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Ashes in the Breeze (Japanese Inspired 5e in-character) (nsfw)

Jihi followed behind the man, watching him crouch to investigate the field. Not satisfied with his succinct analysis, she scans the fields with her eyes, taking in the extent of the damage. After a moment, she stepped forward past him, deeper into the fields. Stopping by one of the larger plants, she dropped to her haunches and inspected it with her fingers, running a thumb and forefinger up the stalk to the grains.

Jihi hadn't been the best farmer back home - in fact, she'd been on the mediocre side - but even she knew how important water was to rice. Standing, she walked to the edge of the river before squatting down again and inspecting the water, looking up and down the river to see if anything grew or swam within it. After a moment, she extended two cupped hands below the river's surface, lifting a handful of water to her face before giving it a sniff.

I didn't know if I should roll once to inspect the whole scene or a separate roll for the plant and the water, so I rolled twice.
First Investigate roll: 22
Second Investigate roll: 20
 
The crops look very obviously sick, the stalks are all drooping and their color is a very dark brown color. Examining the largest, the plant seems weak, it threatens to pull apart in Jihi's hand. The surface of the plant feels slimy and coming to the top of the stalk, the grains are black and fall easily off of the plant. Examining the water coming into the fields from the river. Jihi would notice that the water is a bit grayish with bits of black floating in it, but it's hard to notice. The water leaves a slimy feel on Jihi's hands and the water has a slight foul smell like rotting flesh. The trees nearest the shallow river are also dying. The nettles are black and the trunks oozing, same with the grass and anything else that seems to be near the river that feeds off of it. It seems very clear that if they find the source of the river they might find what is causing it.

The swordsman shuffles up behind Jihi. "Find anything?" His eyes fall on the river. "Disgusting." He comments. "Alright, we dam up the river, problem solved." He takes another drink of his flask. "Or are you gonna make me hike up… I guess that's what you hired me for. Let's get a move on." The swordsman starts up a tiny, rough path next to the river.
 
"Yecch!" Jihi grimaced, dropping the handful of water back into the stream. Standing, she wiped her hands off on her trousers until she'd managed to remove the slimy sensation.

"You're close!" she exclaimed, following behind the swordsman. "I hired you to protect me from whatever we find when we hike up. At least it'll be easy to find!"

She grinned at the swordsman's back, but wrinkled her nose as they walked. Perhaps it was just the power of suggestion, but she could swear she smelled the water's rotten stench just from traveling alongside the stream. Maybe the scent was just stuck in her nostrils.

"If we dam up the river, the crops will die anyway," she tells the swordsman. "Rice needs water. If they used well water to keep the plants alive, you need to flood the fields to keep weeds and bugs from hurting them. Don't they grow rice where you're from?"

After a moment, she adds, "What's your name?"
 
The swordsman shuffled up the path. The slope was gentle. With the path at the base of the mountain nearly flat with a slight incline. The trees on either side of the path were still sick as they went up. "Hmm? I dunno, I'm not a farmer." He grumbled, another swig was taken from his flask. "My name? What do you want to know? We'll probably never meet again after this." He shrugged and paused for a long moment. So long that it didn't seem like he was going to answer her. "Higuchi, Kiyoshi." He finally muttered, then followed with a burp. "Not a name that matches a drunkard, eh?"

From then on, the swordsman stayed silent the rest of their hike. He didn't answer any more queries or comments from Jihi if she made any. The river continued and unless Jihi stopped him, he kept going, but as far as either of them would be able to tell there was no change in the trees or the river. The path sloped upwards till the swordsman started huffing a bit. Finally the river narrowed to a quick stream that came out of a small cave entrance. The path continues past but judging from where they were they were about halfway up the mountain.

The swordsman stops and peers at the cave. "Now what? Dam up the cave?" He places his hands on his hips and catches his breath after heaving a huge sigh. He takes a swig from his flask.
 
Jihi was silent for a long moment. "I just wanted to know what to call you," she finally said, quietly.

He was right - they would probably never meet again after this. To Jihi, raised in a tiny community where few people visited and fewer people left, it was almost a foreign concept - as was the concept of two people not even bothering to learn each others' names because they mattered so little to each other. There were people in Jihi's hamlet that she didn't like and that didn't like her, of course, but they still had to know each other to get by. It was simply the way that small world worked. The larger world outside her home, obviously, worked differently. She'd have to get used to it.

Even though it felt incredibly cold and lonely.

She asked a couple more questions on the path, but was ignored. Fair enough; she was hungover, too, and had to catch her breath when they finally reached the cave.

