Pharast 12, 4713 (evening, Forest of Spirits)

We’ve added both a traveler and a wagon to the caravan. It’s like there’s some conspiracy out there to keep me locked in a perpetual cycle of travel planning.

I haven’t seen very many armored wagons in my life. You would think mom and dad would have used them a lot but that’s not the case at all. As dad explained to me once, an armored wagon really draws attention to the fact that you’re transporting something valuable. And while they are certainly harder to break into (and steal from), they are just as easy to disable as any other wagon: you only have to kill the horses. That means they’re best for transporting dangerous cargo, where the armor helps keep something in rather than others out, or  important passengers or items that everyone already knows are inside but might need an extra deterrent to keep them honest.

This wagon falls into that first category. Our new addition is a gnome named Zosimus, and he is traveling with an alchemy lab the likes of which I have never seen.

I’m no stranger to gnomes. There are quite a few in Magnimar, and I spent enough time down in Ordellia that I got to know a few fairly well. In fact, I purchased a lot of my sarees from Grahaethelwin and Kyla. He’s obsessed with fabrics, especially those from south of the Inner Sea, and Kyla’s astonishingly talented as a clothes designer and tailor. Their shop is just this side of claustrophobic but what it lacks in space and room to breathe it makes up for in color and texture, it’s walls thick with bolts of fabric and the floor a maze of clothing racks (all Kyla’s tailoring). I think the only reason it isn’t more popular with human folk is the difficulty of getting in and out. And I suppose the vertigo.

Zosi is one of those rare gnomes with blue skin. I have to wonder if it’s natural or a result of experimentation with his lab equipment? No, I am not going to ask him.

He was traveling with a small group of people who apparently hadn’t gotten the memo that they shouldn’t be in here, and they were attacked by hobgoblins that the giants hadn’t already killed and eaten. We came along just in time to be too late to help them; Zosi was the only survivor.

He seems eager to join us. Apparently, he was just hired help and had no real connection to his companions except as a source of income (indeed, his primary concern was not that they had died, but rather that he’s now unemployed). He seems particularly eager to be going southeast. Obviously there’s a story there, but it’s not our business. As long as no one comes calling for him, anyway.

Tomorrow morning I’ll use a spell to create the parts we’ll need to strengthen the wagon’s undercarriage so that it doesn’t slow us down. We’ve pooled the weapons and armor from the hobgoblins and the dead men for use as materials.

That sounds rather cold, doesn’t it?

Pharast 16, 4713 (night, Forest of Spirits)

Zosi asked me about my family tonight. I told them that I grew up in Sandpoint, that we currently live in Magnimar, and that they run a merchant business there and have for most of my life. That got us to talking about all the traveling we did when I was younger.

Then, out of the blue, he asked, “Do they know what you are doing out here? What do they think about it?”

I didn’t answer for a while. What do they think about it? For sure, it’s complicated. They’re proud, but obviously scared and worried. And of course it didn’t get off to a great start. How to explain that?

“They know. When this all began, we had a … big argument. Actually, I should just call it a fight. There was a lot of yelling. I … It doesn’t matter. Things are better now. They are … supportive. But they worry. A lot.”

I spoke with them a few nights ago. I conveniently left out the whole mess with Prince Batsiakhar and I feel guilty about it because I promised them I would … that I wouldn’t hide anything from them. But that’s exactly what I did, right? I don’t know why. Habits are hard to break, I guess.

“Did you work in your family’s business at all?”

“Yes, sort of. I did some of the passage planning for a while. I can tell you don’t know what that is. It’s all about the logistics of how a ship goes form one place to another: the stops en route, customs forms at the destination, and similar logistics.” I smiled. “I was pretty good at it.”

“So why did you leave it?”

“I wanted a change.”

There was an uncomfortable pause as he just sort of looked at me. I knew what he was thinking but I wasn’t up for a conversation about it. “Yes, I am aware of the irony.”

He let it drop.

Pharast 21, 4713 (morning, Forest of Spirits)

We’ve encountered three spirits so far. The latest one was last night and he felt significantly more malevolent than the first, and from what Qatana described, the one they encountered while tracking the tiger as well. Fortunately, our plan to use positive energy seems to work and as long as you can hold them at bay they don’t seem to be a significant threat. But maybe the deeper in we go the worse it gets.

Pharast 25, 4713 (early afternoon)

We’re sitting in a small clearing in some of the densest forest I have ever seen. The trees are so close together that the canopy blots out the sky. Who would have thought that we’d be needing the caravan lights during the day again?

