as told by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Oathday, 28 Pharast

It never ceases to amaze me.

When we first started this journey, I felt like Qatana acted randomly, with total disregard for her own safety (or that of the others) and it made my admittedly self-imposed duty to keep her safe that much harder.  As time has passed, though, either my understanding of her or her understanding of us has changed, and I’d been thinking of her more as medium strength warrior who can also heal.

And then Zos pulls out a tanglefoot bag and Qatana is like an elfling confronting a squirrel for the first time.  She asked Zos if she could have one to take with us as we went after what we suspected were trysting hobgoblins. He shrugged and gave her one even as I prepared to say, it would be a waste if we were about to confront some unarmored and unarmed hobgoblins.  I shook my head and wondered at her thought process.

So imagine my surprise when Kali casts web on the bed on which they were cavorting.  What?  What is this fascination with tying creatures up? er, down? With a web in place, and no ring of free movement, we couldn’t really do much to engage them.  And hobgoblins are strong enough that … yes, there we go.  They’re not really restrained by them very much.  The web is flammable, however, so we did set it on fire.  And there was a flaming sphere.  And flaming Suishen, also setting webs on fire,  It was not the battle I had anticipated.

The male looked different from your standard hobgoblin.  He was certainly treated differently – the women seemed as eager to protect him from harm as … well, as he was in surrendering.

Yes, just as Radella finally got close enough to slay him, he offered to tell us stuff if we’d spare his life.  He made this offer after I’d already challenged him, and since I wasn’t really expecting a surrender but WAS expecting a battle, I got one solid hit in before I reluctantly held back at Radella’s request.  He threw me a look but then got back to the business of surrendering.  The rest of us took care of his female guests (that is, by killing them.)

It turns out he was the son of the oni we were seeking (Munasukaru).  Even though that technically made him an oni too, with a father that was a hobgoblin he was not very powerful.  Perhaps that’s why he so easily surrendered, knowing he couldn’t win an actual fight.  Being an oni, though, we couldn’t let him live either. I was surprised and a little bothered at Radella’s acceptance of his surrender.  I guess we owe no honor to a foe that continually attacks us, but it still bothered me.  I’m not sure why.

He gave us very crude maps of what lay ahead, but I got the impression that cartography was not one of his dominant skills.  In fact, the only dominant skill he seemed to have – or rather the believed he had – was the ability to have sex with every female he encountered.  Well, except Kali, Radella, and Qatana – not that he didn’t suggest he would be willing,

As we were concluding the conversation, another one in our party seemed to feel that he’d been alive long enough. From somewhere behind me, Ivan unleashed his arrows and the Ichirou, the oni gigolo, went to that big bachelor pad in, er, well, probably hell,

Ichirou did tell us there were more guards ahead, but unfortunately either didn’t know or didn’t tell us any specifics.  Since we’d already guessed there’d be more guards, that wasn’t really headline news.  He mentioned that his mother was somewhere down “the drain” which we assume is some sort of description rather than an actual drain.  We checked out the hardware he and his guests had left:

[567] 2 more MW nunchuks for a total of 3
[572] studded leather armor [+2]
[573] MW composite longbow +6ST
[574] MW nodaki (great sword)
[575] ring of protection +1
[576] 3 lacquer screens
[577] silver ring w/Tien
[578] silver brooch
[579] interlocking jade rings
[580] silver hairpin
[581] carved ivory + coral bracelet
[582] 4 silver wedding rings

Ichirou had mentioned that Munasukaru liked fire AND lightning, and can “make you do things”.  She is all-powerful.  He had two sisters that looked more like snakes – apparently Munasukaru also used little discretion in who she mated with.  Yaasu and, what did he say … Daci?  The latter was known to be magical, whatever that meant to him.

Heading towards “the Drain” we put the reconstructed giants in front.  While it would be disappointing if they were destroyed, if something could destroy them it would likely cause us a fair amount of damage too so … better them than us.

It didn’t take long after we encountered what appeared to be a deserted barracks that a giant got thunked by three arrows.  That was the start of our battle against 8 hobgoblins, in which the giants proved very useful. This allowed us to recover 8 MW morningstars and 8 MW longbows, but while we left those behind, we definitely took up

[583] 8 potions of CSW

and distributed them among all of us.  We also picked up

[584] bearskins
[585] bronze daggers
[586] dagger in lapis scabbard

From here it was a short distance until we reached “the Drain”, which really was a hole into which the river fell.  A staircase seemed to encircle the perimeter and head down, but the spray of the water made it treacherous.  We had to go single file, and the giants quickly slipped and fell into the Drain.  A quick feather fall ensured they would probably not splat at the bottom, but they quickly left our range of vision.

With me in the lead now, I was able to spot another female hobgoblin like those from above, getting ready to attack me at a slightly wider area of the stairs.  She was able to get me with an arrow before I closed with her, but I gave her some incisions in trade.  Meanwhile, alerted now, several of our group noticed some trying to climb the wall and come up behind us.  Once spotted, though, they became easy targets for Ivan (arrows) and Qatana (casting hold person, which has predictable effects when you are climbing)

When we did safely reach the bottom, the giants were waiting for us (yay). After some healing (in which some persistent golem wounds finally closed over), we inspected our surroundings. Radella announced there was a trap here somewhere, but couldn’t really identify it or its trigger.  She thought it might have something to do with a major image.

There was a large underground lake here, and of course we were still limited by our magic-provided dark vision.  We estimated we had come 250′ down the Drain, making us pretty far beneath the surface now.  Radella quietly flew around the perimeter of the lake and scouted it, reporting back that there was a shoreline upon which two more of the monk-like sisters seemed to stand watch.  We guessed that was the preferred way to go, although it was pointed out that we rarely enter an area by the obvious entrance.

In this case though, we have decided we will.  We will fly in (or air walk in) and have Qatana, Radella (invisible) and myself drop on them quickly and, hopefully, silently so that they cannot raise an alarm.

as told by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Oathday, 28 Pharast

While the water elementals may have thwarted our idea of traipsing across the water without using the drawbridge, the image of Munasukaru was actually accomplishing its purpose.  We entered with the image, who imperiously started ordering hobgoblins around like a child might command a pet.

“Which of you idiots are in charge?” asked the image.  The hobgoblins shuffled and looked at each other nervously.  “Get inside and line up for inspection!” it croaked.

The hobgoblins hustled to do so, and Qatana (to their surprise and discomfort) performed the inspection, taking each morningstar and frowning as they were found subpar and handed to an assistant. She looked at the image and shook her head.  The image then yelled, “Get your idiot commander!” and one hobgoblin (happily?) ran off to do just that.

By this time all 8 of the MW morningstars [550] were lying in a pile on the floor.

Zos and Dasi started checking out other doors in the room.  One led to a foul smelling (and looking) room that had all the ambience you might expect from a latrine.  The door that the errand hobgoblin had left through led to some stairs.  Another one led to a largish storeroom with food and other mundane stores in it. (Hobgoblin food, it should be noted.)

The image ordered all the hobgoblins into the storeroom.  They seemed a bit more surly and suspicious by now, but there was little they could do about it, having given up their melee weapons.

It has been over 20 minutes since the messenger hobgoblin had departed, but now it seemed he had returned, because from outside the north door we heard a commanding voice say in hobgoblin “To arms!  Intruders!”  The commander, looking every bit the samurai, had returned, with the messenger and four others. The battle wasn’t too challenging, having disarmed two thirds of the combatants already.  Well, that wasn’t entirely true – they did have bows yet, and several decided to take shots at us with those.  But those in the other room were somewhat limited in what they could do, trying to hit us through the open door.  The samurai was also a magic user of some sort (we discovered as he shot a cone of cold at most of us and even some of his own). Meanwhile, Kali summoned a dinosaur to deal with the new arrivals.

That seemed like overkill, but it turns out to have been a great idea, because there was an inactive clay golem out near the stairs which sprang to action when the dinosaur started its work.  Although the dinosaur gave as good as it got, the golem laid it down surprisingly quickly – not a good sign.  Radella, Qatana, and I were working through the hobgoblins pretty hard, but they were proving a little more difficult to put down than we’d hoped.

Ivan had done his usual volley of arrows, but I think all of us were surprised when a circle of fire appeared around the samurai. At almost the same time, Qatana brought down a flame strike on the same target, and while the circle of fire hid the samurai from view, we could certainly hear his distress.  A distribution of holy smite by Ivan took the fight out of most of the enemy.  Zos’s giant reanimated constructs were, one by one, de-stressing the hobgoblins in the storage room.

It was about this time, with most hobgoblins down, that we realized the clay golem was still an issue.  When I’d hit it, I’d get the sense that I was not delivering full damage.  The clay seemed to absorb some of the blow, or something, which kind of makes sense if you think about it. And when it hit ME … that was not pleasant.  Then, with a single arrow that must have been dipped in golem poison or something – I mean, after all, I’m beating on it with Suishen which is no slouch (don’t get a big hilt over that Suishen) – and with a single arrow there’s an explosion of clay and the figure topples.

