Hatate Quest

[Oldmansour]

>"It's a pleasure. I assume you were the one that was sparring with Gen a moment ago?"

>The braided wolf shakes her head, jostling the silver medallion around her neck, and points to the woman standing next to her. The black haired wolf with the halberd. "Gen and I were sparring with her, along with three of our comrades." She gives the black haired Karen an admiring look. "It didn't go well for us five."
>Karen uses her free hand to pull a strand of her long black hair over her ear. "Do not be hard on yourselves." the halberd-carrying tengu says in a quiet, dark voice. "None of you were truly prepared for fighting in my darkness. Few are."

[Hello Purvis]

>"How does that darkness hold up against a good wave of danmaku, out of curiosity?"

[O4rfish]

>Difference between halberd and naginata?

[Oldmansour]

>Difference between halberd and naginata?

>A naginata is a sort of Japanese spear. It is a long wooden shaft, with the sizable blade attached to the tip. This blade has a very, very slight curve, looking more like part of a sword. It can pierce, but was clearly designed more as a slashing weapon.
>You're less familiar with the halberd, it's a more exotic looking weapon than the naginata. It too is a polearm type weapon, a blade affixed to a long shaft. This shaft, however, appears to be made of metal, rather than wood, and the blade itself is a dark, royal blue rather than simple metal. The blade at the top of a halberd is a strange looking thing. Like some evil fusion of an axe, a spear and a pick all at once. It has a broad blade shaped like an axe, with a pick-like hook on the back. A long metal spear-like prong extends from the top of it. It seems to be more of a multi-tool than the naginata, but you imagine it would be frightfully dangerous in the hands of a skilled user.

>"How does that darkness hold up against a good wave of danmaku, out of curiosity?"

>"I do not employ my blindness in that manner in a spellcard battle." the blind tengu informs you. "It would be unfair."

[Branneg Xy]

A long-due comeback begs a long-due reply.

>Observe Karen appraisangly and then say:" I see. Rather honorable on your end,gained a point of respect to me.However I'd like to add a bit to it,if you don't mind".
>Wait for her reply and push forward with:"Per spellcard rules,one own's powers have to be held in check but they can still be used to a point if one so  wishes....?
>"...Might be worth a shot to hone prowess or gain experience in both dueling systems for every tengu involved and I also recall hearing of youkai using darkness and blindess"

[O4rfish]

>"I think it would be fair if you put it into a spellcard."

[Oldmansour]

>Observe Karen appraisangly and then say:" I see. Rather honorable on your end,gained a point of respect to me.However I'd like to add a bit to it,if you don't mind".

>Karen gives you a quiet smile. "That is precisely the correct word, young Crow. Honor. I have been called 'old fashioned' for the code of honor I live by, but if that is the case, then I wear the label proudly."

>Wait for her reply and push forward with:"Per spellcard rules,one own's powers have to be held in check but they can still be used to a point if one so  wishes....?
>"...Might be worth a shot to hone prowess or gain experience in both dueling systems for every tengu involved and I also recall hearing of youkai using darkness and blindess"

>"I think it would be fair if you put it into a spellcard."

>"There is something to what you say. And in truth I have scribed two cards that draw my opponent, or opponents, into my darkness. But I have yet to discover one such opponent against whom using them would be honorable. Aya Shameimaru is the most proficient tengu I have known in the realm of danmaku, and even she is too disrupted by being struck blind for it to be fair."
>"I didn't know you'd dueled Aya." Momiji says with some surprise.
>Karen nods, sending a lock of her black hair over her ear. "Only once. She wished to experience it, for her newspaper. I was against the idea, but she made it an order. I could not refuse."

>"Karen here hates using her darkness in battle of any kind." Juma informs you. "It's only by special request of the Shogun himself that she uses it against us Rangers in training, and even then, only if she's outnumbered."
>The blind weaponsmith nods again, pulling her errant hair back. "Only a handful of individuals have ever managed to touch me when caught in my blindness. Placing more numbers against me is the only way to make it more fair."

[Hello Purvis]

>Pfft, whatever. Just have familiars do the real work and you're fine.
>However, we do not vocalize our disdain at such hubris. Rather, "Interesting. Speaking of Aya, I assume there's been no news or rumors of her lately?"

