Name: Sake Delivery
Difficulty: D
Location: Heiwagakure
Reward: 5,000 Ryo
Experience: 25 Experience
Objective: You are tasked with delivering a cart of special sake to the shrine atop a small mountain.
Description: The people of Heiwagakure have a special tradition where they make their best sake and deliver it to the holy temple atop their mountain. The villagers have decided that they would like you to accompany their cart-pusher. You will take two turns pulling the loaded cart up the beaten path while asking the cart-pusher about the holy temple and its purpose.

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Heiwagakure, the village hidden in peace: it seemed to be a fitting place, given the peaceful lifestyle of the inhabitants. The monks who lived here, worshipped spirits of tranquility and inner enlightenment- their minds had transcended the destructive pattern of violence and revenge. Even still, as she looked around, Semasu couldn't help but notice the change starting to show in the village. The most obvious was the signs of conflict, buildings, property and even some civilians had been damaged and wounded. Ever since the great barrier had disappeared mysteriously, bandits and plunderers had appeared and took advantage of this peaceful village. Hence why people like Semasu was here in their village, mostly to repel criminals and evil doers... but to help with deliveries as well?

Oh well, it couldn't be helped; she might as well help out while she was here, right? She walked the short distance from the Hikarikage's office to a flat dirt road where a cart full of sake gourds was waiting. The monk standing beside the cart waiting for his helper saw her and immediately knew she was supposed to be the one helping him. Instantly he looked down, away from her gifted physical form: he would have preferred she wore a dress or something that wasn't so revealing, but that wasn't his place to tell her. He would just have to deal with it, these outsiders had a smaller respect for modesty it seemed. Hello there! I assume you are the help for my cart delivery. Today we will deliver the sake before noon, I will push it the first half and you will push it the second half. Ready to go?

Semasu greeted him and nodded to let him know that she was ready; she looked back at the cart of sake... there was a lot of sake and surely it would be heavy. The monk easily pushed the cart though, he had been doing this all of his life after all; his muscles were built just for this purpose- delivering the sake to the most holy temple was a privilege given to him by the Hikarikage after all. So the holy temple, what is its purpose? She had to know, it was important that she understood the purpose of the temple and maybe help her understand why the barrier no longer protected them.

The man paused for a moment to catch his breathe after he had pushed the cart up the worst part of the hill to the temple; he considered her question as he took up the pace again. The temple's purpose was specifically for protecting the village- the holy tome resided inside the temple and empowered the barrier. The temple was erected high atop the sacred mountain to have the barrier cover as much of the village as possible. We have priests up there who exorcise evil spirits from around the temple, that is their sole purpose in life. However, now he barrier is gone and the monks are having trouble exorcising the spirits: this sake is special, it allows them to focus and exercise spirits much better.

Semasu listened intently as he explained, so the temple had a holy book inside it with enough power to erect a village-wide barrier and remove them from the physical realm? That was bad news to learn that the holy tome was now missing, who knew what kind of damage someone could do with it in the wrong hands. She remained silent until they reached halfway and swapped out, she pulled the cart just as easily as him and he was quite surprised. Not that he was sexist, but he was not used to women working as hard as men or even being shinobi at all- seeing a woman stand toe-to-toe with him was a bit unsettling but also reassuring. So these monks, their peaceful, right? I don't see how drunken priests could accomplish anything.

It was a fair question, most monks didn't partake in alcohol- especially priests. I can't really explain it to you without showing you, you'll see when we arrive. These priests are different than the priests down in the village; they don't drink just to drink- like I said, this sake is special and isn't made very often. It is made once a year for a week or so and all the sake is shipped to the mountain temple where it is stored for the whole year so the monks will have it for when they need it. That was the best answer she could expect for now, she wasn't too sure what to think of these priests as she pushed the cart up the steep road.

They arrived just an hour or so before noon, they rounded a sharp curve and found themselves at the tall gates of a grand temple. The monk used some kind of light in his hand to open the gate- almost like a key... the gates swung open and allowed them inside. The gates shut behind them and the monk directed Semasu where to rest the cart as he went inside to get the priests. Six bald headed men followed the monk back outside, they bowed to her respectfully and thanked her for her hard work as they unloaded the sake.

She offered to help them, but the monk explained that outsiders were not allowed inside the temple; it was strange that the priests did not speak at all, they were a silent bunch but their eyes showed them quite intelligent. The monk picked up a single gourd of sake and held it before Semasu as the priests continued to unload. The priests are shy and worried, they have spent their whole life up here and have only seen me a few times over the years; so their not used to seeing women, especially ones as...gifted as you.

Semasu laughed, but only slightly, she didn't want to offend any of them- she had forgotten that these kinds of priests refrained from sexual desires: maybe it would be best if they left as quickly as possible. She didn't want to tempt these devout priests after all, the monk understood her line of reasoning and handed the gourd to one of the priests and bowed respectfully to them. Semasu bowed as well and they left through the game with the empty cart, the monk pulled it down the road as he explained. You see, the priests didn't seem drunk, did they? The truth is, they had already drank a whole gourd that morning- the special sake doesn't make you drunk, it enhances your senses and inner awareness.

It made sense to her now, so the sake was just a self-awareness alcohol... but it didn't make them drunk... quite the strange alcohol, not something she would have expected... but then again, nearly nothing in Heiwagakure was as she expected. They travelled and discussed a few of the ingredients in the sake but the monk wouldn't explain much about its special ingredients or way of brewing it: Semasu wasn't too surprised, she was an outsider after all and it would be too easily for her to abuse such a recipe for heightened awareness. She could see many ways such a sake could be abused, ranging from combat to merchandise and marketing; it was best for the monks to keep this recipe a secret from the outside world and Semasu respected them for it.

{End}

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