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Journal entries for the Jade Regent campaign

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Character: Qatana

Qatana’s Journal for Desnus 29 through Sarenith 4, 4713

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Wealday, Desnus 29, 4713 evening
Jikko River

It turned out that Dasi knew how to helm the barge. Seriously, what doesn’t he know? Six of us would need to man the oars, three on a side, for the short trip from the island to the dock on the main land.

The day was quite pleasant, especially now that the shadows and mists surrounding the island had evaporated, and we were making good progress on the flood tide when Zos called out, “Something large is heading toward the barge on the starboard side!”

That “something large” turned out to be a dragon turtle. It rammed the barge hard, causing it to list heavily to port, the side on which I had been sitting. The impact was so violent that it launched me into the air, but fortunately Overland Flight kept me from harm, and I soared up to assess where I could be the most help.

I quickly cast Blessing of Fervor on most of my companions and Ivan used Air Bubble on the crew still at the gunwales while Dasi began to sing a song of courage.

The dragon turtle was taking some abuse, but was dishing out at least as good as it got. It breathed out a massive cone of steam, causing much mayhem and shouts of pain. It made me reconsider serving steamed clams for dinner as I had originally planned.

Just as those of us from the port side of the barge had worked out how best to assist those on the other side, another DT plowed into us from the port.

“Oh, this is just going great!” Timber snorted.

Dasi called out and pointed astern, and from my vantage point in the air I could see a third DT heading our way.

Star growled, “Don’t just stand… er, hover there, do something!” She was right, and so I flew over and blocked the latest arrival, slamming it mightily with my flail. It reacted by breathing more steam up at me.

Before too much time the first DT was dead and floating inertly beside the barge, and the second was soon doing the same. Radella flew over and clobbered the DT beneath me, sending it beneath the waves.

We spent a lot of time healing our wounds (lots of those) and resumed rowing until finally we reached the mainland dock a short time later. We then walked the mile or so from there to the Jikko River, where the old kappa dwelt.

The original plan was to return to Sakakabe with O-Sayumi tomorrow, but like regular dragons, apparently dragon turtles were known to hoard riches, and so we planned to search for their lair in the morning.

The kappa was delighted to see O-Sayumi again, and we were more than welcome to stay with him, or nearby on the river bank.

For the rest of the day Ivan and I put together a large smoker using willow and fern fronds as the frame and covering it with a bit of unused (by us) sailcloth from the barge. Luckily we were at the mouth of the Jikko and we found alder and maple trees growing nearby, and using dead fall from these trees we began to smoke some of the dragon turtle meat.

Yes, Ivan saved flesh from these creatures to cook later. His original desire was to make bacon, but I pointed out that sea food bacon sounded awful, and that we should smoke it instead.

Technically speaking to have real bacon you needed the proper ratio of fat and muscle only found (naturally) in the belly of a pig. From what I could tell bacon was not a thing in Minkai, or Tien. Sure, they had smoked meats, and even smoked pig, but nothing that we would have called bacon back home.

Thus Ivan’s and my obsessions over turning any sort of animal flesh into that wonderful delicacy.

Zos had used his treasure map skill from the dragon turtle hide and confirmed what we had suspected: there was a nearby hoard to find on the small island we had flown over on the way to the big one.

Oathday, Desnus 30, 4713 evening
Jikko River

We waited just for the sun to rise high enough to fully shine down upon the waters of the lagoon, and with Life Bubble, courtesy of Ivan, we simply walked into the water and along the bay floor toward the right direction.

We were basically “loaded for bear” (or dragon turtle, or anything in between) with powerful offensive and defensive spells prepared, but we encountered nothing other than the occasional curious fish and oyster bed.

Once at the island it did not take long to find the underwater entrance to a cave, and two piles of treasure awaited us within (one larger than the other, indicating two of the DTs we had killed had been a mated pair).

Takoda said, “I just don’t get the whole hoard thing.”

He had a point. What good was all this wealth doing the DTs? They weren’t buying anything useful or desirable with it. They weren’t taking trips to exotic locations with it (“I hear Korvoso is lovely this time of year”). About the only purpose it could serve would be to lure potential meals out to the DTs when legend of their hoard reached the general population. But how was that supposed to work with the treasure hidden underwater and all the local population chased away by a wicked sorcerer, his undead or oni servants and hostile dragon turtles?

Anyway we hauled the lot of it back to the shore and estimated the total value of our find at over eighteen thousand gold coins.

“And let that be a lesson to them,” Badger said to no one in particular.

Later on that day Ivan and I stumbled across an ancient apple orchard from an abandoned farmstead. The early apples, small and both sweet and tart, would make a welcome addition to our meals, and we smoked some more of the DT meat using apple wood.

Now that the lagoon area was safe again I hoped that people return here to live. Perhaps a series of none too quiet conversations in the tea houses of Sakakabe could encourage it.

Fireday, Desnus 31, 4713 evening
Sakakabe

We arrived back at O-Kahaku’s tea house around mid morning via Wind Walk. Ivan had used Sending the previous evening to let her know the time and manner of arrival, and so there was no alarm when we materialized in the middle of the court yard.

There were emotional reunions, especially with the younger geisha to whom O-Sayumi was effectively a big sister, but after an hour or two everyone’s public displays of affection settled down and we were able to discuss other matters.

But first O-Kahaku gave us a very ancient and magic tea set in thanks for returning O-Sayumi safely to her. The tea set was really quite lovely and granted various benefits if used for a formal tea service.

But I think it is of little use for us, other than as a source of income. We can’t use the set to influence others without risking them being offended if they discovered the tea set was magical.

