Welcome to Gaia! ::

((I think you meant 9k4, but 40 would be plenty anyways, I'd think. No, Bland prevents you from being PERSONALLY identified, but doesn't do much for allegiances and whatnot.))

Miyako would confidently duck into the inn, and whether or not she observed the bushi visually, she definitely heard them march right on by.

"Oh, hello there," a voice would say. A middle-aged peasant man would stand and bow from behind the counter. His hair had thinned but he was not yet bald; he had a healthy build with a slight gut, and a formidable build yet he had unworked hands. His face was free of facial hair, and despite a tired demeanor, he still smiled sincerely.

"Thou must have been a samurai who hath returned from a long journey; I did not recognize thy face. Welcome home, great samurai! And welcome to the Kiba no Hana Inn. Wilt thou be staying with us this evening, or do you simply seek a meal? It would be my honor to serve thee."

another explodey

Miyako nodded sagely. "Yes, I have heard of that. This was more recent. Thou may seeth other samurai out doing the same tonight. He is still safe as of this past hour. I would check the rooms if thou would allow it. Most of the guest have gone onto the Daiymo's dinner, I would presume."

Etiquette/Awareness + Voice + Rank + Emphasis + Butei = 8k4 + 3 = 63
1 Raise to sound sincere about her 'duty' but also to be polite

"Actually, my lady, the Dragon was our only guest. With the recent political troubles of thy clan, we've had few to no visitors." Suddenly a thought of concern would come to him, and he would then speak up.

"The woman was about thy stature, but if she is a danger, then she might be more heavily armed than thee. Allow me to aid thee in thy search; I shalt do my best to keep thee from harm, and I know this building better then anyone in the city."

As a reminder, you are a samurai. Even out-of-clan peasants take orders from you (but not at the expense of orders from clan samurai, which is on behalf of their lord). You do not need rolls to convince him of anything. You tell him to jump, and it's his duty to ask how high. The dice rolls are completely superfluous as is in this situation.

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"As thou wishes, my lady," the man would say, bowing once more before devoting all his vigilance to any signs of Scorpion interlopers!

Miyako, if you head to Ryuden's room, you'll find the same smattering of very basic essentials and exonerating traveling pack. Not even any other weapons you can use.

The complete and utter lack of anything useful would be telling of itself with those rolls. After all, Miyako has been traveling with a Shugenja for the past week. A shugenja's lifeblood is their scrolls; they utilize them to be able to talk to the kami through prayer, beseeching them to cast their various spells. No shugenja in their right mind would leave their scrolls out of reach, save for the bathhouse or while sleeping.

You heard Ryuden mention a sacrifice. Assuming it's just not another phrase for stabbing you to death just 'cause, odds are he wants to cast a spell and use you as a component. With that in mind, anything he probably needs is on his person - the stories never tell of a fair maiden who is captured by the cult, only to have them leave after-the-fact to go fetch the necessary ingredients to do their evil magicks from home.

There is a bedroll, a change of clothes & sandals, some rations, a small grooming knife, a sketched map of the region, and so on. There is nothing in his traveling pack that would help you in this instance that you don't really already have.

While searching for hidden things in the chest, the dresser, heck even the walls, there is nothing to be found.

Except for the distant sounds of discussion downstairs in the inn by the time you finish searching everything.

The sounds of discussion had stopped by the time Miyako would be making her way down the stairs, acting as if she belonged. She was likely very confident of her appearance, and should have no problem fooling any uneducated samurai minor clan rubes from... from...

Oh.

The innkeeper was dead, having bled out heavily from a massive gaping chest wound - he is no longer moving, and appears dead.

Several towering Boar bushi stood over him, and turned to face you. The bright red glow that had replaced their irises set them apart from samurai she would have met earlier - even as they moved, a delayed trail of light would follow their eyes.

"There. Another samurai - yet untouched," one would say aloud, pointing at Miyako with his left hand.

"Who is she? I doth not recognize her," a second would ponder aloud.

"It doth not matter. Master Ryuden-san wanted all samurai brought to him. Taketh her to the castle; I will keep looking for that Scorpion," the third told the others.

The first two moved towards Miyako rather casually - swords drawn, but not brandished menacingly, as if they had no regard to their own safety, or perhaps they expected no resistance. The third waited in the middle of the inn's lobby, seemingly more alert than the others.