The Jade Regent's Rise to Power

One evening before leaving the fortress of Seinaru Heikiko, the party was gathered in front of the fireplace, sipping sake. Hatsue was describing some of the horrors that were being inflicted on the people of Minkai in the name of the Jade Regent. Ameiko suddenly slammed her cup down on the table. "How did this monster ever ascend to the throne in the first place?" All eyes turned to Hirabashi Jiro, who stared into the fire for a long moment before he spoke.

The Birth of a Rebellion

Sandoval wasn’t sure what was going on, but Bella had just dashed past him with a look of concern on her face. Not sure if she was running away or towards, he decided it might be a good idea to follow. He opened the door and stepped out into the fortress’s courtyard. Ahead of him, Bella was sprinting away, drawing her blades as she ran, and he could see Shinjiro running down the far side of the open space. Looking ahead to where their paths would converge, he saw a pair of huge wooden figures, like animated trees, swinging at Marie, who circled in the air above them. He wasn’t sure what had alerted Bella and Shinjiro to her plight, but he didn’t waste time wondering – he just started running. As he ran, he cast a Slow spell on the pair of figures, but it seemed to have no effect. Zhustin suddenly appeared in the courtyard, having used his Dimensional Step, to hurry himself along. Nicki burst out of one of the buildings, and fired off a quick set of Magic Missiles, but the magical bursts seemed to have no effect either. Ahead of Shinjiro, Sandoval saw two more seemingly innocuous woodpiles begin shuddering into animated life. He guessed that these were some kind of guardians that the bandits’ druid shaman had created to augment the fortress’s defenses.

Clearing the Fortress of Seinaru Heikiko

Sawyer stepped over a pair of dead bodies, and peeked into the room that the bandits had poured out of. There was a common room, with a kitchen area at the back. Another large alcove with a conference table and several chairs filled the far end of the room. Woven curtains could be drawn to close the kitchen and meeting room off from the rest, but they were pulled open. Six or eight Tian women cowered in the far corners of the room, trembling with fear. They were dressed like servants, but to Sawyer, all Tians looked the same, and as far as he could tell, these were indistinguishable from the other “servant” who had turned into a were-tiger a few minutes ago, and he was reluctant to risk being surrounded. Bella, standing beside him, nudged him aside. “Let me calm them down,” she said, and strode into the room. To her dismay, the women shrieked and shrank away; apparently her blood-spattered face and gore-dripping swords weren’t reassuring. Just then, Zhustin’s earth elemental rose up out of the floor, sent underground by his master to help in the combat that had just ended. The women screamed, and scuttled as far away as they could get.

So Much for Surprise

Bella crept down the stairs and listened at the closed door. The others waited at the top of the stairs, stepping over the body of the guard they’d quickly dispatched after teleporting onto the hidden lookout post. They’d found a back way into the fortress of Seinaru Heikiko, and they were pleased that they’d been able to breach the fortress without raising an alarm. So far, so good. Bella could hear muffled voices from behind the door, but either her Tian wasn’t as good as she’d thought, or they were speaking a dialect she didn’t know. She remounted the stairs and told the others.

Minkai at Last!

Sawyer staggered back against the wall, clutching his stomach. Marie’s healing had stopped the worst of the bleeding and closed his wound, but his insides still didn’t feel … right. Munasukaru’s wicked blade had all but eviscerated him, and it still felt like some of his parts weren’t where they were supposed to be. When it was obvious that no one else was going to come screaming out to attack them, Sandoval began to sing quietly. His Soothing Performance bathed the group in waves of healing sound, and Sawyer felt his organs shift back into place.

Munasukaru's Sanctum

Bella crept down the hallway. She’d already checked it for traps, but her eyes kept scanning nervously anyway. Every instinct was screaming ambush, even though she saw nothing but empty hallway with closed doors at either end. Behind her, the recently freed prisoners were making a ruckus – some talking excitedly, others weeping with relief. She just wished they’d shut up – their noise was going to get everyone killed. A muffled rattle sounded closer by, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Sawyer following close behind, and she breathed a little easier. Behind Sawyer, Marie had taken up position watching the door at the far end of the room. Maybe they had this under control after all.

