Sarenith 14, 4713 (late afternoon, Enganoka)

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

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

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

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

There weren’t.

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

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

(night)

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

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

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

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

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

Sarenith 15, 4713 (night, Seinaru Heikiko)

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

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

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

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

So that would be a “no”.

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

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

Sarenith 16, 4713 (late morning, Seinaru Heikiko)

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

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

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

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

Sarenith 12, 4713 (morning, Shuryo Onsen)

I don’t know how I am going to pull off this charade today while I am sick to my stomach. It’s been several hours now and Qatana still hasn’t returned, and I have no idea what’s going on with her. I’ve got this sinking feeling that she’s just not coming back.

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’ve made no progress since I went to bed last night when we were waffling over whether to sell it to one of the clans, try to take possession of it, or just hold on to it for the next couple of weeks while we figure out what to do. That last one is basically just stalling; avoiding making the decision because that’s easier than agreeing on one. And who knows? Maybe we’ll 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’t mind eating a minor, evil artifact.

If that sounded absurd then, it seemed even more so this morning. Qatana came into the room in the middle of that discussion and I guess she had finally had enough. “This is ridiculous,” she said. And then she vanished.

She didn’t turn invisible—I would have still seen her—so she was definitely gone. Knowing what I know about her spells? She must have shifted to some other plane. It’s the only explanation that fits. I imagine this was her way of expressing her opinion on the debate.

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’s when I started worrying. Still, she knew where we were headed and when we’d be there, so I thought to myself, Maybe she’ll just catch up with us later, but of course now it’s later and there’s still no Qatana.

I know she has been unhappy with how events have played out, and given her history she has little tolerance for what we’ve seen since our arrival here. The past few days have been a poison in the air, choking the life out of us and maybe she is just done with it all. I guess there’s a part of me that would not be surprised if that were so, and perhaps has even wondered why she’s 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. Here, they are willfully ignorant of it because their society values doctrine over ethos; it’s codified into their culture and leafed in gold. The ideal is that you become a good servant, not that you serve good.

A few do manage to rise above this. Certainly Jiro. The Nine Pawns as well (though classism is alive and well there). They see blind adherence to this archaic code of honor for what it is: an easy way out of personal and societal responsibility. As long as you can say you are doing your duty, you don’t have to make any hard choices. It’s a system that lets people like Sennaka commit atrocities with legal authority and no consequences. How messed up is that?

(late afternoon)

One 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’t really have a plan beyond me being a sculptor and Dasi being…whatever it was he was supposed to be. Because, really, no one cared. We looked a part and that’s all that mattered. What few workers even paid attention to us probably just figured “they’re here to do a thing” and never gave it a second thought.

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 of doing all this 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.

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’t imagine trying to have an intimate moment with someone when you can literally be heard, and possible seen, from across the building. Not that this is going to be an issue for me personally—I don’t have time for that sort of thing, even if there were someone around to provide an opportunity—but that’s 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.

We meet with the Nine Pawns again tonight to finalize the details for tomorrow now that we have a rough idea of how we’re going to pull this off. It won’t require precise timing but if our parts are more than a couple of minutes out of alignment we’ll 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’d have their best possible shot at taking down their ex-daimyo, but they didn’t really expect to succeed or live through the attempt. We intend to do both, so we need to make sure everyone knows their part.

There’s still no word from Qatana.

Sarenith 13, 4713 (morning, Shuryo Onsen)

Qatana’s sending came early this morning. “Cannot support Ameiko. In Magnimar. Found group setting out on grand sea voyage and may join. Will keep contact if you desire. Pookie says ‘hi.’”

The problem with this spell is that it catches you flat-footed. You’re busy doing your thing and then surprise! There’s a voice in your head that isn’t yours, followed by a mental sandpaper that chafes until you reply.

So this was it. How do you respond to something like this? In two dozen words when you aren’t able to gather your thoughts?

“Magnimar?! Fast trip. Was afraid you were leaving for good. Understand why though. Will miss you. Stay in touch. Tell Pookie, ‘waiting for your novel.’”

The latter was an old, inside joke, but I guess she didn’t remember it.

“Take care of yourself. Watch your back. Just realized I have lots of wands and diamond dust in pack. Pookie says, ‘Book is good idea!’”

So, yeah, she is not coming back. Damnit!

(afternoon, Shuryo Onsen)

Calling this a “plan” is being fairly generous. They literally want to just pop inside and start swinging. I don’t want to say it’s insane, but it certainly lacks our usual subtlety. Normally we take the time to come up with something a bit more sophisticated that doesn’t have us fighting everything at the same time, but for some reason they’re all hot for this new approach.

“I could summon something native to this region. An animal large enough to get their attention without being suspicious,” I offered.

“Why? Save the spell.”

“Don’t we want a distraction?” I asked

“Why bother?”

Well, OK then. Plan “Big Dumb Fight” it is.

Equally dubious is this obsession with giving Sennaka a chance to surrender honorably. When the idea was first floated I thought they meant “before we executed him”, which made a lot of sense to me. But what they actually mean is “right at the start” which seems…unwise. He has no reason to be afraid of us, so it’s just going to give him free time to prepare when he should be dodging steel. But I’m just part of the supporting cast here so it’s not my call. His guards are all fair game from the get-go, so I’ll be busy, anyway.

(night, Seinaru Heikiko)

Operation “Big Dumb Fight” 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 completely ignore 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’s untimely death. I am sure lots of tears were shed at the news.

Amazingly, Sennaka’s army literally just stopped fighting after word had spread. I have never seen anything like it. Even the guards we were engaged with—the ones that weren’t oni that is, as most of those fled half-way through—stopped and pledged allegiance to Itsuru right there on the spot once we told them he was their new daimyo. It seems no one was willing to fight to defend the name of a dead man that they didn’t like very much. And by “very much” I mean “at all”.

All of them knew he openly consorted with demons. It’s kind of nuts when you think about it. The implication is the only thing really keeping Sennaka alive was their oaths to defend him. Gods, this country.

Tomorrow we are paying Itsuru a visit ahead of our second meeting with the Three Monkeys. We’re hoping he can help subsidize the plan to buy the support of the Emerald Branch and the neutrality of the other two, because it would practically bankrupt us to do it ourselves. If he cares at all about the future of the country we are trying to take back, he’ll find a way to pitch in. Especially since we did the heavy lifting that put him in the governor’s seat.

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’t want it to end up being used against us, and we don’t want to lose track of it, so that only leaves trying to claim it. A couple of us are potentially good fits for the skills that are emblemized on it, so we’re 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…so long as the new owner doesn’t get carried away.

Yeah, it’s risky, but what else can we do?

Sarenith 9, 4713 (small hours, Enganoka)

Late last night, Dasi used his spell to learn more about our assassin, feeding into it all we have learned over the past few days. What he got back was a portrait of loneliness.

Kaibuninsho—the only name he is known by—comes from an unassuming background and a family of no particular significance. He grew up in Sakakabe where he built a reputation for himself as a talented spy. Eventually, he was recruited as a ninja into the Oni’s Mask clan where he branched out from espionage to assassination. From that point on he withdrew from the world, living as an island in the sea.

He’s a man who has no one and nothing. All there is to his life is what he does: the next contract, the next kill, and the waiting between them. The only thing he cares about is making others miserable. It’s rumored he even moved against members of his own clan when it suited his purpose. At least Kimandatsu had friends.

How do people live like that? Why do they even bother living at all?

(night, Seinaro Heikiko)

Kiomasu’s village was little more than blackened remains. We descended into a patchwork of char and ash that bordered a mass grave. This was Sennaka’s leadership, laid bare.

The story Kiomasu told us was unfortunately not new. Sennaka is demanding more and more from the people he rules: more money, more tribute, absolute veneration, and so on. If you don’t comply, if you even falter, his men-at-arms show up and crush you. And this isn’t just about morality: Sennaka is also a fool. Dead men and burned villages don’t pay taxes. If you want more money from your subjects, you don’t also spend that money cutting off your sources of income.

We held a brief burial service for the victims, and the man from Enganoka whose corpse served his future empress. Kiomasu is still in shock and his grieving has only begun, but only time can heal that.

We’re back at the fortress now. Kiomasu’s been temporarily settled in the growing refugee camp which Jiro and Hatsue set up to house villagers that are likely to be in the path of the looming attack. We have a couple of days before we need to meet the Nine Pawns at the resort, and if we’re here we can at least contribute while we pass the time. Qatana will be placing wards around the courtyard and the guard posts we used to gain entry, and Olmas has some ideas to help prepare the still-untested soldiers for the battle.

Me? I reached out to Kaibuninsho again in part because I was bored, and in part because I don’t want him causing trouble for us in Enganoka. We still need to go back there to meet with the other ninja clans.

The image in my mirror resolved to show him in a nondescript room, packing for a journey. I guess word travels fast.

“I just wanted to let you know that we’ve left town.”

He didn’t say anything in response. This man is in serious need of a friend.

“I figured, we’re all professionals here. I didn’t want you to waste your time.”

He snorted in response.

“I admit, I am kind of sad that you won’t talk to me anymore. I thought we had thing going on here. Plus, you look lonely. Who else do you have to talk to?”

Kaibuninsho pulled out a leather pouch and unrolled it on the bed, revealing a number of vials filled with a variety of colored liquids. So this was all I was going to get from him. Idle threats.

I watched him finish packing and then let the scrying drop. I got what I needed, anyway, which is that we can forget about him for the immediate future. First, he has to figure out where we are, then he has to get here, and he can only travel so quickly. Especially when he isn’t sleeping well, something we’ll be seeing to again tonight.

While I was visiting with our would-be assassin, Dasi was spending some quality time with Sikutsu Sennaka. He used the spell from the samisen to learn what he could about the man. What he got back was that Sennaka was a famed daimyo, accomplished soldier and general, and competent naval commander. He earned that fame through a number of skirmishes and conflicts with not just other daimyos in Minkai but also other nations of Tian Xia, and for personally engaging on the battlefield. After the emperor went into “hiding”, the Jade Regent tasked him with maintaining order in the north and he has done so rather efficiently and ruthlessly. Though he’s only the governor of the Enganoka province, it’s an open secret that he has influence over the Sakakabe province as well as governor there is weak and easily intimidated.

