With Munasukaru dead we were able to get the large group of victims back to the world above. It was slow going but we were able to get all of them back into the sunshine. The brute strength of Olmas and Radella is kind of scary. I watch as they carried the injured people across the dangerous areas with ease, If it were me I would have been worried about dropping them.

We have decided to give money to each of the survivors so that they can start a new life or get back to their old life. There were so many that it took Kali 3 days to teleport everyone to the nearest city.  Next I turned my attention to Kusatsu Yuka and putting her remains to rest. After a bunch of make whole spells her body and cloths finally shed the look of being torn apart. I did this not just for her but also for all those that now call the pit there tomb. I know that we have to focus on the living but a lot of common folk did not make it out of there. I suspect that for the ones that died in there it was probably a release from the constant torture. Everyone else but me, Sandru and the brothers went to the city so we made sure our guests were fed and comfortable while they wait for their turn to go to the city.

I wanted to go to the city with the others but deep down I needed time to myself to figure things out. It felt like if I went I may not come back. After the last of the survivors were teleported to the city I finally figured out that spending time with these people is what I needed. These are the kind of people that are going to be most hurt if the Oni win. I know if was only a couple of days but a lot of them shared their plans for the future. The talking seem to help them but the pain of those that did not make it out still seem to be a burden in their hearts.

The grove of the Kami is amazing. I spent hours investigating and at times just sitting in the dirt watching and listening. As much as I wanted to spend more time in the grove I felt as if something was pulling me forward to Minkai.

Koya and Amieko clearly had fun shopping. Their bright faces shown of two happy women. Shalelu and Olmas looked to be sporting new scarfs and they did not look happy about it. By the style and color I would guess that Koya picked them out. It wasn’t long after returning that both scarfs were out of sight.

I just learned that Sessi and grandmother are in Sandpoint.  In fact they have been staying with Abby for the last couple of weeks. It never occurred to me to use the crystal ball to view Sessi or Abby. It would have been nice to see their faces. From what I can tell from the sending spells Sessi and Abby are getting along very well. Apparently Koya’s journey inspired grandmother and she insisted that they not wait. I don’t understand why Sesi didn’t tell me she was going to Sandpoint, she just told me that her grandmother said that I needed to focus on getting Ameiko to Minkai. Grandmother said getting Ameiko to Minkai but said nothing about defeating the Oni. Is grandmother trying to tell me that my part ends when Ameiko arrives in Minkai?

Something doesn’t make since. I thought my sending a couple of weeks seemed like she was with her friend in Iqaliat.  How could she get to Sandpoint that quickly? There is an explanation for this but I just can’t see it. Some questions are just best not asked.

It has been a week since we left the grove of the Kami and this part of the journey has been peaceful but I just feel uneasy about something. The others seem to be going about their daily lives as normal, at least normal for a group heading to Minkai.  I feel like a bruised myself right on top of one of the god symbols.

The enchanting of Qatana’s armor has been completed. I was telling her that the armor looked to new and pristine for an adventure like her. We spent some time breaking in the armor so to speak and now this looks like the armor of a warrior. Thankfully Qatana didn’t seem to mind going along with my obsession in regards to metal armor.  She looks really good in this Mithril armor but she would look even more kick ass in something like dark Mithril, is there such a thing as dark Mithril? I was thinking about mice or skulls on the armor but things like that tend to scare people away.

It makes me happy to see Olmas, Redella, and Qatana each having a good set of armor.  I continue to struggle with weather or not to get a mithril breastplate but my role is to shoot arrows. If I upgrade to a mithril breastplate I don’t know if I can resist not picking up a big weapon and heading into melee. If the gods truly didn’t want me to be an archer then I would not be good at archery.

Today something seems to be different about Sesi. Her grandmother says that everything is fine but I just can’t shake this feeling. Abby seems to be fine so I have to wonder if I am seeing something that is not there. I have been having odd dreams about Sesi and that god symbol with the hand, Qatana says it is the symbol for Irori. Sometimes that symbol itches and other times it almost feels like I have a bruise right on the symbol of Irori. Good thing it’s not one of the symbols for the lustful gods as that would be more uncomfortable.

Thanks to Qatana I was able to keep busy working the next enchantment on my bow. Qatana providing the needed spell really help out and I always enjoy her company. Having to buy the materials for 9 true seeing spells really up the price on the enchantment but it just seems right. I always enjoy doing things with Qatana and her protectors.  I would not be surprised if Amieko and dealing with the Oni is just the beginning of our adventures together.

I still have the feeling that something is up with Sesi but she just keeps telling me that everything is fine and that we can’t control fate. Abby just laughed at this and told me that I have always been protective of the people I care about.

The forest has peaceful as Miyaro said it would be. I am glad that the Kami are on our side. I still don’t fully understand why the Kami created a prison for the Oni of the five storms instead of wiping them out. The only thing I can think of is that they were hoping that the Oni would change.

We have made it to the river. I thought building a bridge over the water would be a lot fun. Turns out that there is a lot more to bridges then just creating a stone path across the water. Luckily I seem to be traveling with some smart people. Truthfully I didn’t even understand half of what they were saying. The bridge safely allowed us to cross the water, not sure how many caravans will be taking this path in the future. I guess if Sandru leaves Minkai this could be a safe path, assuming Miyaro is his guide.

Wow it has been a couple of weeks since we crossed the river. Our travel has been peaceful. I have learned a lot about the forest from Miyaro

Kali says that we have just about reached Minkai. I have kept myself busy by creating and upgrading magical weapons and armor for my friends. It is odd to finally admit that I consider all of the friends.

For the record Miyaro is truly amazing. Her secret is absolutely amazing and it makes me mad that she feels that she has to hide it from stupid humans. I was really considering showing her the symbols the gods decided to put on me but it just seemed too creepy. I am not exactly sure how to explain them without sounding creepy.  Hopefully I have was able to properly explain to Miyaro that her abilities are amazing and that I am jealous of them.

Minkai! We arrived and nothing happened. Even the hand symbol has stopped bothering me. I remember Sesi used to talk about how interesting it is that a god picked a hand as his symbol. She would trace the symbol of the hand and talk about how interesting it would be to meet a followers of Irori. Come to think of it she even once asked if I would be upset if someday she became a follower of Irori. I had completely forgotten about that conversation but with what is going on I have to wonder if that means something.

