Fuh(L)'s mill

[Chimosa Hake]

Type of Quest:
Bandit killing
Quest Info:
 Bandits have killed Old man Fuh and his family and taken over his mill, the only one in town. Without it there will be no milled rice powder or grain. Retake Fuh's mill and get rid of the bandits. Guile, stealth or brute force are all allowed. Nobody likes bandits anyway.
Location:  Small village near the edge of the Shimotsuke border.
People Involved: Chimosa Hake, 6 NPC hunters, 2 NPC soldiers on leave, about 20 NPC volunteer villagers, 34 NPC bandits, 1 NPC bandit leader
Plot-Important: For Chimosa Hake it's an important event. For the world it goes unnoticed.

[Date Masamune]

rOEzMvQQ

[Date Masamune]

The bandits had taken over Fuh's Mill. There were three guards posted to each of the four entrances. Once inside the Mill's grounds. Two patrols of five bandits would be walking around the mill's grounds. Five bandits had left the mill and traversed down to the town. The whereabouts of about 8 more bandits, including the leader, would be unknown.

The five bandits that had traversed down to the town would have made their way to the tavern. They were drinking more than their fair share of sake.

Drunk Bandits x5
Str: 15
Dex: 5
Con: 10
Wis: 5
Spr: 5

[Chimosa Hake]

The week had gone by rather uneventful, with nothing happening in the town. Chimosa Hake had been invited for dinner on two occasions and they had been pleasant but nothing else. But now, as Hake walked towards the tavern, it seemed the week would end with quite an interesting event. Rumors of people at the mill had been going through the town for some time now and now newcomers had been sighted in the tavern. Newcomers on their own was nothing special but these ones had come from the mill and belonged to the group that was staying there now.

Hake walked in, followed by some of the burlier men in town. While he hadn't requested any escort it seemed that the people here were more than willing to go with her to see what was going on. Behind the large men, more people gathered but the stayed outside to peek in through the window. The moment he entered, people turned to regard him and the men behind him. With all the attention on him, the owner and bartender took the moment to point towards five mean looking guys huddled together around a table. It was most likely Hake's imagination but he could smell the alcohol on them from here.

With the initial interest dying down, the people turned back to their own conversations and drinks. Hake walked over to the table of bandits and stopped. "Good afternoon, gentlemen. As a representative of the village elders I would like to ask you a few questions. You are from the mill, correct? Where is the owner, Fuh-san?" The bandits turned to look. The least dumb looking one put down his mug and suddenly smiled in the most disgusting way Hake had ever experienced. "Ooh, a pretty lady. Come here." Before Hake could react, his arm snaked around Hake's waist and pulled him onto his lap. Something hard was sticking him as he was smacked down on the man's lap.

While Hake could have lived with the alcohol breath of the man, the moment he pressed his lips on his, however, all manners went out the window. Struggling against the bandits iron grip on his waist, Hake lashed out with a punch. Under hooting from his friends, the bandit dodged the punch but Hake brought the elbow of his punch more forward and used its momentum to crash it into his face. Balanced backwards, the chair toppled over and both the bandit and Hake came crashing down on the ground. Hake rolled away from the dazed bandit as his friends laughed even harder. Up until the moment one of the five burly men in Hake's team punched one of them square in the face.

(Actions: Hake brings 5 of the stronger men into the tavern, elbows the leader bandit and knocks him and his chair over and one of Hake's men punches one of the bandits in the face.)

[Date Masamune]

D|MNjcr5

[Date Masamune]

The bandit that Hake elbowed would absorb the blow. Turning his head, back the bandit would lash back out throwing a right hook at Hake's stomach, "You bitch! I'll make you pay for that! Guys get them!"

The other four bandits would jump up, immediately brandishing their weapons. They would lash out at the men that Hake had brought with him! The villager's he brought, would be overwhelmed by the Bandits superior weapons and slain. "We should burn this place down and teach them a lesson about who they're messing with!"


[[Results: -5 Volunteer Villagers. 15 Volunteer Villagers remaining.]]