Off the battlefield, Sennaka is viewed by the populace as the epitome of honor, something that we found rather surprising (though in retrospect, it explains some of what happened at the market). Less surprising? His forte is military campaigns, not administration. This is probably why he responds to problems with military force. The man only has one tool and by the gods he is going to use it.

After his magical research, Dasi got a good look at Sennaka by scrying on him. It’s a technique we’ve honed to a fine edge, and I’ve long since lost my aversion to it…in certain circumstances, anyway. Like turnabout being fair play, and people who are morally bankrupt. Dasi didn’t get much more than the man eating dinner, though, which is unsurprising given the time of day. He was surrounded by his elite, samurai guard, and they were telling stories about some battle or another. Dasi tried to produce a sketch so that others could play, too, but…well, Dasi has many talents, but drawing is not one of them.

How Sennaka is able to maintain this reputation for honor is beyond me. In some ways, I think it speaks to a larger issue of class divisions within Minkai. If you are nobility, then different rules apply to you and you have the authority to harass and castigate those beneath your station. Honor is not an ethical standard here, but rather one of cultural norms. An amoral daimyo can abuse their authority without tarnishing their reputation since unwavering loyalty to one’s lord is expected, not earned. There are also plenty of ways to hide your less savory activities so that your facade stays clean and this is exactly when Sennaka is doing. Of course, a true leader is also supposed to protect their subjects, but around here it seems that bit is viewed as optional.

What’s most disturbing is that this is not the work of the Five Storms. It’s just how things are here, and it isn’t sitting well with me. At all. Olmas and Qatana are struggling with it, too. And no one really knows where Ameiko stands. I understand that she has to work within the system for now, but is this how it’s going to be when she’s on the throne? It has me worried because I can’t ignore it any more. I was lucky to not have to grow up in a caste system. Why in the names of the gods would I choose to live in a different one?

Sarenith 10, 4713 (noon, Seinaro Heikiko)

The refugees are growing restless. I can understand that. They are living in a small tent city in the clearing behind the fort, and though that clearing is rather large it is still a lot of people in close quarters instead of their homes, dependant on others for pretty much everything. They are all here basically on faith, and faith will only get you so far. There are rumblings that the rumored attack is just that, and when that sort of talk starts spreading people make up all manner of conspiracy theories.

Of course, we know better because we have seen the message that Jiro’s men intercepted, but that’s not something we can share because I am sure there are spies among the camp. So, instead, we’ve let it slip that a small army is marching north. It’s the worst sort of lie: one of omission where the words are technically true, but the last thing Jiro needs is discord among the people he’s trying to protect. So hopefully this will put a stop to it, or at least slow it down.

I’ve sent Nihali off to scout with Qatana and Radella. Ivan and Hatsue have set out on the wind to find Sennaka’s army, and ensure it’s where we expect it to be. That leaves the rest of us here, literally minding the fort. To pass the time, Dasi used the samisen to check in on Sennaka again and saw him tinkering with his armor. You’d think Sennaka would have people to do that for him. What exciting lives soldiers must live.

Earlier this morning, Olmas asked me if I could help him with a military exercise to help train Jiro’s troops. I’ll just let that sit there for a moment.

“Can you create a realistic illusion of an enemy creature for them to fight? One that reacts to them? Or perhaps summon a creature that you can control, and prevent it from using lethal attacks?”

He wanted something they can fight for real, that would be a surrogate for an actual battle. Summoning would certainly work, but I felt uncomfortable creating a creature for the sole purpose of target practice. Granted, summoned creatures are not “real” in the metaphysical sense: they are temporary constructs which are generic members of a species, not actual beings transported from some other place. But, “real” or not, and temporary or not, they are still infused with life and experience the world through their senses, and they still feel pain. It is one thing to create life and use it to aid you in battle, and another entirely to create it merely to be destroyed. I wasn’t sure how to explain that, or why the difference mattered, so I gave him an excuse instead.

“A summoned creature would actually be dangerous. Someone could be seriously hurt, as the control I have over them is limited. An illusion, however, can be very realistic. It will smell, sound, and feel very real unless they get close enough to touch it.”

“Can you make it react to being ‘injured’?”

“If I am watching the battle, yes. It will be very convincing.”

This seemed to be good enough for his purposes. And it might actually be fun.

(evening)

We went with an ogre mage. We’ve killed so many of them now that I know how they move, fight, heal from injuries and, of course, die. That, and they serve the purpose of a supernatural foe that can still be taken down with sufficient effort. Jiro asked us to ambush one of the patrols, so I had the illusion emerge from the trees as they passed through a small clearing. From up above, I watched them form a firing line and pelt it with arrows, over and over as it advanced, shrugging off its “wounds”. The men and women scrambled to bring down their foe, several calling out in surprise and frustration, “Why aren’t these stopping it?!”, “It should be dropping!” and “It won’t die!”

I tried to keep it as real as possible. They got several good shots in so I had the ogre mage collapse as it reached their positions. Then Jiro, who was observing from somewhere nearby, called out that it was a training exercise and we all returned to the fortress to debrief.

“Real oni will be a lot like this,” Olmas said. “They can shake off attacks, and heal rapidly from injuries. When confronted with them, you want to concentrate your fire and stay focused on one target at a time.”

While good advice, it is in all honesty probably not enough. Without magic weapons, most oni just aren’t going to go down very easily. But, the exercise was as much about mindset as it was tactics: weapons won’t matter if they can’t even keep their wits about them in the fight. On that front, Jiro had obviously trained them well. I was actually quite surprised at how quickly they recovered from the initial shock of the “attack” and how disciplined they were in coordinating their defense. Maybe they’ll actually live through this rebellion.

Radella and Olmas plan on a nighttime exercise, too, by surprising the guards pretty much the same way we ambushed the previous occupants: with a sneak attack on the guard posts up above. That sort of thing takes some serious mettle because while the two of them can hold back enough to make non-lethal strikes, Jiro’s men won’t be in on the secret and they will be swinging flor blood. Radella and Olmas can more than handle themselves, obviously, but…anyone can get lucky and I certainly wouldn’t want to be skewered as part of a training exercise. Hopefully this little stunt will not get out of hand.

Ivan and Hatsue returned and informed us that Sennaka’s army is exactly where we expected them to be. He’s traveling with a small battalion of about 200 soldiers. Either he takes his personal security very seriously, or he’s compensating for feelings of inadequacy. We expect him to arrive at the resort in three days. We’ll be there tomorrow afternoon to ensure we are ready for him.

Sarenith 11, 4713 (late afternoon, Shuryo Onsen)

We have our first meeting with the Nine Pawns tonight. I told Nihali what we needed, and sent her to perch on the roof of the resort. After a couple of hours one of the former samurai, disguised as a tradesman, approached her.

“What are you doing here, little raven? Are you lost? Are you looking for shiny things?”

“I’m not lost,” she answered.

“Is your home in the woods?”

“West of here. We arrived early.”

Nihali said he seemed unfazed talking to a magical creature in the form of a bird. That is good news, as it means we won’t have to waste time convincing them of our capabilities, or to take us seriously. So, points to Itsuru for getting that message across.

“They’d like to go over things,” she added.

“Under cover of night.”

So now we wait.

Kaibuninsho spied on us a couple more times, once last night and today a little over an hour ago. We’re moving around again, so he’s going to have to make a decision: continue to try and play catch-up, or make a guess as to where we’re going to be at some point in the future and then get there first. When I checked in on him myself yesterday, he was poking around the tea house and learned we hadn’t been there in a while.

He looked like he hadn’t gotten much sleep the previous night. Qatana’s spell caught him in the small hours that morning (and then again late last night).

(night, Shuryo Onsen)

Shit! We don’t have much time. We’re going as soon as Radella, Ivan and Zosimus others get back which I hope is very, very soon.

I checked in on Kaibuninsho and he’s in a refugee camp of some sort and at first I was like, “there are so many of those, it could be anywhere” but while talking that out it dawned on us that there’s one at the fortress. So now―

They’re back.

(late night, Seinaro Heikiko)

We got him!

We packed up camp and were standing in the shrine room of the fortress in just shy of 10 minutes. I brought most of the group with me, and Ivan brought the rest using a spell that teleported himself and the others to his designated sanctuary…which he had just happened to name here.

The conversation I spied on between Kaibuninsho and the other refugees was not 15 minutes old which meant he was probably still out there. We gathered Jiro and Hatsue and hastily explained the situation, then with a combination of magical disguises and invisibility, we went hunting. I stayed in the air above the crowd, waiting for Dasi and Hatsue to sweep the encampment for hostile intent. It took time, and there looked like there might have been a potential false start, but they managed to find someone who was hiding their true intentions. Someone who felt like our man. I descended just close enough to see without giving myself away―no one ever looks up―and recognized his disguise. It was him.

I hit him with a spell to anchor him to the material plane. There would be no quick escapes this time. Bathed in a glowing green light, he was now an obvious beacon to the others, and Radella was on top of him in seconds with Olmas and Hatsue close behind.

Kainbunshisho looked terrible and it was not just part of his disguise. He had clearly not slept well in several days, almost certainly thanks to the nightly deluge of nightmares we had sent his way. Wanting to make the most of this, I hit him with another spell, this one leaving him physically exhausted. Within seconds he was surrounded, blinded, and unable to escape. Ivan dealt the killing blow.

And just like that, it was over.

Only now we have a new problem, this one potentially much bigger than the assassin, himself. He was carrying what Dasi called a “fuhonsen”―an ancient, Tian coin that no longer has a monetary face value but is prized by collectors and sometimes worn as a charm. This particular one, however, is much, much more than that. I went to examine its magical aura and it was like reading the sun. It’s an artifact. A minor one, granted, but an artifact nonetheless. This went a long way to explaining Kaibuninsho’s bag of tricks. He had very powerful help.

