Starting early in the morning, Susumu makes the rounds to a ring of the neighboring villages. A challenge is put out in court for the most athletically fit and nature savvy to prove their worth by working through a long trek through the surrounding wilderness, with the promise of drinks and cheers from those attending court upon their return.

RP Thread here: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=546

This is the Way

The first step of the race is figuring out the ideal path to take. The racers must pass through multiple checkpoints before returning to the castle, with path unspecified. Is the direct path best, or will detours over steadier ground allow you to travel faster. Players must make a Hunting (Trailblazing)/Perception roll at TN 15. Success means that you find a solid course to take, putting you on a steady path. For each raise called on a successful roll, the character gains a free raise they may use later in the event.

My What Sharp Teeth You Have

The wilderness always holds dangers, even as settlement has begun to creep outwards. The countryside is home to plenty of predators, and a lone tired racer may look like an excellent snack. Defending yourself could be as simple as figuring out a way around, or it might be hands on steel., but snap judgements. Characters must roll Defense/Reflexes at TN 15. On a successful roll, the player gains a free raise to use later in the event, plus one for each raise. Failure with called raised raises means that characters are beset by predators. While not hurt, players lose time defending themselves and take a (-2) penalty on their final roll per called raise.

One Foot in Front of the Other

Most of all, the biggest challenge of all is the ability to keep running in face of such a challenge, withstanding the relentless barrage of aches and exhaustion. Runners are encouraged to make their own pace, and the achievement of the challenge itself is enough. Characters must roll Athletics (Running)/ Stamina at TN 15. Success grants one Race Point, plus one for every raise. Failure results in the loss of a Race Point per each raise called.

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The participants are ranked by their point order. First place will net a favor from Susumu when it comes to accessing information from the Spider archives. The top three will win bottles of sake or soju (furnished by Susumu) and bragging rights will be yours in any question of physical endurance and woodland savvy.

Nozomi had thought about going to Ayumu's contest of knowledge, simply to support an old friend. But the idea, the mere idea that there might be a question that could apply one of her lores, over and above the other studies and knowledge that she had, was a little too horrifying to even contemplate and rather than risk the mere possibility that she might be asked such an esoteric question, however unlikely given the fact that only Shinsei seemed to know the topic existed at all? She wasn't taking the chance.

This event, however, was much more her speed. She arrived, stretching, and as so many times in the past, her child was right beside her, stretching as if she very much intended to run the race right alongside her. If anyone asked, Nozomi simply raised an eyebrow and then barked a laugh after bowing. "Her? She's been trapsing around the wilderness of the empire since she was able to walk. One day she'll be better at this than I am." Apparently? Mayumi was coming along with.

Nozomi's spatial awareness extended beyond her around thirty feet, fully aware of all hidden objects and anything nearby that drew towards them. She knew exactly where the markers for the bear's den were and where to avoid. Snapping her fingers and motioning for her daughter to follow, she started off with ease.

Finding a path, a good path, was not hard. In fact, part of the path was the very one that the two had taken just getting into the city in the first place. Nozomi didn't know these lands like the back of her hand, but she knew how to trailblaze easily. She probably spent half of her life foraging off of the land, after all.

Between her mystical awareness and keen reflexes, it wasn't exactly difficult for her to keep anything from thinking them easy meat, not to mention that two people tended to make more of a problematic target than one for most lesser predators, unwilling to take the chance of fighting against more than one in the search of food.

Despite the hampering of having her daughter present, and the fact that no matter what Mayumi was not as fast as her mother, they still came in at an appreciable pace. Both were panting at a regular rate, the pace they'd set clearly showing that this was not the first time that they'd done this.

If offered a bottle of sake at the end of the tourney, she will laugh and smile over at Susumu, winking once and suggesting that she wants to share her drink as a round to the other contestants. It seems clear that, even if she did this well, her monastic vows impede her from taking part in the alcohol, though she's clearly happy to tell a story at the end with those bragging rights.

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8 Directional Awareness is up
This is the Way - Success +1 Raise = 1 Free Raise
My What Sharp Teeth - Success = 1 Free Raise (2 Total)
One Foot in Front of Another - Success +1 Raise, 2 Free Raises (-1 Void Point, 3 Raises total on roll, Total Roll 30)

4 Race points. As a player, to reflect Dependent, I'm choosing to deduct 2 Race Points to reflect that she is running alongside a dependent who has no dice pool (Provided Susumu's player is ok with this.)
Final Result - 2 Race Points.

(As stated above: She will jokingly take bragging rights, but distribute any alcohol she's gifted with an apology due to her monastic vows. If by some miracle she wins with 2 points, she will however take Susumu up on that favor. There may be information in the Spider archives she'd find useful.)