[Chimosa Hake]

The tavern suddenly erupted into chaos as men fell, cut down by the bandits, and others tried to join the fight or get away from it. From the surrounding tables, a chair came crashing into the bandits as they decided to torch the place. Then men jumped in and tried to wrestle the bandits down. Punches and kicks were thrown and even a dagger was drawn. Some of the people ran out yelling for help as they tried to avoid the fight. The bartender crawled over his counter and approached one of the bandits from behind, attempting to crack his skull with the sake jug he was holding.

How he hated this. This was not Hake's place. His physique made it difficult to simple live in peaceful times. Here, in the middle of the fight, Hake was completely out of his element. Gasping for air, Hake clutched his stomach as he tried his best to keep the nausea back. The bandit stood over him, ready to attack. Panicked, Hake extended his arm towards the man and focused his spirit into the blade hidden within the sleeve. How he hated this.

The blade shot out, seemingly fired from some hidden mechanism, aimed straight for the bandit's chest. The moment the blade had left his sleeve, Hake tried to crawl backwards, away from the fight as the villagers tried their best to overwhelm the bandits, although most of them were unarmed. Some had broken chairs or pieces of a table in their hand as makeshift clubs and shield, one even had a real knife, but the rest were unarmed and did their best to wrestle down the bandits.

(Actions: Hake tries to surprise the bandit with his flying sword. 5 of the ten villagers run outside crying for help. 10 remaining villagers do their best to take down the bandits with whatever they can find.)

[Date Masamune]

GFBywtkI

[Date Masamune]

Hake's actions were a success! All of the bandits in the tavern had been defeated. Hake was now joined by another 10 village volunteers. The rest of the bandits were still at Fuh's mill.

[[OoC: -5 Bandits]

Villagers x10:
Str: 10
Dex: 10
Con: 10
Wis: 10
Spr: 5

[Chimosa Hake]

With the bandits in the tavern taken out, Hake was pulled on his feet by the arriving volunteers. "Let's go take a look at what's happening at the mill." Hake directed his ten volunteers outside and towards the mill. While not very polite of him, he left the destruction and bandits to the owner of the establishment, who'd have to clean up with some help of others. As soon as they were outside, Hake stopped the volunteers for a moment. He indicated five of them. "Gather every capable man and woman in town. And visit the hunters near the forests edge to see if they'd be willing to lend us a bow should it be necessary."

Hake felt dizzy as they continued on and he had to use the shoulder of one of the five remaining men to keep himself upright as they walked towards the mill. From a distance, it was already obvious that something was wrong. There were people on the walls surrounding the mill, more people than Fuh-san had ever had, even in the busy harvest times. Hake indicated two of the faster ones in his group as they stopped well out of bow range. "Run around the left and right sides, stay out of range, and report what you can see." Hake indicated with his arms which way each one should go and then waited.

If there were three men on the wall here and, from what he could see from here, at least the same number of men on the left and right walls, Hake was sure that the inside of the walls were just as packed with enemies. He wondered how they had gotten here without anyone noticing. He hoped nothing had happened to old man Fuh but knew already that, in case he had put up a fight or the bandits had simply felt like it, Fuh and his family would already be dead.

(Actions:Hake splits up his volunteers into two groups, one to gather the townsmen capable of fighting, one to scout the mill. He sends a runner left and right around the mill to scout, telling them to stay out of bow range.)

[Date Masamune]

5OiPfXUR

[Date Masamune]

The hunters and villagers would be too frightened to help! It looked like Hake only had the ten poorly armed villagers from the bar. The two groups would be able to see that 3 men guarded each of 4 entrances, all well armed with either spears, swords, or shields.

[Chimosa Hake]

Hake did not know the men to be so frightened here. With a sigh he turned away from the mill and sent out the two scouts to gather everyone in the village square. What could he possible do with ten men? What he needed was an army of men to command, so that he could maneuver them and defeat these bandits with strategy, rather than have these poor farmers slaughtered to the last man. He left the eight men near the village entrance, from where they could see the mill, with instructions to come and get him the moment something moved over at the mill.

