Oct 28, 2019 3:01 pm
Toshimoko tenses and seems on the verge of an angry and probably unseemly response to the young Mantis when you all jump to intervene. As Aki quietly speaks to Hitoshi and Kashita more loudly interjects you all see Hitoshi's face soften a touch as it seems the reality of what he has just done begins to set in. At Yoshi's offer to take Toshimoko's place in the duel both he and Hitoshi break the glare that had been fixed between them and turn their eyes on the monk, Hitoshi flushes visibly and begins to stammer "Yoshi-san, no I...I did not....it would not be...." before he pauses for a moment, squeezing his eyes closed before returning his gaze mostly to Toshimoko. The mantis quickly stammers out an apology before offering up his gift, a Mantis-made boat currently tied up in the wharf of the village before he quickly returns to his seat. Toshimoko grunts an acceptance, obviously still angered at Hitoshi's outburst but the danger of a duel seems to have passed.
Other than Hitoshi sitting in shamed silence for the remainder of the meal the mood of most of those present returns to a quite jovial one once the meal, one of the best you have eaten, begins in earnest and the sake begins to flow freely (although Hitoshi does decline anything further). At around the mid point of the meal the final standings are announced from the Gempuku, all of the competitors being congratulated for achieving the required standard.
Gempuku Standings
Isawa Aki - 17 points
Togashi Yoshi - 14 points
Kakita Riku - 13 points
Otaku Kashita - 12 points
Bayushi Mei Lin - 12 points
Moto Batbayar - 11 points
Kitsu Tsuba - 10 points
Shiba Toya - 9 points
Mirumoto Hinata - 9 points
Yasuki Jun - 8 points
Hitoshi - 8 points
Despite the difference in their standings Mirumoto Hinata still vigorously defends their school in conversations with Kakita Riku, in fact most of the competitors quite jovially boast with one another about who will be victorious tomorrow and will take the title of Topaz Champion. As the night draws to a close and you all return to your lodgings and you thoughts turn to the final day tomorrow, despite the all round high spirits you cannot help but feel a sliver of trepidation, if anything is going to happen to prevent Hitoshi reaching his Gempuku it will have to be before the end of the duelling contest.....
Other than Hitoshi sitting in shamed silence for the remainder of the meal the mood of most of those present returns to a quite jovial one once the meal, one of the best you have eaten, begins in earnest and the sake begins to flow freely (although Hitoshi does decline anything further). At around the mid point of the meal the final standings are announced from the Gempuku, all of the competitors being congratulated for achieving the required standard.
Gempuku Standings
Isawa Aki - 17 points
Togashi Yoshi - 14 points
Kakita Riku - 13 points
Otaku Kashita - 12 points
Bayushi Mei Lin - 12 points
Moto Batbayar - 11 points
Kitsu Tsuba - 10 points
Shiba Toya - 9 points
Mirumoto Hinata - 9 points
Yasuki Jun - 8 points
Hitoshi - 8 points
Despite the difference in their standings Mirumoto Hinata still vigorously defends their school in conversations with Kakita Riku, in fact most of the competitors quite jovially boast with one another about who will be victorious tomorrow and will take the title of Topaz Champion. As the night draws to a close and you all return to your lodgings and you thoughts turn to the final day tomorrow, despite the all round high spirits you cannot help but feel a sliver of trepidation, if anything is going to happen to prevent Hitoshi reaching his Gempuku it will have to be before the end of the duelling contest.....
OOC:
I'm opting not to require a check from Aki or Kashita as Yoshi's check was sufficient to de-escalate the situation (your actions did drop the TN from 3 to 2 however). I'll stick a new thread up later for the final day of the contest, if there's anything really pressing that you feel your characters would do before the morning feel free to make a quick post about it.