In fact we had this very discussion later on in the day, when we decided we would have O-Sayumi perform tea services for our upcoming meetings (more on those later) using a regular tea set.

This leaves us with a very expensive set of paper weights. A better use for the tea set would be to sell it and use the proceeds for financing our primary goal or putting Ameiko on the throne of Minkai.

“Yeah,” interrupted Pookie, “and that staff of Wind Walk isn’t going to pay for itself!”

Yes, well that was true too.

O-Sayumi then gave us her musical instrument, which was also highly enchanted. Ah, but here was a gift we could make direct use of, or at least Dasi can.

Anyway, not too long after all of the pleasantries of O-Sayumi’s return were done, O-Kahaku got down to the business at hand concerning Ameiko.

She knew most of the big movers and shakers in the social and financial circles of Sakakabe, and she would arrange for meetings between them and Ameiko so she could make the case for becoming empress. Apparently business had been bad since the Jade Regent took control of Minkai, and things were only getting worse, and so this was an opportunity to gain powerful (and wealthy) allies.

O-Kahaku was friends with Itsuru Sennaka, the younger brother of the regional governor, Sikutsu. According to her Itsuru was nothing like his despotic sibling, and would be a much better leader. But the local culture prohibited Itsuru from taking any direct actions against his brother… however if outside events (“Meaning us!” exclaimed Beorn) removed Sikutsu from power (“Meaning killed!” exclaimed Beorn) then Itsuru would be more than happy to step in.

Progress! I felt fairly good about our chances, and quite content that we did not need to do something else to prove our worth or the authenticity of Ameiko’s claim.

And then something very odd happened.

We were all lingering over dinner at O-Kahaku’s place — which we had rented for both lodging and for the upcoming meetings — when Kali and Dasi wandered over to where I was sitting and humming softly to myself.

“Qatana, it is really important the Ameiko present her case for both our planned actions in the north as well as for her taking the throne of Minkai.” Kali started. “It is very important that she speak well and show herself to be a strong and insightful leader.”

She and Dasi looked at me meaningfully for a few more moments before wandering off.

“Uh, what the hell was that?” Star asked.

I honestly had no idea, but there must have been something very important they wanted me to do to assist Ameiko in the upcoming meetings.

“Yeah,” Pookie said, “but it’s clear they want any advice we have to offer to be given very discreetly.”

All of a sudden Huffy opened his eyes wide and said, “Oh my gosh! You know what they want? They want you to lend us to Ameiko for her meetings so we can offer advice directly to her.”

It was a good thing I was sitting down, because this revelation was staggering. And yet it made perfect sense. My companions knew how valuable the advice from my mice friends were, and they wanted to ensure Ameiko’s success by making sure she had the very best advice possible.

Only they were too afraid or shy to ask directly, and thus the subtle hints.

I looked around the room and found Ameiko and Shalelu sitting at the head of the table looking over at me. Ivan was just walking away.

Huffy gasped and exclaimed, “See, even Ivan knows about it and he must have just told Ameiko what you are going to offer.”

It seemed obvious, and so quite reluctantly I stood and walked over to Ameiko. I slowly pulled off the necklace upon which my friends’ skulls hung and held it out to her.

“Ameiko, the others have been talking about your upcoming meetings with the merchants and local lords, and they seemed quite concerned about your ability to handle these discussions successfully. I don’t understand what they are worried about, but Kali came to me and specifically asked for me to provide you with discreet counseling if needed. I later realized that what she was really asking was for me to lend you my little friends during these negotiations.”

There was a moment of silence before Ameiko replied.

“Oh! Oh, Qatana, that’s… really such an honor. That would be such a tremendous boon to have on my side. I think, however, it’s best that your… friends… stay with you. I think they are more comfortable where they are for now. I’m sure the others will understand.”

“Pfft, I thought so,” smirked Pookie, “if she wasn’t able to handle these negotiations she would hardly be fit to be empress, now would she?”

I had thought the same thing, and with great relief I placed my friends back around my neck and said, “I could arrange for some other form of unobtrusive communication between you and I, if you wanted to have my advice available during your meetings. But again, I personally have every confidence that you could manage without anyone else butting in unasked.”

Ameiko answered, “Thank you for your confidence. I hope I can show that confidence to the merchants and nobles. Maybe we could agree on some kind of signal I can give you to let you know if I need advice on something? Probably just an extra precaution, though, because I think I’ll be fine, and have the ability to pause talks on some pretense or other if I need to regroup or consult with you and the others.”

I quickly replied, “Perhaps you could just ask, ‘What does Pookie think?’ and then we’d all know you would like a private consultation with us.”

Ameiko nodded, and Pookie crowed, “I am the official advisor to the future Empress of Minkai!”

Yes, well if it actually came to that, then I suppose that would be so.

I returned to my chair in the corner and flashed a grin with a big thumbs up toward Dasi and Kali to let them know I had understood their message, and that everything was taken care of.

Toilday, Sarenith 4, 4713 evening
Sakakabe

There has been meeting after meeting over the past few days, and through it all Ameiko handled herself as a true heir to the throne.

We decided that it would be a good idea for Jiro to be present for these meetings, especially given that he was a ronan of the north, where we planned to take action, and because he could speak to Ameiko’s claim to the throne. Thanks to a couple of teleports he was once again with us in person.

He brought some troubling news. His patrols captured messages between the local brigands and the governor indicating that the Sikutsu was planning a major move against Jiro’s family fortress in order to cast him out and restore the status quo (ie. raping and pillaging).

It seems we needed to give some thought to the fortifications of Jiro’s ancestral home. I had some ideas concerning glyphs of warding and a symbol of sleep, but we have not yet agreed upon a final plan.

