Starday, Desnus 25, 4713 night
The Osogen Grasslands, Jiro’s Fort

I awoke to the enchanting aroma of bacon. It’s really hard to imagine a better way to start the day, and it put me and my friends in a positive frame of mind.

“Just how difficult can it be to restore the rightful heir to the kingdom?” Huffy asked.

Apparently pretty damned hard… and complicated, but we wouldn’t find out about that until later, when Jiro came home.

Ivan used a Sending to contact Ameiko and Jiro to tell them to come to the fort. That’s when we discovered Ameiko was with Jiro hunting bandits. Star nodded her approval, although I could see some disapproving frowns from Olmas and Kali. I heard Ivan mutter something like “she’s not porcelain doll” before stomping off.

I caught up with him later and heard him having a conversation with his wife, and was about to leave when he said, “So for us to stay married I have to become an immortal too?”

And people think some of the conversations with my mice friends are odd.

A horse arrived, riderless, at the fort gates and we let it in. It was still fully tacked up, and we suspected he was a surviver of one of the ronan’s or Hatsue’s attacks. Radella then questioned it about what happened.

Yeah, that’s right: she talked to the horse, but not like the circus acts where the handler asks “How much is two and three” and the horse paws at the ground five times, and then gets a sugar cube. No, she made all sorts of neighing sounds and the horse replied in kind. And then it got a sugar cube.

And people think some of the conversations with my mice friends are odd.

Later Kali and I teleported back to Hatsue’s village to bring Koya and the Great Seal in its warding box back to the fort via Wind Walk. The Seal can’t be moved by extra planar travel, and there was some concern that it would not assume gaseous form, but everything worked out fine.

Soon after we returned Hatsue and her band of merry men arrived arrived at the fort, and a couple of hours later we were joined by Jiro’s party, including Ameiko and Shalelu.

After they all had a chance to clean up, and pee and stuff we led them to the shrine. There we had Ameiko touch the statue, touch the statue while holding the warding box, touch the statue with the warding box, and so on. But none of that worked, and so we did what we wanted to avoid the most: we had Ameiko take the Seal itself out from the box and then touch the statue.

A circle of stone descended into the floor, revealing a shaft with alcoves holding Jiro’s family heirlooms, including another one of the great royal swords.

And then someone was scrying on Ameiko again, and so Kali put up an anti magic field to stop it.

Now Jiro was impressed. He was convinced of Ameiko’s authenticity as a member of the royal family, and of our dedication to return her to the throne.

He laid out a set of goals he thought critical to our mission, each one as intricate and complex as anything we’d done thus far.

First he thought we should get the ninja clans to support us. Well naturally we’d want the ninja clans, but what, is there a ninja clan guild or secret meeting where we could make our case? As it turned out, yes there was. The ninja leaders met in the city of Enganoka every month at the full moon.

Second, we needed to gain the confidence of the geisha houses. Hmm, yes, well, why wouldn’t we? Because tea was good, and whomever had the recipe for the best tea cakes would become empress? I didn’t quite get the details behind this, but Jiro was certain that it was imperative that we had the support of the country’s geishas. Personally I suspect he just wants to hang out with pretty women. Anyway, the center for all things Geisha was in Sakakabe, and the head geisha was called Okuhaku, who ran the most prestigious tea house in the land.

And third, we needed the backing of the military, which was unfortunately controlled by the regional governor, Sikutsu Sennaka, whom rumor has it that he had Okuhaku’s uncle killed. We needed to take him out.

Well this one Star and I liked best, but even we had to admit taking out the head of the regional government would be difficult, and maybe we should complete the other two first. Who knows, maybe the tea cakes really were that good.

We decided to talk to the geisha’s first, and then the ninja clans next (the next full moon was two weeks away). We would use Wind Walk to travel to Sakakabe.

Zos still needed to fetch his alchemy wagon and we needed a safe place to keep our horses while we were array, and the fort seemed like the best place to bring the lot of them. Zos and Kali teleported back to the village and will return next evening.

Sunday, Desnus 26, 4713 night
The Osogen Grasslands, Jiro’s Fort

The day began with a special ceremony with the three captured guards. Jiro was in attendance, as were some of my companions.

I faced them and began,

Jiro has given each of you a choice: leave this cage and serve him faithfully or be executed.

