Roads Well Wandered [LazyKitsune]

[Ze Blitzkrieg]

Name: Yuuki Chima
Race: Human
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Appearance: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AkYhSlpueZI/Wksmuye-yhI/AAAAAAAJBk0/aCW4yBBDOB4PD0egzCZmRgnNMrXvZwHjQCLcBGAs/s1600/Yan%2BGisuka-www.kaifineart.com-4.jpg

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Background: Yuuki Chima had lives a very colourful life, one which's tapestry now patterned the tattoos upon her body, the symbols of various noble houses, establishments and gangs she had been tied to stylised and layered over one another like a map through her years. She had built up a certain degree of fame in some circles as a prized consort and talented geisha, and in other circles as a shrewd negotiator or skilful swordswoman. She didn't let anyone pin her down as just one of these and spent her youth chasing whatever her latest aspiration was. Though she has gained a degree of wisdom and worldly experience as she reaches her middle age, she's far from about to stop adding more stories to her life now.

The one constant that she always put above her thirst for new experiences or whomever her patron of the season was was her daughter. Her lifestyle of thrill seeking left her with a child fairly early on and Chima soon felt her maternal instinct blooming, if in her own unique way. Wherever she went, her daughter Yuuki Kuri was never far away, and she always made sure she was looked after as an honoured guest. Thanks to her mother's work, Kuri had a very unique upbringing. At times she was raised like a travelling princess, moving from noble house to noble house and experiencing the finest of luxuries. Other times she was living in her own suite at guesthouses while her mother played the role of geisha. She even spent nights in monasteries and dojos where her mother was welcomed for her knowledge and martial skills.

Having shared her adventures with her daughter, Chima was ready for Kuri to find her own adventure now she was 18. The two had spent more and more time apart, though would always meet up again in not too long. Over the past few years they had been staying at a tea house and gambling parlour funded by one of Chima's patrons, where they would always find each other should they go in different directions for whatever reason. Chima had been dealing with increasingly pushy admirers that were smothering her with letters and tokens of affection, eager to take her as a bride or consort permanently while they could still get a fair number of children out of her. It seems however, that one of these admirers decided there was an alternative option and one day Chima returned to the teahouse to find it ransacked, and her daughter Kuri missing. With her only child kidnapped, Chima decided to put her skills to use to find who took her and get her back safely. And she had a list of suspects to start with with all of those more overly attentive admirers.

Perks:
Sword Dancer: Chima's skill with the blade turns swordplay into a fluid, swift and graceful dance of which she has mastered all the steps. Though she may not be a match for most her opponents in terms of raw strength, with a blade in her hand she is formidably skilled and deadly to underestimate.
Experienced Consort: Chima's well-practiced talents don't lie in just swordplay. She's learned a wide array of tricks, teases and motions for bringing even the most stoic of partners to a noisy and happy ending. She can apply these talents outside of the bedroom too, able to arouse and titillate with sensual touches even through layers of clothes.
Insightful: Chima can smell bullshit a mile away. Having spent decades working shoulder to shoulder with snakes and criminals, she always has an easier time telling when someone is lying to her face than most.
Flaws:
Gambling Addiction: Much like the thrill of adventure, Chima can't possibly resist the allure and risk that come with games of chance. Be they dice, cards or anything else, Chima's willing to bet money - or more - when offered a chance at gambling.
Ignorant Lightweight: As much as she has an appetite for sake and strong liquors of all kinds, Chima has near to no tolerance for alcohol and gets disastrously drunk very quickly. She will stubbornly refuse this up until the moment she passes out, however, burbling out stories of how she out drunk a young lord's entire house guard when she was younger.


Turn Ons: sub/dom play, drunk sex, drugged sex, hypnosis, gang rape, coerced sex
Turn Offs: Gore, vore, pedo, insects/arachnids, egg laying

Yakujima.

Even as you pass through the immaculately kept gates of the city, you can't help but recall the debauchery that you had witnessed (and often taken part in) within its pristine walls. It may have given the impression of a wealthy bastion of civilization to those more naive, but you were well aware that its prosperity was owed more to the gangs of the city and the lucrative trade of vices that they carefully controlled. Whether it was gambling, liquor, poppy or flesh, Yakujima could provide for all of one's worldly desires, regardless of how illegal, if one knew where to look. Often, it didn't even take a keen eye to find your way into a den of sin, and it was a wonder that the governor's men weren't capable of sniffing out the rampant smuggling and trafficking and worse that too place under his own nose. Perhaps that selective blindness was why he was allowed to maintain his post.

It wasn't a hard offer to entertain, after all. Keep out of the gang's business, and the gangs keep themselves just out of sight. They manage themselves, make their money, and provide enough kick backs to their benevolent benefactor to ensure both his, and his city's, continued opulence. Takashima Hiroki was no fool. He had built a long, prosperous career as the steward of Yakujima. A safe, cautious man, who never made a move until he had carefully measured the risk, lest he lose the finery to which he was accustomed.

Which led you to question why he had taken your daughter. Or, perhaps more generously, why he was suspected of taking your daughter. You had brought Kuri here when she was just a girl, when you were at the zenith of your career as a wandering blade. Having impressed Hiroki with your talents in the years prior, he had invited you and your beloved to spend the summer at his manor, enjoying all the riches he had come to possess. Shielded from the worst excesses of Yakujima by the high walls of his estate, Kuri spent the hottest months of the year in the cool comfort of a palace, playing with the lord's own children while you entertained the man and his closest advisors in ways they could only dream. When it came time to return to the road, Hiroki kept in touch, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that he sorely desired your return. For a man who had everything he could ever want, being denied the companionship of a simple ronin must have injured his pride.