Stepping foot into Minkai feels like the end of chapter one of a book. I spent some time taking in the sounds and smells of the area. Standing here I now get that Sesi was trying to tell me that I have to go were fate takes me even if I can never return. Worrying about it just makes me miserable. When did I start trying to go against fate?

Now we are heading to the camp of a Ronin named Hirabashi Jiro. This will be Amieko’s first test.  Dasi explained about Ronin’s so it should be interesting to meet Hirabashi. I am interested in talking to those that follow the Ronin.

It has been several weeks since Sesi or her grandmother have responded to sending. Abby says that they are no longer there in Sandpoint but now she seems odd. I tried to push it with her but she just told me to knock it off. Which in Abby speak means I am not going to tell you anything. She did tell me that it may be several more weeks before she responds.

I am not sure how I feel about my relationship with Sesi. It took me all this time to realize that her grandmother wasn’t the real reason she did not come along. As usual Abby kept feeding me clues until I figured it out for myself.  All of this still does not help me to understand what is happening.

This morning after our first night in Minkai I feel like some weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Ameiko on the other hand looks a little tense this morning. I can’t imagine what she is going through. While I was there to cast beacon I reassured her that all your friends are here to help her. Bring stability to Minkai and defeating the Oni are worthy causes but you have to take it one day at a time.

I explained to Ameiko that scouting is relaxing and that I have been trying to figure out a way that she could spend some time away from the caravan scouting. Getting her away from the caravan without anyone seeing isn’t the problem. I told Ameiko that for this to work I would need her to figure out how we can do this without me getting into a heaping pile of trouble with the others.  So today I scout alone.

Night two in Minkai was the might of strange dreams.  The only thing I really remember is the hand symbol of Irori watching me and then suddenly the hand waved goodbye and disappeared. I guess that is a sign that I am not the right path.

It is time to regroup and for the others to regain spells. We don’t have any evidence that those below even know we are here, if they know we are here then they should hit us during the night. I can hear Dasi and Kali discussing the pictures on the walls all the way other by the traps, they are clearly excited about analyzing the meaning of those pictures.

Dasi asked me what my plan was for combat and I didn’t tell him the entire truth. Sparna’s attempts to bring order to these people is what drove him away. Everyone wants to be the Hero and the hero is always the one the turns the tide of battle. So how to you create a plan so that everyone can be the hero? You can’t. I have come to realize that my only option is to adjust to the situation at hand, luckily the gods have provided me with gifts that are good for managing controlled chaos.

What is a Hero anyway? I guess it depends on who is telling the story. During this journey we could be looked upon as both hero and villain depending on the point of view. Kali would tell me that the authority would be the judge but what about the city we were kicked out of? I really don’t have any use in becoming a hero so I will let the others be labeled as hero’s.

I have learn to view darkness as a trusted ally. Being able to see in the darkness gives me an advantage over those that use lights. The wand the others were using is just about used up with only 11 charges, not quite enough for two uses on all six of them. That’s only 3 hours until we are at a disadvantage. It still seems strange that I can write in complete darkness.

I can’t help but wonder what the gods sent me here to do. Our first goal was to get Ameiko safely to Minki so that she could take over the throne. How can the people just accept the unknown Ameiko as there empress. Why is her family bloodline so important? The seal is crazy powerful yet it seems to be bound to her bloodline. The big question is why are the Oni of the five storms so worried about her? And how does her taking the throne help defeat the Oni? Dasi and/or Kali may have some ideas on the subject but I am not sure I have the stamina needed to listen to the long winded theory. Or do they call them facts, I can’t remember. I think the first thing to do is consult with the worldly Pookie.

So I keep coming back to trying to figure out the path that I am supposed to walk. I have to just stop thinking about it and wait to see what happens after we deliver Ameiko. So apparently according to Dasi I shouldn’t be treating Ameiko as a normal person, those with royal blood should be referred to by title and not by sweetie.

A few minutes ago a mouse came scurry along in my direction and suddenly changed direction over towards the bear trap. This mouse spent several minutes searching around the bear trap, apparently some bits of food must have fallen out of my pack. The bear trap was totally beyond its comprehension, it’s like me trying to understand what the gods are planning.  The mouse seemed totally clueless that its original path would have let it directly to me. The fact that the bear trap was there changed the mouse’s fate and steered it away from danger, even though the mouse was totally clueless about the danger. I have a feeling the gods won’t use something as obvious as a huge bear trap.

I wonder if Miyaro is the bear trap? Clearly the Kami see her as friend so that does not seem likely. Although it is strange that somehow she added color to her hair like Kali. For that matter why didn’t the first Kami we saw not recognize her? The color in her hair couldn’t be enough to make her look different. Can the Kami even be tricked by someone that looks different? Maybe Miyaro is hiding her true form.  She has been hanging around Kali a lot, almost like an infatuation, so Kali must know something about it. Kali is way too smart not to figure out secrets about Myaro. The question is whether she is keeping the information secret out of friendship or leverage. Dasi is way too smart as well, I wonder if he thinks there is anything hidden about Miyaro? He really hasn’t been hanging out with her so maybe not.

The kami grove is big enough to be the bear trap! No that is ridiculous. Well it’s my turn to sleep.

Well I will have to say that the gods continue to surprise me. I can make my skin like iron once per day now. After talking with Kali I realized that this why I have adamantine arrows. I am not sure what to use it for but it still cool.

So far today the trek to the head Oni has been going pretty well. Although I am really confused about the Oni trying to pay us off. She didn’t seem to know that we are with Ameiko and that the family sword was here as well.  The Oni seemed to know things I assumed that had a way to communicate, maybe the Oni in here don’t have a way to communicate with the Oni on the outside.

My arrows shattered the defenses of this Oni causing almost instant death and the thing that attacked me chose to die by the hands of Radella, or should I say Radella claimed the kill. The thing is I could help but wonder what it would take to let it go. I thought about it for a little bit and there is nothing that they can give me. The things I care about in the world are in danger from the Oni. I really hope it is the will of the gods that I am allowed to help stop the Oni.