Susumu stretches before he runs, eyeing a sparsely populated field. At the start, he begins at a measured pace, knowing the length of time ahead of him, along with considerable experience hunting with Ninube-okaasan as a child telling him that rushing out early would be a mistake. He plots a course in his head that he thinks would be useful. Unfortunately, he bites off more than he can chew when it comes to plotting a course, and gets a bit too cute with a clever route that winds up requiring him to go past a badger den to make up for time.

Rrrrrowwwwl!

The badger cares not for him, and Susumu finds himself scampering off quite a ways to get to safety, costing him quite a bit of time.

At this point, all of the earlier lessons of pacing himself have gone out the window, and the not very athletic Spider is puffing to continue the way.

"Matsu-sempai...is going to...read me the ri*GASP*ot act for this."

Susumu very much brings up the rear in the event he had sponsored himself.




___
This is the Way: Failure
My What Sharp Teeth You Have: Failure with 3 raises for -6 on next roll
One Foot in Front of the Other: Failure, zero race points

The other mother also takes her time for a little jogging this afternoon. All in the spirit of friendly competition, Kinsen dons her battle-ready kimono and starts to analyze the field.

With a good sense of where to trail about, the Stag Queen finds a good path to cross the wilderness and avoid getting stuck in a pile of snow. Being a predator herself, it was quite easy to fend off any potential threats by jumping over pits and dodging thorns. She keeps her steady pace, bouncing from one obstacle to the other until she reaches the finish line with some red in her cheeks and a bit of sweat in her brow.

Now, for the refreshments...

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D6, LA, This is the Way TN 15: 3d10o10k2 15 Success
D6, LA, My What Sharp Teeth You Have TN 15: 4d10o10k2 19 Success = 1FR
D6, LA, One Foot in Front of the Other TN 20 (1 Raise + 1FR) + VP: 5d10o10k4 29 Success = 3 Race Points

Things started out great for Kuni. He easily found a path through the woods. It looked like a deer trail and provided him with a clear path.

Of course, the predators were waiting. They were expecting deer, but a Spider would work as well. Kuni deftly dodged them as he continued along his path.

He was on his way to do well. Considering he was just a shugenja and researcher, he was happy he was competing well with samurai and monks.

Then, he fell down a ditch.

Hunting/Perception: 5d10o10k3 22 Success!

Defense/Reflexes VOID: 5d10o10k4 15 Success!

Athletics/Stamina 1 Raise+1 Free Raise TN 20: 5d10o10k4 18 Seriously, Orokos?!?!?! -3 Race Points

A race through the wilderness around the palace? This was just the sort of thing Kotsume had been missing! And quite a coincidence, too - she had ridden through many areas around while preparing some things for the horse race she had prepared for the following day.

If the weather collaborated, of course, she thought, looking at the dark clouds gathering in the distance.

Spear and basket on her back, she set out, using what she had seen the previous days - and some experience she had from patrolling the areas around the Great River - to find what she thought was a good path from checkpoint to checkpoint. She managed to avoid areas with thicker snow, and kept to the riverside where she could, so she was quite convinced it had been a good choice!

She knew she was as much of a target as many others, and especially with something like a great white bear active in the area, she knew that needed good attention! Having three otters on her back of course might contribute even more to making them a target... but she managed to keep out of danger most of the time, and the few times a wild animal crossed their path, some kind words - or in one case a hasty yell and a menacing thrust with her spear - kept them safe enough!

She set a good pace since the start, but as she went on, greater confidence and excitement meant she increased her speed even more as she weaved through the undergrowth, the snow and the twigs and pebbles by the river. In the last few sections, which she made almost entirely by the riverside, she was actually giggling excitedly as she ran as fast as she could, at times even crossing parts of the river hopping through stepping stones.

She didn't even think of stopping or slowing down to take a breath until she got back to the town. Putting her hands on her knees as she finally recovered her breath, the three otters dizzily popped their heads out of the basket as if they had been in a mixer. "Oh!", she said. "Sorry dearies! Seems like I got carried away a bit!"

Looking around along with the critters, she stretched, patting their heads, then happily turned to the public - and any others who were already there or were just arriving. "Phew! That was fun! So... how did I do?"

Also... where was her sister? Surely she hadn't missed this... had she? Did she beat her, this time, by any chance??

OOC:
D6 LA - Wilderness Race - This is the Way. Hunting/ Perception, 1 CR, TN 20. VP for +1k1, Tawagoto's: 5d10o10k4+4 30 - 1 FR for later!

D6 LA - Wilderness Race - My what sharp teeth you have. Defense/ Ref, 2 CR, TN 25. VP for +1k1, Tawagoto's: 5d10o10k4+4 32 - 3 FR for later!

D6 LA - Wilderness Race - One foot in front of the other. Athletics/ Stamina, 1 FR from 'This is the way', 3 FR from 'My what sharp teeth', 3 CR, TN 30. VP for +1k1, Tawagoto's: 7d10o10k4+4 43 - Success + 4 FR + 3 CR = 8 Race points!