Know that if you chose the former I will cast a powerful spell upon you that, should you stray from the path and fail to serve Jiro by action or inaction then this doom shall befall you.

Each day you betray Jiro by word or deed your limbs will wither, your health will fade, your confidence and ability to think coherently will lessen.

Continue down this path of betrayal and in four days time you will be reduced to a quivering husk, unable to think or move.

These afflictions are permanent and no amount of penitence will restore you.

Do not think to trick the spell by twisting your oath to serve Jiro into meaning anything other following the path he sets before you: to treat others with goodness and generosity. The spell watches over you at all times, and should you think, “By stealing this item or by attacking this person I will be better able to fulfill my oath,” it will turn against you.

However, if you make the second choice, Jiro assures me that your death will be swift and merciful.

Think carefully!

Which shall you chose? A life in faithful service to another, or swift death?

Unsurprisingly all three chose to serve Jiro.

I had them come out from their cage one at a time as I cast Geas on each.

It took about ten minutes to perform one invocation, and for the first two it went as expected, with grey ghostly tendrils extended out from my hands and crawling around them like hundreds of scurrying little mice before dissolving into their clothes.

But for the third casting the lines of mice were cackling daemon faced mice with curved sharp horns and long fangs.

Beorn snickered and I rolled my eyes, but the guard looked shaken, and in a quavering voice asked, “Am I alright? I’m not weaker already? I was just thinking it would be nice to have a warm blanket tonight, and where I could find one, but I wouldn’t be stealing it.” I assured him that he was fine and that he should go and get his blanket.

We knew we did not want to travel with the Seal, and yet leaving it behind was risky as well. In the end Ivan and I found a spot in the cliff wall where using Stone Shape and Wall of Stone were able to secure it nearly twenty feet inside the rock.

Radella and I then crafted a secret door into the shrine and protected it with a Glyph of Warding.

I told Jiro about a lovely waterfall that was up the ravine from the fortress. “It’s called Schweitzer Falls, named after the noted explorer Albert Falls.”

He just stared at me.

“I told you he wouldn’t get it,” scolded Badger. “Oh, just shut up!” Takoda replied.

Zos and Kali arrived with the horses and his wagon. They’re laughing an awful lot together about something. I can only imagine.

Moonday, Desnus 27, 4713 night
Sakakabe

We spent most of the day Wind Walking from Jiro’s place to Sakakabe. We landed just outside the city, and Dasi, Ameiko, Shalelu and Koya went into the city to reconnoiter, make an appointment to meet with Okuhaku for tomorrow, and find a place for us to stay tonight.

Ivan and I followed along in gaseous form, hovering discretely above and out of sight. Everything went well, but they spent an inordinate amount of time shopping. Not just for the “special gift” we would be expected to give to Okuhaku when we met the next day, but shopping for all sorts of frilly crap.

When we returned to the clearing I discovered that all of the frilly crap was actually clothing. Honestly it was gaudy and impractical and I was having none of it. My black trousers, white(ish) top and grey cloak were good enough for any occasion. And besides, I was posing as a guard.

The plan was to enter the city with us posing as merchants and employees of the merchants.

We entered the city and made our way up to the top, inner most circle, where we met a little resistance from the guards at the gate. Kali caught on really quickly and bribed them. We passed through and onto our inn.

Toilday, Desnus 28, 4713 evening
Sakakabe

What a day! We spent most of the morning selling our stash of loot and shopping. But this time we were looking for useful items. We have been upgrading Ameiko’s and Shalelu’s equipment ever since we came down from the Crown of the World, and we continued to do so today. It is apparent that neither Ameiko nor Shalelu are content to stand by and let us “take back the crown” for her.

This also brought up the delicate question of what to do for Koya. She may have a fiery spirit, but she has the constitution of a ginger bread man.

Fortunately while wandering the streets of Sakakabe we came across a temple to Desna, and Koya expressed a desire to “visit for a while.” I suspect she knew we were worried about her safety and chose the temple as a place to stay while we were out doing dangerous things.

We spent lunch at a tea house — not the tea house, but a nice one none the less. And then there was more scrying upon Ameiko. We simply got quiet. Unlike Status, the Scrying spell does not give the location of the subject. You only see the immediate surroundings of who you are scrying on, and Ameiko was in a tea house. There’s probably only ten thousand or so tea houses in all of Minkai.