"I don't know," she said, leaning against the rocky wall of the cave entrance with one hand. Her other hand tilted her hat up so she could look at him, shooting him an impish smile. "Are you a dam builder?"

She peered into the cave as she awaited his answer. Her eyes were better suited to the dark than his.

Perception roll to investigate the cave: 12
Note that Jihi's darkvision is limited to 60 feet.
 
The cave entrance is narrow; one would definitely have to crawl or stoop low to get in. The stream is fast and would give some resistance to whoever is trying to enter the cave entrance. Peering inside Jihi can see that for about 20-ish feet it looks like it opens up to where one can stand up normally. It also looks like there's a sort of place to walk that's not in the stream. In addition to all this, Jihi can see a faint yellow glow, perhaps from a fire or candle.

“Ya, gonna go in?” Kiyoshi asks coming up behind her, looking over her shoulder.

(Apologize for the short post. Acrobatics or athletics to get into the cave. The difficulty is 12, this way you can add the result into your post.)
 
Jihi grimaces at the tunnel. Great, she's going to have to crawl through water. With a sigh, she shrugs her backpack off her shoulders, then drops to a knee and opens it up.

"Yes," she whispers up at Kiyoshi. "So are you. You can stand up after a little bit. Be quiet, I think I see firelight in there."

She takes the oil lamp, a pint of oil, and her tinderbox from the bag, then sets it aside for him. "Once you get through the tunnel, light this up and wait for me. I can see in the dark, so I'll go ahead. If anything tries to kill me, I'll lead it back to you so we can fight together. Okay?"

She closes the backpack, but doesn't put it on. It'll be hard enough to squeeze through the passage without it on her back. Instead, she pushes it ahead of her, opening upward to minimize the water that gets inside, before attempting to squeeze through the opening.

Acrobatics roll to squeeze through the tunnel: 5
Stealth roll to avoid being discovered by whatever's inside: 13

Unfortunately, the backpack blocks her sight and occupies her hands, which makes it difficult to find the optimal path. She ends up face down in the water making almost no progress for almost a minute, finally pulling back and pulling her head back to suck in a new lungful of air. After catching her breath, she raises to her knees in front of the entrance, soaking wet and pouting in frustration.
 
Kiyoshi watches Jihi as she preps a lamp for him. He lets out an audible groan likely towards the idea of climbing into the cave and getting wet. Watching Jihi as she struggles to get into the cave, he rolls his eyes before moving between the pouting Jihi and the entrance. He reaches down and rolls up his pants so that they are bunched up towards his knees. He takes the lamp, oil and tinderbox up into his arms, in the other hand he takes Jihi's pack.

While pulling Jihi's pack, Kiyoshi stoops down and steps into the stream. He forces his way into the cave entrance. Water splashes everywhere and Kyoshi stomps his feet as he powers through into the cave. He's very clearly not trying to be quiet or if he is he's making as much noise as possible it seems. After disappearing into the cave a few moments pass and Kiyoshi sticks his head out of the cave entrance and reaches a hand out for Jihi to take. "Come on."

If Jihi chose to take his hand he'd help her into the cave. He seemed quite strong as he can easily help her through, again not very quietly. Although Jihi is nearly silent compared to him. The cave is dark but Jih can see with ease, it's a rough cave formed by water. Down a small path next to the running water the cave opens up and flattens out. Coming from this area is a dim firelight. Apparently Kiyoshi opts to not use the lander instead using the incredibly dim fire light to navigate the cave. He trips a couple times kicking rocks across the ground. Jihi can peek into the larger area if she chooses and will be able to see a large area filled mostly with water, like a lake inside the cave. The path opens to a narrow shore running along one cave wall. On the shore is an iron pot hanging above a campfire. Along the cave wall closest to the pot is countless small animal corpses, it's hard to see what animals specifically.
 
Once through the passage, Jihi stood up and donned her backpack. It was generally hard for people to tell when she was blushing, but if there was ever a time it would be obvious, it would be now. Jihi just felt lucky it was so dark. "Thank you."

Jihi considered asking Kiyoshi to stay in one place to stop making so much noise, but she doubted he would. Instead, she just whispered "Come on!" and walked to the campfire, hoping he would follow her. Along the way, she stopped to check the animal corpses, then peeked into the pot. After that, she looked around for any sleeping backs, tools, or other hints as to who was staying here and how many of them there were.

