Sapphire Ambassadors

Once more, during the final moments of the night, before Lady Sun can show her face to the Empire, black smoke silently seeps forth from the painting in Yoshino's room.

Not as silently as the previous night though. Perhaps the thing was cocky after yesterday. Perhaps Yoshino drank a lot of black tea before bed...but would Yoshino stir?

Sneaking into Yoshino's room D3, LN for a snack. Agi/Stealth | 6k3 ⇒ 18

Maybe she had more on her mind, but Yoshino had often woken up and gone back to bed throughout the night. The creature had seemingly chosen just one such moment...

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Investigation/perception with void for +1k1 making 4k3 vs TN18 -> Pass

Doji Yoshino wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 13, 2022 9:13 pm

Maybe she had more on her mind, but Yoshino had often woken up and gone back to bed throughout the night. The creature had seemingly chosen just one such moment...

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Investigation/perception with void for +1k1 making 4k3 vs TN18 -> Pass

Yoshino awoke to her room being unnaturally dark, and from the flickering of the hallways low lantern light, she could see that the darkness was moving towards her.

Init!

ToI: D3 Init for ToI | 3k3 ⇒ 15

Yoshino kicked off her covers as she noticed the dark thing in the room. The one moving toward her.

A horrible scream (fitting of a Doji maiden) pierced the gloom as Yoshino scrambled to her feet and immediately toward her room's door. She'd try to flee into the Jinbaori making terrified noises all the while checking over her shoulder for the darkness monster.

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Initiative 4k3: 16

Yoshino felt an earthly chill as she bolted passed/through the darkness monster (it was really hard to tell where darkness ended and monster began) and ran out into the hall screaming. It wouldn't be too long before people would come to investigate the noise.

After Yoshino was out of sight, the monster flowed back into the painting until the painting was completely normal again.

(Thread is now Open)

The Crane was quite frightened. Not completely hysterical, although she would have been if she was injured or she knew about the visit the night before. However, very high-strung! Even the return to normal and no sign of being chased wouldn't calm her nerves...

There was no way she was going back in that room!

From down the hall there was a sound as Yua, who had been startled awake by a scream (damn paper walls!), stepped out and looked around.

"What is going on?"

A tanuki came out from Shizenko's room hearing the steps around the hall. He looked at Yoshino and turned his head. The critter ran to his companion and woke her up. Shizenko woke up and followed Raakun. "Doji sama?" She cleared her eyes. "Are you okay?"

Yoshiaki had come as well moving swiftly but quietly through the halls toward the scream. He was bared from the waist up as he had prioritized haste of propriety.

He had arrived at roughly the same time as the others and rather than adding the same question to the pile He simply looked to Yoshino for her explanation.

Otomo Yua wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 13, 2022 11:42 pm

Snip.

Yua wasn't the only one to be woken up. However, Yoshino wasn't really thinking about that or about to apologise. She was too much into a freaked out and trying not to hyperventilate state. She'd ended at the nearest bend from her room where she was crouched down and looking back at the still open doors. Her breathing was coming fast and heavy, and she was pale like the moon.

Kitsune Shizenko wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 13, 2022 11:42 pm

Snip.

Yoshino's hands were balled up tightly and held against her fist. Her breathing hitched and she jumped as Shizenko called out to her. She dared to pull her gaze away from her room as she took more breaths, trying to force herself to calm down.

"No... there's something... something in my room." She shuddered. Her whole body was trembling. "Not a spider or a bug... it was... unnatural. Dark... thing." It would be easy to say she wasn't making much sense or that she'd simply awoken from a very vivid nightmare.

Hatsuki stumbled down the hall to join the others in seeing what was going on... after the suddenly awakening via screaming had spawned a sudden renewal in nausea. How she'd finally made it to the door tired and without any of her usual makeup, just in time to hear people talking.

"What did it look like?" She asked, still sounding a little groggy. She was tired, but that made her a little more coherent.

