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.

as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Sunday, Calistril 1

It was unusual to be doing battle so early in the day.  After arguing with the yeti, and then killing a half dozen of them, and dispelling an ice storm … it was still at least two hours before lunch.  Our magic wielders found their magic moderately depleted much earlier in the day than usual, and we’d really made very little progress.  So we decided to spend much of the day resting and, for our magic wielders, recovering spells.

To ensure that we would not be surprised and they could indeed recover their spells, we were extra diligent with the guard around the caravan.  To the rear, we had a stone wall that (we hoped) the wardens would not be able to get over or around.  And then, to the yeti side of the caravan, we had the bridge with the anti-life shell over it.  But we weren’t entirely sure the yeti couldn’t bypass that.

There was a long discussion about the ghost sword we had obtained.  We now had the ability (or at least the opportunity) to banish a possessing spirit.  Should we be trying to defeat the yeti king, or exorcise him?  Sparna agreed to take it up, but as a group we were still undecided on how to proceed the next day.

In the meantime, I tried to find some common ground with the yeti.  I saw one yeti watching from behind a rock, and I wanted to show him we were harmless, so I tried standing with my sword sheathed and my arms open.  That got no reaction.  I told him to come out with open arms and we would welcome him, but of course he did not understand Common.

Shortly, however, three more yeti appeared, also taking cover.

I asked Ivan to cast continual light on a small rock, and I underhanded it towards the yeti.  The yeti looked a little nervous, but didn’t approach it.  “C’mon, pick it up” I yelled but they just looked at the rock.  I conferred with Ivan, and he cast light on a bigger, slightly-smaller-than-head sized rock. The other rock stopped glowing, and I tossed the bigger one.

The yeti disappeared, and then reappeared with an object. One tossed it to us over the chasm – it was the revenant’s head.  Clearly he was not understanding.  Sparna kicked the head into the chasm.

I threw another large glowing stone.  It was ignored.

At this point, Sparna and Ivan talked quietly for a moment and then Sparna turned and faced the yeti.  Ivan mumbled quietly and Sparna suddenly increased in size to that of a small yeti, and Kali, getting into the swing of things, created the image of an ioun stone circling his head.  With a look of anger, Sparna took the head of Katiana (I missed how THAT made it out there!) and in a split second and with a gesture from Ivan, it too was glowing.  Sparna threw the head across the chasm.

The yeti threw the head back.

Ivan cast comprehend languages and began translating for us as Sparna kicked the head into the chasm and stared hostilely at the lead yeti.  The staredown was on.

The yeti did not break gaze as he said, “Come, cowards, and meet king.”

Kali made the ioun stone circle Sparna one last time before it flung itself at the leader.  The leader dodged and called for more yeti, including “the king’s men”.  And soon, 10 or so yeti were crowding the entrance, now some with spears.  They were gesturing and shouting and the leader said, “Come now and be escorted to king for death sentence.”

Clearly this little bit of negotiation was not working, and I was tired of it.  Now that there were distance weapons (spears) on the other side, I was feeling less charitable.  So I drew my bow, nocked an arrow and hit the leader.

He was clearly surprised, but on our side, Ivan was quick to let more arrows fly and they too hit the leader.  In a twisted bit of logic, the leader threw his spear at Sparna (!) and hit him good.  Another spear missed him.  Kali cast an aqueous orb as this strange, distance battle over the chasm continued.  Both Ivan and I hit our targets again, and the leader looked to be bleeding pretty good.

After a bit of confusion the horde of yeti hastily retreated to less open positions, and no clear target presented itself anymore.  Ivan defiantly threw an obscene gesture that, I think, transcends spoken word.  Qatana healed Sparna as both Ivan and I hit with arrows one last time before the yeti disappeared entirely.

Diplomacy is harder than it looks.