The Celebration of Chains

Sawyer was fighting back the urge to vomit. The sheet of ice formed by Nicki’s spell was quickly melting, and the chunks of rotting corpses that hung suspended in the stinking, slimy waters of Munasukaru’s daughters’ lair were re-emerging. Sawyer had always thought he had a strong stomach. Certainly growing up in the slums of Riddleport he’d seen, smelled, and eaten plenty that would have brought a weaker man low. But the cumulative effects of the homage to gluttony, vice, cruelty, and death that was the onis’ stronghold was wearing him down. The nagas’ lair, with their “garden” of death and disfigurement had been the final straw. The ice below him cracked, and a cluster of milky eyeballs floated up, and he gagged again.

The Garden of Earthly Suffering

Still choking from the thick cloud of dust, the party climbed over the pile of collapsed ceiling stones that now formed the Destachans’ burial mound. After a few dozen more yards, the long corridor they’d been traversing at last came to an end. It opened out into a broad stone platform overlooking a series of rough stone ledges leading down. The open area was littered with the rotting corpses of dozens of hobgoblins: the Destrachans’ prey and playthings. Water cascaded from cracks in the walls, and spilled down the rough steps leading steeply down. Far below, at the bottom, the party could just make out a black hole into which the water drained. As far as they could see, it was the only exit.

Buried Alive!

“Seriously?” Sawyer cursed. “More frickin’ hobgoblins?” He parried an incoming morningstar with Suishen, and blocked another blow with his shield. The third hobgoblin warrior’s attack slipped past his defenses, but glanced harmlessly off his thick plate armor. “I’m really getting sick of you guys!” he bellowed, as he switched from defense to offense, and sent Suishen slicing through the center attacker’s leather armor is if it were old cheese.

The group was still deep beneath the House of Withered Blossoms, exploring the oni domain now known as Munasukaru’s Penance. They’d fought their way through countless hobgoblin minions of various shapes and sizes, and had just killed off another batch, these accompanied by a pair of Stone Giants. Following a passage from that chamber, they’d found their way blocked by a rushing underground river, it’s current frothing over the remains of a fallen stone bridge. Sawyer had long ago lost patience with this place; he missed the sun and open sky, and was sick to death of the stench of hobgoblins. Unwilling to wait for the rest of the group to waste time coming up with a “plan” for crossing, he’d simply wrapped his arm around Bella’s waist and Air Walked across the stream. Unfortunately, the moment they touched down on the other side they were surrounded by more of the stinking hobgoblins, and two more Stone Giants were lumbering forward out of the darkness.

Dude! I'm Like, Stoned!

“I am so sick of these frickin’ hobgoblins!” Nicki groaned as he pointed his finger at the charging Sisters of the Broken Path. Ever since the group had descended beneath the House of Withered Blossoms in a quest to rid it of the oni still inhabiting their former prison, it seemed that they couldn’t swing a traipsing cat without hitting some more of the smelly, hairy, snarling army of hobgoblin minions that served their oni overlords. This latest level of the underground complex had proved to be no exception; no sooner had they crossed the underground lake to reach a small landing on the far side than they were accosted by three more of the fanatical female hobgoblin monks.

Down the Drain

After retrieving Suishen from under the noses of some angry gorgons and killing Munasukaru’s son, Ichirou, the party had continued in their exploration of Munasukaru’s Penance. After traversing a very long hallway, they’d found a series of barracks, and ambushed the Withered Blossom Warriors who were living there. But the hobgoblin warriors weren’t the only threat; another huge ogre mage fighter had appeared, and entered the fray.

Life's The Pits

The party had finally defeated the Sisters of the Broken Path, the fanatical hobgoblin monks who guarded their sado-masochistic oni master. That master was now bloodied and kneeling at the feet of his new mistress, Bella. But the party had paid a price: Suishen, the ancestral sword of the Amatatsu family, had been wrest from Sawyer’s grip and hurled into the gas-filled pit they were fighting beside.

Sisters of the Broken Path

Over the course of a few minutes, the party had teleported into the second floor of the crooked pagoda they’d discovered deep beneath the House of Withered Blossoms. They’d ambushed the guards (who’d been expecting an assault from outside, not from the room behind them), defeated an armored golem and a clan of ogrekin hobgoblins who’d come to the guards’ aid, and held off an assault of hobgoblin lepers. All this before breakfast. It was shaping up to be a rather taxing day.

