Critical Role - Assassin's Creed Shadows One-Shot

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

"This One-Shot is sponsored by Ubisoft and Assassin's Creed Shadows. Pre-Order Assassin’s Creed Shadows now to get access to the upcoming expansion! The full game launches on March 20th. - https://assassinscreed.com/shadows Join Game Master Matthew Mercer as he leads players Emily Piggford, Robbie Daymond, Peter Shinkoda, and Liam O'Brien in an Assassin’s Creed Shadows inspired One-Shot! BEACONWe’re excited to bring you even MORE with a Beacon membership! Start your 7-day free trial today at https://beacon.tv/join and get unparalleled access to the shows you love completely ad-free! You’ll receive NEW Beacon exclusive series, instant access to VODs & podcasts, live event pre-sales, merch discounts, & a private Discord. YOUTUBE MEMBERS / TWITCH SUBSCRIBERSTwitch Subscribers and YouTube Members gain instant access to VODs of our shows, moderated live chats, and custom emojis & badges:https://www.youtube.com/criticalrole/joinhttps://www.twitch.tv/criticalrole   Music by The Flight, Teke::Teke | ©2024 Ubisoft Music

Hey there, Critter Podcast listeners. We have a special new membership service at Beacon.TV, where you can get early access to all new podcast episodes, including Critical Role for the first time ever. Beacon members also get things like live event pre-sales, merch discounts, access to a private community Discord, and new exclusive series like Critical Role Cooldown. Think of it as our digital Critical Role land.

Head on over to Beacon.tv to check it out for yourself and start a 7-day free trial. Thank you so much for your support, for being a podcast listener, and for being a part of our community. Hey there, Critters! We are so excited to share with you our brand new podcast from the world of Exandria, The Re-Slayer's Take.

In this audio adventure, you'll be guided through the wild continent of Isilra, home to some of the most dangerous creatures. Here, the Slayer's Take is the most notorious monster hunting group in the realm. But when previously slain creatures start returning from the grave, it's up to six misfit mercenaries to band together and re-slay these supernatural threats as the re-slayers take.

So come follow along these audio escapades as the second coolest monster hunters this side of Exandria battle a growing undead army of dangerous creatures. The party is led by a duo of game masters, George Primavera and Nick Williams, with the main cast including Jasmine We'll see you next time. two weeks early and uninterrupted by ads. Pacific on twitch.tv slash Critical Role or youtube.com slash Critical Role. Twitch subscribers can access the video on demand immediately after the broadcast and it also becomes available on YouTube Mondays at 12 p.m. Pacific. Podcast episodes land right here on the Critical Role

Podcast Network on Thursdays a week after the initial broadcast. Okay, with that info dump out of the way, let's dive into the story. Hello and welcome to tonight's very special one-shot, sponsored by Ubisoft and Assassin's Creed Shadows, the ultimate feudal Japanese video game experience. A new creed rises over Japan as the country is on a brutal path toward unification, driven by the iron will of Daimyo Oda Nobunaga. Set against the backdrop of the turbulent late Sengoku period, Assassin's Creed Shadows lets you live the intertwined stories of Naoe, an adept shinobi assassin from the Iga province, and Yasuke, the powerful African samurai of historical legend. Explore the vast world centered around Kyoto with ten regions that each have their own biomes and visual themes. Now, as a reminder for our one-shot tonight, it is set in the world of Assassin's Creed Shadows, but we are not creating a historically accurate story,

nor are we telling a tale that is canon to the game. Tonight's events are instead just lovingly inspired by both. But thank you again to Ubisoft and Assassin's Creed Shadows for sponsoring this one-shot. Visit assassinscreed.com slash shadows for all the latest. And now let's go ahead and meet our wonderful players at the table for tonight's game. Let's start with some familiar faces in the studio

over here with Liam O'Brien. Hey, it's Liam. Today I am going to be playing Garrett O'Neil. Thank you, Liam. Over on this side we have Robbie Damon. Yeah, I'm playing Rufino, just Rufino. Wonderful. We have two wonderful new friends in our studio today who are also cast members from the game Assassin's Creed Shadows. Emily Pigford? Hello. I'm Emily Pigford. I play Tomiko in Assassin's Creed Shadows, and today I'm playing

Umi. Wonderful. Perfect. On this side, we have Peter Shinkoda. Peter Shinkoda here. I'm playing the character I designed, Ryuichi, in this game, but in the video game, I play Fujibayashi Nagato. You'll find out who he is. More context to come for those characters.

But tonight, we'll get to see your characters and your creations here in this world. So with that, let's go ahead and jump into tonight's story. Our tale takes place in 16th century Japan during the late Sengoku period, where over a century of political unrest Our tale takes place in 16th century Japan, during the late Sengoku period, where over a century of political unrest and clans warring for control

in the wake of a waning emperor's influence has left the peasantry suffering through famine and the masses of military warriors exhausted. In this era, land and name are key to your survival. You either own them or die trying to defend them. Less powerful daimyo are challenged to ally with stronger ones or risk decimation, and a handful of dominant clans have risen to prominence and power, though none as ambitious as the Oda clan.

And under the leadership of the ruthless visionary who seeks to unify Japan under his rule, the daimyo Lord Oda Nobunaga. Lord Nobunaga's quest to make every region of Japan as one was growing more and more successful, and one of the locales he sought to achieve this goal was the autonomous port city of Sakai, an international trading hub boasting emergent technologies and abundant wealth bolstered by non-bond trade, or trade with foreign merchants. The Independent Merchant Council of Sakai recently refused Lord Nobunaga's request to join his expanding rule, and a palpable tension sits across the city streets. But life goes on, and business within these walls is ever booming. It is here our story begins. Life goes on, and business within these walls is ever booming. It is here our story begins.

An hour from dusk, within the prosperous port city of Sakai, where ragtag troop of figures seek their individual fortunes. Now, standing against the beautiful Osaka Bay, and surrounded by a massive moat and large defensible walls, the bustling city of Sakai is a vibrant and wealthy city filled with people of all walks of life. Here, the busy streets wind through multi-level wooden structures of intricate sloping tiled and thatched roofs intermingled with Minka-style households and the occasional shrine. Plumes of smoke drift up from the numerous ironworks, and there, at the heart of the city's industry, the clanging of worked metals echoing

in the distance. Textile storefronts and food merchants line the roads, and closer to the port, as you get there, it's here at the water's edge of the Osaka Bay. You can see the vibrant mix of fishing vessels and trade ships coming and going. Some of these ships bear the design of foreign sales and make as do some of these denizens within the center of commerce. Such as this figure we see sauntering up with a brisk pace and determination. Liam, would you like to describe Garrett for us? is a tall, broad Irishman that washed ashore in Sakai the better part of two decades ago and has since made a life for himself here. These docks here along the water are where he spends his days working and living,

translating and helping facilitate the movement of goods across the sea. He is a very tall, muscled figure with straight red hair that hangs, pushed back down, and has a bit of light red goatee or scruff on his face. He wears his clothes fairly loose, and anyone seeing him walk by can see the edges of very, very faded Celtic knotwork tattoos poking out on his neck and chest and a little bit down one forearm. He carries a kanabo,

a thin kanabo, a wooden one, that is in his hand almost like a walking stick as he makes his way down the docks. He wears a fairly reserved expression at all times He wears a fairly reserved expression at all times and affords himself a grin and affords himself a grin at the familiar sights here at the bay.

You in one hand twiddle with the missive scroll that had called you to Takeda Shingen, who is one of the various owners and managers of businesses along this shipyard, his specifically being the ship repair business. He's offered you quite a bit of work in the past. He's made a reputation of himself, both as a reputable individual to get your seafaring vessels repaired, as well as a very trustworthy source to get things you can hide on these vessels, both in and out of the city and to foreign shores as well. Since his business does indeed require interacting with foreigners, often through Osaka Bay, you've become one of his favorites to pull from,

to discuss and directly converse with some of his less savory foreign clients as they come through. After two decades, I know a lot of people here in Tang. Truth. So this means that he has a bit of business, and it's been dry for a bit. A little extra coin, a little extra marlin in your pocket wouldn't hurt. So as you coast up the side of the bay, you can hear the creaking of ropes and some of the nearby ships pushing up against the heavy wooden docks with the tide. Not too far off, moving at

about the same pace and catching your eye just as you catch his. Ryuichi, would you please describe what we see as you are heading across the bay? Ryuichi is a handsome fellow. He's got a full head of hair and a ponytail, a samurai's ponytail bun. He's got wisps coming down. He's wearing a blue kimono, a little bit muted. I guess he has the accompanying garb is earthy colors. He's got some tabi on. But he is adorned with katana.

Usually samurais carry a katana and a wakizashi, a symbol of the two. It makes you the samurai. He only carries one. He's formidable. He also has on his back a naginata. That's like a wooden staff with a blade. That's a secondary weapon.

But his personality is reserved. It's muted. He's kind of walking down the street, not calling attention to himself, although I think he exudes a reserve of power, but he's not, it's not commonplace what he does. I think people can assume that, you know, he might be a combatant, but he's not asking for the...

He doesn't want attention. I think that he's reserved because there's things in his past that he wants to forget. He's compartmentalized them and he just wants to move on with life. Moralistically, he's very sound, but I believe he does not fear death. In fact, invites it. Ryuichi. I think it's that mood that drew you to Takeda's attention, as when you are delving in some, maybe not the most locally legal affairs of trade, or at least things that aren't sanctioned by the merchant council that is in charge of Sakai, it is important to have figures that sort of give the air of well-guarded to his interests. And you've been a good hire in the past, to the point where violence

has not been necessary. Just your presence seemed to keep probing thieves and other surrounding outside interests from getting too close to his interests as well. I like that. You have crossed paths once or twice with Garrett, who catches your eye as you're both arriving at around the same time of day with that same look of intent.

Okay. Ryuichi-san. Garrett-san. I don't think we're all met. A couple more. Hopefully not too long a wait. Time will only tell. As these stoic figures walk side by side

with a fair distance of just enough familiarity, not too far behind them, we see, catching up quickly, these also familiar figures, Umi, would you describe what we see as you begin to close the distance? Yes. As Umi emerges from the alleyways and sees some familiar faces, she fills the space with her mass. Though she is only about five foot three tall, she's very wide, built strong from heavy work on the farm.

She's new to Sakai, recently moved here to pursue her lifelong desire to be a warrior. Having come from a samurai family, but raised with all these brothers and a father and mother who passed when she was a child, they saw no need for her to delve into the training and to be a samurai on the battlefield as she did. So between all of her heavy work she would take what training she could and learned to wield a kanabo. So over her armored shoulder she has a massive kanabo, a great club studded with metal. At her side, beside her breastplate backplate, she has a wakizashi. And the rest of her attire is truly humble farmer's garb. And quite lightweight, she runs hot as a fire. And she's rather withdrawn, so focused on the task at hand,

so focused on looking for a master, looking to train, looking for an opportunity to fulfill this dream and to level up her skills to become a very competent samurai or female samurai, but she'll settle for being if she can't even just a bodyguard. So Sakai feels like a good place to do that. If there's people whose interests need protection, perhaps she can put some muscle in front. And indeed, your initial meetings looking for such work

has been met with a bit of disinterest to even some outright disrespect. But it was Takeda that saw a little bit of opportunity in you as his initial disinterest in hiring you was set aside when the higher bodyguards that he had used for one of his businesses found themselves quickly laid low by a series of bandits that had been waiting

along the outer road, whereas you had followed them in hoping to prove yourself, and stepping in, managed to dispatch and frighten off the rest of those that sought Takeda's goods. And upon returning them and throwing them upon his desk, he decided, maybe there's more to this young farm girl than meets the eye. Below her straw hat with the low brim.

He told you in time he'd have a calling to have you prove yourself, and indeed, you received your first true missive for possible business this day. Now, having kept your eye on those who he's done business with in the past, you've recognized both these figures, Garrett and Ryuichi, as having come in and out

of Takeda's business warehouse near the docks a number of times. You maybe have crossed paths or had some brief conversations, but now's your opportunity as you see them approaching, carrying very similar missives as the one you have in your hand. You, of course, hear the footsteps coming up from behind.

Maybe not the most stealthily trained figure. You normally see that here, this is a sign of someone approaching with intent. Mm-hmm. I see you. And I approve of you. I don't really have that many adversaries in the world anymore. But I nod.

Also, being somewhat of an outcast now, I also know how the females might feel. So, absolutely. She can walk with us and I approve. Let's go see what Takeda has for us. As you approach, expecting that same kind of arm's length energy that you receive from other established men in this space, there is a welcoming air to the side of these two half-strangers as the three of

you approach the outside of the large shipyard warehouse where Takeda Shingen does his work. And there, waiting on the outside, arriving maybe a good minute or so beforehand, we have Rufino, if you wouldn't mind describing what they see as they reach the outside. Yeah, just sort of leaning up against a corner with a half-eaten apple, just sort of taking in the scene that comes through. It almost seems like Rufino always has a shadow to step out of. In the humblest of garb, you could almost call it dirty. Maybe you would imagine he's got a little muscle, a little funk, a little smell to him. But what's contained is just this absolutely sort of feral, mop-topped,

sort of lively spirit that exudes danger, for sure. He's Portuguese, somewhere between late 20s and early 30s. You can't tell because it's obvious he's lived a hard life. He first arrived here on a missionary ship years ago, and much like most of his life afterwards, it was defined by bad timing and ill fortune. He came into the great rush into Kyushu when Catholicism was starting to become more and more accepted.

And then the minute that his group got there, suddenly it started to get pushed out and less favor. And he was abandoned by his group that he traveled, missionaries that he traveled with there. And he was only a child. He was a cabin boy on the vessel. And with no one there to take care of him as a young person, he basically wandered from village to village,

wandered the countryside, barely surviving until finding himself on the outskirts of Sakai at a natural onsen where he was taken in by the manager there and raised. So while he's Portuguese in appearance, he's Japanese by the way that he was raised. While he's Portuguese in appearance, he's Japanese by the way that he was raised, though he's never seen as that made, he'll be there. And as they approach,

he immediately clocks everyone in the group. Huh. Ryuichi. Garrett Umi. Interesting. Not who I was expecting, but, um, well, interesting. Still breathing? Yeah, I'm surprised.

Last time I saw you, you were face deep in a stein of ale, so, uh... Well, you have to forge yourself a little bit of kindness once in a while. Sure. Nice to see you, Garrett. Been a while. Does anybody know to see you, Garrett. Been a while. Does anybody know exactly what this is about, or? How much information is in this missive? Only given a brief note saying, possible work, should you have a little bit of time,

this afternoon, if possible. Being that Oomi-san is newer here in town, I don't really know her the way I know many people here, and I've just been sizing her up this whole time. And the thing that sends out the most to Garrett in this first minute of spending time together is the fact that I am six foot four and wielding this rather anemic-looking cannibal.

And you're about half my size, but hoisting this massive iron weapon over your shoulder. And I can't help but crack a half smile at it. It's a little demasculating, isn't it? I'm trying to move forward. My height, my gender, and the disadvantages that might put me at in this society, I try and lean into other advantages, such as my strength and my weapon, and hiding behind my hat. But yes, I sense that I'm in very good company to learn from.

But we're all very different in skill, so I can only imagine we'll all be working together. I don't think we're in competition with one another for this job. I don't believe so either. I think Niroichi is always suspicious. But I think my curiosity is overtaking the suspicion, and I have to follow through. This is the most uncommon

motley crew of people put together. I have to see what, you know, what is going on. Good job. Yeah. And it doesn't take too long before an associate of Takeda kind of brings you into the warehouse, past the heavy movement

of various ship hands moving materials and various tools for repairing and setting up and hoisting things coming and going throughout the entire dockside. You move and weave through, following the associate, until you're brought to the back chamber. The door slides open and you can see there, as table before Takita Shingen, a man in his late 50s or so, thinning long salt and pepper hair that's pulled back into a loose ponytail. He's dressed like a mid-level merchant throughout the city, a man that probably got his hands dirty in

his younger years and now is trying to imagine himself above that. But you can tell by the toughness to his fingers and texture that he's done a fair share of his own dirty work as the years have gone on. He has a thin mustache and he's in the process of filling out some papers before he rolls up, stands at his side and looks. Ah, you've arrived. Perfect. If you wouldn't mind closing the door.

He slides shut behind you and goes, The pleasure is mine to have you all come on such short notice. This is a possibility that I think could make all of you quite a bit richer, not to mention myself. There is a series of trade vessels to come in in the morning. As you, I'm sure, are well aware,

there's a lot of conflict up to the north, and conflict can be a very profitable business. They are bringing with them an order of, well, a fair amount of matchlock-tempo firearms that I will be able to distribute to a number of interested buyers. Unfortunately, they did not include ammunition in this shipment.

So I would like to prove the capabilities of some, not just in battle, but perhaps as some extensions of my will and interests in the city. The four of you to find somebody who might be interested in, in a short period of time, crafting and delivering a large volume of iron bullets discreetly. And should they prove difficult to find, have the skills to maybe muscle information

out of those that could lead you to such figures? Do you see yourselves available and interested in what could be a very simple job that can pay very well? Takadesan. I live to serve. Bullets. Thatadesan. I live to serve. Bullets. Indeed. That's it.

That's all I need. I just need to establish a new contact within this city. Somebody who, with your keen senses of judgment, could be trustworthy and capable, as I see that a number of you have a knack for finding hidden capability. And perhaps there might be a few of these weapons left over that could be a good keepsake.

Do you find these terms acceptable? Most important question to me would be once you match the bullets with these rifles. Who's gonna own them? Well, whoever wishes to pay for them. That is how business goes. See, Ryuichi over here suffers from long-term honor disorder. Yeah, he really can't shake these old ways.

Some of us are just like that, right? Yes, certainly. It's a fair question, though. With all due respect, this city will take care of that quickly enough. I hear that often. Mind you, you don't have to discard your honor, but learn to put it on hold when it's necessary.

There could be some vibrant opportunities in the future for a man that can set it aside momentarily. But this is a simple ask. Find somebody who can fulfill this order for me. Ensure me that you think they're capable and trustworthy and return. That is all I need. I embrace the opportunity to work

with these fine gentlemen and learn their skills, and to prove myself of service to your business in the future, and perhaps learn how to use these firearms as well. Indeed, it seems they are quite the way of the future. No disrespect, as he looks upon your katana. but I would go along with it. But if there's any ounce of treachery,

people will die around me. I trust your word is good. Because in my past, words have been just words. I have. That's a great point, Ryuichi. And you know, I picked up on a couple of words you said a couple times. You said simple so many times, over and over. And I don't know. I've done a few deals before.

I usually find when someone overstates something, maybe it might be the other way. And listen, I'm grateful for the opportunity, too. It's going to be a wonderful learning experience, I'm sure. Any pitfalls we might need to be aware of? Anybody else you might have sent out on this quest other than us? He continues to fill out paperwork. He's now half paying attention to your troop

now that he's put the business before. He starts looking at the paper and says, well, the first part is simple, of course. If once we have the contact, then production has to continue. When production is completed in various stages, I will need those to deliver them and keep them safe when they're being brought to the clients.

So with this first step proven, perhaps you would be capable of being responsible enough to keep them safe upon the delivery. And from there, the money just continues to flow. So this part is simple. Should you enjoy this transaction, there are more opportunities to come. Perhaps not so simple. So a provider, a contact, a blacksmith, somebody that can either be an independent source for this ammunition or can craft them with haste. Would be preferred. Take it one step at a time.

Exactly. Now I have much business to get to. The day grows short. Thank you so much. And if I am not present when you have completed your task, my associates will be up until the early morning on the outskirts of the warehouse. They'll go ahead and receive your confirmation. I don't think he likes me very much. Sorry. Not trying to blow it for anybody else.

You do try to poke the bear. The bear is closed behind you, and you are led out of the warehouse, back onto the streets of Sakai, next to the docks, and the beautiful city streets that extend beyond, the massive buildings and long walkways. Even though at this point in time, the sun has begun to set, as the colors shift, it is still quite a bustling town.

