Category Archives: Journal Entries

Journal entries for the Jade Regent campaign

May 25th, 2019


May 11th, 2019

Character: Olmas

Annals of the Order of the Dragon

as told by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia himself.

Sunday, 16 Sarenith

The battles aren’t getting any easier, and there’s only so much more I can do with my armor.  So I asked Zos to make me two potions of displacement, which should only cost me 375gp each in ingredients.  Seems like a good investment.

We are heading into the spider’s lair, but Hatsui has volunteered to scout ahead.  Not only is she familiar with the city, she believes she can contact Asachi (the sympathizer) and provide a safe place within the city from which we can base our operations.  Because make no mistake, this will not be a sightseeing visit.  I’ve a hunch that once we enter the city, we will not be leaving until Ameiko is sitting on the throne, or we are dead.

We will be traveling by windwalk and only using teleport in a pinch (Kali can’t teleport anyplace we haven’t been so we can only teleport back, not forward), so this will be a multi-stop trip.  We’ll go as far as we can the first day, and then probably need a few more hours to get to Akafuto.  We know we can move from Akafuto to Kasai in well under a day, so the plan is for Ivan and Hatsui to scout ahead and then we’ll wait until they have a safe place for us all to arrive – and probably a safe method as well.  While there aren’t any Wanted posters out, I have to imagine the equivalent notice has been given throughout Kasai in some manner.  Hatsui, as a Minkai native and frequent visitor to Kasai, has the best chance of showing up by conventional means and not triggering an alarm.

Moonday, 17 Sarenith

Today was almost entirely a travel day, as we went almost as far as we dared on windwalk.  Knowing pretty precisely the spell’s duration, we started looking for a small village at about 8pm or so and reconstituted outside one by 9pm.  We walked into the village like ordinary travellers, but of course, our little troupe hardly looks like ordinary travellers 🙂   Still, our reputation did not precede us, and Dasi set about trying to discern what the attitude here was towards the Jade Regent.  Not surprisingly, they are happy they’re not in Kasai, and they’ve also adapted to a largely subsistence level of living.  They are neither happy not unhappy – the attitude seems to be “it sure could be worse.”  There are vague rumors from the north about a true heir arriving, but such stories have been heard before and they are given very little credence.  Equally, there were also stories from the south, warning of such inane rumors, and the net effect was a collective shrug.

Toilday, 18 Sarenith

Knowing it wasn’t that far to Akafuto, we didn’t leave the village until afternoon. This gave Dasi and Kali tme to give some musical and dance performances reminiscent of the old emperors and better times.  The village seemed to enjoy their performances.  I noticed a child looking at me both a bit fearfully and curiously, and I knelt down next to him. I smiled.

“These are exciting stories, aren’t they?”

The boy nodded.

I glanced at who I assumed were his parents and they nodded as if to say it was ok to continue talking.  “Do you have a weapon of your own?”

He shook his head.  Well, of course not – this was a farming community.  I toyed with the idea of giving him an ordinary dagger as a token, but then thought his parents might not appreciate that.  I wanted for the village to remember this visit, that someday they might tell stories of how the supporters of the rightful heir had come through – wait, that’s it!  “Would you like to see my sword?”

His eyes big, he nodded.

I slowly drew out Suishen, and the boy looked at it.  The boy was taller than the katana was long, but not by a whole lot.  As he involuntarily reached a bit towards the sword, I said to him, “Wait …” and I told Suishen to light the fire.   There was an audible gasp from him and he looked at me.  “This is an ancient sword,” I said.  “It was around when some of the stories you heard today actually happened.”

Glancing around I saw I had more than the boy’s attention now, including several members of my own party who looked very judgemental for some reason.  “It has seen many battles and even now, it would like to see an Amatatsu back on the throne.  It is probably too heavy for you to lift safely today, but perhaps one day you may see this sword again and remember it.  It takes a brave man to fight for a cause on principle,” I said in a moment of gravitas.

And then Suishen kinda sorta ruined it by adding “and it takes a great sword too” and from the look on the boy’s face, I could tell he had heard it too.  He hastily backed away, his eyes huge.  Nobody else seemed to react so I knew Suishen had spoken only to him and to me, insuring that this night would indeed be memorable to the lad, and possibly scarring.  Wait – the look on my companions’ faces suggested they too had heard it.  Sigh.  I gave a Varisian coin to the boy and said, “Here is a coin I obtained in a land many months of travel from here.  Thank you for talking with me.  It has been a pleasure.”  The boy took the coin but his eyes never left the sword – no longer flaming and once again silent.