(around lunch)

We heard a noise from the rear of the caravan.  Qatana flew high enough to see over the stone wall she had erected, and saw more of the headless zombies mindlessly trying to walk through the wall.  While they appeared to be in no danger of reaching us, Qatana nevertheless lit them on fire with oil until they stopped twitching their charred limbs.

That night, after dinner, Kali proposed a startling plan: she would go invisible, and fly into the throne room and see if there was evidence that the king was an oni, or evidence that the king was Katiana’s ghost.  Although it was of general consensus that we needed to deal with the yetis in order to make progress, there had been absolutely no consensus on how best to do that.  I was convinced that if we could limit the yeti to one or two at a time we could methodically slice through them.  Kali, and I think one or two others, were opposed to the needless killing of the yeti.  Frankly, I was too if I could be shown it was really needless but I saw no other way.  Sparna, bearer of the ghost sword, was willing to plunge the sword into the king if we had evidence that he was possessed instead of being a polymorphed oni or even just an angry yeti leader … but he could do much more damage with his usual weapons if there was no need to exorcise a spirit and was wary of going in under-armed.

Kali elaborated on her plan. With detect magic running, she should be able to make that determination.  We would advance to a point nearby and she could use a Message spell to communicate what she learned back to us.  We would then adjust our strategy appropriately.  It was a plan that put Kali at great risk, but it also gave us a possibility of resolving the situation without annihilating the yeti.  If the king could be made our friend, a simple command from him would save us many battles.  And even if I thought it possible to destroy all the yeti, I was by no means certain that it would not come at the cost of the lives of some of our party.

So while I believe the group was still divided on what the yeti king actually was, we did come to the agreement that Kali’s plan gave us the best chance of success.  Normally, the well-armed and buff Radella would be our choice for spy, but this mission required more magic than mere silence.

Moonday, Calistril 2

It was around 7:15am, I think, when I heard Sparna yell something across the chasm and – did I hear right? – something in the language of the yeti?  Later, he told me he’d spent much of his watch learning and practicing the language.  Astonishing.  I later asked Suishen if he could learn new languages, and with typical disdain, he responded that language was only useful in slowing down conversation and the world would be better if everyone was telepathic.  I took that as a no.

We prepared for our foray.  In addition to all the spells Kali would need, we used resist cold (I used protection from cold, from Suishen) and variants of fly or airwalk and dark vision. Kali added magic circle; if she was right and Katiana’s ghost was involved, that ward might give a possessed creature another opportunity to shake it off.

We crossed the chasm and noted there were no yeti present.  Kali added comprehend languages to her spells and took off. We needed to give her 30-60 seconds to get there first and communicate back to us.  I told Suishen to turn the flame on.

We quickly reached the other anti-life shell, and two yeti – I think at least one was one we’d hit yesterday – silently glowered at us from the other side.  With the assistance of Ivan, I took another glowing rock and tossed it over to them.  They were unimpressed. Apparently somebody had updated them on the fact that not everything glowed was fire.  Sparna announced, “Let us pass, and will spare your lives”.

Surprisingly, the yeti replied, “Ok”.  And they each stood off to one side.  This soooo smelled like a trap, but this was the plan.  We flew or walked over the anti-life sphere, as appropriate, and proceeded to the throne room.  Although there were many yeti there – probably more than a dozen – they just stood and stared at us. Qatana announced there was a magical aura over the whole room.

And no king.  Sparna pointed this out: “Where is your king???”  Qatana cast invisibility purge – cleverly missing Kali – as one of the yeti moved down off a ledge and announced, “King? You want king?  ATTACK!”  And the battle we’d hoped to avoid began – including a lightning bolt directed at me.  Wait, lightning??

The mayhem had barely begun when another yeti emerged from a stone wall. Really.  Judging from the others’ reactions that had to be the king.  Kali, who saw the lightning and already knew what the king looked like from previous scrying, realized this really might be Katiana and that this was her chance. Kali flew over the king and put him within the influence of her magic circle.  It had some of the desired effect, as the king cried out, “Stop fighting! Evil spirit … help me defeat evil spirit!”

