Memories and Morals

[Johan Batara]

This place is...large. Large and...oddly uncomfortable.

Kojiro walked the High Road alertly, his cold black eyes flitting everywhere. Waterdeep was a place that was both good and evil...one could never be certain. The young warrior always kept his left hand by his sword, prepared for anything. The thick blue cloak that hung on his shoulders signified him as a member of the Auxiliary Watch, and someone that thieves shouldn't mess with. The snow that dropped from the beautiful blue sky made the area quite colder than it normally was, but Kojiro thanked the gods. He preferred snow to rain...something that he had been accustomed to in Daggerford.

Daggerford.

He remembered the first day he landed on the coast of Daggerford. That had been over a year ago. He walked inside the inn and was approached by a recruiter, who asked him if he would like to join the militia. He recalled his financial desperation at the time, and he could not help but chuckle when he pleaded desperately in Common.

"I want join army!" he said. The recruiter laughed so loud that Kojiro almost cut him down, but held back his rage. That was the beginning of an eventful if temporary career in the Western lands. He met his first Western acquaintances there...in Daggerford. All interesting characters, but he still retained his permanent suspicion on the foreign gaijin. Daggerford was a place where retired adventurers stayed, for it lacked the hustle and bustle of the huge City of Waterdeep. Almost all of these 'interesting folk' he met were in the militia, something that Daggerford is famous for.

Banu Softclaw was a healer from the North, and one of Kojiro's best gaijin 'friends'. Powerful with his axe and wise with his faith, Banu was someone who understood why Kojiro behaved so distant and cold in the West, for Banu himself was very far from his birthplace. A worthy warrior and a loyal ally, Kojiro always held Banu in high regard. The only thing that sometimes irritated Kojiro was Banu's hatred of arcane magic...something that Kojiro found very useful. Kojiro was always close to the intelligent and the wise, as well as wu jen. Banu was also, as Kojiro noticed, quite infatuated with women. He once caught Banu trying to ask other women bluntly if they wished to be his wife. Kojiro only had snickers of these experiences.

Then came the two korobokuru superiors of Kojiro in the militia...Sergeant Amy Woodwalker and Corporal Tony. Sergeant Amy was stern and smart, and that was something for Kojiro. She once saved a patrol Kojiro was in by aptly slaying a kodiak grizzly bear, something that could devastate entire parties of patrolmen. They all received a furious reprimand afterwards. Very skilled and daring, this hin sergeant was someone not to be messed with. Corporal Tony was a quiet but intelligent man. He looked to be a man of books more than a man of swords. Kojiro has never had anything but respect for the hin, and he doesn't think that will change. Intelligence, when put in a capable person, could be put to excellent use.

Then there were some more...Zachary Adams. A devoted paladin of the Mosque, Zachary was like Tony...quiet and calculating. He was polite and considerate, but in battle he was not to be trifled with. His skill with the sword was great, and his knowledge of tactics and war was something to be commended. Then there was Maxwell Gudenbocker, a mysterious half-orc from Silverymoon. Big man, reminded Kojiro of one of the more powerful and fearsome militiamen in Daggerford...Vyeshann. Vyeshann was a powerfully built half orc who was clad in black armor and a hood, as Kojiro often was, and carried a huge blade that was double Corporal Tony's size. Someone to be respected, admired and feared. More names flitted through his head...Calorfin, Karla, Leofa, Doc, Sabrina, Spearslayer, Daxstrom...

"OY!" A menacing voice broke Kojiro out of his evening reverie. Curses, evening! Here he was, dressed in his loose kimono, his hand not on his sword due to his subconscious attention to the world around him. A small figure dressed in brown leathers stepped softly out of an alley. "Yer money or yer life, lad!" snarled the vicious hin thief. Kojiro was expecting this...but was not quite ready for it. Kojiro's left hand slowly gripped his sword as the warrior took an unnoticed step back.

