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Thread: Yōkai (Abandoned)

  1. #121
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
    Content Director Patrician Citizen

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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 25 - 30.1.15

    I like the way that you build up the aura of mystery around Mashira and Nishina's confused reactions (am I the only one worrying about how much danger she is in, talking so casually to someone who presumably is some kind of supernatural entity?). Your AAR is certainly living up to its name - it looks like you have found a rich source of inspiration in Japanese folklore.

  2. #122
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 25 - 30.1.15

    The question is, have we even had any solid evidence of any actual supernatural goings on yet? One to think about

  3. #123

    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 25 - 30.1.15

    Oooh, mysterious monkey man or maybe he is all monkey? Good chapter yet again.

  4. #124
    Lugotorix's Avatar non flectis non mutant
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 25 - 30.1.15

    Quote Originally Posted by Hitai de Bodemloze View Post
    The question is, have we even had any solid evidence of any actual supernatural goings on yet? One to think about
    Like a product of modernization, with a major personality disorder.
    AUTHOR OF TROY OF THE WESTERN SEA: LOVE AND CARNAGE UNDER THE RULE OF THE VANDAL KING, GENSERIC
    THE BLACK-HEARTED LORDS OF THRACE: ODRYSIAN KINGDOM AAR
    VANDALARIUS: A DARK AGES GOTHIC EMPIRE ATTILA AAR


  5. #125
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 25 - 30.1.15

    Okay guys, I have some news. Some of you might not like it. I've been thinking long and hard today about the future of Yokai. I've been thinking of where I wanted the story to go, how fast I could do it and, ultimately, my own free time. I've written and re-written what I wanted to say over and over again, but I've just struggled to really convey it properly. So I'll just say it as bluntly and honestly I can...

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    More frequent updates

  6. #126
    Junaidi83 de Bodemloze's Avatar Dont Mess With Me
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 25 - 30.1.15

    More frequent updates
    Why not its seem good idea
    Modding is like accursed wine, you try a sip and you ended empty the whole glass
    Under Proud Patronage of Shankbot de Bodemloze

  7. #127

    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 25 - 30.1.15

    Great!

    Btw, looks like Kaname Yukemuri has... improved his karakuri army

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


  8. #128
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 25 - 30.1.15

    Quote Originally Posted by Merchant of Venice View Post
    Oooh, mysterious monkey man or maybe he is all monkey? Good chapter yet again.
    Who knows?

    Quote Originally Posted by Lugotorix View Post
    Like a product of modernization, with a major personality disorder.
    Haha I like your thinking!

    Quote Originally Posted by Junaidi83 de Bodemloze View Post
    Why not its seem good idea
    There's a few reasons I'm hesitant, mainly because I don't have that much free time and I don't want to get burnt out. I also don't want to overwhelm people. But I do want to finish this AAR and the current pace is just too slow in the grand scheme of things.

    Quote Originally Posted by Asdrubaal View Post
    Great!

    Btw, looks like Kaname Yukemuri has... improved his karakuri army

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Hey, stop giving away spoilers for the next few chapters!

    Anyway, I've been working away and Act II is pretty much finished! Bit lower than my original estimate, in regards to the amount of chapters, but still a decent size. I won't say the exact amount, but we're looking at roughly 5,000 words left to go, which is neat. If I space the updates out a bit, I think we'll finally be done with this arc in about two weeks

  9. #129
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 26 - 1.2.15

    A Rider in Red
    Nabari-cho, Takatori-han, October 1864

    Slightly perturbed now, Nishina rose from the bench and inched away from Mashira. “Well, I should probably leave you to…whatever it is you’re doing,” she flashed a fake smile in his direction.

    “Since I helped you with a problem of yours,” began Mashira, turning his mask to follow her attempted escape, “perhaps you might help me with one of mine.”

    Although she was getting more creeped out by the minute, Nishina resolved to hear the man out. Even if he wasn’t particularly good at giving her a straight answer to anything, he at least hadn’t tried to kill her yet, which made him significantly better in her eyes than the last stranger she had conversed with.

