Nakahama

"Have you met Kitsune Kiyoshi-san? He is very skilled with animals and also has experience developing animal sanctuaries. And he can talk to them!"

"We went bird searching together, and found a group of Jimen Tori. And it was wonderful. I got tons of audio and video and sketches to prepare my first Nakama-native avi-drone."

"But I wanted to thank her, the Jimen Tori who sang so much for me, and she said they'd love help finding this secret place that is full of fish. A hidden pool? A perfect place for a bird sanctuary maybe. Only we have to find it. I'm asking around if there are any maps or folktales relevant, and hoping it will add up to an expedition."

"And I think maybe if we did find it, if we could put together some information about the Governor about the advantages of preserving it as a natural sanctuary? There's lots of ways to help. If you are interested."

And then she took a moment to present her drone.

"This is Sky Blue!" The banner was carefully painted to look exactly like a carp, like the streaming banners of old. "I only modified her to play a folksong about carp banners. She sings in the sky! But no recording, per the rules."

Kakita Haruhi wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 11:25 am "Have you met Kitsune Kiyoshi-san? He is very skilled with animals and also has experience developing animal sanctuaries. And he can talk to them!"

"We went bird searching together, and found a group of Jimen Tori. And it was wonderful. I got tons of audio and video and sketches to prepare my first Nakama-native avi-drone."

"But I wanted to thank her, the Jimen Tori who sang so much for me, and she said they'd love help finding this secret place that is full of fish. A hidden pool? A perfect place for a bird sanctuary maybe. Only we have to find it. I'm asking around if there are any maps or folktales relevant, and hoping it will add up to an expedition."

"And I think maybe if we did find it, if we could put together some information about the Governor about the advantages of preserving it as a natural sanctuary? There's lots of ways to help. If you are interested."

And then she took a moment to present her drone.

"This is Sky Blue!" The banner was carefully painted to look exactly like a carp, like the streaming banners of old. "I only modified her to play a folksong about carp banners. She sings in the sky! But no recording, per the rules."

Sumiko nodded a few times as she listened.

"I met Kitsune-sama in Kyuden Oborozuki on the World of Dreams actually. Worked together on some important things while we were there, including regarding species restoration. It doesn't surprise me that he would be interested in doing a similar thing here and it'd be a noble thing to do as well. A hidden pool though...that might be difficult to find without more information. What a bird might think is hidden might not be something we see as hidden. Hmm...there's no library on this island but if there's any computer terminals we could research into hidden myths or places such as hidden bodies of water. I would be very interested in helping!"

There was a brighter smile at the drone.

"Oh that's lovely, and it plays music? That's so clever, it's like a battle version of your songbirds. Defending the honour of its metalic kin, bringing glory to the songbirds" Sumiko admired it a little more before opening her bag "mine is far more simple, I haven't modified anything. I simply called it Adventures because like me it goes on an adventure in battle."

Her own drone was a simple black drone with a bright green trim, the flag matching the green more than the black.

Kazushi follows up by pulling out of the swoop, circling around to pass just in front of Velvet Thunder, hoping that the maneuver would spook the hostess and cause her to slow down or divert her trajectory.

Duel on the Dragon! Roll 2 | 3k3+2 ⇒ 22

Susumu Sumiko wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 12:10 pm Sumiko nodded a few times as she listened.

"I met Kitsune-sama in Kyuden Oborozuki on the World of Dreams actually. Worked together on some important things while we were there, including regarding species restoration. It doesn't surprise me that he would be interested in doing a similar thing here and it'd be a noble thing to do as well. A hidden pool though...that might be difficult to find without more information. What a bird might think is hidden might not be something we see as hidden. Hmm...there's no library on this island but if there's any computer terminals we could research into hidden myths or places such as hidden bodies of water. I would be very interested in helping!"

There was a brighter smile at the drone.