The yeti stopped, but were very uncertain.

Sparna stepped up and explained before he swung that he must hit the king with the magic sword to expel the spirit.  The king agreed, as Kali reached down and applied a magic circle directly to the king.

The sword hit, but the king was still fighting possession and Katiana was still shooting lightning.

Sparna hit again and this time, Katiana’s ghost emerged from the king, cackling as though it was all her idea.  With her flying, and incorporeal, only we could defeat this enemy now.  There was dispel magic, and there were magic missiles, and there were force beings, and there was, of course, Suishen and flames and shrieking (from Katiana).  She summoned a lightning elemental, but just as quickly Ivan made it go back.  It was Radella that had the killing blow – or at least so we believe since it seems we killed Katiana once before – and the room was finally silent for a bit.

Now the real diplomacy began, as praise was heaped on each party, and gifts exchanged: the king gave us the ioun stone, and we gave him a magic breastplate. Backs were slapped, hands were shaken, and promises were made.  We told the king that the revenant was dead and he was pleased.  We told him the shadows were gone and he was pleased.

[445] ioun stone of Alertness (dark blue)

The king spoke Common, thankfully, but that also meant I got to hear the exchange between the king and Qatana about how Pookie was responsible for his being freed.  It’s a tortuous story, but the next party coming through the caverns will likely find yeti-art resembling a warrior mouse-yeti.  And Qatana will be insufferable for a week.

The King, whose name was Bormurg, also, of course, gave us free passage through his realm, but commented that only a few minutes away the road ended in a blank wall.  He was confident his powerful new friends would figure out how to pass through the wall however.

as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Starday, Abadius 31

Everyone was affected by Bevelek’s death, but we also realized that we were not yet safe. We asked ourselves (and answered, mostly from Kali) what we may know about yeti.

1) They can climb.
2) What we’ve seen so far is normal behavior.
3) They are well-adapted to the cold; in fact, they radiate cold themselves.
4) They emit a fear effect of some sort which can cause one to hesitate for a period of time.
5) They have no trouble seeing in the dark.
6) They have no particular weakness, except maybe fire.
7) They may have a language, called aklo?

So while the yetis could not cross the anti-life shell on the bridge, they were good climbers and might have another way to reach us. Heaven knows we’ve made some assumptions before that we were wrong about. So we spent more time than usual setting up our watch to make sure any attack would be promptly noticed, and notice quickly given.

Around 11pm, Qatana saw a yeti on top of the shelter that Kali had conjured up, but it just sat there and watched us as she watched it.

Sunday, Calistril 1

Around 3am, Nehali flew up and looked behind the shelter. There was nothing there.

Around 5am, everyone was rested and up. Qatana used stone shape to create a ten foot high wall behind us – hopefully that will stop the headless miscreants from coming up behind us again.

It was around 6:20am when Suishen gave me airwalk, and the others used their various methods to cross the chasm into the necropolis. There were no yeti waiting for us on the other side.

We carefully made our way to the ornate door in the “tree” room. The revenant’s body still lay silent on the ground where it fell the last time we killed it. Qatana cast hide from undead on us, and Ivan did a hand-plant to his forehead.

“Just a minute,” he said, and ran off back in the direction of the caravan. He returned shortly, explaining he’d just cast the same on the folks in the caravan.

Radella, inspecting the door for traps, immediately noted that the door was gilded, or mostly so. It was obvious that some of the gild had been scraped off, though. Ivan did a detect poison on the door, and the two of them concluded that the door had once been both locked and trapped, but no longer was either. The door opened towards us, and bore a demonic, tusked skull face on the door.

Inside there was a flickering firelight illuminating the room and corridor. A large shadow began to materialize; more undead. It approached Radella and took a swipe, noticeably weakening her. I had Suishen turn on its flame. But then from behind us came a deafening scream. The revenant arose, and made a beeline to the shadow. He started to hack at the shadow, but his efforts seemed ineffectual.

