D2LN, [readacted], see notes

[Fukurokujin]

(It's a pretty straight shot. Going through the wall will actually take longer than going through the door. And it might well hurt, too.)

[Doji Arai]

She could throw her sword and hope to hit him. She could go for her bow. But the other Doji seems to have been the intruder's target and ok, they won't probably try anything fishy right now, but the young Crane needs to be sure.

"GUARDS!" Arai yells out loud at this point and follows Noriko from up close, ready to defend her or her children if it becomes necessary.

[Fukurokujin]

The figure does not relent, does not halt, but continues to flee, the second round of doing so going slightly slower than the first (since the figure only got a 21 on this Athletics roll, https://sakkaku.org/r/15856), but doing well enough to get away (since a 21 is damned well good enough not to trip).

Combat ends just as the guards show up.

They did respond quickly to the summons, at least.

[Doji Noriko]

Noriko kneels in the hallway to check her children. Ichiro looks a little ill from the whole affair, but young Jiro stares wide-eyed, first at the open doorway, then on the sudden onset of warriors with steel.

She squares her shoulders and brings them both close and starts speaking lowly to them. Something about calm.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

An aggrieved white comet bursts through the closed paper screen door of Shinnosuke's room, barking furiously in a surprisingly deep voice and probably barreling into someone's ankles.

(Its master is still groggily on his way out of his quilts and won't appear quite yet.)

Haku the white dog

Haku_dog_thumbnail.png (44.26 KiB) Viewed 1117 times

[Daidoji Sae]

Sae, holding up slides open her own door with one hand, looking around groggily with a sheathed blade in the other.
When it becomes clear there aren't any active assassins in sight (well, at least as far as she knows) she kneels down and pets Haru the Guardian.

"Did you get them boy?...Did...you go through that door?"
Point Haru, looking at the small warrior with new respect she carefully moves forward to see who else had awakened to guard everyone.

[Daidoji Ryu]

Ryu grunted, grimacing. He was really more of a cat person.

Seeing that the intruder was away, he began searching around, looking for signs of intrusion. Where had the intruders come in? Had they used any tools? Left anything behind?

[Doji Arai]

Arai sheaths her blade and bows low to Noriko. Perhaps her reaction was too abrupt. It certainly must have scared the two children.

"Forgive me, Doji sama. I should have been more discreet."

[Fukurokujin]

The guards that have arrived begin to secure the perimeter of the building, treading heavily about as they look for signs, as well.

Edited to add: Those wishing to search for clues may roll Investigation (Search) / Perception, TN 20. Mastery abilities apply.

[Doji Noriko]

Arai sheaths her blade and bows low to Noriko. Perhaps her reaction was too abrupt. It certainly must have scared the two children.

"Forgive me, Doji sama. I should have been more discreet."

She looks up, her eyes still a bit wider than normal from shock. "There is nothing to forgive, Ishimoto-san. On the contrary, I am thankful that you and Miyahara-san arrived so quickly."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Sae, holding up slides open her own door with one hand, looking around groggily with a sheathed blade in the other.
When it becomes clear there aren't any active assassins in sight (well, at least as far as she knows) she kneels down and pets Haru the Guardian.

"Did you get them boy?...Did...you go through that door?"
Point Haru, looking at the small warrior with new respect she carefully moves forward to see who else had awakened to guard everyone.

Haku barks gruffly and begins circling Sae's ankles with much energy and a clear air of Lemme at 'em! Or else at breakfast!

Shinnosuke's door slides open... not smoothly, as the rags of shattered paper scrape on the frame of the adjacent screen. "What's... going on? Haku? What is it, boy?" His fine voice is clotted with sleep.

----
Teeeeechnically, could we try to track the intruder before the guards totally stomp all over their trail? Shin won't think of this, though.

(Haku might think of it, and rolls 8k4 for scent tracking, but is linguistically restricted from suggesting it to the humans.)

[Daidoji Ryu]

Ryu didn't say anything at first, frowning as he carefully studied everything he could.