Dasi used a spell to learn more about it. According to legend, it was the first coin used as payment for a ninja’s services in Minkai. Over generations it has become infused with magic, its powers emblematized by the symbols on each side. It would be a boon for us in more ways than one, except there’s a catch. Because there’s always a catch.

Now that I was prepared for it, I was able to work out its talents after studying it a bit more carefully. And I uncovered some very nasty surprises.

“The two blank spaces on this side of the coin are powers that have not yet been…developed. Assuming they are worthy—and I’ll get to that in a minute—the coin creates a new power that is related to a skill embodied by its new owner,” I explained.

Its potential powers are not set. They represent a relationship between the coin and its owners: past, present and future.

“The bad news is, you must excel at all of these skills, and you must excel at a skill of your own, for the coin to find you ‘worthy’ as an owner.”

I could see a couple of my friends were about to ask the obvious question, so I answered it preemptively. “It decides what that means. I can’t put it into words. But I do know this: you are judged at the new moon. If you are not found worthy by then? It vanishes and seeks out a new owner.”

I slumped back in my chair and sighed heavily. I was suddenly very, very tired. “The really bad news is…that it has a corrupting influence on its owner. The process can take months, possibly a couple of years, but it slowly pulls your heart towards darkness.”

And therein lays the problem.

We can’t take possession of it because using it would, eventually, corrupt the owner. We can’t keep it out of circulation because it will seek out an owner if it’s not claimed. We can’t destroy it because, according to legend, only a sovereign dragon can do that and we don’t have any of those on hand. And we shouldn’t sell it because that will put it in the hands of someone who will most likely become a problem for Minkai in the future. Oh, and legend also says that a great calamity will befall the world once its full powers are realized, which is just two owners away.

So, we are completely screwed. There is just no good answer here.

We argued over this for what felt like hours. Do we keep it and take our chances, until we find a way to destroy it? Do we sell it to one of the ninja clans, turning it loose on the world with even more power? Do we just let it vanish, and hope it doesn’t turn up in the next few generations?

I don’t know what we should do.

Sarenith 7, 4713 (early morning, Enganoka)

Qatana’s spell kicked in about midnight last night. From what she explained, when you cast it you go into a sort of meditative state until the…well, let’s call them the “victim” since that is what they are…goes to sleep, at which point you awaken and their nightmares begin. The more you know about them the stronger your connection, and the stronger your connection the more difficult it is to resist. It helps that we have both a picture of him and one of his former possessions: the poison-laced dart. This spell isn’t huge, but it’s not exactly insignificant either and it’s something we can do at little risk to ourselves. It’s also better than nothing at all, which is what we had before. It does require us to more or less predict when he’s turning in for the evening, though, as we can’t afford to lose hours to the sit-and-wait every time.

We meet with the Three Monkeys tomorrow night. Unfortunately, Qatana can’t go along because her description is being circulated as a result of our assault on the guards—I was a bit surprised that my own wasn’t included, though she was a more visible presence throughout the fight—but no one is keen on leaving her alone so I’ll be staying with her. We can keep an eye on the others from here. We’ll know if they run into trouble. We know where they’ll be. And I can get us there in an instant if trouble happens.

Obviously, it would be better if we could all stay together, but we can’t change the situation so we just have to make the best of it. And it does give us an advantage: the one person we are really worried about is the one we can spy on more or less with impunity. So if he tries to intervene, we should know.

We’re a little concerned about having Ameiko so publicly exposed, so Dasi is out gathering some supplies for enchanting a pair of hats that can be used to alter your appearance. One will go to Ameiko, and the other is for whoever else we think may need it. Zos and I can turn them out in just a few hours.

I’ve also made arrangements to get the diamond we’ll need for bringing the Tian man back from the dead. Qatana used a spell to commune with…well, I am not sure who, exactly…and is confident that his spirit wants to return. She has also very generously offered to share the cost, but that offer did come with a rather large “but”.

“We can’t afford to raise everyone the oni kill in our presence.”

“I know, and I don’t intend to. This one is…special.”

Because I tried and failed, which more or less makes it my responsibility.

(late morning)

Maybe, just maybe, we have crossed a line here. I don’t know. Part of me thinks this idea was genius, while another part thinks we’re, perhaps, too eager to employ the sorts of tactics that a normal society would object to. Of course, this isn’t a normal society right now and desperate times call for desperate measures. I think. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

It all started with Zosimus. Maybe that should have been a hint.

He pointed out that leaders often employ body doubles when they have to appear in public as a form of misdirection. While having Ameiko travel in disguise is a sensible way to keep her hidden, it dies encourage the Five Storms, or whoever might be watching, to look more closely for her and there’s only so long we can win that game. Ameiko traveling in disguise alongside a body double, on the other hand, shows them exactly what they are expecting to see. The best way to fool someone is to get them to fool themselves. Zos suggested—and this is where things got weird—that he could, um, reshape a corpse to make it appear like Ameiko. And then animate it.

He was thinking of the body of the dead man we brought back with us, but that was out of the question because Qatana and I were going to raise him. So that left only one reasonable option. For varying definitions of “reasonable”.

“So. Where’s the city morgue?”

Everyone turned to look at me.

“Well, where else are we going to find a corpse?” Without making one ourselves, that is.

Ameiko objected rather strenuously at first, and she eventually only agreed to this—reluctantly, I might add—if said body would receive a proper burial afterwards. Qatana, in contrast, found the whole idea hilarious, and she was all too eager to make the supply run. In retrospect, this probably should have been a hint, too.

So now we have, not one, but two dead men. It has just been that kind of day.

Our assassin took a shot at one of us again, though this time with a lot less flash. Dasi was out shopping for enchanting supplies and our friend just happened to have tied up the owner of the shop he was visiting. Which is a pretty amazing coincidence, since it would mean that he either knew our plans in advance, or spotted Dasi, correctly guessed where he was headed, and then both formed and executed a plan on the spot before Dasi got there. I am personally Either one is a pretty impressive feat.

He tried to poison Dasi. Or, more accurately, he tried to get Dasi to poison himself. Dasi figured out that something was wrong and didn’t fall for it. I have to wonder, though: why so coy? Why not just be direct and get it over with? Maybe openly murdering someone in a crowded market attracts too much attention.

In what’s become a daily routine, I spied on him again after Dasi had returned and filled us in on the day’s events. This time our would-be assassin was meditating in a darkened room, so it seemed like a good time to interrupt.

“I have to admit I am curious. How big of a price is it?”

Without opening his eyes, he said, “You would be amazed.”

“Wow! I. Am. Flattered. It is hard to believe we are worth all this trouble.”

I tried to get him to talk a bit more about the contract, but he wasn’t having it. All I got was, “I know where you’re going to be.”

At the time, I thought he was referring to our meeting with the Three Monkeys, but now I am not so sure. Would he risk offending the other clans by coming after us there? He might. Or, maybe he knows about the Fort. Or, maybe, just maybe, he knows about the Nine Pawns and their plans at the resort. It’d be pretty smart of him to wait until after we had spent our resources fighting someone else. This is something to keep in mind.

(night)

On a hunch, Qatana tried her “nightmares” spell a little early tonight and got him right away. Hahahaha! There is no escape!

We got Dasi in on our act. Both he and Qatana tried to spy on him this afternoon. Qatana’s worked; Dasi’s didn’t. She saw him dressed as a longshoreman, working down at the docks. He was meeting with someone who has been feeding him information. All in all it’s not surprising that he has a network of contacts, but it is a good reminder that anyone we have to interact with may be supplying him information. Assuming he wasn’t exaggerating about how much money he stands to gain, he can afford to spend a small fortune to keep tabs on us.

Sarenith 8, 4713 (night, Enganoka)

Their meeting with the Three Monkeys went on without any interruptions. Our primary concern, of course, was that our assassin friend would invite himself to the proceedings, but he didn’t even leave his bed. I know that because part of our plan was for me to start scrying on him after they left so that I could provide adequate warning in case he turned up. Instead, I got a view of a dark room with him sound asleep. I immediately told Qatana about this, who sent another batch of nightmares his way. He went from a calm, peaceful slumber to tossing and turning as I watched. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of knowing you are making a difference in peoples’ lives.

According to the others, the three ninja clans are generally…apolitical, but are willing to make an exception for us because the Jade Regent has a scorched earth style of management. What’s bad for the country as a whole is also bad for them. But there’s a catch, because there’s always a catch. And that catch is: they can’t enter into a formal agreement or contract with us until this matter with the assassin is concluded. They will not interfere with another clan’s contract, even one from the Oni’s Mask. Assuming he’s not going to just give up, and we’re not just going to roll over and die, that pretty much means we have to either kill or permanently incapacitate him. Good times.

The cost of doing business with them is going to be steep. Five thousand gold to each clan just to for that clan to stay neutral, and four times that if we actively want their involvement. We have a lot of money, yes, but not enough to hire all three. So we’re going to have to choose who gets to play, and who has to sit on the sidelines. Personally, I’d prefer the Emerald Branch over the other two since they at least seem to be driven by a moral code, but I am only one voice in the chorus.

We raised the merchant from the market tonight. Qatana started things off by rudely announcing, “I would rather perform the ceremony in private, with only those who tried to help the deceased present.” I mean, I get it, but deliberately antagonizing everyone in this manner is not going to make things better. I held my tongue, again, and silently went to her room for the ceremony.

The pale blue diamond we acquired crumbled away to dust as the merchant awoke with a gasp.

“I have some good news and I have some bad news,” Qatana said. “Which would you like to hear first?”

His name is Kimoto Kiomasu, and he was from the village of Kokomugi which is apparently not to far from here (and, I might add, quite real). We’re going to check on it in the morning, but he’s pretty convinced that it’s been razed to the ground. For someone who just lost all of his friends, his family, and most recently his own life, he was taking it quite well. I am pretty sure that’s because he’s still in shock. I think it’s going to be a rough morning.

Sarenith 5th, 4713 (Kiniro Kyomai Tea House, early evening)

So now we wait. I hate waiting, especially when it’s for someone that is coming to kill us. That I even have a category for this says a lot about the last year.