“Force weapons” yelled somebody. Sparna called upon his spiritual ally, but it missed. I had no such force option but held Suishen at ready as I looked for an opening. A lantern archon appeared, courtesy of Kali, but also missed the shadow. Ivan hit it with some arrows, but the damage looked small. Qatana’s spiritual ally thumped the shadow pretty good; then the shadow made a point of giving me an opening by approaching me and taking a swipe. I felt a bit weaker but swung hard with Suishen. The sword and the flame hit solidly and the shadow evaporated in fading black wisps.

At the same time, the revenant dropped to the ground and lay motionless, its reason for life gone.

We paused a second before Qatana, of course, stepped toward the body, and I swear I heard her say “third time’s the charm!” For the first time, she successfully picked up

[434] rapier +1
[435] cloak of elvenkind
[436] goggles of minute seeing
[437] MW thieves tools
47 platinum pieces
a backpack
[438] 200-300gp worth of scraped gold leaf

This appeared to be another “converted” room. There were red demonic faces on the walls; certainly not a Desna design. The center of the room was dark, but a skeleton with a mask was lying on a blue stone there. Here there was

[439] crystal lamp with a continual flame
[440] ghost armor +1 (breast plate)
– can cast death watch 3/day
– automatic protect from evil 1/day when attacked by undead
[441] ghost touch sword with nine rings +1
– use 1 ring – undead bane for 1 min
– use 2 rings – attempt to banish a possessing spirit (DC17)
– use 3 rings – destroy an undead creature
sword recharges at 1 ring/wk
[442] 8 matching bracelets
[443] 8 matching rings
[444] mask, gold w/jade eyes

Outside, in the “tree” room, Ivan and I both used our airwalk to walk up to the ceiling and see why it seemed to sparkle with starlight. Turns out it was just reflective flakes in the rock.

It was 8am now, and we had decided to head in to the yeti. I asked Suishen to give me protection from cold.

We passed through the catacombs and continued north. I could see ahead there were two yeti with their hands held palm out towards us. Clearly they understood the symbol for Stop 🙂

Kali, at this point, cast a special spell that would allow her to create and then use a special language with the yeti; at least that’s what I think she said. Qatana was included in the magic, and they did indeed seem to have some sort of conversation with the yeti. Kali told us that the King had said we were not to pass. He foretold one or two moons ago that strangers in wagons would appear and now here we were. In fact, we must be killed, also per order of the King. The King is very smart, and has a glowing rock flying around his head. We were assured, however, that we would be killed honorably.

During this conversation, many in our group received resist cold. I wonder what may them so nervous …

It was pretty clear that talking was not going to solve this problem. In fact, the conversation suggested a party may have already been dispatched to “greet” us. Reluctantly we retreated to the “tree” room again. Kali used a magical shelter to block one entrance to the room and we waited. It wasn’t too long before, sure enough, yeti started to appear.

During the course of the battle, several of us were momentarily struck by fear, but never enough at once that there wasn’t at least one fighter available to defend us. Additionally, Qatana cast both confusion and aura of madness at one point, and this caused the yetis to start attacking each other. Ivan created a wall of fire that made them very uncomfortable. I think all the fighters eventually got a killing blow on a yeti, and even one of the yetis got a killing blow on a yeti 🙂

But then it got weird. As the last yetis ran off, injured, Kali ran after them! Qatana threw a look of, sure, why not? and ran after her too! I looked at Sparna, and he looked at me and we shared a look that said, “I suppose we need to go protect them.” As we approached, a giant sleet storm enveloped them both. We each heaved a sigh and prepared to move in when, just as quickly, it disappeared: we found out later that Qatana had successfully dispelled it.

