I<\/span><\/p>\n don\u2019t know how I am going to pull off this charade today while I am sick to my stomach. It\u2019s been several hours now and Qatana still hasn\u2019t returned, and I have no idea what\u2019s going on with her. I\u2019ve got this sinking feeling that she\u2019s just not coming back.<\/span><\/p>\n When I came into the dining hall this morning most of the others were already there and they were still mulling over what to do about the coin. Which means we\u2019ve made no progress since I went to bed last night, when we were waffling between selling it to one of the clans, taking possession of it ourselves, or just holding on to it and doing nothing. That last one is basically just stalling; avoiding making the decision because that\u2019s easier than agreeing on one.<\/span><\/p>\n And who knows? Maybe we\u2019ll figure something out. Before he turned in, Dasi said something about researching sovereign dragons which means the plan could conceivably be: find where one lives, drop in for a visit and ask it politely if it wouldn\u2019t mind eating an evil minor artifact.<\/span><\/p>\n And if that sounded absurd <\/span>then<\/span><\/i>, it seemed even more so this morning.<\/span><\/p>\n Qatana came into the room in the middle of that discussion and I guess she had finally had enough. \u201cThis is ridiculous,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n And then she vanished.<\/span><\/p>\n She didn\u2019t turn invisible\u2014I would have still seen her\u2014so she was definitely gone. Knowing what I know about her spells? She must have shifted to some other plane. It\u2019s the only explanation that fits. I imagine this was her way of expressing her opinion on the debate.<\/span><\/p>\n At the time I just figured she wanted a break from it all, but after an hour or so went by and we were getting ready to leave and there was still no sign of her? That\u2019s when I started worrying. Still, she knew where we were headed and when we\u2019d be there. <\/span>Maybe she\u2019ll just catch up with us later<\/span><\/i>. But of course now it\u2019s later, and there\u2019s still no Qatana.<\/span><\/p>\n I know she has been unhappy with how events have played out, and given her history she has little tolerance for what we\u2019ve seen since our arrival here. The past few days have been awful, and maybe she is just done with it all. I guess there\u2019s a part of me that would not be surprised if that were so, and perhaps has even wondered why she\u2019s stayed as long as she has. She spent the worst part of her life in a city where people were frequently indulgent of the worst of humanity. <\/span>Here<\/span><\/i>, they are<\/span> willfully ignorant<\/span><\/i> of it because their society values doctrine over ethos; it\u2019s codified into their culture and leafed in gold. The ideal is that you become a good servant, not that you serve good.<\/span><\/p>\n A few do manage to rise above this. Certainly Jiro. The Nine Pawns as well (though <\/span>classism<\/span><\/i> is alive and well there). They see blind adherence to this archaic code of honor for what it is: an easy way out of having to decide for yourself what is right. As long as you can say you are doing your duty, you don\u2019t have to make any hard choices. It\u2019s a system that lets people like Sennaka commit atrocities with legal authority and no consequences. How messed up is that?<\/span><\/p>\n O<\/span><\/p>\n ne of the Nine Pawns gave Dasi and me a tour of the resort under the guise that we were artisans hired to do something-or-other as part of the renovations. We didn\u2019t really have a plan beyond me being a sculptor and Dasi being\u2026whatever it was he was supposed to be. Because, really, no one cared. We looked the part and that\u2019s all that mattered. What few workers even paid attention to us probably just figured \u201cthey\u2019re here to do a thing\u201d and never gave it a second thought.<\/span><\/p>\n Radella, Ivan and Zosimus stayed behind because they took the self-guided version last night while I was casting my spell to eavesdrop on Kaibuninsho. The point was to get familiar with the facility, figure out where Sennaka would most likely be spending his time, and where guards would likely be stationed. That took us all of about 10 minutes, but to avoid suspicion we needed to stretch it out. It took Radella & Co. quite a bit longer, mostly because they were skulking around in the dark trying not to be seen.<\/span><\/p>\n Like most luxury properties in Minkai, this one sports shoji walls and doors. Paper is great for interior lighting but lousy on privacy. I can\u2019t imagine trying to have an intimate moment with someone when you can literally be heard, and possibly seen, from across the building. Not that this is going to be an issue for me personally\u2014I don\u2019t have time for that sort of thing, even if there were someone around to provide an opportunity\u2014but that\u2019s not really the point. Though I guess if you can afford to build your house out of washi paper, you can afford to pay people to pretend to look the other way.<\/span><\/p>\n We meet with the Nine Pawns again tonight to finalize the plan for tomorrow. It won\u2019t require <\/span>precise<\/span><\/i> timing but if our parts are more than a couple of minutes out of alignment, we\u2019ll either be facing a prepared Sennaka or a rather large and presumably violent army. Back when it was just them, the samurai were arranging events such that they\u2019d have their best possible shot at taking down their ex-daimyo, but they didn\u2019t really expect to succeed or live through the attempt. We intend to do both, so we need to make sure everyone knows their part.<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s still no word from Qatana.<\/span><\/p>\n Q<\/span><\/p>\n atana\u2019s sending came early this morning. \u201c<\/span>Cannot support Ameiko. In Magnimar. Found group setting out on grand sea voyage and may join. Will keep contact if you desire. Pookie says \u2018hi.\u2019<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The problem with this spell is that it catches you flat-footed. You\u2019re busy doing your thing and then surprise! There\u2019s a voice in your head that isn\u2019t yours, followed by mental sandpaper that chafes until you reply.