    After Nishina nodded in consent, Mashira reached into his robe. Nishina gripped the hilt of her katana more tightly, as the man rummaged around inside his kimono. It was only then that Nishina realized just how beautiful his clothes were. The day before, she had seen only a simple robe, yet now she saw the intricate and elegant patterns that were weaved into the cuffs and hem with fine gold silks. Not the attire of a traveling actor that was for sure and definitely at odds with the crude monkey mask he wore. Just who was Mashira?

    Finally Mashira pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to her. Nishina took it warily and opened it. On the inside were sketched a few circles in a rough pattern. “What exactly am I looking at here?” she asked, frowning.

    “You don’t recognize the pattern?” Mashira asked. “You haven’t seen it anywhere before?”

    Nishina shook her head and handed the piece of paper back to Mashira, who tucked it once again inside his robes. “Should I have?” she asked, even more confused.

    Another long pause. “Perhaps, perhaps not,” he spoke lazily, returning to gaze at the stars again. “It’s an old symbol, one with no meaning in our age. It once heralded death and destruction, but it has not been seen in many centuries now.”

    “And why are you showing me this?” Nishina questioned slowly.

    Mashira shrugged, a gesture that Nishina was fast realizing didn’t mean what she might have thought it meant. “A rider in red came to Nabari today, sporting this symbol. He has however disappeared. I was concerned and I thought that I’d ask you if you’d seen such a symbol around the town.”

    Nishina bit her lip as she thought about it once more. She had not, however, seen such a symbol before in her life. She knew this for a fact, yet the more she thought on it, the more it did seem familiar. Shaking her head, more to clear out strange thoughts than anything else, she asserted once again that she had not seen it before.

    “Okay, well thank you for your time,” Mashira said courteously, as he spied her inching away. “Good night Nishina-san.”

    With a bow of the head, Nishina departed. “Good night Mashira-san.”



  10. #130

    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 26 - 1.2.15

    Oooh a rider and red and a strange symbol. I wonder if this will go all Da Vinci code or Assassin's Creed and this will all be some weird secret history the Papacy and the people Nishina is working for are hiding.

  11. #131

    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 26 - 1.2.15

    A rider in red?Which clan wears red and has horses? The Takeda! A Takeda zombie army is going to take all of japan!

  12. #132
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 27 - 3.2.15

    Cornered
    Nabari-cho, Takatori-han, October 1864

    As dawn crept up once again, Nishina felt awake and alert. Although Nabari had proved to be a welcome place of rest for her, her conversation with the strange Mashira had unsettled her. Riders in red, ancient symbols of death, mysterious disappearances…this had Shinji written all over it.

    Bursting back into their room at the inn, she found Shinji already awake, sitting at the foot of his bed absently. “Did you kill anyone yesterday?” she asked as she strode up to him; the first question she had asked him in weeks. “Did you make anyone disappear?”

    The boy glanced at her, although she couldn’t read the look in his eyes. Blank-faced, he simply shook his head. Not knowing whether or not to trust him, Nishina scowled. The boy never uttered a word; a shake or nod of the head was the best she could hope for.

    “We should leave here, before the town wakes,” she spoke as she draped Shinji’s new coat over his shoulders and set about the room gathering their belongings. “I have a bad feeling about Nabari, I fear we’ve overstayed our welcome. We should make for Osaka as soon as possible. After that we can get to Nagasaki and take a boat out of this country.”

    Shinji was motionless as Nishina swept around the room, apparently unsurprised or maybe just unconcerned at his captor’s newfound willingness to talk to him. However, he followed her obediently as she escorted him out of the room and into the corridor outside.



    Closing the door to their room behind her, Nishina turned to leave. However, blocking her way at the end of the corridor was a man. Not just any man, but a samurai. His kabuto helmet sported two golden horns, whilst the features of an oni demon were etched across his menpo faceplate. His armour was blood red and a vicious katana was strapped to his waist. And on the hilt of his weapon was etched the very same symbol Mashira had shown her that night.

    They were frozen for a long time as Nishina locked eyes with the Red Rider. Finally, she broke the tense silence. “So, the agents of the Shogun have finally caught up to us?” she spoke softly. There was no way this samurai was a sly dog of the emperor, he had to be a Shogunate agent.

