The Suna Knight Returns (Open)

[Raizo]

Kasha - Demon of the ANBU

Surprisingly, and just as much unsurprisingly, the woman's demeanor had completely changed for the third time this interaction. If he had tossed money at the beginning it was almost assuredly that she would have been this rosy from the beginning. Kasha did not want to be in the business for paying for information or tossing money around. It set a very bad precedent. Not much fear could be struck if people were looking to give him any and all information for a payoff, while it would probably bring in more answers it would only bring in parasites looking to make some big crash break off of the hopes of giving him something they assumed Kasha would want. It was cheaper to punch.

"I'm mysterious, what can I say?"

His eyebrow then quirked upward, so it was very lucky that he was wearing a mask. It would probably not have won him any favors with this woman if she could have seen his expression to her request.

"I can accommodate that request."

He would listen to her new information about the location of the female, or at least the location that she appeared headed. Many of the mannerism described definitely gave him the impression that his hunch was right about this female. The image of her...definitely was not the one he was used to seeing of this female but this world was full of amazing little tricks. He would take the coat from the barkeep and begin to poke and prod through it looking for anything that might have been left in the pocket, maybe something interesting that he could use to gain some inside information on this individual seemingly knew something about everything.

 

[Sand Council]

The old woman satisfied with the exchange, forfeited the coat over to Roku. The coat seemed basic enough, long and dark but neutral enough the obscure her shape if left untied. It was a coat for someone who liked to and was good at hiding, but of course that was the Oracle's vocation. The pockets of the coat seemed pretty useless, at least to someone without keen insight. There was a receipt for a drink from Mao's Place crumpled up in the corner of her right pocket. There was also a folded up sheet of paper that had an address scrawled across the face with fine penmanship. It was an address to the Orders building being erected by Sennin Toraono, likely not a shock to Kasha in the least that she would have taken a keen interest in this architectural accomplishment. The paper appeared fresh, not worn from being jostled about in the coat for very long but finding an Oracle in a building for Oracles as part of a rather elusive and forgotten Order would likely be difficult if not impossible to accomplish.

The inner coat pocket had something that might be of interest, a key. It was a small brass, inconspicuous thing. It was too large to belong to a lock-box, meaning it likely belonged to a door. A single door in all the world, that would not take too long to figure out. If he studied the key, its size and its relative weight he would notice that the teeth were not worn and that the brass still had that fresh luster. The structure or at the very least the key was quite new. There was a word on the side of the key: Takahashi. It was not a label added to the key as if to designate the household the key belonged to but rather the name embossed was like a 'brand.' The key was made by a Takahashi smith, perhaps even Sousuke himself although that would be impossible to know for certain. Was that a house key?

The coat itself seemed abnormally heavy, being mostly cloth with relatively empty pockets. If he smoothed the coat out with his hands, he would notice something hidden. The coat had 'lumps' along the bottom. It was inconspicious unless you ran your hand along the coat's length from the collar to the terminal hem. Something was hidden in the lining. Three things actually. If Roku decided to rip the coat open he would discover a trio of scrolls. Each tied tightly with a single piece of rough twine.

Scroll 1

Assessment of Strength and Willingness to Fight During Aggressive
Encounters

Theory predicts that at least some of the behavior patterns displayed during aggressive encounters are used to assess asymmetries in variables that indicate fighting ability and resource value. According to the sequential assessment game theoretical model, assessment is a major activity during a fight. However, while these models acknowledge the existence of physical and motivational assessment parameters, there are only a few examples where a mechanism for the assessment of fighting readiness has been shown. In staged encounters between the Cabal and Sunagakurian forces, fighting behavior followed a stereotyped escalation cascade with ritualized displays in the beginning and physical combat towards the end. Despite their larger size, Sunahakure initially lost the encounter despite the large asymmetry in resources. In an attempt to examine whether the contestants provided assessment cues that might explain this surprising result, I analysed two stereotyped displays in detail: the perceived security of the two groups inner circles and the loyalty or comradity of those involved in both sides of the combat. Alliances in the Cabal ultimately caused their defeat as the group fractured from within because Sunagakure appears to be extremely open and trusting to even strangers which has made them a viable target of attack.

I conclude that high willingness to fight may help either faction to overcome inferior fighting ability and be victorious. Sunagakure has recently had an internal struggle as well, their lack of structure and their delayed attempts to rebuild leave them vulnerable to attack, the only variable that might change the tides of battle would be Sunagakure's determination to succeed.