But I also have to think about the other taking bribes. So Dasi, Kali, and Olmas are definitely safe.  I want to believe Radella and Qatana is the same as well but they are not as emotionally attached as the other three. Zosi is new and the weakness could be giving him great alchemy knowledge or power. I wonder if they are wondering about me. I suppose it would be a bad idea to share that I spend some of my spare time figuring out different ways to take or disable each of them. I was warned that this is common for battle oracles and that I should use the information learned from allies to my opponents.

For a moment the world around me stopped and I could hear voices speaking in some foreign tongue. Suddenly I realized I could understand the words, it was Minkaian the language Dasi has been teaching me. I could not tell if the voices were male or female as they seemed to almost naturally blend together as if it was one voice. Just for a moment I thought that I could make out the figure of a man and then a woman but the area was so bright that it was hard to see. The voices told me that a hero can call upon strength from within to accomplish extraordinary things. These voices told me that one of the spells that I have been practicing could help turn the tide against the sound attacks. Suddenly I could hear Sesi’s voice telling me to call forth communal protection from energy and use it to protect the others.  This voice went on to tell me details about the spell so that I was ready to use the spell immediately.  Everything is kind of fussy but the last thing I remember is being told that I have to return followed by a kiss on the cheek. I thought that I was gone for a minute or so but it was as if it never happened. It’s not for me to question the methods of the gods. Wow this is actually the most information that I have ever gotten about a new spell without asking Qatana for help. I wonder what the 4 other spells from the gods will be, luckily I have Qatana to help me out and she doesn’t judge me. Since we are going into a dangerous situation I should make sure I know what my new spells do, even if it means asking Kali. For some reason Kali seems to expect that I should know every detail about a spell before even learning how to cast it, wizards are very strange.

It still puzzles me how the other spellcasters know all that information about their spells. Kali seems to spend a lot of time either reading or writing in her spellbook.  I still don’t really understand how she can use a book to cast spells…  The way they have to figure out which spell and how many to use each day seems very complicated. I don’t understand how they are able to figure out which spells they will need later in the day.

This day has been interesting, with a lot of sex and violence. Well to be honest we are reason for the violence although violence could be an everyday thing for hobgoblins. I am not going to put the exploits of the naked aroused hobgoblin Oni onto paper, some things are just best not written down.

Where to begin, Oh in the beginning there were two dead giants, Zosi through some mysterious power of alchemy turned them into golems. They did not make it through the entire day and were eaten whole by some type of water monster. Although soon after losing his golems we defeated an Oni riding a gorgon. Zosi instantly had to have the gorgon as his next golem. He was so excited that we stopped and packed up the gorgon, luckily Qatana has a spell that shrinks an area of stuff. She said that it consumes a carpet but it is still a cool spell, although it is on the expensive side for getting goods to market.  I was considering seeing if Gorgon meat was edible but I don’t think Zosi wants his new toy butchered.

The lice infested living area for the Oni and Gorgon makes me wonder what other kinds of bugs are living on these hobgoblins. As with everything in life I am posed with the problem of getting rid of lice and other bugs and the gods provided the solution. On this day the gods worked through Kali to help me solve my bug problem. Standing in the poisonous cloud took care of any bug problem that I might have had.

I called upon my new protection spell to keep the others safe from the sound attack of these odd creatures. Clearly getting this spell early was a boon. These are not creatures that I would want to face by myself, luckily I don’t have to do this alone.

“Hobgoblins having sex is something I am not sure I want to see. Clearly the sexual habits of Hobgoblins does not interest Dasi or Zosimus ether, I guess the three of us will stand watch while the others head into the love cave.”

“Ok is it my imagination or have they just paused to peek over the panels, maybe there is a hidden side to my companions that I never knew about. Well at least everything out here is clear. A wall of fire pointing up the stairs should do the trick if a hoard of Hobgoblins descends upon us from the upper floor.

“Oh I see Kali casting a spell, weren’t they just going to charge in and kill the hobgoblins. Ok now I can see the webs, maybe they decided to keep them alive for questioning. Wait what Oni!”

Ivan glances over at Dasi “can I have fly”

“Let’s see if I can get into the room without getting caught in the web. Ok now which one did they say was the Oni, oh it’s the naked male hobgoblin. Not really a good shot at any of them with the web in the way. “

“Qatana looks to have that one, the other is still stuck in the web so I will help Radella with the Oni.”

Ivan shoots several arrows into the Oni.

“Wait what he’s begging Redella to keep him alive. Since when do Oni try to bargain for their life?  It may be a mistake but if that is what Radella wants. Uh that was a nice hit from Olmas. “

Ivan moves over and shoots an arrow at the Hobgoblin engaged with Qatana.

“Well now that his sex slaves are dead I’ll stay over here and just search through the stuff. “

“Oh my god this guy is so full of himself.  The fact that Qatana and Redella haven’t killed him is amazing, from over here I want to kill him. Oh god there he goes again, he seems to think that every woman wants him.”

“The map he is drawing will be very useful but I think he spent most of the time describing which females he had sex with in each area. Either these women really liked having sex with him or they were really devoted to the goddess. “

“Ok this information on his sisters and what his mother can do gives of something to prepare for. This is not going to be easy. I can see why his sisters do not like him. So knowing what the sisters are and that there are two of them is helpful, although I am not sure if he can count above 2.  ”

“So Manasukaru has a lot of magic.  Sounds like she might be able to control people as well. I wonder if that is what the dreams were warning me about. If kali does get controlled by Manasukaru the only thing I can do is maybe try to dispel the magic. I know that three of my new spells can be cast on other people, and I think one of the spells can be spread across the group. Why do the gods seem to gain enjoyment from showing me how to cast spells and then just giving me a name and only if I am lucky very basic information on the spells? It’s a good thing that I can rely on Qatana to help me understand my spells. “

“Interesting that Manasukaru can also do elemental damage spells. It seems like we already knew this but I can’t think of how we would know that. I seem to remember something about having to protect the group from chain lightening, was that in a dream. Why can’t I remember anything about her using elemental magic or why this sounds so familiar? Since she can use any of the elements I don’t see how we can protect against her elemental magic.“

“Well like the monks he doesn’t have a lot of valuable stuff. Maybe I should go out with Dasi and let them deal with it.”

Ivan attempts the intimates the Oni.

“Oh my god I threaten him and he just acts like its foreplay.  Maybe I should just leave this up to Radella and Qatana. Hopefully I can find a secret stash of stuff like Radella does. “

Ivan spends some time searching the wall of the other side of the room for any hidden compartments but only finds a pair of underwear that was most likely flung aside by one of the sisters.