I resheathed Suishen.  I should have seen that one coming.

Although we waited until afternoon, we were only going to Akafuto  Hatsui and Ivan left early as they were going all the way to Kasui.  Plan was to wait for the word from Ivan that things were ready and then the rest of us would follow.

But that was a fail almost from the beginning.  Hatsui materialized outside the city and walked through the northern gate.  THAT was not a problem.  But Ivan planned to hover over her and see if she had attracted anybody following her or even just watching intently. But suddenly he was surrounded by dancing lights and three archers announced for him to descend immediately.

Knowing that it takes nearly a half minute to full materialize from windwalk, and being able to imagine what might happen to him during that time and immediately after, he instead chose to immediately end the spell.  That made him materialize instantly and fall to the ground – cushioned by his feather fall.  His next action was to use his Word of Recall to return immediately to the fortress, leaving some surprised guards and a bemused Hatsui behind.

And for our part, Zos looked startled and sad, “Ivan’s at the fort.”  About the same time, Kali got a message from Ivan that said, simply, I’m ok but at the fort now, come get me.  Kali was a bit surprised but did that, and upon returning with him, we got the full story.  “Windwalking into the city is not a good idea,” concluded Ivan.

Meanwhile, in Akafuto, Dasi again wandered through the town, chatting and making casual conversation, discerning the mood of the town.  Akafuto was considerably larger than the last village; n fact, I’d venture to say it’s one of the larger cities we’ve encountered (although presumably Kasai is larger still).  The overall attitude was similar to that of the village, but the word on Kasai was more specific: unofficially, visitors are viewed with suspicion.  It’s very close to martial law.  (From the body language, I got the impression that “very close” may have been an attempt to water down the news.)  This is a relatively recent development – within the week – so I suspect our recent activities might have had something to do with the Regent tightening his hold.

We asked about going by boat, but the heightened security would make our arrival no more secret, and it would still take a while to get passage and arrive.

An important detail that Dasi learned was that the Regent would never approve of a new ruler which had not received the blessing of the ancestors.  Now I suspect the Regent really could care less, but the public perception is likely similar.  This suggests that a “legitimate” obstacle to the coup is receiving this approval, and I fully expect that the Regent is going to put obstacles up to impede that goal.  If we fail, he will get more of the populace on his side.

We again arranged for a performance – a little more formally than in the village, but the up side of that is that we actually got a discount on our rooms in trade.

Wealday, 19 Sarenith

The plan has been to head to Kasai, Hatsui permitting.  Ivan contacted her and she said she was with Marika, who knows Asachi, the contact we’ll eventually meet.  We are ready to enter the city.  Once we are settled and safe, we’ll retrieve Ameiko via teleport.

Because of the martial law, we expected there to be be more guards than we’d like.  We planned to disguise ourselves mundanely, and because he’s likely to be recognized, I put away Suishen when we entered the city.

We entered without incident, although the guards appeared to be looking more closely at the women than the men.  Clearly the word is out that the heir is female; they may have even developed images.

Shortly after entering the city, however, we witnessed an incident that reminded me of the market incident.  A citizen was accosted by a guard,, and accused of being a rebel.  After she seemingly “confessed”, they dragged her off.  It seemed contrived, but for now secrecy is more important and nobody took action.  Citizens simply looked away.

Following Hatsui’s directions, we headed into town. We finally met Asachi Isao, who took us quickly from our meeting place to a more secure and private place in a more affluent part of town.  Like most towns, the affluent are afforded less government interference and while we’re not by any means safe, we are safer.

Our benefactor is not just a sympathizer … he’s an old family friend.  Apparently he quietly took possession of most of the estate and is now not only a supporter, but also a source of finances should we need them.  He has, at his disposal, many family heirlooms and belongings that he can sell to raise cash.

Ameiko was retrieved, via Kali, and got to meet a person who knew her great grandfather.  She took that well.

And after being briefed on the situation in the city, she has decided that food for the starving takes precedence over meeting the ghosts of emperors past.  So we are scouting out the city granary, to see if it is feasible to liberate the rice.   We will need help from the populace if we succeed in breaking it open but Asachi believes he has sufficient contacts within the resistance to make that happen.  Now to solve the small problem of breaking in when there are all these guards and the invisible oni flying overhead.  We believe some of the seemingly decorative statues may in fact be enchanted constructs that are guarding the building.  Since they seem to be made of stone (marble I think) we have purchased two adamantium katanas which may better be able to attack them.  This isn’t looking to be easy …

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal, Sarenith 16 – 19, 4713

Sarenith 16, 4713 (night, Seinaru Heikiko)

We’ve put our trip to Kasai off a day so that we could celebrate tonight with Jiro’s army. I was a little too anxious for a party, but we needed to be seen along with Ameiko so I stuck it out until people stopped caring about who was where and then called it a night. Of course privacy is close to impossible here especially with half the countryside still living in the back yard, but any change from throngs of people was a big improvement.

