should make preparations to follow whatever route Mitai finds while appearing to be leaving to shadow the supply caravan to the nearby Naga city. I do not trust the local peasants, they seem too... undisturbed by this whole bandit problem, I believe there maybe some bandits amongst them. Soshi Maehime's Journal entry 1 This village is dreadful. It's dank, wet, and has worse accomidations than the Carpenter wall. Hetotsu has jumped in head first into planning a way to deal with the bandits. Kidu has become paranoid because some peasant told him that Noru takes women prisoner and uses them for unmentionable things. Can you imagine, Kidu actually said that, though I'm sure the peasant was much more blunt. Oh, its cute sometimes how easy it is to manipulate him. Mitai vanished off somewhere under Hetotsu's orders, though I will be the first one he reports to. I'm certain that he does not wish me to release some papers that I have in my possession. Roku has headed to the Naga city to check the supply route (as part of a ruse I have suggested to distract the bandits) and he most likely will spend a day or so looking at the architechture. Oh well, a Kaiu will be a Kaiu. Kitsune Mitai's Journal entry 1 I'm going to kill that Soshi one of these days. She threatens to reveal some false information about me, all because she wants to know before the Akodo. I'm going to kill her. In other news, I've found the specific location of the bandit camp... and the local rabbits taste bad. I hate the Shinomen. Kaiu Roku's journal entry 1 I have arrived in Naga view village, within three hours I had set upon a trip to the nearby Naga city. Of course I will be inspecting the route to the Naga city for possible raiding points and the like. The Naga city is amazing! The Moto wouldn't let me just walk around anywhere but from what I was allowed to see it was amazing. How such a race could have fallen is beyond my reckoning. Shiba Kidu's journal entry 1 Some peasant told me that this bandit lord Noru is a horrible man who's depravity has no end. Although the way the peasant was talking about it I wonder if perhaps he himself was the depraved one? Either way I fear what would happen if Maehime-dono were to be captured by this Noru! I can not allow this to happen, I'll see to it that she is protected day and night. Hopefully Hetotsu can get ready to deal with these bandits without me. Akodo Hetotsu's journal entry 2 There was some strange chanting as we entered a clearing near the bandit camp, then we were wisked off by magic to some crude cells. Maehime found a way to open the doors (I suppose her Scorpion ways are good for something) and she then distracted the guard while Roku and I pummeled him into unconciousness. From all appearances he is gaijin which begs to ask; Where are we? Our equipment was in a nearby guard room so no real problem caused by this. We came across a curious door on the second floor. It was a solid slab of stone with an indentation of a bird at its center. Mitai and Roku came up with some scheme to open the door using Mitai's magic to trigger the door open. I didn't quite understand what either of them were saying as they explained it, but it did sound impressive. Behind the door was the next stair way. The next floor we met with some resistance by some of the gaijin, however Roku, Kidu and myself happily dealt with them. The Maehime heard noises from behind the far door, fiddled with them door and told us to be ready to run right behind her. The room was filled with smoke when we went through, however I heard someone coughing. We found the next staircase at the farside of this room. Soshi Maehime journal entry 2 That useless Mitai allowed a shugenja to get the drop on us and now we've been transported to some strange gaijin prison! Fortunately, these gaijin are very bad at making locks, I opened the cell door with only a hairpin. Roku and Hetotsu attacked a gaijin guard and we found our confiscated equipment in the guard's room. We went up a flight of stairs and found a bizarre door, Roku and Mitai used magic to open it, though both of them tried to make it sound like a great deal more. Another flight of stairs laid out behind the door. The bushi killed off a batch of gaijin who attempted to detain us while I checked out the doors in the floor. I found the door with the most guards behind it and presumed that the stairs were behind it. I quickly picked the lock and got the bushi to follow after me, once I threw a few nageteppo into the room to disable the guards. Oh, and my presumption was correct, of course. Kitsune Mitai journal entry 2 Don't know what sort of magic it was that sent us to this stupid prison, but I don't like it. Fortunatly, Roku poped the door open in the time it took me to realize we were in a cell. The guards we are encountering seem to imply that we are the prisoners of Gaijin. We found a door that has a pressure plate shaped like a bird statue. Roku's problem; we didn't have the statue. My solution, make something of the same shape with some Earth elemental magic. The Soshi found us a way up to the next floor while we were fighting the guards. Kaiu Roku journal entry 2 Mitai has been explaining to me that we were transported here by some sort of gaijin spell, which explains all the gaijin we've been fighting. We found an interesting falling block door. A statue (I presume) fits into a slot and activates the presure plate which opens the door. Mitai was kind enough to use his magic to caox some earth kami into the form of the statue briefly. I do love working with shugenja, they everything so much easier. The Scorpion found a way up past some guards while we fought off a group of six of them. Shiba Kidu's journal entry 2 That useless Fox! He failed to stop a spell from sending us to this strange prison! If it were not for Maehime-sama we would still be trapped.