“That’s a long way for the underwear to be flung. What are the chances that these panties would get stuck on the wall? They really should wash their cloths more often. Maybe the panties were caught on a secret catch.  Darn there is nothing here or maybe I just can’t see it. Maybe if Redella were to take a look.”

Ivan glances over to look at Radella.

“Oh my god is that naked fully aroused Oni really making a pass at Radella?  This takes examining the goods before purchasing to a different level and Redella doesn’t seem to be getting upset, although it is hard to tell only seeing the back of her head. Does he have the ability to control people like his mother? Maybe all of these women are throwing themselves at him because he controls their minds. Are we next to fall under his spell?  If he gets out of here what is to stop him from doing this to my wife and sister just to prove a point. The Radella I know would not put up with this unless she was interested in the offer. The only way the Radella I know would be interested in him at all is if he was beginning to control her. Is there any other reason that Radella hasn’t removed his manhood? Maybe his control over people gets stronger the longer you are around him. Are we soon going to be his guards? Are Radella and Qatana going to be his next lovers?”

Ivan quietly whispers to himself “No I won’t let that happen”

Arrows fly across the room and the mind controlling Oni falls to the ground breathing his last breath of air in this world. Ivan takes the body over to the pit and drops the dead half-oni into the pit. Pausing for a few moments to look down into the pit.

“At least this should make it more difficult for anyone trying to bring him back from the dead. “

“I will truly never really know if he could control their minds but given the situation this had to be done. He admitted his mother can control people so there is a chance that he also has the ability to control people. The followers of Gorum once told me that in battle sometimes you have to make a split-second decision, you can’t hesitate once you make the decision or the battle will be lost. I am beginning to understand what they were trying to tell me.  I’m never going to know if this was necessary but in that split-second it was the right decision so that I could keep them safe. ”

I’m not normally a big fan of summon monster but in this case it triggered the Clay golem. This was not Kali’s intended use for this monster but it did find the trap. It’s the kind of thing I had wanted to do with skeletons but Qatana’s lectures on how she was taught that the animation processes effects the souls of the dead made me realize that normal people just aren’t going to be understanding of someone who creates skeletons. I should probably stop bringing up the subject with her but time to time seeing that determination in her eyes on something not Groetus is refreshing. Activating the golem with the summoned monster may or may not have been a good item, in this case it worked out I guess.

The gods must agree with my thoughts on summon monster as they have never seen fit to grant me any level of summon monster. It’s kind of a flashy spell that does not last very long and is a little boring, except maybe the fire elements.

The illusion of the Munatsukaru worked better than I expected, I guess you can’t under estimate fear. Qatana and Olmas unarming the hobgoblins was quick thinking that made the battle easier. I really enjoyed the look of panic on their faces as Qatana pulled the morningstars out of their hands. We were lucky that sending a hobgoblin to get there leader did not back fire. Things might has been different if we actually been hit with the full might of those between us and Munatsukaru. I don’t like the Oni and I am glad to see that my longbow also does not like Oni.  My aim was true and I seemed to have gotten to get the attention of the Oni as he seemed to do that challenge that Olmas does. In the heat of the moment surrounding him with fire seemed like a good idea. It was quickly apparent that this was a mistake and it put us at a disadvantage. In my haste I had blocked off the others from getting to him and we couldn’t even tell if he was still inside the wall of fire.  This forced me to dispel the wall to provide access for Olmas and Radella, luckily he was dead but I have to remember not to do this in the future unless there are not any other good choices. We are much better when everyone can use their abilities to defeat our opponents.

The hits from clay golems don’t heal correctly. Qatana found it very difficult using healing magic and so I had to try. My healing worked just fine on Radella but not on Olmas. Dasi or was it Kali that said that the damage from clay golems resists magical healing. I may have just been lucky that the spell even worked on one of them. Oh well it was worth using these low level spells on trying to get Olmas and Radella back to full health. It’s also really a good thing they didn’t take even more damage from the clay golem.

Kali requested another one of her breaks to memorize spells. I still can’t figure out how she can cast spells by just reading a book, it just seems so foreign to me. I know she must have spent months or even years learning how to do it but it almost seems impossible. I can’t imagine how long it took to cast even the simplest of spells.  I can only imagine that the same is true for Zosimus as well. There is absolutely no way I could ever be a wizard or alchemist, I think that would be way too hard for me.  She spends a lot of time with that book, it seems like a big commitment her having to write down each spell. I have to wonder who first figured out how to be a wizard. Someone must have figured how to use a spellbook and then taught it to others or maybe it was the gods who taught people how to be wizards.

That reminds me. I have been having the strangest dreams lately or was it just one dream across many nights?  Maybe I am only remembering parts of the dream each night. In all of the dreams or versions of the dream we were fight the Oni down here but it seems like the order is all mixed up. I have been trying to put them in order or understand them but nothing makes since. Maybe they are just separate dreams. In most of the dreams the Oni enhances herself to make it very difficult to hit her with weapons or magic. The Oni seems to be able to move at odd times such as moving at the same time Kali was casting a spell.  In at least one version she gets help fighting the group from Olmas and Zosimus, It was almost like they didn’t know who we were. Other versions had different people helping her. In one of the versions I think I was helping her but to me I was fighting the Oni, I remember Redella knocking me silly. It was only when Redella did not kill me that I was able to see the truth. I remember that in a couple of the versions Redella and I were trapped in one of Kali’s tentacle spell and in the dream I did something to allow her to move freely. Again Redella punched me and threw me from the tentacles before heading to knock Kali silly. I am not sure that I want a spell that compels Radella to punch me, that kind of spell just doesn’t sound very useful. Maybe the gods are trying to warn me that Radella is looking for an excuse to punch me. No that can’t be it, I choose to believe that Redella would just hit me if she thought I deserved it.

Fear and complacency have been our greatest ally thus far today. Hobgoblins staying at their post and assuming that they were protected was their last mistake. Redella was first to kill her hobgoblin but to be fair she started and got help from Kali who looked as if she wanted to kill on her own. When it comes down to it Olmas had to run across the room and didn’t have help. I think Olmas’s kill was the most impressive of the three, but they were just hobgoblins. This structure looks as if it has been here for many years. I am also surprised that we are going back up. For some reason I had thought that we would be going down into a big pit.