"Robbing me...will it avail you? Are you THAT desperate?" Kojiro's adrenaline was pumping. His first time to be mugged...damn himself. Why had he let himself dream?! Weakness! He had to flog himself later...but that was later. For now, he would have to correct his error. He was even surprised he spoke decent common. Curse those memories. Vulnerable! GAH!

"Grrr...are ye stalling me, foreigner?! Hand ye goods!" The snarling hin thief showed no remorse as he drew closer. The keen dirk in his hands was something that highly discouraged the Eastern warrior from drawing his blade. Kojiro stood firm, his eyes now hard as stones as he glared at the inn thief.

"I suppose I have no choice then," Kojiro muttered softly. The marching of guards was not far away...

"STALLER! DIE!" The vile mugger struck mercilessly, but no matter how swift he was, Kojiro was swifter. The young man had drawn his sword in a flash and had already evaded the halfling when he struck at his midsection. The halfling cried in pain and turned back at Kojiro, his dark green eyes showing nothing but hatred. Kojiro did not move, and was still in his earlier martial position.

The hin charged again and slid down on the ground, planting the dirk on Kojiro's sandal-clad foot. Kojiro bit his tongue and his eyes shut involuntarily through the pain...but inside, he struggled not to scream. Kojiro opened his eyes once more, his eyes not black stones but black flames, seeking to burn the prey. He cut the demihuman's scalp, causing the hin to crawl back and scream in agony. Kojiro stood over the thief, sword over head.

"I gave you a chance. You abused that chance." Kojiro's soft voice was dark and eerie, as if he hardly had any concern for the hin's agonized face. The halfling thief was moaning in apology, and was kneeling before him. "P-p-please sp-spare me, m-master! I-I d-didn't m-mean it!" Sad sobs filled the air as the thief wailed in front of Kojiro sincerely.

Kojiro snarled and glared at the mugger. Weak, this man was. Totally weak. Forsaking his honor at the sign of defeat...pathetic. He did not deserve to live, by the standards of his noble people. He would give this one a quick death and send him to his fate...Jigoku, or hell. Kojiro lifted his sword higher and cut the man's head off his body. The thief's scalpless head rolled off into the sewers unnoticed.

Kojiro seethed. "How savage...this coward is..." Kojiro sheathed his sword and dragged the hin thief's body to the sewers. How he hated thieves. Nothing could ever make him spare one. Hardly. He tossed it down deftly, leaving it to rot for the goblins. They were a plague to every city, but that was not his call...only the thief. He took out a rag and wet it with some of his waterskin's contents and began wiping the blood off the street. It took only a few moments before the street was as clean as it was before. The snow that dropped on the paved way did not shine a faint pink as before.

Kojiro walked away, headed for Mariner's Hall. What I did was honorable. Even the Ancestors would say so. I have honored their name by killing the unworthy and dishonorable. I have saved the unworthy and given them honorable death. Surely I have rewards in heaven to be reaped.

[Audark]

*looks up at all the names of heroic Daggerford PCs and wonders*

"Where is that skilled ranger named Perel Nilvollen, who not only healed that easterners butt time and time again, but went out to clean up the mess and collect his companions when the easterners patrol was shredded"

I always like hearing my companions in DF, wish I had had more of a chance to interact with Kojiro in his time there. Good luck in the city of splendors, you just might need it

[danielmn]

Excellent writing, I enjpyed. Keep up the work, twas a great read!

Daniel M. Noah

[Johan Batara]

*looks up at all the names of heroic Daggerford PCs and wonders*

"Where is that skilled ranger named Perel Nilvollen, who not only healed that easterners butt time and time again, but went out to clean up the mess and collect his companions when the easterners patrol was shredded"

I always like hearing my companions in DF, wish I had had more of a chance to interact with Kojiro in his time there. Good luck in the city of splendors, you just might need it

You'll get your role soon, I'm planning something. I've not forgotten.

-IJ

[Audark]

I really need to not taunt the fiction writers, who knows what they'll do to me

[Tynndahl]

a side story may be adapted to Banu's Quest for Wife...

good work Jiro's.