You can hear the conversation and chatter echoing from the core of the populace. The marketplaces themselves are vibrant and probably a very accessible place to search for such a contact. But the city is yours. What do you think, farm girl? You cool with it? Illegal armorer? Yes. I'm here to observe and to advance in this city. Whatever route to get to my goal. I was hoping for a display of your prowess, but I think we're just talking about a bit of legwork at this stage. Yeah, in fact, I'll be following behind as I'm new to the city, so forgive me, I'll be here to

just reinforce as necessary. I let you take the lead. Just a bit of commerce. You do understand there's repercussions if we do fail or to succeed in our mission. We're moving the highest tech weapons in the world. But after that, people die. And more people die. We cannot predict who they may be. But it's only going to create chaos.

Yeah, people die. You step on a butterfly, there's a tsunami across the sea. I get it, I get it. How does that work? I'm not really sure. Sweet friends! Gentleman steps up from the side, long black robes, sweaty and dirty from the thicker materials he should be wearing in what was a relatively hot afternoon, white collar around. I could not help but notice amongst you, perhaps some of you have taken to the worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. You immediately remember and acknowledge this to be one of the Jesuit missionaries that are just beginning to perpetually flow into the town in recent years. You see him, likes, balding, bearded, and is coming around holding his rosary wrapped around one hand and a book under the other, and is immediately coming forth and looks to you.

Oh, you! Yes. Of course, brother. Well met. And out of my tunic, I'll pull a tiny little silver cross. Give it a kiss. Nice to see you, yeah. Indeed, well, you are in good hands. Please, be so kind as to make sure they understand the way, the life and the love of our lord and salvation beyond that.

Looks to you and goes, Of course. I don't subscribe to that. My faith belongs somewhere else. You can move on to one of my comrades. Looks to you, looks to you, looks to your weapons. Have a good day. Backs up and.

Wait, wait, wait, hold on a second, hold on a second. Come back, come back here, come back here. What's your name? Jeremiah. Jeremiah? Where are you from, Jeremiah? From the British Isles. Oh. How are you finding it here?

Terrifying, I don't know. And he's been talking in very broken Japanese through this period. I was going to ask if this was in English, so Umi's just like. He's been talking in very broken Japanese through this period. I was going to ask if this was in English, so Umi's just like. It's half English, half Japanese. You're picking up bits and pieces,

but you definitely pick up the things that are important based on his garb and his mode. This has been an increasing presence within the city as of late. He looks and he's like, I was sent here, but I'm having a hard time, brother. Culture shock, that's true. Well, I think you are doing amazing work. Is there anything about this guy that could serve

any purpose for, as he approaches like, as he approaches us. Roll with Gael. Okay, yeah. I want to take in the whole picture. Well, that's all right. Eight. Eight? Not too bad. Looking at him, there is no way this man knows more

about the city than you do. And at the very least, seems to be a figure that could be a future scapegoat or a person that might have other uses if you need a Jesuit missionary. Got it. Sorry for eating up so much of your time. Oh no, that's fine.

This whole time since Garrett heard this fellow's broken Japanese with English accent on it, has just been skull-fucking him silently the entire time. Good day. Then wanders off. But the city streets lay before you. Any ideas? Gary, you got any?

Sure, lots of ideas. Metallurgy, I mean, you're the man that knows the man. I sell my stuff. Well, I have moved copper, silver, iron. I know people around town. I reckon I could probably stop in at any number of drinking houses and have a conversation or two. Sure, sure, yeah.

Make a cognition check for me if you have time. That's cocked, is what that is. Yeah. Oh, it's fun to say in the accent. Oh, terrible. That's a two. That's a two. Yeah, there's probably a few places. Metallurgy, I mean, like you've, hmm.

Let's walk. You're having a hard time recalling. Can I scan the sort of skyline for any kind of smoke from a forge or a foundry anywhere in town? Yeah, you can easily see a number of smokestacks kind of rising over there. It's getting harder as it gets darker in the day to kind of pick up the color,

but it's just still enough where you can kind of follow deeper into the core of the city, where most of the ironworks are represented. Clearly every town, prefecture, has a political system. There's usually a lord, a daimyo there. There's usually a castle overlooking each town. Would we go to any military installments to see if they're expecting anything?

You can certainly check into that. I also don't want to instigate a fight and turn them onto any illegal arms coming in. Of course. and turn them onto any illegal arms coming in. Of course. I want to do that. I want to service Takeda and get the hell out. So could we find a military gate or a military arms factory, or could we go to the castle?

Well, it's interesting. There is no daimyo of Sakai. It is a merchant council. It's one of the few autonomous cities, especially of this scale of wealth and prosperity at this time, which I think is why it's been on the outskirts of the main conflicts

that have swallowed the majority of Japan as of late. But there is a military guarded presence here, and the Merchant Council does have hired mercenaries to look over their vested interests and to protect the town. What's their existing opponent? Somebody that questions their existence. Who's their biggest enemy? You know, make a cognition check.

Go ahead and roll with your cognition bonus. Okay. A 12, right? Yep. Then add your... Okay. Five and a two, so I got a seven. A seven, not too bad. Most of the enemies of the Merchant Council

are foreign merchants and other political interests that would like to ally or absorb such a wealthy place. You have heard rumors and discussion of Lord Nobunaga, who has been making quite a large political play for a number of the outlying cities of this level of trade and wealth. Political play? You mean this by outright attacking political play? No, by conversing with. There was representation within this city as of late. There were meetings between the council. There has not been an assault on this town, but there has been rumor and discussion of representatives of Nobunaga, if not himself possibly being present

and meeting with the council. So there could be an agreement underway. You're not entirely certain. Above the table, we're trying to find someone who can, in addition to whatever their legit business is, also on the side, squirt out some bullets, right? Seems to be, yeah, or at least have a contact that they can get in there.

And as you're looking around and walking through the city, people are coming up to you or looking in your direction, trying to sell their wares. You can see there are shop fronts that are open. Glancing around quickly, you can see there's smells of cooked fish off to one side. You pass carts with millet and daikon radishes and azuki beans, taro, all manner of farmers and various other merchants

that just fill the streets, the dense populace of this area. The outside of Sakai is massive, spreading farmland, and everyone comes in here for the day to try and sell their wares or trade it. And you're immediately, as you're looking around, swallowed in by the vibrancy of the populace. One man in his late 30s with very edged mustaches and a dark mop of hair up top comes up and says,

Friends! Friends, hello! I'm looking to sell some of the finest mulberry silk and mulberry leaves, if you'd like, or other quality crafts. No, I'll continue on that one. Crafts? Correct. What other quality crafts? We're not talking livestock and plants. You can move military hardware? I'm a simple farmer. Sorry.

And he continues kind of walking along, having found the wrong sort of folk, he seems, that he was looking for. Perhaps rather than finding a forge, could we find a merchant who's selling wares, like metal goods, and try and trace and maybe see if this person is hungry enough to be peddling their wares if we could convince them to make some bullets for us rather than looking around trying

to find a black blacksmith walking around knocking on doors saying hey can you make some bullets for us not exactly as clandestine as we need to be i figure if our employer could just buy these, he'd do it himself. So obviously we need to find a roundabout way of doing this. And above table check, we're talking like flintlock pistols. We're talking like balls and shot. Yeah, these are like iron balls specifically for like tempo. So relatively like high-tech weaponry, low-tech ammunition. Correct. So relatively high-tech weaponry, low-tech ammunition. Correct.

Where if we find someone who knows how to manipulate metal, they should be able to make this ammunition for us. Correct. It's also right about this time, it's kind of hard not to notice. As you're heading through this area, you notice the crowd is keeping a wide berth

around the exterior of one officious-looking structure, where you notice a troop of several armored soldiers, a number of ashigaru, straw hats not too dissimilar to yours with yari spears at their side and armored, like a cluster of them guarding the exterior of this building. Since you're the most connected here, make a, I say make a cognition or a guile check.

I'll accept either for this. All right. Eh. Seven. Seven's not bad. It hits your mind just as the figure emerges. Two figures actually emerge. One, you do not recognize, is stepping out of the building, a fully, heavily armored samurai.

A daunting figure, tall and wide, full helmet. You can see across their face, this mask that has teeth carved into it with large, almost tusk-like curves out the side, a toothed grin that curves up with a wiry mustache that sprouts out the edges, cold eyes from beneath. The menpo mask itself, it holds intensity.

The figure next to him that you do recognize, a well-dressed middle-aged man that you know as Imai Sokyu, who is a member of the merchant council of the city and is very much mingled in the business and trade of the town. Imai Sokyu. Imai Sokyu. Sokyu. Imai Sokyu.

They both emerge from the building, talking to each other. And as they do, other townsfolk see the samurai figure and just step away, he carries a presence with him. And the other Ashgaru soldiers follow in kind as they continue to walk down the street together, just having a casual conversation. It's rare to see a samurai in full garb,

but also this one is, in particularly, his armor is designed to set a presence. So he's more of a peacekeeping presence as opposed to somebody that's... I guess he's an assassin, maybe not technically a samurai, because there's these merchants that are controlling the city, but you say that he's... It's unique that he's coming out.

To be walking in the middle of the town at this point with one of the heads of the merchant council, which do not have any sort of, you know, classical samurai on this scale under their employ, it is odd. You get the feeling that he's either not local or somebody is wearing the garb of a samurai. Make a cognition check for me.

Okay. All right. The 12, right? Mm-hmm. Come on. Five plus two, seven. Seven, okay. That's not too bad. The best you can make out,

you do not recognize this figure at all. You've never seen them, but you've never seen them, which means they are definitely not from Sakai. This is not their home. So they are likely visiting. And they're visiting and conversing very casually with one of the members of the council here. So there was some big business going on around this time.

Pardon me, did you say the face was visible? Of the... Samurai. Imae, samurai, no. You can see the eyes just barely beneath the helmet and there is a mempo mask in the front that completely obfuscates the front of the face. I don't know. They're all chill.

Yeah. They're just talking as the rest of the Ashigaru soldiers are walking alongside them. The fact that he's out there, and then we just got proposition for this one deal. That's too much for one day in normal Sakai. I need to find out a little bit more. Before I fulfill this order from Takeda, I'm going to look at you all. We need to figure out exactly where we stand in this, whatever it is. Is there any way these guys,

one can be sent in to feel out? Cause a commotion or an incident. You want to do a classic walk and follow maybe. Perhaps. Yeah, all right. I don't want to be prominently, I don't want to be out there or I'm gonna look like a challenge to them.

So I'm gonna fall back. How's your play acting skills? I'm just sorry, we don't exactly blend in. Yeah, we don't exactly blend in. Yeah, we don't exactly blend in. I'm quite agile. Offer him your services. Are we saying let's go and eavesdrop? Yeah, you're very stealthy.

As soon as I hear the waffling, I'm gonna just break off from the group and try to slowly start following them through the shadows. I think we took too long. Make a guile check. A guile check? Okay, cool. My intense full stealth here. Hey, that's not bad.

Who we could approach and say, how can I join the ranks here? That's a 10. I'm a female, but I'm formidable. Yeah. Okay. You slip into the shadows and, it's a combination of both keeping off of the road

and keeping out of sight, but also blending in with the crowd best you can for being visually a non-local. But still managed to pull it off pretty well, obscuring your features. I think my dark, stick straight hair, I wear it down and low, and I can obscure myself in my traditional villager garb.

So you do a great job of hiding. However, a voice perks up between the three of you that goes, You look funny. And you can't help but, Garrett, look down this towering, red-headed, massive mountain of an Irishman at a boy, probably no older than 11 years old,

who's looking up at you, his arms cocked on his hip. He's got that kind of attitude that like a pre-teenager has when his parents aren't around. He's like, so what's your deal? Where are you from? It's true, isn't it? Do you know?

I have a head like a torch, and at night it burns and can be seen for miles around. No. That's no. Yummy. I feel compelled to step in at this point as this child is perhaps blowing our chance to be subtle and get more information

and would like to intimidate him away or intimidate him into silence so we can fulfill our purpose of gaining information. All right. What are you doing trying to intimidate this child? So I think I might roll for might and see if I can intimidate him away just with stepping forward alongside. I mean, Garrett is formidable, but just to growl from below the brim of my...

All right, go ahead and roll with might. Great. Oh, that's 14 might for this little one. Wait, wait, wait, you're doing this to the child? So I might just step forward, drop the conical on the ground with a little thump,

and exhale in his direction. He goes, Um, I, look, I didn't know. And she raises a finger to her mouth. Uh, Tommy Top! And then turns back and looks back, and you see a young woman in her 20s or so, dark hair, normal work clothes, rushes up and goes, like, Hey, gee, what's up? I'm so sorry. This one belongs to you?

Oh, no, no, no. Belongs to a friend. They're Smithies down the road. He's just a rambunctious kid. Hey, gee, would you not bother the clearly armed and intense figures walking the street? Short temper, this one. And they see that he's looking back at Umi, and he goes like, Yeah, his head's on fire. Like, of course it is.

That's why you don't bother them. And moves Heiji a little bit behind his head. I'm sorry, bother you about that. We'll get out of your hair. That's why you don't bother them." And moves Hage a little bit behind her side. I'm sorry, body, about that. We'll get out of your hair. I love that interesting information about blacksmith family, did you say? Did you say blacksmith?

You said blacksmith. Did you say? Smithy. Smithy family, just down the road? Yeah, she stops and goes like, Oh. Yeah. Hage's parents, They're blacksmiths. We'll just hold on there a minute, then. I think that we can afford a moment or two.

Could you point us to this blacksmith? I don't know. Hagi looks pretty spooked. He's like, He can trust us. Does the fireman get to come? Absolutely. You ever go for a ride on a mountain? Does the fireman get to come? Absolutely. You ever go for a ride on a mountain?

You pick Hage up and put him on your shoulder. He's this spindly boy who clutches on around your neck and is like, whoa! It's on fire! Careful with me hair, it burns! Starts hustling it as you carry along. That's just Lysa. Oh! It's on fire! You can't blow me hair, it burns! Starts hustling it. As you carry along, Tomek goes,

Lysa. Crosses her arms a bit and smiles like, Sure, I'll introduce you to Rin at the very least. Thanks for letting your friend give him a little bit of a ride. He doesn't get to wander too much if he's not helping at the smith. So anyway. So as you walk back with them towards the smith, we're going to come to you as you are.

I look over my shoulder going, where the fuck is that one? Yeah, yeah. So I'm trying to stay tight, like within 15, 20 feet, kind of in the shadows, blending in with the group. And I'm trying to clock any kind of info because this has piqued my curiosity too like I do feel like I know a lot of people in town and this is, I don't know, just one of those serendipity kind of days

yeah, yeah, yeah they're walking they're walking, talking to each other and it seems to be like their conversation is casual, but then every bit of time Imai kind of leans in pretty close and seems to be like their conversation is casual, but then every bit of time, Imai leans in pretty close and seems to whisper a bit to the samurai.

The samurai seems unaffected. There's like, there's two different levels of conversation happening here, I guess you could say. Yeah, but no information about anything moving to the city. And I'm really trying to peek in for anything that might- Listen to their conversation, Imai? Yeah, but no information about anything moving to the city. I'm really trying to peek in for anything. Listen to their conversation. I want to get close enough to look.

Roll cognition for me to see. Cognition. Well, that's fine. Let's go. Oh boy, I'm just poopy. Ah, fuck, but whoops. A five. A five. Damn, I know, not great. So Whoops. A five. A five.

Damn. I know, not great. So you try to listen in, move through, and as you are getting close enough where you're starting to pick up bits of the conversation, you turn around the corner, and one of the Ashigaru soldiers steps in front. Kind of gives you the notion of fuck off, essentially. Oh, so I'm made.

Or at the very least, he's like, you're too close. Okay. I just give him just a beaming smile. But then also just a little bit maybe inhibited and just wave away and just hands in po- no pockets, but hands wander off back to the group. Okay. Yeah. Useless side quest.

All right. Wandering through the streets of the city, the sun slowly comes to set and the night comes into the streets of Sakai. At this point now, some of the shops have closed, but also some of the evening establishments have continued their business. You can catch all manner of people

still going about their business and work for the day. But Tomiko is just walking along the way, conversing a bit with the rest of the troop here. So what? I see a motley crew walking through town here at this hour. What's your business? What do you need a smithy for?

Well, business does bring together strange bedfellows. We are actually hunting around town for someone who is especially versatile in metalworking, have a unique need, and business is stretched a bit at the moment. We have a possibility. Well? If we can find the right craftsman.

We'll see if we can. Oryne and Nakamura are very talented blacksmiths. Most of their work tends to be in the realm of what sells well, which is their specialty, is tobacco knives. However, they make all sorts of odds and ends, and I'm sure whatever sort of custom masks you might have, at least they can be of help.

Here it is coming right upon it, and off to the left-hand side of the main road where she's led you, you can see this compact, very modest, but very functional smithy built into a longer building with the front of it there. You can see a woman in her 30s or so is just sitting on the side with a display spread of various small blades and utensils. Right as you begin lumbering up, she sets up and goes,

Heiji! Heiji, what are you doing? Sorry, I heard a giant. It was amazing. She's like, okay, well, thank you for giving my son a ride. And Tomiko, and she's like, I tried to follow him. He gets like how he gets. And she tussles his hair a bit and he smiles up at her. Anyway, Ryn, these fine folks here are looking for someone of your craft and skills, apparently.

So I guess a little bit of good fate has brought you all together. Feel free to go about business. And I'll try and keep your son in order. And he's already run off and is just being a terror in the street. Rin sits up and wipes her hands. You can see she has a little bit of that soot

on the edges of her chin, and she has cloth wrapping around her head. She's not wearing her leather apron, but is hung up on the side, and already the heat that emanates from the inside of her complex itself is noticeable as you approach. But she sits up, adjusting her back a little bit.

So what can I help you with? Could we take a moment inside her very heated complex? I mean, have a word with her? You can ask her that? Yeah. She's like, sure, yeah, we can step in a bit. Just takes a moment back, and you can see Tomiko and Heiji are now just sitting outside a bit.

Heiji's now looking back, and he's trying to be curious about what you're all doing and his eyes are still kind of locked on the strange red-haired man. What are you doing at this time? I'm not back yet. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm kind of like lost him a little bit. So I'm making my way back through the market looking for signs of which direction they want to go.

I feel like I've got an idea but I'm just not quite caught up yet. I'm also going to try to steal some shit. Okay. Okay. Nothing major. What are you trying to steal? I'm just trying to shoplift some food.

Sure, go ahead and roll a guy out for me. Yeah, great. Oh, that's what I'm good at. Finally found it. 14. 14, yeah. Whatever you want, you pocket it with a 14. 14, yeah. Easily, whatever you want, you pocket it with a 14. I'm not greedy. I'm going to take one, two, three, four. I guess I saw them, were they engaging with the kid yet when I left?

I'm going to grab half a dozen onigiri and one apple for myself. Okay, fair enough. As you begin to find your way back, I'm going to grab half a dozen Onigiri and one apple for myself. Okay. Fair enough. As you begin to kind of find your way back, while you separated for a bit, you come to find the exterior of this smith works. So well done. They've found something. They're all standing like this, kind of looking in.

I'm just going to pop up behind Garrett and go, huh, found the smithy. And I'll toss them each an onigiri. Yeah, yeah. Y'all get a snack as you're all walking inside. As they're all stepping in, you see kind of across the street a little further down, the samurai and Imai Sokyu are like stepping out of a nearby street

and are kind of joining into the main intersection, just across the way. And they've stopped for a second with the rest of the soldiers there. While you all step into the smithy. Do we see that soldier, or only he sees it and keeps it to himself? Only he sees it, because the three of you

have stepped into the building at the time. Okay. I'll walk into the building with you. Is there a shuttable door? No, it's an open storefront. Oh, okay. Well, I'll just duck out of view. Yeah, I don't want them.