<\/span><\/p>\n So this was it. How do you respond to something like this? In two dozen words when you aren\u2019t able to gather your thoughts?<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Magnimar?! Fast trip. Was afraid you were leaving for good. Understand why though. Will miss you. Stay in touch. Tell Pookie, \u2018waiting for your novel.\u2019<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The latter was an old, inside joke, but\u2026I guess she didn\u2019t remember it.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Take care of yourself. Watch your back. Just realized I have lots of wands and diamond dust in pack. Pookie says, \u2018Book is good idea!\u2019<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n So, yeah, she\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n She\u2019s not coming back.<\/span><\/p>\n C<\/span><\/p>\n alling this a \u201cplan\u201d is being fairly generous. They literally want to just pop inside and start swinging. I don\u2019t want to say it\u2019s insane, but it certainly lacks our usual subtlety. Normally we come up with something a bit more sophisticated that doesn\u2019t have us fighting everything at once, but for some reason they\u2019re all hot for this new approach.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI could summon something native to this region. An animal large enough to get their attention without being suspicious,\u201d I offered.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhy? Save the spell.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t we want a distraction?\u201d I asked.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhy bother?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Well, OK then. Plan \u201cBig Dumb Fight\u201d it is.<\/span><\/p>\n Equally dubious is this obsession with giving Sennaka a chance to surrender honorably. When the idea was first floated I thought they meant \u201cbefore we executed him\u201d, which made a lot of sense to me. But what they <\/span>actually<\/span><\/i> mean is \u201cright at the start\u201d which seems\u2026unwise. He has no reason to be afraid of us, so it\u2019s just going to give him free time to prepare when he should be dodging steel. But I\u2019m just part of the supporting cast here so it\u2019s not my call. His guards are all fair game from the get-go, so I\u2019ll be busy, anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n O<\/span><\/p>\n peration \u201cBig Dumb Fight\u201d was both Big and Dumb, as predicted. It also put me in the middle of the action, where I had to cast my spells while people were swinging in my face. I am not kidding: at times I had to <\/span>completely ignore<\/span><\/i> the person trying to kill me because I had more important things to do. But it worked and Sikutsu Itsuru has been informed of his brother\u2019s untimely death. I am sure lots of tears were shed at the news.<\/span><\/p>\n When Sennaka fell, we were still surrounded by his guards\u2014the ones that <\/span>weren\u2019t<\/span><\/i> oni, that is, as most of <\/span>those<\/span><\/i> fled halfway through\u2014so I shouted out, \u201cYour asshole lord is dead! You don’t need to fight to defend him anymore!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And, amazingly, they stopped. They pledged allegiance to Itsuru right there on the spot once we told them he was their new daimyo. The rest of Sennaka\u2019s army did, too, once word had spread. I have never seen anything like it. It seems no one was willing to keep fighting for a dead man that they didn\u2019t like very much. And by \u201cvery much\u201d I mean \u201cat all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n All of them knew he openly consorted with demons. It\u2019s kind of nuts when you think about it. The implication is the only thing really keeping Sennaka alive was their oaths to defend him. <\/span>Gods, this country<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n Tomorrow we are paying Itsuru a visit ahead of our second meeting with the Three Monkeys. We\u2019re hoping he can help buy the support of the Emerald Branch and the neutrality of the other two, because doing it ourselves would practically bankrupt us. If he cares at all about the future of the country we are trying to take back, he\u2019ll find a way to pitch in. Especially since we did the heavy lifting that put him in the governor\u2019s seat.<\/span><\/p>\n From this it should be obvious that we are not going to be using the coin as either a bargaining chip or a fundraiser. We don\u2019t want it to end up being used against us, and we don\u2019t want to lose track of it, so that leaves trying to claim it. A couple of us are potentially good fits for the skills that are emblemized on it, so we\u2019re going to give it a go. If it works, then we buy all the time we need. The only catch is the stain on the soul, but Koya can intercede with Desna if necessary to undo any damage\u2026so long as the new owner doesn\u2019t get carried away.<\/span><\/p>\n Yeah, it\u2019s risky, but\u2026 Gods. What else can we do?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sarenith 12 (Shuryo Onsen, Morning) I don\u2019t know how I am going to pull off this charade today while I am sick to my stomach. It\u2019s been several hours now and Qatana still hasn\u2019t returned, and I have no idea what\u2019s going on with her. I\u2019ve got this sinking feeling that she\u2019s just not coming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_import_markdown_pro_load_document_selector":0,"_import_markdown_pro_submit_text_textarea":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-4129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal","tag-kali"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4129"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5730,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4129\/revisions\/5730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Sarenith 12 (Shuryo Onsen, Night)<\/h3>\n
Sarenith 13 (Shuryo Onsen, Morning)<\/h3>\n
Sarenith 13 (Shuryo Onsen, Afternoon)<\/h3>\n
Sarenith 13 (Seinaru Heikiko, Night)<\/h3>\n