This whole celebration thing feels premature to me. Yes, we repelled a fairly significant attack, but all the Jade Regent has to do is send another oni or two up here after we’re gone and Jiro will be doing more than repairing the gate. Of course, the theory everyone is working under is that the Jade Regent cares about the more immediate problem which is us, not this place—the ramblings of the atamahuta oni implied as much (there are so many kinds of oni it’s like bird watching; someone should write a book)—and it’s not like he has an unlimited supply of heavyweights to throw at it, but I can’t help but worry. One skirmish is not the war. It’s not wise to celebrate too much until after it’s over and you know you’ve won. Gods know plenty of the villains in this saga have gloated to our faces only to learn that they were horribly, terribly, and fatally wrong.

This business in Kasai seems premature, too. Everything we’ve done up here in the north has been about building Ameiko’s support slowly and carefully, allowing the rebellion to grow organically. What’s the point of all that if we end up racing towards a confrontation with the Jade Regent now? Yes, I know the goal here is to get some blessing from the past emperors of Minkai, however that works, but Kasai is right there. Once we’re in the city, will it be so easy to leave if it is as bad off as we’ve been led to believe? And if my suspicions are correct and the Jade Regent has laid a trap for us on the island, what then? Our arrival is not going to be something we can hide.

I realize we don’t have unlimited time, but the Enganoka province is still in turmoil, and Sakakabe isn’t faring much better. Wouldn’t it make sense to wait for things to settle down?

Sarenith 17, 4713 (night, Kurozawa)

We spent the day sailing on the wind over Minkai, the rippling hills, farms, and lush grasslands of the north giving way to the forest and marshes along the Tagiryu River. The Kyojin Mountains grew taller and more rugged with every mile. One could almost mistake this place for Elysium. All problems vanish given enough distance.

We haven’t traveled in this manner since Qatana left. I can’t help but wonder how she is doing, and what journey she is on with her new companions. I also can’t help but wonder how they are coping, as she is so much worse now than she was when we began and they don’t have the benefit of experience to help them out. Almost reflexively, I tried to imagine what it must be like for them to be…contained to a ship with her at sea, and then I realized I more or less already knew: the caravan across the Crown was little different, just longer, colder, and almost certainly less comfortable.

She said she would check in from time to time, and that I was welcome to do the same. I eventually will, assuming we live long enough, but it’s too soon to do it now. For one, she needs time to adjust and settle (as do we), and for two, with our accelerated schedule we can’t really afford to engage in personal indulgences. So that will have to wait. The stories will be more interesting later, anyway.

We’re not far from Akafuto, which is tomorrow’s port of call. We couldn’t travel that far in one day, so we needed a layover and chose the first substantial village we saw as we passed into the heart of the province.

Hatsue is traveling with us. She’s been to Kasai before and is pretty sure she can help us make contact with the resistance movement. And I can’t believe I actually wrote those words; it reads like something from bad community theater. But regardless of how paltry it sounds, that is what it is and it is help we can use.

We’re taking a slower route from this point on—visiting Akafuto for sure, and possibly another village or two in order to get a feel for the people and the politics—so Hatsue and Ivan are headed directly to Kasai tomorrow morning. Why her and Ivan? She needs him for the spell we used to travel here today, and also because I think he has a crush on her.

And I can’t believe I actually wrote those words, either.

Sarenith 18, 4713 (Kurozawa, late afternoon)

Kurozawa is close enough to Akafuto not be insular but far enough away to have its own identity, and that made it nearly perfect for getting a little information on what people know of events both up north and down south. That being said, no one was particularly forthcoming when it came to the subject of Kasai so it took a bit of gentle coaxing from Dasi. The most telling comment of the day was, “At least we are up north where we’re free.”

To warm the village up to us, Dasi and I put on a few performances, mostly music and dancing inspired by stories of the old emperors. It’s the sort of thing that people love; the old stories are always the best stories (which is obstensibly why they have endured for centuries). It is also a subtle way of reminding people how the empire used to be, and how different it is now.

