Category Archives: Journal Entries

Journal entries for the Jade Regent campaign

November 10th, 2018

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal – Desnus 28, 4713 (Kali’s Harrowing)

Desnus 28, 4713 (late night, Jikko River)

One way to help unravel the mystery of our missing seer was to involve another seer, so I took Koya aside and asked her if she could do a Harrowing.

I could manage one myself, of course, but as I explained, “I am a little worked up. I’m not sure I can focus.”

“Of course,” she said with a smile. “What is the answer you’re seeking?”

“The best path to finding, and if necessary rescuing, O-Sayumi”

She considered the question, then spread nine cards in front of me for the Choosing. I turned over The Lost.

“Not the best beginning to any journey, to be sure. See the bleak on the card? He’s mad, lost in a world of lunatics, insane asylums, and worse.”

“It signifies a loss of self and identity.”

She nodded. “Whatever is ahead, be mindful not to lose your place in chaos.”

She gathered up the cards and cast nine of them face-down on the table. “Now let’s see the past,” she said as she turned over the left-most column. “The Locksmith. The Foreign trader. The Juggler. Interesting.” She held up the middle one.

“Deals and bargains?” I asked.

“These have certainly been part off your path here, my young, foreign trader. You’re no stranger to a bargain with high stakes. That may yet prove important.” She was suggesting the future was a reflection of the past.

Next she turned over the center column, representing the present: the Unicorn, The Snakebite, and the Cricket.

“The Unicorn offers what you seek, but it’s not in a strong position.”

“So don’t count on it.”

“Correct. The Snakebite, though, is troublesome. I wonder, is it literal…? There are many kinds of venom in the world, in the ambitions and machinations of those who seek power over others for their own gains. Beware of trust betrayed.”

The Cricket sat as an opposite match, and misaligned, but I couldn’t reconcile it. “And the Cricket?”

“Probably nothing, despite its position. It does not match the present.”

Finally, she overturned the last column, representing the future. The Joke. The Wanderer. The Demon’s Lantern. The former and the latter were true matches.

“The Joke, in its true position. A terror will need to be overcome, but it reminds us that not all of them can be beaten with strength of arms alone.”

“I’ve been here before. Some solutions are…unconventional.”

She nodded again, then continued. “The Demon’s Lantern, also in true position. The will-o-wisps represent traps and tricks of a particularly devilish sort.” She closed her eyes for a moment as she reflected on this. “I can’t say exactly what this means, but there are many clever spiders who weave webs of deceit in order to ensnare the unwary.”

I sat quietly for a moment, too, trying to put this all together. Past, present, and future seemed to fold in on one other, the divinations of O-Sayumi mixed in with my own. Had she been forced to come here? Was Shosaito seeking something that only she could provide? It would explain his apparent obsession. At the same time, she left clues for us to follow, and the cards reflected that as well.

“What is the spell telling you?” Koya asked.

“It’s not encouraging any particular course of action,” I said. “More importantly, it’s not discouraging one, either. Though it seems to think we’ll need to be…fluid. Adaptable to a changing situation. More so than usual.”

We had O-Sayumi’s inro and her note, both of which contained clues to…what? Her disappearance? Or how to find her? Or maybe they are one in the same. The answers lay in  Shosaito’s home.

And, now, we also had this odd shogi piece from Numataro-sama, the angle-mover. It jumps out at me because Jiro had jokingly referred to Hatsue this way when we first met them. As she was explaining the game to me. The kappa said, “it can summon the greatest shogi player in all of Minkai when broken”. Shogi keeps coming up. This piece keeps coming up. Is there a connection here?

Is the sky blue?

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal – Desnus 26 – 28, 4713

Desnus 26, 4713 (night, Seinaru Heikiko)

Okay. I just had to know. While Zosi was guiding the wagon, I climbed up front and asked, “Why were you so curious about whether I had…about what had happened to me?”

He turned to stare at the gorgon, or what he’d made out of it. “There is so much to life and the shells we occupy.” He looked out ahead at nothing at all, or something I couldn’t see. “I have enjoyed this cycle as a gnome. They are astounding for their size.”

Wait. What?

He shook his had dismissively, as if he knew what I was thinking. “No, I don’t have any attachment or recollection of my past incarnations. But I do believe that they did exist. Much like the power of Alchemy, we transform the physical and migrate the anima into the next shell. But this time? I plan to gather that information.”

He was talking about reincarnation.

It is widely believed among followers of Irori that those who achieve perfection in life go to his side to serve him in death. Those who fall short are reincarnated to begin the journey anew. That would make him the only deity that embraces it as part of his tenets. Most others frown upon it, though they don’t necessarily object to it, either (that includes Pharasma).

Otherwise, the practice is the domain of the druidic faiths and witchcraft.

Zosi turned to look at me. “Should something extinguish this shell, I don’t want to be anchored to it. My chosen method of restoration will be reincarnation so that I may experience the transformation of matter but retain this stream of consciousness. My plan is to purchase a scroll and keep it handy.”

I nodded. “I understand; I’ll honor your wishes.”

“The only problem I see is…the one who is all fixed on endings.” Qatana. He shook his head, “Groetus. I don’t know much about the divine; I appreciate all they did to create this world. But this Groetus, if the crazy one speaks truth about it, will be the undoing of it all. It’s a dark god with a dark path and I don’t want her involved in my return.

“I don’t trust that her very own transformation is not happening right now, moving her anima toward a destructive darkness. Her delight in the death of others is unsettling. It is one thing when it is a monster from another realm… but fellow humanoid races.” He shook his head sadly, “I know my words hold little weight. You’ve traveled for so long that you are mostly blind to the madness that dictates her conduct, but someday, I think this veil of trust will be lifted. I just hope it is before she turns on Ameiko.”

Why does Qatana always have to make things so complicated? It’s a question I’ve asked myself many times, and it’s one with no answer.

I know why he was worried. And I get it. I really do. But, it was a skewed perception, one that didn’t accurately reflect who she was.

“I grew up with Qatana. I probably know her better than anyone, though admittedly that is not difficult and sometimes I feel I don’t know her at all. I understand why you’re worried. Perhaps this will help put you at ease.

“When she was nine years old, her parents were killed in front of her and she was sold into slavery. I thought I’d never see her again, but she was rescued by Shelalu, and she returned home nearly a year later.

“A year is a long time. For most of it she was forced to do…terrible things. I’ve heard the stories. They are horrible enough that I don’t feel I have the right…they are her stories, and not mine to tell. But believe me when I say they were worse than I could imagine, even many years later when she started opening up to me.

“She doesn’t delight in killing people. Not exactly. But she has developed a strong, if not extreme, animosity towards those who would abuse and exploit others. Her attachment to Groetus is…a coping mechanism, I think. She is only one person. She knows she can’t save a world that is filled with misery. She welcomes the end times not because she relishes in destruction, but because it will do what she cannot: end all suffering, everywhere.”