I am nervous and more than a little scared. We essentially know nothing about our would-be assassin except for his reputation, and that is basically nothing to go on. The problem with legendary figures is that the stories that surround them are equally legendary; truth wrapped in exaggeration and hyperbole, designed to both frighten and inspire awe. Dasi spent hours this morning trying to give us anything we could use, and the best we managed was that, if you were desperate enough to have someone killed, and rich enough to part with a modest fortune, our assassin would appear out of thin air, do the deed, and then vanish without a trace.

None of this is helpful, except to confirm that he exists. After all, to the common man, I can appear out of thin air and disappear into the same. In the right circumstances, half of us could kill someone without leaving so much as a mark. There are too many possibilities, which means we have no idea what we are defending against. The only advantage we have is determining where the confrontation will occur. Sparna would call this “defining the enemy’s choices”, though of course there is only the one.

Doing that, though, was easy enough. My spell alerted me to his scrying eye, and I casually let slip where we were. The scrying ended within seconds, which tells me he took the bait. Yay us?

O-Kohaku was less than thrilled when we warned her what was coming. “You brought this to my doorstep!?”

I was not in the mood and snapped back, “Did you think you could support a rebellion and there would be no consequences?”

“This is not what I signed up for. I agreed to help, not turn my business into a battlefield!”

She has a point. We have gotten too used to being on our own, and what we are doing here is putting others’ lives at risk. It’s even bordering on reckless. We are betting quite a lot on his reputation as a disciplined assassin, not some messy thug who leaves blood and bodies in his wake. Are we putting too much faith in that?

At least it’s only for tonight. We’re leaving Sakakabe tomorrow, so if this isn’t resolved by then? The Tea House will no longer be in the crossfire.

I got my first good look at him today. Dasi, Ameiko and O-Sayumi had given me enough details that I could spy on him the same way he has spied on us, and it worked. He was dressed as a monk in grey robes and a basket hat, walking along the streets of Sakakabe in one of the middle-class tiers—something we were able to establish from the clothing worn by passers-by. I followed him for a while. In a stunning coincidence that you might describe as “suspicious”, he shot a city guard with a blowdart laced with Blue Whinnis poison, just outside a shop that Dasi was visiting. You might say we found this alarming.

Why did he do it? We don’t know. Was he trying to flush us out? Test our reactions? We don’t know. Was it intended as a distraction? Did he know Dasi was there? Did he know Radella was? We. Don’t. Know.

Is he coming tonight? We’re more confident about that one. We’ve been moving too often and too quickly, and have been careful not to reveal our whereabouts, making this his first real shot at us. I doubt he’ll pass it up.

Sarenith 6th, 4713 (Kiniro Kyomai Tea House, small hours)

He didn’t pass it up. A wakizashi came within inches of my head. He literally took one stab at me through the shoji screen, and then vanished. Qatana found the slightest traces of his presence: footprints on the wall frames and ceiling, and an impression in the carpet, but no steps leading away. He came in, struck, and then vanished. It suggests a combination of both skills and magic…though, I think, mostly magic.

He obviously wasn’t after a fight, which is no surprise. He was trying to pick us off. Which is also no surprise, though it does at least confirm what we’ve suspected.

I was riled up. Once we determined he was gone I scried on him again, this time catching him somewhere in the city just before he conjured a portal to the shadow plane and stepped through (what is it with this region and the shadow plane?) My magical sight followed him, and he emerged into a forest where he changed disguises. Which means I got a good look at his true appearance: a slim, unassuming Tian man with short, fuzzy grey hair.

I couldn’t resist. I cast another spell, and whispered to his image in my silver mirror. “You missed.” You might say that got his attention. I baited him a few times and we traded some barbs before I pointed out that I knew what he looked like. “Enjoy this victory while it lasts,” he said. “You have a lot more to lose.”

“There are a lot more of us. You only have to lose once.”

Our conversation ended with him giving me a rude gesture. It seems those are somewhat universal.

After my spell ended, I spent some time reflecting on what we learned. He can travel through the shadow plane, teleport short distances, and scry on others. All are spells or abilities I possess, except…he’s not casting any spells. Curious, don’t you think?

(Enganoka, early afternoon)

We found an inn here that has solid walls. Ironically, that is not an upscale feature. If you have money, it’s assumed you value the exquisite dance between light and shadow over such intangible traits as privacy and safety.

I made a stack of “Have you seen this assassin?” posters this morning and we scattered them about Sakakabe before leaving. The primary feature is a drawing of the man who is stalking us—it is a rather good likeness if I don’t say so myself—and a list of his known disguises. I used a spell to speed the process. Though we did take the time to deliver some to the city guard, I am under no illusions that this will amount to anything more than a thumb in the assassin’s eye. But I wasn’t really aiming higher than that, either.

To get us here, I used the same spell he did; it was in Yugureda Shosaito’s spell book. Walking the edge of the shadow plan was every bit as disturbing as I expected it to be, but it got us here quickly enough.

(Enganoka, night)

For once, Qatana was not responsible for the absolute shitstorm that was this afternoon. This time, it was my doing. I was the one responsible. And you know what? I would do it again. I have no regrets. None.

It happened in the market. We were working our way through the throngs of people when a hole opened up in the crowd. A group of guards were confronting a man who was bartering at one of the stalls. As they surrounded him they asked what village he was from, and when he answered they accused him of lying because the “village doesn’t exist!” It sounded eerily similar to the story Itsuru told us about the Nine Pawns, and we all turned to look at Dasi since he’s from here. Quietly, he answered the unspoken question. “That’s a real place”.

I presumed wrong. They weren’t going to arrest the man: they intended to execute him. Right there. Using this insane accusation that he was lying about where he was from and therefore a spy. And…I just couldn’t let it go on. I mean, what was I supposed to do? Be a silent witness to a summary execution? So I intervened. Inconspicuously.

Or I tried to, anyway. There were just too many of them closing in too quickly, and the spells I had that might protect him weren’t practical in close quarters. I tried a deterrent, but the guards were not deterred and things got worse. Much worse. There was a brief moment where Qatana maybe created an opening for me, but before I could act one of the guards brought their sword around in a wide arc and took off the man’s head.

As I watched it tumble to the floor in slow motion, I remembered being in Ordu-Aganhei where the people lived in constant fear of their Prince and his whims. Where people were punished or even killed for the most trivial of transgressions. We turned a blind eye to this insanity it because it wasn’t our fight, but this here? This was our fight. No more turning away.

When his head hit the floor, I was hyper-aware of my friends behind me and what I was about to do. Ameiko had to get away from here, as quickly and discreetly as possible, and I could feel her moving; the others closing ranks around her as they melted into the crowd. I looked down and saw that my hands were already holding the bit of amber and ball of fur, the latter stuck with needles. An instant later, lightning erupted from my fingertips and arced from guard to guard in a brilliant, blinding flash. Then Qatana and Zosimus rained destruction down on them, and in seconds they were all dead.

And then their bodies transformed into oni. Because, as a random shopkeeper said to me, “that’s just the way things are now”.

The rest of the party was gone. Zosi turned invisible and eventually found his own way back. I grabbed Qatana and teleported us, and the body of the dead man, to the inn.

Qatana started raging almost the instant we appeared in the room. “They did nothing!” she said, pacing back and forth while gesturing angrily with her hands. “They were completely happy to just stand there and look the other way while an obviously innocent citizen was cut down. And Ameikio condoned and justified it!”

Said innocent citizen was still in a heap on the floor, head detached. She’d at least taken a few seconds to preserve the corpse with a spell before launching into this tirade.

“And what’s worse,” she continued, still pacing, stopping only long enough to look at me while she emphasized some point, “is that only you, me, and Zos took any action to stop it. And Ameiko ran away like a coward.”

She didn’t get it. She still doesn’t, thought I tried to help her understand.

“I’m upset about this, too, but I don’t think Ameiko had a choice here. She’s bound by the same code of honor as Itsuru. It’s the same reason why he can’t just kill his brother and take over as governor. The people here won’t accept a leader that tarnishes their honor to become a leader.”

It would be different when Sennaka is gone. She will have the legitimacy to prevent such egregious abuses of power. But until then? She can’t be a part of this.

That being said, I was still shaken. I hadn’t expected so many of our friends to vanish with her. I sat down next to Qatana.

“I just thought…we’d have more help. Even discreetly. Ameiko needs us. While her hands are tied, we can do the things she can’t. But I guess not everyone sees it that way.”

Qatana didn’t want to hear it. Everything is so black and white with her. Direct action is the only action that matters. That’s…just not how this works. And I don’t know what to do about it.

(Enganoka, late night)

Ameiko came to talk to me about it. I had been dreading this conversation all evening, but it ended up being okay.

“I’m not going to apologize for intervening,” I said when she walked in. “And if I had the chance to do it all over, I’d do it again.”

“I can’t fault you for wanting to help that man, but this wasn’t a case of stopping bandits from robbing someone on the highway. They were the legally appointed law enforcement acting on their real authority. He may actually have been guilty of a crime. Just attacking them for apprehending a criminal would make us criminals, too.”

Normally, she would be right, but the problem with her logic is that we witnessed the whole exchange. “We all heard what they said. This wasn’t about some random crime. It was a false accusation used as a justification for murder.”

“We can’t openly rebel against the local authorities without evidence of corruption that is obvious to everyone. Otherwise, we run the risk of driving the people to those same authorities for protection from us.”

“I can’t turn my back to it, Ameiko. I just can’t. Not anymore.”

“We have to win the whole war, not just every battle.”

I looked down at the floor. The wool rug in our room was old and fraying along one edge. Is that supposed to be prophetic?

“I know why you had to get away. I’m not angry about it.”

She sat down on the bed next to me and sighed, heavily. “I can’t say which of us did the right, or better, or best thing. I think the answer is that…we each did what we had to do.”

“Maybe we both did the right thing.”

We sat in silence for a bit. Finally, she stood up and said, “For what it’s worth, I do want to do a little investigating to find out what that merchant’s story really was. For my own peace of mind at least.”

“Well, you may get to hear his story first hand. I’m going to try and have him raised, even if I have to pay for it myself. It was my spells that failed him; it’s my responsibility to fix it.”