Investigation roll to glean insights from the campfire and its surroundings: 7
 
Kiyoshi follows Jihi as she moves further into the cave. The water is relatively smooth with the exception of it being sucked out of the cave entrance. Most likely the lake is supplied with water from somewhere deeper in the mountain. Moving closer, the small animal carcasses on the wall seem to be splayed out and pinned to the cave wall. Their corpses are rotting and festering. Looking inside the pot, it seems to be filled with some sort of greyish pink viscous fluid. It bubbles and various chunks of indiscriminate objects float around the inside. Upon seeing a small bone float across the top and sink, it is clear that whatever this stuff is that the animals are being used for it.

I'm the immediate area there aren't any bedrolls or signs of someone being there save for the boiling pot of mystery grossness. It stinks and flies are attracted to it but once they land they get sucked underneath the bubbling surface. This doesn't seem like anything anyone would eat or only for something that doesn't have taste buds. The pot is rusty and the spoon for presumably stirring the pot, is crudely made. Other than this there are no other signs of someone living in the cave.

Kiyoshi scans the area trying to see if whoever was here is still here. But finds nothing.

Just as Kiyoshi and Jihi have their attention turned away from the water, a tall lanky figure rises out of the water and screeches. "A swordsman here to kill meee!" It jumps out of the water and goes for the pot. It's nose is long sticking out like a long sausage from its face but droops. It's skin is a light pink, it's wrinkly and cracked. It's limbs are elongated. It looks like a tengu but sickly. "Get out! Get out!" It shrieks.
 
"Wait! Wait. Wait." Jihi threw out her hands, first at the tengu and then at Kiyoshi, motioning for them both to stop.

"We're not here to kill anyone. We came to find out why the stream water is poisoned. It's killing the village's crops. It's even killing the trees. We're here to stop the death."

She held up both hands, palms outward. "If we leave without solving the problem, someone else will come. Maybe it'll be the whole village. Or, maybe they'll hire mercenaries. Or, if the forest keeps dying, maybe it will be a tengu or an oni or some other yōkai, here for revenge. They might come to kill you."

Jihi slowly lowered her hands to her sides, keeping her eyes on the tengu. "I want to talk. Can we talk?"

Persuasion roll to calm the tengu: 24
 
The tengu rushed grabbing the crude spoon, whipping it out, it flung putrid soup across the cave. It backed up as Kiyoshi turned towards it and gripped his katana. The tengu seemed to use the spoon as a weapon, but hesitated when Jihi piped up. Kiyoshi glanced at her but never took his eyes off the tengu creature. It seemed highly agitated, pacing back and forth on the shore closest to the lake. It's face twisted in an angry snarl at the pair. The tengu seemed calmed, somewhat, by Jihi's words. At least it didn't seem like it was going to attack them for the most part.

"Why should I trust you? You only seek to save the town. Death is what they deserve but they can always leave. I want them to all go away. You brought a swordsman, that means you're here to kill me. They hired you, just like they hired a hunter to kill my partner. I'll poison their fields and their water. Why should I trust you?" It growled at Jihi. "If you give me the hunter, I'll leave the town and water alone. If not just GO AWAY!"

Kiyoshi glances at Jihi several times, waiting for her lead. Although he's buzzed or drunk he seems quite alert at the moment.
 
Jihi held a hand out towards Kiyoshi again, indicating for him to wait. The last thing she needed was for him or the tengu to panic and make the situation worse.

"I came here to save the town, yes," Jihi said, looking back at the tengu. "I didn't know about you, yet. Nobody does. Now that I know you, I can see you're upset. Something terrible must have happened to you."

She lowers her voice, trying to calm the situation. "Tell me about this hunter. What happened to your partner?"
 
The tengu immediately wailed as soon as Jihi mentioned it's partner. It reared its head back and clutched at its face. Then slumped down as it crouched on the shore, face buried in its hands. "My partner was another tengu… the original tengu that dwelled in this mountain. They were only beneficial to the mountain and it's creatures. Even the farmers would benefit from my partner's magic. The crops flourished and the village felt its effects." A pause from the tengu. "But once we met my partner began to lose their magic and villagers saw my partner as a trickster. The crops declined and they blamed my partner. They hired the hunter and they killed my partner." The tengu wailed. "All I want is the hunter."
 
Jihi's face fell as the sound of the wailing bounced off the walls of the cave. Against her best efforts, her mind summoned thoughts of her mother: the warmth of her body when she held Jihi; the quiet, strained sound of her voice on her deathbed; the sight of her body being consumed by flames. Jihi felt a lump form in her throat and hot pinpricks in the corner of her eyes, and looked away, trying to force the feelings down. Not now, she thought. The village is riding on you. Focus!