    “Well,” she continued, raising her voice so that the samurai could hear her, “you’ll have to catch us first!”

    Pivoting rapidly, she turned to make her escape, dragging Shinji along with her. If they could outrun the encumbered samurai, perhaps they could make it out of Nabari alive. However, as she turned down the corridor, she saw a second man at the other end, blocking their way. The second was nothing like the Red Rider. Instead, he wore a faded and dirtied black robe, with rough leather guards on his wrists and shins. This was the attire of a commoner, nothing like that of Mashira’s. His gaunt, pale face was shadowed by short, yet rough black hair and he wore a grim expression.

    Nishina stopped dead in her tracks, still clutching Shinji by the arm. Her eyes flicked back and forth between the two stationary men at either end of the corridor. They looked the opposite of one another, but she knew villains came in all shapes and sizes. She wouldn’t put it past a Shogunate assassin to recruit some local help to corner his prey. After all, there was no chance this was some coincidence; that she had unwittingly stumbled into a morning duel in some Godforsaken inn in the middle of nowhere. The black-clad man didn’t even appear to even be armed.

    All she needed was an opening, for one of them to falter for her to make her escape. With her free hand, she drew one of her twin swords. At this flash of steel, the black-clad man started forward. “Wait!” the samurai cried. Nishina couldn’t work out the tone of his voice, but her eyes darted towards him. He still had yet to draw his weapon, but his hand was raised in reproach. Ordinarily she wouldn’t have decided to challenge a battle-clad warrior, but this was her chance! Dragging Shinji along with her, she sprinted down the corridor, barging the hesitant samurai aside with a powerful shove that sent him sprawling. The black-robed man was giving chase, but Nishina and Shinji were already out of the inn and into the morning air.

  13. #133
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 26 - 1.2.15

    You may behold my super secret screenshot skills

    Quote Originally Posted by Merchant of Venice View Post
    Oooh a rider and red and a strange symbol. I wonder if this will go all Da Vinci code or Assassin's Creed and this will all be some weird secret history the Papacy and the people Nishina is working for are hiding.
    Having not read/played/watched either, I wouldn't bet on it But now you've put the idea in my head...

    Quote Originally Posted by Asdrubaal View Post
    A rider in red?Which clan wears red and has horses? The Takeda! A Takeda zombie army is going to take all of japan!
    Don't forget about the Mori

  14. #134

    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 27 - 3.2.15

    Debug camera ftw

    I thin you're hinting at a cross-over between you and Robin's Wings of Destiny considering that had the Mori in it.

  15. #135
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 27 - 3.2.15

    Don't forget the Taira now

  16. #136
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 29 - 7.2.15

    The Last Days of Autumn
    Sayama-han, November 1864

    They rode hard out of Nabari and west, down from the mountains and onto the Nara Plain. As October drew to a close, the snows thickened and made travel difficult. With the Red Rider and his accomplice most certainly on their tail, Nishina made sure to not stay in one place for long. They avoided large cities and even towns, instead sleeping in abandoned barns or stables, away from prying eyes. However, they could not savour these small hours, as Nishina ensured they slept late and arose before first light. They needed to reach Osaka. After that, a swift train journey would see them quickly to Nagasaki and toward foreign shores.

    Nishina was anxious. She made a point not to divulge her fears to Shinji, but she entertained them nonetheless. Mashira’s words echoed in her head, accompanied by visions of the Red Rider and his demon’s visage. An ancient symbol of death and destruction… Nishina knew not what any of this meant, apart from that it must surely have been connected to Shinji. She already knew the clandestine supporters of the emperor sought his powers for their brewing war; it was not difficult to assume the Shogun had also moved his own pawns into play as well.

    Too much had happened. From the terror Shinji had inflicted upon Asahi, to the karakuri host of Matsusaka, to the monkey-faced Mashira and the Red Rider… Japan was no longer safe. It all seemed so surreal and Nishina struggled at times to accept this reality. Although she believed in miracles and the divine, what was happening to them seemed like something more akin to the machinations of the kami, as in the ancient myths of Yamato.