We discovered that wounds from golem resisted magic healing, unfortunately.   But between what was on the hobgoblins and the offerings surrounding the golem, we had

[551] MW Katana
[552] MW silver wakashazi
[553] MW composite long bow [+7 ST]
[554] MW tatami-do armor (large)
]555] lacquer box set with pearls (contains two doses opium)
[556] 12 potions of CMW
[557] 5 alchemical fire
[558] 12 flasks of oil
[559] potion of invisibility
[560] magical feather (forms a flapping fan to increase or decrease wind at sea)
[561] brooch of shielding [13pts]
[562] scroll of spike growth
[563] MW artisan tools
[564] pair of good locks, w/keys
[565] gold plated merchant scale
[566] 11 obsidians
97+91 gp
203 sp

We headed up the stairs, only to find four more hobgoblins manning some arrow slits.  They aren’t, anymore.

From there we went through a doorway and down a corridor only to find .. what appeared to be hobgoblin lepers.  Disgusting.  Zos’s hill giant constructs are immune to leprosy, so several of us flew over them while the giants struck them down.  Eventually a Kali-issued fireball helped secure (and sterilize) the area, with the giants mopping up details.

Beyond this room was an odd looking room.  The “floor” was a series of pipes or narrow supports in a regular pattern, but they were several feet apart and beneath them was a pit with noxious gas and the occasional sound of grunting or bellowing.  Something was alive down there.  Somebody suggested a morgan, or a gorgon, or something.  I’d rather not find out for sure.  We took this opportunity to renew our dark vision and fly, for those who need them, but then 3 figures emerged from a north aperture and decided to taunt us, not knowing most of us could fly or air walk.  They were highly acrobatic and demonstrative, but swords, arrows, some magical chain of Qatana’s, and a little grease on the ground proved their undoing. One fell into the mists below, but from the others, we retrieved from their lifeless bodies:

[567] MW nunchaku
[568] potion of blur
[569] amulet of natural armor +1
[570] bracers of armor +2
[571] jeweled studs in their ears

Their skin seemed heavily tattooed.

We’ve paused to catch our breath and assess our next move. There are sounds of  .. pleasure? … coming from the south aperture which probably will be our first point of business.

as told by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Wealday, 27 Pharast

Examining the former belongings of the hobgoblins and giants, we found

[525,526] great clubs
[527] cure serious wounds (4)
[528] MW do-maru armor (6)
[529] MW heavy wooden shields (6)
[530] MW composite long bows ST +3 (6)
[531] MW morningstar (6)
[532] 74 arrows

We entered the hallway and discovered doors at each end. We piled the hill giant bodies in front of the south door to slow down anyone entering, and checked out things to the north. Radella took the lead, and I was by her side. It was not locked, and led to a short vestibule with another door in it. Caution again proved unnecessary, and it appeared to open into a corridor. To the north, we could hear voices – not alarmed, just talking. There was also a waterfall, which muffled a great deal of the conversations. We seem to be about 60′ above the activity below us, and a rickety ladder led down. Turning to the south, we saw the corridor seemed to have … decorations.

That is, if you can consider body parts “decorations”. It looked like more of the dishonorable behavior that had left two people impaled on the front door of this place, except nothing was left alive in this corridor. The smell was unnpleasant. As we moved south, it became apparent there was more than body parts here – there was another maimed body. A monk, perhaps, from the clothing …

Right then Qatana, Radella and myself distinctly heard the sound of breaking bones. At the same time, a spirit rose out of the body on the wall, wavered a bit and headed for Kali. Before anybody could take another action, it merged with Kali and her eyes went distant for a moment. We feared the worst.

We decided to use both the carrot and the stick. Radella said, not unkindly, “do you need help?” More directly, I said, “State your purpose!” Qatana looked annoyed and said, “it probably doesn’t know Common!” Then in Tien, she said, “Can we help you?”

Thru Kali, the spirit said, “I need vengeance” (in Tien, of course – Qatana translated for me.) Kali returned to us but said simply, “I’m okay. She needs to kill the oni.”

Well, we wanted to kill the oni too, so other than her taking over the body of one of our friends, we’re on the same page.

We continued to the end of the corridor where we found a small (1’x1′) iron grate. Nehali flew out and verified that this looked like the other end, in that we were about 60′ above the ground and various figures (including hobgoblins) were moving around below us. She also reported there being some stone house that apparently stood out.

We decided to rest, but Kali suggested that before we lie down, Nehali take a message to the people we rescued above us, to let them know that this was going to take longer than we thought. But Nehali returned fairly soon saying that there were hobgoblins heading towards them, so rest would have to wait.

We headed back to the entrance and encountered four hobgoblins that were apparently preparing to descend to us, but why take the chance? It looked like they might be using a magic rope to descend past the impossibly smooth portion of the opening, and while we were prepared to deal with that, Kali decided to hasten their descent by casting a sleet storm. Two lost their balance and fell to their death (or more accurately, to the party below that insured they were dead), one found themselves falling but at a very gentle rate (feather fall a la Kali). The 4th … I dispatched.

Qatana cast Hold Person on the gently fallen hobgoblin and Kali prepared to question him. But Dali, using, I guess, his thespian skills, convinced that hobgoblin that he was actually his commander, and we learned that this party was returning from a patrol and (to their knowledge) was the only one that had been out. Then we got him drunk on endless sake, and Ivan slit his throat when he passed out.

We again gained a few things:
[533] magic rope
[534] MW do-maru armor (4)
[535] MW heavy wooden shield (4)
[536] MW Composite longbows (+3 ST) (4)
[537] MW morningstar (4)
[538] 13 arrows

But no healing potions this time. Disappointing.

Returning, we discovered that Radella and Ivan had quietly pulled up the ladder to our level. And methodically destroyed it. Which I guess made us safer, but … how will we get down?

However, armed now with a little more information and a few less hobgoblins, we now at least felt safe in resting. We blocked off each end of the corridor and rested there.

Oathday, 28 Pharast

After a refreshing sleep, I arose to the sound of roosters crowing and a bright gleam hitting my eye as the sun rose over the edge of a cloudless horizon. The fresh straw beneath me yielded perceptibly as I shifted on one hip, shaded my eyes, and looked over the rest of our sleeping

Wait, what?

After a refreshing sleep, I arose to the smell of rotting body parts while in utter darkness. Virtually blind in the complete darkness, I listened carefully before cautiously sitting up. Since we required only two hours of sleep a night, many of the party were already up and doing something quietly. I strained desperately to hear crowing roosters or catch slivers of light, but lately, the dreams have been far better than the reality we are in.

Imagine my distress when I found Zos sitting next to a living, breathing, blinking, pale hill giant, grinning. “What???” I exclaimed. “You can create undead? What are you doing?” But he quickly explained, and Qatana confirmed, that this was neither living nor breathing. (It did blink on occasion, but far more slowly than normal.) “Think of this as a crude golem,” he said.

I expressed concern, but he said, “nothing to be worried about. It’s just alchemy!” and he headed off to the other hill giant corpse. I looked at Qatana, but she was following him as if ready to take notes. Nobody else seemed concerned, but it all seemed … wrong to me.

At one point, we heard a mildly distant voice complain beyond the north door, “Aw, they took the ladder again!” Nice to know you’re appreciated.

Once everyone was up, we made our plan. Everyone would need dark vision, and we’d need either fly or airwalk. Suishen could help me with the latter, and a few of the magic users could help themselves, but for the most part, we burned some more charges on the wands. Thus prepared, we would head directly for the stone house that Nehali had seen, on the assumption that our pig hobgoblin leader creature would be there. The strategy that had worked best for us so far was “don’t use the front door”. With that in mind, our target was the roof. The reanimated hill giants were left behind as possible deterrents.

With all of us present, Dasi concentrated for a bit and said that below us was about 10 creatures of average intelligence, and there seemed there might some mild dissension below. We figured the house had three levels, so there might be a few hobgoblins on each level. That should be quiet doable. Some disagreement or dissension among themselves was an added bonus. Radella quietly led the way down, and I followed.

Unfortunately, even though I was using airwalk and not touching the ground, I guess I must have brushed a wall or something, because all of a sudden the hobgoblins in the room spun and looked right at us sneaking down the stairs. Oops. Oh well.

There were 6 warriors, 4 lesser armed females around the chief, and the swine guy himself. Qatana threw up a stone wall to keep the chief and his concubines isolated, and the rest of us were able to dispatch the fighters in under 20 seconds of fierce battle. I made some strong hits on the chief, and his response was to scream, “Munasukaru, I know you’re watching!” and commit ritual suicide. I climbed over the stone wall to take care of the concubines, and suddenly it was over. Kali had summoned an earth elemental and Ivan reported giants and other bad smells below us, so we sent the elemental down there. The giants killed it, but then ran off on their own, unhappy after dealing with it.

We were left with bodies and quiet. The house was far enough away from other things that unless the giants raised an alarm, probably nobody realized what had just happened. Well, to be honest, we were also left with a few items …

[539] +2 o-yoioi armor (like plate)
[540] +1 thundering great axe
[541] gold hilted dagger
[542] MW composite longbow (+4 ST)
[543] 20 arrows
[544] belt of giant strength +4 (Qatana)
[545] leather cloak of resistance +1
[546] conical warhat +1 luck bonus to AC, 1/day negate critical or sneak (Olmas)
[547] bronze rice bowl
[548] carved box with 6 spinnets
[549] carved horn libation cup
[550] MW morningstars (6)
[551] MW composite longbow (+3 ST)
[552] MW armor (6)
[553] MW heavy wooden shields (6)
[554] 32 arrows
47 gp

That warhat would improve my increasingly insufficient armor. This mithril breastplate is nice and light but it’s starting to not be enough to protect me.

