(Words in bold are the names of cards played)
Yuri was stopped by a concerned policeman when she attempted to cross the bridge; the goings on of a yukaku at night should be
restricted knowledge for a young woman. Lacking the cunning to put him at ease, she found herself stuck on the wrong side of the river as her objective stood calmly smoking silhouetted by the moonlight. So close she could smell his sweet cheroot smoke.
It's a Trap! The frustrated bosun gets caught up in someone else's revelry! Capt. Jack was able to finesse his way through. Unfortunately for Bosun, the party is still headed her way and will keep tripping her up.
Yuri got past the policeman through sheer force of annoyance and met with Sallah bin Ali on the bridge. The pearling man was impassive and burned through a cheroot as she tried to get his attention with a shy smile and bow.
"Konbanwa," she greeted. He flicked the cheroot butt into the river. She knew little about Sallah except that he was a pearl merchant from Araby. That sparked an idea worthy of Tsubaki and using all of her cunning she said...
"Salaam alaikum." This was Tsubaki's area but she was pretty certain those were the words of greeting.
"Alaikum salaam," he replied. "I haven't heard that in awhile. Are you here to join me in flower viewing? Their colors are so vibrant and movements lively. I enjoy the view, but am not one to pluck. I must also let you know, you smell like rafflesia."
"I'm not cultured enough to take the insult. Besides, a flower is a flower." Her reaction made him laugh, so she kept going. "I'm just looking to make new friends, like Dr. Ku."
The man turned from her harshly. "This is a case of
mistaken identity, I know the doctor no more than any other man. And? you really do smell like rafflesia."
With that, he left her alone at the bridge. Yuri sniffed at her shirt. It didn't smell bad, did it?
Tsubaki is not a
menacing brute. Her attempts to intimidate the drunken cook ended with a head flick so painful she fell on her butt.
"Ow."
Natsuko met her doppelganger, the courier Natsuho, at the small shrine where she rest. They kind of stared at each other for a long, awkward moment.
"Are you from Kyoto-ku?"
"Maybe," said Natsuho. "I was abandoned and raised here. I'm Natsuho."
"Natsuho-han, I am Natsuko."
"EEEEHHHH?!" They said as one. Their brains had already synced up.
"I'm here with friends-"
"You have friends?" Natsuho was in awe.
"I think so. Maybe they just tolerate me, I try not to think about it too much," Natsuko replied. "We're trying to meet Dr. Ku so we can escape this island."
Natsuho smiled. "He's a
familiar face , but I'm not sure if I can introduce you," she apologized. Then Natsuko reflexively apologized in return and they banged heads as they bowed in unison.
"Aw..." They moaned.
The dazed Natsuho wandered off in a random direction, leaving Natsuko alone at the shrine.
Bosun escaped the party.
Capt. Jack met with Mr. Greenfield, wanting him to be his
fixer and arrange a meeting with Dr. Ku. Greenfield marked him as a
Trouble Maker, but a potentially useful one.
"Trouble? Me?" Jack said with faux-innocence.
"If you weren't a
trouble maker, you wouldn't be here and neither would I," Greenfield replied. Using this unseen connection, a message went out: Give the rafflesia a bath.
A passerby shoved Yuri off the bridge and into the river below. A minor peril she overcame, but she guessed a second bath today wouldn't do her any harm.
Jae Joon and Oolong moved up to block the bridge.
Tsubaki gave up on the cook and met the son of Ali, Sallah.
"Salaam-"
"Putting on glasses won't disguise you, Rafflesia. You still smell."
"Oh, that's my sister and it?s her natural musk."
"Life has surely dealt you both a
losing hand." Without further words he walked off.
Pretending to be Natsuho the courier, Natsuko took her off glasses and easily passed by the police officer at meganebashi. She used her
brain!
Yuri struggled to get out of the water, swallowing water and choking on it as she stayed afloat.
Bosun introduced herself to Neko, who is not a poisoner.
"I have come to curry favor with the apothecary of Abunakajima."
"How will you do that?" She asked in a bored tone.
Having prepared for this moment, Bosun withdrew the
disturbing remains of a preserved snake from her pouch. Neko was known for her love of rare, exotic and some might say, horrifying, ingredients.
Neko walked away, unimpressed. "I already have three. Also, that is the common variety. I need one from Sakishima." It would appear Bosun had put her
wrong foot forward.
Capt. Jack refused to relent with Mr. Greenfield. This time, he was badly rebuffed.