I don’t know if this helped her case or hurt it.

We ended the day on a much lighter note: I listened to stories about his cat.

Desnus 27, 4713 (night, Sakakabe)

Someone continues to spy on us. My spell alerted me earlier this evening as we were looking for an inn. With a bit of experimentation I was able to determine that the target was Ameiko, which is just fucking great. It means whoever is watching us probably knows who she is.

I tried to get an image of the spell caster but it didn’t work. Which is also just great. Magic can be so unreliable. One wonders how casters rise to such positions of power when our spells don’t work correctly half the time.

Desnus 28, 4713 (late morning, Sakakabe)

Another day, another attempt to spy on us. Once again, I tried to reverse the conduit to get a look at the voyeur, and once again it failed. This time we didn’t terminate the offending spell, but let it run its course as a rough gauge of the other caster’s power and it lasted a quarter of an hour. Which is quite a bit longer than I can manage, and that has me nervous. Very, very nervous.

Should it? Maybe. Maybe not. I know what my capabilities would be if I were that skilled, and suffice it to say that I expected more. A lot more. Either they are content with just watching us, or they have help. Help that is powerful, but limited in its scope.

We found a decorative samisen to present to O-Kohaku as a gift. I used a spell to etch the tea house’s logo—a cherry blossom—on it to give it that added personal touch. Hopefully this will be enough of a gesture to secure an audience with her.

(night, Jikko River)

Gods, what a day. We are now searching for a missing geisha by the name of O-Sayumi. As I feared, establishing Ameiko’s legitimacy is requiring us to prove our honor through an endless string of favors.

That being said, O-Sayumi’s story is rather disturbing, so we are pretty motivated to get to the bottom of it. She worked as a geisha in the Kiniro Kyomai tea house and was apparently very popular with a long list of regular clients who ask specifically for her. One of these clients was a rather well-known pearl merchant named Yugureda Shosaito, only he was more or less obsessed with her and kept inviting her to his home for a “private performance”. For the longest time she refused, but then one day, without warning or explanation, she accepted…and she hasn’t been seen since.

Strangely enough, she seems to have predicted her own disappearance. I would have found this unusual many months ago but now? I just accept as fact that she may be a talented seer. She left clues behind in the form of notes, verbal messages, and curiosities: a strange puzzle box or inro, and a vase.

The inro is filled with three items that are obviously important but in a bafflingly obtuse way. In other words: we don’t know what any of it means. Either she was too clever, we’re too dim, or we haven’t come across whatever it is that will make sense of it all. I am hoping for the latter, but worried it’s the former. What if it never makes sense to us?

We traced the inro back to its sculptor, who then brought out the vase. It depicted an image of a kappa, and when we turned over we found cucumber-scented bath salts stuck inside the unusually deep recess in the bottom. The sculptor explained that he made these items at her request and to her exact specifications, and that she told him to give this vase to the honorable people who were seeking her. Which implies she foresaw her future weeks in advance, to a level of detail and precision that I had not thought possible.

The vase led us to where we are now: the home of The Wise Kappa, Numataro-sama, whom O-Sayumi had referred to as her uncle.

Obviously, they are not related by blood. From Numataro-sama, we learned that O-Sayumi’s mother had been killed by a monstrous tiger when O-Sayumi was just an infant. Her mother knew she was being hunted, and she hid O-Sayumi’s basket under a bush before the tiger caught up to her. The kappa found the infant, and raised her as his own until she was old enough to need the company of other humans.

The kappa believes it was Shosaito that had O-Sayumi’s mother killed. He also believes the merchant is a powerful wizard and an all around shitty person. Which would, of course, follow from the whole “killed her mother” thing. And by the way? I have to agree with the “wizard” assessment. We can see the island where Shosaito lives; it’s surrounded by dark shadows and the landscape there seems drained of color. Whatever he is up to I am betting it is to no good, because come on. Can you be any more obvious?

Why did O-Sayumi agree to visit this person? That is the big mystery, the question that everyone who knew her has asked and that no one can answer. There is more or less universal agreement that Shosaito was creepy and made everyone, especially O-Sayumi, uncomfortable in his presence. There is also universal agreement that she would never willingly agree to go to his home. Which suggests that she wasn’t willing, which in turn implies that she was coerced or blackmailed.

Obviously, that’s just a theory, but it’s the only one we have and it’s one that fits the facts.

We now have a dilemma on our hands. We must go see this pearl merchant-turned wizard-turned kidnapper, but we also have Ameiko with us because we’re currently being hunted, and she’s arguably safer with us than sitting in an immobile fortress that is far from being a secret. And because we have Ameiko with us, we also have Shalelu and Koya with us, and there is absolutely no way we are bringing Koya into something this dangerous, and I have strong reservations about Ameiko as well. But, we can’t leave them alone, either, because see above.

 

Character: Olmas

The Annals of the Order of the Dragon

as told by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia himself.

Starday, 25 Desnus

It is hard to believe that all the drama with the prisoners happened before noon had even passed.  But we had made a point of starting while it was still dark, so it only made sense that we had most of the day ahead of us yet.  Even taking 4 hours for some people to recover their spells put us only at 1:30 or so.

We set Nehali to task looking for returning parties.  The aerial surveillance would likely give us ten or maybe even fifteen minutes advance notice to prepare for them.  From what the prisoners told us, we might see 3 or 4 parties return.

However, all we saw was one wounded horse return. That’s it.  Qatana healed it some, and Radella spoke with it, learning it was the only one that survived.  Apparently Jiro had been very successful at attacking the raiding parties.  Three or four parties, and all that’s left is a single horse.  Wow.

While waiting, Dasi did his blood thing on the weretiger.  We learned … well, nothing new but it cost nothing to try.  The weretiger was female and (surprise) a ranger.  She was obsessed with how we “took her fortress”.  I guess that was a little surprising – it’s no more hers than ours – but whether her position was from arrogance or ignorance I guess we’ll never know.

Word was sent to Jiro and he will come to the fort with Hatsui and Ameiko (and the others in his party) by more mundane means.  I understood that Ameiko was hanging back to talk with Jiro, but it hadn’t been made clear that she was going to be in active battle.  Humph.

About 3:45, Qatana went with Kali to retrieved Koya and the seal.  They all had to windwalk back, of course, because the seal could not be teleported.  Hatsui and about ten recruits arrived not too long after that, and Jiro, Ameiko, and their party about an hour after that.

We already knew that we, as scions, apparently could not open the vault. Ameiko, as Prime Scion, we thought might have a different effect.  But no, she didn’t. It wasn’t until, with some trepidation, that we took the seal out of the warding box and Ameiko tried again while holding the seal that we were successful.  A circular portion of the floor opened outside the room, and revealed armaments, including the family sword that Jiro had mentioned.

