Nakahama

"I'm so glad we met and could do this together!" Kanna remarked as they took a brief pause in their hike up the mountain. For the ones behind the screen, it had allowed for introductions to already be handwaved.

On her back, Kaida was peeking out curiously from the carrier backpack.

"Should I do a reading to give us an idea of which direction to focus on, or do you have some plans, Agasha-san?" the Dragon asked.

"A happy coincidence," Agasha Sorato agrees peaceably. The two descendants of the ancient Agasha of Old Rokugan had met on the trail and fallen in together, climbing together being both safer and more enjoyable than climbing alone (or even alone-except-for-floof).

Looking around at the woods around them, which were starting to thin out as they climbed higher, he he admits, "My survey method is usually... take things as they come. If you feel a reading could be useful, I wouldn't object."

Kanna would have already seen some evidence of his 'method,' since every now and then during their hike Sorato pauses to holorecord, scribble a quick note on his densai, and then carefully pinch off a sample of some piece of vegetation or other. Each sample is cached away in a labeled bottle and tucked into the front pocket of his pack. The choices of target might seem almost random, though there's presumably some Phoenixy logic to them.

There had been a crab on the trail as well, it seemed they were all heading more or less the same direction so why not join up with together.

The wilderness was not Ryosei's ideal environment but he had often lamented not seeing more of the island's natural beauty. Besides he was secretly grateful for stumbling on the pair. He himself had no experience navigating the forests in such a way and they seemed rather experienced with it.

"Whatever you think is best Tamori-san. I trust your judgement."

A nod was given. "Then just a quickie!"

Kanna's own method of studying the area was very randomized, as if she was going between hyperfocused on one thing only to be distracted by something else. Kaida at least seemed incredibly excited to have two other humans along for the trip for attention.

The Tamori found a patch that was mostly flat and laid down her tarot-cloth first, followed by placing her jade bracelet in the center as an anchor point. With a quick shuffle of her tarot deck, she placed a card for each cardinal direction; north, east, west, and south.

"Let's see what the vibe is here, neh?" she smiled and flipped the cards.

----

OOC: Center is the PCs, and the four cards around is each main cardinal direction. The divination is like a vibe-check for each direction. North is towards the peak, and south is back down the mountain.

D2 MM. Divination/Intelligence for a directional reading on the volcano-mountain | 5k2 ⇒ 20 (TN: 15)

Tamori Kanna wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 6:41 am A nod was given. "Then just a quickie!"

Kanna's own method of studying the area was very randomized, as if she was going between hyperfocused on one thing only to be distracted by something else. Kaida at least seemed incredibly excited to have two other humans along for the trip for attention.

The Tamori found a patch that was mostly flat and laid down her tarot-cloth first, followed by placing her jade bracelet in the center as an anchor point. With a quick shuffle of her tarot deck, she placed a card for each cardinal direction; north, east, west, and south.

"Let's see what the vibe is here, neh?" she smiled and flipped the cards.

----

OOC: Center is the PCs, and the four cards around is each main cardinal direction. The divination is like a vibe-check for each direction. North is towards the peak, and south is back down the mountain.

D2 MM. Divination/Intelligence for a directional reading on the volcano-mountain | 5k2 ⇒ 20 (TN: 15)

Gosh, all the directions feel just so neat! North, East, West, South... they're all great!

Maybe the vibrations coming from the North card feel a little bit more fun-vibey than the others? Yeah, probably.

Hatoful GM wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 10:48 am Gosh, all the directions feel just so neat! North, East, West, South... they're all great!

Maybe the vibrations coming from the North card feel a little bit more fun-vibey than the others? Yeah, probably.

All positive cards for the directions, with the most positive for north, towards the peak. "All directions are favorable, north doubly so," she announced to the others and put her jade bracelet back on. "No direction to avoid. I have a good feeling about this place!"

With that, she gathered up her cards, returned them to the deck, and wrapped them up in the cloth again before returning it to the backpack.

"Have you been here before, Kaiu-san? When was the last time the volcano had an eruption?"

Please additionally have any one person make a cooperative Hunting roll, no TN.

Add a Free Raise for going in obviously the most auspicious direction.

Please quote this post when posting the roll.

Hatoful GM wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 11:14 am Please additionally have any one person make a cooperative Hunting roll, no TN.

Add a Free Raise for going in obviously the most auspicious direction.

Please quote this post when posting the roll.

Sorato watches the divination process attentively--Kanna's gorgeously illustrated cards are new to him. "North it is, then," he says, with a solemn nod. More upward hiking! As the group moves on, he keeps alert for anything interesting around them.

D2 MM--Hunting/Perception, open TN. No bonus from Kanna, if Ryosei has it we can add his skill ranks as a static bonus. FR from good vibes! | 4k3+5 ⇒ 23

He also glances at Ryosei, curious about the answer to Kanna's question.

It is a very pretty hike, as a very lush and green part of a generally lush and green planet. Between divination and practical skills, the little group is able to find a way along fairly easily.

(go ahead and vamp for a bit, let me know when you're ready to be farther along!)

He watches the reading and nods along. He didn't always understand how the kami worked but he respected those that do.