I made my presence known. So Rin's wiped her hands like, what can we help you with? Thank you for giving us a bit of your time. We are trying to facilitate a bit of business this evening. We have been vetting different metalworkers, and we're on the hunt for somebody with a bit of versatility.

Versatility? I mean, we're pretty versatile in what we can do. We can check in with my husband, Nakamura. He's currently with a client on the south end of the city. But I'm pretty crafty in my own right. What is it you're looking for? Well, we saw your wares outside. Looks fine enough, but you'd be able to improvise a bit.

Sure, sure. She takes a little cup of now-cold tea off to the side and sips it. Hmm. Amul. A simple product in large volume. Direct, I like it. Oh.

I'm not used to it, but it'll do. You see a look behind her eyes of acknowledgement. She's not got much going on. Yeah. I think that makes sense. Certainly a lot of soldiers coming through town these days. Is there some kind of naval operation underfoot I'm unaware of?

That's a great question. It's one that I want answered. I haven't gotten it yet, but that is the most important question. But, you know, I'm dealing with the issues at hand right now. Can we find somebody that can supply a certain amount of ammo? We're more of middle people. She nods for a minute. Okay. It wouldn't take too long to, at this point, you hear some gasps outside,

and people's attention. Everyone looks around and you hear Hades' voice go, outside and people's attention. Everyone looks around and you hear Hades' voice go, What? And as you all turn and look across the street where that conversation was happening, a standard civilian of the town has been knocked onto the ground, into a bit of muck. And on all fours, pushed down.

The armored samurai stands over him, and as he glances down intensely, cracks his head to one side. Your disrespectful gaze is noted, Wyrm. Now bow before me as you would before Lord Nobunaga. People freeze around. All the various movement and chatter has just come to an immediate standstill.

And the gentleman who was pushed to the ground turns around, looks up at him fearfully, and leans down and goes into a very, very deep bow over the samurai, The samurai nods, looks to the Imai Sokyu to his right, nods to him, good. And with one fell swoop, carves through and cuts this man down in the street. The collective gasps.

You see Heiji step into Tomiko. Tomiko guarding him for a minute and taking a step back. He flicks the blood from his blade and looks at it. It needs to be sharpened. Sheathes it and just walks away with Imai, who's a bit disturbed but continues conversation. The rest of the soldiers staying behind across the road. Rin leans out a bit and goes, Tomiko, why don't you go take Heiji over to Otori Shrine for a bit? Play with him there. Maybe just get him out of the thoroughfare.

Tomiko goes, of course. Just get him out of the thoroughfare. Of course, Heiji, why don't we go play somewhere else, right? And he goes, okay. She takes him by the arm and they both leave. Slowly, the cityscape begins to reclaim a semblance of its energy, but there is definitely a shaken mood to the space. Yeah, Sokka is obviously a bustling town, a lot of commerce, but is open murder in the street?

Is this like, it's not a common occurrence? It's not a common occurrence, however. It's a violent place? Violence does break out here. Okay. There is, unfortunately, in some spaces, a samurai activity referred to as sword testing.

That some samurai use as a power play in public to where they want to check whether or not their blades are battle ready. And sometimes we'll use people that don't matter to check that. Okay. What I caught and bristled at was the name of Oda Nobunaga from him, so I'm curious if this samurai is affiliated with Oda Nobunaga, and if that then means that there's some connection between Oda and Imai, like with the Merchant

Council. There's some move about to be made on Sakai from Oda Nobunaga. Could very well be. Based on the terminology he used in the street, it seemed to imply some sort of connection of perspective between him and, as he said, Lord Nobunaga. But he has now continued up the street with Imai, while the rest of his soldiers stayed behind there and keeping an eye in the middle of the walkway. Rin has stepped back into the structure here and kind of, Is there anybody that we can ask about what is happening? What operation is going down? Is anybody familiar with what's happening?

Why the samurai's come out? Could we ask a soldier's? If you want to. Yeah. That's fair enough. Sure. So what would I, can I roll? Can I just go up and say what is...

You can just walk and approach if you'd like to. Now, where they stand, especially because of what just transpired, there is a rather wide berth. People who are still walking keep a fair distance. How many of them are there? You would see there are six figures. There are three Ashigaru with Yari spears. You see two Ashigaru with bows. And there is one kind of

appears to be an armored samurai helmetless at the moment that is not anywhere near as ostentatiously decorated as the masked figure that left with Imai. Me being such an imposing figure, perhaps, Jaret, could you ask them? I'll be there by then. I think I might stand out just a little bit.

I would personally love to approach. I feel very, yeah. You will go, too. Because I so want to just be a warrior and learn how, and so to approach them seems appealing to me. Okay. As you all begin to step out of that ring, it goes like, what are you doing? What are you doing? Side question, because I don't want to march up to these soldiers at all,

but are there shops on this street in addition to where we are? Oh, there are many shops. Okay, so what I'm going to do, because I don't, I'm nervous about this going tits up, I'm going to just walk across the road and pretend to browse wares, so I am close in the vicinity, but not having eyes on it. I'm just tracking it.

And you're used to drawing eyes anyway, just by the nature of you standing out like the reddest of sore thumbs amongst the populace. But yeah, you go ahead and duck into one of the nearby shops. I'll walk with you, but I'll detach from you. Keep 100% my attention on you, but I do not want to be going with you

to antagonize them, so I will let you. But I am there to back you up, so I'm absolutely in with this. You stay out of the way, and you are watching your samurai guy. You're off stealing apples, right? I am sitting right next to the head of the forge, not Tomiko. Rin. Rin, yeah. I'm just sitting next to Rin, finishing up my Oni gear, watching you guys walk out into the streets.

You notice her just dispersed, right? There's other people walking through the throat. Oh yeah, there's all sorts. People are still going about their day. You get the sense that moments of violence like this are uncommon, but not to the point where the shock halts people's day. And the city's kind of, everyone's slowly going about their business, but there is that tension that sits in the air.

As I'm sitting there, what kind of material? Do we remember what they asked for? Was it lead or iron? Iron. Iron? I'm watching you guys walk off. He's rolling his eyes to himself, because we're off mission. He's like,. My last little bit of rice from my own agiri, As I'm sitting next to her and talking to her, I'm going to roll into a little ball, roughly the size of a piece of ammunition.

I'm just going to hold up my hand, and I'm going to lean over to her hand and go, one of these iron. A couple hundred, a couple thousand. That's the deal. I'm going to flip it to her. She kind of catches it, and she's paying attention to you, but she's also watching your friends approaching

this cluster of armed warriors. She's like, Okay, I'll keep this in mind. I'll talk to my husband when he gets back. She, without even thinking, takes a bite. You see her eyes darting off in the direction of where Tomiko and Heiji went. There's this, she's a bit distracted at the moment,

but then eventually comes back to you and goes, I'll talk with my husband. See, there's something going on in this town. These guys, they just want to complete the mission. I have reservations about completing the mission. I'll complete it if it's fine, but I have to check out every angle, see if we're not going to start a national war.

Of course. I don't want people to do that. I got you, baby. I'll be an angle on your angle. Okay. To that, I'll slip out of the room and duck into an alley, and I'm going to wait for you two to do whatever it is

you're going to do, but I got your back, whether you clock that or not. So the two of you approach with Umi leading the forward momentum. I feel like this is the turning point. If I get the information about what battle might be about to transpire, that we might be facilitating by getting munitions to it.

Because as much as I would love to be a warrior, I don't like Oda Nobunaga. That's who I feel I am against. I don't want to aid him. So before going through with this first mission of checking in with the forge and getting all this ammo, I would like to approach the man who is not as heavily adorned that you described. As you approach this gentleman in his 30s, a scruff on his chin and his upper lip, longer, oily hair. He probably hasn't bathed in a few days or so,

and the armor's probably sweating in its own right. It's not heavy, but definitely enough to show station as a samurai. He's commanding the squad? He is the highest. It looks like amongst them, yes, because all the rest of them are either mercenaries or ashigaru soldiers with straw hats on, or they're probably taken off now at this point in the day.

Staffs and stuff. What's he armed with? Oh, he has a katana. Okay. Okay. Katana and wakasashi. But as you step, they're all looking about and conversing with each other. They all look a bit like they're waiting for something. And as soon as you begin to step forward,

like the samurai glimpse over, he turns his head to the side at the sight of this five-foot-three armored mountain of a woman. Kind of looks, can we help you? That samurai I mentioned, Lord Nobunaga. Just dive right in. I'm so scared.

I'm scared the shit out of me. This is the thing, Hume is not very subtle. And so that's why he's, like, reluctant to talk. Garrett's holding a melon 20 feet away, and his eyes just go. She's just, like, very direct. I love it. I love it. She's, like, 20 years old.

She's lived on a farm her whole life, just surrounded by brothers. She's just, like, left the farm. She's just, like, hating Obunaga. But, you know, she's very inspired by the subtlety and the intelligence of you all, so she's like, I'm gonna try and step in and have a slick conversation with this samurai. He looks at you as you say the name

and he nods and gives a little smirk like, indeed, we are here on a diplomatic mission for Lord Ora Nob are here on a diplomatic mission for Lord Oda Nobunaga. A diplomatic mission. Mm-hmm. Very interesting. Why do you ask?

And now she thinks, how can I get back? This poor gal is like, diplomatic mission? What does that mean for this city? So, Matthew's like, she's like, okay. She really wants to have the help of this, who she sees as a mentor, though he doesn't know it. I'm going to say the right thing.

I'll say the right thing. You want to join, and where can you, like... Yeah, so, like, trying to, like, get more information to play, ah, a diplomatic mission. Are you in need of fighters? Yes. Good. Oh, we're in it now.

Okay. Make a guile check for me. Okay. See if I can boost my zero guile. Let's go. Nine. Nine's not bad. Nine's nice.

He gives you a look, says, You're certainly armored as a warrior. I'm trained as one, too. And where does your alliance lie here in the unification of our great nation? My alliance is with the greatness of this nation and all who pull towards that. Hmm.

That's a good answer. Looks at the other soldiers. Well then, stay close. The night should get interesting. Oh. That's all he says. She bows and retreats. Okay. So she comes to share that with us or with myself? Do you choose to go and share that with the rest of the team?

I will share that with the rest of you, yes. In case of interest to y'all. So diplomatic? Yeah, that's so weird. Diplomatic, I heard that in Star Wars. Diplomatic. Diplomatic means war. Diplomatic sounds as though it means discussion, but to be receiving, to being open to recruits,

sounds like there is a battle coming. So you can get in close with him. Yes, perhaps. But Nobunaga, I also don't have affection for him. We don't like him, no. When she says, when he says, when they're talking out loud like this, you can get in close and she says yes,

is there like the equivalent of an insight check on this? I wanna know like how interested she, can I clock? Oh sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So then I want you to go ahead and roll cognition. Okay. And you roll guile once more. Great, okay. I wanna see how honest that answer was.

10, guile. I rolled a see how honest that answer was. 10, Gael. I rolled a natural 10 plus two. Ooh, so 12. So yeah, give him an honest read of your intent here. Right, my honest read. I don't support Lord Nobunaga. My intention is to get closer, to get more information. And perhaps to thwart Lord Nobunaga's intent.

All right. So I glean that that was your intention in talking with them. And I go, yeah, I know I could trust you, farm girl. So, what's the play? Rin, at this point, by the way, who is in the back of her shop, watches you all walk back after conversing with these soldiers, unharmed after watching another civilian cut down,

kind of nods. I'm going to go and retrieve my husband. And Heiji, I think I'm going to close shop early. Maybe, perhaps we have enough business to not have to worry about being open for the night. And she begins to shut her up. About this time, you hear in the distance, .

Another horn goes off. SAM and LAURA, and the soldiers across the street look at each other. The samurai reaches to his side and pulls out his own horn and blows into the air loudly. As soon as he finishes his horn, one of the warriors next goes, Is it time? The samurai goes,

It seems it is. At which point, they all draw their weapons and just start carving through the closest civilians they can. Screams begin to erupt throughout the street. You begin to hear the intensity of combat erupting here in the middle of Sakai. And in the early night, as bloodshed and cries take space, Rin is now like put against the back and other people are just running out.

Children, merchants, all certain types. What do you do? So, hold on a minute, Matt. Hold on a minute, Matt. Hold on a minute. So, we're in a fairly wide open public thoroughfare, multiple shops, including the smithy. The blinged up samurai and a few additional guards are just slaughtering anybody around them. The masked samurai is gone. The samurai that's been head of this contingent is there with five other figures

that are Ashikaga mercenaries. This is clear it's Nogumagana. You can gather at this point that some sort of siege is beginning. To just kill everybody. They were floated throughout the city and it just kicked off and we're watching. Our slice of life is over.

I think a lot of people's slice of life is over today. We had a good run. I think it's clear that the bullets are needed for this battle. What if it's to defend Sakai? What if our merchant... This is the thing. Who's it for?

Now we don't know who it's for. If they're already slaughtering people right thing. Who's it for? Yeah, now we don't know who it's for. If they're already slaughtering people right now. Who's he supplying? And that is a larger hovering problem, but at the moment, there are people getting slaughtered. Preserve our own lives and save anybody else who's in the line of fire. Yeah, we're on the battlefield now.

Another person nearby just gets carved down by the shoulder. This older woman who's in the line of fire. Yeah, we're on the battlefield now, so. Another person nearby just gets carved down by the shoulder. This older woman who's trying to flee just gets cut down to the street. You see the samurai pull his blade back and is looking for his next target. Behind him, you see one of his soldiers is now setting fire to one of the buildings across the way as flames begin to burn and curl up to the thatched roof. I gotta go out. I gotta run in. I'll tell you what, until this point, I was like, don't make a scene

because you stick out like a sore thumb amongst the local authorities. These are not local authorities. Yes. Straight out. All right, so I need everybody to roll initiative. All right. Roll your d12 and add your initiative to it.

Probably which one's with 12? Six. This is a roundish one. There you go. Okay. Come on! Come on here. Okay. Six. This is a roundish one. There you go, baby. Okay. Come on! Come on here. Okay.

Fuck! Rolled a two. I rolled a 10, which is good, because I'm at negative four, so I got a healthy little six. All righty. So with that, we have 10 to five. So you got a six?

Yes. Wow, you're out of the gate, hell yeah! Okay, so. We're rolling 12 for 10. I was just a six? Yes. Wow, you're out of the gate, hell yeah! Okay. We're doing 12 or 10, I'm sorry. D12. I feel like I'm also closer to them. I rolled a natural 11 with a zero. Oh, so yeah, so you're up for,

so all right, so we have Rufino. He's quick. Yeah, he is. Rufino, followed by Umi. And then, yeah, so that's 10 to five, five to one. Okay. I had a two plus a three. Whoa! Oh, you had a two plus three, so you're five, right? All two, one. Okay. I had a two plus a three. Oh, you had a two plus three, so you're five, right? All right, great. Yeah. Yeah, so that'll put you, all righty.

So, put you each in. Take me away. And we have... We made it to the center of the street. Take me away? Is it dead? The fight hasn't started yet. All right, and you are? Negative two. Negative two. What?

You have any more? Such a dork, he's still chewing. I rolled a one, minus three. What was the order? All righty. Yep. So, Rufino, you are up first. You can see now these six warriors are spread out.

Now there's three with spears. One that finished lighting the building has now set his torch down to the side, and they're now knocking arrows into their large bows. Plus the samurai up front, so six total. It's going down everywhere. If honor were a stat, Rufino's would be in the negative for sure. But seeing that old lady cut down, that's where he draws the line, because it reminds him of the old lady that took care of him when he was a child.

And it just keeps, this blood boils, and I'm going to see if I can, is there any way I can make my way to any of the rooftops of the shops around? Could I use my? Yeah, you can totally do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, so go ahead and roll agility to try and,

agility or might, your choice, to try and get to the rooftop. That's cocks. Yep. Oh, and that's a. Man, steal some onigiri, I'm off the chain. Climb a roof. That's a two. That's a two. So you go and leap to the nearest rooftop,

or go to head towards it as the torch from the other bowman gets thrown up there, and that ignites. There's now the faintest bit of crackling flames starting to catch all around you in the space. As the entire central space here is starting to burn in your area, you have no rooftop to get to, but you still get an adrenaline point, because now that we are in combat, any rolls acquire adrenaline. So nothing up there. What do you want to do? Shit. Time to get my hands dirty. No, I failed. So fate said I cannot parkour. Though I would have very much liked to. It's not, uh, uh, that's not what I'm built for.

I'm gonna just kinda like dip through the crowds, like super sneaky style. I'm gonna go for that guy that cut down that old lady. Okay, go for it. Yeah, let's go. Because you've already rolled once, this would be pushing the advantage on this, right? Okay, so I lose.

So because you're still doing it the same turn, your first roll, uh, well the first roll failed actually, so no, so, so, uh, you know what? Oh, I'm done. Yeah. Oh, you suck. Sorry. So you try and get there. He does it, though.

Yeah. I'll say, by the way, I think I've entered before, but I created the system for this game. So also we're learning it as we go, and I can pick things up. I'll say because that wasn't an actual major action, you didn't even get a chance to do it in this space. I won't consider that your first action,

so you still get your turn, because that would be kind of a fun. So go for it. Yeah, I was trying to make a move to make him play. Yeah, that's all right. Cool. Yeah, so I'll duck through it. I'll go in for that guy.

And so I didn't tell you guys to talk about your weapons. I never did. I have a very common-looking hunter's bow, like a Yumi bow on my back. And then, uh. That's why you're going up. Yeah, yeah, uh-huh. And then I have a quiver that is also very, very basic,

and you can't see the arrows, but it doesn't matter. Both of them have hidden the tanto that I have, like strapped to the small of my back, and I'm gonna pull it out, and while I'm so plain clothed, and like nasty looking. This is the finest weapon you've ever seen. My entire life earnings have been put into this weapon, and it is beautiful and gilded. I'm going to pull it out. I'm going to go stick this guy. I'm going to try my best. Let's go.

All right, cool. I'll dip in on him. Pretty good. That's a nine? A nine definitely hits him. Cool. Cool. So that's just one. I am going to push my advantage, because why not? He takes the wound. For those who aren't aware, this is the d12 system, d12 plus attributes. I should explain this to the audience who are watching, now that we're in the thick of it. It's a test for failure based on the difficulty or the dodge of the opponent that you're attacking, but if you succeed in a roll, you can push the advantage, which means you can do an additional follow-up action or an additional follow-up attack, but each time you push the

advantage, the dice get smaller. And if you fail while pushing the advantage, there is a smaller. And if you fail while pushing the advantage, there is a consequence to it. So, you're pushing the advantage, so your d12 becomes a d10. Yep, I am. I'm also gonna spend two adrenaline to use my special action Blade Fury,

in which I can add my cognition to my next roll. Indeed. And that's gonna be, on the d10, pretty good. Nine, 12, 14. I'll come in for another poke. That's going to be, on the d10, pretty good. 9, 12, 14. I'll come in for another poke. Two wounds on the samurai who cut down the old lady. And it really pissed me off, so I'm going to push my advantage again, because you made a fun system.

Let's roll. Shit! What? Not one for a four. A four does not succeed. So you come in there, fury in your eyes, one stab at the taunt to it, hits the armor. The second one comes through, manages to catch some of the flesh. The samurai rears back. The third blow you go for, he actually kicks you square in the chest and is going to come down with his blade as a reactive motion, his attack on you. That's going to be an eight to

hit you. What's your dodge? It's a nine, baby! A nine! Move! The chest out of the way. The benefits of being unarmored is you're quick on your feet, and now you're engaged. He gives you a look like, where the hell did you come from? And then a grin. I'm going to do a mocking wipe of the blood of his own blood. I'm gonna turn the tanto into a downward, like a knife fighter's pose. Heck yeah.

