#Episode 11: Night Market of Sakai

#Scent -- Guests Beneath the Lanterns

Only after sunset did Sakai show its true face. If the daytime port ran on gold coins and rice bales, nighttime Sakai moved by a different scale. Around the time the great shops on Honmachi-dori closed their doors, lanterns lit one by one along both sides of the narrow back alleys. Red paper, yellow paper, thin oilcloth. Lantern light pooled on the stone pavement like puddles. People walked through that light. Somewhere came the smell of boiling udon, somewhere the smell of scorched soy sauce, somewhere the smell of an incense no one could name. The night market had opened.

Koharu folded her fan and tucked it into her sash. She had not come to tonight's market to trade. For three days there had been disturbances -- a cat-shaped shadow circling behind the noodle shop, a stall's goods disappearing one item per night, change that turned out to be leaves when counted again. Sakai's magistrates did not touch yoma affairs. So the merchant guild had asked Koharu for help. Reputation sometimes brought work with it.

"It is where the two noodle-shop lanterns overlap." Sosui took out a small paper map and pointed. "According to the owner, a shadow passes over the roof around the Hour of the Boar(亥時). Some witnesses say its tail was split in two."

"A bakeneko." Koharu spoke quietly. "If its tail is split, it is rather old. If this is not mischief -- there must be a reason."

Beside her, Kage walked like a shadow. His hood was pulled down to his brows, and he wore only a short Sakai merchant's coat over black travel clothes, yet people's eyes passed over him. A person unseen unless one tried to see him. It was the walk of a shinobi.

"I will take the roof," Kage said. "Koharu, take the human road. We narrow it from both ends."

Koharu nodded. In the next moment, Kage was already on the eaves. There had not been a single footstep.

Humans were not the only ones in the night market.

Koharu stopped before a junk dealer's stall on her right. An old merchant sat there with an old teakettle, an oil-soaked umbrella, and a pair of straw sandals whose ties were half undone. The kettle's spout was slightly crooked. Eyes had been drawn in ink on the umbrella handle. The toes of the sandals lifted just a little -- as if someone were wearing them. Tsukumogami. Spirits dwelling in tools that had passed a hundred years. This stall was their resting place. The tools were pretending to be their own masters for a while, sightseeing in the night market. The old one in the shape of a kettle looked up at Koharu. When Koharu bowed lightly, the kettle lid clicked. It was a greeting.

A little farther on, something like a large white wall stood between two shops. People naturally walked around that wall and passed by. When Koharu approached, two faint eyes appeared on the wall. It was a nurikabe. Koharu tapped the wall with the tip of her fan. "Excuse me. May I pass this way?" The wall slowly slid aside. After Koharu passed, it returned to its place. A courteous yoma. And beyond the noodle-shop noren, a woman leaned over a bowl and sipped tea. Only her neck -- compared to the way she sat -- was far too long. In the shadow beneath the noren, her neck stretched little by little to smell the steam from the soup pot. A rokurokubi. When her eyes met Koharu's, the woman smiled and placed a finger to her lips. Koharu did the same. That was the promise of the night market.

That was Sakai's night market. Yoma mingled inside a human market. Each side pretended not to see the other. That was the old promise of this city. As long as they did no great harm, Sakai accepted yoma guests too. If they came to spend money, anyone's gold was still gold. But cracks were forming in that promise. A bakeneko stealing goods. That was the problem. Leave a thief alone and thieves follow. If the rumor spread, Sakai's rules themselves would collapse.

Koharu stood before the place where the two noodle-shop lanterns overlapped. The customers had thinned; it was a quiet hour. The back alley the owner had mentioned stretched beside it. Dark and narrow. Koharu did not enter the alley. Instead, she stood at its mouth and waited.

"A fine evening, is it not?"