He coughed lightly into one of his sleeves as he walked to the center where, hopefully, the villagers would have gathered now. He had only one speech to give them now and if that didn't work there would be nothing more he could do for them. With a sigh, Hake walked towards the village center, through the crowd that was gathering. "Fellow men and women of our great village. There are people out there, bandits, who have stolen from you. They took Fuh's mill from you and they killed old man Fuh and his family for it. The blood of his family and the men in the tavern are on their hands. What do you think you'll gain by hiding now? Nothing!" Hake's voice was clear and loud as he spoke.

"You hide now, they'll realize that your village is an easy target, they'll realize that there will be nobody to stop them here. And they will not stop with killing Old man Fuh and taking his mill. They'll take everything from everybody and kill you all. These are not men you can talk with or live with. These people only take what they want, unless we stop them! Those of you brave enough to follow me and utterly defeat these bandits, do so. The rest of you, go and hide in your homes and pray that without your help we're not wiped out. And should that be the case, should you hear of our defeat, kill your daughters and wives yourself, for the bandits will not be so kind to them when they find them." Hake turned from the center and walked out, back towards his ten men he had already gathered.

[Date Masamune]

_pJCb9XP

[Date Masamune]

Due to Hake's speech, another five men would join with his alliance to attack the bandits.

Hake's Current Troops:
Villagers x15:

Str: 10

Dex: 10

Con: 10

Wis: 10

Spr: 5

NPC's left:
6 Hunters, 2 Soldiers, 29 Bandits, 1 Bandit leader.

[Chimosa Hake]

Hake was deeply disturbed by the results of his speech. Only five villagers stepped forward to help him fight off the bandits. He shook his head sadly and walked towards the village edge, where the rest of his 'troops' waited. "Cowards..." Hake walked with his hands clasped together behind his back, trying to determine the better strategy here. He had no idea of the enemy's total troop number or their positions. He quickly explained his plan to the men and waited for them to prepare themselves.

The whole thing was simple, the two runners would shoot arrows at the defenders of one gate and then, when the enemy rushed out, they would run back into town. Here, they the enemy would be ambushed from the rooftops by his eight other troops, shooting arrows into their midsts. It wasn't difficult to shoot down people when they were cluttered together in a group like Hake was expecting. He just hoped the entire bandit force didn't decide to rush out at once or they would be overrun in moments. While not the physical type himself, Hake had no choice but to involve himself in this battle.

The eight men climbed the rooftops on both sides of the road coming into town from the mill, armed with arrows and whatever tools they could use to kill. Some had simple wooden clubs, others had sickles but all men had a ranged and melee weapon on them. With another shake of his head, Hake motioned for the runners to start off. They moved as planned. They moved into range of the enemy, fired a single shot and retreated a bit until they were out of arrow range. Once the enemy came out to attack them, they would retreat into town to where Hake was standing while the volunteers on both sides prepared to fire on the unsuspecting enemy.

[Date Masamune]

pCb3hANP

[Date Masamune]

The villager's distraction shots only caused one man of the three to follow them into the village, where he would be met with his untimely demise. The other 2 alerted everyone that they were under attack. Everybody was on top alert and seven more bandits would come out from inside of the mill and started to patrol the area, ready to back up whatever entrance the villagers decided to enter.

[[28 x Bandits
Str: 10
Dex: 10
Con: 10
Wis: 10
Spr: 5]]

[Chimosa Hake]

Hake watched the first bandit die, riddled with arrows. It was nice to know he was dead but Hake suspected some of the archers to have fired an extra arrow into the body. Ordering the two runners forward again, she called one of the remaining five villagers forward and had him retrieve the arrows. With eight bowmen on the roofs and the two runners scouting for an attack, Hake had five troops left which he had directed into a side alley, to flank the enemy force once it had been volleyed. When they moved back into their alley, they pulled the dead bandit with them, dropping him somewhere behind them.

