[LP] The Way of the Tiger. (Complete)

[SGamerz]

Stand with Kwon, not Kwon's monks.

[angelfromanotherpin]

Okay, I don't think we're getting any more votes, which is unfortunate, as you'll see.

So the book recognizes four answers and I'm going to have to interpret the various responses into them:
1. Stick with your brothers. Nobody chose this.
2. Stand with 'what is right,' against your brothers. I think this is Mr. Shine's intended position, as well as Silent Wayfarer's.
3. Keep to Kwon. This is Rabbitt's answer and SGamerz.
4. Stay out of it. This is as close as I can parse Omegonthesane's answer.

So we have five votes and a tie, which is unfortunate both because I'm going to have to break the tie with a coin-flip and because it's a tie between the right answer and a wrong one so it's actually meaningful. A pitfall of the format, I suppose. Heads, its Kwon; tails, it's 'what is right.'

Coin comes up heads.

'My allegiance is to Kwon,' you state. 'I am wholly in the service of the great Redeemer.'

The Master of the Unseen nods slowly. 'I see, for we are all playthings of the gods. Then I have just one more question. In order to have wisdom, you must have truth. In order to have truth you must have understanding. And to have understanding you must have wisdom. Which, then, is the greatest of the three: wisdom, truth, or understanding?

Think of a way to answer this question. Write down your answer and then proceed.

Hm, two in a row.

[Omegonthesane]

Welp, I was trying to say "Stand with Kwon" and hadn't even considered that that might not be the same answer as "Stand with 'what is right'".

As for the current:

The three are one. Not just because that seems appropriate for the philosophical tone of the question, but because the parameters of the question logically mean that anyone who has any one of Truth, Wisdom, or Understanding must have all three.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Agreed.

[Mr Shine]

Sounds good to me.

[SGamerz]

3. Keep to Kwon. This is Rabbitt's answer and SGamerz.
4. Stay out of it. This is as close as I can parse Omegonthesane's answer.

Actually, my interpretation was that Darth posted something similar to what Omegonthesane was saying (which was why I quoted Darth as what I thought was appropriate), that if the monks of Kwon are on the side of unjust, then Kwon isn't with them, and we should stick with Kwon (on the side of justice) rather than with the monks (and therefore not stand with the monks).

Of course, I can't speak for Darth or Omegon, but that was how I interpreted their posts.

Anyway, to avoid any complications of post interpretation, I'll just say I vote with whatever is majority this time.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Nah, Angel got what I was going for.

[angelfromanotherpin]

The Kwon thing is weird because standing with 'the right thing' is wrong because our own moral judgement is unreliable and only divine guidance is infallible. Except that while Kwon is a reasonably helpful deity, he really doesn't seem to provide any particular moral guidance. We actually know almost nothing about the tenets of his religion except that he sanctions the murder of villains and tyrants.

Anyway, the second question recognizes five responses: each of the three virtues, all of them being equal, and 'other.' This time there's a strong consensus on 'all are equal.'

'You are wise indeed,' the Master says, tapping his bamboo cane against the base of the stone bench. You marvel to see it emerge with a flag on the end of it. The flag itself is white with a gold trim and bears the symbol of a black war fan on it. You stand as he holds it out to you, and you tuck it into your belt. Note on your Character Sheet that you have the Flag of Nasaka.

'You have many tests yet ahead of you to become a Grandmaster,' he says, 'but you have shown a level of enlightenment that may yet prove you to be worthy. Should you undertake the final test at the Temple of the Rock, remember to say both what is right and what is in your heart.'

You bow to the Master of the Unseen, grateful of the wisdom that the Grandmasters have imparted to you throughout your training on the Island of Tranquil Dreams. You take your leave.

You catch what little sleep you can in a public park in Nasaka until daybreak. You breakfast lightly on rice wrapped in lotus leaves, eating only enough to sustain you.

(You have two flags.)

You have what you need to complete the trial. You take your leave of the city and press on towards the mountains to reach Iga in time.

You feel that destiny is on your side in this contest, as you have two flags, and now you turn your thoughts to passing the formidable Mountains of Unlimited Devotion. Still dressed as a simple traveler, you head for the southern road into the mountains, the most direct route to your ultimate goal of Iga. Once it is in sight, you allow yourself another rest, off to the side of the paved road, confident that you would not missany of your fellow competitors as they must come this same way.

You continue on refreshed and may restore up to 4 lost Endurance points. All you have to do now is reach the Grandmaster of the Dawn at Iga within the next three days and you can then enter the final trial to become Grandmaster of the Five Winds.

You watch the distant mountain range ahead loom larger with every step along the paved road, and at last cross a hump-backed wooden bridge over the White Water River, heading towards the crossroads and the road that leads into the Mountains of Unlimited Devotion.