Back up on the roof, we could see a bridge that led to a passage down. And down. And down. It went down something on the order of 200 ft. There were, again, disturbing images on the wall .. more like a mural. As we descended, a dull roar was also getting louder. The corridor finally opened into a chasm which held a thundering waterfall.

Following the outflow we quickly discovered a stone house, with a drawbridge on the other side. How might we get them to drop the drawbridge. Here we got very clever. By the grace of the spirit inhabiting Kali, she knew what Munasukaru looked like. So she could create an image of her, and while we’ve no idea what her voice sounds like, it couldn’t be heard here anyway due to the waterfall. The figure could probably get them to lower the drawbridge just by gestures. Qatana and I could play the part of prisoners, but all simply float over the water, further demonstrating Munasukaru’s great power.

Clever idea. Would have worked if there weren’t two giant water elementals living in the water that were poised to simply attack anything passing over the water. Attack HARD. Qatana and I retreated hastily, but the image, of course, was unaffected and still indicated to drop the drawbridge.

And they did! So it half worked, although it was rather painful for me. Ivan did plug some with arrows, although I’m not confident that arrows can really hurt water elementals.

as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Wealday, 27 Pharast

Qatana and I went down what we believed to now be the unguarded spiral staircase. Dasi and Zos came with us, while the rest planned to enter by one of the grates.

Radella apparently found their way blocked by traps (which she successfully disarmed) while our way seemed free of such. (Which was good, since we were searching for them largely the old-fashioned way – by looking intently and whispering “TRAP!” when one was triggered.) It seemed maybe the architect of this place was more worried about attack from below than above.

We hadn’t gotten far, though, when Qatana found another of the organ-visible skeletons. Unknown to us at the time, Radella et al had found another as well. Our parties came together just as we made these discoveries and between us, we handily dispatched the creatures. One had some sort of prehensile tongue that snaked out at me and Dasi warned “don’t let it touch you!” He seemed to know something of these creatures.

We returned to the prisoners, both now conscious thanks to Qatana’s healing. They’d been lost in the forest, and had been captured by the aranea and brought here – probably eventually as food. They told us of nobles ransacking villages in Minkai – that’s why they had fled to the forest. They were also able to tell us there were troglodytes and hobgoblins in the pit below us.

We used our wand of CLW on them to bring them back to full, at least physically. I think I caught that their names were Junzo and Udtsetseg. Anyway, we armed them with some of the simple weapons lying around and told them to wait for us, as there was more we needed to do down below. I don’t know if they’ll still be there when we return, but we’ve done the best we could for them. We renewed our dark vision and proceeded to the pit.

As we descended, we encountered more webs, but apparently the aranea or spiders that created them had already been killed. Radella, as always, was trap-alert and found and disarmed one on our way down. Eventually we reached the aforementioned pit.

It’s hard to say how much of this was constructed and how much was natural. Clearly the stairs carved into the rock were not natural, but how much renovation continued below us remained to be seen. But we did run into some more spider-creatures which, while not terribly difficult to kill, were persistent and tenacious, as well as annoying magic users.

Having cleared them out, we could see the pit more clearly now, and with parts of it being quite smooth, it seemed that there may have been quite a bit of engineering involved. I doubt this was part of the original design for the “oni prison house.” Air rising from the hole was warm and fragrant in a bad, sweaty, dirty sort of way.

We carefully and quietly descended and found ourselves looking at an underground fortress. Maybe this HAD been where the oni had been kept. It stretched from wall to wall in this underground chamber, and was fortified as well as any city wall. There were guards patrolling and, to our horror, there appeared to be two humans impaled upon the obvious front doors. We quickly devised a plan.

It was apparent that the only surprise we could offer would be an overwhelming assault. Nothing tricky or clever was going to get us past the archers and massive front doors. The clear area in front of the entrance was an obvious kill zone; anything entering there needed to be prepared for an onslaught of archers and maybe worse. So the plan became:

1) summon an earth elemental to assault the front door
2) Have Qatana stoneshape an opening in the parapets while that was happening
3) Haste all
4) Bring in our more mobile strike force via that means
5) Hope for the best.

This plan proved fluid in its execution, and involved all of us eventually flying up to the opening in the parapet, an illusion of Akinosa scaling the outer wall, and the earth elemental giving his all in destroying the front entrance. But we eventually found ourselves inside, the guards dead, and probably a small amount of time until the next shift discovered the previous shift was dead. We collected

[516-519] Cure Serious Wounds

from the bodies of the guards, and turned our attention to the impalees. They were alive but unconscious, but a little healing made them more comfortable and able to answer our questions. There were apparently more inside, held as slaves, and something or somebody else they greatly feared.

Well, in it was, then. We had a bonsai to rescue.

We collected

[520] MW armor (4)
[521] MW shield (wooden) (4)
[522] MW composite long bows +3 (4)
[523] MW morningstars (4)
[523] many arrows

and started our incursion. Two doors to the north led to two kill rooms. Their only purpose was to lure uninformed visitors (such as we) into rooms with no exits and lots of whirling blades. The impalees had said that the hobgoblins never used those rooms and now we knew why. We approached the eastern door apprehensively.

We (Qatana, Radella, and myself) entered this room to find a torture chamber. No living creatures were here, but there was evidence there had been. Radella found several pit-traps, however, making this room seem unnaturally dangerous even for a torture chamber.

And then from behind the walls, something said “Fire”. And arrows came flying through holes in the wall, striking all three of us.
The Ring of the Ram burst through the door at the end of the room and allowed me access to the archers. Qatana cast one of her magics that make people behave strangely – and thankfully, many of them did. Two giants started hurling rocks from a mezzanine above us, but Kali installed a wall of force that thwarted that and also kept them from joining the fray.

It was chaotic for a bit, but when the dust cleared we again had dead hobgoblins and now dead giants to add to our resume. And a few arrow holes in several of us, but nothing a little healing wouldn’t take care of.

as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Toilday, 27 Pharast

We arose early – scratch that.  We were hiding inside a rope trick.  We descended early that day.  With the aid of the previous day’s scouting, we knew exactly what we were doing and how to prep for it.  We had decided upon a top-down approach … that is, we had spotted a hole in the roof yesterday and thought that entering there might give us more surprise than the obvious front doors.  Fly spells were cast upon those who needed them (I used airwalk from Suishen). We were also bestowed with dark vision, life bubble, and delay poison. All of these would last 3 hours or longer, which, our experience suggested, would be more than enough.

Quietly arriving at the roof, we peered down.  What greeted us was a tangle of webs below.  Well, we were warned there’d be spiders.  Zos thought a vial of alchemical fire might help clear a path, and nobody disagreed.  Dasi began to sing and we all felt a bit more confident about our chances.  Nothing like a bard singing around a fire atop a deserted prison to inspire a bunch of travellers.

Meanwhile, below, a disoriented voice said, “Get that.”  Another voice responded lazily, “Why?”  I stood near the hole, waiting for something to come out so I could smack it.  Kali cast resist fire on herself, apparently a little concerned in view of our increasing use of fire.  Below us, the fires continued to burn the webs, unimpeded.  Peering over, we could see it was now a longer drop to the “floor”.  What we’d previously thought was the floor had simply been a thick layer of webs. “Intruders!” rose lazily from beneath us.

And a dagger flew up to hit Qatana. Ah!  Finally a battle!

But still nothing tried to climb up.  We could see figures moving around below, though, and I was sorely tempted to descend.  I was stayed by the fact that while the daggers wouldn’t hurt me much, I wasn’t sure what else may be in play down there. I reluctantly held my position at the top of the jagged hole.  Qatana pulled out one of our old fireworks and shot it down there, creating more fire and flashes of light. Looked like there might be 5 or 6 spiders down there, but between the flashing and their skittering to the shadows, it was hard to say.  Radella and Ivan broke out their bows and sent some pointed greetings down at the dagger-thrower.  Ivan also found a simple Spark would ignite webs, while Qatana continued to find more fireworks in her bag.

One spider died and audibly fell to a stone floor 20′ below.

Radella, Qatana, and I felt it was time to take the fight to them.  We had the delay poison still operating, so whatever poison they may have would not slow us.  This allowed all of us to clearly see that when the spiders skittered to the shadows …

… there truly were Shadows there.  They came at us as soon as we were on the floor, and as two of them touched me I felt barely half as strong as I had before.  Bad time to not have my distance weapon close at hand. Radella and Qatana were also affected and we all immediately returned to the roof.

It looked like Qatana might be attacked again before she could make it safely to the roof by creating a circular wall of fire with Qatana in the middle and the heat facing outside.  We suddenly realized this was a wonderful way to clear the room of creatures.  We used the wand of lesser restoration to get our strength back while the room below us was cleared of webs and sterilized. Kali sent down two fire elementals to help “attack the spiders”.  This seemed like overkill, but Dasi did remark that he could sense there was still things alive below us. As if by cue, a scream came from below and was cut off.