And just stand squared off, and that ends my turn. Great, that finishes your go. Next up we have Umi with Ryuji on deck. What do you wanna do now? Well, though I'm slow, I was hot on your heels, and you've done three attacks there, so by this point, I am right where you are standing, and I would like to swing my convo,

and just give a nice uppercut to this. She got it. Hell yeah. My save die got me faced off again? Yes. All right, so go ahead and roll. I could knock him out. They're finishing off this lead.

We'll see. We're gonna plow through one at a time, one, and then we're gonna to get on to the next person. There you go. 12 plus your might. Plus might. Ooh, that's 10 plus 13 might for my attack. That definitely succeeds.

So you take an adrenaline point from that strike as you uppercut him with your massive iron spiked combo. Whack! And you can see it hits him upside the head. And if he would have had a helmet on, it would have knocked it off. But as he pulls back, there's a massive bloody spot on his head, and he has to shake it off.

He takes three wounds from that heavy combo hit. Are you good with that, your turn, or do you want to push the advantage? Oh, I'd like to push the advantage and see if we can finish this. A quick question. How many points does it take to finish one of these? You don't know. He looks bloodied and hurt, which means he's taken a few hits. He's not on

death's door, but he's definitely not looking pristine. So I think we'll just let that one go. I'd like to carry this momentum through and go on to attack somebody else. So I guess that ends my turn on this guy. Okay, so you're holding off. Okay, got it. That finishes your go. I'm in close vicinity to them. That ends my turn on this guy, then. Okay, so you're holding off. Okay, got it. That finishes your go. Ryuichi. I'm in close vicinity to them. Yeah, you guys are all staying together,

so if you want to follow up, too, either go after the samurai or any of the other targets. No, I'm confident in her abilities. Yeah. And his. All right. They double teamed on that lead guy. Hell yeah.

I feel I have exceptional skill. I want to take on these four or five. There are five of the figures. There's three with the ERE spears that are spearing people, spinning around, getting other civilians, chasing them down. And there are two that you can see are firing arrows off into the distance.

And you can also see as you're glancing around, they're not facing me. Not at the very moment, but they're close by. You could get there if you rushed. I'm going to take out as many as I can. Okay, you're going for a... Because I have the advantage, because they're not looking at me, and I'm not their definitive target. And I have the advantage, and I'm quick with the sword. Instead of going off for one person, I could take out these four, who are clearly a threat.

I'll take out as many as I can before I die, so... Let's go. Are you going for a spear figure? I'm going to go for the two... Who's closest to me? The spear gentlemen are closest to you. The ones with the bows are behind them, so... Yeah, the spear guys first.

One by one. I'm going to keep them separated. I love that. Because there's four of them, I can play their positioning so that they cannot get a clear shot. So it's really maybe like two I'm facing at all times. And my skill is exceptional.

I'm going to roll. Let's go for it. All right, you run forward, a hand on the hilt of your katana. Go ahead and roll a d12, add your might. All right. Is that a nine or a six? I can't tell. It's a six, so... Yeah, nine total.

And my nine. That is a success. Oh, God, yes. You strike the first Ashigaru warrior. You talked a lot about your skill being exceptional. I built up on that one, so you did it. Welcome to tabletop. I took out one guy.

He took two wounds. Because you're telling me you do one with your first strike. You carve through. He puts up the spear defensively, and it's not fast enough, and you cut him through. They have, like, tatami, you know, like, chest armor on the sides, and it carves through the first half of it. He takes the wound, brings the spear around to get ready. You can continue to attack if you want to push the advantage. Yeah, I got to push the advantage.

Let's go. Roll a d10. Add your might. D10. D10. That's this one, right? Yes. Okay. Come on! Five. Plus my eight. Plus three. Five plus three is eight. That hits as well. right? Yes. Okay. Come on! Five.

Plus my eight. Plus three. Five plus three is eight. That hits as well. He takes two more wounds. This is what you... Secondary slice down. You cut him. The blood spatters on the ground, and he's like...

He's still up, but he's barely standing, and he's looking very, very hurt. You also have earned two adrenaline points. So I have two adrenaline total. Correct. Do you want to push the advantage again? Yes. All right. I need to take them out.

Let's go for it. Roll a d8 for me and add three. What do I need to beat them or you can't tell? You don't know. Oh, jeez. That's what that whole thing is for. What the hell? Drive it like you stole it.

All good? Oh, well, I can't tell. That's a five. Three, eight. That hits. All right. stole it oh good oh well I can't tell the five three eight so that that finishes that one ashigaru soldier how do you want to do yeah I'm looking at the other three I do a little spin, a little twist. Dang! Then I'm walking towards them. He crumples to the ground, a spear dropping. As you continue to walk towards the other ones, you close the gap. You can continue if you want to push the advantage again, but the dice get smaller, or you can end your turn there. Up to you. I'll end my turn. Okay.

Awesome. That finishes your turn. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome. That finishes your turn. The two bow users in the back watch one of their own get cut down, both of them looking at each other, seeing you both also coming in, smacking and taking nearly the head off of their samurai leader. One of the individuals with the bow is going to fire on you while the other one's going to fire at you. So against Oonni over there, it's going to roll. That is a five. Oh, seven. Seven! Fires an arrow and goes by without an issue. The one that's firing on you, Ryuichi, rolls a one plus one, two. Both arrows go wide. They're panicked at the sight of one of their

friends carved down so quickly. When they saw themselves being surrounded by the riffraff of Sakai, they didn't expect to all of a sudden have these figures emerging and attacking them immediately. They're shaken. The two remaining spearmen are going to try and get vengeance for their fallen friend, and they're both going to be attacking you.

This one's going to be a six plus one, seven to hit. What's your dodge? My dodge is eight. Eight? Out of the way. He's frustrated. He's going to go ahead and push the advantage. He's going to go ahead and try and attack again, but it's a d10. That's only going to be a 5. That fails on his end. You get to roll an attack back on him for free. Yeah. That's a 12?

Yep, d12. Okay. Those are tough to read. I know. That's a five. Five plus three. Eight. Eight'll hit. So you get two wounds as a reactive strike on that Yumi spear holder.

He takes a hit. His friend is going to try and use that moment to come up and attack you for his turn. That is going to be... nah, that's a one. So yeah, you are just carving through. They are trying hard to get any sort of purchase of the weapons on you, and you are just untouchable. That's going to finish both the spear holders. That brings us to Garrett, and the samurai's turn is after you.

Now, my confidence is not as sky high as my Ronin colleague, so I take advantage of the fact that he has them so busy, and I take my conobo and hold it in a really weird way. Now, I've been here for two decades. I have definitely learned some things here. However, I am holding it in the Bataract style, the Irish stick fighting position. It's a little bit like a tonfa, if you're familiar with that style of weapon in fighting. And I come up from behind, and almost like I've got a lightning bolt in my hand, I spin it down and try to strike twice on the,

I know it's just one attack, but flavor. Well, one attack damage, but you. Super fast to the sides of his head. This is to the samurai or one of the Yari soldiers or the bowmen. Let's do the... fuck it, let's do the samurai. That is an eight for might. An eight hits. That's a conobo strike. It's three wounds on him. Whack! A heavy crack on top of him. He watches part of his chest armor gets knocked to the ground,

and he stumbles into his back leg. His head is still heavily bloodied. One eye is clouded with his own blood from the hit that you left on him, and the second one clobbers him up the side. He's looking real rough. If I give this fucker a chance to turn me, it's not going to be pretty. I'm pushing the attack. That is a— I rolled a 10. That's a crit.

That is, yes, a crit. So that is an additional wound on the hit. How do you want to do this? What did he get? You got to kill him. Oh, yeah. All right, so it was quack, quack to daze the guy, and as he stumbles forward,

I spin the thing in my hand and bring the thick end of my wooden connebeau straight into the feller's face and unfortunately ruin it. Done. He is a hamburger patty-faced man on the ground, scattered across the dirt. The whole center point of this area is wide open now. People are scattered off to the far ends. People are running and screaming in the distance, and you can see other distant rooftops are now starting to catch fire at other parts of the city simultaneously.

You get the sense that this is far from the only force that is attacking from the inside. However, there are still two standing Yari soldiers, or Ashigaru soldiers, and two bowmen that are still present. You can try and engage somebody else if you'd like to and push the advantage again, or end your turn. Did I not kill one? So far.

Yeah, you did. Well, you did. There were three. Oh, Jesus. You took one out, there's just two. And there's one of them is wounded by you as well. Two spear, two archer. Yep. One spear guy is wounded?

Yep. Cool. Thanks. Matthew, I have to go to the restroom quick. You can go. I'm right back. We'll keep him busy till you're back. Yeah, we got you. All right, so Ifdl, I am going to push it. I'm right back. We'll keep them busy till you're back. Yeah, we got you. So, I am going to push it.

I'm going to be stupid. So the heft of the weapon hit that fella in the face, and if there's someone else close at this point? You can dash over to one of the spear users, possibly the one that's been wounded. Okay. I spin it down and immediately start running in low and feint, and then go towards the other one,

not the one I was running towards. Sure. Pushing the attack. I will use, do I have to declare the adrenaline at the beginning? Yes, you do. All right. Let's make this a cleaving blow. I'll use the two adrenaline I've earned. Okay. But it has to succeed.

That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine, that succeeds on both of them. All right, so Cleaving Blow is three wounds. Three and three, yeah. Three and three, and the other. The one that Ryuichi had struck earlier, you dart up and body check him and finish him entirely. And as you go through, the sheer force of the blow

cracks into the other spear holder next to him, so you get a two-for-one strike on each. As one of them is now like the wind is knocked out of him briefly, while the first one that you hit crumples to the ground. Who you going to get the fuck out of here? And that's the end for me. Okay, that finishes your go.

The samurai is dead, he doesn't get his turn. All right, Rufino, you're up. Yeah. After watching this red-haired whirlwind just smash the guy that I was faced up with, zip across, and smash another guy, I'm going to lean over to Umi and go, remind me to mind my manners if I ever visit the Isles. Give her a little wink and I'll whip my bow off my back. I'll knock an arrow and I'll try for the archers in the back flank. Okay. Yeah.

Let's go, boy. Yeah. That's 12 or... Doo doo poo poo, poopy doodies. Beagle poopy poops. That's a three. Three is unfortunately not going to get it. I know! I love it.

The shoplifting, big success. I said the cool line and gave the girl the wink and everything. I know, I know. Oh, man. Ain't that just life? And the arrow just goes, doink. All right, so that finishes the go there. Finishing, we're back to Umi.

That's all right, I'm right behind you. Behind you and beside you. I'm beside you. I'm just going to clear my throat. I'm just going to... Fair, fair. And I'm going to look to you, give you a wink and a smile. And I'm going to take a swing at that same archer

who's now turned to face us. All right, so you dart past the spear. So he took out the one that you had wounded, the spear that you had wounded, and then damaged the one next to him, so there's still one of the spearmen standing who is wounded, and now these both have focused on the archers in the back now. When you watch Umi run past on the archers in the back now. Okay.

You watch Umi run past towards the archers in the back. Go ahead and make your strike. Okay. So wielding my carnival with a six plus, nine. Nine hits. That's three wounds on the bowmen. Now, these gentlemen are not heavily armored, and that first strike hits him and sends him back. He has to pick up his bow, and he just sits up and coughs blood onto his chest and goes and gets his arrow at the ready as he backs up a try and get a shot at him. Do you want to continue? Yes, I would love to.

Oh, I get an adrenaline. So you get a adrenaline point and then roll a d10 for your next attack. Right, so I'm going to push that, and I'm going to try a cleaving blow. I'll use two of my adrenaline here. All righty. With a three, plus, so six. Six unfortunately does not hit. I've tried to engage two, so.

You did. You go try and point them both down, get your akana bow ready, and as you go to swing towards you, before you even get a chance to swing. The one that you didn't strike was already at the ready and had an arrow knocked, and leashes it towards you. That is going to be a 10 to hit you with your dodge. Dodge is seven, so that's three. Dodge is seven. You take two wounds. Two wounds. Two for Archer?

Yeah. Two wounds from the one arrow that hits you and stops you, stops the momentum in the track and sets your strike just off enough where the other archer ducks out of the way and backs up against the wall, getting into a defensive position with his ally to the side. But that's going to finish your turn. With that, Ryuichi, you're up. Nobody hit sisters on my watch. You better roll good! I tried to do a cool line, and then! Can I go off and take them two on at the same time?

Do you want to try and attack one and then push to attack the other? Well, I'm going to separate. I'm going to step in between that archer. I'm going to take the guy that just shot her. And if I can, if the other guy's in the vicinity, I'm vicinity I'm gonna take him out to all in one like let's go for it Yeah, so you charge away from from the one standing wounded spearman run. Yeah, you got user He as you can rush to her I step in between I'm going to take out him and secondarily the last Archer great Yes, the archer as they got pulled back that's already wounded by her pulls back its arrow and sees you rush in with ah Right right to see you out of a great Yes, the archer has got pulled back that's already wounded by her, pulls back its arrow and sees you, Roshan, and goes, Right, right. He doesn't expect to see you out of his periphery.

I need a hot pot. Are you attacking with your katana or your naginata? Katana. Okay, so go ahead and strike to the wounded bowies. Okay. Seven plus three, 10. That's 10 that hits. All right, with that, you take him down.

How do you want to do this? Describe how you destroy this bowie user. It's clean, man. I just look and the eyes, just head right off, man. I'm on the ground, pushing the advantage to the other bow user. Can I aid on it if you push? I want to spend an adrenaline to make it easier for you. Yeah. Yeah.

All righty. You push your advantage, go ahead and roll a d10 and add your might, and what are you adding to his? I'm going to use might. I'm going to horse kick the remaining guy at him. Oh, great! As the other bow user turns around to try and prepare himself to defend, you watch out of the corner of your eye, Garrett goes ahead and whack, just heavily kicks the standing spearman, who gets pushed into the side of the bowman, throwing off his ability to avoid. Go ahead and roll your attack. What, I got to roll?

High. All right. Then off his ability to avoid. Go ahead and roll your attack. What do I got to roll? High, all right. Then add his might as well. That's a three. We got to get you new dice. That is a three, but you've got his advantage, so six total. Six, and do I add my might or no? You add your might, yeah.

You're right on my might. Two, I have two plus two. So it's eight. So it's eight, which does hit. So that is two wounds. That is awesome. Okay. Nice.

So you managed to carve down the bowman. It takes a heavy hit. He's still standing, but he's pretty badly hurt. Do you want to continue? This is the last one. Well, him and the spear user as well. Those are the last two standing. I roll with a 10 now.

Well, you roll with an eight if you attack again. Do you want to risk it or not? Fuck yeah. Yeah! Yes! Yeah! Which one's the eight? Which one's the eight? It's the triangle, the pointy one.

Okay. There you go. After this, we go to Vegas. This one, huh? What's good? What is it? That's a crit, baby. That's an eight. That's an eight. That's an eight! Yeah!

Nice! I love this game! Holy shit! Winning, winning! I'm all trained with you. You guys are doing pretty dang well. So, how do you want to do this? How do you want to carve down this final bowman?

I'm going to pull. He pulled one of these arrows back. A large arrow back towards you as he's trying to step away. First I'm going to cut right through all that equipment, that apparatus. Yeah. You could take a finger off or his wrist off like that, and he falls through these. Stab him right through the collarbone, right into his torso, through his groin. Ow! The spear user is like...

He's going to try and turn to run. Do you want to continue to push? No. He's going to go run, and he's going to bring a message back. It's not going to be that easy. Fair enough. The final spearman who's wounded just goes charging off to try and get away from this. Am I up next? You will be in a second. Don't forget to mark your adrenaline for each of you.

How much did I win? Two? That would have been three. I'm full adrenaline. Hell yeah. Well, yeah. We know. We know. We know.

We know. We know. We know. Perfect. All right, so he's running away, like full tilt to try and get away. We're gonna come back to Garrett. He's too far.

I don't know if I can make it to him, so instead I reach into my clothing, tucked into my belt, and I pull out my tanto, and I throw it at his back. Okay, so go ahead and make a guile attack roll. There we go, come on. Nah, I miss him, it's a tree. It's a tree.

You do earn adrenaline from the roll, but the tanto does go wide and clatters off and hits something else in the distance. But at that point, he's off. Let him go. You all take a moment to breathe and look at each other and really take in the intensity of what's transpiring.

You look around the space, and over there on the outside of the blacksmith, you see Rin is slumped against the wall. Looks like clutching an arrow of some kind as she's trying to stand up. I beeline over. What kind of injury is it? Well, from what you can see, it's an arrow.

You approach. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to kneel down. What do we do here? Yeah, where's the injury? Does it look mortal? She looks up at you and says, I'll be okay, I need to find Heiji. You look at where the arrow is,

and it is bleeding profusely, likely hit some sort of a heavy vein or artery. And she is trying to pass it off, but she sees the expression on your face. Hey, hey, hey. We'll deliver the map. What do you need to tell him? I have to get him out of here.

Get Tomek and Kogut, Heiji, get him out of here. Get them safe. Please, go to the shrine and get them. Please. We vow that we will. She reaches out towards you and grabs your hand, the blood streaking on your hand,

and she grabs it and says, thank you. Thank you as her eyes get heavy and she succumbs to her worries. You all stand there in the tense moment Eyes get heavy, and she succumbs to her worries. You all stand there in the tense moment of what is now the empty street, but even in this paused moment of tense quiet, the sounds of battle continue to rage louder throughout the siege of Sakai.

And that's where we're going to take our break. So good. It was cool. So we'll come back here in a few minutes. We'll see you all shortly. Why, hello there. This is Critical Role's resident art dad, also known as Liam O'Brien.

We are continuously amazed at the artwork this community creates. That's why each Thursday at 8 a.m. Pacific, we share a curated gallery of submitted fan art over on CritRole.com. If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, visit CritRole.com slash submit. And thank you to all of the incredible artists who share their talents with us week after week. And welcome back. So our troop of four unlikely companions sent on a mission find themselves thrust into an unexpected bit of chaos. As the city of Sakai is under siege, it seems, by likely the forces of Oda Nobunaga.

After your first fray in the center of the street, you manage to fell a number of soldiers that were lying in wait before the horns of war called them to attack the populace. Striking them down, the dying breath of Rin, the blacksmith you had spoken to, sends you to go and see that her child and his guardian currently, Tomiko, are brought to safety. And with that, you head off down the streets towards the Otrishrine to find them. So, as you all begin to trek down the road in the direction of where you know the Otrishrine resides,

you pass through a number of the side roads. Other people are in hiding off the side. They're closing whatever ways into the buildings they can. You can see already other bodies just lining the sides of the street. The orange glow of flames continuing to grow and spread across a number of the various building tops, causing the skyline itself to have

this hellish orange hue at almost all directions. A few wayward arrows come flying, striking into the nearby building. You duck out of the way, seeking no source, not knowing how far away those might have been lobbed, and found their mark further and further away. As you continue heading down the way, you hear a new sound. As you glance backward, you see two horses in full gallop with armored samurai just rushing down the street, carving past and cutting one person down to the side

and heading your direction, coming up quickly. What do you do? Oh jeez. Is there a main thoroughfare? Oh, go, go up quickly, what do you do? Oh jeez. Is there a main thoroughfare? Oh, go, go, go, yeah. My first thought was to, I don't like it, so I don't want to say it, but I'm like, I'm going to trip the horse.

Yes! Okay! Okay! I mean, lob the legs right off. Get those guys down. If they're up there, just slicing and so, but I feel bad for the horse. Are they two horses side by side? They are. Maybe one's a little bit ahead of the other, but they're both working in tandem.

All right, I'll do this with you. Do they see us? I will not. It looks like they had cut through a couple of civilians and are just heading down the road in your direction, so if they haven't seen you yet, they're going too shortly. Great. Well, I'm prepared to kill them. I will, you know, sheath my sword, take cover,

and I will take out one. I'm expecting she will take out the other, so. And I still have this arrow in my shoulder, so first things first, I'm just gonna, actually, you know what? I can do this first. Yes. I'm going to take my carnival and just get down low and swipe it across the hooves of the horse nearest me.