While the merchants and nobles vowed financial support, it was Itsuru Sennaka who provided us with a clear course of action.

Through his usual cruelty and uncivil behavior his brother had managed to alienate (and exile) a number of ronan, who now called themselves simply “The Nine Ronan,” with whom Itsuru was in contact. The Nine were dedicated to the removal of Sikutsu from office. Itsuru said that he would notify them on our behalf and see if we could coordinate our efforts.

A day later Itsuru returned to us with news.

These ronan had learned the governor’s habits well, and knew he would soon journey to a luxurious resort — one whom he had recently took over as his own pleasure palace, throwing everyone else out. While at the resort Sikutsu had the bulk of his guards stay at a set of out buildings some distance up the road from the resort itself. Can’t have his imperial pasty white ass seen by those forced to protect it. Besides, they might actually enjoy themselves somewhat in the clean mountain air. Can’t have that, for sure.

Tactically this made sense, because the resort itself was in a steep mountain valley, and the only way to approach it in force was up the road, and his guards would be between any approaching force and the governor.

But the Nine had infiltrated the staff at the resort, and were planning to assassinate Sikutsu. This was a high risk plan with no small risk of failure. But if we were to attack Sikutsu’s small entourage as it made its way along the narrow path between the garrison and the resort, they could see to it that no aid would come from the resort.

Sikutsu had already set out for the resort, and was expected to arrive within the next ten days or so. The Nine recommended that we arrive early and scout out the location for the ambush and then wait.

And so we’re working out the details for that trip plus what to do about Jiro’s fort. But once again Wind Walk will give us a quick mode of nearly invisible and relatively safe travel.

“And just when are you going to make that staff of Wind Walk?” Timber asked politely.

Just as soon as I have the skill and money, obviously.

Character: Olmas

Annals of the Order of the Dragon

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as told by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia himself.

Wealday, 29 Desnus

(still)
Our encounter with shadows in the chessboard trap made us feel we might well run into more of the same in what appeared to be a trip thru the Shadow plane.  We prepared with two separate Hide from Undead spells, expecting that the (usual) fighters would likely break that spell by attacking than the other group of, well, Kali.

I was one of the first into the shadowy passage but it took only seconds for all of us to enter.  The colors may have been muted, but the sound seemed the same.   Ivan had a theory that the inro was actually a map of sorts to lead us through this shadowy world.  There were gates of certain colors, or materials, that seemed to match up with items in the inro.  We made a couple of wrong turns and got hit by lightning and ice storms, but by and large I think we avoided a large amount of grief.

We came upon a largish room, and the entrance to the room seemed also to be an exit from the shadow plane.  I entered the room and observed two women on the floor.  I immediately moved to check out the women.   In one corner was a life size statue of a female in the lotus position, and in the other corner was a monkey – no, tiger – no, snake.

Actually it was all three, and did not seem friendly.  In fact it had a yell that actually hurt.  The women seemed .. not dead but not alive and I announced that.  But the first issue was the montigersnake.  Actually, Kali later said it had an explicit name too but I don’t remember what it was anymore.  The usual suspects (myself, Radella, Qatana) moved in to attack it.  It was going to take me a few seconds longer to reach it, having spent time first checking on the women, but Kali magically moved me and I started beating on it in earnest.

Suishen informed me again, in an almost accusatory manner, that it was not an oni.

But when we cut it, it did bleed, and despite some bizarre capabilities (it could make us feel incredibly tired just by waving its paws) we managed to best it with some wicked good swings and some good arrows by Ivan.

There was a door in the room, and it seemed to lead to a study. A quick search uncovered several magical items.

[669] magic samisen
[670] ivory plectrum
[671] potion of bull strength
[672] potion of cure moderate wounds
[673] potion of protection from cold
[674] potion of water breathing
[675] scroll of bestow curse
[676] scroll of ice storm
[677] scroll of lightning

There were also some

[678] business records

A quick read through the notes completed the story of what had happened.  He had tried to move his wife’s soul into his daughter’s body, but any fool knows that a body can only hold one soul so the whole thing fell apart – his wife’s soul seems to have disappeared while his daughter’s soul – O-Suyami’s soul, we could now confirm – occupied a pearl instead of her body.  He was reluctant to return hers to her body because he feared it might make it impossible to recover his wife’s.

About this time, Radella said, “aHA” and a portion of a shelf moved.  “There’s a secret door here” she announced.  And we again prepared ourselves for battle, although at this point the preparation was entirely mental and not magical.  Arranging ourselves we entered the narrow passage.

The passage led first to what Zos readily identifed as an alchemical lab.  His eyes lit up as he looked over the room.

But it was not our main interest right now.  We anticipated that we would be finding a dark mage of some sort, holding his daughter’s soul captive.  We moved on.

The next room again had muted colors and a grey appearance to it, even though it was not in the shadow plane.  There was a man sitting at a table on the far side of the room who observed us entering in an almost unconcerned manner.

“My wife is gone forever,” he remarked in a strangely flat voice, taking a sip of tea.  “I was trying to move her into my daughter’s beautiful body, but something went wrong.  I have so far been unable to reverse the effect.”  He glanced at Radella, who had moved next to him. He glanced up at her. “I assume you do want to save the girl, don’t you?”  He casually tipped a container of pearls over and they spilled across the floor.  “Be careful you don’t crush her soul by stepping on the wrong pearl” and he began to chant in earnest.

While Zos hasted us all, I hurried over to interrupt his spell with Suishen.  Unfortunately, the discarded pearls acted as marbles and I fell on my way there.  He gestured at a shadowy alcove at one end of the room and a number of shadows appeared.  Kali quickly threw up a wall of force but warned, “they’ll probably go underneath it so it won’t work for long.”  I regained my footing and attacked the man, while Qatana cast a greater dispel magic at him to render him more vulnerable.  It did not take long for us to finish him off, but it too longer to deal gingerly with the shadows he’d welcomed onto our plane.  I lost strength several times to the foul things, but Qatana was able to help me recover.