"Don't flatter yourself. You're not a
familiar face around here and you ain't Captain Wolf even if he does like you."
Jae Joon rushed poor Natsuko and ?accidentally? used his gut-might to bounce her, right in front a cop no less!
He feigned an apology. "Sorry about that, miss."
Natsuko brushed herself off and bowed. "My apologies for getting in your way, I'll pay more attention to my surroundings next time."
Now Jae Joon is confused. Was she being sarcastic? No, Natsuko has no ego to bruise and was entirely sincere.
Oolong tried to back him up using his spunky might. As he tried to sweep the leg and she fell, Jae Joon caught her hand on reflex. He wasn't cut out for cruelty even to someone who did whatever this person was doing to Capt. Jack.
"Thank you sir!" She chirped before offering to help Oolong up. "This bridge is dangerous, I?ll be careful when I cross so I don't trip like you did. Gokigenyo!" She bowed again, pat Oolong on the head and scampered off.
Natsuko formally introduced herself to Neko on the bridge and honestly explained her plight. You'd think there would be a
heavy barrier to success, but with her goofball luck it worked!
"I remember you," Neko said.
"We met at that strange village, Neko-han."
"I also remember we agreed to never speak of that night again."
"I'm sorry."
Neko agreed to give Natsuko a
friendly introduction to Dr. Ku!
Talking fast, Tsubaki reengaged with Sallah and won him over, or maybe wore him out. He also agreed to a
friendly introduction if she stopped trying to get scientific about his favorite flowers. He then disappeared into the soba shop, for a bowl of soba and nothing else. Honest!
Yuri is finally out of the water and is fresh as a water lily!
Bosun was hit with an unexpected twist as she strayed too close to the party and she was soaked with cheap awamori! The overwhelming scent engulfing her was almost too much to bear. Capt. Jack wasn't a
talented performer and was unable to finesse his way through the crowd!
Jae Joon tried his best with the drunk cook, but was unable to
connect the pieces.
"I'm hungry and you look like..." He stammered on what to say next, it sounded good in his head. He would smooth talk the cook about food, eat, then meet Dr. Ku for a sumptuous meal.
"I'm off duty," he replied curtly.
"Oh. Okay, then." It hurt Jae Joon's ego a little. He wanted to do his part for the crew but neither finesse nor cunning were his forte.
Oolong?s contribution to the turn was telling Tsubaki she couldn?t take him in arm wrestling. She shrugged and agreed.
Dr. Ku has made his epic arrival, though even one of his eminence was soon consumed in the riotous mob.
Suddenly, a wild Dr. Ku appears!Unlike others, Natsuko had made a
lucky find, a narrow path only one as slight as her could maneuver through them to meet the doctor.
Natsuko met the doctor and after a repeat of her formal introduction to Neko, she curried
Dr. Ku's favour! He then hurried on, as there was no time to waste in his meeting with Cmdr. Hara.
Natsuko won the day, but everyone had their moments in the story. I used a leader-less version of Wolf's Crew to level the playing field against three sidekicks but having two extra bits of ?muscle? in the form Jae Joon and Oolong didn't help capture plot points. To give the girls an additional stumbling block, they would have to pass the police checkpoint to enter the yukaku, while Wolf?s Crew was already inside and within reach of three minor plot points. The drunken party was a bigger wild card than expected, it's just a peril but was failed so often. Poor Bosun twice drew a spoiler card. Since you can't "pass" a spoiler, I just had it stop her where she was. I painted up Wolf's Crew yesterday, so was excited to get them into play.
It was also fun bringing back characters from other scenarios as their models get used again, making the world of the Hanamuras and Natsuko just that much bigger.
Maybe later they'll have to deal with a real leader like Capt. Wolf, which I can't imagine ending well for them.
ERRATAAraby is an archaic name for Arabia.
Rafflesia or "stinking corpse lily" are massive flowers from Southeast Asia known for their pungent odor. Incidentally, "Yuri" also means "lily," so it fits.
Neko is referring to the venomous Sakishima Habu, which only lives on the Yaeyama Islands south of Okinawa. It?s also known as the "elegant pit viper."
The honorific "han" is unique to Kyoto dialect and is used in lieu of "san."
"Ali" was the name of my tailors in Bahrain. I say that in plural because I thought it was one guy answering to "Ali" but they were actually twin brothers who weren't at the same place at the same time. It wasn't until I?d been doing business with them for several months that I met them both at once!
May 24, 2021, 04:52:01 PM