Cephiro, Elven Province

[Corwin]

Umi heads towards the strange merchant, hoping he would have something cool.

[Ebiris]

Fuu reports her findings to Okina, before settling in to wait for her friends to return.

[Carthrat]

As Umi and Hikaru approach the man, they see his eyes glint behind the mask.

"Welcome, ladies! Welcome to the Emporium of the Masked Mage!" He gestures to the empty expanse of his little shop, which is completely bare of anything that could be sold, except the desk he sits behind, the clothes he wears, and maybe the tent itself.

"As you can see, we are somewhat understocked at the moment. However, I can promise you that there are many items I can buy, manufacture, or otherwise acquire for your benefit! A middleman, am I, with contacts from here to cold Saldora, and to the land of Tsoh, which is said to be ruled by a fire dragon who lights the underground furnace each day that keeps the ocean in that place at boiling point. Foodstuffs, books, clothing, weapons, I can acquire all!"

He peers down at you.

"Though you seem to be the type who may be less interested in mere trinkets as in things of utility. Perhaps I can oblige you! If there is something you need, I am sure I can acquire it, provided you have the necessary funding to do so."

[Carthrat]

Okina's face turns grave.

"Horrendous! I already know that they hate us greatly, but it becomes more shocking every time," he says. "I am torn, Fuu-san. Sakura has not been gone longer than her expected trip, so none of the public will see anything amiss.

If I were to give a public address on the matter.. I fear it may do more harm than good. The people will begin to distrust each other, and while that may catch out a few of these imposters, I fear for what it may do to our society in the long term.

On the other hand, not saying anything could be just as bad.

At any rate, we must get Sakura back and try to prevent the public from knowing what has taken place. At least for now. Then we still have a spare stone to drop, if need be."

[Ebiris]

Fuu sighs, "Hopefully we can have Sakura-sama returned by tomorrow... but as for your other concern, I cannot truly say what the best course of action would be. It would definitely be in our interests to alert people to the Matsu invasion, so we can prepare our defences, but as to the Doji's more insidious style of attack..."

The elf girl spends a moment pacing as she considers the problem, "At a time like this, it is more important than ever that we present a united front - which is probably part of why the Doji chose to attack in this manner; even after we figure out their plan, it has a detrimental effect on our society..." she continues pacing as she speaks, before stopping and turning to Okina, "Perhaps the best policy would be to have your Shugenja patrol the city while detecting magic. Anyone suspicious could be detained on some other pretext, so that we can make a more thorough examination away from the public eye. If they are indeed Doji monks, they can be quietly dealt with, and if not, they can be let go while being none the wiser."

Finished speaking, she looks at Okina to guage his reaction to her plan.

[Carthrat]

"Yes, that may work.. perhaps. The Shugenja are not particularly numerous, and such spells do not last long. Still, it is a start," replies Okina.

"As for the Matsu.. if they do not have insurgents from within the city, they will crumble against our walls, certainly.

And once they have done that, I do not believe Sakura-sama will be as.. leniant as she was in the past."

[Ebiris]

Fuu nods, "I know the spell as well, though I only have it memorised once right now... I can at least check the castle itself, then after Hikaru returns, both she and I can meditate to restore our spells, with that particular one memorised several times. We can then lend some assistance to the Shugenja before we depart to rescue Sakura-sama."

With that, Fuu casts Detect Magic.

[Carthrat]

Okina immediatly pops up on Fuu's magic-sensing scope, along with the middle of the audience hall.

The man himself blinks. "Fair enough, I suppose," he says.

[Ebiris]

Fuu waits for the spell to reach its third stage before doing anything.

[Carthrat]

Okina's kimono is postively reeking of Abjuration magic, while the audience hall contains Evocation magic.

"As you may have guessed, Fuu-chan, my kimono shields me from harm," he says, chuckling. "And the audience hall is enchanted so that the speaker's voice echoes throughout."

At that point, a woman dressed in a extrodinarily well-made kimono rushes into the room. She's giving off a general magic aura, which points her out as a spellcaster.

"Okina-dono! We've discerned the purpose of the ring!" she says, looking somewhat upset.

"Oh? What does it do?" the man himself asks.

"It's a device that casts a 'message' spell continuously," says the Shugenja. "We know it's linked to somebody else, and that somebody has everything the ring picks up stored in *his* ring. Presumably there's a way to stop it sending, but we don't know. All we worked out is that is was operating when we checked it."

[Ebiris]

Fuu turns a very deep shade of purple at this news. "Shigen! That's how the whore's son was able to predict our movements!"

Her purple quickly turns to pink as she realises what she just said, "Ah, pardon my language, Okina-dono," she sighs, feeling far older than her one hundred and fourteen years, before bowing deeply, "I also apologise for bringing such trickery before you... now Shigen knows the details of our plan to rescue Sakura-sama, we may have to come up with a new plan..."

[Carthrat]

"But by now he must know that the Shugenja have unlocked his spell," replies Okina, smiling slightly. "No doubt he must think we will go with a new plan. Perhaps some reverse psychology is in order?"

[Ebiris]

"It would not unduly surprise me if he has prepared for either eventuality," Fuu sighs. "Still, it is a sound plan, so perhaps we would be best served by sticking to it."

[Carthrat]

Okina nods.

"Remember something else, Fuu," he says. "Just because the Doji disguise themselves as elves and play by such foul trickery does not mean they are the only ones who do so. Indeed, there are some from Cephiro who have mastered such arts with no need for disguises. I beg of you, be cautious."

[Ebiris]

"I understand, Okina-dono," Fuu responds gravely, "I will wait for Hikaru and Umi to return from their shopping, then we can meditate to restore our spells before we go to assist the Shugenja."