Given how nervous we were, we’d arranged ourselves very particularly, expecting an oni or twenty might teleport in as soon as the seal revealed itself.  While that didn’t happen, Kali did detect scrying just mere minutes after it was unveiled, and utilized her previously-prepared anti-magic field to block it.  But now they knew.  They knew.  Their worst fears were still true … a true heir still lived and would be a significant obstacle to their stolen throne.

Inspecting the weapons, Dasi confirmed the antiquity of the swords in the revealed armory.  I caught a glance at Jiro and tried not to smile. As Dasi performed the analysis we’d so often asked of him, it escaped him that the best means of identifying the authenticity of this find was already in the room, and had in fact already validated it.  The look on Jiro’s face was one that registered a mix of astonishment and mild anger.  It clearly said, “What?  REALLY?”

But seeing all this transpire, Jiro turned to Ameiko and bowed, accepting her as the eventual Empress.  And became a fount of helpful information.

He reminded us that simply announcing an heir wouldn’t necessarily throw everybody behind her.  We needed to fan the flames of rebellion before striking at the target, so that we’d either have massive support or, at the least, have few others opposing her. He outlined three key factions we needed behind us or neutralized.

One was the military.  While they were currently firmly on the side of the Regent, there were plenty of indications that support was not as strong as it appeared.  In particular, the local daimyo, Sikutsu Sennaka, had few on the military who supported him for any reason other than honor.  The daimyo and the Regent both seemed unfamiliar with maintaining and growing military careers, and plum assignments and promotions were going to the wrong (in the minds of some military leaders) people.  Seeing those undeserving individuals disappear or actually die might make many in the military feel things had improved … so long as they also felt this improved their chance at recognition and promotion.  It would require the right timing, and the right people, and so would probably be one of the last groups we’d win over.

Another was the merchants.  They were chafing under the Regent’s regime, again largely because their traditional role (and the wealth that went with it) was not being honored.  Trade with other provinces was disrupted by squabbles and taxes.  The decrease in income was keenly felt, and roundly hated.   While this group was not as well armed as the military might be, they had other methods at their disposal.  Economic pressure – who they bought and sold from and to – might prove as wounding as a sword.  They also knew of ways to get into markets – be that countries, harbors, or buildings – that they might be willing to share.  That is, once they believed.

Lastly was the ninja groups.  While ninjas tended by their nature to be a bit reticent and difficult to access, if they didn’t have some way of contacting them they’d have no business at all.  Jiro mentioned there had been four main groups: the Black Lotus, the Dragon Shadow, the Emerald Branch, and the Ruby Crypt.  Recently, though, in perhaps the last few decades, a new order had appeared: Oni’s Mask.  The other four considered the newcomer to be ruthless (even for ninjas) and without honor, which ninjas are fanatical about.  Helping restore the order may be a welcomed option.  Jiro was not so bold as to predict we would get allies, but even a promise not to interfere would be welcome aid.

To touch base with the merchant faction, Jiro advised us to make an appointment with a high level geisha, O-kuhaku. She was considered a geisha with sufficient connections that, were she to support us, we’d have a decent chance of both contacting and winning over the merchants.  Take a nice gift, he advised, so that you don’t wait a month to see her.  She is in Sakakabe.

To reach the ninjas, we would need to approach their council.  They meet once a month, on the night of the new moon in Enganoka.  We could learn more in the Korrang Market.

We definitely had our work cut out for us.  The geishas were first on the list, since the new moon is some two weeks off.

Based on all this, Zos and Kali would teleport back tomorrow to get his cart and our horses, including Kasimir.

Sunday, 26 Desnus

As promised, Zos and Kali left in the morning.  They rolled in around 11pm.  The cart and the horses will stay at the fortress because most of our travels will likely be by windwalk or teleportation in the near future.

We have great concern about leaving the seal here, right where it was last detected, but it would be even more foolish to take it with us.  In the end, Qatana and Ivan fashioned a place for it deep within rock using Stone Wall and Stone Shape.  It’s now not accessible to anyone who doesn’t know exactly where it is and either is willing to undertake a great deal of physical labor, or has the capability to use magic to reshape the stone again.  It’s about as safe as it can be, and arguably safer than it was before.

Because Jiro was fascinated by the idea that magic could compel a person’s direction in life, he offered the remaining prisoners quick and merciful death, or magic by Qatana that would compel them to a new life.  They all chose the latter, so Qatana placed them under a Geas that had them serving Jiro.  I had said that if Jiro passed this judgement upon them I would be fine with it and I will honor my statement but I have to admit it does still bother me.  I can’t really explain why.

Moonday, 27 Desnus

With Qatana’s generosity, we all received windwalk and proceeded to Sakakabe.  In windwalk we move much faster than normal, but it still took most of the day.  We materialized outside the city so that we could walk in normally like any other group of travelers.

I am used to seeing social orders in a society, but in this town they are physical.  The most prestigious actually live higher on the hill, and that’s where we will find O-kuhaku.  We discussed what roles we should play – probably “supporters of the true heir” were not positions we wanted to emphasize just yet.

Dasi – merchant leader.  His knowledge of Minkai made him a natural choice.
Kali – advisor to Dasi.  Having a woman in this role might raise some eyebrows but at this level, it’s likely nobody will raise the issue.
Radella, Ivan, and myself – bodyguards.  Allows us to openly take our weapons most places.
Qatana – spiritual advisor.  While a legitimate position, t made me smile.  I think few merchants have Groetus advising them.

There were armed guards at the gates to this upper crust society, but they were willing to let us in to spend money.

First up was shopping.  We did not yet look the part. Several of us, and I’ll include myself in that, were dismayed at how flamboyant the garb was.

And thankfully, our fine gift for the geisha got us an appointment late the next day.  We could get this all started.

And on a down note, in the late afternoon, Kali quietly announced, using codespeak, that we were being scryed upon again.

Toilday, 28 Desnus

The guards this time were a bit more surly; they seemed reluctant to let us in even with ‘fine garb’ on us.   But Kali figured out that they responded well to 10-15gp in ‘tips’ for their fine work.   At that point, they agreed that we did, in fact, seem fairly harmless.

We had some tea at a tea house while waiting for our appointment.  Kali again pointed out, partway through our tea, that we were being scried upon.  It lasted, she noticed, more than 15 minutes which, she said, made the scrier a pretty powerful mage.

Eventually 5pm rolled around and we, in our garb and in our roles, went to see the geisha.  Dasi tried to gently ease into the topic of a possible heir returning, but he was going too slowly for Qatana who eventually burst out, “we plan to overthrow Sikutsu Sennaka, and Jiro suggested we enlist your help.”  Although this demolished irreparably several layers of protocol, it did get her attention.