[Oldmansour]

>Pfft, whatever. Just have familiars do the real work and you're fine.
>However, we do not vocalize our disdain at such hubris. Rather, "Interesting. Speaking of Aya, I assume there's been no news or rumors of her lately?"

>Owing to your own somewhat limited experience with danmaku in general, you refrain from chiding the blind wolf.
>"Shameimaru-san?" Juma asks, then shakes her head. "No, not since she left on that mission of hers. That was about a month ago, wasn't it, captain?" she asks Momiji.
>"About that. And I don't know where she went after we spoke with Sanae-san."
>"Maybe to see the Hakurei?" Juma guesses.
>"A safe bet. I just don't know for sure. No one seems to."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I didn't think there would be news, but if there was this would be a good place to start. Mmm, let's shift topics a bit. I've been contemplating an article on the role and experiences of domestic servants in town, do you think there'd be any interest in that?"

[Oldmansour]

>"I didn't think there would be news, but if there was this would be a good place to start. Mmm, let's shift topics a bit. I've been contemplating an article on the role and experiences of domestic servants in town, do you think there'd be any interest in that?"

>"She hasn't been seen on the mountain since she left, I can tell you that much." Juma says with confidence. Then she seems to shrink slightly. "Of course, you probably said as much yourself, didn't you, captain?"
>Momiji gives her subordinate a smile. "Nothing wrong with confirming a report." Juma's tail wags once.

>That seems to catch Juma off guard, but Karen, however, seems curious. As much as you can read her face, anyway. She's not very expressive, and her closed eyes don't help. "You pose an interesting question, Hatate. Such an article could cover quite a lot of topics."
>"Yeah." Juma agrees. "Stands to reason it'd be of interest to some folks. Domestic servants themselves, for one."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Oh, of course. That alone would make it worth writing. But my goal would be to reach out beyond the maids and housekeepers, and see if there is broader interest. But, I think I'll do it in either case, once I gather some proper information."

[Oldmansour]

>"Oh, of course. That alone would make it worth writing. But my goal would be to reach out beyond the maids and housekeepers, and see if there is broader interest. But, I think I'll do it in either case, once I gather some proper information."

>"What sort of information?" Juma asks you.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Mmm, well. What do you feel is relevant for people outside the business to know?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Mmm, well. What do you feel is relevant for people outside the business to know?"

>"Hmm..." Juma folds her arms over her rather diminutive chest and takes a few steps to her right. "Well speaking for myself, and I used to-" She stops her pacing, then turns back towards Momiji, grinning slightly. "Oh, that's why you brought her here, right, captain? You told her about my old job."
>"Guilty as charged." Momiji says, obviously pleased at her subordinates intuition.
>Juma chuckles quietly, then asks you, "So you were looking for some first hand acounts, right, ma'am?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I was trying to be polite and not obligate you if you didn't want to be. But yes, an inside perspective would be nice. As well as things that insiders would like to hear as well."
>Prepare notepad. There may well be a real story in this for when the news is slow.

[Oldmansour]

>"Well, I was trying to be polite and not obligate you if you didn't want to be. But yes, an inside perspective would be nice. As well as things that insiders would like to hear as well."
>Prepare notepad. There may well be a real story in this for when the news is slow.

>"I appreciate the consideration." Juma replies with a polite incline of her head. "And sure, I'm more than willing to help, if you'd like."
>"If you will excuse me, Juma," Karen cuts in, her face pointing at Momiji. "Captain Inubashiri and I have something to discuss."
>"We do?" the named tengu asks, her tail flicking in surprise.
>Karen gives her a strange smile. "It will not take long. If you'll come with me, please." Without waiting to hear her response, Karen turns and walks towards the south exit of the room. Momiji looks after her for a moment, then shrugs.
>"I guess I'd best see what she wants." she says, more to herself than you, you think. It is you, however, that she asks, "How long do you think this might take? Interviewing Juma, I mean, not whatever Karen has in mind."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm just going to get an outline now. If it runs too long, well, I'll cut it short and get more later."

[Oldmansour]

>"I'm just going to get an outline now. If it runs too long, well, I'll cut it short and get more later."

>Momiji nods. "I'll have time to check on the rest of the troops, then." She turns her head slightly in Juma's direction. "I assume Karen didn't cut them too badly."
>"Shallow cuts." Juma assures her. "Shoulders only." Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Momiji nods again then sets off after the blind weaponsmith.
>"Standard rules for a 'dark' duel with Karen." Juma informs you. "She cuts her opponent three times, or her opponents cuts her once."