At Kanna's question he shook his head "No Tamori-san I am usually more comfortable spending the afternoon at my workbench rather than in the outdoors." He shrugged a little "perhaps it's the events and meeting new people but I found myself being a bit more adventurous. I live surrounded by beautiful nature I should probably experience it at some point."

"Easier to take the sights for granted when you know they will always be there for you," Sorato agrees, his mouth quirking. "Traveling, I feel more urgency. When I visit my family at home these days, I scarcely leave the house and garden, it seems. Even though the landscape there is also very fine."

Despite her short legs compared to the other two, Kanna seemed to move along with them more than fine. And the reputation of the Tamori being mountain-folks in the past seemed to echo in her.

She let Kaida on the ground now, keeping him on a leash still so he wouldn't get away from them. As well trained as he was, he was at the end of the day still an animal, and she wouldn't want him to accidentally catch any endangered species if his instincts took over. The little dog seemed quite excited to explore the area too.

"Yeah, I can see the logic in that. We get too used to our surroundings... it makes me wonder if I will see Dragon space differently when I go home again! Are you from this world, Kaiu-san? And what about you, Agasha-san?"

He nodded agreeing with both their precious sentiments but he had nothing really to add. He perhaps was very good at taking things for granted.

He shook his head once more "no Tamori-san, I was born on the Crab capital. I only recently relocated to here a little over a year ago. It is a refreshing change of pace." There may be more to it than that but that was all he needed to divulge to two practical strangers. They didn't need his whole life story at this moment.

"Ujimitsu. The Sapphire Lakes region, if you know the planet," is Sorato's answer to the question. Compared to the World of Dreams or Golden Mirror, the Phoenix Clan's most populous planet isn't a major tourist destination, but outside visitors are far from unheard of. "Duty carries me all over Phoenix space, though. Ah, look at that!" This last is muttered half to himself as he ducks down to record a holoimage of a shelf fungus climbing up a tree stump. "Almost like a black wood-ear, but texture's different..."

He records and samples with the efficiency of frequent practice--so even if the other two don't want to stand around waiting for him, they will have learned by now that he'll catch up pretty quickly.

(we could probably advance to the next location, what do you guys think?)

"Ah I see. It's interesting to think we're all from such different places, as I'm from Dragon's Eye, but here we all are on the mountain on Green Carp," Kanna mused out loud with some amusement to her tone. As Sorato spotted something, she too had to take a look to sate her curiosity.

"Dragon's Eye is warm like this place, but not in the same way. Though," she sniffed the air, "it feels a little more familiar now. Volcano and all that."

---

OOC yes I think we can proceed.

Going up a mountain is definitely a bit of a climb, and it doesn't get any easier as the group goes up, the treeline going right up to the mouth of the volcano. Still, the group makes fairly good progress, and should be able to make the summit in reasonable time.



Farther up the mountain, there are a few of the local birds around, a little wary of the samurai but not overly so. They appear from time to time, in groups from two to five, never alone.

"Oh, is Dragon's Eye a volcanic world? We don't hear much about it." Sorato puffs a little bit as the steepening climb makes the humidity more oppressive, but doesn't complain. He's going to need some lighter clothing if he plans on doing this often here, though...

Hatoful GM wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 8:29 pm

Farther up the mountain, there are a few of the local birds around, a little wary of the samurai but not overly so. They appear from time to time, in groups from two to five, never alone.

"Ah, look." Sorato quietly gestures toward the first of the flightless birds to appear in view of the path. "That must be the jimen tori. They're bigger than I pictured." His light eyes watch the birds with eager interest.

---
Fluff roll!
D2 MM--Lore:Nature/Int know about birds!! Probably easy TN, they're in the province write-up... | 5k3 ⇒ 26

As birds and samurai observed each other, they were joined by another group of samurai. This seemed to be a small Hiruma squad out on patrol, geared up but without the heavy stuff. Their equipment looks very neat and clean.

"Good morning," The patrol leader greeted them with a crisp bow. "Hiruma Akiro, local Crab security. I trust no one is in need of any assistance?" His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the little group.

As the giant birds came into view, Kanna was at first amazed at how large they were... then remembered that Kaida was, in fact, very-very small. And small things were often prey. Now were these birds predatory? She didn't know! But she wasn't going to take any chances when it came to her precious Kaida.

"Kaida, go house. Go in your house." The little dog had been standing stiffly on guard when he spotted the birds, tensed up like he was either going to bark or launch into an attack. But he obeyed the command of Kanna when she put the carrier down and ushered him inside its safe space. Yeah, that'll show those unregulated poultry!!

"... Are these birds friendly?" she asked, still fascinated as she snapped some pictures with her camera. She had never seen Birds Of Unusual Size like this before.

The small Dragon did have a little jump-scare as they were joined by a Crab patrol. "Oh, good morning! We're fine, everything's fine. How are you?"

He had heard of these birds before but never seen them in real life, he nodded "I think so? I at least don't think they are generally dangerous. But from what I understand wild animals can be unpredictable and these are rather large...."

Ryosei bowed politely at the Crab patrol when they appeared "No Hiruma-sama everything is fine we were just enjoying the scenery."