Despair and Wisdom: Imperial March

As soon as the first rays of Lady Sun showed themselves, the second kaisha was on the move. Shinjo Meilin was certainly the type of leader to lead from the front, and so the first horse out of the herd was hers.

She galloped along, enjoying the wind on her face as the Crane lands were easy to ride and surveil. Not to mention having a giant army at her back. Someday it would truly be her army, of that she was certain. Though when she was a general, she was still going to lead from the front. While she could see the sense of the command be centralized as the Lion did, why should you rely on reports to make decisions when you could see it for yourself first?

The thing with being the midnight watch guy was, it meant Kaigen was wide awake while most of the army was just getting up.

As part of the Second Kaisha's relatively small infantry contingent, he also had a lot of free time compared to people who had to talk to their foul-smelling, massive sacks of sweat and manure about what good horses they were.

So Kaigen munched a rice ball and adjusted his pack for the day. The Crane lands had been... odd. The Crab lands would almost assuredly be odder.

So the Hare kept his mind on the road ahead.... and on the army's regulations, particularly those involving the chain of command. It seemed to him that having all of the infantry answering directly to cavalry officers was laughable, no matter how ordinary the Unicorn might have considered it, and a cursory overview of the Legion's regulations indicated that it wasn't supposed to work that way.

So he'd brought it up while his immediate superiors were still groggy enough to actually listen.

He got few thanks for this insight from his commanders, of course, but he also hadn't gotten any abuse, because the infantry contingent had been grumbling about how nobody in the Second Kaisha seemed to be giving them any damned thought.

"Fine, we'll try it your way," had been the response.


The thing with everyone assuming you're just some illiterate hick is that you can always catch them off-balance.


---

Day 3 Metagame roll- Water/Government to smooth out the chain of command in the Second Kaisha a bit | TN: 2 | Success: 2 / Opportunity: 2 / Strife: 1
- Water opp utterly nukes the poor pitiful one strife

As had been commanded by her Chui Mukai would ride without fail and without tiring.

Hachiko, in turn, puts lie to the doubts that had been upon her when she was a foal and carries her rider without pause or slack.

As long as Meilin may ride Mukai follows just hoofbeats behind, never losing pace, unless her orders send her otherwise.

(D3, EM - Metagame: Survival/Earth, Mount reduces TN by 1, Void spent to Seize the Moment | TN: 1 | Success: 6 / Opportunity: 0 / Strife: 3


3 Points towards Legion Strength)

In their respective journeys, A small farm comes into view. As fortune would have it, the Unicorn's sweeping of the area and the Hare's running in the same general direction happen to bring them there roughly at the same time.

Meilin brings her steed to a halt surveying the farm with a frown. The reason wasn't particularly hard to deduce. Despite it being harvest season, no one was working.

Mukai, of course, followed suit in halting as her superior surveyed the scene.

Her own eyes scanned for disturbances that would suggest a struggle or other signs of banditry.

"Late sleepers, one hopes."

It was clear she did not, in fact, hold much hope as she strings her daikyu. If it was bandits it is unlikely they would have stayed on the scene so early into the morning. But nor would she risk being caught unprepared if that assumption was false.

Meilin nodded approving at her subordinate's caution, if not her hope.

"One of a few possibilities." she offered, dismounting and also drawing her bow.

"May have fled due conflict with the Lion, or were preyed upon by bandits while the Crane's forces were distracted by such...or even fell to disease. The last few years have been bad ones in the Crane lands, and while they put on a delightful front in the big cities, they rely on the remoteness of these locations to hide the weakness." she lists off.

Meilin scanned the immediate area, not detecting any movement.

"Regardless, it would shame us as scouts to ride by and not determine the cause. If it is illness, we wouldn't want to pick up contaminated food or water as we march by."

Some of us ain't riding by anyway.

Kaigen hunkered down on his haunches, surveying the scene.

"Dunno many peasants who sleep late. Also dunno many farms that look this empty without obvious signs of violence."

Usagi Kaigen wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 18, 2024 9:48 pm

Some of us ain't riding by anyway.

Kaigen hunkered down on his haunches, surveying the scene.

"Dunno many peasants who sleep late. Also dunno many farms that look this empty without obvious signs of violence."

Melin nodded.

"Still, I don't trust this quiet." Meilin said. "Usagi-san, take point, Utaku-san and I will cover you."

Horses and bows, while the Hare just had his daisho, things just weren't fair sometimes.

He plucked a sprig of hayseed and stuck it into his mouth.

Then he made his way toward the farm.

As quietly as he was able.

Which turned out to be pretty damn quiet.

---
We Ride at Dawn, Air/Skulduggery to be sneaksy | TN: ? | Success: 3 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 2
- Using opp to burn one Strife.

Usagi Kaigen wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 18, 2024 10:43 pm

He plucked a sprig of hayseed and stuck it into his mouth.

Then he made his way toward the farm.

As quietly as he was able.

Which turned out to be pretty damn quiet.

---
We Ride at Dawn, Air/Skulduggery to be sneaksy | TN: ? | Success: 3 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 2
- Using opp to burn one Strife.

Silently the Hare drifted towards the little peasant dwelling. It looked fairly unremarkable, but it was far too quiet for this time in the morning. As he got closer, he could see that area around the entryway was darker than it should in in the daylight. He'd dealt with enough bandits to know this wasn't a peasant family deciding they wanted a dark coat of paint. This was dried blood.

Mukai had half expected, with her personality, that Meilin would have taken point even if it was tactically a flawed choice. The Shinjo had seemed a very 'lead from the front even when you shouldn't' type so she was glad to see that didn't fall over all areas.

The Utaku, in turn, did not track the Hare with her eyes as they were busy scanning their flanks and rear in case of ambush but she was pleased that she also did not easily track him with her ears while she did so. It seemed he was rightly assigned to this kaisha and to this particular approach as he moved swiftly and silently.

Kaigen crept a bit closer, just to verify, then whistled, once. Sharp.

See if anyone was alive to hear- or lurking inside.

Usagi Kaigen wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 19, 2024 8:01 am

Kaigen crept a bit closer, just to verify, then whistled, once. Sharp.

See if anyone was alive to hear- or lurking inside.

It wasn't very loud, but Kaigen swore he could hear a singular thump noise from within the structure. Then silence. So there was something or someone in there, but they weren't coming out.

He carefully drew his katana- and raised it to signal to the two Unicorn.

(Normally, day-change would disallow rolling in this thread. Since it is under direct GM oversight, the usual restriction is waived FOR THIS THREAD ONLY.)

It would be incorrect to say that Mukai becomes alert, as she never stopped, but she offers a brief nod to the Hare before she returns to keeping overwatch.

Melin nodded at the Hare to go ahead. Her bow was ready to strike down any threat that he might encounter entering the structure.

Kaigen eased his way around the back of the building, looking for alternate means of ingress.

As the Hare maneuvered, Meilin signaled to Mukai to continue to cover the front while she would follow the Hare to the rear of the house. As luck would have it, there was, in fact a back door.

Mukai nods. Hachiko, responding to a gentle nudge, repositions to form a larger obstacle should anyone come fleeing in their direction while her rider kept her bow at the ready.