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod. "Seems reasonable enough. So, where to begin?"

[Oldmansour]

>Nod. "Seems reasonable enough. So, where to begin?"

>"Well, like the captain probably told you, I spent quite a bit of time working for Dai-tengu a while back. Some Wolves volunteer for that sort of job, but I got recruited into it." She shrugs faintly. "I couldn't complain, though, she paid better than my father did. That's one thing I can say about the Dai-tengu I worked for, they all paid well." She grins wryly. "You learned which ones didn't like to quick enough, though."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Recruited, huh? Tell me a bit more about that."

[Oldmansour]

>"Recruited, huh? Tell me a bit more about that."

>"My father's a cooper. Makes barrels, beer barrels, mostly." she explains as she rotates her shoulder, jostling the polearm strapped to her back. "It was almost three hundred years ago, it was. A spring evening, I think. We had a visitor that night, a one Kon Ishitaka."
>Though you've never heard that particular name, the Ishitaka name is known to you. At least a little. They're a clan of Dai-tengu whose lineage is fairly long, but whose power isn't as great as they'd let you think.
>"What a Dai-tengu like her was doing visiting us, I didn't find out until years later. I was sweeping up the front room when she came in. She took one look at me, and hired me on the spot. Just like that." She swishes her tail sharply for emphasis. "At the time, I'd never heard of a Dai-tengu hiring a lesser caste tengu out from their current job, but they can do that."

[Hello Purvis]

>Have we heard of this sort of job relocation? Is it a modern thing?
>"Interesting. Go on?"

[Oldmansour]

>Have we heard of this sort of job relocation? Is it a modern thing?
>"Interesting. Go on?"

>You have. It isn't a common event, but it's not unheard of either. It's considered common courtesy for the Dai-tengu to ask first, but, then as now, not all Dai-tengu hold the same sense of courtesy as others.

>"My father wasn't too happy about it. I worked cheap, after all. But considering who was doing the hiring, there wasn't a lot he could say. So I went with Kon to her family's mansion. Big place. It was the size of a whole brewery, I thought at the time. She'd told me I was to be one of her maids, and I remember thinking, 'How in the name of the four winds are we supposed to keep a place that big clean?'" The white wolf lets out a chuckle. "Ah, I was young, then."
>"Anyway, she put me to work straightway, barely even gave me time to change. That's one thing I think has changed over the years." she notes. "There's more instruction now, I think, a lot less 'here's the house, get to work.' if you know what I mean."

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod, take notes.
>"I could imagine; there must have been a lot of learning things the hard way. How were your experiences with Miss Ishitaka?"

[Oldmansour]

>Nod, take notes.
>"I could imagine; there must have been a lot of learning things the hard way. How were your experiences with Miss Ishitaka?"

>"There was. No, that's a lie." Juma corrects herself. "There WOULD have been, but the head maid was really organized, and she looked out for new girls, like I was. Kaya Otani, her name was. Now there's a fine woman; good work ethic, looks after the new girls. Obedient but strong willed..."
>"Anyway, I could ramble on about her for a while." she stops herself with a nostalgic smile. "As for Ishitaka-sama.... Well to be honest, I actually didn't see her for a whole month after she hired me. You see, when I was hired, she was fairly old. It made her a bit eccentric, was the word her granddaughter liked us to use. That was Konata Ishitaka, she was the one who really ran the house at the time."
>That name you're slightly familiar with. You believe she's the current head of the Ishitaka family, or at least a powerful member thereof.
>"It was Konata who eventually told me, and the two that'd been hired after me, precisely why we got the job." Juma swishes her tail and pulls it up around her hip. "This is going to sound a bit weird, but, Ishitaka-sama had a running rivaly with her neighbors at the time. They were competing to see who could have the maid with the fluffiest tail." She pauses. "Seriously. Don't ask me how it started, I couldn't tell you, but, it worked out all right for me."

[O4rfish]

>Examine Juma's tail.

[Oldmansour]

>Examine Juma's tail.

>The wolf's tail is as white as her hair. And it does indeed look more than a little fluffy, though in need of a little brushing at the moment. It's a very nice tail.

[Hello Purvis]

>Chuckle and smirk. "Shall we leave that off the record, or would you prefer it be central to the record?"
>"How long were you with the Ishitaka family?"