She crouched beside the tengu on the stream's shore. She considered putting a reassuring hand on the tengu's shoulder, but decided against it; this discussion was already tense and she couldn't risk overstepping her boundaries. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Her voice came out more raw than she expected.

She swallowed hard, trying to dispel the pressure in her throat. "Do you know what the hunter looks like? Do you know their name?"
 
The tengu straightened up as if it was having a flashback. "The hunter…" it muttered. "The hunter has a scar over one eye. He wore a green hood and brown spotted kimono. He held a red lacquered short bow as he shot my…" it trailed off before continuing again. "An axe at his hip, short like a hatchet. Name, Juzaburo… I just hid and watched." The tengu creature returned its head to its hands and sobbed quietly. It became unresponsive to any more questions. Just crouched sobbing and wailing quietly.

Kiyoshi still had a hand on his weapon. He still seemed suspicious of the tengu. Quietly he approached Jihi and placed a hand on her shoulder before jerking his head towards the cave entrance. Giving her a signal that they should leave and perhaps discuss.
 
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How do you know his name? Jihi thought, but didn't say it aloud. She didn't know the full story; maybe the hunter had mentioned it while killing the tengu's partner. Nonetheless, her eyes narrowed for a moment as she evaluated the tengu and thought back over what she'd been told, trying to determine if the words were truthful and the tears genuine.

Insight roll to judge the tengu's honesty: 11

Jihi looked up at Kiyoshi and nodded, but before she stood, she looked over at the tengu again. "I'll be back," she said quietly, then stood and left the cave.

Once outside, Jihi headed back towards the village. If Kiyoshi tried to speak, she would stop him until they neared the village. The tengu had hidden well enough to witness the hunter without being spotted and she didn't want to be overheard, just in case it was listening. Once she was sure there was nowhere close enough for someone to hide - even a stealthy tengu who knows the area - she looked over at Kiyoshi.

"Do you know anything about this?" she asked quietly.
 
It's hard to tell if the tengu was just acting or not. As far as Jihi might be concerned, it was completely truthful. Though the tengu might be leaving a piece of information out. Though it didn't seem like it would be telling Jihi anytime soon. The cave is easy enough to exit. Kiyoshi made sure to go after Jihi, that way he was between her and the tengu. Once outside, the swordsman took a nice swig of his flask and let out a sigh. Following Jihi, he didn't seem as concerned as her to make sure they weren't followed or eavesdropped on.

"Huh? Oh, nope. Don't know nothin' 'bout that." He swayed gently where he stood. "I don't live here and wasn't planning on staying long. Whenever and whatever happened, happened back before I got here." He took a swig. "Up to you but if you want my opinion. We go back to town and you go find that hunter and ask him what happened. So far we only know one side of the story." He lets out a belch. "And if you want me to accompany you further after the mountain, I'mma need a bit extra. After all, the job was to protect you on the mountain." He shrugged, he seemed a step more inebriated than before when they were heading up the mountain.
 
"Oh, that's right," Jihi said. She dug into her pack and pulled out the sack of money the innkeeper had given her. "It was 20 sho, right?"

She counted out twenty coins, then placed them in Kiyoshi's hand. "Of course, you also wanted half of what I'm getting for this job, but since I haven't gotten anything yet, I guess that's half of...nothing."

She put the sack away, looking innocent. "You could stick around until I get the reward, but you probably don't have the time. I'm sure you've got all kinds of well-paying jobs lined up already - too many to spend any more time with me, right?"

She lifted the brim of her hat, looked him dead in the eye, and smiled, awaiting his response.

Persuasion roll to get Kiyoshi to stick around: 6

Damn!
 
Kiyoshi stared Jihi dead in the eye after he took the coins and slipped them inside his kimono. He didn't really seem all that amused but it did seem like the gears inside his brain, lubed with alcohol, were turning slowly. Perhaps he thought she was mocking him, perhaps he secretly enjoyed his time with Jihi. After a moment he gave her no response and simply turned and started to walk down the dirt path. Waving his hand behind him for Jihi to follow, while taking a swig from his flask.

Once down the mountain, the pair would come out of the forest back onto the sickly fields. Kiyoshi turned to Jihi. "Do you remember the hunter's name?" He asked as if they were in this together but already forgot the man’s name. "I think we should start with asking around about him, or find him and talk to him directly. I don't suppose you know anyone we can talk to?" Kiyoshi walked as he talked, heading back into town. He didn't mention anything about further payment, though he seemed to still accompany Jihi. But where ever they started their search was ultimately up to Jihi.
 