Scroll 2

Probability of Success Against Sunagakure on a Gradual Decline

The war of attrition as well as the hawk–dove game are the two models that have provided the basis for understanding how nonstrategic factors like fighting ability can shape the evolution of fighting behavior. As previously proposed, the experiment regarding ‘conventional fighting’ for assessment of ‘resource holding power’ has supported my hypothesis. A number of important predictions have been made from early models, and now that I had the opportunity to base these assumptions on realistic behavioral mechanisms that take into account the existence of escalating sequences of behavior as a result of external and internal signals. These steotypical signs of battle prowess and power I feel have been assessed honestly due to the life-or-death manner that the Cabal attacked Sunagakure, which makes me curious as to why this has been a battle of attrition for so long as you have demonstrated superior resource holding power and have ensure the village's continued isolationism for over three decades.

Due to this slow and dangerous decline in Sunagakure, some of the shinobi have shown promising skill and battle prowess that my files would have suggested that they lack. These continued assessments and now with the absence of the storm, Sunagakure will soon flourish and these tribulations will only make the survivors stronger. Similar to virus mutation theory and evolutionary theory, only the durable and the clever remain and if you continue to only partially inoculate then I foresee a loss for the Dimayo. It is my assessment that a prompt strike will be your only opportunity for success.

Scroll #3

It was blank.

Kasha had 4 pieces of evidence to work with regarding this barmaid. First, she went to for at least a single drink Mao's Place which is located in the wealthiest part of the village. The receipt would suggest that she was a customer during this exchange. The second being a 'new' key to a potentially new or old home and that the key and by extension the home might have been built or repaired by the Takahashi clan. She was also acquiring information, in fact these appeared to be reports that she would likely need to send out at some point in the near future considering the urgency of the letters written. And finally, the fact that some of the bar patrons attempted to follow her home. She disappeared when she reached the surface residences which were being built. She might be taking refuge in the Oracle building itself or she might have a residence nearby. It really was not much for him to go on, not really.

 

[Raizo]

OOC: Hey! I've seen those scrolls before (read that non-event thread in the OV) If I need to disregard the scrolls as they have been sent, let me know and I will withdraw knowledge of them and work with the key and receipt.

Kasha's hands would poke and prod the entirity of the coat, as if this item was holding gold or a large yen payout. It was not the best work, it was sloppy for the most part, but from his brutish first attempt he would come across the receipt and the key. The piece of paper was rather straight forward.

A location.

The second item, the key, was a bit trickier. It had the family name of the Steward on it, but with Sousuke's own knack for crafts it would merely be the work of his kin. That would not be off base or far fetched. They made things with metals, so crafting a key would be simple and the creation of a lock itself was probably something they would take great thrill in. Sousuke, if it was his work, would probably have some goofy attachment, bells and whistles, to the door. He could not just make simple things, but that was probably more of his own thing and not the rest of the bloodline.

Looks like it might have just been cut.

There was little to no wear and tear on it. This key was just made, which was good information. That meant that it either went to a newly constructed home/building, a newly replaced door or, with this being the most unfortunate outcome, being simply a new key made to replace an old one. His attention would return to the receipt. Upon it there would be a new nugget of information gleaned; an address. The address led back to the 'library' mentioned earlier. The structure itself was something Sousuke had touch based on prior in his discussion about the Orders.

Should have paid more attention.

He now had two locations and a key. Was something to build off of but not much. Now his attention would go back to the coat as he sprawled it over a table and began to run his hands across it. He would smooth it, trace it, outline it and would ultimately would hit the hidden gems. Ripping into the fabric he would come upon the three scrolls, which he would take a brief moment to exam, but had plans to take them elsewhere to examine in more detail.

What...

His simple scan would grow prolonged as he started to take in the information on the scroll. His mind would be caught in a muddled mess.

What, who...who...

He now had knew questions. He was flustered. He had to exit this situation and find clear space to process. Snatching up everything in his arms, the masked man would begin to once more make his way towards the exit.

"Thank you for time and the coat."

He would pass along his appreciation to the old woman as she had given him more to work with than he could have ever imagined.

 

[Sand Council]

Oc- what you have is the originals. But everything has clues so you can play the genius. Also, exit granted.

 

[Raizo]

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