Choudai, bleary-eyed and looking downright irritable when he first staggered out of his room, looked notably more focused at Yoshino's description.

"A dark thing? Like a shadow?"

KillitkillitkillitthreatnedHatsukithreatenedourCHILDkillitkillit...

He grabbed his katana from inside of the door and headed toward Yoshino's room.

His unmasked face was as stony as anyone present except Hatsuki had ever seen it.

Bayushi Choudai wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 14, 2022 1:47 am

Choudai, bleary-eyed and looking downright irritable when he first staggered out of his room, looked notably more focused at Yoshino's description.

"A dark thing? Like a shadow?"

KillitkillitkillitthreatnedHatsukithreatenedourCHILDkillitkillit...

He grabbed his katana from inside of the door and headed toward Yoshino's room.

His unmasked face was as stony as anyone present except Hatsuki had ever seen it.

Choudai found a dark inn room with the door left open and the futon in disarray as if a Crane had suddenly lept out of bed and ran out the door and down the hall.

But he saw nothing out of the ordinary other that that.

Never one to shy away from barging into a young lady's room, Choudai prowled around, trying to see what he could see.

[D3/LN Investigation/Perception to be a nosy neighbor | 6k3 ⇒ 29]

Shosuro Hatsuki wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 14, 2022 1:34 am

Snip...

Yoshino shakily looked to the Scorpion woman. She hadn't spoken to her before. However, the direct and confident question has the Crane trying to focus.

"... Like darkness... or smoke. It was moving." She turned to Hatsuki and the newly arrived Choudai. Her eyes opened wider as Choudai offered descriptions. The second had particularly resonated. "Yes, like a shadow! A moving shadow. What-"

Before she could ask another question the Scorpion had run to her room with his sword. She redirected the question to Hatsuki who seemed to know more. "What was it?" She asks breathlessly.

She pushed the ground to try to stand. She didn't want to be stuck crouching down, her legs frozen, if she could help it. There were people. She felt safer.

Shizenko listened to the Doji and tried to followed what she said. Raakun moved beside Yoshino and tried to comfort her. The Kitsune has seen shadows move in the forest but not like the Doji is explaining. "Let me think..." Shizenko moved closer. "If you want I can try and ask the spirits what you saw."

//D3 LN Snack Time Lore Spirit Realms int TN ? | 5k3 ⇒ 22

"Could you...?" Yoshino asks, looking to Shizenko. "My family won't believe me otherwise. I know it."

Doji Yoshino wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 14, 2022 10:19 am

<snip>

When Yoshino moved yo rise, Hatsuki held up a hand to help her up. "Here, let me help," she said. For once, her voice held nothing but kindness toward who she was speaking with. There was also tension and her eyes flitted from Yoshino to ever corner of the room. "We don't know yet, but I've seen such a thing before. It must have been very stressful for you. You look uninjured the moment, at least."

She nodded to Shizenko. "Thank you."

Shosuro Hatsuki wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 14, 2022 1:26 pm

Snip...

"Thank you..." Hatsuki's hand allowed her to stand up steadily. She let go once she was up, however she was thankful. She was also beginning to look more alert now, less frightened.

"Fortunately, yes." She glanced down at herself to be sure. She was only wearing her underkimono. She tried not to think about it. "I don't ever want to wake up in the night to such a sight... what is it? Are you saying... there are more of them?" Placing a hand to her chest she made herself take deeper, calmer breaths.

Choudai's investigation didn't turn up anything. If something besides the Crane had been in the room, it had left the room without leaving any traces unlike her.

The description of the frightened Crane didn't give the shugenja enough to go on. Could be a gaki, a ghost, a dhadowspawn, an oni, something even more obscure, or she could have just been eating pickled plums before bed. The spirits might be able to jprovided better answers, provided she made the appropriate offerings and kept their inhuman way of perceiving things in mind.