Now Kali created 4 smallish fire elementals and sent them into the yeti passages. What? This seemed like a good time to retreat, having driven them off, but it seemed we were moving forward with an attack. Yet Kali seemed to be telling us to fall back. Having intentionally introduced confusion, were we not now going to attack? Sparna and I were ready to move forward and make the most of this advantage, but moving forward, we found nothing to fight. If we continued to move farther, we would be even more separated and nothing good comes from that.

“Hear anything?” I said softly to Sparna. He shook his head no.

Confused, we headed back, and then the group as a whole moved back to the caravan to regain spells and decide on a strategy.

Starday, Abadius 31

The guard towers were not empty.

I’m not sure why a necropolis needs guards anyway – aren’t dead and undead people enough of a reason to steer clear? – but these headless wonders seemed to be everywhere.  The biggest problem in dispatching them is that they look so … startling, that it causes people to freeze up sometimes.  This has happened to myself, and Sparna, and others.  While you’re struggling to refocus, they get free attacks on you.  And their attacks are not just physical damage – they do something deeper.  At some level, they just make you feel weaker, like they’re also draining life force yomehow.  And every one of them can do this startle thing from a distance.  They are most easily handled  one at a time; with a group it’s far too likely that at least one of them will startle you.

And so we’ve developed the strategy of separating them with walls of fire. The wall not only visibly blocks them and their startle ability, but also does them damage. Ivan is also great at picking them off with arrows.

So as they started to come out of the guard towers, up went the usual wall of fire.  I got a swing at him as one walked past me, but then without even turning, he startled myself and Kali.  While we stood stock still and gathered our wits, Kali, Sparna, and I watched Radella and Qatana destroy those that walked through the fire.  When I finally recovered, most of the headless were dead, and Radella got the last one before I could move closer to take a swing. Disappointing.

Qatana ran into a guard tower without backup, per usual, to check it out.  I quickly followed her, and we found that inside the tower was a room that looked to have alcoves suitable for bodies.  A door at the far end led to a more ornate room with room for a few more bodies.  All looked like they’d been disturbed, but whether by grave robbers or these headless creatures themselves I couldn’t tell.  There were pictures of the dead attacking the living which, given the history of this place, I have to believe were a late renovation.

Exiting the guard towers, Qatana next went to the bridge. There were runes on the supports of the bridge, that seemed to translate to “Here the dead walk. Trouble them not and do not bar their path.”  And there was a whole pile of magic surrounding the bridge, according to our staff who could see magic.  Qatana tried crossing the bridge and was stopped – we surmise the abjuration magic we detected is an anti-life field.  We were not able to dispel it, so for now we decided to go around it.

Suishen gave me air walk, and others used either air walk or fly to cross the bridge. Radella received darkvision since she was the most adept at finding traps and would be near the front.  We judged that the caravans would be safe since there could be nothing behind us, and everything in front of us had just been killed.

Ahead lay a purple glow, and as we approached we found that it came from a pool of water surrounding a tree like pillar.  The ceiling looked like a night sky, with tiny lights resembling stars.  The pool seemed deeper than we could see, and at the end farthest from us, on the ground there was a corpse.

“Undead” warned Ivan briefly.

Qatana reached down to take its sword, and it came to life. Or at least, it attacked.  It had glowing red eyes, which is always a good clue to identifying enemies.

We surrounded it easily, but at the same moment, a creature entered the room to the north – looked to be a yeti, according to Sparna.  Now there were issues on two fronts.  Kali summoned (ironically) a dire ape, and the ape and Sparna battled the yeti while the rest of us battled the revenant.  I managed to put a final blow onto the revenant and was going to turn my attention to the yeti, except Qatana again reached for the sword.  And it sprang to life again and we had two enemies again.  The revenant actually got ahold of Qatana at one point and started to squeeze her, but it was Radella this time who brought it down and saved Qatana.  Meanwhile Ivan managed to nail the yeti with some well shot arrows and it too fell.

