Session Report: 24 March 2023
The Unyielding Left Hand
General Summary
In this session of Tsuwamono, the following events transpired:
The Left Hand of God (Part 2)1559年11月17日 17:30 (Afternoon)
Assiah
Historical Entry: The Left Hand of God (Part 2)
Newly freed from the ice, Ariel wasted no time in seizing the opportunity to attack Adathan. Faced with such blinding speed from an opponent who was incapacitated just moments before, the larger angel raised her glimmering shield far too slowly to intercept. Ariel's fist impacted Adathan's solar plexus with a force that should shatter stone. But...the marble didn't so much as crack. Both angels shared a look of equal surprise for a moment. Then, Adathan's shock twisted into a mocking smirk. "It seems like this body won't be broken so easily by those puny fists of yours." "Oh yeah?" Ariel growled. "Then try this!" Her next strike was a haymaker, but Adathan was prepared this time. Her shield caught the blow and deflected it, its ice holding fast. Glowering, Ariel pulled her fist back for another strike, but hesitated. "What's wrong?" the other mocked. "Has the 'Lion of God' lost her courage?" "I didn't want to use this so soon, but...buy me some time!" Ariel shouted this across the hall to Sanosuke, who had his own looming problems in front of him. Keeping one arm raised to ward off Adathan, she began unlocking her heavy suitcase with another. Meanwhile, Sanosuke was sheathing his blade, favoring a more defensive unarmed stance against the Virtues pressing in on them. "Okay then..." he said through gritted teeth, then his ears seemed to catch up. "Huh? Ariel-chan, you alright over there?" "It's no surprise that the higher-ranked Arbiters would be constructed in such a way as to ward lighter attacks. It is likely only weapons of sufficient craftsmanship can damage them." Adriel gave a lengthy explanation, perhaps unhelpfully, from the stairs. Perhaps Sanosuke wasn't listening anyway, as he was then engaged in heaving a fourteen-foot-tall suit of angelic armor upward with his bare hands. CRASH! The unlucky Virtue sailed across the chapel by way of Sanosuke's titanic throw. It struggled to right itself in the air, but given its bulk and the sheer weight of its equipment, that would be a near impossibility. It careened into two Powers of the Arbiters ascending the stairs to the right, impacting both and knocking one from its feet. More importantly still, the Virtue's bulky form lay collapsed on the stairwell itself, effectively blocking access to all but one of the encroaching Powers. Both Sanosuke and the remaining Virtue watched this unfold with varying levels of interest. When the Silver General turned back to his foe, no expression was visible under that heavy white helmet. "Alright, pal," Sanosuke spat, "You're up." The other angels were not idle in this time, however. Yadathan, hovering some fifty feet above the chaos, drifted serenely near the center of the room. At her gesture, a bundle of chains burst forth from the carpet beneath Haro Uin and attempted to engulf the little Kyonshi. Aotsuki Tsukamoto was there in an instant, his shield raised, but there were simply too many vectors of attack to block. A whip of chains snaked past his defense and gathered all around Uin, wrapping her up in a solid, immobile cocoon. As he hefted Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, Aotsuki spotted something concerning out of the corner of his eye. One of the Powers, its approach stymied by Sanosuke's control, had spread its feet and adopted an expression of concentration. Wisps of white smoke now gathered around its stony shoulders as some unseen power built. That was concerning, but he had someone to help right in front of him now. With a powerful swing downward, divine steel met divine steel. This was not, however, Tsurugi's first encounter with the eschatological. Yadathan's chains parted easily under its divine severance, freeing the young daimyō's companion instantly. Without delay, Aotsuki detached himself and made for the other side of the entryway just in time to intercept the first Power there. Not far away, Ariel was still struggling with the intricate clasps holding her suitcase closed. "I won't let you!" Adathan spat. She raised her hammer and brought it down on the other angel three times. The first was easily blocked, as was the second, yet this one froze Ariel solid once again. So immobilized, she was helpless against Adathan's final attack. The Cherubim grinned malevolently, relishing the moment as she pulled back her hammer and swung it forward with all her force... ...only for Ryūzaki Sanosuke to appear in a flash of light where Ariel stood moments before. The Silver General caught the strike on his iron-hard arm and thrust it away. Adathan could only stare, flabbergasted. "Who in Tehom are you?" Heavenly light cast Sanosuke's face in dramatic shadow as he loosened his shoulders and grinned. "I'm her guardian angel, bitch." Any response Adathan might have given was interrupted by a sudden crash from the center of the room. Yadathan, who had been floating majestically over the battle, suddenly fell to the ground in a clumsy tangle of limbs and wings. She let out an uncharacteristic scream and staggered