Ivan ended the wall of fire and we descended en masse.  As we expected, we found very little webbing and heavily charred bodies, as expected.  However, we did not expect, or rather forgot to think, that some valuable items on that level were also nothing but ashes or at best, charred lesser versions of their former selves.  We retrieved

[467] magnificent screen (charred)
[468] bolt of charred fabric
[469] charred tapestry
[470] pair of charred shoes
[471] pile of soot
[472] porcelain tea set with silver and platinum (400-500gp)
[473] jade dragon brooch
[474] 4 jade hairpins
[475] carved soapstone pig
[476] jade belt buckle with demonic face
[477] jade belt hook in the shape of a heron

We found the body of a female spider who had crawled away from the flames a little (and thus less badly burned).  She also had some things.

[478] potion of blur
[479] potion of CSW
[480] 8 MW daggers
[481] black porcelain mask

There was an opening leading down to the next level, and a quick glance suggested more webs.  Much to my surprise and almost delight, large spiders started coming up to attack us.  THIS is something Suishen and I could handle!

There was a brief but active battle, and words were exchanged.  It was hard to tell when we were being spoken to, and when we were simply overhearing parts of another conversation.  But I did discern that apparently the oni and the spiders had some sort of arrangement – the spiders lived here and a little below, while the oni lived farther below.

This time, though, a reply came up from below: a pretty nasty bolt of lightning hit Qatana, and then arced to the rest of us.  This inspired us greatly, and we redoubled our efforts by sending down spiritual allies and firebombs and the occasional flurry of arrows.  In response, Kali set up a lesser globe of invulnerability to block other rude surprises, and then installed another  wall of fire.

The mighty wizard then teleported up to our level, and this quickly became a strategic error.  Although he cast mirror image, those images fell quickly.  Kali did something new where she moved me right next to him and I was able to immediately smack him (well, his image.)  But ten seconds later I  unleashed a flurry of swings that put him down … and when he died, he took on this bizarre form of another spiderlike creature.  This time, at least, the goodies weren’t charred.

[482] wand, lightning [23]
[483] 4 doses of med spider venom
[484] dagger of venom
[485] MW blowgun
[486] 10 darts
[487] cloak of resistance +2
[488] endless flask of sake – 1 gallon/round, plus once/day drink for random potion
[489] silver sake cup
[490] magnificently carved Earth being eaten by a dragon
[491] silver mirror (~1000gp)
[492] 2 doses of opium
[493] set of keys

The fires had created a sharp drop to the floor below which, we could see now, and on the solid floor below there were spikes. Fortunately we all had fly or air walk running yet so we could easily avoid them, but falling from the opening above down to the floor would have been nasty indeed.

At this level, which appeared to have maybe been the corpse storage level, we saw a number of grates in the floor which allowed us to look into the level below us.  It was while quietly looking through these grates that we observed two creatures which looked to be some form of undead: skeletons that seemed to still have some intact organs.  Down below us, they seemed to be hunting, or maybe on aggressive guard duty for something.

Meanwhile, up here, we were finding miscellaneous items and gear among the corpses. In some broken cabinets we found

[494] 3 flasks (magic)
[495] saffron (~200gp)
[496] 4 opium pipes
[497] 8 doses of opium
[498] 3 bamboo chests
[499] string of ancient coins

Among the bodies we found

[500] MW nunchuks
[501] potion (magic)
[502] fine teak carving of a Tien nobility
[503] battered breastplate
[504] fine leather shoes, one with [505] small opal inside
[506] delicate silver snuff box in the shape of a turtle
[507] rhinocerous horn drinking vessel
[508] jade belt hook
[509] silver altar set with lotus flowers
[510] red lacquered trunk with 3 bags of silver and 2 of gold
[511] leather document case
[512] scroll (magic)
[513] plain wooden box with 10 opium doses
[514] elaborately carved jade and ruby pipe
[515] huge drum (magic)

We determined we could probably unleash quite a few arrows from above before a target could move away. Based on that, we decided to ambush one of the skeleton things at a time, while I stood by the circular staircase near the middle of the room in case anything decided to come up.  This worked marvelously; we were able to kill them both without danger, and (apparently) without anything else raising an alarm.

With the apparent danger removed, Qatana and I headed for the staircase to head down.

as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Toilday, 12 Pharast

Giants, tigers and bears. Oh my!

Well, no bears as of yet.  But hobgoblins.  For a feared and uninviting forest, this area sure seems to have a lot of things that “do not belong.”

We were carefully and reverently going through the Spirit Forest when we heard a commotion up ahead.  Slowing, we approached cautiously.  Ivan, Qatana, and Kali went ahead to see what the ruckus was about.  Ahead, a band of hobgoblins appeared to have attacked a wagon.  It wasn’t immediately clear how many of each there was, but it was a pretty good bet that Ivan, Qatana, and Kali would help the non-hobgoblin side.

They called back to us as Ivan shot four arrows, Qatana caused some snakes to appear, and Kali cast Slow on as many of the hobgoblins as she could.  I told Suishen to flame up but was wary that this could be a distraction for an attack on our own caravan.  Haven’t we gotten paranoid lately!?  Radella had the same thought, and fired off a couple of arrows herself before quickly moving to the rear of the caravan to watch for an attack circling back around.

Meanwhile, the hobgoblins were now not only fighting what was left of those on the wagon, but us as well, and we weren’t doing too badly.  Ivan pulled a surprise move, using telekinesis to grab one hobgoblin and throw him back near us. I moved up and skewered him and Kasimir chewed on him.  A web appeared, courtesy of Kali. Ivan finally moved in closer, and, convinced nothing else was coming in, Radella moved closer to.  I stayed to guard Ameiko’s wagon, but it didn’t take too long for the others to finish off the hobgoblins.

Suishen was, of course, pleased with my staying close to Ameiko, but my duty lies also with the remainder of the party.  Nothing ill happened this time, but the whole series of events has caused me to think hard about my duty to Ameiko and my duty to the rest of the party.

And then they found a small, purple hairedo person who hesitantly identified himself as Zosimus.  He was an alchemist-for-hire that was now an alchemist-with-no-employer, thanks to the hobgoblins.  All he really wanted, at this point, was to survive getting out of the Spirit Forest.  His abilities in dealing with potions (and other things contained by flasks) seems uncanny.  It would seem he’ll be joining us for at least part of our journey.  He gave Qatana a flask of cure light wounds. and she seemed to take a shine to him.

I suppose that because he’s a purple haired gnome, he seems less threatening than the mysterious Dasi.  But while it’s taken some time for us to warm to Dasi, Zos (as he told us we could call him) seems to be more readily accepted. Maybe it’s his small stature – he’s what, maybe three feet high?? – but I mean, c’mon, the man needed a shielded and armored wagon to do his work safely.  How can that not seem threatening?

Oh, and since he IS coming along, his standard-issue-armored-wagon would slow us down if we brought it as-is.  So we’re going to take the rest of today, and a good chunk of tomorrow to improve his undercarriage and make the wagon itself faster (and smoother – judging from Zos’ description of how he works, I suspect this is not a wagon we want jostled around!).

Wealday, 20 Pharast

It had been an uneventful week or so when, around midnight or so, Dasi called out.  Another spirit had appeared and seemed to want to move with Dasi, who was showing off his dance moves in simply eluding the spirit.  His avoidance (and no doubt Ivan’s mass cure light wounds) made it angry, and it eventually turned its attention to Kali – not really a better choice if it was looking for acceptance and flowers.  (Maybe origami flowers …)  Qatana’s use of positive channelling and greyflame finally made it fade away.

Of course this happened during the one two hour period I’m scheduled to sleep each night, so I barely had a chance to wake up, stand up, and grab Suishen before it was all over.  But I don’t think swords are how you defeat these shades anyway.

Sunday, 25 Pharast

This morning started with an interesting question for Miyaro. “How do you move through the Spirit Woods without running into all these spirits?”

You might as well have asked one of us “Why do you have two arms but tend to favor one?”  It was apparent this was a question she’d neither been asked before, nor spent any time pondering on her own.  She finally responded, “I just don’t – they don’t – it hasn’t really been a problem.  I’m known here.”

I don’t know if that question guided her thinking today, but by about midday she had led us to a clearing … an unusually quiet clearing.  The treetops here blocked the sunlight, but a feeling of … restfulness seemed to emanate from it.  What appeared to be a gate marked the entrance to it, while dense underbrush seemed to provide an enclosure around it.  With the sunlight blocked, the clearing was never brighter than twilight during the day.  The gate seemed wide enough to admit the wagons.

It would be unusual for us to stop this early in the day, but the place seemed to be a safe haven in a land where we’d seen none yet.

Qatana, of course, was the first to run to the gate, and suddenly a warrior appeared.  “Hail, travellers” it intoned.

“Hail warrior” responded Qatana.

“Where goes you?”

“Thru the forest, on the way to Minkai” replied Kali.

The warrior seemed unimpressed.  “What is your business?”