Okay. On the other side, I would take the other ones out. All right, so I'm going to need the two of you to go ahead and roll a d12 and add your initiative to see whether you or the samurai get the strike first. Oh! No! Eight plus three, 11. Go ahead and roll a d12 and add your initiative to see whether you or the samurai get to strike first. Ooh! Whoa! Shit! No! Eight plus three, 11. Eight?

It's a might one, right? Oh, this is for your initiative. Oh! So the lightning bolt. The lightning bolt in your shield. So I got eight plus zero. Okay, so that's eight. Oh, nice. I've got one.

I got five and a negative four. Okay, got you. So you're going to go first. The samurai are going to strike, and then you go. So as they get up close to you, you see both of them have their blades already out. These are not standard katana, these are odachi. These are longer cavalry weapons.

And as they both get close enough, you get the strike out first. You're rolling for the horse. Go ahead and roll an attack with your might. 10. Plus three. Shoosh! Take out both!

You, the horse is struck and stumbles and lands on the ground, throwing the samurai on your side of the road off, flung down, rolling on the ground about 15 feet away. His turn is wrecked. He's going to try and take his turn, but he's at a serious penalty. The other one manages to strike before you get your blow. He's going to attack you. That's going to be a nine to hit. What's your dodge? Dodge is seven.

Dodge is seven. I should have taken the arrow out first. Dodge is seven. Dodge is seven. So he... I should have taken the arrow out first. Fair. The blade, one massive swoop in your direction. You go ahead and take three wounds. Okay. Can I put one on my armor and then just take two wounds?

Yeah, you can do that. Great. So my armor catches one, but then I'll take on two wounds. So you're almost striking simultaneously. The arc hits you just as you're striking the horse. Go ahead and roll your attack. Ooh, 11. Might. 14. Easily enough to do. Both of you knock the horses. I'll save it for the purposes of liking animals. You cut the protective barding

from these animals and send them stumbling and throwing their riders off to the side. The wounds being taken by the figures riding them as they are flung from it and then stumble onto the ground with the heavy hits. So that's two and three wounds to each.

The horses then catch themselves up and go scattering off in different directions, now spooked without their riders. Now the two samurai stand there and get up, looking at the rest of your troop. They look at each other, get their blades at the ready, and now you both, if you want to engage, roll initiative. Oh.

Five for me. Okay. Four. Okay, so we have... Are we keeping their initiative from the top? Yes. Okay. So we have Ryuichi, we have Garrett. Did I get an adrenaline for striking down that horse?

Yeah, you both would've gotten adrenaline for both. But I maxed out, I'm already at five. Yeah, so you don't gain anything more. That's why you got to spend it, man. I'm done. You got to use it. All right. I understand.

I have the money to make adrenaline. Understood, yep. Okay. All right, and then Umi holding up the... Okay, cool. So with that being, they've gotten up. They are taking their turn since they've taken the image, and they're going to dash towards the two of you.

Basically trying to retroactively get vengeance for what you've set upon them. The one striking at you, Ryuichi. Oh, that's going to be a 10 to dodge. I got an eight to dodge. Eight. Okay, that's going to hit you. Yeah. So one massive strike that carves into you for three wounds.

Okay. Mark that on your sheet. The other one that's coming towards you, Umi, the one that already hit you once, is going to try and finish the job for another strike on you. Another 10. Oh man!

That's three more wounds on you. No more wounds on me. I'm going to take all three of those. Wow. There's been a hefty impact in this moment. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a lot. But with that, Ryuichi, your turn is up. Okay, well, I took the wound.

Seen it, trying to brush it off, ignore it, recompose, re-attack. I imagine that he thought he had me down, but I'm up. Ignoring the pain, and I'm going to attack. Let's go. All right. The one that struck you, go ahead and roll a d12 and fight him with your katana at the ready. Ooh! 12! That's a crit! Yeah!

Oh, the dice are on your back. Three wounds on him there. Takes a heavy hit. He's looking pretty hurt at this point, even just from the two strikes. Do you want to try and push the advantage and strike a second time? Yeah, absolutely.

How many advantages can I use? Two or one? Well, you can use as many adrenaline as you want, but the push the advantage goes for a secondary attack. So you can roll a d10. Do you have any of your weapon abilities you want to spend your adrenaline on? Oh.

You have a keen strike ability that costs two that adds two wounds to the attack if you succeed. What do you think, Rob? What do you mean? This is my katana. I got my katana out, so I can put the adrenaline on my katana? Well, you can spend two adrenaline

to use the keenen Strike ability, which lets you do two additional wounds if you hit. Yeah, yeah. All right, so we'll go ahead and erase two of the adrenaline. Okay. And then roll for the attack. All right. The 12 or the 10?

The 10, because you're pushing the advantage. That one? Hot dice. Hot dice one, yeah. You got it, you got it. Come on! Ooh! What is that? That's on the corner. What is that? We call that cocked.

That's what, uh... Yeah, yeah, that's right on the corner. What is that? We call that cocked. That's what, uh. Yeah, yeah, that's right on the corner. Again, yeah. That's a five. That's clearly a five. Plus what? Five plus three? Eight. Eight. Eight hits.

So with that being the case, it's two wounds because you used your Keen Strike on your adrenaline. That's four wounds on the strike. You get to finish him off. How do you want to do this? Wow. I'm going to put this one right through his heart. Right through his heart.

Blade up in the air, this massive, long odachu. I'm like, and without a second,. Yeah, right through his heart. From the front or is it the back? I guess it's up to you. I think it was the front or is it the back? I guess it's up to you. I like the front. He tries his last bit of might to strike downward, but his body isn't listening to him. As you withdraw the blade, he crumples to the ground.

You can move to the other one if you want to try and keep pushing the advantage, or you can end your turn there. Yeah, I'm going to move to the other one. She needs help. All right, go for it. So you dart up to go ahead and offer. Can I use two Adrenalines again? If you want to, yeah. You're just rolling a d8 to hit. Oh, shh.

You're still pushing the advantage. So the Adrenalines only work if the number, if I beat him. Correct. Do it, do it. So this is the eight. Is this the eight right here? The one's diamond? Yeah, this is eight, right?

No, this one is. That one is. 20. Let's go, hot dog. Hot dog. Let's go. Five plus three. That hits! Eight! All righty, another four wounds on the other! Nice.

You rush a heavy carve down with your blade on the one. You, as you're squaring off, you have your combo at the side. He has his blade at the ready, and then takes a heavy strike from the back. He stumbles forward, catches himself, and you see Ryuichi just at the ready behind, his bloodied blade, and you both make eye contact as this samurai is in the center. Do you want to continue to push the advantage, or do you want to end your turn? No, I will end my turn. You got it. All right, Garrett, you're up with Rufino on deck.

All right, well, I just watched this amazing display of finesse and skill, and I see that Ryuichi has hobbled this fella, and I do the exact opposite. I just fucking bash his brains in. Okay, go ahead and roll. I finesse his job. That is a seven.

A seven? Seven just hits. Just hits. All right. Well, that happened. Is he still moving? Three wounds on that? No, that's going to finish him.

How do you want to do this? I just take his, I just cave in his skull. It's pretty simple. I can't compete with that. Fair. All righty. So now with those two warriors out of the way, their current assault through this roadway to an end,

you recollect yourself and continue on your journey. Rushing through the city as the flames continue to grow around, you go down one way towards where the shrine is, but you can see a bunch of materials, a bunch of furniture and carts have been pushed into the center of the road like a barricade and lit on fire as well. There's just a bunch of materials, a bunch of furniture and carts have been pushed into the center of the road like a barricade and lit on fire as well.

And there's just a wall of flame that prevents the direct route. Which of you would like to try and navigate the city streets to find a more direct path to the shrine? Hold on a second. You look bloody as fuck. Mm-hmm. Is there any, so the streets are empty? I mean, where you're standing right now is empty You look bloody as fuck. Mm-hmm.

So the streets are empty? I mean, where you're standing right now is empty, because most of the civilians are in the process of fleeing or have hidden within buildings. I'm going to plant my hand on Umi's shoulder and drag her back a third of a city block. I'm going to kick in a door to a random home. Okay. Inside. Absolutely.

I've got bandages, too. We have some time. There's no absolute rush. We need time to consider what this barricade means. We need to fix her. We have that chance. I got bandages. Can I use them? Yeah, you have Saurashi.

So you all pull up in this back room, shutter the door, block it off for a minute, and take a minute to rest, to breathe and take care of your wounds. So all of you get to remove one wound you've taken as part of this rest. So I can remove one wound? You can remove one wound as part of this rest.

If you want to use your bandages to bandage somebody, you can do that as well to roll for healing. But once they've been bandaged, they cannot be bandaged again for this session. And two people can't bandage one? Hmm? Only one person, only one set of bandages can be applied. Correct, it's used once it's applied.

How hurt are you? Very. I'm very hurt, so I have three available, and that could be a... That could be one loss. And then two for my armor. How many do I take away if I give her a sarashi? Be a four-sided dice plus one. Great. Just roll the pyramid

and add one. Yeah, I'm going to bandage her. Go for it. So the four-sided dice? Four-sided dice, yeah, the little pyramid. I think you have one, bud. Oh, there you go. All right. Roll that and add one.

I'll do whatever's at the top. Three. Three plus one. All right, so. Really good. Is it? Yeah. What? As you take a moment to pull back some of the armor and look at the wounds, you communally dress them.

So I fix four? Correct. Oh, nice. So you clear off four wounds as the Saurashi bandage is placed, the wounds in your arm and your shoulder, and the armor gets reapplied, and in a rapid fashion, you feel yourself a little more ready to endure combat. When we broke into this building, and they cleared out the samurai on the horses,

did it look like there was any enemies in the immediate vicinity as we moved through? As you moved through, there weren't where you were currently, but it looked like there was a enemies in the immediate vicinity as we moved through? As you moved through, there weren't where you were currently, but it looked like there was a trail of bodies that this road had already been swept through and had either been abandoned by those who lived here or people are in hiding.

At 1-4, we encounter the horsemen that we dismissed. You said there was arrows being lobbed in, so their snipers are at a high advantage point. Are we still a target of those guys, or did they stop? Or were they errant arrows? It seemed more like they were errant arrows, fired at a further distance that didn't hit their mark and just kind of landed nearby. More of the atmosphere of warfare that is engulfing the city. Yeah, after seeing the roadblock, I would like, in making sure that Umi's okay, they got the doctoring handled,

I'll slip out of the door we came in and try to make my way up to the rooftops and see if I can find a different route towards the shrine. Certainly. Yeah, so the building you're in right now, it looks like it is an in-between homestead, and it looks like it was rapidly abandoned.

Some of the chairs are pushed over, and some of the valuables were gathered and run with. And as the door was left, it looks like the family took what they could and ran. So it looks almost like a small, modest family home that is just frozen in time, where they just had to grab what they could and go. And it's a little haunting to walk through the space. And you begin to clamber up to the next floor and then eventually the top floor, in which there are now three different homesteads. You can see there's three different families that probably lived in here that have fled. And as you get up to the outer part of the rooftop, you find the outer

window and climb up onto it. And thankfully, the entire city isn't being burned to the ground yet, but there are definitely numbers of patches and rows of flames. Now you have a much better view of the overall perspective of Sakai from up here. You can see the distant perimeter walls, and you can also see many, many soldiers along the outer perimeter wall. You see whole volleys of arrows coming from the far side of the city, and you can hear, from up here especially, the weirdly mixing din of

boar shouts and screams of fear. But knowing the direction of the shrine, from where you are currently, you could probably find a pretty solid path to it if you feel confident in your roof hopping skills. Who would like to lead the troop across the rooftops? Seems like you're a mole. Yeah.

Well, I'm going to try. Sure. All right, go ahead and roll a cognition roll for me. Sure. Find the most direct path. Nine. Nine's great. Glancing around and looking across the cityscape, you can just barely see the top of the Otri shrine.

You can see it's flanked by a number of trees, like a beautiful greenery space around it, as well as seeing the torii gates that mark the entranceway to the shrine. But you can see that some of the trees are beginning to smoke, which means that some flame is being lit within the perimeter of it.

So you do not know how much time you have if they're still near or at the shrine. So I will say here for the group in trying to traverse this, I would like all of you to make either an agility or a, let's see, an agility or a vigor roll. Oh, good. Your choice. To try and represent the invi-

First it was bad. On the 12th. Yeah, everybody rolls a 12th and add either your agility or the vigor. So I gotta declare vigor or agility? Yes. 13 agility. 13 agility. What? Umi is just ready to go.

Thank you for the bandages. I'm going for vigor. They weren't wonders. Let's go. Oh! You destroyed the roof tiles as you landed. Goddamn! Two plus one vigor. I think you rolled the d8 on that one. Don't forget to roll the d12. Oh, I did.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. Take that free reroll. Eight plus one vigor, so nine. Nine. Much better. Okay, that's great. Ten for vigor. Ten. I think I rolled a d8, too. No, no.

That's a natural one for a two. Oh! I'm bad at the things that a host would be bad at. You are guiding these folks directly through the city, but they're also leaving you a little bit in the dust. They are driven and extremely athletic in their capabilities. And you watch as they're leaping from rooftop to rooftop,

darting across the tops, looking back and catching as they go. You, describe to me what's distracting you in these moments. What in your head is keeping you from remaining as focused on the task in front of you? The violence. Yeah, yeah. So I'm used to it in a personal, intimate,

and controlled way. But this sort of fog of war type environment, I do not have the mental steel of perhaps a warrior who's like, either seeking this out or has been through it before. I don't have the maturity, perhaps, that Garrett has. I'm not sure. I don't want to put that on you, but he seems pretty... For me, when things feel out of control, I begin to falter. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So as you're getting closer and closer to the shrine,

there is one larger leap that goes from an upper sloping roof pinnacle to a stone separation wall that leads into one of the other districts of the city. roof pinnacle to a stone separation wall that leads into one of the other districts of the city. One by one, you all leap rapidly and catch yourself on the side. As you turn back, you see Rufino goes to leap and just something about his mind sees that his brain is slightly elsewhere.

And as he leaps for the arc, he's not going to make the jump. You all reach out and catch him, and you just manage to do so, but you slam hard into the stonework and take a wound just from the impact against the separating gate, and you pull him back up onto the wall

and continue your trek. You all push to the outside of the Otry Shrine and climb down now that the buildings vanish at the perimeter. You can see the massive torii gate still stands there, marking the front of it. You can see the komenu, or the lion statues, that are the placed guardians to the shrine entrance there, kind of greeting you.

And for the first glance, it feels safe, if not for the growing bit of flame on the far end of the shrine. You see one of the trees is starting to burn as that process. You also hear a scream, a woman's scream, further in the direction of the shrine. The fire and the scream in the same direction?

The fire's a little ways off to the right. The scream is from the shrine directly. How far off is the shrine from our location? From where you're standing now, probably about 150 feet. 150 feet. 200 feet, maybe. Well, there's two targets. And then where in the city,

in relation to the docks and the countryside, is the shrine? Are we in the smack in the middle of it? You're in between where the docks and the North is the shrine. Are we in the smack in the middle of it? You're in between where the docks and the north gate is. Okay. Okay. Are the combatants protecting it, or we've already negotiated for that?

We're inside the wall. Well, you're now at the perimeter of the shrine as you step through the torii gate and look, and you can see, after hearing the scream, you see figures currently battling each other on the outskirts of the shrine. No signs of these kids from where we are. Of Heiji and Tomiko.

I feel compelled to run towards the scream to start with. Okay. Umi takes off towards the shrine, in the direction of the scream. You all follow? It's so hard for me to follow. Like, everything inside me is screaming dip out, but I think what we talked about earlier, that sort of fog of war, that fear a little bit

is going against my worser nature. And yeah, I'll follow you just for lack of any other beacon. So, Garrett, you come with me. We got to split up. Are there people, the silhouettes people, are they towards the scream or are they towards the shrine? Silhouetted people fighting. Well, the scream's headed towards the shrine

where that conflict is happening. You now hear two blasts of gunfire, and one of the figures that was battling in that silhouette of the shrine crumples. Oh. There's a woman in trouble. There's somebody that's either on my side

or not in trouble. Somebody's on my side where the people are fighting. I have to go that way. I think you go towards the woman. You decide to go with her. No, actually. He said, nope, go. Are you breaking off from Umi?

I think just his confidence in the moment in the middle of the chaos just dictates. So I grab my weapon right down the middle and I just start following, staring at his heels as we head in that direction. All right, so I feel like. I'm going to die, man. All right, then I'll.

I'm going to die, this is where I want to. I almost instinctually followed you, but then when you broke off together, I'll stick with you. Thanks, bud. Sure. Yep, yep. Let's go get some kosher. I feel like that's Tomiko and Heiji,

so we can hopefully get one for each. These guys are idiots. No, no, no. So Ryuichi and Garrett are heading towards the flames on the far right side, and we have Umi and Rufino are heading towards the shrine proper. Love it. We'll reconvene.

Love it. All right. Yes. So as you splinter off a little bit, the first thing you notice as getting towards the shrine, there is a non-armored samurai with a naginata, similar to that bladed polearm that you saw strapped to the back of Ryuichi,

who is currently battling what looks to be one of the priests of the shrine who is trying to defend it. You see him holding up a stick and he's trying to block back, and he's shouting over his shoulder, like, Get back! get free! He's yelling to somebody behind him, right as the blade carves through his chest. He crumples to his knees and goes, Hachiman, protect us.

And falls. Hachiman. Which is the Shinto god of war. As he crumples to the ground, the naginata samurai looks around and looks towards the shrine proper and begins to turn inward as you see. To rob it. We'll see.

As two other Ashigaru with katana come off the left-hand side that you didn't see, so there's now three of them in the shrine heading inward. While the other two, who are heading towards the flames, you see off to the side where the fire was set, one figure that is currently setting flame to the nearby trees and holding a long-tempo rifle in one hand,

while another one has the rifle at the ready and is aiming. He can make out this to be the sound of that flintlock firing the distance. He's an old logos man. Very much seems the case. As you are running at a distance, the one tempo trains over and shouts, Hey! We got him! The other one that's sitting in the flame drops his torch on the ground, spins around and puts the gun at the ready. I need everyone to roll initiative. Can I kick it off by throwing my smoke bomb down right now?

Or is that my move? That would be your move. Great. Initiative, 12? Initiative, yeah. All right. Negative one. Deb, a four. I'm very injured.

I'm bandaged, but I'm still in a bit of pain. There we go. That's okay. Little slow. Oh, that's bad. There we go. That's okay. Little slow. Holy smokes. Hoo. I always roll shit initiative. That's okay, they didn't roll that great either. But you deliver on the kills.

Yes, exactly. Probably a better bum knee, maybe. Yeah, exactly. That would bring a Tonto to a plintlock fight. Right? Yeah, right. All right, so 10 to five? As they say. Six. All right, so we have Rufino.

Five to one? One. Jeez, guys. All right. I'm negative one. These are tough. Now, mind you, everything that fights with a weapon generally has pretty slow speeds.

It's not like super high initiatives. Heavy weapons have penalties as well, so enemies also do go kind of slow sometimes. Like you guys with the guns. Exactly. So, okay. Sometimes. Sometimes. You know what I roll.

All right, and sorry, it was, Garrett, you said you got one? All right. That's a race. Negative one. Negative one. Negative one? Yep. Okay, yeah, yeah. All right, that was six. And what did you get? Four.

Four? Yeah. Awesome. That's still, four's not bad. Definitely. What, a 12? I mean, higher's better, but some of these guys didn't roll that well either.

Negative four. So Rufino, you are up first, with Ryoichi coming up second, and then it looks like the tempo carrying words are in the process of getting ready to fire directly after that. So you're up first. Yeah, I have a target, so you running toward, I need your pathway. Are you running toward that samurai? Running towards the samurai who just killed our-

As I clock what she's doing, that's gonna, I'm just gonna charge me up and I'm gonna start running the same direction, but I'm gonna go a little bit faster. So my speed is gonna start to cook, I'm unarmored and I'll boom, all of a sudden, I'm 15, 20 yards ahead of you and I'll go straight for the guy.