"Oh that's lovely, and it plays music? That's so clever, it's like a battle version of your songbirds. Defending the honour of its metalic kin, bringing glory to the songbirds" Sumiko admired it a little more before opening her bag "mine is far more simple, I haven't modified anything. I simply called it Adventures because like me it goes on an adventure in battle."

Her own drone was a simple black drone with a bright green trim, the flag matching the green more than the black.

"How wonderful that you've worked together already. Computer terminals is a very good idea! Perhaps we could work together on that. I'm so glad for your help!"

"Oh I like 'Adventures' as a name. The spirit of adventure. And such a pretty green and black."

"Do you want to try a match? I'm sure we can find a bit of uncluttered sky for it."

Kakita Haruhi wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 12:34 pm"How wonderful that you've worked together already. Computer terminals is a very good idea! Perhaps we could work together on that. I'm so glad for your help!"

"Oh I like 'Adventures' as a name. The spirit of adventure. And such a pretty green and black."

"Do you want to try a match? I'm sure we can find a bit of uncluttered sky for it."

"Working together sounds good" Sumiko nodded with a smile. She'd already worked with the Kitsune after all. "On computer terminals...I may need to entrust finding those to you however. We are on a Crab world and as a Spider they may not be very forthcoming with allowing access if they know of my involvement. I'm quite good with computers though so once we're able to find something I could investigate."

She took a quick look over at the battle already happening then back at Haruhi.

"I'm not sure if the host would be offended if we snuck off to have a battle while people were watching another one going on but I'm also a novice so I'd rather not have an audience" she chuckled.

She nodded. "I'll see what I can do! My patron might have one we could use. This is directly in service of her commission. If we can find the secret place, it is surely full of unique native birds."

"Hmmm... I do not know the etiquette. But my singing bird is the least stealthy thing imaginable, so it is definitely not a sneak off kind of drone."

"Perhaps we should wait our turn, and focus on cheering on the current competitors."

Utaku Itsuka wrote: Mon Nov 10, 2025 6:12 pm Snip!

Shinjo Suh-Hyun wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 9:20 am

Yasuki Taraka wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 12:34 am Taraka considered the suggestion.

"Huh, you know that could be pretty interesting, Shinjo-san. We could do the big race in miniature for the carp race, with balloons representing the major features. We were looking at the mountains and the coast, trying to work out which would be better. Better in the sense of 'Exciting race' balanced with 'Can actually get approval for." she says honestly.

"Approvals are a burden I fear mainly falls on you," She have a lopsided smile, "I'll check and vouch for the course if you need. Not sure if an outsider's assessment, even if it's by someone with flying expertise, is that valuable. Less than a local business in good standing for sure."

"Perhaps you, me, and Utaku-san need to take a reconnaissance flight of the planned course."

Taraka nods.

"Probably a smart idea. I could make some time for it tomorrow, weather permitting. If you're free tomorrow, we could go over and see if Utaku-san has the time for a flight of the possible course." she offered.

Kakita Haruhi wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 12:51 pm She nodded. "I'll see what I can do! My patron might have one we could use. This is directly in service of her commission. If we can find the secret place, it is surely full of unique native birds."

"Hmmm... I do not know the etiquette. But my singing bird is the least stealthy thing imaginable, so it is definitely not a sneak off kind of drone."

"Perhaps we should wait our turn, and focus on cheering on the current competitors."

(OOC: I would strongly suggest that anyone wishing to duel not wait to do them sequentially because we won't get very far before a dayflip. Just be a bit fluid and say 'At some point it was our turn and this happened.' Just don't start a duel with someone else while you're already in an unresolved duel to make scoring clear for me, thanks!)

Yasuki Taraka wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 1:06 pm Taraka nods.

"Probably a smart idea. I could make some time for it tomorrow, weather permitting. If you're free tomorrow, we could go over and see if Utaku-san has the time for a flight of the possible course." she offered.

"I should be, well apart from Fancon." She smiled broadly at that, way too proud of something but clearly not going to say more...