“We are just passing through. We have no business in the forest. We seek safe passage.”

“The road to the south, along the river, would serve you better.”

“That road,” said Qatana, “we believe to be controlled by the Oni, and they attack us when they find us.”

The warrior seemed interested again. “Do you oppose the Oni?”

“We actively seek to displace them from Minkai.”

If he could smile, I sensed he would.  But instead he stood aside. “You may enter.”

Once we were in the clearing, I could confirm. It was peaceful.  It was quiet.  It was … hmmm.  Watchful.  Now I was a little nervous – again, I realized we were now trapped.  If we were attacked, how powerful was that warrior?

As if reading my mind, Miyaro offered, “This is a place sacred to the Kami.”  She had been here before and said she found it restful.  So I guessed we were indeed stopping for the day.

As time passed, and the light faded more, I could have sworn I heard faint whisperings or rustlings.  At first it was just me but it didn’t take long before several others noticed it too. Miyaro seemed unconcerned: “The Kami are curious.”  After a while you could actually see the woods move – bits of the surrounding forest were entering the clearing and we were reminded that almost everything in the forest had an associated kami.

And at last, one deigned to speak.

Our statement that we opposed the Oni had drawn a great deal more attention than we’d thought.  The Oni, after all, had been imprisoned here in the Forest before escaping and taking over Minkai.  They had escaped from their ‘prison’ over 150 years ago, but the Kami didn’t really understand how.  By their original arrangement, they were forbidden from entering the place where the Oni lived while they were there, even now that the Oni had broken out they were unable to enter. That meant at least one remained.

They would consider it a favor if we could investigate.  One Kami in particular asked if we might be able to retrieve a bonsai tree that was tied to him – it had been taken by hobgoblins and thought to be at the House of Withered Blossoms – where the Oni used to be.  It is about a day’s travel away.

We are told there are spiders, hobgoblins, and Oni.  What’s not to like?

Moonday, 26 Pharast

We decided to leave the wagons and the non-combatants in the clearing.  Non-combatants included Shalelu and Ameiko and while Shalelu offered no arguments, Ameiko looked like she had something to say.  In the end, though, Suishen had more to say than Ameiko.  He seemed concerned that I would be leaving the heir unprotected, but I pointed out she was NOT unprotected.  In this clearing, the whole of the Kami were prepared to defend, and while many of them may be physically small, collectively they represented quite a power.  Gripe gripe gripe – he kept bringing it up the rest of the day. Twice I almost walked into a tree while arguing with my sword. What has my life become?

We arrived late afternoon.  We were of one mind in that nobody wanted to enter the building in the dark.  We would do a little scouting, sleep inside a hidden rope trick, and approach first thing in the morning. Kali sent an arcane eye out, revealing that there was at least one human-appearing person, and there were spiders around him.  While the eye looked on, he picked one off and ate it.  Ugh.  We found a room full of screens, as well as stairways.  The Oni appeared to be one floor below the top; that is, if the Oni had a spider like form with a huge clump on its back.

The ground floor had front doors made of bronze, but the roof also had a hole.  We figured that entering by the front door would be expected; so we’d enter through the roof via fly and airwalk spells and gain the benefit of surprise.

I’ll tell you this – watches are a lot easier when everyone is inside an extradimensional space.  The plants surrounding and covering the House of Withered Blossom seem to flower, fruit, and reset each night.  The smell in the morning was both pleasant and unpleasant … definitely distinctive.

as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Toilday, 5 Pharast

Since the ninja attack on the 26th, it’s been quiet and uneventful, although that’s entirely in hindsight. Every night before we go to bed there is still this feeling that you may be awakened at any moment with a knife at your throat. Our watch system did exactly what it was supposed to do in the ninja attack, and surprise was minimal from a strategy standpoint. But the feeling of vulnerability and accessibility lasts long after the attack itself is done. Each attack serves to revitalize and underscore the feeling of danger, and make us more wary, and less trustful.

On Miyaro’s advice, we are travelling near but not on the road, on the theory that travellers here are generally unhelpful to and distrustful of “outsiders” which of course we are. It is hard to forget that in the city it was uncomfortable to be viewed as outsiders and placed on a pedestal, and outside the city it is uncomfortable to be viewed as outsiders and placed on a target. In other words, there is no time when we feel safe and appreciated. It is a subtle thing, but it wears on one. I can only hope we find some (more) allies within the forest or in Minkai when we reach it. We desperately need to feel there are others beside us who feel this is a right thing to do.

Hah, and who am I to determine the “right” thing to do? This whole journey was originally due to Shalelu suggesting, “come along, you might enjoy it” and now I am effectively the personal guard of Ameiko. Who, by the way, doesn’t really want a personal guard half the time.

At least half the time she finds it tolerable now, up from 10%. That’s a faint silver lining.

But enough of that. Today, talk turned again to how best to obtain supplies for the coming trip without exposing ourselves to risk in Muliwan. It was decided that Kali, with her hair cut short by way of easy disguise, and Dasi, by virtue of his existing familiarity with the region, would make the best choices. I was torn, as I hate to see any of the group at risk and when the group is separated there is always risk. But ultimately I decided, and I’m sure Suishen would agree if I thought it out loud (!) that my primary duty is to protecting Ameiko. With two of our party missing for a half day, she is arguably at greater risk simply because there are fewer protectors.

The group provided the two with their ‘shopping lists’ and they also took the bag of holding with the stuff we would offer to sell. I am providing them with 3000gp of my share and my cash so that I may get the ingredients necessary to have Ivan enchant Shalelu’s sword. If she is going to insist on entering the battle half blind and on fire, she can at least do so with a rapier of high quality! 🙂

With the intent to be gone as short a time as possible, Kali planned to conjure phantom steeds for the trip there, dismount, dismiss them, walk rather than ride into town, do the shopping, leave the town, and then use Teleport to get back. (Teleport wouldn’t work on the way there because while Dasi might have some knowledge of the town, Kali has none and cannot teleport to place she knows nothing of.)

And after all was said and done, it was done. No issues – everything went according to plan. Better, in fact – Dasi turns out to be quite the negotiator when it comes to trade. They were back by 5pm with all we’d asked for.

During and after dinner, we quizzed Miyaro about the Spirit Forest. “It is so named because of all the spirits in it,” she offered unhelpfully. But she couldn’t describe the number, or type, or even whether they would be willing to help us as she was. Be prepared for anything, I guess.

Like usual.

Oathday, 7 Pharast

It was about 5pm today when we came across a stone marker overturned along the path. Upon righting it, we could clearly read “1200 miles to Minkai” on it. Hah.

But Miyaro seemed very serious about it. “You should leave an offering,” she suggested. Soon there was a silver piece, a flower of origami, and a song sung. Much to our surprise, a small, old looking man appeared from nearby and looked over the marker. He thanked us and we had a brief conversation. “If you help others,” he offered, “you will earn blessings of the local spirits.”

[ +1 to saving throws for one week ]

We set up camp that evening after a good day’s travel. We were sitting around the campfire earlier in the evening when some of us heard a humming, in a musical sense. Except, none of us were humming. As we looked around, first subtly and then more obviously as it became apparent more than one person had heard it, I began to see the figure of a woman appearing among us. It moved to be next to Sandru, and seemed to be oblivious to us.

And then it seemed to merge with him.

Several of us tried to stop that both with weapons and spells, but the spirit sank within Sandru and disappeared. We held our breath and looked at Sandru, who looked back and said, “What?”.

Or his eyes did. His mouth began humming a now-familiar song. Dasi tried the direct approach, asking Sandru/spirit, “Where’d you hear that song?” Sandru/spirit responded with, “I’m a poet. I wrote it.” The conversation was taking place in Tien, a language that Sandru does not know. As Dasi continued the conversation, he translated for us. The spirit seemed to not realize she was a spirit, nor that she currently inhabited a man, She spoke in the present tense, but from time to time Sandru would also respond. For now, they seemed to be harmlessly coexisting, but we had no idea how long that would remain harmless.

It was Ivan who finally hit upon “dispel magic” as the means to make the effect disappear, after protection from evil, channelling, swords, and even ghostbane dirge seemed to have no effect. With the spirit gone, Sandru seemed to return to his normal self, although … I wonder if Sandru will retain some knowledge of Tien now …

Moonday, 10 Pharast

Around noon this day, we heard a birdcall. It was the first sign of life we were familiar with in some time, so it should not have surprised us when Nihali reported, “that was not a bird.” And in short order, a stone giant stood in our path and asked under “what right we came to his home.” When he made a comment about horses being tasty, Kasimir trembled angrily, and I calmed him, saying this was not his fight. I quickly dismounted, drew Suishen, and turned on his flame.

There were three altogether; two others were heaving rocks at us (fairly inaccurately, thank goodness.) Qatana quickly put a hold on one of them, and the other two quickly fell, in no small part to Ivan’s Deadly Arrows. I think the man has three bow arms and two quiver for each bow! I personally decapitated the giant who had been held by Qatana – like killing really big fish in a really huge barrel.