Rumors of an heir up north—the real north, not the relative-to-Kasai north—have made it this far but, in what was far from a surprise, no one really believes them. So Olmas chose to make a bit of a splash by calling attention to Suishen and its status as an Amatatsu ancestral weapon. (As a side point, we need to talk to him about the best way to start this sort of conversation. Talking to a young child then asking them if they wanted to “see his sword” lacked prudence.) Suishen, for once, actually supported that by calling attention to himself. (As another side point, we need to talk to Suishen about that, too. Scaring the shit of a young child that isn’t expecting a talking sword lacked common sense.)

I had to go pick up Ivan at, of all places, the fortress. The plan was for him to meet us in Akafuto, but that plan did not survive even five minutes in Kasai. He and Hatsue were both okay, but to quote Ivan, “Wind walking into Kasai is a bad idea.” After dropping Hatsue off so that she could enter the city on two feet like a normal person, he tried to keep an eye on her from above. He was spotted right away, and the very organized response included marking his position with magical lights so that the archers on the ground knew where to shoot.

We got hints of this sort of thing from the villagers here. Not Ivan specifically, but on the regimented, militaristic lifestyle that has enveloped Kasai. The other quote of the day was, “The emperor loves order.”

Sarenith 19, 4713 (Akafuto, noon)

Akafuto is the second largest port city in Minkai, a major trade hub, and home to a number of shipyards. It reminds me a lot of Magnimar that way, though of course it is much larger and significantly less…diverse.

So far, what we’ve heard from the people here doesn’t differ much from Kurozawa, though the conversations about Kasai were a bit more pointed. Today’s quote was, “Go there, keep to your business, and come back fast.” Something about large cities like this makes people more willing to speak their minds. I suppose that’s because a sense of anonymity comes from being one grain of sand in the desert.

Dasi and I repeated our performances last night at the inn where are staying. That went well, but not exceptionally so. Connecting with people who aren’t looking for one is always a challenge.

We head to Kasai this afternoon. From both Hatsue and the few people here that we talked to at length, we’ve learned that soldiers there—almost certainly the Typhoon Guard—are searching everyone who enters and that they are paying particularly close attention to women. Which normally would just be creepy and uncomfortable, but now is those things plus unsettling. All that means we need to enter in disguise, and specifically in mundane disguise since we don’t want to be lit up like a signal tower under a cursory inspection with magic.

The problem with mundane disguises is that they are hard to pull off, so there is quite a bit of risk here. What if one of us gets caught? Or even just taken aside for questioning? What if that happens to more than one of us? It’s that last one that worries me the most, as I’m not confident I’d be able to get to everyone to pull them out. And it would be absolutely suicidal to try and fight a bunch of guards in their own city.  So quite a lot is riding on what amounts to makeup and wigs.

(Kasai, evening)

Obviously, we made it here, though it was not without incident. We were waiting in line to enter the city when two Typhoon guards descended on a woman and interrogated her right there in the middle of the street. Through magic they either compelled or falsified her confession, and took her away. This brought back fairly ugly memories of the market in Enganoka. I don’t know what’s worse: not being able to intervene in time, or knowing that you can’t intervene at all and are forced to watch it play out.

In Akafuto they described Kasai as being under martial law. “There is heightened security there,” they said. “If you’re about peaceful, lawful business, you’re fine.” These accounts are either magical thinking or willful ignorance as Kasai is nothing short of a police state. People are questioned indiscriminately for the crime of existing. The guards rule through fear and intimidation. Punishment seems to be summary and brutal. And I don’t doubt that many or most of the people here would sell one another out to avoid having the lens turned on them.

One glance up confirmed what I suspected ever since Ivan returned: there were Typhoon Guard patrolling the skies under cover of invisibility, and probably watching the watchers. There weren’t a lot of them, but enough to form a regular patrol. It is yet one more thing to have to keep track of. It helps quite a bit that I can see them, though, and we can use this to our advantage.

Our contact for the resistance movement is Asachi Isao. He is not just an old friend of the Amatatsu family: he actually knew Ameiko’s great grandfather, and was entrusted with the bulk of the family’s wealth when they fled over the Crown of the World. Suishen actually recognized him and was practically giddy to the point where I thought maybe Olmas had brought in the wrong sword. But then Suishen made some backhanded compliment to which Isao replied, “I see you haven’t changed” and I relaxed. (It’s also nice to know that it’s not just us.)

As the footcab-in-residence, it was my job to teleport to the fortress and bring Ameiko and company back with me. As soon as she was here, Isao got down to the business of explaining just how bad the situation in Kasai really was. Because what we needed was more gods-be-damned challenges.