    How could they even know? That was what perturbed her most. She did not doubt the shadowy reaches of either the Shogun or the Emperor, yet to rest only for two nights before coming face to face with a pursuer? How could this Red Rider know their movements so accurately and catch up to them so quickly? This spurred her on, as she brought them ever closer to Osaka that winter. If the Red Rider was behind them, he wasn’t far behind. If he was on their tail, that meant agents of the Emperor were as well.

    Resolved not to include Shinji in her thoughts, they travelled in silence. With all that had happened swimming about her head, it was in fact easier for her to forget the boy alongside her. Caring for him became a mechanical routine and she adapted to it well, always keeping her eyes and thoughts from him. The boy was as he ever was and the last days of autumn passed in silence without incident.

    Eventually, they found themselves at a crossroads one early evening, as the snows fell slowly about them. Stopping at a house by the roadside, they inquired as to their whereabouts. Narukawa Pass. Now they were merely hours from Osaka.


  17. #137
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 29 - 7.2.15

    Journey’s End
    Osaka, Sayama-han, November 1864

    Osaka was bustling as they entered the city the next morning. People flocked to the streets and one could not hear oneself think over their loud exchanges. The crude accent of the locals grated on the ear, but Nishina was happy simply to be at the end of their journey. The difficult part was over, now they simply had to board the train that would take them to the western shores of Honshu. Then, a short journey across the Inland Sea at Shimonoseki and they would be mere weeks – if not days – from Nagasaki.

    Although Nishina carried with her a fair amount of silver, she nonetheless resolved to depart with their trusty steed. She still had no clue where the beast had come from, but it had served them well ever since their flight from Matsusaka. Although not sad to see it pass into another’s ownership is a dark stable in Osaka’s interior, its sale seemed to symbolize the end of their treacherous journey. She could not feel remorse, but there was a slight nostalgia for the weeks they had spent so closely together, at least before she had resolved to abandon communication with Shinji.

    Keeping the boy draped under his oversized coat, to hide his bonds, she escorted him through the thronging crowds of people. At every interval they were harassed and bombarded by the local merchants and tradesmen who lined the road, but eventually they were free. As the clear blue waters of the Osaka bay came into view, Nishina breathed a sigh of relief.

    The train station was not hard to find, being situated just a few minutes away from the bustling docks. Unlike the merchant quarters or the port, the train station was bereft of people, besides a few soldiers and a number of particularly wealthily dressed folk. Such a new and adventurous form of travel, hardly anyone could afford it. It had mainly been used to ferry soldiers to and from different commands, although despite the warmongering of certain factions, such a use was not yet widespread. It was open for public travel though, if one had the coin.


    Despite having sold their horse, Nishina could only still barely afford the train fare for the two of them, which surprised and irritated her. Once they reached Shimonoseki, she would have to think of a new way to earn money; otherwise they would struggle to make it on a foreign ship. She held a slim hope that her faith might secure her passage, but not knowing any European tongue crushed such optimism. However, at that moment, it was not her concern.

    They stood at the platform’s edge, as the train finally drew into the station. Along with a trio of soldiers, they boarded the rearmost carriage. That November morning, they left Osaka as quickly as they had arrived. One journey had ended, another was about to begin.

  18. #138
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 29 - 7.2.15

    Well we finally made it to Osaka. I think our intrepid duo deserve a pat on the back.
    Last edited by Hitai de Bodemloze; February 07, 2015 at 07:53 AM.

  19. #139

    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 29 - 7.2.15

    They made it!!!! Suck it Red Rider! I just hope the train ride is as peaceful as Nishina hopes. Hopefully, it isn't like the Orient Express

  20. #140
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Yōkai | Updated Chapter 29 - 7.2.15

    Quote Originally Posted by Merchant of Venice View Post
    They made it!!!! Suck it Red Rider! I just hope the train ride is as peaceful as Nishina hopes. Hopefully, it isn't like the Orient Express
    Ahem...well...let's just say the next chapter was my absolute favourite to write so far

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