With a little tracking, we quickly found the giants’ residence. Inside were 20 cargo units of salted and preserved meats! But we have room for but a little more than 3 on our downsized caravan. We also took

[458] 25′ woven tapestry (about 300gp)
[459,460] white tiger skins (about 500gp each)
[461] 3 barrels of sake
[462] 2 bolts of fine silk (about 150gp each)

That evening, I was able to accept Shalelu’s finished weapon from Ivan and formally present it back to Ameiko as a +2 rapier. She seemed pleased.

Toilday, 11 Pharast

We had barely gotten started for the day when a giant tiger approached us, roaring and snarling. However, it stopped a good 30 feet away from us instead of closing and attacking.

Miyaro observed this tiger was not acting right; Radella tried using all her ranger skills to befriend it. Dasi said, after some concentration, that he sensed grief. The tiger finally turned around and loped away.

Radella followed it. Qatana ran after her. I was a bit concerned about them, but also concerned that this could be a ruse to distract us before attacking the rest of the party. Radella, however, broke into a run. Ivan joined in, so Ivan, Qatana, and Radella were now hunting a large tiger.

Regardless of the tiger’s intentions, this just seemed like a bad idea. But my hands were tied – Ameiko and the majority of the party had to remain my primary focus. Off the three went.

Upon returning – they did return – they told us how in short time they noticed the smell of smoke in the air. Trying to locate it, it wasn’t long before they noticed the translucent form of a female human appear and move next to Ivan. Remembering Sandru, Ivan promptly ran away. Qatana’s channeling positive energy had a noticeable, deleterious effect upon it. It kept moving towards Ivan, though, and Ivan could easily keep away from it. A second channelling, though, caused it to fade away, leaving a smell of acrid smoke. There was clearly a story here, but we’ll never know it.

Twenty minutes later, they did find the lair, or rather home, of the tiger. There was a dead body in the cave, but it was not dead at the tiger’s efforts. Still, weren’t these things supposed to be immortal or nearly so? It appeared to be the figure of a small creature not unlike the one whose marker we righted.

Radella offered a small amount of food to the tiger, which hesitantly accepted it before seeming to relax a little. The three of them, upon the advice of Miyaro (via sending) took the body out of the cave and gave it a proper burial.

Miyaro expressed concern about all this, and said she would mention it to the Kami,

as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Wealday, 20 Calistril

One minute there were dragon dancers, and the next minute there were not.

There were ninjas, wearing the standard tight-fitting ninja uniform, armed with the standard poisoned throwing stars, and not, for once, attacking with the typical ninja stealth (we were, after all, looking right at them as they emerged from beneath the dragon.)

To be truthful, I saw eight emerge from the dragon, but they were joined by four more that had quietly infiltrated the crowd.

Ninjas, I have learned, are pretty much on suicide missions.from the time they leave Ninja HQ.  They are most dangerous from a distance, when their poisoned shurikens can seriously weaken or even kill you before you ever can make contact.  If they ever have to close with me, their tight-fitting ninja uniform is usually insufficient against my attacks with Suishen, and they seem unable to throw at such close quarters.

My main concern, of course, was that in a situation like this, Ameiko was not secure.  If the ninjas knew her for who she was, she could be swarmed upon, and she did take on some poison from a shuriken.  Ivan quickly cast delay poison upon her, however. Dasi also made good on his promise to protect her, and I’ll admit that although I was distracted at times, I could swear Dasi walked up to more than one ninja and simply take their weapon out of their hand in the same motion that a magician pulls a coin from behind your ear.  He is neither a swordsman nor an archer, but … I’m not sure what the name is for what he does.

Qatana found herself somewhat in the middle of battle simply by fate of where she stood as the dragon passed, and took a bit of strength damage from the initial flurry of shurikens.  (I also found myself faltering a bit from one until Ivan put delay poison on me.) Kali created a wall of ice to help provide a “rear” that we could not be attacked from, and later managed to haste us so we coiuld finish the battle more quickly..  Ivan calmly pulled out his bow and began shooting arrows faster, it would seem, than is humanly possible.   It seemed at times he was nocking them two at a time.

Ameiko started swinging at a ninja that came near her, but Dasi and I quickly flanked her and after it was dead, took on additional foes as they approached.  While she kept her sword drawn and ready, she allowed us to take the lead.

Partway through the battle, though, it appeared we had gained an ally.  A non-descript woman from the crowd suddenly joined the fray and began attacking ninjas.  The palace guards assigned to us fell quickly, but the woman seemed to be holding her own quite well.  Radella seemed to be hitting the ninjas hard and then …

… it was over. We managed to catch one ninja alive, but his tongue was cut out already (note previous comment about ninja HQ).  And the woman mysteriously said, “We should talk, but not here.”  The crowd had scattered, or was still scattering, in some cases, but we could also hear an approaching force we presumed was the City Guard.

I moved towards the approaching guard to give Ivan a smidge more time to loot the bodies.  While I occupied them by telling what had happened and how awful it was, he was able to retrieve

[453] 5 potions of CSW
[454] 7 empty (used) potions
[455] 8 doses of shadow essence (poison)

They were wearing chain mail shirts which couldn’t really be removed in the short time we had.

Dasi heard the guards looking around worriedly and mumbling, “This was not supposed to happen today.”

While the “cleaning crew” began their effort at making it appear this never happened, the woman, whose name was Miyaro reiterated “we need to talk.”  We returned to our palace accommodations, noticing that this time, the people in the streets and in the palace did not smile as brilliantly or greet us as enthusiastically as in the past. What, it was our fault that their dragon-dancer HR filtering process was poor?

Miyaro, it turns out, knew of our mission.  First Dasi, and now her?  So much for arriving in secrecy.  Although I suppose the oni have been after us for some time now, so it shouldn’t be TOO big of a surprise.  She grew up in the Forest of Spirits – yes, that’s right – and the Forest apparently has taken a side in this issue.  At least some residents there would like to see the rightful heir back on the throne.

Travelling through the Forest is an option now, although Miyaro warned us she would need to guide us.

While we were quietly discussing this, Chua came by and Kali told him abruptly we were leaving before slamming the door in his face.  Radella threw her a look and opened the door to a chastened and confused Chua.  Turns out that the Prince had the same idea.  It was unfortunate, of course, but the safety of his city was at stake, yada yada.  But by way of parting gift, he was happy to give us eight fine steeds to aid us in our departure.  I was about to mention I had no need of a steed but was shushed by several others.

They will be worth money, somewhere, so why throw away money?

[456] 8 filigree saddles, ~200gp each
[457] 8 light war horses, ~300gp each

Qatana used our wand of lesser restoration and soon everybody had their strength back.

Late that afternoon, we took leave of Ordu-Aghanei, the once future home of Princess Kali!

Moonday, 25 Calistril

Travel has been relatively uneventful, and the safer we are the more nervous Kali gets.  I think the whole experience in the city has upset her equilibrium.  Yes we are targets, but we’re increasingly capable of handling ourselves, and her nervousness is contagious.

Today we saw some other riders at a distance, and she was careful to point them out and give them a wide berth.  I’m not worried about the people who approach us openly.  I’m more nervous about those that don’t announce themselves.

Toilday, 26 Calistril

Like today.  More ninjas, and they again did not announce themselves. How rude.

Qatana was on guard duty and saw them coming a little before midnight Moonday.  Apparently ninjas are ordered by the dozen, as it was again 12 that came for us.  But Kali had a new trick up her sleeve.  She created a hut which was transparent for those inside, and opaque to those outside.  You could also pass through it at any point.  That meant we could shoot arrows at will (go Ivan) and if any of them crept alongside the hut, somebody with a sword (ahem) could slash them with impunity.

Being on guard duty, Qatana was outside the range of this hut when it was formed, but she had her own trick up her sleeve.  She projected some type of aura so that when enemies got within 20 or 30 feet of her, they would get confused and either wander off or attack each other.  (Nice to know she can have that effect on somebody other than us!)  Consequently, about a quarter of the ninjas entertained each other.  The others were picked off one by one.  Ivan provided a wall of fire to again restrict the direction we had to defend.

Dasi again smiled as he stole weapons right out of their hands.  How DOES he do that?

Suishen and I managed to lay open a couple of ninjas quite satisfyingly.  If it weren’t for their poison, they wouldn’t be a big deal, I think.

Ivan created a second wall of fire to protect one of the wagons, only to discover that Shalelu had snuck out the back of the wagon to help in the battle.  Oops – well, he couldn’t see her and that wasn’t expected. Still, it was disheartening to see her scorched!

Then at the end, it got strange.  Two of the ninjas ran off, and Kali and Qatana insisted on chasing them.  They cast Fly and took off by themselves.  Apparently Kali summoned a cheetah and had it hunt them down.  Qatana used a spiritual ally.  Seemed a bad idea to have two magic users and no fighters out in the dark, but it turned out okay.  Ivan burned the bodies; in theory their employers will not know what happened but I get the sense we’re still being tracked so they’ll know.

We’re a little less than halfway to Muliwan and are discussing whether to swing wide of it entirely.  Miyaro would have us do that, but it may be the last place for a while where we can resupply and buy a few things.

as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Oathday, 19 Calistril

Tonight was the night of the Varisian feast.  Qatana and Ameiko were the primary artisans on this one although the prince provided a staff of dozens.  We successfully prevailed upon them not to make the entrees look TOO much like the local fare.