She looked at me for a while before leaving. I suppose it could have gone worse.

Earlier, Qatana and I took turns spying on our assassin. Both of us saw him as a wealthy, well-dressed woman. I caught him just after he had left the market.

“You missed all the excitement.”

He stopped to look around for the source of the voice. Seriously?

“Please. Do you really think so little of me?”

“Was that your handiwork?”

“I wouldn’t dream of taking credit for such a heinous act.“

“You do realize there’s a price on your heads?”

“Of course. And we’re honored to be worthy of so much attention. Someone is obviously afraid of us. I hope you have a good night’s sleep.”

I couldn’t resist. Qatana has a spell that sends terrible nightmares, and she’ll be using it on him tonight. I am looking forward to it.

Sarenith 2, 4713 (evening, Kiniro Kyomai Teahouse)

In the Enganoka province there is a fishing village. This village found itself under a crushing tax burden, and when they could no longer afford to pay their daimyo he called nine of his best samurai and ordered them to raze it to the ground. These samurai were loyal to their daimyo, but they were also honorable men. Because there was no honor in burning a village and killing its residents as punishment for a debt, these samurai instead returned with the tax money that was owed. By satisfying the village’s debt, the daimyo was properly served and their honor remained intact. The daimyo, however, expected his orders to be followed, and the nine had deliberately disobeyed him so he insisted they they be punished. Though he had a reputation for cruelty, in a rare moment of mercy, the daimyo merely dismissed the samurai from his service.

This is the story that Itsuru told us. The ronin call themselves The Nine Pawns, and the daimyo is, of course, his brother Sennaka.

So why tell us this?

Because The Nine Pawns are seeking retribution for the years they spent, trapped by honor, serving an unjust and unworthy man. Because Itsuru is sick of his brother’s cruelty and the Jade Regent’s hubris. Because all of our interests are aligned. Because an opportunity has presented itself, and as foreigners, we are in a position to act on it.

We have limited time. Sennaka is setting out for a resort at a hot springs that he uses as a private retreat. The Nine Pawns have infiltrated this resort as servants while it is being renovated. We can coordinate with them—if they are willing to take a chance on foreigners that they have never met—and increase our odds of success. He’ll meet with them and get word to us, either personally or through someone bearing one of our talismans.

This meeting was important enough that asked Jiro to join us. Itsuru needed to see we were building a real army with real people, led by men of honor; that we weren’t just a group of miscreants taking advantage of Minkai’s instability. It turns out Jiro and Itsuru knew each other, or rather, knew of one another, and that helped give weight to our claims. Especially since O-Sayumi started things off with a hammer blow: “These are scions of the Amatatsu family.”

Note that she said scions, not scion. We haven’t told anyone that, which just underscores that O-Sayumi is the real deal. It caught us off guard, and we had to back up nearly a year to explain it.

Getting Jiro here was easy, but not without drama. He and Hatsue had intercepted a messenger carrying a request for troops to quell a certain rebellious ronin in the north. Combined with some other intelligence, Jiro believes the fortress will come under attack in the near future. This is, of course, the big problem with fortresses: they aren’t mobile. We’ve always been most vulnerable when we were sitting still. A fortress doesn’t have the option of moving around.

Sarenith 4, 4713 (evening, Kiniro Kyomai Teahouse)

Over the past few days, when we weren’t stuck in meetings, Dasi and O-Sayumi have been combining their skill at divination magic in an attempt to learn something about who is spying on us, and why. It was a fascinating process: with each casting, they’d get small pieces of information that could be fed back the next time to refine their sight. By the third or fourth day, an answer emerged, and in answering the question of who we so answered the one of why.

We’re being followed by a legendary assassin. One who is believed to work for the Oni’s Mask clan, and is rumored to have extraordinary magical powers. This would explain the disguises and the constant scrying. So far we’ve been able to thwart them by moving around and using magic of our own, but that has come to an end: we are going to be in Sakakabe for several days, and they will eventually figure out where we are. We are a pretty ripe target.

So there is that to look forward to.

Itsuru delivered the message to us personally: his brother leaves for the resort in just a few days, and will arrive in a little over a week. The Nine Pawns have agreed to ally with us, and they are setting traps in the forest to isolate the lodge from the company of soldiers that serves as his traveling “guard”. They will hold off the soldiers, giving us the time we need to deal with Sennaka and his retinue. It’s not a bad plan, especially for one that was put together in just a couple of days.

Now we just need to live long enough to pull it off.

Desnus 29, 4713 (late afternoon, Namidakame Lagoon)

OK, now the island is unoccupied. We were attacked by, of all things, dragon turtles on trip back. They were aggressive, belligerent and unwilling to listen to reason, so we ended up killing them. This sucks. I don’t want to be killing dragon turtles. Why are we killing dragon turtles?

The answer to that is about as surprising as gravity. It’s because Yugureda Shosaito made a deal with them. They said as much: they threatened us, and when we tried to explain his daughter was aboard, they insisted we were lying because we weren’t taking “the arranged way”. The “arranged way”? Are you fucking kidding me? Was it not enough to own an island? Did he have to control the whole lagoon, too? How many boats did they sink? How many people did they drown or kill because this lunatic wasn’t satisfied with prosperity?

OK, fine. Dragon turtles can be a menace to anything both on or in the water. They are territorial and not above extorting “offerings” from sailors in exchange for safe passage. But encouraging them like this is reckless and dangerous, just like everything else in Shosaito’s life. And it encouraged conflict and violence that led to their deaths, too. It’s all such a waste.

For what it’s worth, we saved one of the bodies and Ivan is harvesting it for meat while Zos prepares that creepy treasure map spell. May as well put it to use. It’s certainly better than just letting them all rot.

Dasi is an endless source or surprises. Piloting a barge is not a simple matter of picking up oars and rowing, and yet he made guiding it out of the docks look pretty easy. He even kept it afloat as the dragon turtles were ramming into it, intent on sending everyone into the water. I could hear dad’s voice in my head, telling me how I’d regret not learning to sail some day. How do my parents keep being right about these things?

I finally got a good look at our voyeur. They were spying on Ameiko again, and this time I was able to trace it back to what I assume was Sakakabe. I got a vision of a man or woman dressed as a beggar, hunched over like they were sleeping on some street corner. I’m going to suggest that there’s more to this than appearances.

You think?

We’ll be spending the night at Numataro-sama’s home again, assuming of course he’s up for extended company. We’re all pretty spent, and if Zosi’s map pans out we won’t be in any shape to pursue it until the morning. That, and everyone is just tired. It’s been a long day, and being scalded by steam several times over did little to help with that.

Desnus 30, 4713 (late afternoon, Namidakame Lagoon)

Zosi’s map led us to an enormous, underwater cave beneath the small island that neighbored Shosaito’s home. Inside was an extraordinary hoard of pearls, seashells and gemstones that was hauntingly beautiful even in the silty water of the cave. I’ve never seen anything like it.

My first thought was that these pearls were his end of whatever bargain they had struck, but I quickly realized that dragon turtles could get pearls far more easily than he. Since they didn’t need him for pearls, he must have been offering them something else. The range of possibilities here is limited, and most of them are awful. I am choosing not to dwell on it.

We’re spending another night with Numataro-sama. I am not complaining as the change of pace is welcome, though we made the decision out of an abundance of caution and not a desire for extended sightseeing. Our daily preparations were geared for any threats we might have faced under water—again, out of caution, though as it turns out there weren’t any—and not for safe transport back to Sakakabe. With someone out there watching for us, and potentially waiting for us at our destination, an abundance of caution seems like the right idea.

Ivan sent ahead to O-Kohaku to let her know when—and how—to expect us. I am sure she’s seen wind-walking before, but having a large group unexpectedly coalesce in the middle of her business would probably be equal parts alarming and rude. We are trying to make friends here, after all. That, and causing a small panic would seriously crimp our triumphant return.

Desnus 31, 4713 (evening, Kiniro Kyomai Teahouse)

O-Kohaku is arranging a series of meetings with notable figures in Sakakabe: from aristocrats to merchants to nobility to social and political mavens. Apparently, that list is quite long as there is no shortage of people who are fed up with Minkai’s economic decline and the leadership responsible for it. What they’ve been lacking to date was a credible alternative, and credible alternatives is basically our whole business.

Having their support is, of course, both welcome and necessary. But, I pointed out that it fell short in one, key area. “This is all moot if we don’t deal with the daimyo here in the north. He has to go.”

O-Kohaku shook her head sadly. “I can’t do anything about that.”

Then O-Sayumi surprised us all. “I can help with that.”

O-Sayumi knows Sennaka’s younger brother, Sikutsu Itsuru. She assured us that he’s both an honorable man and a capable leader, and is itching to see Sennaka tossed aside. The problem is, the code of honor binds him to Sennaka’s service. He couldn’t take arms against his own family even if he had the military strength to do it, as that would be no better than Sennaka’s own disregard for the same. However, if Sennaka were to be removed from power? Then Itsuru would eagerly fill that void.

More importantly, Itsuru’s code of honor does not compel him to intervene should someone make that move for him, and he would be more than willing to look the other way. We can work with that. O-Sayumi is, you guessed it, setting up a meeting.

It occurs to me that I keep coming full circle. One of the reasons I left home, and wanted out of the family business, is that I didn’t want to spend my time in meetings.

I have spent the last few evenings studying Shosaito’s spell book. He specialized in illusion magic, but there is a load of necromancy in it as well. It makes me want to throw up. There are spells here to animate and create undead, and of course death magic because the first step when doing the former is the latter. That being said, some of what’s in here is actually useful. I’ll just have to hold my nose while I work.

Sarenith 1, 4713 (evening, Kiniro Kyomai Teahouse)

Olmas took O-Sayumi out for dinner last night. I am not the best judge of these things, but I got the impression he was on a date and she wasn’t. Not that it went poorly, or anything. Though I get the impression she gets taken to dinner quite often and has considerable experience at gently disappointing suitors.

We took Koya to one of the larger temples to Desna. For the immediate future, she will be staying there as a religious pilgrim from the west. Since that’s primarily why she signed on, we didn’t even have to lie to them, which is, of course, a plus.