Hake walked to where the two runners were overlooking the mill and told them to guide him just outside of the enemy archers range. "Excuse me?" Hake shouted with his silken voice. He waited for a moment until he knew the men on the walls were listening to him. "You're all a bunch of cowards, hidden inside there. Why don't you come out and fight if you're so mighty? I had a grandmother with better martial skill then all of you combined. She died in her sleep after whooping your father's ass when he tried to steal from here. You think you're so powerful with your murdering and stealing but you're nothing more than pathetic little children crying for mommy. She probably beat you when you were a child. That's why you're all so dumb."

Depending on the enemy's reaction, Hake and the two runners would run back into town to spring the ambush a second time on the enemy forces. Hopefully, part of their force would come out in rage, while the other part would make an attempt at forming a formation, resulting in two, closely spaced but still separate, forces running into his ambush. Once again, the moment the bandits entered the street where Hake and the runners were waiting, the arrows would rain down and them and the five villagers would crash into them from the side, using whatever long weapons they had available.

[Date Masamune]

2TTuk4gO

[Date Masamune]

[[OoC: Sorry the reply is late.]]

Arrows riddled both runners before they could make it back to the village. The bandits were pissed off that the villagers decided that the same tactic would work a second time. They wheeled out their secret weapon from the barn. A large long-range cannon. They fired at where the runners ran back to previously. The resulting shot would take out five villagers.

[[10x Villagers left]]

[Chimosa Hake]

When the cannonball hit the one of the buildings with the villagers in it, Hake knew it was time to leave. Shouting orders in the dust cloud while splinters of wood rained down on his 'troops' Hake pulled his men back to the village center. The cannonball explosion had drawn everyone's attention. Now Hake had only two avenues of action left. Charge to his death with the men he had left while leaving all these cowards here to hide in their houses was not one of them.

"The enemy has a cannon. And I don't doubt they can level the whole village from the mill. I see two paths for you. One: we pack up and leave the town to the bandits. We can find shelter in one of the nearby villages, closer to the Daimyo's castle. Two: We take up arms, like I told you to do at the start of all this, and go teach those bandits not to mess with us. But Hake knew it was already too late. Against swords and spears, farmers could bring up courage to fight. Against a cannon, even with Hake's (limited) skill in warfare, there was no way they would rally behind him.

One thing was certain when fighting a cannon, people would die before they ever even got to the fighting. With the Canon brought out, Hake understood that the farmers might prefer to leave. And, in their stead, he would take the same decision. Live to fight another day. Especially another day where you have proper Daimyo soldiers and samurai in front of you who know how to storm a cannon without getting slaughtered. Or who had horses.

[Date Masamune]

GbZHp0gp

[Date Masamune]

"We should attack before the cannon has a chance to reload. It should take them about ten minutes for the cannon to reload."

Two armored soldiers approached Hake and the villagers. With the addition of the soldiers and added information, the villagers morale seemed invigorated. 

[[Active NPCS: Bandits x28, Villagers x10, Armored Soldiers x2

Armored Soldiers
Str: 20
Dex: 20
Con: 20
Wis: 20
Spr: 5]]

[Chimosa Hake]

Hake was surprised to see the men. Actual soldiers? Here? In this little outback of civilization. Hake smiled at the two men. "Everyone who is not willing to fight, I suggest you start packing. Ten minutes is a short time to gather your valuables and make it out of town. Head for the Southern road and follow it into the next village if you want. Those of you who want to fight, follow me."

Hake moved back to the village edge, from where he could see the mill once again. He took aside six archers and ordered them to kill anyone on the walls they could see, to fire at will until told otherwise. The remaining four villagers and the two soldiers, he took aside as well. "Gather hay and straw and bind it together, quickly. We will smoke the enemy out. The wind is blowing from the southeast so we'll put the hay in that corner of the mill's compound. It'll smoke them out or provide us with cover to move in. Hurry up before they reload.

With the men all on their tasks, Hake moved a little back into town and simply took a oil lamp and a big stack of cloth from a nearby house. Whoever owned the place wouldn't mind it should it bring them victory and wouldn't care should it bring them defeat. While his men were firing and preparing the hay bales to stack up, Hake dipped the cloths in the oil of the lamp. Once the hay was in place he would order one of the men to fire the arrows at the hay once Hake had lit the arrows up. Everything moved rushed and quick as the men did their best to fight against the time.