On the man and in the room, we found

[680] pearls picked up from the floor and left in the jar
[681] an inro (darkwood + embedded emeralds forming a dragon and turtle, with 3 compartments)
[682] blue-green aquamarine (magic)
[683] black pearl
[684] large white pearl (magic)
[685] potion of water breathing
[686] scroll of resist energy
[687] MW dagger
[688] cloak of resistance +4
[689] dusty rose ioun stone +1 insight bonus to AC
[690] ring of protection +2
[692] spell components
[691] ring of swimming
[693] spellbook
[694] 250gp of diamond dust

and of course the previously discovered

[695] alchemy lab

We tried to decide our next step.  We needed to revive O-Sayumi but none of us were sure how this might work.  Eventually we decided dispel magic might do the trick … and it did.

O-Sayumi told us how she was brought there by threats to harm the monks if she did not.  There was a brief discussion and we decided to leave by barge, now that it was safe, rather than waste more magic flying.

Upon approaching the barge, however, a company of hobgoblins challenged us and we shook our heads at each other.  Really?

Qatana created a blade barrier to hem them in, but much to our surprise, one after another flew ABOVE it to escape it.

The first one I laid Suishen into made him practically tremble with excitement. “ONI!!!”  ah, a dozen overconfident, underpowered oni.

Time was when that would have been a problem for us but even O-Sayumi joined in the battle, casting spells no less!  Clearly not your ordinary geisha.

With that taken care of, we are preparing to board the barge.

Character: Ivan

Ivan’s journal

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We headed back into the shadow realm once again for a walkabout. I have lost track of which god is trying to get me to do what. Who knows which wants us to save O-Sayumi.

The clues left by O-Sayumi almost seemed as if she was leaving the clues to someone like me. I am fairly sure we would have run into a lot more of these shadows had we deviated from the path. The mirrors turned out to be a very interesting trick. It was fascinating that looking at them would trigger a semi real trap. I felt like I was hogging all of the fun with the mirrors trigger so I asked if anyone else wanted to also experience the wonder. Kali just gave me the “Are you nuts look” and I noticed that the others did not at all seem interested in the mirrors.

My companions don’t seem to enjoy the simple moments in life and these are the type of experiences that I am glad the gods provided me. I am not sure why my companions get so overwhelmed with dread at times like these. It was the same out on the ice. I still can’t figure out why they didn’t enjoy our time at the top of the world. Most people never get to experience the wonders of the crown of the world and yet I traveled with a group that could not wait to get off the ice. Always looking ahead and not enjoying the moment and at times they seem a little broody.

Looking into Aiemko’s eyes t was clear that she believed that things here would kill her. At that moment I realized that everyone else was likely thinking the same thing. Huh looks like once again Amieko has provided me with some insight about myself.

In truth beyond this point everything would have killed Ameiko before she could get herself out of the way. It didn’t look like fear but it just seemed that she decided to trust us to take care of the situation. Well that is what I hope that look was about.

The pearl merchant seemed over confident about his chances. He seemed to be under the misconception that we needed him. It seems like he knew why we were there but did not seem concerned. I don’t understand why he didn’t send all of his forces against us at once. Dealing with the shadows, the tiger thing, and the women would have been a big challenge for us. Yet he let us take them on in small groups which was to our advantage.

When Kali said there was a white pearl I blurted out “That’s the one” even before Qatana could determine that it was magical. It just seemed like she would be the white pearl. I am not saying that she is or is not pure of heart. It was more about not being dark and broody.

The response from the sending of the special message from O-Sayumi seems to point to her being O-Sayumi and not the wife of the pearl merchant. Something about O-Sayumi seems mysterious and the gods are being very quiet. I am not sure if that means anything or not.

I am not sure what a group of Oni is called but it looks as if there was a group of them on the boat. O-Sayumi used the spell to hold a monster and one of the oni fell from the sky. I like what I was seeing but I was also wonder how often in her line of work she actually had to use these spells. I really hope that she never has to use them while working.

I find myself more than a little confused. I have been pushing Amieko a little bit to see if the old Amieko will show up. I now have to consider that she is still the same old Amieko and that it is me that is different. She has an entire country of people to save so she has to rise up and become the type of leader that I expect. I just know that it is somewhere there insider her.

Character: Qatana

Qatana’s Journal for Desnus 29, 4713

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Wealday, Desnus 29, 4713 mid day
Yugureda Shosaito’s Island

We found the “master” a short while ago, and I found the encounter to be more than a little disappointing.

I was expecting to find a wizened sage of incredible talent who had spent his long years in a pursuit of arcane (if not forbidden) knowledge. Someone who had forced back the nature of death itself to bring some resemblance of life to the creatures with which he surrounded himself.

“Nope!” Pookie chirped.

Instead we found a sad and pathetic post middle aged man with the a case of the hots for his own (possibly illegitimate) daughter so bad that he tried to force the soul of his wife into her body.

That’s not just sad and pathetic, but seriously perverted, and I was happy to play a part in his death.

And his wife was no angel either. She was apparently just fine with (and indeed assisted) him in creating their undead servants. Her soul is now forever lost and good riddance to it!

I realize that good help can be hard to come by, but it is not that to find.

Of course as soon as those words hit the parchment I looked over at Zos and wondered if maybe they didn’t have a point. But still… I mean these were real undead, right?