He broke it down thusly:

  • The city is experiencing food shortages, which means most of the common folk are starving. One of the primary sources of food is rice, but the Typhoon Guard has appropriated the main granary in the city and is keeping the bulk of it for themselves.
  • People are questioned on the street and accused of being supportive of the rebellion. We, of course, witnessed this first-hand. The “guilty” are dragged away, interrogated, and the really unlucky ones are publicly executed.
  • Daughters of several of the noble families, including Isao’s, have been taken prisoner, presumably to be used as hostages. The goal is obviously to keep the nobility in line.

So just those problems, then.

Ameiko is itching to take action. I was pretty dumbfounded by that given how she reacted to my little stunt in Enganoka, but maybe something has changed in her. Either that, or there are just too many indignities here to ignore. Either way, this translates to yet another change in plans: instead of walking into the ambush at the shrine on the island, she wants to raid the granary and liberate the rice.

I’m all for it. I reached my breaking point long ago, so any opportunity to tear down pieces of the Jade Regent’s empire is more than welcome.

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal, Sarenith 14-16, 4713

Sarenith 14, 4713 (late afternoon, Enganoka)

One of Itsuru’s more immediate problems is that there are dozens if not hundreds of oni infesting his province. It’s like finding weevils in your pantry. Sennaka used them for his personal guard, as his advisors, and of course to project his power when exacting punishment on his subjects so they are quite literally everywhere. Since several of his guard ran away from the fight that removed him from power—and from this world—it’s a good bet that most of the oni up north learned of the regime change long before we had a chance to spread the news ourselves. The rabbits smelled blood on the wind and went to ground, and now Itsuru has to root them all out.

I met with his court wizard. He is capable enough, and he has the right spells, so he should be able to see those oni that are relying on a human appearance to escape notice. That is half of the battle, but unfortunately it is also the easier half as all it requires is a modest sum of gold and a bit of time. The tricky part will be taking action once the veils are lifted; the kind of action that proves fatal, but without spooking the others into running.

Itsuru actually came up with a pretty good plan for that and I honestly wish I could be there for some of it because there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of killing an oni. Except maybe tricking them into walking up the gallows and putting the noose around their own necks, then killing them. Which is more or less what he has in mind. I can’t believe I’ll be missing out on all the fun, but I guess we have larger matters to attend to.

One of those matters was, apparently, making treasure maps from Sennaka’s skin, as has become a grotesque custom of ours. That Itsuru actually agreed to this was pretty stunning, but then again Itsuru was, himself, stunned to find the ancestral weapon of the Higashiyama family sitting in the Sikutsu family vault. So Sennaka had been keeping all manner of secrets, and I guess Itsuru wanted to know if there were others.

There weren’t.

Our meeting with the Emerald Branch is tonight. Thanks to Itsuru’s generosity, we have a bit more money to spend which means we can actually afford to hire one of the ninja clans. We universally agreed that, if we are going to do this then we should go with the good guys; unlike the others, the Emerald Branch is more of a vigilante group. That’s something that is near and dear to us since vigilantism is pretty much our whole thing. That, and presumably they have Minkai’s best interests at heart, and are thus motivated only somewhat by money.

Dasi spent a good part of the day making good on his promise to research sovereign dragons. There’s a whole nation in Tian Xia that’s ruled by one, of course, but that’s probably a bit impractical so he’s looking for something closer to home. He uncovered a bit of mythology (or perhaps history?) that was interesting, but nothing that brought us any closer to our goal. So that particular search goes on.

(night)

This stupid coin is causing all manner of grief and I am itching to be rid of it. While the Emerald Branch was more than happy to accept our payment for their support, their representative spent a lot of time pelting Dasi with questions that suggested they knew more about Kaibuninsho’s secret than they were letting on. How did he acquire such magical talent? Did he have any unusual items or talismans? And on and on. Eventually Dasi just had to tell them that we weren’t spilling all the details because we are not idiots, though he used more diplomatic terms.

Their parting comment was a warning to us about items of power having motives of their own, and to be careful. Everyone’s an expert. While I won’t be so bold as to claim that we know what we’re doing, we do know what we are dealing with so we are in a better position to be handing out advice. Especially since I did the gods-be-damned work that got us there. But, sure, go ahead and share your copious wisdom, gleaned from rumors, legend, and hand-me-down stories. I am sure that’s all very valuable.

To be fair, they do want what’s best for Minkai, and that includes us not becoming the enemy. And, they are the good guys so their motives are genuine. But, still, we didn’t get where we are by being careless so is it too much to ask that you give us the benefit of the doubt?

On the up side, they offered their services for half their originally quoted price, which was pretty stunning and equally generous. Our direct involvement in the coup that put Itsuru in power seems to have gone over well with them. It’s nice when things randomly go right.

