[D13, LN, Scene] A Fire Most Ravenous

[Cearnach]

As the night draws on toward morning, a curious phenomenon begins to register to those weary delegates still awake: the lightening of the sky that comes with each new day begins about an hour before its appointed time. It is accompanied by a sharp, acrid odor. Something is deadly wrong.

And, indeed, a thin plume of smoke rises from the great silos on the riverside, and it slinks down the alleyways of Ikoma’s Eye, and it whispers its dreadful promise to the people of the city. Fire. Destruction. Death.

Down on the docks, the clatter of the watchman's rattle summons the firemen. Go-yoh! Go-yoh! the cries begin. It will be some minutes before all is ready for the response of the people of Ikoma's Eye, but Lady Hirasawa's complement of the Ikoma Army has already swung into action. While a small contingent pursue the retreating shapes upriver, bows in hand and eyes sharp, Lady Hirasawa herself leads her men in rushing into the smoldering granaries to save rice. By the time the firefighters arrive, the bushi have already cleared 20% of the silos, working with the stevedores to get great bags onto the barges in the river.

Lord Kitsu arrives about 20 minutes into the fracas, rubbing sleep from his eyes, he initially begins to call out to the spirits of the river, but a quick re-analysis prompted by Lady Matsu leads him to call out to the Air instead. A few breaths later, and all the air in the silos vanishes. The fires choke and die, and the smoke that has begun to fill Lady Hirasawa's tired lungs is yanked out with sudden force. Barely alive, she is pulled from the granary to the cheers of the dockworkers.

The harvest is saved! But dark tidings still rise from this near-miss. Who were those shadowy figures, and where did they come from? Perhaps the Hirasawa scouts will find out in the morning...