The Marley’s were dead to begin with, no I mean the giants were dead to begin with. I am not even exactly sure who the Marley’s are it must be from a story Abby read to me when we were growing up.

From the talents and mastery of Zosimus the giants have been transformed into something amazing. He is no Roger bacon but Zosimus appears to on his way to possible one of the greatest alchemist or as Abby called them khemeias. Actually I don’t know if Mr. Bacon was even a good alchemist, I really only remember his name because its bacon.

I don’t really understand what is really happening to Kali but she seems just as annoying as before so I guess this new woman inside her may be ok. At this time I don’t feel like the gods want me to interfere. Mending to the rescue to repair her robe so we can wrap her in it and place her in a bag of holding. I wonder how she came to be on this wall. What about her family, does she have people that are worried about her? Because of the carvings I worry about the horrors she might share with Kali, hopefully she won’t share those thoughts.

The walls here are somewhat creepy, the carvings show how little the Oni thing of the human races. I suspect that the countless bodies on the walls cover even more of the Oni’s depraved cravings. It is good that Eytane and Anavaru did not have to see this, they have already been tortured enough. It remains unclear how much this will affect others. I fear that Kali may be the one most affected. Luckily the gods have provided Kusatsu Yuka as a guide to help Kali find her way.

A returning hobgoblin scouting party caused the others to scrabble to catch them before they could escape, I am glad that I stayed with Redella to secure the ladder as from what I heard Kali was casting spells that made range combat useless. After a number of spells Dasi’s tricked the hobgoblin into thinking that Dasi is his superior. That is a very cool and very scary skill.

After resting to regain strength and spells we are heading over to the house the bird found. Kali would be upset if she knew how often I have had the bird in my sights, she is a target until I know it is really her. After our experience with those birds it is clear that black birds pose a danger. I sure hope there darkvision wand doesn’t run out before we kill the Oni.

The battle with the shogun was an opportunity to test our metal in battle. Clearly the sight of Omlas changed the tide of battle as the shogun committed suicide rather than attempting to flee or to pull victory from the jaws of defeat. Well that’s likely what the sword of doom thinks. The shogun’s wife’s showed more tenacity and spirit then he did, I can’t imagine why they put up with such a spineless leader.  To make things worse all of the bows they have are too hard for me to pull, I guess maybe put adaptive on one of them. Maybe Dasi has the strength to use one of these bows and I can get my backup bow back from him, although it might make since to make it magical for him.

I have been careless in my commitment. With worrying about how the carvings were affecting everyone and the amazing feat of alchemy I completely forgot to check in with Ameiko. Now I have to worry about it all day.

The door opened into a strange room with dividers creating hallways. I would have blindly walked into the trap but not for the skill and experience of Redella. We have been traveling together all this time and yet I do not know much about her. I have always assumed that she did not want to share private information about herself.  The room was pretty easy for me as I just had to watch Radella, Olmas, and Qatana take out these creatures, I just had to guard Radella’s back. The two prisoners we rescued were at first afraid that we were there to harm them. We had the discussion about getting the two of them safety but it was pointed out that there is no safe place nearby, in the end they finally realized that they would be safest right there, we could have set them free in the woods but I don’t think they would have much of a chance to survive.  We still need to figure out what to do with these people once we get out of here, the kami may or may not allow them to enter the grove.

Finally we are on the ground floor and still more webs but we did find the way out through the front door and a way down. Well its looks like we need to go down into the deep dark hole.  The others could have defeated the spider things without my help. Once again Kali has to be the one to scout so we wait.

Kali returned and began working on a complex plan to get through the gate of the fortress. Kali just loves to make complex plans even when one is not needed. I got bored with the complexity so I just spaced out for a few moments to allow them to finish, they seem a lot happier if I just let them get it all out. My idea is simple just create a new doorway.

The hobgoblins assault was over quickly. Without the protection of their walls Radella, Olmas, and Qatana quickly cut them down. It comes down to the cycle of life, these hobgoblins now become food for other creatures. The humans outside on the pikes would have shared the same fate had Qatana not spared their lives.   Very interesting, Desna clearly had a hand in this.   They took these two up to be with the others, safety in numbers or something like that. I just wonder what my companions will do if the Kami do not allow these people into the grove.

The door that leads into the complex looked dangerous with traps on the floors and dead bodies hanging from the walls. Radella, Olmas, and Qatana entered this hallway of death and began the slow process of detecting and avoiding the traps in the room. For my part I attempted to cover them from the doorway but from my vantage point I failed to see the ambush. As they reached the other side of the room hobgoblins began the attack with arrows on the three in the room. Quick thinking on Olmas’s part and the locked door on the other side of the room was busted wide open by the power of the ring of the ram. For not being a spell caster Olmas has quite a few spells at his disposal. I have to give credit to Olmas for being able to put up with the sword day in and day out. Some of the special abilities of the team shined as they had hobgoblins confused and attacking each other. This was pretty awsome to witness, giant kill giant was the best of the enemy on enemy combat. I do worry about this being used on us at some point in the future, hopefully one of the gods will provide me with to help my companions.

The battle was interesting as Kali used a special ability to perform a mini teleport to take me and her through the now busted door, plenty of hobgoblins targets. I failed to see the giants until one of them hit me with a rock or should I say boulder. Before I could react Kali had a wall of force up. Damn it really sucks that I don’t have the mini teleport or wall of force spells.

“Well now that we have made it to the top of the building I can see that there are a lot of spider webs in the hole.”

“Wow even with all the burning there are still a lot of spider webs. I wonder if we can clear this out before fly ends.”

“Oh their goes Radella down into the hole. How brave of her”

“Well I see that Olmas and Qatana are brave as well. I guess we will destroy the webs after they finish killing everything. Oh well I’ll just wait here and provide backup support.”

“Holy crap Radella just lost a chunk of her strength”

“Oh shit Olmas just lost almost half his strength as well. I sure hope that they are both smart enough to get out.”