Your gaze is drawn directly ahead where you see a distant dark smudge of a figure running, carrying a smoking torch in the daylight. You stand and wait, ready for anything. The figure draws closer, and you can make out that it is Aiko in her ninja costume but with her face visible, marked with an expression of fear. She sees you some fifty feet away and skids to a halt. Suddenly she pirouettes, turning to face away from you as a droning noise fills the air.

A swarm of giant hornets flies in towards her and she casts a powder over the torch, causing it to billow with dark smoke. Driven back by the puffing torch, the swarm of hornets hovers, forming the flowing shape of a whirlpool. Somewhere amongst the droning noise you can hear cruel laughter, then the sound of a man chanting the eldritch words of magic.

As if hypnotized by the voice, Aiko's movements become abruptly stiff and involuntary. She reaches into her pack and produces something which she stuffs into her mouth. She falls and starts to convulse, her torch landing nearby, all the while the cruel laughter grows louder in the terrible buzzing of the hornets.

Hm, that ain't good.

You race to help Aiko only to discover she has swallowed part of a highly-venomous spiderfish. Aiko looks at you and shudders.

'A mage has set an ambush for us,' she manages, her breath acrid. 'Save who you can.' She trembles violently and then lies still, her dead eyes staring heavenward as if in accusation.

The hornets drone on, making the whirlpool they have formed swirl in the air, and in its center you see a horribly bloodshot disembodied eye watching you.

'My magic has been scrying for you, worshiper of Kwon,' comes an austere voice from somewhere in the swarm, 'and when the time comes for us to enact our plan on the mainland, the best of your order will have already fallen here. Now you will feast on death.' You hear the sound of magical chanting again, and involuntarily you pick up the spiderfish and start to place a piece of it into your mouth, trying to gather all your will to resist the magical influence.

• Are you wearing an Obsidian Bracelet or carrying an Orb of Eo?
• Do you have any Inner Force left? If so, you must call upon your god and your strength to fight the magic. Expend one point.√
If you have neither, you are compelled to put some spiderfish in your mouth and swallow.
• Do you have Immunity to Poisons?
• Or not?

You draw upon the countless hours spent meditating on the Ninja's Covenant, the Ninja No Chigiri, with your foster-father Naijishi. Using all of your mental strength, you throw off the effects of the spell and cast aside the spiderfish.

You pick up Aiko's dropped torch and stand defiantly. The hornets buzz angrily, the blood-red eye at the center of the whirlpool glowering, and then they come for you.

• Hurl the torch at the swarm?
• Run for the nearby White Water River and dive in?
• Launch a Leaping Tiger Kick at the center of the swarm?

Inner Force: 2/3
Endurance: 7/20
Shuriken: 0
Ninja Tools: Ninja Costume.
Special Items: Flag of Lemne, Flag of Nasaka.

[Darth Rabbitt]

I'd throw the torch.

[Mr Shine]

Throw the torch.

[SGamerz]

Out of curiosity, did we actually get the "best" answer for both?

Also launching a kick at the middle of an insect swarm sounds so silly that I get the feeling it might just work.

[angelfromanotherpin]

Out of curiosity, did we actually get the "best" answer for both?

Yes. Anything less than double-best-answer and you don't get the flag.

You throw the burning torch at the red eye, which blinks. The torch simply stops in mid-air before it reaches its target and falls to the ground, repelled by some arcane force. The hornets buzz around you, crawling under your ninja costume and puncturing your flesh with their barbed stings. You take one die of damage to your Endurance from hornet stings.

• Run for the nearby White Water River and dive in?
• Launch a Leaping Tiger kick at the center of the swarm?

Hornet stings did 3 damage.

[Omegonthesane]

Hornets have already got under our ninja costume, and the mage cared enough to stop the torch from reaching them so there is probably something there worth Leaping Tiger kicking.

[Mr Shine]

On the "so silly it might just work" logic of SGamerz, I agree. Leaping tiger kick time.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Kick the swarm.

[SGamerz]

Kick!

[angelfromanotherpin]

You give a shout as you explode into a Leaping Tiger kick straight at the blood-colored eye in the center of the swarm. You pass through the swarm and connect with something. There is a tremendous thunderclap, and the shockwave kills the hornets and hurls you to the ground unconscious. Roll one die and take the result from your Endurance.

If you live, you awaken to Daon pouring a little cold water over you from his hip flask. He helps you get to your feet, and scowls.

'What happened?' You tell him, and he clenches his fists. 'Someone will pay for what has happened to Aiko,' he says quietly, kneeling beside her, head bowed. 'I will make them pay...'

You agree that she will be avenged, feeling a sense of loss that you last felt so keenly when your foster-father Naijishi was taken from you. You help Daon to prepare Aiko for burial. If you are missing any ninja equipment, you may take a replacement from Aiko, as well as adding one shuriken. You also take the venomous spiderfish, which is salted and cured. You may add spiderfish to your Character Sheet, and note if you chose the Poison Needles skill you may now use it.