He had grown increasingly insistent in his various missives to you over the years. He had even entertained Kuri for a few weeks during one of your partings. To hear her tell it, he had never done anything untowards during her time in the city, but you couldn't help but get the impression he had intended to use her fondness for the city to force your hand. To accept his offer and become one of his treasured concubines. Perhaps his patience had run thin in his old age.

It was still debatable whether or not it was him, of course. He was not the only man you had met in your travels who had greedily coveted you after you left them behind. But, he was among the wealthiest, and if anybody could afford the hired swords needed to steal your only child right out from under your nose, it was him. You'd find the truth soon enough.

"Wow! You weren't kiddin' when ya said it was big! Can't even see the ocean from here!"

As with so many ventures in your life you were, of course, not alone. When you told her what had happened to your girl, Mana insisted on coming along with you to find her. She was a sweet thing, if a little crass, who you had met up in the mountains on one of your treks into the wilderness. She sheltered you for a night out of the goodness of her own heart (and, as you later found out, a profound loneliness) and the two of you became fast friends. How much use such a naive young woman would be on your quest was questionable, but you couldn't bring yourself to turn her away with how genuinely concerned she was for Kuri's well being. And, well, you had seen her split logs with her bare hands before. If nothing else, she could be relied upon to scare off the more cowardly thugs before things came to blows. If only you could address the snoring.

"So, uhm, did ya have an idea of where to start? I know ya said ya think the governor is our guy, but if he really did take Kuri-chan, ain't he gonna be, y'know... Not happy to see ya?"

Mana states the obvious as if it were some faux pas she discovered, her eyebrows knit with concern that you might not have considered Hiroki's less than warm welcome.

[Lazy Kitsune]

Ordinarily when planning to visit an esteemed dignitary, even when visiting a city such as this, I wouldn't wear my sword so openly. That would be left to an armed escort, though should I need it I would keep it nearby. This visit was different. No pomp and circumstance, no entourage of well behaved, young guards, and my hand firmly clasped on the handle of my blade, ready to be drawn at a moments notice. The cold, still look in my eyes was hidden by my roningasa. I wouldn't normally bother with such things, however if Takashima Hiroki really had taken my daughter then he was likely expecting me, and his guards would be on the look out for a woman matching my description arriving in the city. There was no need to let him have any heads up that I had arrived. I would let him know once I was ready.

I stop once we reach a crossroads before addressing Mana, keeping close to the side of the road so we had the shelter of any roof overhangs to provide shade, and to limit the angles I'd need to check to see if we were being followed. It was comforting having her along. Knowing I didn't have to go through this alone was one thing, but having her considerable strength backing me up was another. It was a safe bet to make that this wasn't going to end without violence.

"We're not going to see the governor." I say, keeping an eye out for anyone approaching us suspiciously. "We're going to see if we can find one if his 'friends'. There are a lot of gangs working in this city. See all these fancy walls and lovely streets they've got here, they're the reason why all of this is so nice. They're pulling on strings that I need to get a hold of, so we're going to go to one of them and, one way or another, get some real leverage we can use."

I begin moving again, weaving off into the side streets. I wanted to get away from the main path of commerce as quickly as possible. What we were looking for were gambling dens, poppy houses, anywhere of enough disrepute that we can find someone worth rattling for information or cutting a deal with. If they didn't know if my daughter was here, they would at least give me the name of someone who did know, or someone who'll get me a one on one chat with dear old Hiroki.

[Ze Blitzkrieg]

"One of his friends? But why would he be friends with a buncha criminals? He's the governor!"

The almost refreshing naivety aside, you two manage to make your way through the web like maze of side streets and alleys that connect the nicer, better kept main streets that form the arteries of Yakujima. There are no end to the number of sake houses and geisha parlors that intersperse themselves among less illicit, but necessary businesses such as sandal makers and potters. They were all likely dirty in some way, paying dues to one gang or another. The ticket was finding a part of the city controlled by a gang worthy enough to have connections directly to the governor himself. It had been a few years since you had visited, so it was anyone's guess whether or not your old haunts were still in the hands of those you had become familiar with. Like most places where the law did not touch, conflicts were frequent, and while the various oyabuns made sure their men never allowed their turf wars to escalate so much as to disturb the illusion of order, their shadowy wars caused the frequent trade of territory.

If nothing else, keeping to the underbelly of the city meant you were unlikely to see any of Hiroki's guards. And if you did, well, they'd probably be more concerned with whoever was in their lap to worry about you. With that in mind, you eventually find yourself outside a fairly large sake house that you knew to be named the Golden Koi. It was as prestigious an establishment as any, where men could go and drink their woes away in good company, tended to by carefully trained serving girls. Of course, only regulars knew that your worries only truly went away when you headed into the back, where those same girls would fill your pipe and empty your balls for a reasonable price. From the exterior, it doesn't seem like much has changed, but what mattered was inside.

Pushing past the curtains hanging above the door, you're met with a fairly standard sight. It's mid day, so there aren't too many patrons filling the various low tables. A couple of merchants doing business, a handful of laborers leering at their demure waitress, and a few solitary ronin (based on their daisho and plain, unassuming kimono) make up the patronage. In the back, towards the doorway that leads into the kitchens, store rooms, and more salacious activities is a tall, well built gentleman with a shaved head. While you can't quite make it out from the doorway, you're certain he's got the tell tale signs of gang membership beneath his roughspun clothes; tattoos from wrist to ankle, each set a unique to their particular member and his syndicate. He eyes you with vague curiosity, although it's entirely possible his gaze is more focused on your lumbering companion, who just seems excited to be there.

"This is one of those drinkin' halls, ain't it? I sure hope so. City sake is always the best. Not too cloudy, and they chill it for you durin' summer! How do they do that?"