There was healing all around and then we noticed something flitting about on the tree/pillar.  Qatana stepped to the water’s edge, and it came over and touched her. She visibly withered, and I rushed over to attack it and with a particular adept hit, Suishen momentarily created an even bigger burst of flame – perfect timing!  But our blows didn’t seem to damage it as much as I might have thought they would.

We quickly realized that weapons of force – magic missiles, spiritual allies, that sort of thing – was our best bet.  But at about the same moment it got through my defenses and touched me as well … and, just like Qatana, I suddenly felt weaker, like I’d lost a step.  I backed off, and the group slowly attacked them (there were 3 altogether) by force and distance weapons.

And just as we were getting the upper hand, two more yetis appeared near the corpse of the other yeti.  Ivan threw up a wall of fire, and it looked like the battle would never end when Kali paused with a distant look on her face and yelled, “The caravan! The caravan is under attack!” She cast haste on us all and we all hurried back as fast as we could. For Ivan and me, with airwalk still in effect, that was as fast as I could run. Others required another application of a fly spell.

The sounds of battle led us to the rear of the caravan, where we found Ameiko, Sandru, and Shalelu grimly holding back more of the headless wonders.  Ivan immediately threw up the ever-ready wall of fire to put some space between the undead and the caravan.  I immediately moved to protect Ameiko, who threw me a quick look like, “took your time”.  I asked Suishen for protection from cold, on a hunch, while we waited for the undead to try to come through the wall of fire.  Others began to arrive, and Sparna used his flight to stay above the undead while still being beyond the range of their startle ability.  Radella was able to engage them and start slashing at them.  I think she laid the killing blow on all three.

I had thought we were lucky to have gotten back to help before any of our party was seriously injured.  Ameiko, of course, was my first concern, but Sandru seemed stricken by grief.  I asked if he were seriously injured, and he gaped at me momentarily before gesturing to the ground beside one of the wagons.

There lay Bevelek.  Dead.

We’ve been very occupied with how this quest has affected us and our lives. We are scions now, and heir to the throne after Ameiko.  We have been learning new skills and spells, and acquiring new magic items, and to some extent enriching ourselves, in the name of increasing our chances of success, but because he’s a driver and not a swordsman or a woodsman or a cleric or a wizard, we have not done the same with all of our companions.  The idea was that they would never face danger, but when danger came anyway, he grabbed a sword and did the best he could.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he was startled by the headless undead and made easy prey by his hesitation.

A quick discussion with Qatana, Kali, and others revealed they felt similarly.  I think we have a consensus that if we can, we will resurrect him.  A gentle repose applied now will allow us to acquire the components necessary for that spell … which may take some time.  But he is important to our journey and our goals too.

It’s the right thing to do.

as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Toilday, 15 Abadius

Kali, ever the accountant of our group, quietly told each of us that as a result of selling acquired but unneeded equipment, we were each 9616.43 copper pieces richer.

That evening, as I sat listening, somewhat contentedly, to the rest of the group talk about various things, I heard/felt/sensed a clearing of a throat.  Internally, I rolled my eyes, because I knew what this meant.  There was no clearing, and really, there was no throat.  And only I could hear it.  But this is the way it began every time:  the fabled sword Suishen was about to bless me with some pearl of his wisdom.

Since I’ve become his human caretaker, I’ve come to recognize his method of introducing himself.  There is a noticeable lessening of outside noise, as if I’d just lightly covered my ears.  Then there is a sound which, for all the world, sounds like a briefly clearing throat, followed by that voice that seems to always have a tinge of superiority somehow infused in it. “You know,” it may say, “you’d get more power from your swing if you drew your arm back further.”  Or “Not bad, for a standard-bearer with no formal training.”  Or “It’s hard to believe that of all the swordsmen in the world, I chanced upon one that wields a sword much like a halfling housewife might wield a flyswatter, but with half the skill and a quarter of the charisma.”