"I'll see if I can bring up a map we can right notes on, maybe sketch out the path when we are back on land."

Her eyes shift to the duel. "You're business is doing well it looks like."

(OOC related to dueling and day flip: Suh-Hyun is available for duels. Anyone who wants just send me a PM and I'll roll 5 piloting checks. We can RP it out as convenient.)

Yasuki Taraka wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 1:09 pm (OOC: I would strongly suggest that anyone wishing to duel not wait to do them sequentially because we won't get very far before a dayflip. Just be a bit fluid and say 'At some point it was our turn and this happened.' Just don't start a duel with someone else while you're already in an unresolved duel to make scoring clear for me, thanks!)

(OOC: Good point. Duel on the Dragon! Roll 3 | 3k3+2 ⇒ 18.)

Kakita Haruhi wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 12:51 pm She nodded. "I'll see what I can do! My patron might have one we could use. This is directly in service of her commission. If we can find the secret place, it is surely full of unique native birds."

"Hmmm... I do not know the etiquette. But my singing bird is the least stealthy thing imaginable, so it is definitely not a sneak off kind of drone."

"Perhaps we should wait our turn, and focus on cheering on the current competitors."

"That would work. I'm sure it will be useful for the Crab also" Sumiko smiled as she stood, picking up her bag.

"I think they're just finishing in fact, shall we set up?"

(ooc - let's do rolls ahead of time and then narrate out the battle once we have them! I'll do first 3 and if we need more we can roll more:
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 1 | 2k2+1 ⇒ 14
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 2 | 2k2+1 ⇒ 9
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 3 | 2k2+1 ⇒ 7

Susumu Sumiko wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 4:11 pm
"That would work. I'm sure it will be useful for the Crab also" Sumiko smiled as she stood, picking up her bag.

"I think they're just finishing in fact, shall we set up?"

(ooc - let's do rolls ahead of time and then narrate out the battle once we have them! I'll do first 3 and if we need more we can roll more:
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 1 | 2k2+1 ⇒ 14
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 2 | 2k2+1 ⇒ 9
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 3 | 2k2+1 ⇒ 7

(ooc --
The first pass is a tie
https://sakkaku.org/r/19292 14 v 14

Haruhi wins the next 2
https://sakkaku.org/r/19293 a ridiculous 43 v 9
https://sakkaku.org/r/19294 a more likely 19 v 7

Do you want to roll 2 more to resolve the tie, and possible further tie breaker?)

Bayushi Kazushi wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 1:45 pm

Yasuki Taraka wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 1:09 pm (OOC: I would strongly suggest that anyone wishing to duel not wait to do them sequentially because we won't get very far before a dayflip. Just be a bit fluid and say 'At some point it was our turn and this happened.' Just don't start a duel with someone else while you're already in an unresolved duel to make scoring clear for me, thanks!)

(OOC: Good point. Duel on the Dragon! Roll 3 | 3k3+2 ⇒ 18.)

This time Yakura's drone took the better of it.

OOC:
D3 Droning, untrained piloting | 3k3+2 ⇒ 27

Rolling another one cause I'mma sleeping soon:
D3 Droning, untrained piloting | 3k3+2 ⇒ 27

Kakita Haruhi wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 4:46 pm

Susumu Sumiko wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 4:11 pm
"That would work. I'm sure it will be useful for the Crab also" Sumiko smiled as she stood, picking up her bag.

"I think they're just finishing in fact, shall we set up?"

(ooc - let's do rolls ahead of time and then narrate out the battle once we have them! I'll do first 3 and if we need more we can roll more:
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 1 | 2k2+1 ⇒ 14
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 2 | 2k2+1 ⇒ 9
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 3 | 2k2+1 ⇒ 7

(ooc --
The first pass is a tie
https://sakkaku.org/r/19292 14 v 14

Haruhi wins the next 2
https://sakkaku.org/r/19293 a ridiculous 43 v 9
https://sakkaku.org/r/19294 a more likely 19 v 7

Do you want to roll 2 more to resolve the tie, and possible further tie breaker?)