“Ok there’s Radella and now Olmas, why is Qatana still down there. Damn. Ok let see if I can get a wall of fire in place around her without catching her or her clothes on fire”

“That will work nicely, there is nothing like a good fire”

“That is one tall room, let’s put another wall of fire right there. Ok that will get the job done. I wonder if the fire with burn the drugs out of the air , it’s a good thing Qatana suggested life bubble. Once again the gods knew which spell that I needed.”

“That’s one room cleansed. Damn the next floor has webs as well. Should I just start with fire? Maybe I should save wall of fire for later.”

“Damn those spiders are big. My armor is not good enough for close combat. Over here is much better.”

“Well that’s what I get for not starting with fire. Burn”

“What the hell is with the lighting hitting everyone but Radella? Ok I better do some healing. Kali already put up the second wall of fire so now we wait for the burning to complete its job”

“Where did he come from? Oh good there aren’t any more spiders. Let’s see if I can remove a few of these illusionary versions of him. Ok now I can leave him to the others.”

“Wow he had an endless flask of sake, that’s pretty cool. That could be very useful.”

“Dasi are you still reading minds? Can you hear me now? I guess not. I wonder how he can tell between victims and those causing the harm. ”

“I wonder who built this grill going all around the room. This gives those up here a huge advantage. The skeletons down there almost seem to be walking with a purpose.”

“Redella seems pretty intense about the undead. I hope this new spell works well.”

“Oh that died quickly. I still don’t know if daybreak arrow is good or not. But they are dying quickly or is that actually true death.”

“I better follow Olmas and Qatana down there. Damn there are prisoners in cages. I better get the others in place before they do something crazy in the name of rescuing the prisoners”

“Come on, come on just open up stupid grate. I’ll just move the stone out of the way. That’s a strange look on her face, at least she doesn’t look mad. “

“Ok now we are all in place”

Kali has been declared unsuitable for the prince and we have been kicked out of the city. The city just felt there was a sickness that had evaded. I could never quite figure out what it was but nothing seemed right, maybe Sparna felt it too. Sparna may have been trying to teach me something but as usual I don’t understand.

It is hard to believe that a little fight with ninja’s caused such disorder that the prince dumped Kali. To top it all off his servant guy told us to leave the city. Kali was overjoyed to be released from her engagement and I think this may have been the first time she was more worried about getting away from the city rather than setting up some type of business arrangement. We were all given horses to aid us in our travels; no doubt to get us away from the city faster.  It’s a good thing Cayden Cailean was watching over Kali. Had he not intervened to persuade the prince to free Kali she would be stuck. I knew that she was not going to properly thank Cayden so I did it for her.

“This wine I leave out under the open skies so that any brave adventurer walking this path can enjoy the comfort of a good drink, may Cayden bless all that drink from this bottle”

We have a new friend named Miyaro that helped during the ninja attack. She encouraged us to leave the city immediately. This was just before the prince’s aid broke the good news to Kali.  Miyaro is going to guide us through the magical forest. Turns out that she works for the Kami. From what I understand Kami are protectors of nature that were supposedly created by the gods at the age of creation. I am pretty sure that is what Kali said. I have to admit that at first I thought Miyaro said she was a Kami.

I turned to ask Sparna a question and he wasn’t there. I was wondering where the gods are leading Sparna, it’s pointless to guess as the gods work in mysterious ways. Hopefully he gets to settle down with a good forge and make many weapons. If the gods can see fit to find him a wife that shares his love for the forge he can spend his days in the forge and pass his vast knowledge down to their children.

Anyway I was working away on upgrading the enchantments on my bow thinking that I should be close to finishing but there seemed like a lot left to do on the weapon. I got out the paper and recalculated and discovered a miscalculation on the number of days it will take. Normally Sparna catches these errors but he is not hear anymore. That explains why the math said it should almost be done but I just felt that there was a lot more work to be done on the enchantment.

Next up in an enchantment for Qatana. She asked for an enchantment called greyflame which I found in my notes. The enchantment is right on the edge of what the gods will allow. The concept of good and evil still do not make since. No matter how hard I try I can’t figure out if someone is good or evil. Kali has tried to explain good and evil a number of times but it just doesn’t make any since.  How do they know for sure that the Ninja’s are evil? We are killing people and creatures that get in our way; why doesn’t that make all of us evil? Maybe I need to get a spell that only hurts good people and a spell that only hurts evil people. I suppose maybe wands of detect evil and detect good might be a less damaging option. Even if I know if someone is good or evil it doesn’t really change anything, if they are trying to kill us I really don’t care if they are good, evil or a muffin.

Ninja attack. Another batch of ninja’s attacked the caravan in the middle of the night. They must have intended to catch us off guard but that was not the case. The spell thingy Kali put up supposedly prevented the ninja’s from being able to see us so they could not throw shuriken’s at us. Olmas right off the bat asked to be protected from poison but with Amieko running into battle that changed everything. With my back protected by a warming wall of fire I was able to let go a couple of arrows at the ninja’s near Amieko. With Dasi and Olmas both running to her aid I just worked on thinning the herd. Off to my left Qatana and Radella were engaged with the ninja’s approaching from that side so we were kind of ok.  When it looked like another ways of ninja were on their way in the second wall of fire went up.  Unfortunately I found out later that Shalelu had snuck out of the wagon and was hit with the full force of the fire. The positioning was to keep them safe in the wagon and since everyone was in sight it was logical to put up the wall.  Kali stupidly flew after the Ninjas that got away with Qatana right on her heals. I should have sent Radella off with them.

With all of the Ninja’s dead I burnt the bodies just to make it look like they just disappeared.

Today was another interesting day. Starting out with a very early morning adventure where Radella was secretly searching our rooms looking for peepholes and doors the servants use.  She also did some other looking around the rest of the house. I rearranged my room and covered the peepholes that Radella found in my room. I simply shifted most of the furniture counter clockwise and then also rehung pictures.  Once I was done I said out loud “now this is a room Sasi would agree like” in case someone was listening.

By the time Kali called us boys to her room so that the group could discuss planning for the feast of honored visitors my redecorating was complete. Of course we had to do it again in her room as well. Things then got a little strange when Kali started telling us about results from a divination. I was more than a little confused to hear that she had to do a divination to confirm that the prince was smitten with her, isn’t that obvious.  I know dear that is like the kettle calling the pot black. So with the menu planned and the decision to use part of the play from the crazy playwright. Leave it to Sparna to come up with this one.

