[IC]Mission 1: Yoshi's Gold

As many among you entered the town in the late afternoon, night fall comes soon after the entire group has gathered. The hostess comes looking to settle your bill, and the group is ready to find out what they can under the cover of darkness. The streets are almost entirely empty, with only a straggler or two walking. The noises of the town itself has died down as well. Within in, only the few inns, restaurants and establishments in the pleasure quarter are still abound in light and activity. In the distance, torches and fires are lit around Castle Asae whose silhouette is seen clearly in the half moon, cloudy sky.

Looking around the group is able to determine that there are only a few roadways in and other of the town. In the direction of where the group came from, after the crossing the bridge, the roads fork after passing the closest rice paddies in two different directions. Both of those paths head into the hilly forest beyond. One was the dirt road from which you came; the other is the road that leads to Yorichi Asakawa's stronghold. The other road out of town slowly rises, leads to Castle Asae and runs along its basefor over a hundred yards. At the far side of the castle, the road is one leg of the four-way intersection. It appears that the castle was sited to defend and control access to these roadways. The roads beyond run flat for some distance before disappearing also into the forested hills. You would need to move near the castle to do further scouting of these roads.


Link to map

Kazuyo thinks about it for a while and remembers what the Shibata clan's symbols looks like...the fletching of two arrows pointed downward in a perfect circle. She looks around the town but doesn't see any, but it is a rather simple design. She actually thinks she can easily make her own if she spends a little time to do that.

Ozuno sits silently amid the peaceful silence of the rice paddies to south. He notices the glow of the moon reflecting off the gentle ripples of the river. It brings to mind a number of different verses of poetry. Otherwise, all seems quiet on this night at the southern crossroads.

Si tries to mix in with the local crowd to discover the latest news circulating in the village inn. As he does so, the others note his awkwardness, and backs turn to shut him out of the conversations. Nevertheless, he does hear a little of the gossip of the town related Goya and his arguments with his wife. But that doesn't seem particularly relevant to the mission at hand.

Kazuyo and Nozomi sneak off into the night to scout out the castle. As they approach....

...Kazuyo and Nozomi sneak off into the night to scout out the castle. As they approach, they see that area around the castle has been diligently cleared of obstruction and made flat as if to allow the fielding of a large army. Castle Asae itself is built like many other castles with a labyrinthine series of walls and watchtowers surrounding the large multi-story castle that can be view from afar. The outer walls, and presumably inner walls as well, are constructed to be difficult to breach and dangerous to climb with a number of overlapping arrowslits, both obvious and hidden, that allow its defenders to see the goings-on outside and to fire upon would-be invaders. Formal access to the castle complex is by the way of a main gate on the northern wall, which affords ample opportunities for detection. One is less sure about the rest of the walls.

Entering the castle undetected would be no easy task for any army, but not impossible for a truly skilled ninja. So far, they do not think they were detected, but they can't be sure as it is not possible to see if anyone is peering through the arrowslits. Kazuyo is without any real ideas, until Nozomi with her sharp eyes points out that there is a second smaller access way leading out of the castle from the indications of a smaller footpath. From your experience, it is likely though that too is guarded with a lesser number of arrowslits and murder holes, although those are likely to be just as strategically placed for maximum effectiveness.

The two are discussing these facts, when Ozuno comes along, having been spotted by Nozomi as well. He makes his way towards the castle wall apparently, trying to scale it....