Sarenith 14, 4713 (late afternoon, Enganoka)

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

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

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

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

There weren’t.

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

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

(night)

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

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

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

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

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

Sarenith 15, 4713 (night, Seinaru Heikiko)

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

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

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

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

So that would be a “no”.

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

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

Sarenith 16, 4713 (late morning, Seinaru Heikiko)

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

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

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

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

Sarenith 12, 4713 (morning, Shuryo Onsen)

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

When I came into the dining hall this morning most of the others were already there and they were still mulling over what to do about the coin. Which means we’ve made no progress since I went to bed last night when we were waffling over whether to sell it to one of the clans, try to take possession of it, or just hold on to it for the next couple of weeks while we figure out what to do. That last one is basically just stalling; avoiding making the decision because that’s easier than agreeing on one. And who knows? Maybe we’ll figure something out. Before he turned in, Dasi said something about researching sovereign dragons which means the plan could conceivably be: find where one lives, drop in for a visit and ask it politely if it wouldn’t mind eating a minor, evil artifact.

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

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

At the time I just figured she wanted a break from it all, but after an hour or so went by and we were getting ready to leave and there was still no sign of her? That’s when I started worrying. Still, she knew where we were headed and when we’d be there, so I thought to myself, Maybe she’ll just catch up with us later, but of course now it’s later and there’s still no Qatana.

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

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

(late afternoon)

One of the Nine Pawns gave Dasi and me a tour of the resort under the guise that we were artisans hired to do something-or-other as part of the renovations. We didn’t really have a plan beyond me being a sculptor and Dasi being…whatever it was he was supposed to be. Because, really, no one cared. We looked a part and that’s all that mattered. What few workers even paid attention to us probably just figured “they’re here to do a thing” and never gave it a second thought.

Radella, Ivan and Zosimus stayed behind because they took the self-guided version last night while I was casting my spell to eavesdrop on Kaibuninsho. The point of doing all this was to get familiar with the facility, figure out where Sennaka would most likely be spending his time, and where guards would likely be stationed. That took us all of about 10 minutes, but to avoid suspicion we needed to stretch it out. It took Radella & Co. quite a bit longer, mostly because they were skulking around in the dark trying not to be seen.

Like most luxury properties in Minkai, this one sports shoji walls and doors. Paper is great for interior lighting but lousy on privacy. I can’t imagine trying to have an intimate moment with someone when you can literally be heard, and possible seen, from across the building. Not that this is going to be an issue for me personally—I don’t have time for that sort of thing, even if there were someone around to provide an opportunity—but that’s not really the point. Though I guess if you can afford to build your house out of washi paper, you can afford to pay people to pretend to look the other way.

We meet with the Nine Pawns again tonight to finalize the details for tomorrow now that we have a rough idea of how we’re going to pull this off. It won’t require precise timing but if our parts are more than a couple of minutes out of alignment we’ll either be facing a prepared Sennaka or a rather large and presumably violent army. Back when it was just them, the samurai were arranging events such that they’d have their best possible shot at taking down their ex-daimyo, but they didn’t really expect to succeed or live through the attempt. We intend to do both, so we need to make sure everyone knows their part.

There’s still no word from Qatana.

Sarenith 13, 4713 (morning, Shuryo Onsen)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(afternoon, Shuryo Onsen)

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

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

“Why? Save the spell.”

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

“Why bother?”

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

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

(night, Seinaru Heikiko)

Operation “Big Dumb Fight” was both big and dumb, as predicted. It also put me in the middle of the action, where I had to cast my spells while people were swinging in my face. I am not kidding: at times I had to completely ignore the person trying to kill me because I had more important things to do. But it worked and Sikutsu Itsuru has been informed of his brother’s untimely death. I am sure lots of tears were shed at the news.

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

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

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

From this it should be obvious that we are not going to be using the coin as either a bargaining chip or a fundraiser. We don’t want it to end up being used against us, and we don’t want to lose track of it, so that only leaves trying to claim it. A couple of us are potentially good fits for the skills that are emblemized on it, so we’re going to give it a go. If it works, then we buy all the time we need. The only catch is the stain on the soul, but Koya can intercede with Desna if necessary to undo any damage…so long as the new owner doesn’t get carried away.

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

 

Sarenith 9, 4713 (small hours, Enganoka)

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

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

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

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

(night, Seinaro Heikiko)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He snorted in response.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sarenith 10, 4713 (noon, Seinaro Heikiko)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(evening)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sarenith 11, 4713 (late afternoon, Shuryo Onsen)

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

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

“I’m not lost,” she answered.

“Is your home in the woods?”

“West of here. We arrived early.”

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

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

“Under cover of night.”

So now we wait.

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

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

(night, Shuryo Onsen)

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

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

They’re back.

(late night, Seinaro Heikiko)

We got him!

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

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

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

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

And just like that, it was over.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And therein lays the problem.

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

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

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

I don’t know what we should do.

Sarenith 7, 4713 (early morning, Enganoka)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(late morning)

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

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

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

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

“So. Where’s the city morgue?”

Everyone turned to look at me.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(night)

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

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

Sarenith 8, 4713 (night, Enganoka)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Enganoka, early afternoon)

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

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

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

(Enganoka, night)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Enganoka, late night)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Maybe we both did the right thing.”

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

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

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

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

“You missed all the excitement.”

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

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

“Was that your handiwork?”

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

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

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

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

Sarenith 2, 4713 (evening, Kiniro Kyomai Teahouse)

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

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

So why tell us this?

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

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

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

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

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

Sarenith 4, 4713 (evening, Kiniro Kyomai Teahouse)

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

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

So there is that to look forward to.

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

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

Desnus 29, 4713 (late afternoon, Namidakame Lagoon)

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

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

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

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

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

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

You think?

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

Desnus 30, 4713 (late afternoon, Namidakame Lagoon)

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

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

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

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

Desnus 31, 4713 (evening, Kiniro Kyomai Teahouse)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sarenith 1, 4713 (evening, Kiniro Kyomai Teahouse)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I can’t wait to leave it.

(mid-afternoon, Namidakame Lagoon)

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

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

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

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

“They’re not real.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Desnus 29, 4713 (morning, Namikadame Lagoon)

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

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

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

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

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

(late morning, Yugureda Shosaito home)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My gods. What has this man done?

Desnus 28, 4713 (late night, Jikko River)

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

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

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

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

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

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

“It signifies a loss of self and identity.”

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

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

“Deals and bargains?” I asked.

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

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

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

“So don’t count on it.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is the sky blue?