Call me a pessimist, though; I am waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Sarenith 15, 4713 (night, Seinaru Heikiko)

The other shoe dropped. Twice. Or maybe there were three shoes all along. This isn’t something I would know.

Both the Dragon Shadow and the Black Lotus clans upped their fees, significantly, after they learned we had hired one of their rivals. They actually used that word, “rival”, despite the fact that the three representatives get together once a month for a dinner date. Supposedly, we had “altered the terms of the original agreement”, despite the fact that there were no such terms. Dasi was able to talk one of them down a bit, but the other would not budge.

I guess we should have reversed the order. But it’s done. We have one clan on our side, and the other two on the sidelines.

Tomorrow we head towards Kasai. That’s about several weeks or months sooner than we were expecting, as the original plan was to wait for Itsuru to consolidate his power here in the north while Jiro raised and trained an army to stand behind Ameiko. That all changed when Itsuru sent to Jiro and asked if “her majesty had received the blessings of the old emperors yet?” To which we all were like, “Huh?” Because I am pretty sure they are all dead.

So that would be a “no”.

We turned to Dasi for an explanation, and even he sounded uncertain. Supposedly there is this shrine on an island near Kasai, and all emperors must visit there to pray for the blessings of a bunch of ghosts. Or something. This culture gets weirder by the day.

We have no idea what we’re going to find there because of course no one knows anything about it save for the past emperors of Minkai, and they are all dead and thus not talking. It also seems like a good place for a trap since the Jade Regent knows about us, about Ameiko, and it’s a fair bet he also knows the same stories. So the plan is for us to go on ahead (with the Seal, just in case it comes up on this little errand), make sure it’s reasonably safe, and then teleport back to get Ameiko in the hopes that we can avoid unpleasant surprises.

Sarenith 16, 4713 (late morning, Seinaru Heikiko)

The unpleasant surprise came to us. Several oni and their fire giant lackies attacked the fortress this morning, rudely interrupting breakfast. Unlike the oni we’ve dealt with in the past, these were no pushovers and it took a bit of effort to bring them down, especially with our spells bouncing harmlessly off them. So the Jade Regent is finally taking us seriously, and has stopped sending in his second stringers.

The fire giants, as it turns out, were just hired help. How do you hire a giant? Is there some job fair where you can go to find fire giants that are looking for work? Do you put up enormous “Now hiring!” signs in the mountains? Maybe being the errand boy for a fire yai oni is a coveted position. I am sure they thought this was going to be an easy gig where they smash a bunch of humans and then go home with whatever it is a giant takes for payment. And they certainly did manage to kill a few of Jiro’s troops, but only one of them will be returning and he wasn’t in the mood to talk about his career goals.

Speaking of Jiro’s troops, they performed surprisingly well especially considering what they were up against. Though they did have some help from Shalelu and Ameiko, his archers nearly took down one of the giants on their own while we were tangling with the atamahuta oni and their fire yai leader. It’s not easy seeing people die defending your cause, but the rest of the budding soldiers here are looking ahead, not behind. To them it’s not a somber moment, but rather a cause for celebration and those that died will be remembered for their commitment, sacrifice, and accomplishments. It’s a little weird, celebrating someone’s death, but I understand where they’re coming from. It’s not often you can say, “we repelled an attack from giants, demons, and giant demons”.

Radella is taking possession of the coin and it was a little unsettling seeing a new symbol appear as it accepted her. So here we go. This will buy us the time we need to figure out how to get rid of the damn thing.

Character: Olmas

Annals of the Order of the Dragon

as told by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia himself.

Starday, 14 Sarenith

We were able to set up a meeting with the Emerald Branch this evening with little trouble.  Before then, I would have time to do a little shopping.

My enhanced bow doesn’t take full advantage of my strength.  I’ve been wearing my magical belt long enough that I’m stronger than I used to be.  Ivan says he can create a bow like he has, that adapts to whatever the user’s strength is, if I provide him with a masterwork composite bow.  It’ll be a shame to see this old bow go, but I can sell it and use that plus a bit more to get a new bow and let Ivan work on it.  I don’t use the bow that often but those times I do, I’ll want to really make those arrows count.

We made a point of telling Itsuru what Zos’s treasure maps revealed, and also warned him about oni on his staff.  He agreed that was a disagreeable state of affairs, so after Kali discreetly scanned his core staff with True Seeing, told him they were good, and discussed a plan to bring the rest of the staff in a few at a time, and his court wizard – who already knew True Seeing – would be able to check them. Failures would be quietly dispatched.