The way we figure it, there’s few places safer than being surrounded by clergy in a huge temple to a major deity. And they were thrilled to have her, too. It’s not exactly unheard of, but a visiting high priestess from Avistan is something of a rare event. It was clearly a red-letter day.

I got another look at our voyeur today. It’s just dumb luck I happened to catch it, too, as the last thing we need is me being tied to Ameiko every minute of every day. We both need space and privacy, and to not feed each others’ anxiety.

This time, he—or, I suppose, she—was dressed in generic, brown clerical robes and wandering through the woods about 10 miles outside of the city. So they are close, but they obviously left, so whoever this is they know who we are, but don’t have a good grasp on our schedule. Though that’s not really surprising: I don’t have a good grasp on our schedule, and I don’t think anyone else does, either.

We have a new sense of urgency about all of this. Dasi did this divination, just trying to get advice on our upcoming trip to see the Three Monkeys. The answer he got back? “End the scrying.”

I am not wholly ignorant about these sorts of spells. A response this direct is almost unheard of.

Desnus 29, 4713 (early afternoon, Yugureda Shosaito home)

Shosaito obviously didn’t want anyone stumbling across his unseemly research, but living on a private island with a murderous pet nue while surrounding himself with undead of his own making apparently wasn’t secluded enough. To fix this galling error, he created a maze in the shadow plane and linked it between his sake cellar and his laboratory. Because that’s where everyone puts their shadow plane mazes, obviously.

I don’t know what he was thinking. The shadow plane is dangerous, and leaving it open to the material plane like that is equal parts brazen and blithe. Shadows, kytons, nightshades…these creatures and worse could literally just wander through at any time, placing untold numbers of people in very real danger. But from what I can tell from his research journal and personal diaries, Shosaito did not have a strong grasp on the concept of consequences. Frankly, I am surprised he survived his own recklessness.

O-Sayumi’s clues led us almost straight to her. It was Ivan that figured it out. It wasn’t just the objects inside her inro, but their numbers: one silk cocoon, two rings, and three camphorwood beads. She had divined the correct path through the maze and left us a tactile map of the gates in their correct order. We have no idea what would have happened had we chosen a wrong path, but if the mirror traps were any indicator we would have been licking some wounds at best.

While we did find O-Sayumi, what we weren’t expecting was to see another woman with her; their bodies sat, unmoving, on the floor of a lavishly decorated sitting room. Ivan’s spell said they were neither alive nor dead, but I could tell there was a spell in place to prevent them from decomposing. We later learned that the elderly woman was Shosaito’s current wife, and that’s when the whole story came into clear focus.

He tried to place her soul in O-Sayumi’s body. In his journals, he comments on how much O-Sayumi resembles her long-dead mother, Kaori, the woman he had murdered. I don’t understand what goes through the mind of someone who would kill his first wife, then lust after his own daughter to the point of placing the soul of his second wife in her body. What is wrong with people?

Maybe it’s best not to ask because I really don’t want to know the answer. We’ve confronted many people who have corrupted themselves thoroughly for a supposedly higher cause, but none that had done so purely for their own, selfish reasons. And I am not sure which is worse. There’s no scale for something like this.

I was not surprised to learn that a man careless enough to create a portal to the shadow plane was also overconfident in his own abilities. His spell went awry, and though his wife’s soul was pulled from her body it did not enter the pearl he used as the magical jar. Unwilling to return O-Sayumi to her body, as that would permanently break the spell and leave his wife’s soul lost forever, he simply…kept them here, like this, and continued his work, desperately searching for magic that would safely reverse what he had done.

That magic was far beyond him, and it is far beyond us as well. We did the only thing we could do: forcibly break his spell, and return O-Sayumi. His wife is now lost forever, her soul condemned to wander the planes, unable to pass on, out of even Pharasma’s reach, and unable to return to life. It’s a terrible thing.

At first, I was upset about this, to the point where someone—I don’t remember who—asked why I was spending so much time trying to figure out how to fix it. I answered, “Because it was not her fault.” And that’s true. Shosaito’s notes show he tried to get his wife to support what he was doing, but she refused. But he did it anyway, without her knowledge. It’s sickening.

But, then we spoke with O-Sayumi and learned his wife knew that he had corrupted the lives of the others on their island. That she was complicit in turning the villagers and their house staff into undead. It was not that, but this business with her soul, that was the bridge too far. And that is what did it for me. “That was where the line was?” I said to no one in particular. “Not ‘let’s make undead from our house staff’, or ‘let’s unleash ghoul fever on the village’?” Eternal punishment may be disproportionate to her crime, but she was certainly no innocent.

Perhaps, some day, Ashava will find her and lead her home.

The island is empty now. Yugureda Shosaito is dead. His wife is dead. His nue companion, the one that killed O-Sayumi’s mother, is dead. The manananggal and lacedons have been destroyed. It’s probably the first time in years that this island has seen fresh air.

I can’t wait to leave it.

(mid-afternoon, Namidakame Lagoon)

I stand corrected. Now, this island is empty. Much to our surprise, Shosaito’s personal barge was crewed by ja noi oni. Because of course it was. Oni are the flies in humanity’s garbage heap.

Destroying ja noi oni is something we’ve recently gotten pretty good at, to the point where it was impossible for me to take them seriously. There were only a dozen of them, which was about as threatening as a petting zoo. Of course they were too dim to figure this out, even as we were mercilessly grinding them up. But what really gets me is, they weren’t sent here to kill us. They didn’t know who we were or who was with us. The Five Storms wasn’t ordering them around. They were just some random oni, fighting to the last man to protect a barge. Did it not occur to them that this wasn’t something worth dying for?

Maybe, like goblins, they really think that, no matter how bad the odds, they’ll be the one that turns it around. That they’ll succeed where their companions have failed and died. It makes a certain kind of sense.

I wish I’d had more lethal spells prepared, and said as much after the last of them had been cut down. This earned me a number of looks, and a bizarre debate with Ivan when he asked me why I thought it was OK to kill oni but not, say, people.

“They’re not real.”

“What do you mean, they aren’t real? Of course they’re real.”

“They’re not from here. Not from our world or our plane. They aren’t real people.”

“They’re both outsiders and native to this plane.”

“They’re evil spirits, manifested in humanoid bodies. They don’t count.”

Obviously, he doesn’t get it. But then again, none of the others seem to, either. Except maybe Ameiko. And sometimes I wonder even about her.

There’s a saying about how if you can’t get anyone to see reason, then maybe you’re the one who is being unreasonable. This is not a comforting thought.

Desnus 29, 4713 (morning, Namikadame Lagoon)

A grand magnolia tree sits on the shore of the Jikko River just upstream from where it empties into the Namikadame Lagoon. It’s nearly in full bloom, with flowers large enough to cover my hand and a creamy, sweet fragrance that would be the envy of bath houses in Magnimar. We never stop to enjoy wonders like this. Not anymore. Nature’s grandeur has become a backdrop, a measure of our progress as we travel from here to there. How sad is that?

Yugureda Shosaito’s home lies on a small, private island in the middle of the lagoon. The surrounding landscape is unnaturally muted, drained of color, bathed in gloom and breathing stagnant air. Leaving Numataro-sama’s home for Shosaito’s is not a fair trade by any stretch. We’re told his pearl divers have a small village over there. How anyone at all manages to live within that umbra and maintain their sanity is anyone’s guess.

Qatana and I can see there’s magic pretty much everywhere. Not anything overt, but a sort of faint aura that permeates everything. Why do people do this sort of thing to themselves? By all accounts Shosaito’s pearl business is quite lucrative, and he’s clearly a wealthy man: you don’t spend your money on geisha and private islands unless gold flows like water. Yet his home is draped in malaise. What’s the point of opulence if that’s how you live?

One possibility is that it’s a function of the means he used to achieve his success. Some actions leave scars on the world. That thought is certainly disturbing, especially because it’s far from wild speculation. If Numataro-sama is correct, this is a man that killed O-Sayumi’s mother, knowing that she had an infant child. We’re also reasonably certain that he is O-Sayumi’s father, which would mean that he intentionally murdered his wife or lover. What kind of person would do these things? (Uncomfortable answer? Lonjiku Kaijitsu. Which may in part explain why Ameiko has taken a personal interest in the matter.)

We’re leaving Koya here. With someone spying on us that was not an easy decision, but we can, at least, mitigate the risks and it’s arguably less dangerous than her tagging along. Numataro-sama has agreed to let me cover his home with my spell that will keep it, and them, hidden. That way if they try to come for us, it won’t be so easy to do it through her. At least for the immediate future. Long term, we need a better solution.

(late morning, Yugureda Shosaito home)

Sometimes, a coincidence that is far too unlikely to be more than just a coincidence really is just a coincidence. And sometimes that magical trap that you see, which is quite obviously a magical trap, and that you’re told outright is a magical trap, is, in fact, a magical trap. These are the valuable lessons I have learned today.

Honestly, I thought the shogi board was important because shogi just kept coming up: meeting Hatsue and her passion for the game, the large set in Numataro-sama’s home, the piece he gave us that could summon a great shogi player when broken, and even Shosaito himself. So there had to be more to what we were seeing, right? Wrong. It was just a trap for the unwary (or, I suppose, for people with a penchant to out-think themselves); retaliation against anyone motivated and clever enough to come looking for O-Sayumi, but careless enough to casually touch things as they explored.

The shadow realm we were trapped in may not have been entirely real, but the undead shadows that stalked us were no illusions. One of them touched me, and I felt my strength draining away as a horrible chill pierced my heart. It was an unwelcome reminder of my own fragility and mortality.

One odd thing did happen while we were in there. OK, fine, the whole thing was odd, but I mean relatively speaking. Zosimus broke the shogi piece Numataro-sama had given us as soon as we realized we were trapped in giant shogi board made of shadowstuff, and Hatsue appeared. Not her, but a spectral image of her, as though it were some sort of projection. She looked at me and asked, “What are you doing in my dream?” I didn’t really have a good answer.

She may have saved our lives. Her image or projection, or whatever it was, was real enough to the shadows. She tore two of them apart with relative ease.

