The Missing Farmer

Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:46 am

Mission Name:The Missing Farmer

Rank:A-Rank

Type:Investigation.

Character Requirements:N/A

Word Count Requirements:1,000

Repeatable?N/A

Reward:3,000 Ryo.

http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t10737-a-rankthe-missing-farmer

Task:

A farm at the border of the village has been attacked, we do not know by what or who, go to the scene of the attack and see what you can find, we gotta know who is behind this and stop it, village attacks will not be tolerated!

It seemed farming was a risky business. Umtari had come the aid of the farmers once before, and not so long ago. Now there were in trouble once again. He volunteered for the task because the farmer affected had been one of the ones Umtari had previously assisted. He knew the ground, he knew the family and whilst Umtari had no particular emotional attachment to the farmer he did hate to see his previous hard work go to waste.

Just as before Umtari approached the scene with great caution, staying off the road and advancing through cover wherever possible. Eventually he reached the tree line, beyond which lay a large paddy field and beyond that the farm. Climbing up the nearest tree Umtari reached a good vantage point from which he could view the whole scene. Putting his crossbow to his shoulder and looking down the scope Umtari could view the farm in some detail.

The scene was a complete mess. The farm had been burnt, every building was now a heap of ash and blackened timber, even farm animals had been brought out and slaughtered before their corpses were also thrown on the fire. He could smell the burnt meat from here and their shrivelled bodies were just about visible amongst the ruins. The fire was old, hardly any smoke was rising up now and the fire itself was long gone, a man would be lucky to find embers in that place. Umtari watched the farm and the surrounding area for some time, carefully scanning every hiding place for signs of movement.

Once he was satisfied that there was nothing there he came down from his tree and advanced on foot through the paddy fields, staying low and remaining in amongst the plants wherever possible. Upon reaching the farm Umtari immediately set about searching for clues. Again his mind turned to slavers but that idea was swiftly put to bed when Umtari started searching through the burnt remains of the farmhouse. In amongst the rubble he found two corpses, presumably of the farmer and his wife. Identification was difficult since the fire had turned their bodies into shrivelled black husks. Umtari could however, see that their throats had been slit before being burnt. No slaver would kill their stock like this. Pausing only to rip several teeth out of each of the corpses for comparison against dental records later Umtari went about looking for more clues. The slaughter of the livestock meant the aggressors were not thieves either and the scale and nature of the destruction pointed at people who were angry, people who held a grudge or people who were trying to cover their tracks but doing so poorly.

Umtari doubted this was the work of other ninja, it was amateurish and far too zealous. The current political climate did not suggest that this could be the authorised work of the ninja of other villages and whilst it was possible that this could have been done by missing ninja it seemed too amateurish and much to small in scale to satisfy the average missing nin’s desire for revenge. Continuing his search Umtari eventually found tracks. They were old and slightly disturbed but they were there. He might have missed them were it not for the fact he had stalked much stealthier animals in the past. It looked like three men and they were heading away from the village, perhaps even trying to flee the jurisdiction. They had a big head start but that did not deter Umtari, he was confident he could move faster than them on or off road, but particularly off road.

Wasting no further time Umtari set off, making a brisk pace and jogging half the time to close the gap ever more quickly. He ate and drank on the move, eating only small amounts so as not to upset his stomach whilst he moved. He only came to a stop when the sun had dipped below the horizon and the clouds hid the moon, making identifying tracks difficult without a torch. Umtari was reluctant to create light as a simple candle in the dark can be seen miles away if not properly concealed and would signal his approach to the men he was pursuing. So instead he climbed a tree and rested until the crack of dawn, whereupon he would move again.

Resuming his earlier pace Umtari noticed that the tracks he was following were getting noticeable fresher, he was closing the gap and closing it fast. Eventually he came upon the men’s most recent camp. They had made a fire and the embers still glowed, at this rate Umtari would have them within mere hours. Pressing on again Umtari eventually came within sight of his foes. They were little more than blobs on the horizon for now but he could see them, they were as good as his.

Maintaining his current pace Umtari was eventually able to draw level with his prey, though Umtari had put several hundred feet between them and Umtari himself was deep in trees and shrub. His quarry however, were in open fields since marching through them was easier on the feet. From his vantage point Umtari could see the three men clearly. They were large, heavy set men, heavily armed and with the look of brigands about them. Umtari was still not sure why they had attacked. If they were independent men their motives were unclear, if they were mercenaries then their employer had to be identified. Either way, at least one of them would have to be captured alive and ideally all of them would be in order to be interrogated later.

Since the group were moving through fields they would also have to occasionally move through hedgerows. Mentally plotting the groups path Umtari surged ahead and then hid in a hedgerow though which they would likely pass. He had done this behind the crest of a hill so as not to be spotted. When the group approached Umtari pulled the pin on one of his new non-lethal gas grenades. It took a moment or two for the group to realise what was happening but by the time they had they had already breathed in enough of the gas to seal their fates. After stumbling around for a few moments with an increasing lack of coordination the group eventually fell into unconsciousness. Umtari meanwhile, gas mask and all, was completely unaffected. Rummaging through their pockets for rope he securely bound the men together blindfolded them and waited for them to regain consciousness before making them all half walk half shuffle back to the village. Along the way there were numerous escape attempts but each one ended quite swiftly and they never broke their bonds.

When Umtari eventually returned to the village, several days later, he handed the three men over for interrogation. Under questioning it would eventually transpire that two of the three men were escaped convicts whilst the third had been merely a suspect who had helped break them out of jail from the outside. Furthermore they revealed that they had targeted the farm as the farmer had been a key witness in the trial that had the two men sent to prison for large scale theft. Umtari could have enquired further about the three men but he had done his part, now he left the rest up to the justice system.

(Words 1236, requesting approval and any Stat or JP awards that are applicable, I have seen different reward schemes operating. Thank you.)