to her feet, shivering and bewildered. The Cherubim raised her arms in front of her face and stared at them in horror as marble skin began flaking away, burning to ash before it reached the ground. "Yadathan," a somber proclamation from Adriel came. "For your acts against humanity, I have taken your divinity and shared with you the suffering of mortal beings. The burning you feel is the pain they must live through until the day they die. Answer, shall you continue on your path of sin?" The other archangel did not answer for a moment, her carven features overcome by abject terror. "I...this can't be happening," she stammered. Devastated as she was, Yadathan's chains apparently continued their action unabated. This was made clear when Haro Uin, stepping off the stairs and into the tiled area in the center of the hall, unwittingly trod upon a colony of the things. She hardly had time for so much as an "eep" before the golden links once again had her bound and covered from head to toe. Aotsuki saw all this happen from the side, but could not separate himself from the looming Power before him to help. So, too, could he only watch with a pit in his stomach as another Power, bending its powerful legs, leapt in a soaring arc above him and into the gaggle of noncombatants behind. It thrust its left hand forward as it landed, only to be deflected by a glimmering magical veil wreathed in stars. "This is inconvenient," Mary Lyn complained. "I didn't want to use up much of my magic in case we needed a quick escape..." She cocked her head to the left, barrier holding fast while she watched Amenotokotachi pull back a shimmering white bow. Once loosed, the White Arch's arrow shot the length of the hall. It skittered off Haro Uin's chain cocoon, but lacked the force to destroy that prison as Tsurugi had. Such was not the same for the ice surrounding Ariel. The archangel, who since the switch had been standing where Sanosuke was but moments before, found her freezing prison shattered once again. Finally, the bolt continued on to strike the looming Virtue as he readied his greatsword, but glanced harmlessly off the white steel of that weapon. Apparently thinking its foe distracted by this turn of events, a nearby Power took this opportunity to clumsily shove its palm at Sanosuke. The Silver General hardly spared a glance for the attack before thrusting out his own fist in return. Both strikes collided and a shockwave shook the air as the Power's body was pulverized instantly. Marble shot in every direction amid a cloud of dust. The statue's head rolled to a stop after bouncing off the far wall, lying still with a concerned expression on its face. However, not all of the Powers were to be taken so lightly. So learned Momose Nao as another statue soared over Aotsuki's defense and landed in front of him. The thing came down palm first, and Nao had not yet given in to his transformation. The strength and skill of a mere boy were no match. Nao was driven into the ground with a mighty crack, pressed down by the angel's enormous palm. Surely the Arbiter had held back, else naught would be left but paste. Even so, Nao was clearly unconscious and appeared to be bleeding. Aotsuki tamped down a roar of rage, forced to watch this unfold but unable to shift his shield to aid. Indeed, the Power just in front of Aotsuki was even then battering his shield with its own palm. Much to the statue's bewilderment, every attack was reflected not just in force but in property as well. When its attack ceased, the Power discovered that it was bearing several new wounds and had managed to slow its own movement considerably. These revelations would normally prompt any creature to reconsider its tactics. Yet a Power was not an archangel and had not cast off its Qlippoth, and therefore had no free will. Even with its fate clear before it, the statue pulled back for another strike. Across the room, Ariel was finding her new opponent's assault just as implacable. The Virtue, until then attacking Sanosuke, did not hesitate a beat once its opponent had switched. It raised its greatsword and swung down at the newly-freed angel once, twice, then three times. Skilled as she was, the titan's strength was unrelenting. She found herself overwhelmed, just moments from cracking open her suitcase. Then, she slipped. Ariel's arm came up too early, impacting the Virtue's swing but not deflecting it. She was slammed bodily against the wall with enough force to crack stone. Even with the chainmail beneath her robes, Ariel was not so physically robust. Her body died. ...No, it came infinitesimally close to dying. Sanosuke felt a warmth in his chest flare, then dim as Ariel pulled on all the strength of their bond to survive. She was broken, but not defeated yet. Click. The angelic suitcase fell open, light erupting from it in a fountain. The aura seemed almost a tangible thing as it reached out and engulfed Ariel. In the luminance's place when it receded was Ariel, indeed, but now wearing a complex suit of full plate. The armor's joints glowed and its massive gauntlets flexed. A flowing cape unfurled behind her, its folds lit by a great halo of energy seated upon her back. "Now, face the wrath of God!" That halo flickered, then