Curious. I’ll have to ask her about this later.

The shadows were not our only encounter with undead. I recognized his housekeepers as being manananggal, though only after we found them curiously difficult to restrain, both physically and magically. From what I remember of the Tian legends, they are far more formidable (and significantly more hideous) by night, when they tear away from their lower torsos and fly around to feed on the living. This is something we didn’t get to see, though I am not really broken up over it.

Normally, I’d say that invading someone’s home is best done after dark. That makes this the exception that proves the rule. At the same time, our original intent was not to break in, but rather just go see the man and ask a few pointed questions, but things got pretty weird from the moment we landed on his island and they entered a downward spiral soon after.

Yesterday, I asked who would choose to live in this faded landscape, and the answer to that turned out to be “no one”. The pearl divers were lacedons, which implies rather strongly that there was an outbreak of ghoul fever in their village at some point in the past.

I would not be surprised to learn that this was also Shosaito’s doing, because just look at his cleaning staff. It’s not like he could not know, which makes him either complicit or responsible. Ironically, Zosi and I were making offhand remarks (perhaps in poor taste) about using undead, or at least animated dead, for pearl diving. We had no idea how right we were. It seems Shosaito figured out long ago that his pearl business could benefit significantly from employees with no overhead, no upkeep, and no need to breathe air.

All of this went a long way towards answering my other question from yesterday: we more or less know what kind of person we are dealing with, and that’s someone who cares little for human life, or for anything beyond his own self-interests. It’s still not clear how his daughter fits into the picture, but it’s a fair bet that he needs her for something. For what, exactly, is still not clear, but…the fact that they are related by blood must be the key.

Earlier, we came across a set of cards from the Minkai game uta-garuta. I was thumbing through them idly as we explored, and noticed that several of the cards had arcane writings mixed in with the poetry verses. It took me a little time to decipher it all, but the writings were similar to a spell I am vaguely familiar with, though I don’t know myself because it is abhorrent. This spell transfers a person’s consciousness from their own body to a receptacle of some sort, typically a rare gemstone of modest value, which can then be used to forcibly possess any nearby, living body. What I was reading, however, seemed both different from this spell and incomplete in some fashion.

It occurs to me now that we never asked anyone if Shosaito is married, or has a lover, or even any children (other than O-Sayumi). His home looks lived in and neat but…neglected. Hay is molding in the stables, there’s very little food to be found, and the bedrooms are unoccupied with only one showing any sign of use. It’s like he just stopped living here a few weeks ago.

This all occurs to me now because he has taken his own daughter, who he is related to by blood, and who has been missing for a few weeks. Because he was researching a variant of a spell that can transfer a person’s soul. A spell whose material component requires an object of value; a requirement that could quite possibly be satisfied by a pearl, of which I am sure he has plenty.

My gods. What has this man done?

Desnus 28, 4713 (late night, Jikko River)

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

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

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

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

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

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

“It signifies a loss of self and identity.”

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

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

“Deals and bargains?” I asked.

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

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

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

“So don’t count on it.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is the sky blue?

Desnus 26, 4713 (night, Seinaru Heikiko)

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

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

Wait. What?

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

He was talking about reincarnation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Desnus 27, 4713 (night, Sakakabe)

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

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

Desnus 28, 4713 (late morning, Sakakabe)

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

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

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

(night, Jikko River)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Desnus 25, 4713 (late afternoon, Seinaru Heikiko)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(evening, Seinaru Heikiko)

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

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

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

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

When my spell expired, the scrying was gone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(night, Seinaru Heikiko)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What was that like?”

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

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

Desnus 25, 4713 (small hours, Seinaru Heikiko)

Qatana has gone to a very dark place and I don’t know what to do about it. Or even if I should do anything about it because, let’s face it, I am hardly an impartial judge here myself. I was visibly shaking not an hour ago, and my hands are still trembling now. The farther we travel the more it’s obvious that people are the same pretty much everywhere. We color our skin, dye our hair, change our clothes, but it’s all just a veneer over a core that is no different from one place to the next. In the face of anomie, people revert to their worst qualities and those qualities are as sure as the setting sun.

I fear that maybe mom is right. What if there really are souls that aren’t worth saving?

There were seven women held in slavery here. And not just held in slavery, but imprisoned in it, jailed at night in bamboo cages “because they had to sleep somewhere”. They range in age from their early teens to their mid twenties, all of them captured and forced into servitude, some with their families killed in front of them, and their villages burned. When we rescued them, one of the first questions they asked Radella was if we were their new owners. They literally thought they had been sold like property.

It’s no wonder Qatana is in a state. Hishasi’s guided tour of the fortress led her through Kaer Maga and emerged thirteen years in the past. That he’s still alive is not a measure of any sort of restraint, either hers or mine: it’s purely a practical decision, and even then, for me, it was a struggle. In a way, all the surviving bandits are fortunate that I prepared my spells to subdue rather than kill. Any attempts at instant justice would just ring hollow, and that played a significant part in my internal debate.

One of them was not so lucky. After we saw the defaced shrine, both Qatana and I had reached a breaking point. She acted first, and ordered the remaining bandits into one of the bamboo cages. One of them hesitated. She did something with her hands while speaking the words to a spell, and he screamed in abject terror and died on the spot. You might say it had a sort of chilling affect on the others. The insurgency ended before it even began; with a newfound obedience, they stepped inside and we locked them up.

And then, by gods, it got worse. Qatana brought in the recently-freed slaves and asked them if any of our prisoners had taken advantage of them. They were in no condition to answer anything, even seeing their tormentors locked in cages, but Dasi had a spell running and it told us enough. They’d all been abused, even the youngest of them, and every one of the men had taken liberties with someone. It was impossible to know who had victimized whom, but at that point what did it matter? If I’d had prepared my spells differently, I could have incinerated them all on the spot and walked away with a clear conscience.

And I probably am fortunate, there. Maybe. If I am being honest, I am still undecided. Maybe I should have done it, anyway.

Except that the others would have objected. And then I’d also have to explain myself to Ameiko. Not that she wouldn’t understand given that business with her half-brother, but it would be more the principle of the thing. I am supposed to be better than that, even if I’m not.

Would Ameiko understand, though? I have to wonder. Everyone knows Qatana’s story by now, and Ameiko knows it better than most, but only Qatana lived through it. Only Shalelu got to see it first-hand. And as far as I know, only she and I heard the stories—and only I got immersed in them, the details slowly trickling in over the years the followed.

It took months for Qatana to even open up at all. When I first saw her in Korvosa she was still in a state of denial over what had happened. I didn’t know what it was at the time, of course—what 10-year-old understands these things?—I just knew that it wasn’t normal, that she seemed both fully aware yet blissfully ignorant of what had happened in the preceding months. I didn’t know exactly what had happened to her, but I knew it was bad. Worse than what I had been going through. Worse than I was capable of imagining at that age. (Now? Not so much.)

So who would understand? Almost certainly not Olmas. He and Qatana had a very long talk after the incident at the cage. I don’t know what they said to each other, but neither left looking particularly happy so I can probably guess: he expressed concern that she was taking the role of jury and executioner against prisoners who had surrendered to us, and she didn’t understand why there was a problem. Rationally, I know he’s right, but I am having a hard time being rational. Maybe that’s the point, though. Do we really make the best decisions when we can’t separate ourselves from crime and victim?

But it’s not like we’re serving up vigilante justice here, either. She even said their fate would be decided by Jiro. As the ancestral owner of this place, and in the absence of a daimyo who gives two shits about his villeins, I think that’s more than fair. And, so what if she had to make an example of one? It was obviously necessary. I mean, if killing almost everyone here wasn’t proof enough that we should be taken seriously, then gods only know what they would have tried to do when we weren’t watching. At least now we can be relatively certain they won’t oush their luck. Or test our limits.

We’ve had enough surprises for one day as it is, so my patience for those is paper-thin. The women we rescued said there was another girl being held captive, one they referred to as the “cat lady”. She was, of all things, a were-tiger, kept as the personal slave and concubine of the “scary man”, the druidic shaman Kamuy-Paro. Turns out? She wasn’t a slave, or held against her will. So. Surprise!

She put on a good act, though. Zosi found her chained to a bed in Kamuy-Paro’s personal quarters, and she played the part of the unwilling prisoner and play thing of Kamuy-Paro to a tee, even going so far as killing one of the bandits that got in her way. She had convinced all of us of her story, captured and forced to be bitten by a were-tiger to inflict the curse upon her for his amusement (for all we know, that might actually be true). But, really, she was just biding her time, looking for a chance to strike. Considering she was a willing submissive in whatever depraved sexual fantasies Kamuy-Paro was living out, she took the evidence of his death—that would be his still-bleeding-out corpse—rather well (which, I suppose, should have been a clue). It wasn’t until Zosi and Dasi informed her of their plans to make maps from his skin (eesh!) that would “reveal his secrets” that she couldn’t sustain the ruse any longer. I guess they weren’t specific on what those secrets entailed, and there were secrets she wanted keeping. Like, who she fucking was.

She attacked us while Olmas, Radella and Qatana were on their tour with Hashasi. She probably thought she could take us. She was wrong. Surprise! I conjured a pit underneath her, and then Ivan gave her a push with a spell, and down she went. She couldn’t get out, especially after I covered the walls with sleet and snow. Zosi dropped bomb after bomb on her until the screams went silent.

Good riddance.

Gods, these people. Kamuy-Paro was a lunatic who we’re told set people on fire. Their chieftain, Gangasum, built his fiefdom like an Ulfen raider short on manners. The guards used their slaves as personal toys, and killed them out of hand (the women said that they haven’t seen the stable boy in a while; when asked about that, Hishasi said, “We need a new stable boy”). And, of course, all of them found sport in desecrating a statue of Shizuru, which tells you plenty about where they stand.

And the daimyo turned a blind eye to all of it. So to hell with him.

(predawn, Seinaru Heikiko)

The women warned us not to enter the secret garden at night. Come to think of it, Kamuy-Paro said much the same. This was Kamuy-Paro’s rule, and he knew what he was talking about. Based on what we learned about him? I wouldn’t be surprised if he was somehow responsible.