Dasi, meanwhile, was working hard to find a friendly neighborhood sovereign dragon.  Turns out that not-so-nearby Xa Hoi is supposedly ruled by sovereign dragons, but our chance of meeting our commitments here and getting there too before the new moon is small (though not zero I admit).

(Later)

I wasn’t there, of course, but I’m told the meeting with Emerald Branch went surprisingly well, along these lines:

We killed the assassin.
“Have you proof?”
We have his distinctive nun-chuks here.  And his flute.
“We’ll need to verify.”
Of course.  We want you as an ally.
“We are impressed.  Only 10K.”
<surprise> Graciously accept.
“How did you kill ninja?”
Tired him with nightmares.
“Ah.  Did the assassin have other belongings?”
Of course.
“Like what?”
Disguise kit.
“Pft. Any magic?”
The nunchuks are magic.
“Hmm. Right. The other clans may be more curious than we, ally.  Tread carefully.”
Thank you for your wisdom.

Dasi was talking, so of course it actually took longer than that.

After the pleasant surprise of getting an ally for 10K less than we thought we would, we arranged meetings with the other two clans for the next day.

Kali cast codespeak so we could have a frank conversation about the coin.  We’ll let them suspect what they want but we won’t admit to possession of the coin to any of them.

Sunday, 15 Sarenith

Our first meeting with a ninja clan was with Dragon Shadow.  That one, I’m told, didn’t go as well.

“Why are you here?”
Killed the assassin. Want you to remain neutral.
“Really? Heard you hired the other clan.  Neutral will cost 10K now.”
<bargain>
“Agree on 7000.”
Give you 7500.
“You negotiate strangely.”

Two hours later, it was with Black Lotus

“Why are you here?”
Killed the …
yeah, more of the same.
Except they wanted 10K and wouldn’t negotiate.

And again, Dasi, so …

Dasi continued his research, this time seeing if the dragon in the Amatatsu family crest had origins in a sovereign dragon.  (Probably, since legend had it that 5 sovereign dragons were the founders of the five royal families.)

Our work seemed done in Enganoka.   We teleported to the fort to discuss plans with Jiro.

…

While we were talking with Jiro, he formally pledged to Itsuro.  He mentioned that, in a sending, Itsuro had asked if Ameiko had sought the blessings of the old emperors yet.

We all said … ??  Tell us more?

Apparently there is a shrine on a small island off the coast of Kasai, where every emperor has stopped and sought the blessings of emperors previous.  It would seem that we – well, Ameiko – have another stop to make.

And then the coin.  Everything comes back to the coin.  Can’t let it go, can’t pick it up.  Ivan made a point of touching it briefly so that he’d be better able to use Locate Object later if it left us.  But then Radella surprised me … surprised everyone, I think … by announcing she was going to take it.

She picked it up, put it on, and waited for something to happen.  Judging from the distracted look on her face, I think something TRIED to happen, but then she looked okay again, and she looked down at the coin.  I saw it now had a 7th symbol on it … I guess that means it accepted her.

I’m not sure I’m happy about that, but it was clearly her choice.

Moonday, 16 Sarenith

We rose early, as we often do.  I was considering if I should suggest another training session for the green troops, although, to be honest, the chance of attack was much smaller now that Itsuru was the daiymo.

But I was wrong.

Not a half hour after rising, we heard a loud boom from the direction of the courtyard, and an immediate babble of voices.  Involuntarily we all stood up and looked through solid walls in that direction, even as we heard a voice say quite clearly, even though we were not near:

“Bring. Me. The. Amatatsu. Heir.”

I glanced at Ameiko.  “Do NOT. I got this.”  She smirked and said, “I’ll take care of the inner defenses,” as she drew her rapier with, I swear, a gleam in her eye.  I told Suishen “flame on” and moved towards the courtyard.  Shalelu followed Ameiko and Koya began pulling out the things she needed to do healing.  Many people would probably need that today.

“Wait!” called Zos, and did his alchemical thing.  I immediately felt myself moving faster. Ivan also cast a blessing over most of the group and it was the same thing Qatana used to do.  And Dasi, of course, began to sing a song of inspiration.  “Yes, good,” I said and moved out.

Outside waiting for us were a small group of young fighters … and two – make that three – towering monstrosities and several fire giants.  From inside I heard Ameiko yell, “Archers! Focus on one target! Take the one closest to the inner wall and shoot until it falls!”

It wouldn’t have been all that long ago when finding a dinosaur appearing several yards in front of me would have given me pause, but when exactly that happened, I spared a quick glance over my shoulder and sure enough, Kali was grinning.