changed shape. A great white lion prowled the space around Ariel as she raised her fist to the sky. Again, the distant singing reached a crescendo pitch at the same time as the lion roared. Sheer force rolled away from it like a shockwave, cracking the marble of the Virtue's left arm and crippling a nearby Power. The weakened Yadathan, too, found herself too close to the mighty beast. Her vessel fell apart under the lion's roar, scattered in chunks as the dust of her body dirtied the hallowed floor. "Heh." Adathan watched her sister's destruction with a smirk. "So the Lion shows its fangs. Yadathan was a fool." As if in response, Sanosuke lashed out. His fist, spiked with bolts of electricity, shot directly at Adathan's head. Being perhaps of similar temperament herself, Adathan was prepared for this. She ducked behind her great shield, absorbing the blow without difficulty. Sanosuke's second strike, however, snaked past these defenses and landed a glancing strike on Adathan's temple. She turned her head to the side, but her grin did not falter and her marble skin did not crack. Arrogance evident in every motion, she twisted the momentum into a strike with her own hammer, which Sanosuke barely blocked. Even the Silver General's titanic strength seemed to be matched in this battle. "Damnit!" he cursed mentally. "Mary-chan, I can't bring her to you guys. Keep Michiko-chan (...and the others...) safe, no matter what." Arthur's court magician puzzled for a moment over the parentheses in his telepathic message before responding. "I'll do my best. If the worst happens, we have the Gauntlet." Help would soon arrive, as Aotsuki managed at that moment to score a devastating blow with Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, reducing the Power before him to so much rubble. He hurried over to Nao, the statue pressing him into the ground, and the rest of the noncombatants. Of her own volition, Kagami knelt and infused a flicker of Amaterasu's light into the fallen boy. His eyes flickered, but he did not wake. Even so, Nao should no longer be in danger of bleeding out, provided he suffered no further wounds. One by one, the Powers were falling. At the bottom of the stairs, Haro Uin grabbed one's arm and dismembered it into a shower of konpeitō and rock candy. She moved on to the Virtue, swinging around in a graceful kick, but found her blow interrupted by the thing's monstrous greatsword. Forged from heavenly steel, this weapon appeared more durable than the Arbiters' bodies themselves. Uin was forced to pull her strike back without so much as a scratch on the foe's weapon. Indeed, not a single blow had yet been landed upon this particular Virtue. The same could be said for Adathan, who was locked in a stalemate with Sanosuke but bore no sign of injury or fatigue. The Power holding Nao down released its grip and attempted to force down instead, only to find its own strength turned against it. It fought through the restraints this placed upon it, but likewise made no progress in slowing down Aotsuki. Nearby, a second Power approached, this one having lost its left arm at some point in the battle. It reached out with its right grip at the fallen Nao, only to find Aotsuki stumbling into the way as Tama gave an opportune shove into his side. This was no strike, but a grab, and Aotsuki found himself grappling with the statue. The Arbiter's strength was greater, but the young daimyō's mastery of defensive arts kept him from becoming totally immobilized in its grip. He stepped back under the assault and nearly collided with Trivia. She was present as a legal consult, not a warrior, and made this clear as she became intangible and stepped inside the wall rather than become involved. As a third Power soared through the air and landed next to the group, the situation began to deteriorate. It thrust the Left Hand of God at Adriel, who up to this point had been detached from the chaos. She raised a hasty barrier, but it was too late. Like her sister, Adriel was not robust of body, and the Arbiters clearly had no compunctions about slaying other angels... With a scowl, she did something decidedly un-angelic. Suddenly, Mary Lyn was there, Adriel having exploited their bond to switch places. The mage's confusion was only momentary; years of experience came to her aid as she poured magical energy into a starswept barrier that held the Power's palm at bay. "Uh, what was that?" Mary turned an uncharacteristically harsh stare upon Adriel. "If that attack had struck me, I wouldn't be alive to protect you in the future," the other explained, monotone. The two glared at each other for a moment, both clearly unhappy with what had just taken place. Mary's smile then broke the tension, but her eye twitched a moment later as she turned back to the battle. Events had now drawn too close to Amenotokotachi for comfort, and she rolled away to take up a sniping position at the dip in the stairs. Carefully, she lined up another shot with the White Arch of Ōyamazumi and fired. Two Powers split, collapsing to the ground, and another was staggered by the remaining force in the arrow. It was halted, however, by the Virtue at the end of the line as it turned its blade. Only a few Powers