The voice came from behind Koharu. She turned. It was a man with a round, pleasant face. His belly bulged, and his clothing looked merchant-like, but something about it was awkward. His sash was crooked, and his shoes were one inch too large. More than anything -- his eyes were too honest. They were not a tradesman's eyes. Koharu smiled.

"You are a tanuki, sir."

The man paused for a moment, then laughed heartily. It was a pleasant laugh. "I have heard of Lady Koharu of Sakai. You have come about the night market, yes?"

"Have you come to ask for help, or to warn me?"

"Half of each." The tanuki took something wrapped in bamboo leaves from his robe. When he opened it, it was a bun. Steam still rose from it. "Please eat first. Night-market matters should not be discussed with someone hungry."

Koharu hesitated for a moment. Eating a tanuki's food was dangerous -- it might be a bun that turned into a leaf, or a bun that put her to sleep. But Koharu looked into his eyes. There was mischief in them, but no malice. Koharu bit into the bun. It was warm, and it was a proper bun. The tanuki looked delighted.

"The thief is a bakeneko. Its name is Shiro. It was originally the cat that lived at the noodle shop in this alley. When the owner died and the shop was sold, it lost its place to go. It became a yoma because it was an old cat, but it is not evil by nature. The things it has stolen lately -- all of them were things the owner used while alive. A pair of chopsticks. One tea bowl. Things like that."

"Mourning, then." Koharu finished the bun and brushed off her hands.

"So it is. But theft is theft. The rules of the night market are breaking. Before the merchant guild calls in the authorities, we would be grateful if you settled this quietly. We yoma ask this of you as well." The tanuki bowed at the waist. "Please do not cut it down. If that is possible."

Koharu nodded. "I will ask what the other party wants. If the answer is one that can make sense -- I will not draw a blade."

Kage was already waiting deep inside the back alley. He had come down from the roof. Kage raised one finger to his lips. Then he pointed to a collapsed storehouse at the end of the alley. Something was inside it.

Koharu stood before the storehouse. She took out her fan but did not unfold it -- this was not a merchant's negotiation. Instead, she removed the fan from her sash and laid it on the ground. A sign that she had no weapon. Koharu brought both hands together in front of her and bowed lightly.

"Sir Shiro."

Something moved inside the storehouse. Then eyes appeared. Two yellow pupils in the dark. Above them, a shape slowly revealed itself. Gray fur. A split tail. A bakeneko standing on its hind legs, tall enough to reach a person's chest. Its mouth looked like a torn smile, but its eyes looked sad.

"It has been a long time since a human knew my name," Shiro said. Its voice was rough.

"The stolen things are your owner's keepsakes," Koharu said. "Will you return them? Not one by one, but all at once. And I will arrange a place where your owner can be memorialized again. I will speak with the noodle shop's new owner -- and ask that, if only once each year, one lantern be hung for the previous owner."

Shiro's tail swung wide once. The bakeneko's eyes narrowed. It was not wariness. It was thought.

"I have heard that a Sakai merchant's promise is heavy."

"My name is on it."

Behind her, Kage's presence shifted faintly. His hand moved to his hilt, then lowered again. Kage would move only if this negotiation failed. He would not steal Koharu's part. A shinobi knew that discipline.

Shiro swept the floor once with its long tail. Then it spoke. "Once a year. One lantern. Good. The stolen things will be returned to the noodle shop's door before tonight ends. In exchange -- on the day that lantern is hung, may I sit on the noodle shop roof? Quietly. Only while the sun sets."

"You may," Koharu said. "I will make that promise with the owner."

Shiro slowly bowed its head. Then it vanished into the dark. For a moment there was silence in the storehouse. From far away, the sounds of the night market returned. Someone was laughing. Someone was bargaining down a price. One lantern swayed in the wind.

Kage dropped down beside Koharu.

"You could have cut it down," Kage said. It was not blame, but confirmation.

"I could have." Koharu picked up her fan. "But where something is cut down, the next thief enters. Where something is promised, someone appears to guard that place. A merchant's calculation."

