The return of the Water Scorpion
Sept 9, 2014 3:09:07 GMT
Bayushi Satomi, Kurimuzon Te, and 1 more like this
Post by Kakita Sojiro on Sept 9, 2014 3:09:07 GMT
In an abandoned warehouse somewhere in the Mantis islands, a shadowy meeting was taking place. It was the kind of meeting you didn't show up to, or even know about, unless you were invited. Even an invitation didn't guarantee your safe return.
Seated around a long table were several very shady, nervous looking men and women. Mons of the Crane, Tortoise, Crab, and a few others could be seen, as well as several other figures who bore no identifying marks. At the head of the table stood a man wearing a black silk kimono trimmed in orange, flanked by large, unfriendly looking men with even more unfriendly looking weapons on either side of him. Behind him, bound and on their knees, were three men and two women wearing the colors and masks of the Scorpion. A third Scorpion woman, unmasked and covered in bruises and dried blood, lay trussed and barely conscious on the table. The meeting had been going for a little while now and the table was awash with whispers and murmuring as the attendees talked and plotted among themselves about the things they had seen and heard tonight.
Moshi Yoru, the man in the black kimono, let them talk a bit longer. He wanted them nervous. After a few more minutes he cleared his throat. The minor, unobtrusive noise had the same effect as a magistrate's gavel, silencing the group almost instantly. The men beside him said nothing, they merely continued to look intimidating, an unspoken threat that was as clear as the night was dark.
"I've given you all some time to think things through and debate these new developments among yourselves, my esteemed colleagues. I'm certain that by now you can all clearly see the writing on the wall.... or table, as it were." He motioned to the wreckage of the Scorpion woman on the table, as if he needed to emphasize his point. "All of you have some stake, large or small, in Rokugan's opium trade. I've brought you here tonight not only to make you aware of the sudden, unfortunate loss that the Scorpion have suffered with the change in leadership of one of their three opium rings, but also advise you all in a way to avoid suffering similar losses in your own organizations." He permitted himself a small, satisfied grin. "It's very simple, really. Such a shift in power will naturally cause a vacuum, and that will inevitably cause the other opium rings to have certain... instabilities and unreliabilities in their production and delivery. Such is simply the ways of things, sadly. In order for you to avoid suffering the effects of this turmoil, I propose a suggestion - from now on, you will purchase your stock only from sources that I have guaranteed to be stable and reliable."
He paused to let the reality of what he was saying sink in, motioning to one of the thugs with his left hand. The man quickly walked over to a sliding paper door, opened it, and began ushering out yet more scorpions, bound and hooded. He positioned one of these men by each of the factions represented at this meeting. As he did so, Yoru began walking around the table, taking small tantos with hilts wrapped in something that was disturbingly similar to leather, dyed black, out of his obi and placing one in front of each of the attendees.
I have no doubt that by now, some of you have recognized these men as your former contacts. Their choice to struggle against the changing times rather than adapting and growing with the changes has led them here. You see, by the end of the evening you will all be not just business partners, but accomplices. Each of you will execute these the man that has been brought before you, one at a time, in front of all in attendance. Consider it a demonstration of your loyalty and intentions towards each other as well as the continued survival of your businesses in such turbulent times. Of course, I wouldn't ask any of you to do such a thing unless I was willing to match your displays of dedication with my own. And so, not only will I go first, but I will also go last."
As he spoke, the last of the tantos were placed into reluctant hands and he slowly made his way towards the five captive scorpion on their knees in the back of the room. Yoru methodically walked in front of each man, pausing to touch each one on the forehead and leaving what appeared to be a bloody fingerprint on each as he did so. By the time he had reached the fourth, the first one had stopped screaming as his eyes erupted and a nauseating mixture of blood and black puss poured from his eye sockets, nose, mouth, and ears. By the time he took his place again at the head of the table, all five of the kneeling Scorpions were very messily dead.
"And now, sans, I ask you to follow suit with your own displays of dedication." His small, tight smile returned as his eyes took on a strange glow - orange irises surrounded by a thin ring of glowing green.
An old man from the Tortoise clan, stooped from age but still strong of body, rose from his seat angrily. Waving the tanto he had been given for emphasis, he started to shout. "You! I refuse to be a part of this! I've not worked my entire life to end it by taking orders from some thrice-damned Maho using bastard like you!"
"A pity, old one. I was most definitely looking forward to the cooperation of the Tortoise." A split second glimmer of green from Yoru's eyes and another wave of his hand. "Did you take the time to examine the gift I gave you, Kokatsuna-san? I did notice that not a single one of you attempted to refuse those gifts before handling them. I am shocked, shocked and dismayed that we have let our manner degrade to this point."
The old man looked down at the blade in his hand, his eyes growing wide as he saw the black tendrils slowly expanding through his forearm.
"You see, they are very special tantos. The ink used to stain the wrappings on the hilt gives them the ability to steal the life essence of anyone unfortunate enough to be struck by one, trapping that essence in the blade to be used at a later point in time. And as we all know, the life's essence is stored in the blood."