remained at this point, but they still converged dangerously upon the noncombatants. Her own foe having been cut down in the last attack, Mary Lyn prepared to cast a minor teleportation spell on Michiko should any of the remaining Arbiters draw too close. One did moments later. The Virtue, releasing whatever power it had been building, stepped through the air with a powerful crack. It appeared instantaneously on the other side of the central group and reached out its massive hand toward Michiko's back. Mary prepared to loose the spell, but Aotsuki was there first. His shield groaned under the Arbiter's giant strength as he interposed himself, digging his feet into the carpet. It was not an injurious blow, but for the first time Aotsuki's strength was overwhelmed. His feet seemed to be trapped in invisible tar as the very concept of movement was robbed from him by inches. Just to his right, he could only watch as Aoki Michiko bent down and casually began transcribing runes from the encroaching Virtue's armor.A New Mask (Sidestory)
1559年11月17日 17:30 (Afternoon)
Wakigami Castle
Historical Entry: A New Mask
The soul of Akechi Mitsuhide pitched forward, grasping uselessly at the air in a mad tumble. He hit the polished stone floor hard, tucked into a roll, and slammed upside-down into the opposite wall. Behind him, he saw an enormous skull lodged in the wall. It seemed as though he'd shot through one of its eye sockets. A black arm, sharp and withered, clawed through the portal for a moment, then pulled back with a hiss. Perhaps the air out here was as toxic to them as Yomi was to Humans. That was fortunate, then. Mitsuhide's ghost stood and brushed spectral dust from his jacket. He popped his phantom collar and shook a handful of yellow dust from it, then took in his surroundings. Swords. A whole lot of swords. They covered the floor, with only a rabbit trail of sorts leading between the door and the giant skull opposite. Indeed, he seemed to be lying on a big, pointy pile of the things. That might have been bad, if Mitsuhide wasn't already dead. He reached down and attempted to grab a hilt, but his hand passed right through it. "Figures," he muttered. There was no way he'd be going back through the skull-portal. It'd taken all his cunning just to get out of Izanami's realm with his soul intact. Instead, he turned and walked right through the giant double door. A few braziers burned in this room, illuminating two enormous statues, both carved in the likeness of fearsome-looking oni. Was he somewhere beneath Mount Ōe, then? Or perhaps in the lands of the Mōri Clan. Ectoplasmic lips scowled at that thought. Mōri Motonari was one of the few people Mitsuhide had a hard time dealing with. Neither of those seemed quite right, though. There was something oddly familiar about this place. Perhaps he'd been here once before after all. He stepped out of the room and into a labyrinth, no doubt full of traps and dangers for the unwary. Those were of no issue to a ghost, though. As inconvenient as this state was, it did come with its perks. Mitsuhide headed north first, following his instincts. As he proceeded, a certain sound reached his phantasmal ears. It was a rustling, bumping, and shuffling, as of someone sorting through a long-abandoned laboratory. An image of a masked man, clad in emerald finery, came unbidden to Mitsuhide's mind. No, it wouldn't do to run into someone like that now, especially "naked" as he was. Stepping one foot primly on the ground, Mitsuhide turned on his heel and walked back the way he came. The other path through the labyrinth was more fruitful. It took a while, with more than a few dead ends, but he was in no hurry. Soon enough, he stood in a torchlit hallway stretching out in a single direction (thank the heavens for that) into the darkness beyond. A door to the left proved barred even to his insubstantial form, so Mitsuhide continued on before turning on a whim into a deep stairwell. He passed a pair of samurai guards bearing the Hashinara kamon on their armor. Ah. That confirmed a hunch he'd been fostering. It was definitely good thing he'd dodged that laboratory, then. Of course, the guards didn't notice a thing as Mitsuhide strolled past. He gave them a friendly wave anyway and proceeded through the dim stone halls. Yes, there was a dungeon down here, conspicuously empty. Were the Hashinara getting friendlier, or did they simply have other ways of "disposing" of their enemies these days? Perhaps... Yes, perfect! Mitsuhide phased through one last door and found himself standing in a spacious crypt. A series of stone slabs, arranged in neat rows, each displayed a single supine corpse. The bodies were well-preserved, perhaps magically, and not a single one held a soul. For a crafty spirit without a home, there could be nothing more perfect to stumble upon. Offering up a quick prayer of thanks to Amatsu-Mikaboshi, Mitsuhide started window shopping. There were a number of fine choices here, but... His eyes fell on a corpse he recognized from description, if not firsthand experience, and a wide smile broke across his face. Oh yes, how ironic that would be...Related Reports
Report Date
28 Mar 2023
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