We had gathered in the saki cellar before the portal that we assumed led to the Shadow Plane (even Beorn finds the place disturbing) when Ivan said, “Hey, wait up. Maybe O-sayum actually left clues for her potential rescuers in those things she had crafted, but didn’t take with her.”

We all paused for a moment and exchanged looks that said, “Why the hell didn’t we think of this earlier?”

Takoda helpfully pointed out, “Well he is an oracle.”

He then explained which different materials and colors we should look out for while searching for O-sayum.

This made Kali very happy. Prior to this we would have been just be randomly wandering about looking for a geisha. But now we had a Plan. Kali likes plans.

With that we were ready to enter the gateway. Olmas went first, and he faded to a what amounted to a charcoal sketch of himself. Each of us followed in turn, the colors ebbing out from my companions as they passed through, but not so much for myself.

We followed down corridors, noting the various passageways and “moon gates” we passed along the way and which materials and colors were used for each.

Sometimes a passageway would dead end, and sometimes at those ends was a mirror which sent either lightening bolts or ice storms at us. Ivan and I seemed particularly adept at dodging the worst of the effects, and so we often did the honors of looking around the next corner.

But because we were following the Plan, we did not need to go down all of the passageways, and indeed we skipped at least half of them.

Presently the corridor ended at a room in the middle of which, on a nice rug, were two woman kneeling and facing one another.

“That rug really ties the room together,” quipped Takoda. “Not helping, buddy,” I replied.

Olmas entered the room, and as he did so the color flowed back into him. He looked closely at the women and said, “They may not be dead.”

Suddenly there was a loud shout, growl, screech type of a noise from elsewhere in the room, and Olmas braced himself, holding Suishen before him.

I ran into the room and saw and odd monkey-tiger creatures slavering in the corner. We did the usual thing we do with such friendly critters, and soon it lay dead.

We then had more time to examine the women, who were under the influence of a Gentle Repose spell. One of them looked like the drawing we had seen of O-sayum, and we assumed we had found our goal. But the problem was that while she may not have been dead, she wasn’t truly living either.

A door led to the east, which opened into an a nicely decorated office. We searched around and found a number of interesting items, including the master’s journal. Kali and I poured over the later entries.

That’s when we realized what a sick jerk he was, but Pookie also realized something and exclaimed, “O-sayum is his daughter!”

Well that explained some things, but not the fact that her father had the morals of a kobold.

Meanwhile Radella had been busy searching the book cases and discovered a secret door. We gathered up everything that looked useful.

669 samison (O-sayum’s and highly magical)
670 ivory plectrum (to go with the above)
671 potion of Bull Strength
672 potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
673 Potion of Protection from Cold
674 Potion of Water Breathing
675 Scroll of Bestow Curse
676 Scroll of Ice Storm
677 Scroll of Lightening Bolt
678 Business records and maps of Minkai

We opened the door and followed a corridor east. To the north was an alchemical lab (“We’ll come back for the rest later”).

679 shards of mother of pearl

Further east was another door, beyond which was a large chamber with an alcove to the north and a table set against the far wall. A man stood next to the table sipping tea.

He knew why we were there, but like most egotistical megalomaniac’s he had to posture and boast, totally convinced of his own invincibility. He picked up a vase filled with pearls and said that the souls of the two woman were each trapped in one of the pearls (we already knew he was lying about that). He implied that only he could return their souls, and we would do well to deal with him in a friendly fashion. He then dumped the pearls onto the floor.

Timber said, “Man, we know you’re not going to help us or return the girl, so quit pretending!”

Olmas strode forward into across the room to show just how friendly he could be, but slipped on the pearls and fell.

At about that time four large shadowy figures formed in the alcove. Kali called out that she’d deal with them, and so the rest of us closed in on the old man or launched ranged attacks at him.

“Consider this friendly fire,” Star raged as I cast a greater Dispel Magic on him.

We were winning the battle against the old man, but losing the war. Kali had put up a wall of force, sealing the shadows in the alcove, but soon they phased down into the marble floor and rose back up around us.

Naturally the old man gloated. They always gloat.

They were eerily attracted to Olmas, and kept clawing at him as his strength ebbed away. Kali telekinetically moved Olmas over to me so I could heal the damage.

The old man fell first, and some time there after we managed to destroy the shadows. We looted the corpse.

680 collection of pearls
681 A lacquered dark wood box inset with emeralds forming a dragon turtle — it has three compartments
682 compartment 1: magic (conjuration) blue green aquamarine
683 compartment 2: large black pearl
684 compartment 3: magic (necromancy) large white pearl
685 potion of Water Breathing
686 scroll of Resist Energy
687 master work dagger
688 +4 cloak of resistance
689 dusty rose ioun stone (+1 insight bonus to AC)
690 +2 ring of protection
691 ring of swimming
692 spell component pouch
693 spell book
694 250 gp diamond dust
695 professional master work alchemy lab

We moved back into the room with the women and after a brief conversation we determined that O-sayum’s soul was in the large white pearl, and that casting Dispel Magic upon it should restore her soul.

I performed the casting and moments later O-sayum began to stir. We told her why we came, and she was thrilled that we used the clues she had left behind to find her. I simply pointed at Ivan and said, “Thank him.”

It was time to leave. The maze through the shadow plane was gone, and so we had no trouble returning to the house and making our way down to the dock. We would take the master’s barge back to Sakakabe.

But the old codger had another surprise for us. A band of hobgoblins filed out from the barge and charged.

“Well, at least they aren’t undead,” squeaked Takoda. “Yeah, but they’re not hobgobs either, ” Pookie said as one of the attackers flew up and over the wall of whirling blades with which I had encircled the troop.