'The last I saw her she was headed for Nasaka,' Daon comments, looking over your shoulder. 'She has no flags on her; perhaps she discovered about the ambush and rushed ahead to try and prevent it.' You comment that you will never know.

You both hold a short burial ceremony, during which Daon recites the Catechism of the Redeemer. You both agree to wait and see if any other trialists come by, so you can travel on together to help each other against any further ambush.

(You did not attempt to retrieve the flag in Nara.)

That second d6 was only 1 damage, which is very lucky because those two d6 average the 7 End we had left, but we're still hanging on with 3.

You tell Daon of your journey so far, but that you do not know the fate of Chigeru or Gorobei.

'Last time I saw Aiko was when we left Suma,' Daon says. 'There have been two many coincidences on this journey – including an ambush by monks of the Scarlet Mantis who were waiting for followers of Kwon. Someone has orchestrated all these problems against us.' You can only agree, and hope you get a chance to settle the score.

Daon paces restlessly like a caged tiger. He says you should grab some rest from your ordeal with the hornets, and that he will keep watch as you wait for the others. You sit cross-legged and fall into meditation. You feel Kwon's gaze upon you in this crucial trial, uplifting your dejected spirit and easing the weariness of your limbs. You may restore 1 point of Inner Force and restore 2 points of Endurance.

After a while, Daon calls out and you shiver as your spirit re-enters your body, your eyes snapping open. You see another traveler upon the road. It is Gorobei, his tall and muscular frame marking him out even from a distance. Your meeting with him is a sad one; Aiko's death weighs heavily on you all as you tell him of what happened.

'I should have known something was wrong,' Gorobei says, fists flexing in impotent anger. 'I have never known so many difficulties on these roads!'

You wait for a while, hopeful to see the small frame of Chigeru on the horizon, but as the sun creeps across the sky your fears for your missing fellow contestant increase.

'Last we knew he was headed for Nara,' Daon says. 'Maybe we should head back there to look for him?'

Gorobei shakes his head. 'He could be anywhere by now, even ahead of us. We have to keep moving west for Iga.'

You and Daon reluctantly agree that nothing can be done for Chigeru. You take the opportunity to turn your ninja costume inside out so that the white material is now showing, hoping to appear better camouflaged in the snowy peaks ahead. Daon raises an eyebrow at your new attire, but says nothing. Soon all three of you set off west towards the Mountains of Unlimited Devotion, leaving Aiko's grave behind you.

Any guesses on what's happened to Chigeru?

You join Gorobei and Daon in a cheerless trek along the isolated road, soon little more than a dirt track west into the snow-topped mountains. A lone sparrowhawk wheels above you, giving a plaintive mournful cry. Soon the dirt track narrows further so that you have to travel in single file, the rock leviathans looming over you as you make your way uphill.

'Who is behind these attacks on us?' Gorobei asks. Daon shakes his head, too troubled to speak. You say it has to be Yaemon. Who else would hate the followers of Kwon more than the man who killed Grandmaster Naijishi and stole the Scrolls of Kettsuin?

'He is our mortal enemy,' Gorobei responds, 'but he is no mage. Aiko was overcome by a spell.'

You remind him that Yaemon was reputedly able to steal the Scrolls of Kettsuin only due to borrowed sorcery that made others believe he was a monk of Kwon.

'I wonder who he borrowed that sorcery from,' Daon says darkly.

The weather upon the trail turns increasingly cold, and soon you are walking over a light dusting of snow.

'Not all can be blamed on Yaemon,' Gorobei says, 'however much he has taken from us.' He then changes the subject. 'This is not the first trial I have undertaken on this island. I made it to the final fight in the Temple of the Rock and was defeated by a Whirlpool throw. Me... thrown! I have plans this time, though. Neither of you will be able to stop me like that.'

'The contest no longer matters,' Daon mutters. 'Just like during the Black Lotus Rebellion, someone is trying to eradicate us. This is about survival.'

'The contest is still important.' Gorobei says, 'we cannot abandon our ways in times of adversity, and just think of all the good a Grandmaster-'

You hold your hand up, forestalling all conversation, hearing an eerie whimper rising out across the land. You are on a thin gravel path perhaps halfway up one of the mountains. Whatever made that noise is alive and it is coming closer. Then a silhouette of a robed figure appears on a snow-covered crest overhead and it raises its arms high to the sky, a serpent staff in one hand. Even your keen vision cannot detect its features above the snow's glare, but its eyes glow red.