The man's arm had now turned completely black. His mouth opened and closed as he silently screamed in terror, the only sound coming forth was a low, gurgling groan. The blade of the tanto began to pulsate with a dim, dark red glow.
"Of course, if the wielder of one of these magnificent weapons was to turn against the one who created them, the results could be catastrophic. Isn't that right, Kokatsuna-san?" The old man made no sounds as he tried in vain to release his grip on the tanto, the disturbing blackness spreading and dancing sickeningly beneath the skin of his face. "You see, once the ink has been absorbed into the wielder's skin, the blade and the wielder are linked together. This makes it incredibly difficult to drop the weapon unless you return it to it's saya. The more observant of you might have noticed that the tantos were given to you naked, without sayas."
As the assembled criminals, smugglers, and yakuza glanced uneasily at each other Kokatsuna collapsed, the tanto clattering to the floor as his dried, withered husk of a body simply gave out, drained of blood. Yoru calmly walked over, retrieved the vile weapon, and slid it into a sheath tucked into his obi. His hand came away empty. "And now sans, unless their are any other objections, you may begin your displays of dedication."
No one moved for a long minute. They all silently looked around, taking in the tantos, the dead Tortoise, the messy Scorpion corpses... and then suddenly one struck. One of the Crane cursed and drove his tanto into the chest of the hooded Scorpion captive in front of him. At the same instant that the Scorpion screamed, the Crane gasped, feeling a sudden rush of profane, damning energy as his tanto started with that same hideous, dull red pulsating. As the first victim fell, other screams and gasps were heard. Soon enough the floor was littered with dried, desiccated Scorpion bodies. There was no blood.
"Excellent, excellent sans! It warms my heart to see such unity and dedication to our common goals. As promised, I will match your dedication, and then some." He stalked over to the abused Scorpion woman on the table, now screaming into her gag in abject terror and sobbing. With his left hand, he wrapped her long grey hair into a tail and roughly jerked her face back and up, off of the table. With his right, he slowly drove the tip of his own tanto into the back of her neck, inch by agonizing inch, until the tip emerged from her throat and then drove itself into the top of the table, pinning her there as she convulsed horribly. He released her hair and her throat slowly slid down the blade, her face coming to rest on the hard wooden surface as her body jerked and spasmed in her bonds. Once again, there was no blood.
"Well, I believe that concludes our business for the evening, unless anyone else has a subject they would like to address?" He looked around the room. No one spoke or even noticed as he did so - the "guest's" eyes were all locked onto the horrible scene of the dead woman pinned to the table. "Outstanding! Then I will adjourn this meeting. On your way out, each of you will be handed a list of contacts, written in the code you are used to using... as well as a saya for your new gifts. Good evening, sans." Yoru bowed to the assembly, turned, and walked out, his guards close behind him. One by one, the attendees followed suit, retrieving their packages as they left.
Seated around a long table were several very shady, nervous looking men and women. Mons of the Crane, Tortoise, Crab, and a few others could be seen, as well as several other figures who bore no identifying marks. At the head of the table stood a man wearing a black silk kimono trimmed in orange, flanked by large, unfriendly looking men with even more unfriendly looking weapons on either side of him. Behind him, bound and on their knees, were three men and two women wearing the colors and masks of the Scorpion. A third Scorpion woman, unmasked and covered in bruises and dried blood, lay trussed and barely conscious on the table. The meeting had been going for a little while now and the table was awash with whispers and murmuring as the attendees talked and plotted among themselves about the things they had seen and heard tonight.
Moshi Yoru, the man in the black kimono, let them talk a bit longer. He wanted them nervous. After a few more minutes he cleared his throat. The minor, unobtrusive noise had the same effect as a magistrate's gavel, silencing the group almost instantly. The men beside him said nothing, they merely continued to look intimidating, an unspoken threat that was as clear as the night was dark.
"I've given you all some time to think things through and debate these new developments among yourselves, my esteemed colleagues. I'm certain that by now you can all clearly see the writing on the wall.... or table, as it were." He motioned to the wreckage of the Scorpion woman on the table, as if he needed to emphasize his point. "All of you have some stake, large or small, in Rokugan's opium trade. I've brought you here tonight not only to make you aware of the sudden, unfortunate loss that the Scorpion have suffered with the change in leadership of one of their three opium rings, but also advise you all in a way to avoid suffering similar losses in your own organizations." He permitted himself a small, satisfied grin. "It's very simple, really. Such a shift in power will naturally cause a vacuum, and that will inevitably cause the other opium rings to have certain... instabilities and unreliabilities in their production and delivery. Such is simply the ways of things, sadly. In order for you to avoid suffering the effects of this turmoil, I propose a suggestion - from now on, you will purchase your stock only from sources that I have guaranteed to be stable and reliable."
He paused to let the reality of what he was saying sink in, motioning to one of the thugs with his left hand. The man quickly walked over to a sliding paper door, opened it, and began ushering out yet more scorpions, bound and hooded. He positioned one of these men by each of the factions represented at this meeting. As he did so, Yoru began walking around the table, taking small tantos with hilts wrapped in something that was disturbingly similar to leather, dyed black, out of his obi and placing one in front of each of the attendees.
