LOG START
[18:10:01] Master of Games
All Creation, Beneath the Sword
Session 12
The foreign marsh bandits who call themselves the Blue Legs have bitten off more than they can chew: namely, three heroes of the sun unhappy with their theft of valor. Atop the Datei yacht, the Band of the Canopy has the surrendered Blue Legs at bladepoint, and their leader lies limp on the aft deck after his neck and River Snake’s whip had a heart-to-heart.
The monstrous crocodile, apparently named Chopper, has let off its attack on the yacht, but still circles nearby. Perhaps it’s searching for its rider.
The beast may not understand where its master has gone, but the bandits do. A few seem in shock, others demand to know if he’s still alive even as they surrender. What will you do with the defeated miscreants?
[18:14:30] Datei ma Kagemori
”A fair question.” Kagemori moves to the other side of the yacht, to converse with his circlemates and observe the results of the side of the battle he was not involved in. “How did the fight go over here?”
[18:17:28] Raizo
Raizo follows Kagemori and nudges the unconscious? imposter-Urchin Prince with his boot. “Crocodile hide is tougher than I thought. Took a swim. Snake and I held this end, though.”
[18:18:22] Raizo
”Looks like you handled yourself well over there, too,” he says and gives Kagemori’s shoulder a gentle punch in recognition. “Good work, ink brusher.”
[18:21:44] Master of Games
The erstwhile impostor doesn’t react.
[18:28:51] Datei ma Kagemori
Kagemori nods. “I worked with your men. They handled themselves well, and between us we ensured the bandits did not have room to maneuver.” He gets down on a knee to better look at the bandit leader. “He’s seen better days. If he hasn’t left us yet, he will shortly. Might be beyond my little training.”
[18:33:42] Raizo
”Maybe one of the others onboard was a doctor in a previous life.” Raizo turns and walks back to the assembly of prisoners and victorious bandits. “Any barbers, leeches, sawbones, uh…,” he pauses and thinks, “blacksmiths, any of those around?”
[18:42:41] Master of Games
The Band of the Canopy look awkwardly among each other. One of them’s fitted a couple horseshoes in their youth. Among the Blue Legs, the young man with the long beard who briefly consulted with their deputy leader indicates he takes care of the crocodiles’ health, making him technically a veterinarian.
[18:48:12] Raizo
”Outstanding, come with me, we need to know if this man’s dead or not.” Raizo gestures for the beardy man to follow him over to see if the imposter will continue to pretend to be someone else, or if he’s gone off to that big imposter show in the sky.
[18:52:41] Datei ma Kagemori
Kagemori kneels by the man and orders a member of the Band to fetch some bandages from the lower deck. “Neck damage. Difficult to rectify. First step is easy, ensuring airflow is reestablished, but after that it gets trickier.” Kagemori feels the man’s neck with both hands, trying to determine if it has been bent or cracked and righting it if needed.
[18:57:26] Master of Games
The bearded man joins Kagemori next to his fallen leader and lets out an “oof”. He knows how to look down a throat and is able to help with trying to get the windpipe working again, at least.
[19:03:13] Datei ma Kagemori
With assistance, Kagemori tries to gently but firmly correct the damage done to the man’s neck. He is unsure if he can truly solve the damage, but he can ensure his death is less painful than it otherwise might be. Even if he is to leave Creation, this will help ensure his spirit does not return with wrath in its heart.
[19:10:14] Raizo
”At some point you would think I would have picked up a little something about injuries, but nope. How’s he looking?”
[19:11:08] Master of Games
He’s still not moving, but Kagemori manages to support his neck such that he’s breathing again and won’t do further damage by accidental movement. He’s still with the living, at least, though no telling when he might be back with the waking, or his state when he is.
[19:12:33] Datei ma Kagemori
”He is breathing, but only just.”
[19:12:52] Datei ma Kagemori
”He remains among the living, but when he will return to the waking world, I cannot say.”
[19:17:56] Raizo
”Well, we can… hm. I’ll have to think about that. Alright, next order of business.” Raizo rubs his chin for a second and then leads the vet back to his companions. “You lot, think on this: you can join the Band of the Canopy and help put a stop to tyrants squeezing us out of hearth and home. If you choose not to, you will be released unharmed but harmless somewhere convenient here.”
[19:18:20] Raizo
”I bear you no ill will for stealing my name or trying to rob me. Business is business, after all.”
[19:25:21] Master of Games
Several of the Blue Legs look surprised at the offer. Perhaps after the first half, they were expecting something more along the lines of join or die. Raizo can see a couple mutter to each other, who look about to jump on the offer, when the deputy leader from earlier, Wily Preta, speaks up. “What are you gonna do with Oboscu? Some of these spawnheads have family, but I go where he goes.” A solid half or more of the prisoners murmur agreement to that.
[19:25:57] Datei ma Kagemori
”That this guy? Or the crocodile?”
[19:27:20] Master of Games
”Our leader. His ride’s Chopper.”
[19:27:50] Raizo
”He’s alive.”
[19:27:53] Master of Games
”Never seen Chopper listen to anyone but Oboscu, by the way.”
[19:28:31] Raizo
”He is not in a state to answer my question and I lack the resources and time to see him to one.”
[19:28:43] Datei ma Kagemori
”If you promise to leave the region of the capital, I am fine with you taking him with you. Alternatively, I can have him cared for discreetly within the Datei estate. Up to you, but one option does mean you’ll have to trust me.”