Daon is already clambering up the slope towards the figure, whilst Gorobei moves further ahead on the trail until under the cover of an overhanging rock, adopting a martial stance. Creeping over hte craggy heights around the figure come a dozen or so white dog-like creatures with twitching wings and yellow eyes. They are Hainu, and they make a whining noise in anticipation of a bloodletting. They swoop down from the mountain heights at you, blue-tongued mouths slavering.

• Follow Daon's charge at the robed silhouette?
• Join Gorobei in a defensive position underneath the overhanging rock?

[Omegonthesane]

Defensive position because we're made of glass and it's the plan used by the one who canonically survives.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Agreed.

[Mr Shine]

I agree also.

[Starmaker]

Any guesses on what's happened to Chigeru?

Died back home.

Defensive position because we're made of glass and it's the plan used by the one who canonically survives.

While Gorobei is a better ninja than Daon (and we should follow his lead here), his canonical survival only comes into effect if we survive. He isn't better because he lives, he's better because David Walters didn't want to one-up an established character. "Everyone dies, restart the book from the beginning" is a legitimate outcome.

[SGamerz]

Defend

[angelfromanotherpin]

You move alongside Gorobei, hoping to use the rocky overhang as cover from the Hainu's swooping attacks. The Hainu glide down the mountain, landing on the track to run in on you both, three at a time, white blurs of fury, jaws snapping.

Roll 1 Die+4. This represents the total number of Hainu that attack you and Gorobei for the duration of this fight, which you should record. Choose an attack from those below and make one Attack Roll. If you hit then one Hainu will permanently flee the fight. After each attack do not forget to account for Gorobei defeating two Hainu as detailed further below.

Hainu Defense against punch/kick: 7
Hainu Defense against shuriken: 6
Hainu Defense against Poison Needles skill: 5

If you fail to hit, the Hainu immediately bites you; you must take one die damage or attempt to block. Your Defense for a block is 6 as you struggle to stay in cover and not impede Gorobei. In this case, blocking forces a -2 to your next shuriken or Poison Needles attack just as it does for punches and kicks.

Whether you succeed or fail, Gorobei grabs two Hainu and bangs their heads together. The two injured creatures whimper and flee – reduce the total number of Hainu by two to represent this. If instead only a single Hainu remains, Gorobei dispatches it with a Tiger's Paw chop. If there are any remaining Hainu, one more will rush in at you, and you must attack again. If you survive, you will not be able to retrieve any shuriken used as the Hainu fly away.

Well, it's clearly Poison Needles' time to shine, but less than Gorobei, who is just showing off at this point.

We're facing (6+4=10) of these things, so let's go.
Round 1: Needle for 6 is a hit. 7 Hainu left.
Round 2: Needle for 2 is a miss. Block for 3 is a block. 5 Hainu left.
Round 3: Needle for 8-2 is a hit. 2 Hainu left.
Round 4: Needle for 6 is a hit. Gorobei chops the last one, flawless victory.

When all the beasts that you have faced have been put to flight, you peer out to the slope above. Daon has survived the various Hainu that peeled off to attack him, and continues on against the image silhouetted on the snowy mountaintop. The mage raises his serpent staff, eyes glowing an infernal red as he screams out the arcane words. A tremendous wind whips up all around the mountain, but Daon continues straight on at him like a force of nature.

Daon launches a flying kick at the mage just as he finishes his spell, and there is a tremendous flash and thunderclap. A ponderous rumble accompanies a great cascade of snow from the mountain peak, sweeping away everything before it. You start to clamber up some rocks as quickly as you can whilst Gorobei throws himself behind an outcrop. The crashing snow sweeps you away from your perch and down the mountain. You can do little as you are spun over and over until you come to a rest buried deep in snow. Lose 4 Endurance points.
(We are still alive.)

Barely. We're at 1 Endurance.

You do not know how much time has passed. All around you is darkness, and a cold so deep that it seems to suck all the warmth from your bones. You have no idea which way is up, and you are running out of air. You calm your racing heart and trust to your instincts, burrowing out of your white tomb until you burst from the snow into daylight to draw breath.

The landscape around you has been transformed from a rocky slope to smooth snow drifts, disguising ravine and path alike. You rest a moment, gulping in the mountain air. There is no sign of the mage or the Hainu. You check that your equipment has not been lost in the snow, and much to your relief you find it is all still with you. With a silent prayer of thanks, you get to your feet and call out for Daon or Gorobei, but get no response.

You can no longer see the trail now that all has been covered by the avalanche. Nor can you see any pitfalls, so you will have to watch your step until you can find the trail.

• Risk the ravines and snowdrifts to search for your fellow contestants in case they are trapped in the snow?
• Trust that Kwon watches over your fellow contestants, and press on west?

[Mr Shine]

Kwon will not look favourably on ninja that rely on him rather than themselves. Go and look.

[Omegonthesane]

Given that Kwon does not have a good record of preventing his minions from being killed by cruel fate, go help the other contestants.