(ooc:
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 4 somehow! | 2k2+1 ⇒ 9 if this somehow wins/ties then
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 5 somehow? | 2k2+1 ⇒ 15
Note - remember unskilled doesn't explode even for the drones although you still win the 2nd one even without exploding dice

Once the first two duels were done, Taraka would face off against the Shinjo fighter pilot.

Taraka tends to fly like she had flown transport shuttles. Solid and dependable, a good tutorial enemy.

First Pass, 28

But shockingly, it looked like the Shinjo might actually be an ace pilot.

Yoritomo Yakura wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 4:51 pm This time Yakura's drone took the better of it.

OOC:
D3 Droning, untrained piloting | 3k3+2 ⇒ 27

Rolling another one cause I'mma sleeping soon:
D3 Droning, untrained piloting | 3k3+2 ⇒ 27

Kazushi tries to roll with Yakura's renewed assault, trying to find an advantageous angle. Unfortunately, he seems to be having more than a little difficulty...

OOC: 2 to 1, eh? Here's another two, which should be all we need.
Duel on the Dragon! Roll 4 | 3k3+2 ⇒ 13
Duel on the Dragon! Roll 5 | 3k3+2 ⇒ 20

Susumu Sumiko wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 4:51 pm
(ooc:
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 4 somehow! | 2k2+1 ⇒ 9 if this somehow wins/ties then
D3 LA battle carp with Haruhi! Roll 5 somehow? | 2k2+1 ⇒ 15
Note - remember unskilled doesn't explode even for the drones although you still win the 2nd one even without exploding dice

(ooc: Oh right! Thanks! I have to remember to un-click that button.
Round 4 https://sakkaku.org/r/19322 18 v 9
I'll do the first half of the narration; feel free to add any detail you'd like!)

As their drones took to the sky, Haruhi's Sky Blue projected its cheerful folksong while she tried to move it in ways that made the banner swim through the sky.

The first pass - they were very evenly matched. Too close to call.

On the second pass, Haruhi guided her drone with a little more confidence and some falcon-like tactics. A quick dart away, up up up. Then a diving pass targeting that green banner. And ... capture!

Bayushi Kazushi wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 4:59 pm Hot skerp dude

"You have been VANQUISHED Bayushi-sama Velvet Thunder reigns supreme!" Yelled the modest hostess of this modest and not at all garish establishment.

"As a condolence, let me offer you a drink, and a 5 koku credit coupon to the casino area" She continued with a smile.

Kakita Haruhi wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 5:28 pmI'll do the first half of the narration; feel free to add any detail you'd like!)

As their drones took to the sky, Haruhi's Sky Blue projected its cheerful folksong while she tried to move it in ways that made the banner swim through the sky.

The first pass - they were very evenly matched. Too close to call.

On the second pass, Haruhi guided her drone with a little more confidence and some falcon-like tactics. A quick dart away, up up up. Then a diving pass targeting that green banner. And ... capture!

Sumiko nearly got distracted by the launching of the musical drone, which meant her immediate reactions were slower. Thankfully she was able to dodge the first attack, and it looked like they might be a close match. Until the Crane artist started taking to the higher skies like an eagle swooping. Sumiko couldn't react anywhere near fast enough to avoid the dive, and the flag was captured in a perfect dive.

"That was an impressive attack Kakita-sama" Sumiko said as she bowed to Haruhi "very impressive! You turned drone combat into an art form. Congratulations on your victory."

"Not my day," notes Kazushi as he watches his banner flutter away on the breeze. "Ah well, practice makes perfect, and drinks ease even the bitterest defeat."

Yoritomo Yakura wrote: Tue Nov 11, 2025 5:32 pm Tagging.