Sometimes I have a clever response, and sometimes I don’t, but it always ends with my realizing my companions are staring at me, because I’ve stopped what I was doing, sometimes in mid-sentence, and my eyes have taken on an unfocused gaze almost as though I was scanning a distant horizon.  It is sufficient at this point for me to shake my head lightly, grimace, and mutter “Suishen” and my friends nod knowledgably but look away, as if they’ve been witness to something they’d rather not, and clear their throats, quickly resuming the conversation with “soooooo, anyways …”.

And this time, my face must have looked different; perhaps my eyebrows raised in surprise. Because this time, for the first time I can remember, Suishen said nothing critical.  He said, slowly, “I am impressed with your battle with the oni.”  He paused. “I feel compelled to tell you I have more capability to assist you than I have previously revealed.  Should you find it useful, three times a day I can grant you protection from energy, and additionally, on exceptional hits, I can create a burst of flame that will do additional damage. While you need ask for the first, the second is granted unconditionally.”

I realized my companions were staring at me at the same moment that I realized my jaw had dropped perceptibly.  “Suishen?” Qatana asked consolingly.  I nodded my head slightly, almost as if to break a trance. “Uh, um, yes,” I replied. “But he just revealed to me he has more power than he’d previously let on.”  Qatana looked mildly interested. “Oh?”

“He, uh, he …” I said, still a little stunned.

And then the old Suishen echoed in my head: “Quit stammering like an imbecile. You’re about as comprehensible as an ogre with a mouthful of tree sap.”

I shook my head again and glared at … at a mental vision of me beating Suishen against a rock.  And Qatana said, “sooooooo, anyways …”

Sunday, Abadius 20

We have reached Jaagiin, with no additional notable events – notable in itself.

Jaagiin is the “capital” of the loose confederations of tribes which live on and near the high ice.  Perhaps because of the greater mix of heritage and culture, Ulf says they are more welcoming of outsiders here than some of the previous places we have stopped.  Having arrived after midday, we decided to stay the remainder of this day plus one more, which should give us adequate opportunity to reprovision, rest a bit, and perhaps pick up some more news of what lay ahead on our path.  To that end, Ameiko announced she would go shopping, looking directly at me. I sighed and announced I would do the same. In the end, the two of us plus Shalelu and Qatana went into town.

We heard a number of things both in conversations we had and in conversations we passed near to, but the most interesting things were that a white dragon had been killed over in Iqaliat (“imagine that!”) and that storms had been stronger than usual this winter (“do tell!”) and that storms in Altan Zuud, the route we intended to take, seemed to be getting worse even as the winter and storms started to ebb everywhere else (“wait, what?”).

That evening, Ameiko again looked me in the eye and announced she wanted to take her lute and visit all the pubs in town.  I swear, that woman .. but of course I went along. Keeping her safe is what I do these days.  Fortunately I am not alone in this … the entire party spontaneously decided to do the same.

And nothing happened.  Maybe we overthink this.

Oathday, Abadius 24

We have been out of Jaagiin now for three days, and it’s been uneventful.  Well, the weather has been formidable, but after all the time we spent on the high ice it’s barely noteworthy.

We saw a cabin, today, with (apparently) some trappers in it. They came out and waved, but we waved back and kept going.  We may have to weather a storm or two while in the pass so we don’t really have any time to spare.

Fireday, Abadius 25

Today it was a pile of frozen, and arguably mutilated, animal corpses that we came across.  Is this connected to the trappers?

Sunday, Abadius 27

We are now in the shadow of the mountains surrounding the pass. The storm has not abated; if anything it’s gotten worse since we approached.  Aside from the dark clouds and fierce winds, there is thunder echoing from the waves of blowing snow. Worse, Kali has heard the same mocking laugh we heard on the high ice at Dead Man’s Dome. I’m 90% certain this is not a natural storm, but I’m not sure what to do about it.

