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 Post subject: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:00 pm 
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It had been only by miracle and Haruka's sacrifice that Tsugiko had escaped from the spiders; the whole thing was a complete folly, now she realised, a desperate dream fed by a misconception that in moments of despair a mystical, supernatural solution could turn everything around, and that she was able to bring it into being. But she was no Yasurugi, no Nio, no Mioko. She would not cry jade tears or make spider silk clothes. She was Tsugiko, a creature so plain and ordinary that no-one would notice if someone had supplanted her if not for her imperfections and idiosyncrasies. To stand out only because of inadequacies, that was a terrible fate.

Her virtue lay in the fact that she was loyal to a fault, to the point of self-destruction, and that she loved him deeply. Despite the mistreatment and humiliation. Despite his agendas that made everything that was Crane in her revolt against them. It were her burdens she would not bring onto his shoulders. She would do his bidding, follow his word, let him do with her as he pleased no matter how much pain and grief it would cost her. She kept repeating to himself that it was a necessary sacrifice to secure her spot to become a future Empress, a double bet that whatever happens, a Crane Empress will be by the side of a Hantei Emperor. But deep inside her, she knew it too was a convenient self-lie. She knew that if he went into exile and was deserted by all, she would still be with him. If his path led him to Jigoku, she would follow.

Hence, his rejection was incomprehensible, beyond words. When it had started over two weeks ago, she had hoped it would wane, but it hadn't. He hadn't sought time with her, or a conversation, he hadn't looked at her as a woman any more, he hadn't visited or invited her. Without a word or warning, he had cast her away. That removal from his presence was more painful that anything she had experienced before, it had deprived her of sleep, reason and will to live. Over the past two weeks she had become a ghost. If Yajinden hadn't stopped her, she would have gone to find spider silk way before.

But now, it could not continue. She had to know. And maybe fate had smiled on her the prior night when she had spotted him with Suru in a most unlikely place, crossing the island interior under the cover of the night, but she had lost them. So she was waiting there, in a rocky concavity, watching the pathway, waiting for him to return by the same path he had traversed at night. Hungry, frightened, in tattered clothes,but determined. And her waiting was rewarded.



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:09 pm 
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Jama had departed the East Port before dawn; he would be back in the Estates early enough to proceed with the preparations for the expedition. His thoughts were elsewhere when Suru alerted him of a presence. He spotted her against the rocks, and frowned in displeasure.

"Tsugiko-san, don't disgrace yourself by skulking there. Come down and explain yourself."



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:15 pm 
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First, she froze from anticipation, then from anxiety and fear, but his commanding voice held power over her so she started climbing down before she realised it. As he waited, it took her an embarrassingly long moment to get down, and the last part she just slid on her bum unwittingly, painfully bumping into sharp rocks, what both bruised her and tore her kimono. Swaying from effort and shame in her unique penguin-like style, she reached a distance from which she could speak audibly. Trying to gather some fabric over her tear-bared thighs, she bowed deeply.

"Hantei-no-kimi, I..."



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:20 pm 
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"You followed me." He said sharply.



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:22 pm 
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"By accident, Your Majesty, I had been running from and... I wondered..."



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:27 pm 
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"Where I was going without telling you." He frowned. "You wanted to defy me through this inept tailing."



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:30 pm 
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"Your Majesty hasn't spoken to me for so long, I wondered if it's something I have done, something I should make up for..." She was on the verge of tears.



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:39 pm 
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"And this is how you expect to endear me? Sneaking on me, presenting yourself in a disgraceful state of grooming, stuttering, showing signs of derangement? I would have you quickly removed from my path by Suru-san right now if not for still regarding you as my friend and a proponent of my cause. But for the future I forbid you to come to my presence if you cannot maintain decorum."



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:51 pm 
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His words were like swords run into her chest. She was used to, but in her vulnerable state she recoiled, her composure truly shattering, tears flowing openly. Masks had flaked, mien was forlorn. She collapsed to her knees and raised her stained eyes on him.

"But I... miss you..."



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 2:01 pm 
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He was impervious.

"In other words you put your misguided personal desires before your commitment to serve me as I will it. Had I not asked you to stay in the Estates and guard my interests? Instead you're here, crawling like a dog, no more graceful that a cheap whore. I have some patience, but stop disgusting me, Tsugiko. Looking at you now I can hardly believe you're a woman I may have considered favourably in the past."