Jihi's smile began to crack after a couple of seconds of Kiyoshi's stare. It disappeared entirely after he turned and walked down the path. Jihi was certain she'd misplayed her hand, and was surprised to see him wave for her to follow. She did so, but was still confused, replaying the conversation in her head. She was certain she'd done that wrong, but he seemed like he didn't want to go yet. Had she offended him? Perhaps she had, but he was still unable to deny her logic.

She followed him down to the fields, and was relieved to hear Kiyoshi speak. "Juzaburo," she said, walking alongside him. "I don't want to talk to him yet. First, I'm going to talk to whoever hired him. I don't know who that is - but I know how to find out."

Jihi took the lead, looking for a farmer working the diseased fields. Upon finding them, she introduced herself. "Hello! I'm Jihi, a travelling expert in the...unusual. You may have heard about my magics at the inn last night."

She tipped her hat up to reveal her inhuman red skin and eyes. "I see your fields are sick. I may be able to help your village...for a price. Is there an elder or someone I can talk to?"
 
There was really only one farmer in the diseased fields. He was busy cleaning up his field as best he can of all the diseased plants. Though most of them would just break apart in his hands and float in the water. Looking up at Jihi, he has a leathery worn face with a forlorn look that he manages to give her a sad smile. Many farmers’ livelihoods depend on their fields and an event like this could be potentially life altering for the worse.

"Yes, Jihi-San, much of the village has heard of you now." He doesn't react to her strange appearance, he just keeps that smile, but it slowly fades. "yes you are certainly right about that." He opens his arms gesturing to the rice paddie around him. "I think everyone in the village would be most grateful if you could help us. You should speak to the elder, Shiroma Yajiro. He’s in charge of everything that goes on in the village. He's usually in his home just down the street there in the forest, the lone house." The farmer points.

The house really is mostly by itself set in a little clearing of trees. It looks like a standard home, sliding doors on the front that can be opened during the summer to let the air flow through the house. It's not huge but it is definitely bigger than the rest of the houses. The corners of the roof end in ornate carvings of flowers.
 
Jihi smiled and gave the farmer a slight bow. "Thank you."

As Jihi approached the house, she slowed her walk and took a moment to inspect the carved flowers, lifting the brim of her hat to look upward. The artistic touch was a good sign, she thought, as it showed the elder would pay to appreciate beauty. Straightening her clothes, she stepped up to the house's entrance and knocked the front door.

"Hello," Jihi said when the door opened. "I am Jihi, a traveler. I'd like to help with the disease affecting your village's fields. May I come in?"
 
After knocking on the door, there was a moment of silence, then the sound of feet thumping on tatami as someone came to answer the door. The door slid open to reveal an older woman, sixties maybe? Her grey hair was up in a neat bun atop her head. She wore a clean, maroon colored kimono. "Oh! Certainly." Her tone of voice had a slight lilt to it like she was speaking to a grandchild. Inviting Jihi inside, she shuffled into a room that was central to the home after crossing a hallway. The room was surrounded with sliding paper doors and the floor tatami. A single low table sat in the center with two cushions on each side.

"Let me fetch my husband." The woman smiled at Jihi warmly and shuffled to the opposite side, opened the door and shut it behind her. Kiyoshi probably could've sat outside but he followed Jihi inside, kicking his sandals off at the door. Wherever Jihi sat, Kiyoshi sat next to her.

After a few minutes, the door that the woman had disappeared behind opened once more. Entering was the woman from before and a man, perhaps the same age as her. She placed a tray on the table and set out three small tea cups as the man sat across from Jihi. The woman poured out green tea in each cup before bowing out.

"I am Shiroma Yajiro, I heard that you're wanting to help us." He bows to Jihi and Kiyoshi.
 
Jihi removed her hat and stepped out of her sandals as she entered the building. Returning the woman's smile, she sat at the table and waited patiently for her husband to appear. At one point, she gave Kiyoshi a careful look out of the corner of her eye. If he looked too drunk or unruly, it could be a problem. When the couple entered, she stood up respectfully.

"Hello, Shiroma-sama," Jihi said, bowing. "I am Jihi, a traveler. Yes, I want to help you. I see the fields to the north are sick. Some of the villagers told me they think the problem comes from the mountains."

She sat at the table again, waiting for the man to sit before she continued. "I saw even the trees are dying. This must have been going on a while. Can you tell me the full story?"
 
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