I saw one of the monstrosities leap down from the upper wall, but land a little too softly. Fliers, I thought, and as I continued to advance to the battle I said quietly to Suishen “Air walk.”

A wall of fire tried to separate us but almost as soon as it appeared, it disappeared.  I finally got close to one of the big uglies, and bloodied him up a fair amount.  Ivan turned him into a pincushion and he responded by turning into smoke and threatening to drift away,  However, another set of toadstickers from Ivan and .. well, it seems that Ugly wasn’t entirely smoke, because they actually killed him.

A bright flash alerted me to a round of chain lightning, and since it didn’t hit me, I presumed I could thank Kali later for that. I picked out another big guy and marched over to him.

Between us and the dinosaur, we beat up these uglies pretty well.  And pretty quickly.  Radella seemed her usual self, despite the coin hanging around her neck.  And then just when I thought the battle was over, Zos, Kali, and Ivan all disappeared and I heard their voices from outside the busted front gate.  Apparently they did something with or to one last fire giant that, I don’t know, I’ll have to ask them about when things settle down.

For now we have a front gate to repair, many people to heal, and a (hopefully small) number to mourn.  And a quick inventory of newly transferred possessions:

[740] potion of fly
[741] potion of fly
[742] monk’s spade (?)
[743] monk’s spade (?)
[744] fosail-hoselu (sp?) [chain mail equiv]
[745] fosail-hoselu (sp?) [chain mail equiv]
[746] 3 great swords

Character: Ivan

Ivan’s Journal

Exiting the portable hole Ivan hands a cinnamon roll to Koya before heading over to Hatsue .

“You know we could use an extra pair of hands to help get everything ready for tomorrow” whispers Ivan to Hatsue as Ivan hands her the last cinnamon roll and then proceeds to cast beacon (status) on Hatsue.

“Be right back” says Ivan has he walks over and retrieves his quiver and bag of holding from Radella. Ivan is unclear if the response from Hatsue was an acknowledgement or if she was simply enjoying the cinnamon roll.

“Thanks” Ivan says as Radella hands over the equipment. He can’t tell if she suspects something or not. It’s the same feeling that he gets each time and thus far she hasn’t felt the need to interfere.

Hatsue finishes up the cinnamon roll as they arrive at the doorway to the storage room. They only had to wait a few minutes before the door opened and Akiko, Honamiyo, Miiko, Tamae, Yoire, Naomi, and Remi enter the storage room.

“Ok. As normal we will start with your treats” says Ivan as he hands out a cinnamon roll to each of the women.

“Don’t worry I also picked up one so that you can give one to Jiro” continues Ivan as he sets the cinnamon roll down on the shelf.

“I saw Jiro heading back to his office so once you finish your treat you can go present your gift. Today I brought help so we will start getting everything ready while you talk with Jiro.” Continues Ivan

“ok” replies Remi

“So this time is a little different than the ones in the past. I know this is old hat for all of you but since we have someone new let’s just review everything while you eat your cinnamon roll” says Ivan

“Firstly everyone gets a ration of food which today is your containers filled up 6 times with dried beans. I know that I am repeating myself but this is each person and not each family.” Says Ivan

“I still insist that pregnant women get an additional ration as they are eating for two and it is important for mother and baby to get plenty of food. Like before I leave the decision of determining which women are pregnant completely up to you. I am not qualified to figure out which women are pregnant and I am not about to start asking women if they are pregnant.” continues Ivan

Ivan pulls another bag out and sets it down “What is new this time is that we are also going to give everyone in the fort 3 pieces of these sweets, including Jiro and his people. These are tough times and everyone deserves something a little special. You can of course give the children an extra piece of candy“

“In the past I have asked you to not share where this food is coming from to anyone. Except I did tell you to always tell the truth to Hatsue, Jiro, and Amieko. It was important to me to let my companions discover their own path. You can now honestly tell people that this food is provided by those that follow the heir.  If you are question by my companions you are free to tell them the truth” says Ivan

Ivan motions towards the door “Ok now go talk to Jiro while he is still in if office”

Hatsue describes in details the ideas behind the end game Tsume shogi as the two of them get the food ready for distribution in the morning. Just as they were finishing up the preparations  the door opens and the women re-enter the storage room.

“Are you still talking about the game?” says Akiko

“Yep, maybe someday I will get far enough into a game with Hatsue to try one of these strategies. Anyway perfect timing as we are done.” replies Ivan

As Ivan and Hatsue leave the store room Ivan says “how about you show me one of those moves on the board before we play an actual game”

Ivan and Hatsue head back to the common area.