She slowly offered that one of her girls, O-siyumi.  Unfortunately, she’s gone missing, and she would like our help in finding and retrieving her.   Sigh.  Everything around here is tit for tat, quid pro quo, and I don’t even understand those words.

Against her better judgement, she may have gone to visit a local pearl merchant on his private island north of here.  He is apparently obsessed with her, which doesn’t bode well.  Strangely, her uncle is some sort of turtle-man … I must admit my mind wandered here and I must have misunderstood.  Perhaps he is a turtle hunter?  Or maybe just very shy (doesn’t ‘come out of his shell’?)

Anyway, tomorrow we will windwalk there and investigate.  We are doing most of the overplanning tonight, the night before, in an effort to be more efficient tomorrow.

Character: Zosimus

Cheerful Reunion

With Kali settled after their quick journey,  Zosimus looks around the the wagon, a smile fixed on his bluish face.  The comforts of home, even for a short while, can rejuvenate the soul.

A quick inventory reveals the caravan could be trusted, all his provisions in place, his boxes and bags unmolested, but most importantly, Mercury in good health.

Settling with the cat, Zosimus’ fingers find the magic place that fills the wagon with the sounds of purring. “It’s good to see you as well, your silly little beast.”

“It has been an unsettling time away from you my little companion.   These are true adventurers and it is both exciting and infuriating at times.”

As the cat settles, a hidden stash of gnome whiskey is retrieved. “Mercury, I am uncertain of the future plans.  I am as much a stranger here as the outsiders, but my grandparents kept our household in the ways of their homelands.  And my blood and flesh fit in here more than any city before. I can see the complex gaze of the locals, my kind seen as near spirit ourselves.” he laughs softly, “I must remember that if I let my guard down I could end up in a cage trapped like a cherished rare bird.”

Looking around the nearly organized shelves decorated in the tools of his trade, his eyes pass over the hidden tools secreted around the lab from a former life. “My grandmother spoke of ninja, and these outsiders have fought him in distant lands. They are a dark and dangerous group but with their own sense of honor. I… am uncertain if this group will engage them correctly. They’ve already broken ranks once, thankfully in front of a forgiving Geisha.  But the ninja.. guards speaking out of turn will be seen as a deception that could undo the negotiations.” he shakes his head,  “If grandmother could see me now Mercury…”

Character: Qatana

Qatana’s Journal for Desnus 25 – 28, 4713

Starday, Desnus 25, 4713 night
The Osogen Grasslands, Jiro’s Fort

I awoke to the enchanting aroma of bacon. It’s really hard to imagine a better way to start the day, and it put me and my friends in a positive frame of mind.

“Just how difficult can it be to restore the rightful heir to the kingdom?” Huffy asked.

Apparently pretty damned hard… and complicated, but we wouldn’t find out about that until later, when Jiro came home.

Ivan used a Sending to contact Ameiko and Jiro to tell them to come to the fort. That’s when we discovered Ameiko was with Jiro hunting bandits. Star nodded her approval, although I could see some disapproving frowns from Olmas and Kali. I heard Ivan mutter something like “she’s not porcelain doll” before stomping off.

I caught up with him later and heard him having a conversation with his wife, and was about to leave when he said, “So for us to stay married I have to become an immortal too?”

And people think some of the conversations with my mice friends are odd.

A horse arrived, riderless, at the fort gates and we let it in. It was still fully tacked up, and we suspected he was a surviver of one of the ronan’s or Hatsue’s attacks. Radella then questioned it about what happened.

Yeah, that’s right: she talked to the horse, but not like the circus acts where the handler asks “How much is two and three” and the horse paws at the ground five times, and then gets a sugar cube. No, she made all sorts of neighing sounds and the horse replied in kind. And then it got a sugar cube.

And people think some of the conversations with my mice friends are odd.

Later Kali and I teleported back to Hatsue’s village to bring Koya and the Great Seal in its warding box back to the fort via Wind Walk. The Seal can’t be moved by extra planar travel, and there was some concern that it would not assume gaseous form, but everything worked out fine.

Soon after we returned Hatsue and her band of merry men arrived arrived at the fort, and a couple of hours later we were joined by Jiro’s party, including Ameiko and Shalelu.

After they all had a chance to clean up, and pee and stuff we led them to the shrine. There we had Ameiko touch the statue, touch the statue while holding the warding box, touch the statue with the warding box, and so on. But none of that worked, and so we did what we wanted to avoid the most: we had Ameiko take the Seal itself out from the box and then touch the statue.

A circle of stone descended into the floor, revealing a shaft with alcoves holding Jiro’s family heirlooms, including another one of the great royal swords.

And then someone was scrying on Ameiko again, and so Kali put up an anti magic field to stop it.

Now Jiro was impressed. He was convinced of Ameiko’s authenticity as a member of the royal family, and of our dedication to return her to the throne.

He laid out a set of goals he thought critical to our mission, each one as intricate and complex as anything we’d done thus far.

First he thought we should get the ninja clans to support us. Well naturally we’d want the ninja clans, but what, is there a ninja clan guild or secret meeting where we could make our case? As it turned out, yes there was. The ninja leaders met in the city of Enganoka every month at the full moon.

Second, we needed to gain the confidence of the geisha houses. Hmm, yes, well, why wouldn’t we? Because tea was good, and whomever had the recipe for the best tea cakes would become empress? I didn’t quite get the details behind this, but Jiro was certain that it was imperative that we had the support of the country’s geishas. Personally I suspect he just wants to hang out with pretty women. Anyway, the center for all things Geisha was in Sakakabe, and the head geisha was called Okuhaku, who ran the most prestigious tea house in the land.

And third, we needed the backing of the military, which was unfortunately controlled by the regional governor, Sikutsu Sennaka, whom rumor has it that he had Okuhaku’s uncle killed. We needed to take him out.

Well this one Star and I liked best, but even we had to admit taking out the head of the regional government would be difficult, and maybe we should complete the other two first. Who knows, maybe the tea cakes really were that good.

We decided to talk to the geisha’s first, and then the ninja clans next (the next full moon was two weeks away). We would use Wind Walk to travel to Sakakabe.

Zos still needed to fetch his alchemy wagon and we needed a safe place to keep our horses while we were array, and the fort seemed like the best place to bring the lot of them. Zos and Kali teleported back to the village and will return next evening.

Sunday, Desnus 26, 4713 night
The Osogen Grasslands, Jiro’s Fort

The day began with a special ceremony with the three captured guards. Jiro was in attendance, as were some of my companions.

I faced them and began,

Jiro has given each of you a choice: leave this cage and serve him faithfully or be executed.

Know that if you chose the former I will cast a powerful spell upon you that, should you stray from the path and fail to serve Jiro by action or inaction then this doom shall befall you.

Each day you betray Jiro by word or deed your limbs will wither, your health will fade, your confidence and ability to think coherently will lessen.