You see he has his naginaga at the side and he's going towards the shrine where you see two figures cowering in the back of the broken open front of it. You see the female figure of Tomiko and holding Heiji, both trying to pull him back from the charging Ronin. But you get to him first. What are you doing?

No stealth. He's got both of his hands behind him. No, it's not what you think! I don't believe it. It's okay. He's reaching for a weapon, but I'm trying to keep it concealed until I see what's happening.

Hell yeah, okay. I'm going for the main guy, straight at him. All right. Is it with the tauntau? It is with, oh my god! This is so bad. I have five. Five, unfortunately, is not going to hit.

I know. You try and go towards him. As you pull the blade out, he goes into a defensive stance with a naginata, and you find yourself having to slow, or you're just going to impale yourself on his blade. You try and shift to the right, and he moves with you. This guy's pretty well-practiced,

probably better trained than what you've previously faced. Yeah, I'm still going to take a swipe at him, and I think it'll glance or parry away. Yeah, I'm still going to take a swipe at him, and I think he'll glance or parry away. Yeah, and it's scary. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it for me. All right, that finishes your go. Ryuichi, you're up. Okay, I'm confused. There was two guys with their muskets. Correct. They're over at the shrine. You've peered off to the side of the forest, and there's two guys with the tempo rifles

now trained on you as you approach. So we're dealing with a total of two on our end. Yes. Not more. And they're turning and they're reloading. They're like, what? I mean, these are old school. They've got to take at least five, six seconds, and I move fast.

That's true, which is why you're getting to them first. Exactly. I could move to them. I could take out one guy and literally cut the stock right off the, you know, I could, I got to go right to them. Let's go for it. You charge in, blade at the ready. You watch as they train in and aim,

and right as the fingers are about to pull, you take your turn. Go ahead and roll for your attack on the first one. All right. Is this a 12 or is this a 12? You got it, you got it, you got it. That's a 12. Okay, come on. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no, This is going to be a gut wound. It's a three plus a three. Six.

Six. They just die. Unfortunately, you go to swing your first blade, and as your blade comes down, he pulls back and holds it up, and part of the metal barrel of this weapon actually puts it off to the side. It's not meant to parry, but he pulled it off, backs up quickly, and unfortunately throws you off balance a little bit, and that's going to end your turn. All right. Now it's their turn. He backs up. The one who was not attacked on this is going to go ahead and take a fairly close shot against you with the rifle. That's going to be, he rolled a 12.

Oh no! Is that a shot between my eyes? That is a, well, uh... Those are the two choices. You tell me where it hits. Where does it get you that hurts the most? Hurts, or it's like a heart, or a head is going to be a dead.

What's the coolest? Where do I get shot? I'm right-handed, most Japanese are. I think it went in the left. I don't know, my left arm or... Where's the... Yeah, my collarbone, I guess. It impacts and does not go through,

which means there is an iron ball lodged somewhere in your shoulder. But the impact sends you stumbling back, and you have to catch yourself on that arm, and as soon as you put the weight on that arm where the wound is, you kind of crumple to your elbow. It is a pain you haven't felt before. You take four wounds, since it was a critical hit against you.

Okay, two, three. He is going to attempt to push the advantage against you. No! You don't get to do that like we do. So he's going to put the tempo to the side, and he's going to pull out a wakasashi he has at the side, and it's going to attempt to strike at you.

No. That is... six. I dodge. What's your dodge? Eight. Eight. You dodge out of the way, which means he fails and you have an opportunity to strike back at him now. So you can go ahead and attack with him with a d12 for free.

d12. What is that, seven plus three? Seven plus three, he takes two wounds. Yeah. That tempo warrior. Do I get an adrenaline or no? You do, because it's an accessible attack. Okay. So that's going to finish his turn.

The one that you struck and parried off to the side, he's going to go ahead and get up his gun to try and fire on... Actually, you seem like you took the big hit. He's going to shift over to you, because you're running up behind, because you're a pretty, especially out of the shadows, a terrifying, massive Irishman in the middle of this fray. You are, from some perspectives, an oni. You are just a nightmare come to life out of that expected encounter. He's going to fire at you.

That's going to be, they're rolling high right now. It's 11. Oh, for sure. Oh, yeah. You go ahead and fire at you. That's going to be, they're rolling high right now, it's 11. Oh, for sure. Oh, yeah. You take three wounds from the tepo shot. The iron ball, hitting you in the side and tearing through your abdomen about an inch away from the edge. It carves through muscle and skin. It slows you down, but you keep pushing through. He's going to push the... no, he saw his friend get hit. He's not going to push the advantage on that one. That's going to finish their go. That brings us to Garrett and then Umi after that.

I take that shot, stagger back for a moment, but just keep moving forward, thinking about how I have been steady and careful for all these years, avoiding trouble. But this trouble is too big to avoid, and I come crashing down on the one that just shot me. Let's go. That is not great. That is a six. It is a six. Unfortunately, he dodges. All the brush around here, they're over in the forested side of it,

and so even as you're striking, there's a bit of cover within the shadows as well, and it's hard to find purchase on your target. So that finishes your target. So that finishes your go. Actually, the Ronin does go before Umi does. So now that you've rushed up into the front here, the Ronin with the naginata is going to go ahead

and try and swing wide towards you, since you were the first one to come at you. That's going to be eight. Miss. Miss, okay. A massive swipe with the naginata, the blade comes towards where the top, where your neck and the skull meet, and you duck out of the way in time.

That's gonna finish his turn. Umi, you're up. And while he's distracted in his attack on you, I'm going to draw my wakizashi a bit lighter because I'm still feeling my injuries, so I'm not gonna wield my kanabo, and I'm just going to take a swipe with my Wacky's up. We've all failed, wait, oh!

That's good. Can I eight? Six. Can I eight before I know the result? Oh, oh! Yeah, you can, yeah. Six plus three. You were, that's what you were. Yeah, yeah, yeah, someone's gotta succeed here. I wanna.

So you spend an adrenaline. Yeah, I'm gonna spend an adrenaline to give you some aid. Thank you. Can I use, can I be sneaky? Can I use my guile? Yeah, yeah. And as I see him fall off target, I'm going to do a dirty move. I'm going to do a foot stomp, like just on the top of his foot as hard as I can. You kick it, and you feel like the ankle bone kind of pop for a second,

which gives just enough momentum for you to kind of better aim. So what did you roll? I rolled a six. So I wonder if, with my might. Well, with your wakasashi, which is plus two. Oh right, oh right, wakasashi's plus two. Yes, because of sensuality. Plus three for me.

Gorgeous, so eight, nine, 10, 11. That is definitely a success. For my wakasashi stack. Great, so that's a wound on their own and with the wakasashi. Do you want to push the advantage and continue to fight? Yes, please. All right, and do you have any special abilities

with the wakizashi you want to use? With the wakizashi, mm-mm-mm, rapid strike, do, okay, let's try that. I'm gonna burn one adrenaline for a rapid strike. Okay. Roll. So you roll a d10 to hit now. Yep.

Nine! Yeah! Yay! And so that does an additional wound, right, on the strike? Yep, plus one. So you roll a d10 to hit now. Yep. Nine! Yeah! And so that does an additional wound, right, on the strike? Yep, plus one. Great, so two wounds on him from the walk of slash. You just, one slash, a heavier slash that carves across the front of his clavicle

and blood on the nearby broken stone opening around the shrine. Do you want to continue to push the advantage, or are you good? Yeah, we're going to do that one more time. Let's go! Because I've got one more adrenaline. So same rapid strike just to finish. Roll a d10 now. advantage, or are you good? Yeah, we're going to do that one more time. Let's go! Because I've got one more adrenaline, so same rapid strike just to finish.

I'm running 10 now. Oh, sorry, a D8 on this roll. D8, yes. And I'm going to use my last adrenaline, double combo. I'm going to see you succeeding, see you taking this moment and tearing him to pieces. After foot stop, I'm going to duck around, I'm going to give him a kidney shot, right in the little opening of his armor right there.

Can I add anything to hers, too? You're unfortunately far away from her right now, but you can add it to each other as well as you're doing this. Okay. You can cheer for me from across the field. So you'll get another plus three. Great, another plus three on this roll.

Gorgeous, thank you. Let's see if we can finish it. Six. All righty. Fantastic, so that definitely hits. Two more wounds with the wakasashi. Carving upward, this one cuts under where his armpit is, and you watch as his backhand,

where he bounces the naginata, it's like, oh, it's a little off now, and he's having a rough go right now. He's looking pretty hurt. Do you want to keep pushing the advantage, or are you done? I think I'm done with that. Yes, good. We've done lots of blows.

Thank you for the assist. That's great. All right. Fighting together. Yeah. With that, Rufino, you're up. Oh, shit. Yeah. All right, I'm going to go for him.

Let's go. With the tanto. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, I'm gonna go for him. Let's go with the tanto. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So after I've been barehanded fighting, I'll take my weapon back and, oh my god, bro. I am doomed, dawg. I am doomed. I should have assisted you. No, I'm doomed.

Yeah, yeah, miss, big miss. Oh, buddy. Yeah, yeah, nat one. Oh. I, buddy. Yeah, yeah, nat one. Oh. I can't roll tonight. Rough. It's bad. It's bad? Yeah, I'm trying.

Well, you've helped her do a lot. Two times in a row. Yeah. You still take an adrenaline from the fail, because it's still a roll. Okay, yeah, that's right. But you go ahead and try and come back with the taunter to strike him again,

and even though he's taken the heavy hits from her, you've been leaving him open, after the kidney shot, especially. He whips around with the back of the naginata. And before you can even try and strike him with a blade, he clocks you up in the side of your skull. And it kind of just knocks you up. Not enough to do damage, but enough to prevent your strike from even finding his body.

That's going to finish your go. Ryuichi, you're up. Okay, where was I left off? I was shot? You were shot in a heavy wound, and he's reloading his weapon right now, looking at you while backing up towards the woods. Yeah, I'm ignoring that pain. I take a few steps forward into his personal space,

and I'm going to fuck him up. Let's go, yeah, roll for an attack, bro. I'm going to assist. I see him trying to reload the gun, so I take my cannabo and I rope it over him and I lift him into the air. So he's just a fucking target for you. Ticking his legs for a second. He puts up his gun to try and prevent you from choking him, but that's not the point of choking him. It's just restraining him. So between your kanabo and his

gun, he's now held and his feet are kicking in the air. Go ahead and make your attack and add his might to the roll as well where can i target him i could take off a leg arm you want to try well his legs are kicking out in front of me you know that's going to disable him let's go okay do i add a katana three or the might three on on this role you you you you the the the plus three for katana is the might okay so yeah okay, okay. So yeah. Got you. So add three. Do you want to use any adrenaline for this? Don't! Plus three, plus two for me.

Plus two for me. I go one, three. Two. This is my first failure. Oh, fuck. I got five. Yeah, six. Six, that fails, unfortunately. Am I dead?

No. No, no, no. They don't strike back unless you fail while pushing the advantage. So if you just fail on your first strike, then it's just the end of your turn. So you're trying to find an opening. He's holding, as he's being held up, he kicks around and there's a brief moment where you're uncertain if you were to attack now, you would cut this enemy or if you would cut Garrett. And that brief moment of hesitation prevents you

from even taking the blade to him. Okay. Finishing your go, the character who's being held by you, he's clutching up there, he's going to reach down and grab blade from his side and try and stab you with a tanto while you're coming up against his back. Yeah. That's fair, that's fair.

That's going to be a five. Oh, I see it coming. We're gonna hop against his back. That's fair, that's fair. That's gonna be a five. Oh, I see it coming. So he's going here. Oh man, I grab the gun in his hand and wrench his other arm down, twisting it so that the knife goes astray. He clatters off into the shadow nearby.

It's gonna finish his go. The other one is going to, seeing you this close, he can't even take the time to try and reload. He's going to go ahead and take his wakasashi. It's going to come for you, because you're the one who looks the most wounded, and he's going to try and do what he can to stop you in your tracks. But not with a natural three, he's not. No! No. Goes to strike towards you. How do you deflect his blow?

He was trying to, using his hand or like, you know, the barrel of his gun. Actually, he kind of set the gun aside and pulled his wakasashi and went, and struck out towards you. Oh, well, I blocked it with, you know, my right hand.

I blocked it, yeah. And I'm going for, you know, the counter strike. All right, so we'll get to that on your next turn. That finishes up their go. But Garrett, you are actually. So I freed up one hand from my conobo to get the gun wrench down.

That means I'm back to holding the conobo one hand, so I just backhand with the butt end of it, butt end of it, to hit him in the face. That'll hit, probably. That's a nine. Nine definitely hits. It hits, all right. There's an adrenaline, and I will for sure push it. Well, first off, the one that's in your hands,

who's already wounded, you finish him off. Oh. How do you want to do this? Oh, Jesus. As you're clutching him to you. Uh, right. So I shoulder him away, and then come with the connebow and strike him in the face, sending him flying into the second fellar as I follow. Great, he takes the hit,

and before he can even recover, you're right there. Both of you are just flanking him from each side. So go ahead and, if you want to push the advantage, roll with a d10. All right, and I'm gonna go for Rolling Fury with this. I'm gonna spend adrenaline to make it hurt more. Okay. If I'm able to. Oh yeah, that's an 11 to hit.

Oof, 11 to hit. So an extra wound on top of what's going on. Ooh, that's four wounds on him with one hit from the conobo. Crack! As you impact the other standing Ashigaru, you hit him so hard that his arm, where he was holding the gun on the side,

cracks and breaks, and you see the elbow, the bones stick out from the side, and he just screams, like falls aside. The shock takes in, and that fight or flight is really taking him over, and as he looks at you and you, he looks like he's about to run.

Well, I'll push then. Okay. I've got the cannon bow almost at that midway point, and I've just gone butt end, front end, stab right into the eye with it. Go for it. That's a nine. It's a nine.

How do you want to do this? Yes! That's the Lee in my mouth. Yes. All right, so you're just puncturing him through the eye? Well, it's a pretty hefty thing, so it's more of a cave-in. I meant to say, yeah. And a stab.

Well, but yours is a little small by size. It's about the right size to, it's like pushing a baseball bat into someone's ocular cavity. It's going to break the skull around it and still take him out. So it cracks hard, and as you impact,

the very butt end of your Kanabo has just enough purchase inside the skull that he hangs on it for a minute before you have to pull it away and he falls to the ground. Brutal. Brutal. But yeah, that finishes your go.

Both of the opponents in the trees with the very powerful ranged weapons have been dealt with in quick time. You both look back to the shrine where your other allies are, and they are currently engaged with a ronin. From what they don't see and what you two see are two other figures rushing up

from the opposite side of the shrine to join the fray as well. Oh, our friends do not see reinforcements? Or at least, they're both focused on this ronin, and beyond them on the backside, you see two other figures approaching. You're right. I'm okay.

We must take care of them. So we go over. All right. They clearly don't see them. We have to go over. We intercept them. Okay. And I'm hurt, but I only need one arm.

That's true. Okay. So that finishes your turn. We're probably en route. We're probably frozen. Yeah, you guys are rushing towards the shrine now. It is now the Ronin's turn. I'm sorry.

He is going to go ahead and... Let's see. You've done a pretty heavy hit, too, and he's going to go ahead and consider you the immediate threat now. Kind of seize the bits of wounds to your armor and sees a little bit of weakness there and is attempting to try and use that to his advantage.

Striking at you with a six. Dodge with a seven. Ooh! Yes, Vince! With authority. Swings wide. Describe to me how you barely parry this massive arc with his polearm.

Just the slightest duck. It like carves a few hairs at the top of your head. Yeah, exactly. Just a squat, just a little squat. That finishes his go, right into your turn, Umi, so you're up. Gorgeous, and I still have the wakizashi in my hand, and now I'm at such close range,

and if I can just shave a little of the hair off of him, so to speak, I'm going to take a swipe for his guts. Let's go for it. 10. Hey! With, so 12. That'll definitely hit, so he takes three wounds. Heavy hit right to the middle of the ribcage. Crack! Now, he's not wearing chest armor.

He's pretty quick and has some high dodge, but you rolled pretty high, and you feel the bones crack at the impact. He stumbles back and catches himself and his leg's skidding a minute, and he's woozy on his feet. You see him cough up a big spatter of crimson. Go for it, bud, no worries.

I'm running, I'm running. I would like to push the advantage and try to finish this. Let's go, Cerulean D10. Okey-doke, with my wakizashi, can I storm forward with a two? A two, and so four. Unfortunately, that is enough.

He is on death's door, and that moment that he coughs up, you're like, this is your opportunity, and you charge forward the wakasashi, and in that brief moment where you're about to finish it off, his eyes shoot up and eat yours like he was goading you into it. No! As you rush forward with the wakasashi,

he grabs your arm and uses momentum to push you behind him. As he does, he spins his Nakenado to try and strike down with it upon you with a, that's gonna be a seven. I think that does hit you, right? Oh, seven is to seven, so I'm gonna let that hit my back armor. So if I.

Do you have any defensive abilities to use your adrenaline on? Oh, interesting, like to deflect? Do you have any deflect abilities with your wakasashi at all? I do, I could burn my two adrenaline and roll to deflect with my wakasashi. Okay, what does it turn your dodge into?

Is it high enough to? Oh, I see, so, because I have seven dodge. So I would turn it to nine. Dodge against two, yeah, so nine. So that would actually cancel the attack. Okay, so, do I have to roll? You don't have to roll for it. Oh, great! And he takes... I'll just...

That's right. Gotcha, gotcha. So I spend my two adrenaline, so I have a nine dodge, and I do dodge that attack. So what does it say? It just increases your dodge by two? Yeah.

Does it do anything else? And the attacker takes one wound. He has one wound left. Oh! So, how do you want to do this? As he goes for the final blow and you deflect it and kill him in the same sweep, describe to me how you finish him off.

So he's pulled this arm forward with my wakizashi in it, swung for my back, and I'm going to turn on the spot and swipe him once more across his torso. He spins it in the air, and right as he's about to bring it down, you are faster than he expected

with your squat warrior form, and spilling his insides onto the shrine floor. He doesn't have enough strength in the swipe for the Nagitana to do more than to just hit the side of your shoulder armor with practically no impact as he stumbles to the ground, no longer moving. The two other figures that were rushing up to the shrine stop and turn around and run the other direction at the sight of the Ronin.

What? There are two swooping down on them. As you guys arrive to the shrine, you watch as Umi finishes off the Ronin like a wakasashi I'm going to report, guys. Well, there are two swooping down on them. Okay, let's get Toby called. Yeah, as you guys arrive to the shrine, you watch as Umi finishes off the Ronin, like a wakasashi carving right through the middle of its midsection and dropping it, and the two approaching soldiers just turn around and run the opposite way.

Yeah, we got more girls like her. Awesome. Garum has gone along. Running out, pulling out a smoke bomb. Saved that for later. After a brief moment of looking around, you watch as Tomiko comes out. Herself, looks like she has a little bit of blood

on her head, and Heiji is in her arm, and she comes out of the middle of the shrine to you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh god, what's happening? I guess. H.R., you okay? And he just nods, just saying nothing.

This 11-year-old boy is stunned to silence, panic in his eyes. Nobunaga wants your blood. What are you hiding? What is it? My blood? You're protecting something. I'm protecting this child.

We got to get out of here. Child shrine. There's something here. I say we head to the woods, which are nearby, and take these two to shelter. I know the countryside fairly well. I have a farmstead just out of the north gates of here. My husband's there right now.

We can be safe there. It's close. Can you take us? Absolutely. What he said. Hey, Jikti, can you come with us? Can you walk? And he just nods.

Okay. He said, The Norse Gate. Thank you. I love you. At this point, she gathers him, the four of you, flanking them, and you leave the shrine and start heading northward towards the outside and hopeful safety from Sakai.