"A merchant's calculation lasts longer than a sword," Kage said. Agreement.

The lanterns of the night market swayed in the wind. The tanuki waved once from far away, then blended into the crowd. The nurikabe still stood in its place as a wall. At the tsukumogami stall, the kettle clicked its lid again. The rokurokubi drew her neck back into the steam from the soup pot. Tonight, Sakai's rules had not been broken. Only one line had been added to its promises.

#Law -- Session Actual Play

Kuro(GM) / Hana(Kage) / Mei(Koharu)

Kuro: Episode 11. Sakai night market. Fully noncombat. Urban yoma encounters and negotiable yoma are the new rules. Mei takes Koharu, Hana takes Kage. Sosui is an NPC. Sheets first.

[PC]
Koharu (merchant 4th dan): Presence+3, Wisdom+2, Physique+0, Fate+1.
 Negotiation(4/Master): +3. Golden Leverage extension: 1~3 +1, 4~6 +2, 7+ +3.
 Perception(3/Licensed): +2. Fan(Negotiation+1). Sakai Reputation +3.
 [Secret Art] Sakai Ledger: local merchant-guild ties. Information checks automatically succeed(Difficulty 14 or lower).
Kage (shinobi 2nd dan): Courage+2, Presence+1, Wisdom+1.
 Infiltration(3/Licensed): +2. Perception(2): +1. Ninjato: damage 2, concealed.
 [Licensed] Shadow Walk: urban/night Perception +3. Free roof movement.

[NPC]
Sosui (scholar 3rd dan): Wisdom+3, Presence+1, Physique-1.
 Erudition(extension): automatically succeeds at Difficulty 13 or lower. Geography/yoma knowledge +2.
 Sakai Map: optimal route automatic when moving through the city.

Mei: What does Reputation +3 do?

Kuro: Extension from Episode 6. Expanded effect in Episode 11.

[Reputation Extension — Regional Benefits]
+3: automatically receive guild commissions. Resistance -1.
+5: credit transactions, Resistance -2, urban yoma contact.
+7: access to influential figures.
Sakai only: cite "Sakai's rules" in yoma negotiation → +1.

[Noncombat Checks — Used This Episode]
Negotiation/Perception/Infiltration/Stratagem/Bearing = 2d10 + ability + skill >= Difficulty.
Erudition automatically succeeds(Difficulty 13 or lower).

Kuro: Urban yoma + negotiable yoma. The core of this episode.

[Urban Yoma — Encounter Principles]
Types: nurikabe, rokurokubi, bakeneko, tsukumogami, tanuki, etc.
Principle: coexist inside the city's unspoken rules. Not hostile.
Perception Difficulty: common 12 / advanced disguise 15 / old-timer 18.
Coexistence = harmless. Only problem behavior leads to negotiation or combat.

[Negotiable Yoma]
Condition: clear intelligence/language/motive. (tanuki, old-timer bakeneko, rokurokubi, karasu-tengu, yuki-onna, yumekui, etc.)
Check: 2d10 + Presence + Negotiation >= Target Number 17.
Modifiers: Enryo Etiquette +3 / motive understood +2 / Reputation cited +1 / mediation +2 / weapon -2.
Great Success(total 25+): ally-grade. Failure: flight/hostility. Great Failure: resentment +1.

Hana: What is Enryo Etiquette?

Kuro: A courtesy of restraint. At least 3 RP elements: setting down weapons/name/listening/space/accepting a gift. Koharu satisfies all of them this episode.

Kuro: Scene 1. Night market Perception.

Mei: Perception +4. Tsukumogami(12)/nurikabe(15)/rokurokubi(18) all at once. 2d10... 7, 8 = 15. +4 = 19. Detect all three(the rokurokubi barely).

Kuro: All nonhostile. Scene 2. Kage on the roof.