Continue down this path of betrayal and in four days time you will be reduced to a quivering husk, unable to think or move.

These afflictions are permanent and no amount of penitence will restore you.

Do not think to trick the spell by twisting your oath to serve Jiro into meaning anything other following the path he sets before you: to treat others with goodness and generosity. The spell watches over you at all times, and should you think, “By stealing this item or by attacking this person I will be better able to fulfill my oath,” it will turn against you.

However, if you make the second choice, Jiro assures me that your death will be swift and merciful.

Think carefully!

Which shall you chose? A life in faithful service to another, or swift death?

Unsurprisingly all three chose to serve Jiro.

I had them come out from their cage one at a time as I cast Geas on each.

It took about ten minutes to perform one invocation, and for the first two it went as expected, with grey ghostly tendrils extended out from my hands and crawling around them like hundreds of scurrying little mice before dissolving into their clothes.

But for the third casting the lines of mice were cackling daemon faced mice with curved sharp horns and long fangs.

Beorn snickered and I rolled my eyes, but the guard looked shaken, and in a quavering voice asked, “Am I alright? I’m not weaker already? I was just thinking it would be nice to have a warm blanket tonight, and where I could find one, but I wouldn’t be stealing it.” I assured him that he was fine and that he should go and get his blanket.

We knew we did not want to travel with the Seal, and yet leaving it behind was risky as well. In the end Ivan and I found a spot in the cliff wall where using Stone Shape and Wall of Stone were able to secure it nearly twenty feet inside the rock.

Radella and I then crafted a secret door into the shrine and protected it with a Glyph of Warding.

I told Jiro about a lovely waterfall that was up the ravine from the fortress. “It’s called Schweitzer Falls, named after the noted explorer Albert Falls.”

He just stared at me.

“I told you he wouldn’t get it,” scolded Badger. “Oh, just shut up!” Takoda replied.

Zos and Kali arrived with the horses and his wagon. They’re laughing an awful lot together about something. I can only imagine.

Moonday, Desnus 27, 4713 night
Sakakabe

We spent most of the day Wind Walking from Jiro’s place to Sakakabe. We landed just outside the city, and Dasi, Ameiko, Shalelu and Koya went into the city to reconnoiter, make an appointment to meet with Okuhaku for tomorrow, and find a place for us to stay tonight.

Ivan and I followed along in gaseous form, hovering discretely above and out of sight. Everything went well, but they spent an inordinate amount of time shopping. Not just for the “special gift” we would be expected to give to Okuhaku when we met the next day, but shopping for all sorts of frilly crap.

When we returned to the clearing I discovered that all of the frilly crap was actually clothing. Honestly it was gaudy and impractical and I was having none of it. My black trousers, white(ish) top and grey cloak were good enough for any occasion. And besides, I was posing as a guard.

The plan was to enter the city with us posing as merchants and employees of the merchants.

We entered the city and made our way up to the top, inner most circle, where we met a little resistance from the guards at the gate. Kali caught on really quickly and bribed them. We passed through and onto our inn.

Toilday, Desnus 28, 4713 evening
Sakakabe

What a day! We spent most of the morning selling our stash of loot and shopping. But this time we were looking for useful items. We have been upgrading Ameiko’s and Shalelu’s equipment ever since we came down from the Crown of the World, and we continued to do so today. It is apparent that neither Ameiko nor Shalelu are content to stand by and let us “take back the crown” for her.

This also brought up the delicate question of what to do for Koya. She may have a fiery spirit, but she has the constitution of a ginger bread man.

Fortunately while wandering the streets of Sakakabe we came across a temple to Desna, and Koya expressed a desire to “visit for a while.” I suspect she knew we were worried about her safety and chose the temple as a place to stay while we were out doing dangerous things.

We spent lunch at a tea house — not the tea house, but a nice one none the less. And then there was more scrying upon Ameiko. We simply got quiet. Unlike Status, the Scrying spell does not give the location of the subject. You only see the immediate surroundings of who you are scrying on, and Ameiko was in a tea house. There’s probably only ten thousand or so tea houses in all of Minkai.

We purchased more supplies and then it was time for our appointment with Okuhaku.

The tea house where we ate lunch was nice, but this place was over the top grand. We were greeted and seated, and our gift accepted. O-hakami then joined us and asked why we wanted to speak with her.

I sat there, nibbling a tea cake, as Dasi began to explain how we were allied with governor Sikutsu Sennaka and were…

Wait? Really? Didn’t he kill Okuhaku’s uncle? Weren’t we supposed to overthrow him? Maybe someone had possessed Dasi! Maybe it was something in the tea cakes! I dropped mine onto the plate with a loud clink, and leaned over to Dasi, “Are we here on behalf of the governor? It sure sounds like it from what you’re saying, and Okuhaku looks a little tense.”

Dasi’s eyes lit up in realization of how what he had been saying could be misconstrued. Cool. I left him to it and picked up my tea cake.

I snapped out of a daze some quarter of an hour later to Beorn’s insistent hissing, “Is he ever going to get to the point?”

I looked around and noticed that Dasi was still in the act of exchanging pleasantries with Okuhaku. “For crying out loud,” moaned Beorn, we’re going to be here all night.”

“Excuse me, ” I said out loud, “Sorry for interrupting, but we plan to overthrow Sikutsu Sennaka, and Jiro suggested we enlist your help.”

There was a moment of silence, but then Okuhaku warmed right up to us and became very helpful.

She was sure her very best geisha, O-sayum, would be of immeasurable help to us. (Exactly how, she never said. Seriously this must be a Tien thing with geishas and tea houses providing critical aid in overthrowing governments.)

The problem is that O-sayum was missing. She had left to meet with a tea house client, known as “the pearl merchant,” whom she didn’t like, and whom had obsessed over her for years, and whom she always stayed away from because he gave off a desperate, creepy old man vibe. But all of a sudden, maybe a week or two back, she announced she was meeting him on his private island for a day. She left and they have not heard from her since. The “pearl merchant” insisted she had never arrived.

We searched her room and met her friend, and found an interesting ivory box, which we discovered she had a local artist craft for her. The artisan had left his mark on the base, and so after Ivan tried to scry on the missing O-sayum (the spell worked, but he saw only darkness) we went to visit him.

At the artist’s studio we found out that O-sayum was friends with an old turtle-man, whom she called her uncle.

“How do you get a turtle-man?” Huffy asked. Pookie replied, “When a man loves a turtle very much…” “Quiet, Pook!” I snapped.

Dasi said the turtle thing must be kappa, a mystical beast of Minkai that lived in the rivers.

The artist agreed, and said O-sayum had also ordered a vase containing several items, which she never picked up. It turned out these were the very things needed to summon a kappa up from his home when you stood on his river’s bank.