Now, as you have a brief moment here to rest, would you like to try and recover a little bit? I was going to say, If looking out the entrance here, if we don't see anything, anybody crawling over walls or intruding? Not at the moment. What you had fought here in the middle of the shrine seemed to be the handful of soldiers

that had come this deep into this part of the city. And shrines usually aren't a big focus of destruction, necessarily. But it seemed that the presence of this woman and child was enough to get them to try and finish off anybody that could be escaping or whatever wanton destruction they were setting. Oh, is that it?

They went to the shrine, they thought they were going to have some kind of protection, but it wasn't enough. They weren't protecting something in the shrine, then. It just happened to be a coincidence. It could be. Well, you did hear Rean sent them to the shrine. Just for safety.

Was it for safety? Make a cognition check to see if you can read Tomiko's. Okay. I will. Cognition. Got to know, got to be comfortable with these things. Of course, of course. 12.

Ooh, great! Speak the truth. Nice! Read your mind, tell me. So watching Tomiko, I suppose she protects Heiji and looks to all of you and is looking off in the distance. You catch up. You are an incredible read of certain people,

especially when they are in the midst of danger and threat. You've spent a lifetime at this point protecting those that you deem innocent. And there is, in her gaze, a fear, but a strength to protect as part of that. While this is not her child, this is the child of her friend. And also, as she looks to the northward side

of where you're descending, you see a hopefulness at what awaits her there, at that farmstead, where her husband can help keep all of you safe and away from where the city siege is happening. You believe you can trust her. I believe her completely. She's telling the truth. We shall follow.

All righty. Sit for a spell. Okay, cool. I like that. That's telling the truth. We shall follow. All righty. Sit for a spell. Okay, cool. I like that. That's reassuring. Now I'm like, okay, the shrine, let's go. No, it's great. That's where the cognition comes into play. That's where reading people is perfect. Ryuichi-san, sit for a spell.

So I have... It's Sarashi, right? Sarashi, yeah, the bandages. Right, so I gingerly lower his clothing away from his shoulder and can see that there's a bullet wound there. I sort of probe it. I don't think I can get it out of there,

but I do take the bandages, and with trees on fire in the distance, in an absolutely heavy metal tableau, I start to bandage up the wound. Great. So everyone else takes one. Do we gain one? Everybody for this rest clears a wound from the sheet.

And I roll for... For Riuchi's wounds, yeah. That's, aw, fuck you, yeah. That's, ah! Fuck you, die. That's two wounds. So you take off two more wounds. I get two off, that's great. I roll a one.

Not optimal, but still better than nothing. But I believe that is the last Saurashi you have amongst your troop, too. Oh. So, that, outside of any future rests. Thanks, J. I love it. Somewhere an electric guitar.

You can still hear the echoing of distant gunshots. Is it approaching? Hard to tell. It's distant enough where it's echoing and scattered, so it doesn't feel like it's terribly close, but there is still a lot of death transpiring in these city walls. I would take that moment to say that I'm out of that mission to get guns.

We're going to supply these bullets to the people that are trying to kill us. I'm not trying to fulfill that mission anymore. I think you certainly feel like there might be more larger things at work now than the job you were hired for. Right. Now it's... We have to protect the village and stop Nobunaga. I don't know if you all agree,

but I'm not looking for weapons to fight. It doesn't feel like the time to be making bullets. Right. So now our main concern is the child and the woman, Tomoko. We're bringing them there to Nakamura. Yeah, her husband. Her husband.

Nakamura is the husband of Rin, which is the blacksmith, but you haven't met him. He's somewhere else in the city. Right, okay. Tomiko's husband waits for her at her homestead. Okay, okay. And that's outside of the city, like countryside? Yeah, that's outside the North Gate. Okay, so we're on our way there.

Yeah, like the Setsu area. Taking them to safety, fulfilling our promise to Rin. To Rin, all right. On the way out of the shrine grounds, I swing past the feller who tried to stab me in the gut, and I grab his tanto blade that he tried to kill me with to replace the one that I lost in the streets. Okay.

Cool. Yeah, you can take weapons that aren't in use. You can take it if you want. I mean, I could add a musket and... I mean, I could have. If you want to take a tempo, there's one over off the side. Do you know how to use it?

Yes, of course I do. Okay. Will you show me? Are you going to teach me how to use the tempo? I will. This is what I'm thinking now. Can we, is that shipment of tempo, has that arrived?

The one that Takeda has tasked us to find ammunition for? You don't know. We don't know. But what you do know is, any weapons of the fallen enemy around you, you can take and use to your advantage. And there are, I'd say, one and a half teppo? Or one that's been somewhat damaged from the combat and one that hasn't been off near

where you two both dispatched those two gunmen, those Ashigaru. You can gather those if you'd like to. I would like to take one. I just need one bullet to finish this thing. They only can shoot one bullet every two or three minutes, so I will take it. Great. As you finish your rest, your bandages across your torso, gather yourself to escort these two out and end yourselves to safety outside of this chaos. You go over to where that battle transpired, pick up the one tempo that seems the most battle-ready

and one of its iron payloads. Can I add that to my little? Yeah, just write down Teppo, and whenever you want to fire it, I'll tell you what you get to add to it. Okay. Okay. So.

That's cool. Continue your journey northward. Oh man, I do not. So as they're heading out toward the countryside, I'm going to pull Yumi aside, and I'm going to pull out a small little scroll from my side sash and hand it to you. Here you go.

What is this? Sometimes it's in a chicken coop. Sometimes it's under a marshy bed of log. But there's some food, some cash, a few stores I have outside of town. Take it and take care. I'm sorry, this isn't my fight. Where are you going? I got a little boat in the port. We're about halfway distance. I'll, uh... I'll take my leave here. But, um...

It's been an honor. I'll kind of nudge Ryuichi in the side. I'm sorry. This... this isn't for me. You can make it to the port alone. Well, I'm pretty sneaky. The sound of heavy hoofprints, multiple sets grow loud from different sides and shouts as two mounted samurai begin to rush up

and begin to meet the northern gate where you've all been trekking. As they begin to gather around the sound, they are throwing what looks like flaming objects towards the sides of the gate that detonate and sending flames emerging up the sides of the gate that detonate and sending flames emerging up the sides of the nearby buildings. The exterior of your exit gate to the wall

of where you were leaving the shrine and going to send the family off is now ablaze. As you look back towards the city in the opposite direction to try and escape further in, a third horse rides up before its rider leaps off, where you see a tall, fully armored, masked samurai who had previously cut down a civilian in the street during its meeting

looks down at the rest of you. What are you thinking to escape? Two guys burning our exit route. This guy blocks us in on the other side. We are trapped. I instinctively pull Tomiko, who's holding Heiji, pull them back to pull them behind. Good.

They both back away. The flames crawl fast. Some sort of accelerant within these objects they threw have sent fire to crawl up all manner of nearby buildings that already amount to it, and immediately the landscape begins to burn around you. It turns into the center of hell as this armored demon of a samurai steps forward.

Women and children first. He pulls from one side of himself his katana that was sheathed. Wakasashi left and from his back, in one hand, a gnarly-looking cannibal wielding both simultaneously, he rushes forward towards all of you as the two other mounted samurai pull their bows free and begin to encircle the space.

I need you all to roll initiative. I feel like that boat ride will have to wait. Oh! This is the climax here, and I can tell. Oh no! Shit. That's a zero for me. What? Damn!

Okay. Okay, a zero for me. What? Damn! Okay. Okay, hold on. Holding? Oh god! All right. Damn. What is it we add? It's plus your lightning.

Oh shit! Oh shit. How'd you guys do? Rolled a one. Oh boy, all righty. So out of the gate at the top of this, 10 to five, anybody? I wish.

What you got? Six. All right, five to one. I got two. Oof, a total of two? Total of two. Oh, yeah, that's great. That's good to know. What? Is that good?

Well, it's better than lower than one. Yeah. All righty, so. Re-reachy. It's not a 12. No, that's true. All right, zero to negative five. Negative two.

All righty, is that considered a one? And then... Okay. And then with Gareth. Oh man. So, Rufino, you are up first. Yeah, so... So about that. Sorry.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to turn and try to sprint away from the conflict to where it looks like I'm trying to run away into a back alley. Like, for all intents and purposes, I'm trying to make it look like I'm running away. Okay. Just roll a Guile test for me to see if the,

you do not seem like an immediate target to any of the other surrounding combatants. Yeah, 12. 12. Dirty. You put up your most, I am not a threat expression ever, and dart out of the center of the battlefield

while the rest of your companions look like they are ready to have a showdown. And you feel pretty confident that you are not the focus of attention at the moment. What are you doing? I'm going to try, if I can finally do it, I do want to get, I want to try to get advantage points somewhere up high,

like rooftops again. Yeah? Yeah. Okay. I will say, because now we're pushing forward, we can say push the advantage to try and do this. Oh! Okay.

So roll a d10 and add your, I'd say, agility. Bro, I am going to leave. I'm trying to do a fake leave in character. I was trying to all yeller myself, and now I'm gonna do it in real life. Apparently, Rafina can do lots of things other than climb on a box and then get to the top of a roof. That's a nat one.

Oh my god. What is happening, dude? What is happening? It's been a big night. Yeah. Well, so you, I'll say this. You do manage to find a vantage point, but it ends your turn.

You do come up there. You get to a place where the flames haven't yet gotten to, and there is a tiled roof edge that you clamber up to, unnoticed, but the process of doing so takes the entirety of your turn, and that's going to finish its go. But you are in position. Ryuichi, you are up.

Okay, let me understand. Two archers flanking us, coming, they're on horse? They're on horseback. And the guy, he dismounted the the samurai so he's walking towards us in the center he's rushing towards you in the center rush of weapons okay everything is urgent I'm gonna take out one of the one of the archers with a surta can not only ninjas have them, I got a few here. It's got sink, sink, sink, you know,

or two or three, I'm gonna take out one. So that's my first battle. Okay, so as you see this going, you're gonna go ahead and throw an attack. Yeah, I can grab like this. All right, so for this, you can roll with either agility or guile, your choice. Ooh.

Guile's a minus one, agility's zero. So just roll a d12. Six! Okay. I missed? Unfortunately, you miss on the first. Sure. It goes wide. They're hard to hit when they're riding on horseback.

It's not impossible. Do you want to push the advantage and try for another one? Do I have to roll with a smaller die? You do. Yeah. Let's go. Yeah. It's this one, right? Yep.

Six plus or nothing? Well, if you don't have a bonus to your thing, then that's just a six. What about the shuriken? I don't have no bonus. Oh, no, that would be adding your agility or your guile, I said. So that would be a zero. Zero, shit.

So I miss again. They're just so hard to hit. Okay. However, because you were pushing the advantage, as you're throwing these shuriken, you assume this massively armored figure would be slow, given the weapons and the size of him. He moves quicker than you expect,

and suddenly he is upon you. Ooh, the massive swing. That is going to be an eight. Does an eight hit you? Dodge is an eight. I got eight dodge. Oh, eight dodge, he just hits you. Yes, it is to hit or higher.

Do you have enough adrenaline for a defensive maneuver? I have four adrenalines, so. And do you have any weapon abilities that add to your dodge under your katana? Reflect. Weapon ability. On a successful attack, you can do plus two wounds. Then above that, there should be a defensive or a...

Does anything say deflect? If you're an ally close to your attack or your ally gains plus two dodge against the attack. So you or an ally can get plus two. If you want to spend the two adrenaline on that, you can add plus two to your dodge and try and deflect it. Yeah. Okay, so go ahead and spend two adrenaline.

Okay. And that brings your dodge up to 10, which causes his attack to miss. So he comes down rapidly with both weapons and you just deflect it off to the side. He barely misses taking a chunk out of your head. Okay. But now he's there and in the fray next to you.

That finishes your turn, it's now his turn. You're right there. You can now see the cold and cruel eyes that are just barely visible between his mask and his helmet, and he reads you. He's going to spin around and come for you. What? Ooh, that's going to be a 13 to hit.

For sure. I have no fancy deflection moves, so. Okay, you take three wounds as both weapons come down upon you. You try and hold it, and it pushes you back, a heavy impact on you. He's going to push the advantage. Oh man.

That's going to be a seven to hit you? Meets a beats it, yep. Seven hits you again. Another three wounds. Oh! Oh, just blood sprays on the ground. Is just brutalizing Garrett. Staggering back, yeah.

Garrett's already in a rough place from these hits. He's a cruel figure. He's already in a rough place from these hits. He's a cruel figure. He's going to push the advantage again. Oh no! And so it goes. That's going to put it at a six. That misses. Now, because he failed while pushing the advantage,

you get to attack him back. Okay, right. So I just got slashed. Your ears are sad. The kanabo, my kanabo is in the dirt and I'm bleeding out rapidly, but I will, pressed this desperately, I will, even though it fucking hurts so fucking bad,

I'll double hand the kanabo and and try to strike him in the side of the skull with the heavy end. An arrow comes out of nowhere. Yeah. Yes, just in time. And helps him from the side. I'll use adrenaline to give you aid.

Yes! Wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow. Adding which? I'm going to, well, that's interesting. It's sneaky. Because it's sneaky and you're unnoticed, it could be guile.

I want it to be guile. You choose, you just have to think about how you apply that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's meant to be a sneak attack. It's plus three. And it's not wounding him, it's just to distract him. Correct. So it's a plus three to your roll.

That gets me up to nine. Nine? Nine hits. So with that, that is three wounds to the masked samurai. Yes. Crack! A heavy hit. It impacts the armor and is three wounds to the masked samurai. Yes. Crack! A heavy hit. It impacts the armor, and the armor kind of takes the hit,

and he just slightly moves. Oh, jeez. I mean, he took three wounds, but he has a lot of armor on, so the armor absorbs a lot of it. But that finishes his turn. Fumi, you're up. Right. I want to break through that armor

so that we can get at him with our finer weapons. So I'm going to just give Tomiko and Heiji a little shove back and run forward with my Kanavo. Awesome. Oh, and deliver a 14-point smash from behind Essel. Yeah, he's not even focused on you right now, because he's just like a smart, brutal warrior,

focusing somebody down in the moment if no one else is defending, and you use that advantage to just crack a heavy hit on the back of the armor. That's three wounds to him. Do you want to push the advantage? Yes, I would love to push the advantage, so I'm going to. Now don't forget, before somebody rolls,

you can spend an adrenaline to try and add. Oh, I'm going to. Yeah, can I throw in one adrenaline? If you want to, you can spend an adrenaline, and then how do you aid her attack? Which attribute do you add to her? How do I aid her? Do you want to add your might to her roll?

Yeah, well, oh, that's how I can add one of these. Yeah, you add one of your bonuses to her roll. Oh, absolutely, yeah. But describe how you help her with her strike. Oh. How do I help her with her strike? Write your own action movie. So right now, he's been smashed in the chest,

smashed in the back, his armor is compromised, and I'm just, like, winding up for another swing with my connebow. Now to his head. That's where I'm heading. Well, he's kind of distracted, so I'm going to approach from the opposite side to throw off his concentration. So he cannot, you know, rely all his eyesight on her, but he's seeing me, so he has to concentrate on me, so I'm distracting him by circling around him. Great, so you circle around, flashing the weapon to try and draw his attention. And as he's now caught between the three of you, and that gives just enough an opening for you to strike. What was your total? The 14, that hit of 14.

The 14 was the first roll. Now you roll a d10. Multiple people can't aid. Not multiple people. Great. So my d10. Oh, 10! That's a crit! It's my first! Four wounds on him with a heavy hit! Nice! Unfortunately, no. But hey, it all helps.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it works. So that was a smash to the back of the head to blast his helmet. Unfortunately, no, but hey. All right. It all helps, it's all good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it works. All right. So that was a smash to the back of the head to blast his helmet, hopefully, off. It cracks off, but it doesn't remove itself. His strap is hardy on his neck. But the back of his neck is exposed. But the back of the neck is exposed.

Are you going to push the advantage, or? I'm going to try and push the advantage and slash down there with my Wakazashi. All right, so now you're rolling a d8. What are you rolling? A d8. Agility, right? With agility for Wakazashi. Plus two.

Yes. Another arrow comes out of nowhere. All right, spend another adrenaline. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yep. All right, so you get to add another plus three to that one. Oh, and I push the advantage, I have to take off an adrenaline, right? Yes, correct?

No, no, just use your abilities. That was adrenaline for me. Adrenaline for you. Oh, is an eight, right, so push it. The arrow rips, it kind of dinks off of his shoulder. Yep, so roll a d8 and add plus three on top of your plus two, so plus five total. Okay, so I got seven.

12, that hits. That's nice. So this is, with my wakizashi, I slash down on the back of his neck. That's just one wound on that one. So you strike down on the back of his neck. It's now carved in, you can see the blood oozing from the back of it,

and you just hear. No! Spins around, and now looks you in the face and goes, Oh, you're so tiny. You'll make a tiny corpse. That's going to finish, unless you want to push the advantage again? Or do you want to end it there?

I have a question. Wait, so every time I roll, I get an adrenaline. When I'm pushing the advantage and rolling, can I still gain adrenaline for every roll? Yeah, every time you do. Every time. But the die number. The die number, now, if you want to push the advantage again, it becomes a d6.

Right. Jeez, don't. So. He's facing me, and I've got the wakizashi, and he's bleeding out really bad. I would love to just try and stab him in the face. Okay, so roll a d6. Let's see what happens with this d6. I swing the kanabo right into his ankle

as I see her pressing her attack and aid. Okay, so go ahead and roll the dice. So that plus two for my hand. That plus two dice. Okay. Six! Another crit! Yeah! Dang! Holy shit.

Okay. Lots of fun. That's two wounds from the wakasashi. As you stab into the abdomen, he's taking these hits and is like, he's not going to hurt, but he's standing. And with each wound, he seems to grin. You see the blood kind of now dripping

from underneath the mask, which is this horrible visage now of this, like this only like grin with like the fanged teeth and just the blood pouring out. And as you stab him in the stomach, he like slams his, like his katana arm, wraps around you and pulls you into him. So he pulls the blade into his stomach,

and he just kind of looks right in your grin. Do you want to push the advantage again for a d4? Yeah, you know, I kind of do. Let's go! That's fun. Let's see if I can do a little, what is it? Like Haruki. I'm just going to see if I can drag this Wakizashi up to his heart.

I flip the Kanabo and I drive the handle into his ribs, pressing him towards her, aiding you again. Okay. I can't help as well. We can't three-prong him? It's one help in a row, unfortunately. Do it. Uh, one.

Plus two, plus anything? So this was a natural one, and then, so with my Wakizashi. That's a plus three. That's just for me, and three for me. That is unfortunately going to fail. First off, he's going to use, because you've wounded him on one of your previous wounds, he's going to use his special ability to,

as he holds you in, to crack and hit you. You automatically take one wound. And then he's going to go ahead and, as you're there, the blade pushed into his chest and you're right there, he's going to go ahead and that's attacking you for a 12 hit. Holy! Yo. So I have seven dodge. What can I do? Deflect with my wakizashi dodge. I'm going to burn two adrenaline.

What does it bring your dodge up to? Well, that only brings it up to a nine. That's not going to be enough. So you take three wounds. As he's pulled you in close, now what he does is he takes, as he's holding you with the kane-an, he takes the kanabo on the other

and kind of all bear-hugging you against him. Crack! Crack! And just slamming you in the back with this bat as he's just kind of laughing in your face. So that's three wounds on you there. That finishes your turn. Now it's the bow riders. Oh boy, yeah. One of them is going to go ahead and take a shot.

It's going to take another shot at you from behind. That's going to be a 10. A 10 attack on me? Yeah, what's your dodge? On me? I've got seven, quick check. So did I burn those two adrenaline trying to do it? So now my dodge is seven.

I wonder. so yeah. Bringing it up to a nine isn't gonna be enough, unfortunately. Because nine's not enough. And then I still have two points on my armor that can take it. So yeah, so it's two wounds from the bow. So you take two wounds from the arrow that sinks into you. Great, that's going to my armor.