While they were instructing kitchen staff on the finer parts of Varisian cooking (and frankly, that took a good amount of time),  we were working on the theatric entertainment we would be providing.  Chua arrived in the early morning to (of course) invite Kali to a luncheon.  I informed him that since Kali was an unmarried young woman, I would be accompanying her as an escort. He reluctantly acknowledged that.  We told Chua we would be needing a lute and 4 actors, and after we described a lute in some detail to him, he nodded and left.  Around 10am, 4 actors showed up, carrying the lute.

A few minutes before noon, Chua arrived to take Kali to the Prince.  I assumed my most intimidating position, with Suishen at the ready (but not aflame).  He brought a silk dress with flowers for her to wear, and she spent a moment changing into it.

The prince’s attractive bodyguard accompanied us as well.  The four of us first toured the castle – “I added that whole wing”, pointed out the prince – before moving on to the original courtyard we’d met him in, where a generous lunch was already on display.  “Everyone agrees,” he offered, “that the palace is so much prettier with you in it.”

He’s not subtle, but at least so far he was polite.

“On occasion, the King passes through this part of the country,” said the prince, smoothly.  “He has not been here for a few months, however.”

In response to her question, the prince took Kali to a Shelyn temple.   Kali noticed a number of heads on pikes and asked about them.  The prince proudly replied that he kept a very safe city, and that criminals could expect to be treated harshly.  Temple personnel hustled about with purpose, and the high priestess hurriedly bowed and said they were preparing for the evening’s festival in response to Kali’s query.  There will be dragon dancers!

Kali looked awkward and uncomfortable at the attention she was drawing, but the worst was yet to come.  Returning to the palace, Kali seemed to offer some genuine compliments about the luncheon and the prince practically beamed. “‘Kali,'” he said, “flows off the lips like honey.”  I channelled Sparna and did an admirable but mostly hidden eyeroll. “It’s so pleasant having you here!  I wish to put the city at your feet! Kali – marry me!”

Well there it was, lying there in the open like a field dressed musk ox.  Swarming with flies, too.  A proposal.  I glanced at Kali and she appeared mostly composed, but I also knew she’d been preparing for this moment. “I am honored by your proposal,” she began, “and flattered by your attention.  Please take no dishonor at my reply, but it is the way of my people to require my father to approve any marriage.  While he will no doubt find your proposal worthy of consideration, it is a formality we must go through.”

The prince hesitated briefly before smiling a little less brilliantly.  “How can we know of your father’s wishes?    Perhaps one of my many wizards or clerics can arrange for him to appear here.” He looked left and right and, finding none but the four of us, prepared to clap his hands.

“There is no need for a wielder of magic,” said Kali, stopping him in mid-summoning.  “I know a spell myself which we can use to communicate with him as though he were before us. I can perform the magic after dinner tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?!” responded the prospective husband, almost pouting.  “We shall do that, then.  Until this evening, I thank you for sharing lunch with me, and gracing me with your beauty and elegance.  I will make arrangements for the ceremony to be performed after dinner tomorrow, then!  Chua!” and I swear the man appeared oiut of thin air like a summoned demon. the prince lowered his voice but not by much.  “Make arrangement for the ceremony to be performed after dinner tomorrow.”

“Yes, m’lord,” he responded, and escorted us back to the group’s quarters.

I started to ask Kali a question but she waved her hand and silently shushed with her finger.

Dinner was not far off so she indicated to wait until then.

(later)

At a lull in the dinner, Kali cast code speak and brought everyone up to date.  Everyone, that is, except Sparna, who was absent.  Ivan said he was leaving the party because he’d “lost his nerve”!  This came as a complete shock to everyone, including me. I thought we shared a bond, but apparently he sought out Ivan to relay this decision to us.

We are down to five.  We are surviving the attacks of the oni, but losing to the attacks of life.

The rest were alarmed at the marriage proposal, and we had a hasty but fairly blunt conversation about how to handle this.  Kali believes we should leave town, and then she’ll catch up with us later.  That seems like a bad plan, and I wasn’t alone in that assessment.  Kali insisted she could use a scroll of teleport to catch up with us, but we pointed out that for teleport to work she needs to go to a place that is familiar to her, and wherever we are will not be familiar to her.  She responded she could scry for us.  We still had concerns about having an angry prince behind us.  However, the conversation was starting to draw unwanted attention, even though nobody else could understand it, so we agreed to finish it later.

The dinner attendees found it all satisfactory, by the way, and I myself found it muchly welcome.  It was still high-end food – nary a single rabbit drumstick to be found anywhere – but it was rich, high-end, FAMILIAR food.  I have never appreciated Qatana’s and Ameiko’s culinary talents as much as this evening.

The play, reflecting the genuine insanity of its author, made little sense other than the moral that it was great, or possibly horrible, to be human.  The actors did receive more than polite applause, and we  received a jewelled scabbard ([451], radiates magic) in gratitude.

One of the actors, Dasi, seemed interested in our party, or more to the point, our heritage.  He seemed interested in our Varisian roots, and hung out in the ‘afters party’ longer than any of the other actors.  He had a scroll with an artist’s rendition of the old Minkai emperor and basically seemed to be sizing us up to see how much we looked like it.  I laughed and said, yeah, we get that a lot. Everybody here says all Varisians look alike.  But this old emperor wasn’t Varisian, so why are you waving that picture around?
ato our mildly babbled replies, he offered, “I can tell some of you are not being entirely truthful.”  The room fell silent.

I pulled out Suishen and set him aflame.  “Perhaps this is what you seek.”  Dasi’s eyes widened.  “You have Suishen!”  THAT caught me off guard, although I’m not entirely sure why once he revealed he knew the family name.  “You are the heir!”

“No,” I said sternly. “No man we’ve encountered has proven to be a worthy heir.”  Suishen lightly snickered in my head. “But, like you, we are … genealogists seeking a family.”

“May I touch it?” he asked, still in awe.  I thought, heh, this could end it all right here.  “You may,” I replied as I held the blade out.

But then Suishen surprised me.  He said, apparently to everyone in the room including Dasi, “Do you swear fealty to the rightful heir to the throne of Minkai?”

With a mixture of fear and awe, Dasi grasped the blade and said, “Yes”.  And nothing else happened.

“Well then,” I said authoritatively and hesitantly at the same time.  At the same moment, Suishen said to me, “ok, he’ll do.”  This was all very fast, and I was still very uncertain about all this. “Why? Don’t you trust me?” asked Suishen.

“Stop reading my mind,” I sent to him.  “Don’t think so loud,” he replied, but then he did at least shut up.

Fireday, 20 Calistril

Qatana memorized a zone of truth to further delve into Dasi’s motives.  The questions that she and the others asked, seemed to reveal little else of his motives.  Was he a spy, or a royal family groupie?

Then Qatana surprised us all by pointing at Ameiko, saying, well, there’s your heir.

I immediately drew Suishen, added flame, and stepped in front of Ameiko.

“The champion,” murmured Dasi.  “And the sword.”

“I will be watching you, historian,” I said.  But he was appraising Ameiko over now.  From a safe distance, I might add.  Great. Now Ameiko had a stalker too.  How long before Radella or Qatana acquire creepy admirers too?

The town is very busy preparing for the Feast of the Dragon.  But the shops are open, and we have a few tasks to accomplish before then, not the least of which is purchasing some teleport scrolls.

as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Moonday, 2 Calistril

Qatana and Kali spent a lot of time trying to rededicate this area of the cavern to Desna. Kali was concerned, I think, about the miles behind us that will be left unclean, but acknowledged that we can only do so much. We did ask the yeti to remove the heads in the passageway, and the did agree, but it’s a coin toss as to whether they really understand what we’re looking for.

We looked into cleansing the tree/lake of the shadows that seem to be held there, but all we really did was end up arousing (or summoning) two more. We dispatched them for the safety of others, but were disappointed we can’t clean this part up. We added signage to warn future visitors, and of course told the yeti too.

Koya theorized that the shadows there may be souls that got trapped on their journey through the mountain. What trapped them, and how to free them if she’s right, is beyond us.

Despite our inability to cleanse the area to our satisfaction, there is a palpable eagerness for much of the party to be moving on. We’ve been in this necropolis too long for ANYONE’S comfort.

 

Toilday, 3 Calistril

Qatana helped form an alternative stone bridge over the chasm in order to bypass the anti-life field for the caravan. We proceeded uneventfully for about all of five minutes before running into the predicted stone wall. Another stoneshape spell turned that into a large doorway, and off we went.

The air smells fresher and crisper, but after several days in the necropolis among the yeti, that may not be surprising.

 

Fireday, 6 Calistril

That was it! Just three more days through the mountain and we emerged into daylight. With Katiana dispatched (again) it was a welcome experience to find nice weather and sunshine. Cold yet, of course, but I don’t think anybody cared. According to Kali, the next town of size is Ordu-Aganhei but it’s still another week or more away.

