Togawa nods. 'What are your weapons?' he demands.
• 'I have no need of weapons.'
• 'My weapons are everything that exists.' √
(No need to beat about the bush, I think.)
Togawa nods again and asks a third question, 'What are your eyes?'
'My eyes are the Sun and the Moon,' you say, reciting the words from the secret Litany of the Ninja Grandmasters. 'I am Ninja, I follow the Way of the Tiger.'
Togawa beams at you, 'A Grandmaster of the Five Winds,' he says, 'I must do my best to help you.'
You sleep on the cold floor of the cave, but in your dreams, Togawa, his body silver and ethereal, appears to you, stretching out his hand. You take it and he lifts you out of your body. Looking down, you can see yourself, asleep, in the candlelight. Soon, you are far from the cave, washed by ethereal wind.
You hold on tight, knowing that without Togawa's guidance, you would drift helplessly; the skills of the Ninja cannot aid you here. The monk points ahead to a gleaming archway beyond which a silver pathway stretches up into the clouds. Cherubs flock around its pillars and a Guardian Angel, flawless and white, stands between them.
'This is the gateway to the Seven Heavens,' says Togawa. 'We may not enter yet.' As he speaks, a sinuous form takes shape on the silver road. It glides past the Guardian Angel and as it approaches, you see that it is a perfect tiger, but its fur is white and its eyes are blue.
'The Spirit Tiger is a servant of Kwon,' says Togawa. 'She will help us.' As the tigress looks at you, she passes on a part of her knowledge. She has stalked Yaemon, on the Ethereal Plane, undetected, even by him. Yaemon and Honoric, Marshal of the Legion of the Sword of Doom, who worships the go Vasch-Ro, are journeying to the far-away city of Druath Glennan at the edge of the Far Snows. They will meet a third there, Manse the Deathmage, a potent and evil sorcerer, who reverences Nemesis, the Supreme Principle of Evil.
Together they plan to journey to the Pillars of Change and each knows a secret word which will bind a god or goddess in Inferno. You realize that you must journey to Druath Glennan as quickly as possible. The Spirit Tiger blesses you and Fate will smile on you. Your Fate Modifier is now +1. You try to speak to the Spirit Tiger but words will not come and Togawa pulls you away from the Gateway to the Seven Heavens.
When you awake in the morning he says, 'The unholy alliance must be stopped. Of all the evil gods, only the followers of Vile, Vasch-Ro and Nemesis would have the discipline to join together. Nemesis is the greatest of the evil gods. Never before have three such powerful and evil men trusted each other.'
He pulls a bag of herbs from a crack in the rock. 'These have healing virtue,' he says. You take them and may use them at any time when you are not being attacked to restore up to 8 Endurance. You thank him and are about to ask him if he will accompany you, when he lies down on the cave floor and falls asleep. Sensing that there is no further help to be gained, you climb down Mount Gwalodrun to the pass below. A day later, you enter the foothills of Fortune Pass.
The youthful river Fortune pours don a narrow valley which winds like a snake between the escarpments of the Mountains of Vision. The air becomes cooler as you climb and snow begins to fall. You turn your costume inside out, so that the white lining will camouflage you in the snow. You sleep well in the pass, despite the cold, and may restore up to 4 points of Endurance.
On the second day you hear a cry from around an escarpment and you move on stealthily to look. A warrior holds his sword aloft asa small group of Arocs, bird-men, attack. As you watch, a bolt of green light speeds from his sword, felling one of the Arocs.
Avenger, Grandmaster of the Five Winds
Modifiers: Fortune +1
Inner Force: 5
Endurance: 5/20
Techniques: Climbing, Disable Device, Poison Needles, Kwon's Flail.
Shuriken: ****
Ninja Tools: Ninja Costume, Breathing Tube, Iron Sleeves, Garotte, Flash Powder, Flint & Tinder, Spiderfish, Blood of Nil.
Special Items: Opal Ring, Pouch with 10 Gold Pieces, Essence of Firenewt, Bag of Herbs (+8 Endurance).
• Help the warrior, who is hard-pressed?
• Hide in the snow until the Arocs leave.
(Also, Avenger is still pretty injured, so I'm thinking we should use the herbs now. Let me know what you think.)