This clearing is a sacred place for the kami and I guess I can understand that. It must be beautiful here in the summer when the sun climbs higher in the sky, but even now we can see the light on the tops of the trees above and it’s a lovely sight. Or maybe I just miss the sky that much.

We’re waiting now for … something. I don’t know what. The other kami, I think. I get the feeling that Miyaro is not really sure herself.

I guess it wasn’t obvious why we’re here or what we’re doing in spite Miyaro’s claim to be working as their agent. We were challenged by what I assume is the guardian spirit of this clearing before being allowed to enter. He asked us why we were traveling through the forest, and pointed out that we aren’t supposed to be here. “There’s a better road,” he kept saying. Yeah, there is, but it will get us all killed.

Finally, Qatana just came out and said what we we’re doing and those seemed to be the magic words.

“You specifically seek to undo the oni of the Five Storms?” he asked, somewhat incredulously.

“Yes, we do.”

“Then you may enter.”

I guess we should have opened with that.

(evening)

Kami and small forest animals began arriving around twilight. It was just a few at first, peeking at us from around the trees but as the night settled in their numbers swelled until we were quite literally surrounded. Mostly they were, and I suppose still are, both cautious and curious. A few have risked coming close to us, but for the most part they have stayed back at what they probably feel is a safe distance.

Then one of them approached Miyaro. She translated as he spoke to us.

As usual, the price of admission is doing a favor for someone. I have this feeling that this is what the future holds for us and for Ameiko. Want to earn my trust? Great. Prove your intentions by doing this one thing. Said thing is never easy. If it was, it would already be done.

We are headed to a place called The House of Withered Blossoms. The kami of the Forest had sworn an oath to keep the oni of the Five Storms imprisoned there, but because these are divine bargains the rules of it were needlessly complicated and ultimately self-defeating. The kami weren’t allowed to enter this prison while the oni were within, and that meant they couldn’t keep an eye on what was happening.

Prisons, whether mundane or magical, are not foolproof. Escaping is really just a function of time, and the goal is to make that as difficult as possible through physical and social barriers so that the prisoner dies (or is released) before they find their own way out. And this is the fundamental flaw in imprisoning someone for eternity: they have infinite time. When you aren’t allowed to even look in on the prisoners, then you have also given them free reign to plot and scheme, and that just makes their job easier.

The kami can’t enter to investigate which means at least one oni remains inside. I know how this sort of thing goes. It only takes one oni to keep the kami out, and it doesn’t matter who that oni is or what their capabilities are so essentially they just needed a warm body to stay behind. If I were in the Five Storms’ position, I would choose the oni they are least likely to miss or need. So that is good news for us. The bad news is, these aren’t just random oni: they are what passes as leadership of the Five Storms. So even the loser is probably going to be a hard fight.

The kami can’t enter the House but they can go look at it, and so we asked them what we should expect to find there, other than an oni.

“Hobgoblins,” he said. “And spiders.”

…

Why did it have be spiders?

Pharast 26, 4713 (late night, House of Withered Blossoms)

The House sits in the center of a depression, and we’ve made our camp on the slope leading up to the rim. It’s basically a big pagoda, which would be unremarkable if it wasn’t encased in vines and wrapped with spider webs.

I used a spell to scout the towers from the comfort of our campsite, and I learned there’s a hole in the roof that we can use to gain entry without having to walk in the front door because why would we be so stupid as to walk in the front door?

Inside the tower are more spider webs and, in case there was any question about that, a bunch of spiders, though some of them appear to be spider-human hybrids of some sort. Because of course they are. A couple of levels down there is this filthy, grotesque and very large man. As the eye passed I saw him eat a spider that was scurrying across his face, so, point in his favor, but I am betting that’s all he’s got going for him.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get the eye into all of the building, but we have learned enough to know that we shouldn’t try to go in through the front door. Which we knew already, but it’s always nice to be validated. The plan tomorrow is to drop in through the roof.

The vines around the building have been treating us to a show. At sunset, these giant purple blossoms opened up, and as the night wore on they fell away into a snowfall of petals. That was followed by fruit that are growing at an impossible pace. It is eerie, beautiful, fascinating, and alien. And also filled with spiders.

Some people think the man I saw was the oni, but I am not convinced. The kami said their were both spiders and hobgoblins here, and I didn’t see any trace of the latter. Granted, there are parts of the tower I couldn’t get into, but I get this feeling there is more to this place than what we can see. A lot more.