We will hope for better weather tomorrow.

Moonday, Abadius 28

It is not better. We can now hear rockfalls in the distance.  It’s not just the weather and the cold anymore; now there are physical dangers that would be difficult to defend against.  We discussed our options, but according to Ulf and Sandru, there really aren’t any.  This pass is the way through the mountains, and it’s far too dangerous to attempt to negotiate it. Going around the mountains is hundreds if not a thousand miles out of the way, and would take months – and even then we’d have to try to rejoin the main path at some point by forging our own path through the mountains and surrounding highlands.  We are stymied.

(later)
Kali, with Koya’s guidance, did a harrowing.  We were hoping the gods might give us a clue, but they mock us as much as the wind.

Toilday, Abadius 29

The cards did not give us any clue, but Koya claims that in her dreams, the gods did provide one after all.   She says the cards made her remember a story about how a traveller once took a path that went through the mountains (literally, as in a tunnel or cave). Desna is sometimes known as the Queen of the North, and legend has it that the tunnel was created so that faithful from the south could make the trek to the north – Desna – in relative safety.

Supposedly it is marked on the north side by two statues of Desna. No telling how large or obvious these statues may be, so I hope they are not buried under snow and only visible in summer.

Kali sent Nehali out to search; she can do it faster than any of us could.  Marching to the west, we began to parallel the mountain range.

Behind us, it almost seems that the storm has erupted from the pass, and is now following us.

(later)
Nehali did find a statue, and it was only about 5 miles away.  We can hear the wind building behind us, and the skies are darkening. This is no natural storm; it now pursues us.

But the statue did mark the entrance to a tunnel into the mountain.  A second statue, it appears, used to stand here but has fallen over and pieces lie broken on the ground.  The tunnel is large enough to accommodate our wagons, if we string them out single file.  Glancing at the sky, we have little choice.  The storm is perhaps ten miles away and is inexplicably moving west towards us.  We enter the tunnel, and shortly after we hear the storm howling furiously and helplessly outside the tunnel entrance.

However, the legend foretold there would be statues praising Desna in the tunnel, and while there were statues, these were no longer focused on Desna. It would seem they had been mutilated by followers of Fumioshi, and now each stately figure bore the visage of a red, demonic face.

We did not make it far into the tunnel before we decided to stop for the night. But the mutilated statues told us we would definitely want guards for the evening. And were those footprints in the dust fresh, or did the lack of wind here in the cave allow old things to look new?

Fireday, Abadius 30

Last night, or this morning, to be perfectly accurate, as we feared, we were attacked.

Four shambling, headless figures headed for our camp, and Sparna raised the alarm. I awoke, and ran to join him.

While I was ready to fight and defend, something about the creatures froze me in my tracks.  We had no idea of what these creatures may be capable, and there was only the two of us.  The rest would be coming, of course, but these things were evil, I could sense it. They might be capable of horrific acts.  Should I move forward, or drop back to protect Ameiko? What if I failed in my mission to protect her?

And while I considered this, my legs unthinkingly locked into place.  Fire erupted around the figures and it appeared to affect each of them differently. Some tried to escape. Some plowed through. Some simply stood still and started smoldering.

It wasn’t until the last one was a smoldering corpse (instead of just a corpse) that I found myself free to move and realized I had been locked in place the entire time. Sparna came to the same realization at about the same time, and we glanced at each other guiltily.

At least, I suppose, we physically blocked their advancement.

Travelling this day, and being more interested in our surroundings, we did see many footprints around.  It would not be unexpected to have more visitors.

Starday, Abadius 31

We are standing at the entrance to what appears to be an underground city.  Koya grimly tells us that the legend did speak of a necropolis where the dead could rest before finishing their journey to Desna. Fantastic. A whole city of shambling headless figures.  But it lies directly in our path, and it’s not like we can skirt it.  We’ll just have to be smart about it.