More oni. But lesser, runty oni. We had delt with these before, and quickly killed the lot of them.

We’re taking a moment to familiarize ourself with the barge and how to sail it, and then our first stop will be a visit to O-sayum’s turtle-man uncle.

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal – Desnus 29, 4713

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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.

Character: Olmas

Annals of the Order of the Dragon

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as told by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia himself.

Wealday, 29 Desnus

So we traveled without incident to the kappa-uncle, but along the way we had an open and honest discussion of how best to protect Koya.  While both Ameiko and Shalelu were trained and experienced fighters, that was not at all Koya’s strong suit.  The difficult question was not resolved enroute.

The kappa, Numataro-sama, greeted us pleasantly and told us a story and history that suggests there are familial ties at play here.  Is O-Sayumi related to the pearl merchant, whose name we now know to be Shosaito?  Numataro-sam suggested strongly that it might be a father-daughter relationship.  The circumstances seem to indicate that O-Sayumi felt compelled to come, but compelled emotionally or compelled magically we cannot say at this point.  Mysteriously, he gave us a shogi piece “for luck” and said it had the power to summon the greatest shogi player in all of Minkai.

We did come to one conclusion, however.  With Numataro-sama’s permission we will leave Koya here inside a Mage’s Private Sanctum. She should be safe from most things, including scrying.  Long term, however, we will need to come up with another plan.

The island looks dim, and seemed pervaded by gloom and doom.  I judge this to be a way of discouraging visitors, and while that may prove true, I’d also not be surprised if it turned out to be an ominous side effect from somebody or something living here.

(later)

Like undead.

We used fly rather than try to take a more mundane method of reaching the island.  It has been our experience that appearing at the entrances made explicitly to greet visitors, like front doors and docks, usually are the worst way to introduce ourselves.  Geisha houses excepted.   On our way in we saw what we assumed to be pearl divers at work (and they saw us).  They stayed underwater a surprisingly long time but when they walked up on shore they were not interested in welcoming us.  They attacked us, and while I suppose in a sense we were trespassers, I think most civilized places will agree that employing undead as laborers is the greater offense.

After dispatching them (Kali said they were mastodons, I think, which I have always believed to be larger, but …) we examined their crude village.  Surprise surprise, we found a secret door in the floor which I’d be willing to bet will lead us to our next problem.   By the way, both Qatana and Kali say this place is bathed in faint magic. No, really?

(later)

aaaand spot on.  This time it was manangles (I think – Kali speaks so softly) masquerading as servants.

We seemed to be exploring, perhaps, the basement of the only house on the island.  We found one room  (before we even met the manangles) that immediately drew Dasi’s attention, since it seemed to be filled with some very fine bottles of sake.  One passage looked even more shadowy and ominous than the rest of the basement.   We decided to save that for last.

It was about then we ran into the first manangle.  We tried to convince her, and the rest eventually, that we were part of the security testing team. They almost bought it (we even had one in manacles “so it would look authentic”, but in the end one of them doubted it enough to attack us and that meant the others no longer cooperated.  Ivan called out they are undead, but they seemed especially difficult to kill.  Suishen confirmed to me, after cutting into one, that these were not oni. (I realize he only speaks telepathically but he almost sounded disappointed.)  According to Kali, these things are really nasty at night so I’m glad we came when we did.

Exploring, we found several rooms – all looked dusty like they’d not been used for a while.  We still have no firm confirmation that O-Sayumi is even here.  One room had a shogi game set up and apparently in progress, and Radella detected a trap of some sort, but Kali was sure it was an important clue.

She was wrong.   Touching the board threw all of us into a sort of grid – a shadowy shogi board? – and about the time figured out how to maneuver within it, we also found we were sharing it with extra things – shadows themselves.  I don’t know who held the lucky chess piece that Numataro-sama gave us, but they apparently activated it and a hazy figure of Hatsue, appeared and although confused by our presence in what she said was HER dream, went to work destroying shadows.

Other than Hatsue, the things that helped us best was recognizing that by DISBELIEVING the grid one found oneself in, it became noncorporeal.  The second was that Dasi had this capability he called “ghost purge” which made our weapons much more effective against the shadows.  (I have to say, he continues to amaze me.)

Having put that behind us, we regrouped to return to the shadowy pathway.

Character: Ivan

Ivan’s journal

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Having the extra armor is just holding onto the past. She’s gone so there is no reason to hang onto it any longer. I suppose it could be my backup armor but I think maybe it would just be best to get another set of armor. I think it is time to see if Ameiko can be the leader that I hope she can be and these two mithral shirts will help keep Ameiko and Shalelu just a bit safer.

Ameiko looked at me strangely when I asked about armor but that changed completely when I showed her the mithril armor. She seemed to have just a little bit more bounce in her step after putting on the new armor. I put her old armor in my bag so she didn’t have to carry it.

I think it is time to find out what kind of woman she is. Wow I shouldn’t say it like that out loud as she may misunderstand.  I have decided it’s time to give Ameiko another chance to show that she can be the type of leader and person that I would be proud to call a friend.

I have been so caught up in the whole Sesi thing that I haven’t really process the information about having daughters. Mom is over joyed that Samantha and Jennifer both gave birth to daughters and they have welcomed them all into the family including calling Samantha and Jennifer daughter in-laws. I tried to explain that they knocked me out and then drugged me but mom explained that they already told her the whole story. I have discovered that it is very difficult to have a back and forth conversation in 25 word chunks. In this case I don’t have all of the details but it seems that everyone has decided that all of Samantha’s and Jennifer’s children will have the same father. They are all convinced that I will never settle down so visiting Samantha, Jennifer and the children occasionally is the best thing for everyone. I think kali said we were a thousand mile or more away from Standpoint so this is not something I have to worry about any time soon.