I have no idea what those things were. It was like the a pile of firewood just stood up and attacked, ignoring all of our magic as if it wasn’t there (except, unsurprisingly, for magical fire). This makes me suspect they were some form of golem, but who knows? Now they are kindling and splinters so it hardly matters.

Ivan and Radella are talking to the women and helping get them settled in. I have not been included in that discussion because I am quite obviously not in a state where I can be a calming influence. Right now, I am not what they need, and even if I tried I’d almost certainly make things worse rather than better. It’s for the best I stay out of it.

It’s been a long night. The sun will be up soon, just in time for us to go to bed. Later today, I teleport with Qatana to fetch Ameiko and Jiro because we suspect we’ll need the Seal to open the vault. They will come back on Qatana’s spell since it’s faster than the chariot I can conjure. I’ll teleport back because I am impatient and not likely to be good company.

And we have a new problem to worry about. While we were fiddling around in Kamuy-Paro’s garden, my spell that detects magical scrying alerted me for just a couple of minutes.

Someone is watching us.

Desnus 23, 4713 (early afternoon, Osogen Grasslands)

Finding Jiro’s camp was so easy we practically stumbled into it. After several hours passing farm after farm and village after village, each one looking more and more like the one before it, I thought we’d be stuck wandering out here for weeks. But the funny thing about rebel armies is that they have to train, and you just don’t see many farmers practicing in their fields with bows and arrows. Not dozens of them, anyway. In the same place. All at once. So you might say this kind of stood out. It really was as ridiculously easy as Miyaro had suggested: follow the river and look around.

Part of me wonders if it’s wise for them to hold military-style drills like this so brazenly, even up here in the north. But there is, I suppose, the notion of hiding in plain sight. With bandits plaguing this region, and an unsympathetic (if not outright hostile) daimyo overseeing it, people do need to protect themselves, their families, and their homes. How unusual would it be for a ronin and samurai to help teach the common folk to defend themselves? Aren’t there stories of ronin wandering the countryside, saving villages from threats both mystical and terrene? What better cover could they have?

Their drill sergeant, Hatsue, is a serious if not humorless woman who is not one for idle talk. Figuring we had the right place—because how could it not be?—we stopped and watched them practice for a while. Eventually, she figured out that we weren’t going to leave, which I am sure she didn’t find suspicious or alarming at all, and started walking our way. That’s when Olmas and Dasi rode out to meet her.

I had no idea what they were saying to one another, and was just wondering what version of the truth she was getting when Olmas waved me over. So I guess it’s the merchant story, then?

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve spun these lies. Enough that I can almost believe them myself. I don’t even have to try to be convincing anymore. All that mastery was lost on Hatsue, though: she was quickly distracted by my naginata, which I had very deliberately brought with me. She kept glancing at it while I spoke, and I could see that moment when recognition dawned. What can I say? I like to save time.

“How did you come across that?”

I let Dasi answer first. “We discovered a hold in the Forest of Spirits. We investigated, and found it deep inside.”

Then I added, “We took it from a ja noi oni that was living there.”

Hatsue was not exactly impressed. “It was obviously stolen by the oni, and it should be returned to the noble house that it belongs to.”

And there’s the rub. We know the noble houses are all extinct, save for the Amtatsus. And I said as much, leaving out the latter, crucial detail of course. “How do we return it to a house that no longer exists?”

Hatsue answered that the daimyo here would be the appropriate owner, but her eyes kind of clouded over and her expression hardened as she said it. I was not in the mood for bullshit so I called her on it. Lacking a good answer, and somewhat taken aback by my impeccable social graces, she suggested we meet with her commander, the one and only Hirabashi Jiro, and discuss the matter.

I think I am making this sound worse than it really was. Honestly, she was just suspicious: of us, our intentions, and I suppose even our story of the Forest. I would be, too, in her position. Given how abruptly her day had gone from routine to peculiar, I was impressed she held her composure.

That may have something to do with her dedication to Irori. It took only a few minutes with her to figure that one out. I mean, I would know, right? She had the kind of discipline that only comes from the constant study and training. The kind I wasn’t capable of, myself.

I was surprised to see a Shogi board set up in the command tent. There are countless variations of this game around the Inner Sea: Chanturanga, Samanty, and Senterej come to mind, so naturally it caught my attention. When I asked about it, her whole demeanor changed and we kind of got lost in a discussion of rules, play strategies, and even her game in progress. Clearly, I had found her passion. We were still in the weeds when Jiro entered, glanced over at us, and then shook his head while muttering something under his breath. I don’t know what he said, but it was clearly the manner of someone who had seen this scene play out dozens of times before.

We gave Jiro a more complete version of our story, including the tale of the Amatatsu family fleeing across the Crown of the World to safety, and the surviving heir to the throne. You might say that he was skeptical, the way one might say they like breathing. I was half-expecting him to laugh in our faces. Then Olmas pulled out Suishen—who of course remained stubbornly silent because that’s just the way it is—and that changed the tone gods-be-damned fast. Just wait until you find out who Ameiko is.

After a long silence, he said, “You seem to be collecting ancestral weapons.”

I wisely didn’t say anything. The first two responses to enter my mind were unlikely to move the conversation in a positive direction.

He took our measure by giving us a thought experiment of sorts: A samurai, loyal to her daimyo, is brought before a peasant. She is given two blades, and ordered to test them and see if they can behead a man in a single stroke. What is the honorable thing for the samurai to do?

The obvious answer, of course, is to refuse to obey, and leave the service of her daimyo because honor does not trump morality. But there is also the peasant, who is presumably an innocent man, whose life is now in danger, and who the samurai has also sworn to protect. So she must ensure his safety, which may mean killing her daimyo in defense of the peasant’s life.

Of course, real life isn’t this simple. In Ordu-Aganhei, the Prince did something very much like this, and no one stepped up to stop him. Why? Because they feared for their lives, and their family’s lives, and probably the lives of anyone they knew. So an act of defiance may have repercussions far beyond your personal exigency.

Zosi pointed out that, in an honor-bound culture such as Minkai, such actions can stain your family for generations. In which case the correct answer is for the samurai to kill the daimyo to protect the peasant, and then herself to preserve her honor. Except, again, in the real world I don’t think it’s this simple. Honor isn’t a shield. There’s no guarantee your family won’t be punished just because you did the favor of punishing yourself. And “death” and “death with honor” both start with “death”.

Jiro and Hatsue fell on different sides of this debate. Hatsue was all for killing herself to preserve her honor, while Jiro took the more reasonable stance that a dead man can’t help people. It’s probably an old debate between them, just rehashed with fresh voices.

It was a lively discussion, but it did little to convince Jiro that we could produce an heir, or rally anyone behind us in a march on Kasai. So, as I had predicted, he’s asked us to prove ourselves and our commitment first. I wonder how often this is going to happen. Is everyone we meet between here and the Five Storms going to demand we do them some favor? It will be an endless chain of “just this one thing”.

Desnus 24, 4713 (morning, ravine near the Kosokunami River)

We’ve spent the last 12 hours camped in a dense region of the woods away from the fortress the bandits have occupied, under cover of a spell that suppresses our light and sounds so that we don’t attract attention. The ones who came here by Qatana’s spell are also taking turns scouting the fortress, keeping an eye on the guard changes and any new arrivals (or departures). Unless something significant changes, we’re going to take it tonight—or more precisely, early in the morning—after the owl shift comes on duty.

Jiro calls this place Seinaru Heikiko. Apparently it was built by his ancestors generations ago, and they served one of the royal families. He wasn’t forthcoming with a lot of details, like what it’s doing in the hands of bandits, which is a sign that either either doesn’t know or doesn’t want to talk about it. My guess is it’s the latter. But it’s still a good question. We’re told they’ve since renovated the place, repairing and reinforcing some structures so that it would serve as a suitable fortress for themselves. A quick look when we got here confirmed that. As long as you were trying to approach from the ground, you’d be hard pressed to make it inside.

We won’t be approaching from the ground. Do this right, and we’ll make it inside without making a sound. Whether we can keep it that quiet remains to be seen, but the farther we can go without raising an alarm the better.

I can’t help but draw parallels to Ravenscraeg. The cliffs of this ravine are less intimidating, and the fortress itself is on the ground, but there’s enough in common to put them in the same category. It’s yet another “break in to the fortress in the middle of the night” deal, made easy by their defensive strategy which is seemingly based on a frontal assault on the ground. In another life, maybe instead of attacking we could sell them a better security plan.

Why is this even necessary? Apparently, the daimyo here is a real piece of work, which explains why the normally-disciplined Hatsue had trouble hiding her contempt. These bandits operate here, and grow in strength and numbers, because literally no one is stopping them. Which means the daimyo has given them tacit permission to do as they please. It’s a good way to keep the people living in fear, and probably to also keep them from organizing.

Part of me thinks the daimyo is going to have to go, too. That’s pretty seditious of me, but isn’t that why we’re here? Mom would say that politics tend to be local, and that average person is more concerned with living day to day than who sits on some throne. If that’s true, then solving their immediate problems here might build the support Ameiko needs. This is obviously Jiro’s theory as well.

We may get more than just good will out of it. Jiro says there’s a vault of sorts somewhere inside and that vault can, supposedly, only be opened by a member of a royal family. Take the fortress and open the vault, and we’ll be proving to Jiro that we can produce an heir of the Amatatsu family. That would give Ameiko more than just public support: it’d be giving her legitimacy. Of course, Jiro doesn’t know that there are, in fact, six of us that can do that (ten, if you count Ana, Etayne, Sparna and Kelda), but I don’t see the need to concern him with this pesky detail. Especially since we’d then have to explain it, and I am not sure I’m ready to go there. Maybe we’ll test it first to see if it works and to avoid any potential public embarrassment (dad would call this a “soft opening”), then bring Ameiko and Jiro over for an official unveiling.

Zosi is making some thunderstones for us. I want Nihali up on one of those rooftops tonight, ready to drop a stone or two if we stir up trouble. A little added confusion might help us out.