We purchased more supplies and then it was time for our appointment with Okuhaku.

The tea house where we ate lunch was nice, but this place was over the top grand. We were greeted and seated, and our gift accepted. O-hakami then joined us and asked why we wanted to speak with her.

I sat there, nibbling a tea cake, as Dasi began to explain how we were allied with governor Sikutsu Sennaka and were…

Wait? Really? Didn’t he kill Okuhaku’s uncle? Weren’t we supposed to overthrow him? Maybe someone had possessed Dasi! Maybe it was something in the tea cakes! I dropped mine onto the plate with a loud clink, and leaned over to Dasi, “Are we here on behalf of the governor? It sure sounds like it from what you’re saying, and Okuhaku looks a little tense.”

Dasi’s eyes lit up in realization of how what he had been saying could be misconstrued. Cool. I left him to it and picked up my tea cake.

I snapped out of a daze some quarter of an hour later to Beorn’s insistent hissing, “Is he ever going to get to the point?”

I looked around and noticed that Dasi was still in the act of exchanging pleasantries with Okuhaku. “For crying out loud,” moaned Beorn, we’re going to be here all night.”

“Excuse me, ” I said out loud, “Sorry for interrupting, but we plan to overthrow Sikutsu Sennaka, and Jiro suggested we enlist your help.”

There was a moment of silence, but then Okuhaku warmed right up to us and became very helpful.

She was sure her very best geisha, O-sayum, would be of immeasurable help to us. (Exactly how, she never said. Seriously this must be a Tien thing with geishas and tea houses providing critical aid in overthrowing governments.)

The problem is that O-sayum was missing. She had left to meet with a tea house client, known as “the pearl merchant,” whom she didn’t like, and whom had obsessed over her for years, and whom she always stayed away from because he gave off a desperate, creepy old man vibe. But all of a sudden, maybe a week or two back, she announced she was meeting him on his private island for a day. She left and they have not heard from her since. The “pearl merchant” insisted she had never arrived.

We searched her room and met her friend, and found an interesting ivory box, which we discovered she had a local artist craft for her. The artisan had left his mark on the base, and so after Ivan tried to scry on the missing O-sayum (the spell worked, but he saw only darkness) we went to visit him.

At the artist’s studio we found out that O-sayum was friends with an old turtle-man, whom she called her uncle.

“How do you get a turtle-man?” Huffy asked. Pookie replied, “When a man loves a turtle very much…” “Quiet, Pook!” I snapped.

Dasi said the turtle thing must be kappa, a mystical beast of Minkai that lived in the rivers.

The artist agreed, and said O-sayum had also ordered a vase containing several items, which she never picked up. It turned out these were the very things needed to summon a kappa up from his home when you stood on his river’s bank.

There was a river about seventy miles to the northwest where her kappa was supposed to live, and we decided to visit him tonight.

Toilday, Desnus 28, 4713 night
Jikko River

We used Wind Walk to fly up the coast, and as we approached the mouth of the Jikko river we saw an island wrapped in darkness and mists just off the coast. We realized that it must be the “pearl merchant’s” island. Huh.

We landed on the bank, and beneath the limbs of a huge magnolia tree placed the essential salts into the water and called out to the kappa.

There was a great swirl of eddies out in the river, followed by a loud splash as a large turtle rose up out from the water and climbed upon the shore on two legs.

The kappa was very friendly and yes, of course he knew of O-sayum: he was her uncle after all. Wouldn’t we like to go to his home and talk?

And so here we are, somewhere beneath the river in a dome shaped structure made of rock and mud, talking with an ancient turtle-man.

We learned that years ago O-sayum’s mother was fleeing from an evil dark wizard — “Just once I wish it was an evil light wizard,” McLovin said, but we all ignored him — with her infant daughter. The wizard killed the mother, who had tossed her baby into the river, where the kappa rescued her and raised her until she was old enough to move to Sakakabe and be a geisha.

But the dark wizard was obsessed over finding the daughter. “He lives on the island right off the shore from here. He is powerful in the magics of darkness and air.”

Right. He’s the pearl merchant. I guess I know where we’re heading next.