Hana: Shadow Walk. Perception +5. Tracking Difficulty 14. 2d10... 6, 5 = 11. +5 = 16. Secure the storehouse location.

Kuro: Koharu encounters the tanuki. If Enryo Etiquette is maintained, gift(bun) → mediation +2.

Mei: Perception 2d10... 9, 6 = 15. +4 = 19 >= 15. No malice. Accept the bun.

Kuro: Scene 3. Negotiation with Shiro(bakeneko). Core scene.

[Shiro Negotiation — Modifier Summary]
Base value 17.
Enryo Etiquette observed: Koharu sets down weapon(fan) + calls name + listens first = 3 elements satisfied. +3.
Other party's motive understood: tanuki information + Perception success. +2.
Sakai Reputation +3 (can cite rules): +1.
Tanuki mediation tie: +2.
→ effective Target Number 17 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 2 = 9.
Check: 2d10 + Presence(3) + Negotiation(3) = +6 >= 9.
Total 3 or higher = success.

Mei: So it is basically automatic.

Kuro: A merchant Master's livelihood. Negotiation is decided before the check.

Mei: 2d10... 8, 9 = 17. +6 = 23 >= 9. Excellent success.

[Shiro Negotiation — Result]
- All keepsakes returned. Mourning lantern once per year. Roof stay allowed(counteroffer).
- Reputation: Sakai +3 → +4.
- Yoma Favor: Sakai-region yoma negotiation +1 permanent.

Hana: Kage did not draw his sword.

Kuro: He was waiting as backup combat if negotiation failed. Unneeded. With "Shadow Walk" he still earned his keep by detecting the storehouse location.

Kuro: Three Ways and Six Hearts. In Episode 11, whether to draw the sword or not was the major branch.

[Three Ways and Six Hearts — Episode 11: Cut Down or Spare]
Koharu: 眞(promise) / 魔("A thief must be cut down to make an example") → 眞.
 If 魔 is chosen: authorities mobilized, combat. Reputation -1. All urban yoma on alert.
Kage: 忠(protect the negotiator) / 覇("If it is time to cut, cutting is simple") → 忠.
If spared: long-term local yoma alliance. Informant. Linked resource in later episodes.

Mei: Is urban yoma favor permanent?

Kuro: Yes. It becomes a premise for the underground tomb in Episode 12 and Spirit Realm yoma negotiation in Episode 13.

Kuro: Rule summary.

[Episode 11 Confirmed Rules]
1. Noncombat checks: Negotiation/Perception/Infiltration/Stratagem/Bearing = 2d10 + ability + skill >= Difficulty.
2. Reputation extension: +3 commission/Resistance -1, +5 credit/yoma contact, +7 influential figure. Cite Sakai rules +1.
3. Urban yoma: nonhostile. Perception Difficulty 12/15/18. Coexistence principle.
4. Negotiable yoma: Target Number 17. Enryo Etiquette +3, motive +2, Reputation cited +1, mediation +2, weapon -2.
5. Enryo Etiquette: at least 3 RP elements(weapon down/name/listening/space/gift/no refusal).
6. Great Success(total 25+) ally-grade. Failure flight/hostility. Great Failure resentment +1.
7. Shinobi "Shadow Walk"(Licensed): urban/night Perception +3, free roof movement.
8. Merchant "Sakai Ledger"(Secret Art): guild ties. Automatic at Difficulty 14 or lower.
9. Three Ways and Six Hearts branch: cut down or spare. Long-term resource impact.
10. Urban yoma favor permanent. Linked to Episodes 12~13.

Hana: When does Kage appear next?

Kuro: Episode 12, Prayer in the Graveyard. Together with Renge and Yamabushi. Koharu is Episode 14, Winter Eve. This episode's Reputation +4 becomes a premise. That is all for today.

"Where something is cut down, the next thief enters. Where something is promised, someone appears to guard that place. Sakai reached as far as the lantern light, and on that night, one more lantern was added."