So you mark those off your armor. Your armor absorbs the blow. It's gonna push the advantage. They went both ways. That's going to be a seven. Does seven hit? I'm a seven dodge, so I will burn two adrenaline here. Okay. With my wakizashi to try and...

So this is the archer coming at me? So now you push off the masked samurai after he's impacted you and you hear one hits your armor and another one, you cut it out of the air, backing out of the way. The arrow just splits off into two pieces. It's awesome. And that's going to finish his turn

because that's a miss, technically. So that ends his turn immediately. The other one is currently trying to train on who's there. Your, probably the most prominent one, is going to go ahead and try and fire at you. That's going to be a four to hit, which misses, ends its turn. Garrett, you're up with Rufino on deck.

Okay, Garrett is heavily wounded and is just staring at his own blood in the dirt and thinking how much he loves this city. He's got to die anywhere, it better be here. And he goes apeshit, and I charge at the samurai, and I just am going to take a full baseball bat swing at his face to begin. Go for it. Come on.

No. No, that is a five. A five, unfortunately, misses. You go to swing towards him and- Slip in my own blood. He actually, unfortunately, it misses. You go to swing towards him. Slip in my own blood. Actually, yeah, you slip a bit, and he hears the gravel grind of your foot, even though he's been focused on Umi,

and almost without looking, and just barely glances over his shoulder, swings his kanabo back, and both your weapons collide at the same time, leaving this heavy crack sound that just echoes throughout the entire area of this region of the city. How do the rules work? If I miss on my first attack, am I able to push for a second try? No. Only when you succeed can you push. However, because your first one missed, there is no

consequence. It's only when you miss on a push that you get out. Your turn ends there. Rufino, you're up. Yeah. I'm going to knock one and try to shoot at these mounted archers. Okay. I have no idea how this ends. It's different, though. We're going to find out together. Seven. Seven. Seven is what you needed to hit them.

Okay, okay. Good, good, good. So that's two wounds on that one? That is two wounds. That's correct. So one of the mounted riders is getting its arrow set up. As it's aiming, it does not even notice you as you let loose, takes a hit from the side and glances over towards the direction of where you are and just barely makes a bead

on where you're sitting on the rooftop. Do you want to push the advantage? Oh, absolutely. Anybody have adrenaline to help here if they want to? Oh, yes, I would love to. I'm going to aid an ally. Okay, how do you aid him against the mounted archer? Right.

So where am I right now? Oh right, so I have just deflected a shot, deflected an arrow, so I've got my Wakizashi at, so as he's turned to try and get a beat on where you are, I'm going to take a swipe at his arm. So you're going to rush up towards the, as the horse is running by, you're going to try and meet it and slash at it?

Yeah. Awesome. Just like, yeah, run towards, get it as I pass. Great. So he's charging towards the horse. He's like knocking the arrow and looking down at you. That distracts him just enough for you to go ahead and get the shot. You swing wide without making impact,

but it definitely sets him off in the horse's mount. So you go ahead and take the shot. Let's go, Rufino. Plus two. Come on. Let's go, baby. Come on. Doink! What's my bonus?

Yeah, 12. 12, definitely. Two wounds. The second arrow sticks into him and he's like, he slumps forward and for a second you think he's dead. Two damage. Two wounds. The second arrow sticks into him and he's like, he slumps forward and for a second you think he's dead. He gets back, barely holding on. Yeah. I'm going to press into the eight, but I'm going to use my special action, Take Aim.

So I'm going to spend all three of my adrenaline and I get to add my guile to my attack roll. Yes, you do. I'm also going to throw the tanto blade that I picked up at that archer's back as I see you taking action. So you get plus one for my guile. You got it. Just go ahead and spend that adrenaline.

Seven? Seven is exactly what you needed. Oh, nice! That was with this plus one? Thank you. Oh, boy! Yeah, yeah, yeah. How do you wanna do this?

Yeah, it's just that the action is take aim. Like, it's that moment where you've got a bow fully drawn and he's locked in, and these are like a recurve bow, so they pull the full weight, and he's just gonna, think of all the times he's failed throughout the day. And his self-loathing is going to allow him to pull an extra five pounds on this fucking bow, and it's just going to, and that arrow's going to. It goes through the throat and sticks and stays in place.

Oh, nice. He falls back in the saddle, kind of saddle, coughing as the horse now takes off. And now that it's not being controlled, the flames that have grown so high spook it and the horse takes off further into the city with the now still strapped in corpse of that one samurai. The other one's still riding around. Right.

All right. Still your turn. Do you want to push the advantage on the other one, or are you good? Yeah, I'm going to look down at Garrett, point at him. And then, and you want to push the advantage on the other one, or are you good? Yeah, I'm going to look down at Garrett, point at him, and then... But I'm going to give him a big thumbs up, and then I'm going to...

I was like... I want to, as that's happening, if we can, just for flavor, I'm going to move positions and kind of try to move to a different part of the rooftop. And I'm going to... Wait, are you going to attack on this? No, I'm done. Okay, got it. That finishes your turn.

Ryuichi, you're up. Okay, so there's two men left. The samurai who's maimed. He's hurt pretty bad, but he's taken a lot of hits and he's still standing and laughing. And there's the mounted samurai, which hasn't been hurt yet. And he's what, circling?

Yeah, he's circling and shooting arrows around the outside of the tower. Boomy's got her eyes on both of them. Yeah, because I just slashed one. You should engage with the guy that I just murked. Yep. So she knows that I am taking on two opponents. Yeah.

I'm going for the samurai. All righty. She can handle this guy. Masked samurai, you mean? Yeah, the masked samurai, the one that just fucked up my buddy Garrett. Yeah, let's go. I'm engaged with. Let's go. So he's been smashing back and necks.

I go right to him. I see you running up and I go and I headbutt him right in the face to assist you, my plus two. Okay. Seeing you coming. Go ahead and make your strike. Now, I had a little bit of room. So I took out my naginata. All right.

And I am going to, from a distance, maybe eight to nine feet, I'm going at him with my naginata, and how can I boost this attack? What abilities do you have there? I have one adrenaline. Any of the abilities that require one? Special action on my Naginata? Yep. Do either of them take one adrenaline? Roll one strike.

Roll one strike, it's multiple targets. You don't need that against him. Okay, no, defensive last, no. Okay, so nothing that'll help you in this strike, but you can keep in mind that defensive ability can possibly save you in a pinch. Yes. All right, so go ahead and take your strike with the 12. Headbutt gives you plus two.

Nice. Oh, really? Yeah, I just crunched his nose a bit. Let's go. Six. Plus two? Plus three here. Six plus three is nine, plus that definitely hits.

Yes! So with that, he takes, it takes two wounds from the naginata? Sorry? Two wounds, yeah. All right, so he takes a hit very hard. He's going to use his special ability to, after he takes the headbutt from you, you strike him. He runs around and grabs your naginata with the other hand, like dropping his kanabo, pulling you in

and headbutting you, and you take a wound. Okay. Just as a reaction to that, do you in and headbutting you, and you take a wound. Okay. Just as a reaction to that, do you want to press the advantage? Yes. I'm that close. Only one of us is leaving. All right.

So you go ahead and roll a d10 and add your might. Instead of hearing, you hear. And a coin bag goes flying through the air and hits the guy right in the face. So you're going to get a plus three. That one right there. You're going to get a plus three on this.

Really? Yeah, that's my last. I don't add a mite to this. I do. You do, Will. But you get my plus three. So it's a plus six. Ah! Gold zero! No, that's my last. I don't add a mite to this. I do. You do. But you get my plus three. So it's a plus six. Ah! Gold zero!

No, that's a ten, technically. Oh, that's a ten! That's a crit! That's a crit! Yeah! I spent all my money on that! Oh, nice! Ryuichi, how do you want to do this?

Yay! I'm gonna get up close. I'm going to run my hand up to the top of my Naginata blade. I'm going to bring it to his throat. And slowly, like in Saving Private Ryan, when... Shh, shh, shh. I'm going to look him right in the eye. I'm going to slowly him right in the eye. I'm going to slowly sever that jugular.

As you're doing that, his hand reaches up and grabs your throat and is strangling you. Man, that's fine. He's looking at you with intense fury as you cut and carve. You feel your trachea beginning to collapse. Right at the point where it might be too much, you feel his grip begin to fade as the life leaves his eyes.

As you carve back, the mask comes loose in the final minute, and you just see that cruel smile as he drops from your grasp onto the ground. Now, there is a horse-mounted samurai running. Do you want to push the advantage? Or do I want the young lady to have the glory? I can aid you in your attack if you do. Nah, I'm going to let her have the glory.

All right. Let's see. Only like I see that she wants it. Her life means everything. It means everything to her. She has it. I love it. All right. With that, the Mass Samurai is now on the initiative it. All right, with that, the mass samurai is not on the initiative order.

Umi, you are up. Wonderful. So, I'm now going to, this archer on horseback is charging towards us with it drawn, and I'm going to run towards him with my Wakazashi Dron and just try to slash again at his body. Go for it.

Okay, great, here we go. Oh, two. I'm reloading my muscle. Okay. I'm doing that, I'm like. Great, so I strike him with a hit of four. Swing with a four. Swing and a miss, unfortunately.

Some heavy hits, but at this point, especially watching the mass samurai crumble and Zorii Uchi finishes that off at this awesome, terrifying moment of execution, realizing that there's still something on the field. You rush towards it, and it's so close to victory, you're almost distracted in the moment, and as you try and swing wide, the horse gallops out of the way, no impact. That finishes your turn. It's now the archer's turn. As it carries around, it's going to look back over

and take a shot at you. That is going to be an 11 to hit. Oh, yuck! You take two wounds from that hit. Yep. It's going to push the advantage. No! That's going to push the advantage. No! That's going to be a nine to hit you.

Okay, I've got seven to dodge, so I'm going to burn. A nine will still hit you. Oh, because that's right. So you take two more wounds from your second arrow. Shkv, shkv. Oh. I fall to the ground.

I'm on my knees. You're alive. I have two arrows in me, and I'm bleeding out. So Umi is incapacitated, two massive arrows sticking out of her torso. On her knees, weapon dropped out of her grip as the horse is. He's going to push the advantage and take a shot at you.

I'm going to roll this in front of the screen, actually, because we're down to the wire here. Yeah. This is a plus one. It's a six to hit. No. That does not hit, which means his turn is done and you get to respond if you'd like. Yes, please. There's any cripples on the ground? He's alive. He's alive. He's hurting.

He's hurting real bad, but he's still standing. He's standing. I thought he was on the ground. His knees were past me. Conscious. But Archer is still on horseback, right? Correct. You can close the distance if you want to. I actually just invite him to come,

acting as dead as I feel, and as he approaches. Goes to leap arrow. And as he's coming by, I try to catch him in the throat with the carnival. Roll an attack. Eight. Eight hits. Yes! Heavy crack in the chest. I'll say actually knocks him off the horse, tumbles off the horse,

skitters off. He gets up, gets his bow at the ready, and begins to back away. He's hurt, but still definitely has some vim and vigor in him. That's going to finish his turn. Garrett, you're up. Oh, that was just my response? That was your response to him failing after pushing the advantage. All right, all right. Yeah. I'm going to

leap at the guy on his horse and try to swing it to the side of his head and knock him. He's fallen from his horse and try to swing it to the side of his head and knock him. He's fallen from his horse already. He's fallen already? Yeah, the horse took off. He's on the ground before you, so you can go and close the distance on him quite easy.

He only has his bow and arrow? Bow and arrow, and there's a wakasashi onto the back. Has he drawn it? Not yet. He's just recovering from falling from the horse. Then rewind, I see him standing up and I run as fast as my wounds will allow me and I upswing into his jaw. Go for it.

Yeah, 13. 13, okay. With adrenaline, I meant to say. Yeah. So that adds one to the wound. All right. How do you want to do this? Ugh! I think I just take his jaw off his face.

Yes. He tries to back out of the way, and the jaw just gets flung off into the rooftop. It lands near you. He falls to the back. At that moment, you all look around you. There's no immediate combatants, but you do hear shouts of soldiers,

streets not that far off, getting louder. This area is about to fill with more cavalry and backup. As you all glance over and see Umi is sitting there on her knees, bleeding out into the ground. The two arrows stuck, still holding on, but in a bad place. Tomiko, at this point, rushes out with Heiji in her arm.

Is everyone all right? Oh god. Help her, help her! I run and scoop her up. All of you help get Umi to her feet. And you're so conscious, but your feet are a little dragging and you're stumbling as you go,

but with all their help, you all head towards what is now the flaming exit gate to the north. A little bit of confidence, a little bit of bravery, you all push through. The heat is intense, but not enough for any of you to catch as you push through and are met on the opposite side with the night sky beyond the flaming chaos of the city. The welcome view of stars in the night above

as you all begin to push into the Setsu countryside, the rolling hills of grass, the welcoming sight of non-crumbling architecture. the welcoming sight of non-crumbling architecture. But it doesn't take you long before you push into the fields that you can see numerous other citizens who have run, who are crying in the nearby grass. You pass by one of the creeks that carves through

where you see families trying to gather and make sense of what's happened. You can see other Nobunaga soldiers who've been cut down by gathered civilians defending themselves, trying to avenge those that lost in the escape. But this moment of peace is mingled with the sense that this is just the beginning.

Tomiko leads you towards the outskirts of one beautiful little section of farmland before guiding you into this rural estate. She comes to the door and slams on it. It slides to the side and you see a handsome gentleman in his mid to late 20s or so. Tomiko, you're okay, pulls her into his arms and holds him and they hold for a minute

before he stops and says, Heiji, who are these? Tomiko turns back. hold for a minute before he stops and says, Hey, G. Who are these? Temmin' Kola turns back. They saved us. They helped us get here. Well, come in, come in. Your guest's here. What's happened?

I had everything ready and you looked at the side and he had packs ready to go. Tools was ready for some sort of shifting. I was going to come find you. Ah, and she goes, it's good you didn't. It's bad. He looks to Heiji. Oh, what if Rin of,

and she puts her finger to his lips. He looks so, but not. Why don't you take care of Heiji? He looks solemn, but not. Why don't you take care of Heiji? We'll get him to safety. He'll expect the rest of you. Whoever you are, thank you. Let's dress your wounds. Let's get you better.

I need to figure out how to get Heiji out of here and whatever is safety for you all, we're going. And it's that moment you hear dozens of hoarse galloping sounds getting louder and louder as you look back at the hillside grasses beginning to catch flame that's where it ends Just begun. It actually, it does segue right into. Yeah, the game. Shadows.

Wow. Well done, y'all. That was awesome. That was amazing, man. Cass, you were so much fun to play with. Sincerely. That was awesome. That was cool. That was cool. It was so gorgeous to get to learn from you all as well.

This is my first time playing. No. Thank you so much. I would've never known. It's still taping as we're talking. It's still taping as we're talking. We're not talking at all. No, that was wicked.

That was epic. Yeah. Did you have fun? Yeah, it's great. I can't believe it's over. It sure seemed like it. Yeah, it was awesome. It was great. I can't believe it's over. It sure seemed like it. Yeah, it was great. It was great, but I could see how

this is absolutely in line with Shadows. That's the idea. Absolutely. Though, as a reminder, none of tonight's events are canon to Assassin's Creed Shadows, nor are they in any way historically accurate, but to your point, we've had a lot of fun.

We've taken a lot of inspiration from these pieces. So yeah, just to have to clarify for that. But yeah, the intent was to tell the story that felt like a nice fictional companion to some of the characters in the narrative. You guys did great. All of you did great. I think we could actually write this as a prequel.

Just kind of, you were saying it yourself, we're writing our own story. Yeah, it's gorgeous, the story that emerges from the character, the relationships. Yeah. Yeah, I just want to keep going. Through choice and chance. Through choice and chance.

This made me want to play the game. Your characters were glorious. Yeah. We were good. It was such a fun motley crew. And it felt, it was very much like putting this together. It was like, I hope this feels like it grounds itself somewhat in the reality of, you know, some sort of,

and I think you all just kind of slipped into it so well. I'm so happy with it. Yeah. Now I got a Tomoko, huh? Yeah. I'm so sorry we a Tomoko, huh? Yeah. I'm so sorry we didn't run for your boat. We could have avoided so much pain if we'd always been like, you know what? Let's go for that boat. I was never really gonna

leave. And Matt insured it. We're also pushing the three-hour mark, and I was like, I gotta move stuff along. Yeah. The GM's gotta keep that clock going, you know? So you had it. You had it written out. All those beats, those moments, and then right to the last samurai, and then leaving the gate. You knew the story.

Well, there were multiple things that could have happened. Those are the things that felt the most appropriate, given the direction that it was going and the choices you all were making. There are a few things that never occurred. There are a few things that you stopped from happening. It's what makes these games so fun. It's like, I don't really know what's going to happen. It's great. It's great how you designed it, because I don't know what was going on the first 10 minutes. What? But as

a progressive, that's how those games start. Yeah, as you start to walk us through it, I'm like, oh, this is like a plant. It's kind of like it's like the game. I don't know if you know the movie The Game with Michael Douglas. Oh, yeah. It's kind of like, it's like the game. I don't know if you know the movie The Game with Michael Douglas. Oh, yeah. It's kind of like, you know exactly what we're going to do.

You're going to plan perfectly. You're going to walk right through it, and you're going to win at the end. That is the greatest compliment I could have hoped for. No, it was great. I could see. I was like, I thought you were making this up. No, I was like, oh, man. Right when it ended, I was like, oh, shit.

We just walked right through this whole, this guy's like Mr. Rourke. He's created a game that we cannot die, and it's going to be, you know, we're going to be screwed. Oh, you could very much have died. Yeah. You were close. How many wounds?

What are the hip points you have left? Full wounds and no armor. I have three left. You have three left? You guys had a great opening volley on that masked samurai. He had a fuck ton of hit points. And he sawed into the edge of his headbutt.

Lovely first attack. My only wound was when I twisted my ankle. That's true! That's suitable for Rubino. You got a bunch of bruisers at the front line doing what they do, take the hits. Thanks for the story, man. That was really fun. Thank you all for the research. Your roles were dog shit, and yet the character was so memorable.

Yeah. That's half the character was so memorable. Yeah. That's half the game. On a pin. Thank you all so much for joining us so much, sincerely. I look forward to seeing your characters in the game. Yeah, thanks for the invite. It was great. I was a little bit reluctant,

because I wasn't skilled at the game, but now I know it's absolutely friendly. You know what I mean? You're open to make mistakes. Hell's absolutely it's friendly. Yeah, I mean you're it's open to make mistakes And oh, yeah, it's great. I saw you guys whipping out all kinds like I'm gonna do this Adrenaline and what can I add on this? I'm like what that there's a real skill Involved in this and that's why I was like I'm gonna pick up that gun. You know, I could use it later I didn't know that we could pick up weapons until you said,

I'm going to go and grab that. What, what? That's all good. I could have been walking an arsenal. I could have everything. So, yeah, I guess the more you play, obviously you guys are skilled at this. Very skilled and talented.

Also, just to feel your characters come to life as well, beyond just describing actions, it's so nice to hear you in character, and I feel inspired to play more. Hooked another two! Got him! But also, you two picked that up so quickly and met us all on that level so well.

It was so much fun. Crushed it. Sincerely. Cool, I'm glad that we could embellish upon this. I mean, I get it now. I get it, I understand. Hey! Welcome to the fold.

I'll come play again if you ever invite me. Hell yeah, man. Good to know. Yes. Great to know. Any day. Well, thank you all so much. I hope you had as much fun as we did. A massive thank you again to Ubisoft

and Assassin's Creed Shadows for sponsoring this one shot, letting us play our game in the world of your game. Go ahead and check out assassinscreed.com slash shadows for all the details surrounding it. Thank you all so much. Thank you to our wonderful players, and have a good night. Thank you so much for joining us on this adventure. To help new listeners discover the show, Cheers and have a good night.