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 2:07 pm 
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"You were much nicer to me when you wanted me to lie about Arashige!" She blurted in utmost despair, her heart broken in so many pieces she no longer had any sense of self-preservation, or even of self in general. Her blurry gaze rose to meet his...



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 2:15 pm 
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...only to see how Jama halted Suru from doing whatever he was about to do with his katana unsheathed and instead delivered a powerful slap against her cheek, throwing her off balance and tumbling to the side. Before she could rise, he knelt by her, gripped her hair and pulled her ear closer to his mouth. Then began to whisper. Seethingly at first, but it became more levelled as he continued. She was shuddering in his firm hold, blood flowing from a broken lip, a mixture of emotions crossing her face with each sentence, glimmers of hope, throes of terror, doldrums of despair. Whatever he was saying seemed to be remoulding her into something until she limped almost lifeless, with empty stare locked on a rock before her.



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 2:23 pm 
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Image

Very interesting. Adisabah thought, observing the scene with some delight from his hiding place, still pulling obnoxious tendons of whores from La Gata from between his teeth with the tip of his tongue.



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 2:32 pm 
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Jama finally rose. Tsugiko didn't follow.

"Find yourself a cave around here; Yajinden will retrieve you later today. I have no time for any more of this right now."



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 2:41 pm 
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Adisabah debated in himself; now or later? Those would be more than fine for his little gambit, but apparently not all of them were here. He had noticed a tiny thing in regal, cruel one, the deliberate movement of fingers, the first signs of the invoked Seal when he was annoyed that the woman was bleeding and imperceptibly closed the wound. The rakshasa had been careless before, and sahirs were unpredictable. Patience and caution would make this right. Knowing human nature, he knew they would return, and he could pick them out one by one. His little unwinding for being caged for so long could not be spoiled.



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 2:47 pm 
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Jama's eyes narrowed and he glanced at the high rocks above; Suru followed, but neither could spot anything. After leaving Tsugiko with a bottle of water, they both left.



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 2:56 pm 
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Once they were gone, with quiet feline lack of hurry Rakshasa descended onto a convenient ledge over Tsugiko who tried to get up. His claws moved in the dark incantations as tendrils of invisible metal started to coalesce around her. She wouldn't notice anything until she would move, hitting the bars. Before she could mull over her surprise, Adisbabah raised the cage into the air up to his level, and looked carefully at the miserable creature inside.

"Namaste, humanling. You are nothing impressive, but you'll make a fine bait. Feel at home in my cage, you may never leave it alive."

Before Tsugiko could scream in terror, Adisabah clenched his paw and the air from Tsugiko's lungs was stolen. She collapsed at the invisible bottom, unconscious. Adisabah drew the cage onto the ledge and lay in the shade. Who would be next?



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 3:06 pm 
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Quote:
This is the cage of Adisabah the Cruel. No-one will leave it unless one entrapped person kills himself or herself. Ultimately, Jama, Yajinden and Suru will all find themselves in the cage. If no other character joins the thread and sacrifices herself for Tsugiko, she will die. If you want to sacrifice yourself, this is the way.

Detection of Adisabah's trap is Perception/Investigation (Notice) or Intelligence/Spellcraft vs. TN60. This reveals the trap, Adisabah and prevents from being caught. After that, however, Adisabah will try to kill you. He can technically be fought but he is a rakshasa, so the near-certain outcome is character death.

In the end, there might be no dicepool way around it. It's a moral choice of the harshest kind. The promise of changing the history is that with Tsugiko alive, the story of Iuchiban will take an altered course.



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 11:52 pm 
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As soon as she was recovered from her ordeal at the spider caves, Haruka had set off in pursuit of Tsugiko. She had to rely on old skills that had only grown dull with disuse - work afield was never her forte as a magistrate, but her fundamentals were sound.

She had found a lead to her quarry, a scrap of torn silk that she knew to be from Tsugiko's kimono, and that kept her moving onward for now, assured that this was the correct path.



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 Post subject: Re: No Man's Bride [EM11, Closed]
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 11:58 pm 
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Along one of the pathways hacked out of the jungle to transport construction materials uphill Haruka encountered a brisk spring flowing across a thicketed gorge. It is where he found another scrap of Tsugiko's black-white kimono. There was some clearing ahead, where the gorge was turning deeper and steeper.



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