Kali obsession with fighting underwater hasn’t really come true. Having undead dive for pearls is actually an interesting idea. Yea it’s not good for the people turned into undead but maybe skeletons wouldn’t be look down on as much. Who am I kidding Kali and the others have certain things label as so called EVIL. They really confuse me with the good against evil thing. Sometimes it seems like they are doing the very thing that they said was evil. The undead creatures coming out of the water looked a little creepy so I decided that it would be better to just move away and let Radella take her frustrations out on these creatures. It might actually be hatred more than frustration but in either case they were on the wrong end of her sword.

I could see Zosi with his skills stepping into the pearl business. I still don’t fully understand why undead creatures are so look down upon. If I had undead creatures they would be kind to people, well maybe not rich merchants. If there is this so called Evil in the world I am convinced that it was because rich merchants were trying to make a buck and cheated someone.

Today our plan is pretty straight forward. Invade the pearl merchant’s home and save the girl.

Well maybe a little more complicated than I expected as those night time undead women sound very nasty. Ripping themselves in half at night to become powerful undead seems very odd. How do you deal with half of a woman? I also wonder how they put themselves back together in the morning. It is one thing to go searching for your clothes but I can just imagine a conversation like “Hey Miki have you seen my legs this morning, I have look everywhere and I just can’t find them”

These women just don’t seem like the mindless undead that you always hear about. So how do the so called good people justify to themselves killing these women? Being undead doesn’t seem like enough reason to kill them and why isn’t being a rich pompous merchant enough justification.  I would say that these undead women have done less harm than the rich pompous merchants. Shouldn’t we be killing them both? It all comes down to rich people using their money to corrupt those that make the laws.

So undead seems to be the theme for the pearl merchant. So if he is creating all of these undead he must have either found a way to create undead without them eating him or he is himself undead. The question is how his daughter would fit into his plans. We don’t even know what his plans are! I hesitate to bring this up as Kali and Dasi would talk this to death.

The game board is amazing. As far as I can tell we were put into the shadow plane to combat the shadow creatures. I wonder who that guy was the appeared just before we were sent to the shadow plane. He said the game was already in progress. He sounded like this game somehow was related to the struggle going on in this country but how can a game effect an entire country .Is the game controlling what is happening or is this just a reflection of the current state? Was that guy just a shadowy image or is this a being of some sort. Maybe he is the Kami of the board game.

Yea the ghostly things were not fun but then again Irori did decide to bring a shadowy version of Hatsue into the game board. Hatsue seemed kind of confused by the board and it looked like she was just going to let Kali die. Why does Irori keep doing this? While Hatsue was helpful in getting rid of the shadow creatures I can help but feel she didn’t fully embrace the situation. As Hatsue passed through me on the way to a shadow creature I couldn’t help but wonder if she was trying to get me to stop barking orders at her or if she even noticed someone was there. I am starting to understand why Irori is so concerned about Hatsue but at the same time it is not really clear how Irori expects me to help her.

Abby and mom keep telling me that I should surround myself with smart people but they certainly couldn’t have been talking about Hatsue. I am pretty sure Abby and mom expect these smart women to tell me when I am doing something stupid and not to remind me that I am not very smart. Speaking of smart people during the trial of the board game I was about to use a touch spell on Kali without any thought to the consequences of actually touching Kali.

I created a passages to allow others to get out of the game after I realized Ameiko had pushed her way to the outside wall and left the game board. Some took the opportunity to leave while others stayed behind. I was glad to see Radella grab the drained Zosi and take him out of the maze. He had an odd grin on his face as they passed by me. Clearly he is up to something.

It all comes back to what to do about the Ameiko situation? Maybe we should just send her back to stay with Koya.

Character: Qatana

Qatana’s Journal for Desnus 29, 4713

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Wealday, Desnus 29, 4713 morning
Yugureda Shosaito’s Island

“I told all of you, ‘Oh, look, there’s an island shrouded in unnatural shadows and so you know there’s going to be undead.’ But did anyone listen?”

Pookie was a bit miffed and was letting us all know it. It wasn’t that we hadn’t listened to her: we had come prepared with some spells that focused on undead (and besides, I can chanel energy to harm them). It’s just that there were so many other things that could explain the island’s odd appearance — things which might still hold true — and we wanted to cover all of the likely bases.

“Well I still think Shosaito could be a shadow-mancer or a dimensional sorcerer,” Huffy pouted.

“You’re not just making those things up, are you Huffy?” Timber asked.

Star interrupted, “I’m still pissed about that whole board game thing. It looked like a trap. It smelled like a trap. It felt like a trap. And still we walked right into it. And guess what? It was a trap!”

My friends were in a bit of an uproar. While the morning had not gone poorly, it had certainly revealed its share of surprises… or not, depending on which mouse you listened to. To put it simply, we had done better. The fact that we had also done a lot worse was not likely to end the debate and so I kept that to myself, occasionally saying, “Uh hum, uh hum” so they’d all know I was paying attention.

I was beginning to feel the headache coming on that usually arrived whenever they bickered incessantly like this.

The day had started innocuous enough.

We had slept overnight at the kappa’s river house and got up before dawn. Just as the sun rose I protected everyone with Life Bubble (because the island where we were heading was thick with misty shadows — it made sense, right?) and then used the wand to cast Fly on each of us.

The island was close enough that as long as we took no detours we’d be able to reach it before the low level spell wore off. This allowed me to prepare two high level spells I’d normally need for Wind Walk for some other purpose.

We flew across the lagoon and as we neared the island we saw pearl divers bobbing in the early morning sunlit waves. They saw us as well and dived out of sight. By the time we had landed on the shore the bright sunlight had been replaced by a shadowy haze.