Rei's mother had always taught her the importance of outdoorsmanship and had encouraged her to embrace the wilderness. So, the idea of an wilderness race held some appeal for her. Besides, Hen needed some exercise.

Things had started well, navigating through the snowscape came with practiced ease. But then, a small leopard ran out and pounced at Hen. Rei was deft enough to safely snatch up the piglet and the leopard ran away. But, once she set Hen down, he chased after his attacker.

"Hen, no! Come back here!"

She arrived at the finish line much later, carrying a squirming little white pig.

- - -
[D6 LA] The Great Wilderness Race!, Hunting/Perception & Defense/Reflexes, 1 CR Each, TN 20, VP for Each: 2#5d10o10k3 25 18
Misread step two and risked too much. Going for broke on three.

[D6 LA] The Great Wilderness Race!, Athletics/Stamina, 1 CR, 1 FR, TN 20, Defense Penalty, VP for Skill: 4d10o10k3 18 (Actually 16 with penalty)

So -1, I think?

Sasoris mother and father are great hunters and by watching them do this, the girl knows what to look for when trying to find a path. Sadly her fan training was not in the art of fending off random traps. "Ouch..." She started running giving it her best trying to avoid the roots but one got in her way and she fell at the home stretch. "Nya" she said sadly as she stood up and dusted herself.

//D6 LA Race Hunt Per untrained TN 15: 4d10k4 33 1point
D6 LA Defence Reflex Untrained TN 15: 3d10k3 8
D6 LA Athletics Sta 1VP +1k1 1CR TN 22: 6d10o10k3 18
Ouch -1 race point

The snows had kept Chizu indoors for much of the season, so she didn’t really know the terrain the race was being held on. So she settled on the strategy of just following someone else who looked like they knew where they were going. This wouldn’t put her at the front of the pack, Chizu knew, but at least it would keep her from getting lost.

Most of the wild animals fled at the sight of the large woman trudging along behind the other racers, and the few tooth-and-claw critters who dared to bother Chizu, she easily fended off. The wildlife around the Imperial capital were harmless and cuddly compared to the mountain cats of the far north. There was no time to pet the animals on this run, though, so Chizu didn’t even slow down as she vaulted over an angry badger.

Her warrior training made the big Crab seem tireless. Chizu paced herself to balance between keeping up with the other racers and keeping her energy level high. She finished the race - not the first, but in a respectable position, she thought.

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6LA This way, PER/Hunting TN15: 2d10 10 failed
6LA Sharp Teeth with 2 called raises, REF/Defense TN25: 6d10o10k4 36 succeeds for 3 FR on next roll
6LA One Foot After Another with 4 free raises (Strength of Earth + Sharp Teeth) STA/Athletics TN15: 4d10o10k3 31 succeeds for 5 race points

Matsu had thrown herself into the competition, even as it was an event hosted by her delegation. She made sure to try her best, and give comparison to those genuinely competing.

LA6 - The Great Wilderness Race - Step 1 (Perception 3, Hunting 1, MS 1 +3, TN15): 4d10o10k3+3 21

LA6 - The Great Wilderness Race - Step 2 (Reflexs 3, Hunting 0, MS 1 +3, VP for Skill, 4TN15): 4d10o10k3+3 26 +1 Free Raise

LA6 - The Great Wilderness Race - Step 3 (Stamina 3, Athletics 3, MS 1 +3, 1 FR Strength of the Earth, 1 FR from Step 2, VP +1k1, 3CR, TN30): 7d10o10k4+3 20 -3 Race Points

Results:

1st: Chai Kotsume gains a bottle of sake or soju (her choice) and a favor from Hisomu Susumu in retrieving information from the Spider Archives
2nd: Yoshitone Chizu gains a bottle of sake or soju
3rd: Hantei Kinsen earns a bottle of sake or soju
4th: Nozomi
5th: Hisomu Susumu
Tied 6th: Ryoshun Rei and Bayushi Sasori
8th: Hisomu Matsu
9th: Hisomu Kuni

Hisomu Susumu wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 26, 2021 1:43 pm

Results:

1st: Chai Kotsume gains a bottle of sake or soju (her choice) and a favor from Hisomu Susumu in retrieving information from the Spider Archives
2nd: Yoshitone Chizu gains a bottle of sake or soju
3rd: Hantei Kinsen earns a bottle of sake or soju
4th: Nozomi
5th: Hisomu Susumu
Tied 6th: Ryoshun Rei and Bayushi Sasori
8th: Hisomu Matsu
9th: Hisomu Kuni

Oof totaly forgot to answer here... but Kotsu wil take a bottle of Soju. Not sure about what to do with that favour, but I'll think about it XD She'll have thanked Susumu heartily and have been REALLY happy she won, in fact almost not believing it!