I have no doubt that by now, some of you have recognized these men as your former contacts. Their choice to struggle against the changing times rather than adapting and growing with the changes has led them here. You see, by the end of the evening you will all be not just business partners, but accomplices. Each of you will execute these the man that has been brought before you, one at a time, in front of all in attendance. Consider it a demonstration of your loyalty and intentions towards each other as well as the continued survival of your businesses in such turbulent times. Of course, I wouldn't ask any of you to do such a thing unless I was willing to match your displays of dedication with my own. And so, not only will I go first, but I will also go last."
As he spoke, the last of the tantos were placed into reluctant hands and he slowly made his way towards the five captive scorpion on their knees in the back of the room. Yoru methodically walked in front of each man, pausing to touch each one on the forehead and leaving what appeared to be a bloody fingerprint on each as he did so. By the time he had reached the fourth, the first one had stopped screaming as his eyes erupted and a nauseating mixture of blood and black puss poured from his eye sockets, nose, mouth, and ears. By the time he took his place again at the head of the table, all five of the kneeling Scorpions were very messily dead.
"And now, sans, I ask you to follow suit with your own displays of dedication." His small, tight smile returned as his eyes took on a strange glow - orange irises surrounded by a thin ring of glowing green.
An old man from the Tortoise clan, stooped from age but still strong of body, rose from his seat angrily. Waving the tanto he had been given for emphasis, he started to shout. "You! I refuse to be a part of this! I've not worked my entire life to end it by taking orders from some thrice-damned Maho using bastard like you!"
"A pity, old one. I was most definitely looking forward to the cooperation of the Tortoise." A split second glimmer of green from Yoru's eyes and another wave of his hand. "Did you take the time to examine the gift I gave you, Kokatsuna-san? I did notice that not a single one of you attempted to refuse those gifts before handling them. I am shocked, shocked and dismayed that we have let our manner degrade to this point."
The old man looked down at the blade in his hand, his eyes growing wide as he saw the black tendrils slowly expanding through his forearm.
"You see, they are very special tantos. The ink used to stain the wrappings on the hilt gives them the ability to steal the life essence of anyone unfortunate enough to be struck by one, trapping that essence in the blade to be used at a later point in time. And as we all know, the life's essence is stored in the blood."
The man's arm had now turned completely black. His mouth opened and closed as he silently screamed in terror, the only sound coming forth was a low, gurgling groan. The blade of the tanto began to pulsate with a dim, dark red glow.
"Of course, if the wielder of one of these magnificent weapons was to turn against the one who created them, the results could be catastrophic. Isn't that right, Kokatsuna-san?" The old man made no sounds as he tried in vain to release his grip on the tanto, the disturbing blackness spreading and dancing sickeningly beneath the skin of his face. "You see, once the ink has been absorbed into the wielder's skin, the blade and the wielder are linked together. This makes it incredibly difficult to drop the weapon unless you return it to it's saya. The more observant of you might have noticed that the tantos were given to you naked, without sayas."
As the assembled criminals, smugglers, and yakuza glanced uneasily at each other Kokatsuna collapsed, the tanto clattering to the floor as his dried, withered husk of a body simply gave out, drained of blood. Yoru calmly walked over, retrieved the vile weapon, and slid it into a sheath tucked into his obi. His hand came away empty. "And now sans, unless their are any other objections, you may begin your displays of dedication."
No one moved for a long minute. They all silently looked around, taking in the tantos, the dead Tortoise, the messy Scorpion corpses... and then suddenly one struck. One of the Crane cursed and drove his tanto into the chest of the hooded Scorpion captive in front of him. At the same instant that the Scorpion screamed, the Crane gasped, feeling a sudden rush of profane, damning energy as his tanto started with that same hideous, dull red pulsating. As the first victim fell, other screams and gasps were heard. Soon enough the floor was littered with dried, desiccated Scorpion bodies. There was no blood.
"Excellent, excellent sans! It warms my heart to see such unity and dedication to our common goals. As promised, I will match your dedication, and then some." He stalked over to the abused Scorpion woman on the table, now screaming into her gag in abject terror and sobbing. With his left hand, he wrapped her long grey hair into a tail and roughly jerked her face back and up, off of the table. With his right, he slowly drove the tip of his own tanto into the back of her neck, inch by agonizing inch, until the tip emerged from her throat and then drove itself into the top of the table, pinning her there as she convulsed horribly. He released her hair and her throat slowly slid down the blade, her face coming to rest on the hard wooden surface as her body jerked and spasmed in her bonds. Once again, there was no blood.
"Well, I believe that concludes our business for the evening, unless anyone else has a subject they would like to address?" He looked around the room. No one spoke or even noticed as he did so - the "guest's" eyes were all locked onto the horrible scene of the dead woman pinned to the table. "Outstanding! Then I will adjourn this meeting. On your way out, each of you will be handed a list of contacts, written in the code you are used to using... as well as a saya for your new gifts. Good evening, sans." Yoru bowed to the assembly, turned, and walked out, his guards close behind him. One by one, the attendees followed suit, retrieving their packages as they left.