[19:29:04] Datei ma Kagemori
”Until he wakes, I mean.”
[19:34:14] Master of Games
A heated whisper-discussion develops among several seemingly core members on the offer. In the meantime, two young men, one of whom is the one who was standing next to Preta before the battle, stand up and announce their intent to take Raizo’s offer regardless. Seems they’re motivated more by adventure than loyalty.
[19:35:48] Master of Games
The argument among the main group, after some time, seems to settle into a conclusion that some will leave, but most prefer to try their luck having their leader cared for here. “A river’s no place to keep a guy in his state, and the hags’ll floss their teeth with our guts if we bring him back like this.”
[19:38:14] Raizo
”I wouldn’t have expected you all to be hen-pecked.”
[19:40:48] Datei ma Kagemori
”Very well. I would ask you to not discuss this bargain too openly, but if you are joining the Band of the Canopy I suppose that might go without saying.”
[19:44:56] Master of Games
”Aren’t we all, end of the day.”
[19:45:24] Datei ma Kagemori
”Is Chopper going to be a problem, if he only listened to Oboscu?”
[19:48:21] Master of Games
The Blue Legs trade glances. “Probably.”
[19:48:51] Master of Games
”He’s a softie, really, but he’s rowdy and hungry. And the size of a boat.”
[19:49:50] Datei ma Kagemori
”Hmm. Perhaps this can be a good thing. No one is going to say I haven’t eliminated the urchin prince if I show off his dragon of a crocodile.”
[19:50:48] Raizo
”Well, uh… hopefully the lot of you with the most experience handling him aren’t dead then.”
[19:54:54] Master of Games
”You don’t really handle Chopper so much as you experience him, honestly.”
[19:58:41] Raizo
Raizo sighs, considering possibilities. “Alright, maybe… maybe if we show Chopper that he’s on board, he’ll follow? We can take turns holding him up if we need to.”
[19:59:30] Raizo
”And if that doesn’t work, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m willing to make reasonable efforts here but I’m not bending over backwards for this thing.”
[20:01:23] Datei ma Kagemori
”If nothing else, if he is left here for a day or two it likely won’t be too much of a problem. It should be easy to find him again.”
[20:03:52] Datei ma Kagemori
Kagemori has one of the Band or the Blue Legs stand Oboscu up against the railing and ‘wave’ at Chopper to see what happens.
[20:10:35] Master of Games
The circling crocodile notices his master eventually and approaches. His snout, large enough to swallow a man whole and have room left for dessert, rises out of the water and sniffs. He seems confused, but recognizes Oboscu. Wily Preta offers, “We could guide him into the marshland away from the river, then leave him to wait there. It’s not like we always take all our crocs everywhere we go. He’ll find food and probably won’t attack any ships.”
[20:11:06] Datei ma Kagemori
”Works for me.”
[20:12:12] Raizo
”Me as well. Now, shall we shove off before the mosquitoes eat us?”
[20:12:54] Datei ma Kagemori
”Please.”
[20:13:48] Master of Games
”We’ve got a salve for that,” one of the new recruits offers, with a grin that says it’s one he expects the sort of person who owns a yacht to dislike.
[20:15:52] Datei ma Kagemori
”Let us hope it is not needed, but good to know.”
[20:18:46] Master of Games
”Well.” Wily Preta considers and shrugs. “We’re the Blue Legs chapter of the Crocodile Knights, better known as Quagheads. But I guess we’re the Blue Legs chapter of… the Band of the Canopy now?”
[20:19:05] Datei ma Kagemori
”The Crocodile Knights?”
[20:19:46] Raizo
”Interesting name.”
[20:21:06] Master of Games
”We ride crocodiles. Seems self-explanatory to me. We’re pretty far afield here, honestly, most chapters have territories along the Grey River.”
[20:21:55] Datei ma Kagemori
”You’ll have to expand upon your order’s history for us at a later time.”
[20:25:49] Datei ma Kagemori
”You’ve traveled a great distance. How did you end up in Vaneha?”
[20:26:56] Raizo
”You may have noticed you didn’t find us in a canopy. We’re from Great Bough Hill, we’re a band, trees have canopies. Not part of any bigger group.”
[20:32:17] Master of Games
”Long story. Oboscu wanted distance. We’ve been going up the Yellow for a good year, and the mountain here caught his attention. He thought it was interesting, plus there’s plenty to smuggle and tax up this river.”
Kagemori’s network is peripherally aware of the so-called Quagheads, which is among the more polite of the names they are given along the Grey River. They are smugglers, racketeers, thugs, and wanderers who make their territories mainly in wetlands up and down the length of the Grey. They rove between villages on crocodile-drawn watercraft, unload illegal cargo and intriguing boasts at every stop, and adhere to an opaque charter of strict taboos.
[20:35:11] Master of Games
The Blue Legs’ stolen valor, it seems, was an opportunistic theft: they like to style themselves as romantic heroes of the wetlands, and some such rumors must have followed them up the river. So when people started confusing them with the reputation that precedes Raizo, they decided to roll with it.
[20:40:38] Datei ma Kagemori
Kagemori makes a note to pull further notes on the Quagheads. And to use these former members as a resource to expand the Datei’s knowledge of them.
[20:51:51] Raizo
Raizo also starts taking note of the general level of fitness and discipline among his new recruits. Drills and fitness will have to redouble for a time to get them acclimated and test conditioning, but he can turn any sow’s ear into a silk purse. Train hard, fight easy, as the Crane-feathered Strategist wrote.