Eventually though, he shot Shinnosuke a quick look. "It's probably too much to expect that that's a scent hound you have there, I suppose?" He semi-asked, a bit sourly, before returning to his search.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D2LN looking for CLUES, vp spent, calling 1 raise | 8k3 ⇒ 26 (TN: 25) - pass with 1 raise

[Doji Arai]

Arai bows again, kind of awkwardly. "I thank you for the opportunity. Let me not keep you away from the children. There is no danger at the moment and I will personally stand guard outside your room for the rest of the night." She bows again. "I will take a look around and return if you allow it."

/
D2LN perception/investigation, vp, 1 raise | 5k4 ⇒ 22 (TN: 25)

Failed

[Doji Noriko]

Arai bows again, kind of awkwardly. "I thank you for the opportunity. Let me not keep you away from the children. There is no danger at the moment and I will personally stand guard outside your room for the rest of the night." She bows again. "I will take a look around and return if you allow it."

/
D2LN perception/investigation, vp, 1 raise | 5k4 ⇒ 22 (TN: 25)

Failed

Noriko bowed in agreement, gently bending the two boy's backs to the proper degrees as well.

[Daidoji Sae]

Sae looks among the assembled Crane and then back at the fearsome guard dog.

She gives Ryu a look followed by a slow nod which probably passed for a slap on the back and loud 'well done!' before waiting to see what was found by the trackers amongst them.

[Fukurokujin]

Ryu didn't say anything at first, frowning as he carefully studied everything he could.

Eventually though, he shot Shinnosuke a quick look. "It's probably too much to expect that that's a scent hound you have there, I suppose?" He semi-asked, a bit sourly, before returning to his search.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D2LN looking for CLUES, vp spent, calling 1 raise | 8k3 ⇒ 26 (TN: 25) - pass with 1 raise

Ryu's diligence finds two things of note amid the stomping and frenetic bustle of the guards arraying themselves.

One is a shred of thin black cloth outside the door.

The other is a scrap of paper inside it that is clearly not from the local paper screens. Characters reading "-guya" are discernable on it.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Ryu didn't say anything at first, frowning as he carefully studied everything he could.

Eventually though, he shot Shinnosuke a quick look. "It's probably too much to expect that that's a scent hound you have there, I suppose?" He semi-asked, a bit sourly, before returning to his search.

"Scent...?" Shinnosuke, bundled in a quilted sleeping robe, steps into the crowded hallway. "Haku? Uh, well... he always knows who's got dried fish in their pockets...?" Blinking sleep out of his eyes, he begins to realize something really untoward has been going on.

---

snip

If we wanted to try to get Haku to track the person's scent on those clues, what would that take? Would it need an Animal Handling check? I couldn't find a lot of animal command example TNs in the book, except controlling horses in battle (TN 20 horsemanship) which is... not very analogous

[Fukurokujin]

If we wanted to try to get Haku to track the person's scent on those clues, what would that take? Would it need an Animal Handling check? I couldn't find a lot of animal command example TNs in the book, except controlling horses in battle (TN 20 horsemanship) which is... not very analogous

It'd be Animal Handling, yes. Not sure Haku's a trained hunting dog, though. TN 25 to get him to do it, then Hunting (Tracking) / Perception for the dog (+2k1 because dog on a scent), TN 30. Dog's out of his element here, and the plethora of new smells--including of food!--will distract.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

OOC: Thanks! I know it's silly to ask the mop dog to track a ninja, but as he is there, it sort of had to be asked even if the answer was negative.

It'd be Animal Handling, yes. Not sure Haku's a trained hunting dog, though. TN 25 to get him to do it, then Hunting (Tracking) / Perception for the dog (+2k1 because dog on a scent), TN 30. Dog's out of his element here, and the plethora of new smells--including of food!--will distract.

----

IC:

"Er... why do we need a scent hound, anyway, Daidoji-san?" To Shin's admittedly inexpert eyes, the only sign of violence apparent is the violence Haku did to the paper sliding screen, but a bunch of people seem to be standing around with weapons readied... and Haku is clearly, unusually agitated.

[Daidoji Ryu]

Carefully, Ryu lifted the two things he had found, touching them as little as possible. The piece of paper he showed to Sae, frowning thoughtfully as he did so. The scrap of cloth he showed around generally, then offered to Shinnosuke.

"Because if he can track by scent, perhaps he can follow this." He said.