But we can breathe again, and we can hunt again, which will make our food go even farther. We have rationed ourselves well, even with our delay at the necropolis, but one never knows what the future may hold for us. I would not have believed that travelling in bitter cold, hunting for sparse game, and sitting in a wagon for hours a day with nothing else happening would be something that would make me happy, But believe it or not, it’s a step up from the last several days.

Moonday, 16 Calistril

A couple of days ago, we saw our first sign of human life, other than ours. There was what looked like a hunting party not too far off, but we waved a hello, they waved a hello, and that’s all the interaction we could spare. We are making good time, and the weather is slowly getting warmer.

Ulf says that the area we are travelling into (and in a sense, are already in) is something of a “barbarian kingdom”. Last he knew the city was ruled by a prince. He advised us to stay on the trails since despite being barbarians, perhaps, the people here are a bit territorial and not terribly fond of outsiders. He suggested we keep our business to ourselves and let Ameiko do the talking.

Not sure I’m okay with that, but I will try to keep an open mind. I asked Suishen if he might likely be recognized now that we’re over the crown of the world, and he admitted he wasn’t sure. It’s been a while.

(later)

We reached the city. “This is the gateway to Tian Xia!” proclaimed Ulf. Ordu-Aganhei boasts about 8000 people. We could see as we approached that the city had a massive 40′ tall wall surrounding it, and guards were actively moving on and around it. There were colorful, sloping roofs with peaked corners. The northern gate was equally impressive, being a 30′ tall iron door. Ulf also reminded us that his journey ends here, although he’s happy to hang out with us as long as we remain in the city. Sandru, however, said he would stay with the group. It sounds like we may continue as a caravan, just sans guide.

However, as we reached the gate, which was open, several guards blocked our way. “Halt – who comes to our city?” Kali responded that we had just come across the crown of the world, and —

“Unlikely!” sneered the guard. “In winter?”

Kali tried to explain before being interrupted again. “Where are you from?”

“Kalsgard,” she calmly replied. “Our grandmother, who is old and in the twilight of her life, wished to see the great nation of Tian Xia before she died. It’s why we risked the winter winds and -”

“You LIE,” responded one guard. Other guards started moving towards the wagons to search them.

“We will not tolerate your searching through our private belongings,” said Kali. “Is this how all visitors to your city are treated?”

“If they are lawless ruffians, yes they are!” responded one who seemed perhaps to be their captain. We had begun fingering our weapons when a voice called out from above, “Enough!” The guards all looked up, surprised. A well dressed man emerged from the entrance and the guards bowed before him. Apparently, this was the prince’s right-hand man.

“The Prince bids you welcome to our fair city,” he said, “and invites you to be his honored guests.”

Ulf quietly whispered to us that the Prince would be a powerful ally, but he also had a reputation for treachery.

On behalf of the Prince, each female in our party received a black rose. Despite being a bit macabre, this was apparently an honor here, so they each accepted graciously. The guards fell back as the advisor indicated he would take us to the prince. We were all on alert as we walked through the city, but everywhere we went we (more likely, the advisor Chua) people politely gave way and stared at the foreigners. The castle is in the middle of the city, Chua explained, and we were to be housed there as honored guests. The caravan was escorted to a safe place before we all headed for the castle. As we entered the castle grounds, we could see it was, not unexpectedly, quite ostentatious.

And still nobody had attacked us. How unusual. Life in the wild has changed me.

In a giant courtyard was a huge bed, and on the bed we approached an enormous, smiling man. “The golden one,” offered Chua by way of introduction. Chua cheerfully advised us to be extremely polite. It was apparent that honor and protocol ruled here.

The prince welcomed us warmly, ordering food and wine be brought. “Tell me your tale!” he implored in Common. Eager to show us to be other than simple ruffians, Kali replied in Hon-la, “Thank you for your hospitality.” A close observer may have noticed a slight darkening of the Prince’s face before it was again illuminated in smile.

Kali regaled him with tales of wild, almost living storms, and a fierce white dragon before pausing to catch her breath. The prince observed, “Not all dragons bring good luck! But I must hear more. I declare a holiday and we shall celebrate the Five Feasts of Hongul! You must join me for dinner this evening!”

Of course we accepted, and we were escorted to individual rooms, with individual beds and baths and various food (like fresh fruit and snacks) already available on a table. So VERY different from our life of late.

Sparna asked about making contact with a local weaponsmith; apparently he wants to know more about forging the type of weapons we see around us. Chua assured us that would be possible. (Apparently, as royal guests, very little was IMpossible.)

A few minutes before 8, we were escorted to a great dining hall – this was not to be a private affair. There were 300 people there if there was a dozen. We were provided a place of honor near the prince and the first course was brought out. It was immediately apparent that what we were having for dinner was diplomacy, because what they brought out – as a delicacy no doubt – was duck heads in some sort of pungent sauce, and chicken feet in … well, I managed to eat a polite amount.

Part of dinner was, apparently, the three games of Hongul. This involved mounted archery, bareback riding, and wrestling. After a demonstration by our host’s champions, we were invited to show our prowess. Surprisingly, Ivan nailed the mounted archery, and Sparna proved to be a future wrestling champion by winning that bout. I retrieved Kasimir but my bareback riding is limited, and I’m afraid I was not able to clear the hurdles they had set up. Rather than seeming disappointed, though, the Prince seemed to take pride in the fact that his riders held a superiority over us and he was comparatively gracious in his victory.

One thing we noticed was that every subject in the dining hall watched the Prince closely, and no matter what transpired, closely mimicked whatever the Prince’s reaction turned out to be. There is a fine line between respect and fear, sometimes.

As a result of our competition, the prince gifted us with

[446] a composite short bow
[448] 10 +1 arrows
[447] an efficient quiver

“Tomorrow,” proclaimed the Prince, “we shall celebrate the Feast of the Ancients!”

But I must say that if today’s menu foretells our dinners during this holiday, I’ll be making quite a dent in the fruit in our room.

 

Toilday, 17 Calistril

Today, during the day, we will start to sell some of the things we acquired but have no particular desire for. I’ve decided to buy the terra cotta warrior with my share of gold, and will buy the materials for Kali to make my +2 belt of strength a +4 belt. Similarly, I’m going to see about getting my +1 amulet of natural armor improved to +2. Those three items will use up most of my share, presuming the prices here are fair.

We did not want to be caught by surprise again, so we asked Chua what was involved with the Feast of the Ancients. He told us it would be a feast of storytelling.

Kali discovered in the morning that the prince had sent a dress for her to wear to dinner. She is apprehensive of this gift, as she does not relish getting too chummy with the prince, given what Ulf told us of his reputation.

(later)

It was around 5pm that we gathered to raise Bevelek. I have never seen anything like this done, and Qatana seems so unlikely a person to do it. It took an incredibly large diamond (which turned to ash during the ceremony) and maybe every one of these goes differently, but it didn’t take all that long before Bevelek was breathing before us again – weak, a bit shaken, but alive. Vankor was beside himself, and later I saw him holding a piece of parchment that had been written on an arm’s length away from his brother. “This need not be sent now, and there’s nothing to read here” he said, but Bevelek insisted on reading it first. He paused, and then looked at his brother before hugging him tightly. “I agree that they need not know,” he said before he tore it in two, then four, and finally into small pieces. I’m not quite sure what that was all about.

It was a bit before 8 when we were again escorted to the hall and served dinner. The tale that the prince’s storyteller related was, loosely translated, “why the marmot has no thumbs”. It was elegant enough, but we decided to augment our tale of how we defeated the white dragon with minor magicks and accompaniment by Ameiko, which was very well received. The prince bowed before Kali for her efforts, making her visually uncomfortable as she politely demurred and downplayed her role.

No doubt making her appear even more attractive.

We were presented with

[449] A masterwork horsehead fiddle

The food, unfortunately, was as … distinctive … as last night’s.

Tomorrow: The Feast of the Fire.

And Kali was invited to breakfast. Sparna offered to be her honor guard, and although my primary duty is to Ameiko, I really want to assist Sparna. Two armed warriors would probably be too much though, so …

 

Wealday, 18 Calistril

Chua arrived at 7am and was mildly surprised to find Kali had an escort. We explained that as an unmarried woman, in our culture she was owed an escort to any social activities. He quickly covered his surprise and escorted her to the prince’s quarters, where a sumptuous meal awaited. According to Kali, and Sparna, the prince was polite but a bit more … touchy … than Kali was comfortable with.

Again a little before 8 a servant escorted us to the dining hall and, as expected, there were displays of fire and fire control. When we were invited to show off, I took the stage with Suishen for this one, and Ivan utilized his walls of fire to great effect. Radella’s and Sparna’s weapons were lit with oil, but Suishen of course needed no such aid. The display was again roundly applauded, and the menu was typically heinous.

We were gifted, this time, with
[450] 6 vials of flaming breath

The prince’s eyes rarely left Kali, and she is visibly concerned.

Tomorrow: The Feast of Varisia – we are the chefs for this one, although we have the entire kitchen staff at our disposal to assist us. Qatana and Koya are putting their heads together. Finally! a meal I’ll be able to eat!

However, the prince’s growing interest in Kali may ultimately have us leaving hastily. We are also preparing the caravan, as innocently as we can, in case we need to leave separately and meet elsewhere, maybe outside the city.