The day of the feast of honored visitors Kali is invited to have lunch with the prince. She was so flustered that she forgot to ask about the actors for the play so she had to run after the guy. Kali says she is not interested in the prince but I was not interested in getting married when I met you so this mystery has yet to unfold the real truth.  My opinion is that she is not even slightly interested as it has always seems that Kali has no interest in men and possibly any kind of intimate relationship. It is not really any of my business how she lives her life, although she is kind of like an older sister.

Today while shopping for some magical equipment for Kali I learn a valuable lesson. When the shopkeeper says “We have more magical enchanted gear in the back and we can most likely arrange some unique item if required. What are you looking for?” one should have a simple answer for those times. I found myself in the position of completely forgetting magic items that would be interesting and instead I asked about deathblade poison. By the time you are able to read this the time to get angry will have passed. Luckily no one else was with me so I was able to avoid a lecture.

DINNER!

The soup course consisted of Eel eye soup. The soup was fine but it would have been better with freshly killed Eel’s. It is winter so maybe getting fresh Eel’s is difficult and the spices they used just did not mask the lack of freshness. The deep fried seaweed was tasty and adding some to the soup made the soup more flavorful. Olmas review was something like “Oh great more of this food”. Olmas was not interested in the soup and I think Dessert was the only thing that he tried.

Next was the seared sea scallops on the half shell with squid ink butter served alongside some sturgeon and salmon eggs, Qatana called this caviar. On first impression this had the look of a signature dish but my scallops lacked the flavor that I was expecting.  Olmas appeared to pass on this dish.

Broiled sea bass and Octopus tentacles provided the complementary flavors of sea bass and octopus. The presentation showed what looked to be two creatures caught in battle. This dish clearly shows that there are people in the world that have so much that they can afford to make their food look pretty. I found both the sea bass and Octopus to be flavorful and tasty. I observed Olmas poking at the sea bass but he still had the look of someone waiting for the real food to arrive.

We finally got to what Qatana called the meat course. The sweet smell danced in my nose as they cracked open the piglet brain case. Just the piglet brain itself would have been a wonderful meal on its own. Pieces of piglet brain on their roasted skin provided an outstandingly delicious combination and topping with the gravy made this the best dish of all of the feasts. To make this dish even better the sides of thin sliced potatoes, Asparagus, and poached apples simply added to the overall enjoyment of this meal. I almost wanted to just keep eating at the brain but there was still frenched ribs and loins to try. The ribs melted in your mouth and the flavor was good but not spectacular.  I found the loins just a slight less flavorful than the ribs. Overall the hit of this dish has to be the piglet brains and piglet skin, with the side dishes greatly adding to the enjoyment of the brains. If I had to leave something off it would have been the ribs and loins.

The meal wrapped up with what Qatana called Yin and Yang Chocolate. Even though they were forced to use something other than fresh berries because of winter the dessert turned out ok. The real highlight of the meal was the pig and this had the look of elegance but just wasn’t the right dessert after the pig. With the wide variety flavors presented during this meal maybe a simple dessert would have been best.

Overall the food was good. I would agree with Olmas’s comment that it would have been nice to treat the prince to actual Varisian food but the goal was to impress the prince and not serve Varisian food.

On the lighter side Kali earlier today semi-accepted an engagement from the prince. The politics is very confusing but she says that she does not want to marry the prince but told the prince that she does want to marry him but needs her parent’s approval. I still don’t understand business people.

Today Sesi we arrived in in the city of Ordu-Aganhei, for some strange reason there ruler the prince wanted us to go to his palace. It is one of those places that can be nice to look at but no one should have to live there. The prince was way too happy to have us visit and I suppose at some point he is going to either try to kill us or he has some almost impossible task for us. The constant smile on his face is very creepy.

Tonight we attended the first of five nights of feasts. Tonight was the feast of three. I think you would have like the spicy ducks heads as I think the cooks got then just right. The ox forehead was a little over done for my taste, although my mother always used to make soup out of these parts of the ox. They had a turtle casserole that I guess was ok but it just seemed like it was missing something. Pigeon brains was a new and interesting food, not my favorite but not horrible. The fired chicken feet appetizer brought back found memories. The most disappointing item on the menu was the tiger, dragon and phoenix soup. Right off the bat the flavor gave away the fact that there was absolutely no dragon meat in the soup, I suspect there likely wasn’t any tiger or phoenix meat either. I thought about complaining but the serious look on Kali’s face was a clue that maybe I should just keep it to myself. I realized at the moment that it is likely that I am the only one in the room that knows what dragon meat tastes like.

The entertainment for the evening involved the royal guard performing mounted archery, wrestling and then bareback riding. The prince asked us to perform the same challenges. Sparna in that gruff voice of his intimated the heck out the other wrestler and own the match. I got up on a horse galloped toward the target while trying to get my bow ready. There were a couple of times when I thought for sure that I was going to fall of the horse but somehow I managed to keep myself on the horse. I fire at the target and was lucky enough to hit the target with two arrows and not fall off the horse. If we were asked to do it again I likely would just have Olmas do his riding thing. So Olmas and Kasimir took on the challenge of bareback riding. They didn’t have a good evening so I feel back for Olmas and Kasimir.

Today is the Feast of the Ancients. The Steamed hongali stone frags were very delicious, they almost melted in your mouth. They had goose stomach but at least for me they got the spices wrong and so it wasn’t as good as I expected. Fish lips with celery was I guess interesting. Solidified duck blood was ok but not really my favorite. The goat’s feet tendons in wheat noodles is something that would make a really nice meal, this would be perfect food to share with the one you love. Dunking live shrimp into alcohol was not for everyone in the party. Hey it’s just shrimp and alcohol how can that not be good.

For the entertainment portion of the even Ameiko played a lovely tune while telling the story of the battle with the white dragon. I provided the images of our battle with the white dragon while Kali did what she called interpretive dance. The prince took a notice of Kali as he invited her to breakfast.

The day of feast of fire!!! Kali with Sparna as escort had breakfast with the prince. Kali seems to have an admirer.

And onto the feast. It started with Thousand-year-old eggs which I found out was a lie, they are just 100 days old. Next I tried the Cow’s lung soaked in chili sauce but I really didn’t care for their version of chili sauce and at least the lung that I had was a little over cooked. The pig’s face was passible. The snake venom soup sounded and looked interesting but for all I know these people have eaten the venom from childhood. The deep fired bee larvae was a twist on all of the years eating larvae and I can see this being a good snack food. Lastly we get to the duck’s feet marinated in blood. These were good but I still prefer crunchy chicken feet.