There was a river about seventy miles to the northwest where her kappa was supposed to live, and we decided to visit him tonight.

Toilday, Desnus 28, 4713 night
Jikko River

We used Wind Walk to fly up the coast, and as we approached the mouth of the Jikko river we saw an island wrapped in darkness and mists just off the coast. We realized that it must be the “pearl merchant’s” island. Huh.

We landed on the bank, and beneath the limbs of a huge magnolia tree placed the essential salts into the water and called out to the kappa.

There was a great swirl of eddies out in the river, followed by a loud splash as a large turtle rose up out from the water and climbed upon the shore on two legs.

The kappa was very friendly and yes, of course he knew of O-sayum: he was her uncle after all. Wouldn’t we like to go to his home and talk?

And so here we are, somewhere beneath the river in a dome shaped structure made of rock and mud, talking with an ancient turtle-man.

We learned that years ago O-sayum’s mother was fleeing from an evil dark wizard — “Just once I wish it was an evil light wizard,” McLovin said, but we all ignored him — with her infant daughter. The wizard killed the mother, who had tossed her baby into the river, where the kappa rescued her and raised her until she was old enough to move to Sakakabe and be a geisha.

But the dark wizard was obsessed over finding the daughter. “He lives on the island right off the shore from here. He is powerful in the magics of darkness and air.”

Right. He’s the pearl merchant. I guess I know where we’re heading next.

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal – Desnus 25 – 26, 4713

Desnus 25, 4713 (late afternoon, Seinaru Heikiko)

Sandru is leaving. This is not really a surprise: he was hired to get us all here, and now that job is done. He and Ameiko are very close friends, but he still has a business to run and taking up arms in a revolution was never part of the plan. Bevelek and Vankor certainly didn’t sign up for it, either, and they are eager to get back to their family.

Their return trip should be a lot easier. There are no crazed disciples of Sitthud commanding winter storms, no armies of the dead, and no enraged white dragons standing between here and Avistan. On top of that, he’ll be crossing the Crown at the proper time of year. To accomplish the latter, though, he has to leave now. It will take over a month just to reach the Pass, and he needs to be on the ice by the middle of Erastus. That doesn’t leave him much time to prepare, provision, and hire any help he’ll need to get safely across.

The finality of the caravan departing is sinking in. For nearly a year it’s been about the journey, but now we are here and there is no more going back. I mean, we could, but we’d either have to leave the Seal behind us or run away with what we can carry. Neither option is particularly attractive much less realistic, so here we are.

It took only an instant for Qatana and I to return to Jiro’s camp. Heading back here took a little longer because we needed to bring the Seal, and that meant relying on Qatana’s spells. And then we had to explain to Olmas why Ameiko wasn’t with us (which didn’t take very long, but sure felt a whole hell of a lot longer).

What can I say? She’s not going to just sit quietly in her room while everyone else goes outside to play. She’s an adult and capable of making her own decisions. If she’s going to build support among the people here, then she’s going to have to demonstrate that she’s worthy of it. The Seal can only prove her claim—it can’t rally people to the cause, or instill them with morale. And establishing trust with Jiro before he knows who she is does make a certain kind of sense. The impact of the Big Reveal, assuming this all works, will be that much greater when it happens.

That being said, we need to rein this in. Ambushing second-rate bandits on horseback is one thing, but some of the filth we get mired in goes way beyond that. Ameiko can’t claim the throne if she’s dead, and there are some forms of “dead” that can’t easily be undone. If she’s going to take risks, then we need to make sure they are measured ones.

Fortunately for us, and for Olmas, wiping out the raiding parties seemed to go off without a hitch. We had this elaborate plan in case any of those bandit teams made it back to the fortress, but ultimately we could have skipped all that work and just slept in, instead. Literally one horse returned. One. It was scratched up a bit but it had obviously fared better than its missing rider, whose blood was all over the saddle. Radella used a spell to talk to it (the horse, not the saddle) and we learned the raiding party had fallen afoul of ether Jiro or Hatsue. Just to be certain, Dasi used one of those creepy spells of his on the rider’s blood and got much the same information, only with a lot more attitude.

It’s been several hours and this whole place still smells like bacon. This is what happens when you put Ivan in the kitchen. Not that I am complaining about the food, but gods, that smell lingers.

(evening, Seinaru Heikiko)

We needed to use the Seal. Obviously this was not a surprise but we weren’t really eager to pull it out and start waving it around. I mean, sure, it’s not a beacon or anything. It doesn’t actively alert people that it’s out of the box, but if anyone associated with the Five Storms happened to be looking for it at the exact same time then we’d be standing in the center of a giant bullseye.

How likely is that? We don’t know. A few months ago I’d be skeptical that anyone would spend the resources to search for it day and night, every day for months on end, but now that we’re sitting in their back yard? If it was me, I’d try my damnedest to make it happen. I can only assume they’d do the same. So, it was a huge risk and literally no one was comfortable with the idea. We spent quite a bit of time, in fact, grasping at straws for ways to avoid it, but we were just delaying the inevitable. The vault would not open no matter what Ameiko tried. It wanted a scion in possession of the Seal, and nothing short of that combination would do.

We had a long talk about the right way to do this. The worst thing that could happen would be that we’d find ourselves in the middle of small army of oni, so the idea was to prevent that from happening. With the right spells, they could see the room we were in and teleport straight to it, so we had to make that as difficult and unlikely as possible. Fortunately, I have already fallen into the daily routine of preparing a spell to detect this sort of scrying , and I prepared a spell that suppresses all magic (including my own!). These two together were about as effective a defense as I could prepare. Just to be safe, though, everyone readied themselves for a fight. Olmas even set Suishen ablaze. I am sure this did not make Jiro or Hatsue nervous at all.

That advanced planning may even have saved us. When Ameiko touched the statue with the Seal, the floor in the center of the room slowly sank down into a hidden vault. And within seconds, my spell alerted me to magical sight, focused somewhere in the room. I immediately cast my next spell, and all the magic around us when dark. Save for Suishen, whose flames continued to burn inside the field. I remember thinking, That’s interesting.

When my spell expired, the scrying was gone.

Jiro has pledged his service to Amatatsu Ameiko. Seeing that vault open, and finding his family’s ancestral weapon inside, were proof that he was in the presence of an heir to the throne (in fact he was in the presence of six of them, but we decided not to muddy the issue). I got the sense he had been waiting for a moment like this for a good part of his adult life, and it had finally arrived.

Building a rebellion, however, is going to be a lot harder than knocking two statues together. The good news is, the Jade Regent is as terrible a ruler as he is a person and that gives us a significant opening. He’s relying on brute strength to take and hold the throne since he knows he does not have a legitimate claim. A significant piece of his military is a private army that he calls the Typhoon guard, and of course armies, private or otherwise, must be paid. This has resulted in a plague of surplus taxes, and the internal strife in general has strained Minkai’s relationship with other nations in Tian Xia.