The Mockery Pagoda

The party awoke to the smell of boiled pork and fungus stew. They’d spent the night in the hobgoblins’ kitchen, the cleanest place they could find in the vast cave that served as home, fortress, and breeding ground for the Five Storms’ army of lackeys. Anxious to leave the cave’s stench behind them, they hurried to the Swine Shogun’s keep and made their way across the narrow bridge that led from its roof to a small opening near the cave’s roof. This opened into a broad stairway that wound down and down, deeper into the cavern complex far beneath the House of Withered Blossoms.

The Swine Shogun

The party was embroiled in a battle royale with a horde of hobgoblins and hill giants, deep beneath the House of Withered Blossoms. They were nearing the limits of their endurance, and were almost out of spells, but a fresh wave of Withered Blossom Warriors came charging out to challenge them. They were Hasted, and slammed into Sandoval and Zhustin’s summoned air elementals with ferocious battle cries.

The Battle of Hobgoblin Cavern

The party had discovered a great cavern deep beneath the House of Withered Blossoms that served as home to a small army of hobgoblins serving the oni of the Five Storms. After exchanging ranged fire for a while from the ledge high above the cavern floor (and getting fried by some very potent Fireballs), Marie had teleported down with Sawyer and Sandoval to take the fight to the enemy. Bella followed, courtesy of her Ring of Feather Falling, and Zhustin started scrambling down the ladder.

Kicking The Anthill

The party had penetrated the outer defenses of the underground fortress that had been the prison of the oni of the Five Storms for centuries. But they knew that there was far worse ahead. They stood in the body-strewn vestibule and took stock: the small balcony on which they stood had two doors leading out of it, one to the south and another to the north. Bella, on high alert from the many traps they’d already encountered, checked the south door carefully, as well as the small alcove that it revealed when opened, but everything looked safe. There was another door leading out of the alcove, and after a thorough inspection, she pulled it open.

Munasukaru's Embrace

Deep beneath the House of Withered Blossoms, the party had fought their way past the outer defenses of the oni’s stronghold, oddly named “Munasukaru’s Penance”. They’d rescued two slaves who had been impaled on the gates, and learned that somewhere beyond the closed door to the east was a vast cave full of scores of hobgoblins, ruled by a cruel and gluttonous overlord known as the Swine Shogun. And that the hobgoblins feared and worshipped even more fearsome creatures, somewhere deeper in the vast complex. Just another day at the office.

Munasukaru's Penance

Upon reaching the heart of the Forest of Spirits, the party had learned that the oni of the Five Storms had been imprisoned for centuries inside an ancient pagoda called the House of Withered Blossoms. Somehow most of them had escaped over 150 years ago, and the kami guarding the pagoda had no idea how. Since the kami were prevented from crossing the threshold as long as even one oni remained inside, they asked the party to enter, learn what they could, and kill any oni still inside. Complicating things, a band of spider-like creatures called aranea were also occupying the pagoda, and had been at war with the oni for decades.

The House of Withered Blossoms

Having survived an ambush by a clan of stone giants, the party continued on through the mysterious Forest of Spirits. Despite the unnatural quiet of the forest, the party couldn’t shake the feeling that they were not alone. At one point, several people could have sworn they heard the distant crack of a whip, and Ameiko and Miyaro noticed something flickering beside Zhustin, but nothing was there and the others looked at them like they were seeing and hearing things.

The Forest of Spirits

Following their new ally, Miyaro, the party had avoided the main road between Hongal and Minkai, which was heavily guarded by patrols of Minkaian soldiers loyal to the Jade Regent. Instead, they made their way south towards the Forest of Spirits, traveling on back roads that turned into cart paths, and finally little more than game trails. Despite their best efforts, they’d suddenly found themselves stopped by a patrol of Ja Noi Oni, led by a hulking ogre mage. “We’re the Minkai border patrol,” he’d proclaimed, despite the fact that the border with Minkai was still hundreds of miles away. “We have to search you and your wagons to make sure you’re not carrying any contraband.”