For the evening quest fire. I pretty much let the others handle this one! Yea I really didn’t think you would believe that I was not evolved with fire. There was dancing on the coals, a flaming sword and urgosh display and finally a wall of fire with me standing in the middle.

Tomorrow is the feast of Honored visitors. Kali, Ameiko, and Qatana are putting together a dinner plan. Kali and the others are trying to figure the entertainment should be. My guess is the prince really wants something that evolves Kali dancing.

My lack of insight along with the inability to plan ahead have lead me to the situation now find myself in tonight.  I know that Kali wouldn’t consider my gathering of personal supplies as planning but she gets a little nuts with her planning.  Hey I am not complaining because the caravan planning she has been doing is a task that I would not wish on anyone, I truly believe it would be pure torture for me.  So back on topic in the last town I forgot to get bacon and marshmallows.  Marshmallows and this wall of fire would be perfect together. It probably would have been a bad idea anyway, the wall is to protect us from the undead and their aura that paralyzes. To maintain the wall I need to concentrate so getting effected by one of them would be bad.

Just before Sparna and I were supposed to begin our sleep someone spotted a Yeti. The Yeti seem to watch us for a little while and then they retreated back into the caves or wherever.. It felt good to get some sleep, keeping the wall of fire up is not in itself difficult but not casting other spells or doing things that would break the concentration is the hard part. Luckily I didn’t forget to concentrate on the wall of fire and cast a spell. Since it was fire it was a little easier to remember to not cast other spells.

I thought the idea was to spend the day recovering but Qatana was feeling better than expected and was able restore some of Olmas’s lost mojo with a restoration spell. So it was decided to move ahead and explore.

To the gold door we headed. After some checking it was discovered that this door was broken into before. Qatana cast hide from undead on us and it occurred to be that I should have done this on the people in the caravan. The others waited while I ran back and put hide from undead on them.

Once I was back they opened the door and a major spectral creature appeared and started to attack. I moved away from the door but as it turns out not the safest location. The revenant jumped up and started moving towards me. While it was standing next to me someone attacked breaking the spell. I really should know by now that sharing a hide from undead with the fighters is a bad idea. This was my first big mistake for the day. Luckily for me the revenant was after the spirit. Turns out this was what was keeping the revenant around. With two spiritual alleys Qatana and Sparna were able to beat down the revenant to the point where we could kill it. For my part I put some arrows into the creature but it was not doing as much damage as expected, well I know that ghosts don’t take as much damage. I know that there are ways to get around this with either magic or enchanted weapons but I am just not sure that we fight enough of these to get a weapon enchanted and the force spells such as spiritual alley and spiritual weapon might actually be a better option.

The spirit defeated the revenant was freed from his torture. I have to wonder about spirits like this one and how they became spirits. Did we just kill it for a second time and now soul is free? Well if Kali is correct then the spirit is truly dead otherwise the revenant would not have been released.

In the room with the Spirit we found armor that protects from ghosts and spirits plus a weapon to hurt them. The sword has these rings on it that provide additional magic effects. Freeing someone from possession seems to be one of the abilities I have to wonder why the gods provided this weapon to us. Is there someone we need to free, maybe the Yeti king or is one of our group possessed? I should keep these thoughts to myself or Olmas and/or Sparna may use this on some of us to free us from a so called possession.

We headed down the hallway and those in front decided to check out a side path. We had traveled down the side passage and around the corner when I commented that by not being on the main path the Yeti could walk right passed us and attack the caravan without us noticing. I was a little surprised when the others agreed with me and we headed back to the main path.

As we moved down the main path we found another magical barrier that Kali said was another anti-life spell blocking our path. This time there were two Yeti on the other side holding their hands up and telling us to stop, I am so glad Qatana the gods granted me comprehend languages. It got a little weird when Kala and Qatana set down their weapons, walked closer and then started talking in some type of jibberish that was beyond my spell. The whole time she was talking jibberish I was trying to decide when and how to attack. Trapping them between a wall of fire and the antilife area seemed like a good idea but shooting arrows also has its advantages. My second big mistake for the day was letting them walk away unharmed. I have no idea what was going through Kali’s mind or if she even had a plan. All that I know is that she told them that she was going to surrender.

We headed back to the water room and waited for the yeti. My plan was to get haste and then move up 35 feet out of reach of them and the fear effect that seems to follow the Yeti. The time arrived and no haste so rather than standing around being a target I move up into position. This is a great tactic only if we are fighting creatures with limited range capabilities.

Qatana was using one of her share crazy abilities and we were doing pretty well with the first wave. Sparna, Radella, Olmas, and Qatana were smacking the yeti while I provided range support. Kali once again brought out her pit spell and it seemed to be that she was very close to getting Olmas and radella caught in the pit trap. I keep hoping that she would get less careless with the spells. At least she thus far has stopped blinding Sparna with glitterdust.

The second wave started heading towards us from the main corridor so I put up a wall of fire to greet them. They don’t appear to light fire so this at least in the short term is a good way to control the Yeti movement. I suspect that the person with magic with dispel the in the future to try to get the drop on us. He or she better have a lot of dispel magic spells available.

The first wave was finished off and the other were pulling of things from the bodies while they waited for the second wave. The second wave arrived and we start to fight them when it occurred to me that the new Yeti were basically trapped in a narrow cave. I put a wall of fire down the length of the cave to catch both of them.  This was the third big mistake I made today as the two Yeti just ran to get away from the fire. I should have just shot them with arrows.

At this point everything went crazy and I was wondering if all of them were possessed. Kali ran ahead to do who knows what followed by Radella and Qatana. There was some confusion I think in the ranks of the Yeti so Olmas and Sparna rushed forward to take advantage of the confusion with Kali retreated? Clearly everyone seems to have their own plan and is expecting everyone to go along with the crazy shit in their heads. I just kind of put myself between everyone so that I could see if we are moving forward or backwards. I just felt that if I wanted to be stupid like the others that I should run down the main hallway! In the end I calmly decided that being impulsive is one thing and being stupid is something else.