As Jiro sees it, Ameiko needs the support of the nobility, the military, and to some extent, the criminal underground to take advantage of this situation. Testing that theory through concrete action is, of course, the rub.

First, the nobility. Merchants are the key to Minkai’s economy, and Minkai’s souring diplomatic relations are putting a damper on trade. That, in turn, is driving Minkai into a recession which is clearly not endearing the government to anyone. The ruling class, in the mean time, is dealing with the additional tax burden, which they are either soaking up or passing on to their subjects.

The geisha of Minkai have some influence with the merchant clans (or guilds, or whatever they are called here), and political influence inside the nobility in general. Jiro suggests that this is the best way to start. There’s a renowned tea house in Sakakabe owned by a particularly notable geisha named O-Kohaku. It turns out, her uncle was the governor of Kasai…before the Jade Regent had him killed. We’d have to be outright incompetent to not get her as an ally.

As for the military, they see the Jade Regent’s private army as direct rivals if not an outright threat. This also means more political rivals for the military, all vying for leverage inside the government. Officers who once found themselves in positions of power may be seeing their influence wane as the Typhoon Guard takes their place.

Convincing the military to turn against the government in an honor-bound society, however, is tricky business. Before they will take any such step there needs to be a crack in the dam, and that crack takes the shape of the local daimyo in the north, Sikutsu Sennaka. Already locally famous for allowing these bandits to prosper, Sennaka has other wonderful qualities, such as using blackmail, intimidation, violence, and outright cruelty to maintain his authority, and using his power to bully the neighboring provinces. Cutting that thread may be the catalyst we need to bring at least part of the military on board.

The underground is the one that worries me most because I am not convinced they would be reliable support. One would, in fact, think that a corrupt government works to their advantage. Jiro, however, has suggested that the ninja clans may be sympathetic to a regime change; they have their own sense of honor and, morality aside, the Jade Regent’s government may be something of an affront to their principles. The theory is, even if we can’t get them to side with us, we might be able to convince them to not get involved at all. To do that, we need to travel to Enganoka where representatives of three of the more powerful clans gather every month during the new moon. It is one of the few times you can meet with them to discuss matters more complicated than hiring them for their “services” (and I am sure I don’t want to know what those include).

Of course, we’ve had some experience with ninjas that makes me skeptical of all of this, and I said as much to Jiro. We explained about Kimandatsu, the Frozen Shadows, and of course our good times in Ordu-Aganhei. Hatsue turned to Jiro and said, “Oni Mask?”

As you might guess, anything with the word “oni” in it gets our attention.

There are many ninja clans within in Minkai, but over the years four of them have risen to a level of prominence: the Black Lotus, the Dragonshadow, the Ruby Crypt, and the Emerald Branch (which is more of a vigilante group). About 80 years ago, however, a new clan emerged and quickly rose to the same heights through a string of ruthless assassinations and a penchant for targeting government officials. They call themselves the Oni’s Mask. The more he talked, the more it sounded like an extension of the Five Storms and of course the timing was right, both for the oni’s campaign against the royal families of Minkai and the appearance of the Frozen Shadows in Kalsgard shortly thereafter.

And let’s not forget the telltale sign of the Five Storms: the painfully obvious name, “Oni’s Mask”. Only the Five Storms could come up with something so dumb.

Where does all of this leave us? The new moon is two weeks away, and we’re obviously not ready to launch an assault on the daimyo, so that means starting with door number one.

(night, Seinaru Heikiko)

Hatsue is a sohei of Irori. That took me by surprise. I tried to talk to her about it since we had some common ground, but she was a bit more focused on the sales pitch for coming back to his church than just talking. Honestly, I think this was my fault. I inadvertently made the conversation about me which is pretty disingenuous.

That little faux pas aside, this explains her rather intense (some might say “fanatical”) devotion to her deity. It probably also explains why Ivan’s infatuation with her soured quickly. He wanted to learn a little bit about Irori, but Hatsue doesn’t do “a little bit”. It’s like asking Qatana about Groetus, only less disturbing.

Desnus 26, 4713 (mid-day, Osogen Grasslands)

Zosimus and I are heading back to Seinaru Heikiko again. Yes, I said “again”. Zosi needs his wagon, and with Sandru leaving we had to bring it back ourselves. Technically, Zosi doesn’t need me for that, of course, but teleporting there shaved a day off of the round trip time which was in everyone’s best interest.

I could have just teleported back, but making him travel alone didn’t seem wise, or polite. And, in all honesty, I was interested in spending the day in his alchemy lab. It’s a little cramped, but there is no shortage of stuff to look at, and it’s another opportunity to let him rifle through my spellbook for whatever he can adapt to alchemical formulas. We just need to take turns up top to make sure the wagon is still headed in the correct direction.

We’re being pulled by an animated gorgon. The gorgon we killed back in the House of Withered Blossoms. It’s more than a little unsettling, and for all appearances we have blurred the line between hero and villain, but in a way this works to our advantage. Who is going to walk up to an armored wagon being pulled by the animated corpse of a gorgon? You’d have to be out of your damned mind.

We were both up top for a while, just talking about random things when he asked me out of the blue, “Have you ever died?”

It’s not the kind of question you’d typically ask in polite conversation, but we’ve been together long enough now that this is the sort of thing that passes for normal.

“Never, but there were times I thought I might.” I sensed he was looking for more, so I said, “I was knocked unconscious once. When I was younger. I was told I had a concussion.”

“What was that like?”

“I…I don’t remember a lot of it. When I came to, I had no sense of time and couldn’t put names with faces. I was hit very, very hard.” The way he had asked was all very clinical which made me uncomfortable. And I really didn’t like talking about it, anyway. “I…don’t really like talking about it.”

I was better conversation than this one moment, honest. But it’s what stands out.

Character: Dasi

Dasi’s Haikus

Guardian Kami
Eight in number and name
Advisors or Lords?

Patience or Power
Mutually exclusive til
Costly wisdom learned

Emperor or Bard
Does she have it in her soul
to find the path tween

One ends, one begins
Many go on, some spin in place
Personal Journeys

Character: Ivan

Ivan’s journal: Why are the gods doing this?

I believe that today the gods were trying to teach me a lesson. I am just not sure I know what the lesson was supposed to be. I have never really thought about traveling to other planes but in light of what has unfolded I shouldn’t be surprised if I suddenly end up on another plane. I need to buy more attuned forked for as many planes as I can find. I will likely run into people trying to get back so I should take some extra ones for the material plane.

I just can’t wrap my head around it all. I don’t even no where to start looking. How can you search for something if you don’t know what you are looking for? I tried to get Dasi or Kali to help but they seemed confused by the questions.