A primitive village of clay huts huddled by the shingle above the water, and a path led up a hill to a walled manor, which was vague and indistinct in the distance.

Detect Magic showed a faint aura of magic all around us, but it was impossible to pinpoint either the source or the effect.

As my companions began to look about the huts the divers walked out of the water and approached us. Their shambling gate and cadaverous pallor suggested that they were some sort of ghoul.

Just moments before Zos and Kali had joked how undead would make perfect pearl divers. Zos’ brand of animated flesh holds none of the stigma of actual zombies, and I still wonder if using the Animate Dead spell actually creates true undead because, as with Zos’ constructs, no negative energy is involved, and no souls are pulled back from the afterlife to inhabit the corpses. It’s a pity that the priests at the Temple of Pharasma in Magnimar were never willing to have a frank discussion on the topic.

Beorn’s ears pricked up at this and he suggested, “Well it’s not too late to experiment.”

“Well now is not the time, ” I quickly replied.

The problem with most undead is that they have a habit attacking anything that was truly living. Speaking of which, we quickly destroyed the sea-ghouls (technically speaking they were lacedons, but I prefer Badger’s name for them).

It turned out that there was a hidden door in the floor of one of the huts that opened onto a shaft that led down to a tunnel that headed straight toward the house on the hill.

Following this we soon we came to a room that served as a wine cellar and junction with another plane. I said it made good use of what would otherwise be dead space, but nobody got my joke.

To the right was a glowing portal we suspected led to another plan. Someone suggested the Shadow Plane, and given what we’ve learned about the sorcerer Shosaito, this seemed likely.

To the left was another passageway, but its walls were clad in wood panelling and various household goods and supplies were stored here.

We had reached the house proper.

We decided to leave the portal for later and explore the house, but before we had gone very far we ran across a servant woman who was carrying a broom and other cleaning supplies, which she dropped in surprise.

She looked human and mortal, and to prevent her from running off and alerting the house I explained that her master had hired us to test the security of his houshouse, and could she please sit here quietly? She seemed confused, but compliant enough to have her hands tied with no protest.

Unfortunately another servant came down the hall, and after Olmas unsuccessfully tried to sell her the same “testing the master’s security” story, she called out and tried to run away.

Kali then called out, “Kill them. They’re undead.”

“Oh bother, ” McLovin said at the same moment Pookie scoffed, “Well, duh!”

They were a good bit tougher than you’d expect from house staff, and after they were dead Kali explained that they were a creature unique to Tien. They appeared as young women during the day, but at night their upper bodies tore away from their lower halves and they flew around consuming mortals.

They were called manananggals, which sounded a lot like the single word lyric to a song I had learned as a child. I started humming it, and quite a few of my companions picked up the tune. All of my little mouse friends collectively rolled their eyes.

We searched the house and grounds, slaying quite a few of these creatures, which I assume was significantly easier now than it would have been at night. Both Shalelu and Ameiko made good showings of themselves during the fights, which made me feel better about having them along.

The manor had seen better days, but at its height it must have been magnificent, with intricately carved rafters scrolling up beneath the tiled roof, richly painted panels, artfully arranged bamboo, and delicate wood frames supporting paper thin walls.

No, really, the walls were actually made from paper! The complete lack of privacy in such an arrangement seemed uncomfortable to me, but we had already seen that this was a common practice in Minkai.

Who knows, maybe it’s a culture of exhibitionists and voyeurs.

For having so many house keepers the manor was run down. Many of the rooms look unused and untidy. Even the master bedroom had a layer of dust upon all the furnishing within. I guess the master was living full time on the other side of the portal.

There was a very interesting shogi board in a large room in the center of the house. And by interesting I mean a) it had moderate auras of conjuration and illusion, and b) the pieces showed that a game was already in progress.

We had seen it earlier on our first pass through the house, and I had mentioned the magic auras and suggested it might be trapped. My companions agreed. “Yes, it looks like a trap.” “Oh, definitely trapped.” “Don’t touch it and set off the trap.”

All good advice, and so we let it be and went out into the courtyard to kill more manananggals.

But then when we came back in Kali and Zos decided they would try to play at the shogi table afterall. Just as I was trying to figure out how this came to pass, a loud voice proclaimed, “Clearly the game has started, but is the king winning or the jade general?”

And with that all of us in the room, which is to say all of us, were transported to a large game board, with shadowy walls isolating each of us in our own square.

We could hear one another through the walls, and from the shouts from the others it was obvious we had company. Shadows that drained strength with their touch were skulking about, and apparently not hindered by the walls.

I created a Spiritual Ally to provide some cover from these incorporeal attacks (with a “Good thinking!” from Star thrown in for moral support), which gave me time to think.

I had earlier detected a fairly strong illusion aura on the board, and that convinced me that at least part of the trap was fake. And sure enough, as soon as I realized that the walls became transparent.

I called out, “It’s an illusion! Disbelieve in the walls.”

A subtle dance then began where we moved toward the edge of the board while avoiding the shadows as best we could. Soon we all had exited the board and found ourselves back in the room with the shogi board trap.

“Burn it!” Star squeaked.

I was inclined to act upon her suggestion, but then we still have work to do here, and the walls are made of wood and paper. Perhaps when we are ready to leave.

Judicious use of our wands of Lesser Restoration cured the strength loss from various members of the party, after which we began to discuss our next actions.

But it seems our choice is limited to passing through the portal down below, defeating Shosaito, and rescuing O-sayum.

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal – Desnus 29, 4713

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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?

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal – Desnus 28, 4713 (Kali’s Harrowing)

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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?