Sitting staring out the window a face suddenly appeared nose to nose with me. The familiar green eyes of Remi sparkled as she said “Hey were are going to cheer you up”. I was pulled into the kitchen area to help them prepare food. These previously timid women seemed to be more comfortable being themselves around at least me as I suddenly have 7 bosses. You know you can never get it right when you have 7 bosses slapping your hand when you don’t prepare it the way they want. Yea I admit that it took me awhile to break out of the fog and realize that they were just doing it to cheer me up. Hanging around them reminded me that things are not that bad.

Hatsue arrived and I took her to meet the women. When I asked what to do about these women she said “either death or some form of poetic justice”. What the hell. Well it appears that Hatsue was more concerned with the raiders then these women. Somehow she thought I was talking about the raiders even though we were standing near the women. Luckily I don’t think they heard Hatsue. When I asked Hatsue about the women for a moment it looked like she was going to express anger about them being abused but that look quickly faded. Maybe she was just pretending to care just to make it look good. Apparently common folk are beneath her as she did not give any appearances that she cared one way or the other.

I learned that she is a follower of Irori. I told her about this irori thing but once she found out I was not a devoted follower of Irori I was no better than the common folk that she sees as beneath her. The fact that she was passionate that the ronin should have killed the Daimyo and then himself shows she can be passionate but it seems as if the fate of common folk are not worthy of her time. I have no reason or willingness to talk with Hatsue any further. She seems to get along with Kali but that is not surprising as Kali continually strives to become one of those important people in the world. Too bad most of them just walk on the backs of others to get ahead.

Irori if you are listening then I shouldn’t have to tell you the obvious. I am not exactly sure what you really wanted from me but I think it might be better if you found someone else push your agenda forward. It is just a thought but maybe you should use one of your devoted followers. I have heard those that claim to be good to use the phrase “for the greater good” as justification so you should be able to manipulate your followers with the same justification. Why is it that you don’t have faith in your own followers?

Zosi when to get his wagon so I had a couple of days to enchant Dasi’s armor. I just told Dasi to pay me when he has the money. No more strange conversations over the last couple of days. I can’t figure out if the two things are related but I don’t see how they could be related. Unless Hatsue has talent for planer travel I just can’t see any way that these are linked and I definitely wouldn’t take her with me to another plane.

We made it to the city of Sakakabe and the first thing we have to do pretend to be upper class. Qatana refused the clothes and found her own clothes. Going from a black to a grey is a big step for Qatana but she still looked out of place compared to the rest of us.

Kali has been getting really freaked out about someone scrying on Ameiko. She keeps saying someone is going to teleport to us and that we have to hide. I wonder if it wouldn’t just be better to let them teleport to us so that we can deal with it. Ameiko seems to be tired of playing the baby doll and looks to be ready to join in on the fight. A leader that just hides until the danger is over does not deserve to be the ruler. If she dies and resurrection doesn’t work then she was not meant to be the ruler.

We had some time today so I got some shopping done. The first weapons shop was mostly empty except for a middle aged man who was trying to decide which dagger to buy. He had small paintings of his daughter and son in-law that he was setting next to the daggers to see which one would look best. The price they agreed upon was why too high and I noticed that his weapons were more for show. I decided to try another shop.

The next shop had exactly what I was looking for. The shop keeper was very helpful and I didn’t have to wait for some rich guy to figure out which overpriced daggers to buy. I actually spent more time showing his 13 year old twins Shachi and Tashasho the how to properly use a shortbow than I did shopping. His wife showed up and immediately started sharing the latest gossip. When she took notice of me she introduced herself as  Yukarumiko and continued with the gossip without missing a beat. So besides getting my purchases I now have some useless information on the latest gossip. I realized that the shop keeper never had a chance to introduce himself.

Next was the magic shop which was empty save for a hooded woman barking out the things from her list to the two shop keepers? The shop keepers a man and a woman were hastily bring ingredients out from the back room and placing them on the counter for their customer to inspect.

I walked up to the woman and said “Those are interesting ingredients”

Still looking at the ingredients on the counter the Woman said “It’s none of your business. By your looks you are just here to find some brutal new weapon”

I replies “Nope I am here to look through the tuning forks for planer travel”

She turned towards me and said “Wait, what. Did you really say planer travel?”

I Replied “Yes of course”

The woman barks out “You there girl bring the tuning forks for planer travel”

Without hesitation the shop keeper dashed off and returned moments later with a box full of the tuning forks for planner travel.  She introduced herself as Midori and pulled back her hood to reveal the scars on her face. For the next hour or so we sorted through the box of forks making sure to set aside the forks that I did not already have. As I put aside a new fork Midori would describe with great detail information about the plane for that fork. I am not exactly sure why she was so enthusiastic about planner travel but having someone help me sort through the tuning forks made the job a lot easier

I asked about the scars and Midori said “One of my alchemy projects didn’t go as I planned.”

Midori looked at me and barked out “I suppose you are going to be like my father telling me that a woman should know her place in the world. And that these scars are not becoming of a lady.”

I simply replied with “Sounds like to me that you have already found your own place in the world and I find the swirling of those scars a little mesmerizing”

Midori replied “I know another shop that might have more tuning forks”

I followed Midori through the streets to the seconds shop. We found a couple of additional tuning forks that I did not already have.  Midori talked about how she would love to travel to the plane of air and see one of the metal spheres in person.

Midori wanted next to go to the tavern for drinks and more discussion on planner travel but I told her it would have to wait for another day as my companions were waiting for me. I also told her that I may not be in town long but when I get back we can have that drink.

I made my way through the streets and back to the others. It occurred to me that the gods must have known that both Midori and I must have needed someone to talk with and forget about our own troubles. It is clear that I am never going to find the one plane tuning fork that I need.

The strangeness of the day continued as we met with O-Kohaku. O-Kohaku is a geisha that owns a teahouse in the city that is supposedly very upper class. I found Qatana’s tone and aggression towards O-Kohaku a little bit creepy. I know that is who she is but I noticed back at the fort that Remi and the others seemed a little uncomfortable around her. We were lucky that O-Kohaku did not take exception to someone in the role of a servant speaking to her in that tone.

Ok what the hell is with all of these followers of Irori? Now we find out that the wise Kappa is also a follower of Irori. Kali acts as if this is really impressive but if the followers of Irori were so impressive then why are they allowing the Oni to control their country. We also learned that the woman we are searching for spent time at the monastery of Irori as an orphan.  Kappa seems to talk in riddles so I will just let Dasi and Kali talk with him.

I have decided it might be time to start moving on. Shalelu was in need of armor so I gave Qatata the mithril chainshirt back to her so she could give it to Shalelu. I don’t really need this armor anymore so it makes since to give it to someone who can use it.

For now dealing with the Oni is something that needs to be done, I am still not sure about this Jade regent stuff.