Farewell, Sweet Prince

Just when the party was feeling good about successfully tricking Prince Batsaikhar into accepting a worthless ring as the priceless artifact they’d won at the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, everything started falling apart. The Prince shocked everyone by asking Bella to marry him, and Bella shocked the Prince by not accepting immediately. Knowing that the Prince was not the sort to take disappointment well, the party decided to slip out of town before he could decide what form of punishment would be most appropriate for this insult. The streets of Ordu-Aganhei were packed with citizens celebrating the Feast of the Dragon, with fireworks going off everywhere and long paper dragons parading through the narrow streets. Suddenly, one of those dragons was cast off, and the people underneath were revealed as black-clad ninjas, who immediately attacked the party. Could this night get any worse?

The Sting

As the new Ruby Phoenix Champions, the party were the guests of honor at an elaborate celebration to mark the end of the Tournament. Amid the fireworks and entertainment, the Emissary told them that they would be escorted back to Goka first thing in the morning to access Hao Jin’s Vault to select their prize.

That brought the party back to their unresolved dilemma: Prince Batsaikhar was expecting them to bring him back some priceless artifact from the Ruby Phoenix’s vault, but they needed to come away with the Slate of Hiroto, an artifact that Suishen told them would allow Ameiko to command an army of terra-cotta warriors (assuming they could locate the matching Baton of Command). How could they satisfy the mercurial prince without losing Ameiko’s first chance of assembling an army? They stayed up late into the night brainstorming options, but ultimately decided that since they had no idea what type of treasures the Vault might contain, they really couldn’t decide on a strategy.

Champions!

After winning their semi-final match in the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, the party sat back to see who they’d face in the finals. The other two surviving contestants were the hobgoblin, Gomwai, facing the Scarred Ninja, Seishuku. As soon as the Emissary gave the signal, Gomwai took the fight to Seishuku, and in short order simply beat the snot out of him. As he stood over the fallen ninja, he picked out the party in the crowd and gave them a cold glare before striding out of the arena.

A Plot Revealed

Marthysan, the previous champion of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, had apparently been kidnapped, and the party had followed the clues to the deserted New Harbor waterfront. While everything appeared quiet, the party expected the worst, and prepared for trouble. They weren’t disappointed. Sandoval had teleported out to one of the ships, and heard muffled voices coming from a nearby fishing boat, and as he went to investigate, he was attacked by Darys Shrike, the hulking fighter from the Aspis Consortium’s team.

Something Rotten in Goka

The party had survived the third round of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, only to be ambushed while trying to enjoy a quiet bowl of noodles. A gang of thugs attacked from all sides, clearly practiced at fighting together and ganging up on their victims to maximize the brutality of their attacks. But they’d never dealt with opponents as quick and deadly as these.

Ruby Phoenix Tournament - Day 3

The party had just begun their third match of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, and found themselves facing the Chanters of the Sacred Song, a quartet of bards who combined lightning speed with sonic attacks that opened wounds and broke bones with nothing more than the force of their words. Before the team could even react, they found themselves hammered by a barrage of sound, while Shinjiro stood babbling incoherently against the wall, the victim of a well-placed Confusion spell.

Ruby Phoenix Tournament - Day 2 & 3

Shinjiro, Sawyer, Bella, and Nicki had just begun the Test of Three Towers against the Vudrani oracle, Ganyavesha. After using Greater Dispel Magic to eliminate many of the group’s more helpful spells, Ganyavesha hit them with a Mass Inflict Moderate Wounds. As they shuddered from the effects of the negative energy, the giant oracle leaped back down off her tower perch, and moved away from the towers.

Ruby Phoenix Tournament - Day 1 & 2

The party had won their first match of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament fairly easily, but they knew there were harder challenges to come. Since theirs had been the first match of the day, they settled in to watch the other matches and get a handle on their competition.

Welcome to the Ruby Phoenix Tournament

With Ameiko and Sandru held hostage by Prince Batsaikhar, the party had no choice but to agree to the Prince’s “invitation” to serve as his champions in The Ruby Phoenix Tournament, a competition held every 10 years between the finest martial teams from all over Golarion. They were paraded past cheering throngs (with armed soldiers standing by to ensure the enthusiasm of the cheers) to the Temple of Abadar. There the priests arranged them in the center of a teleportation circle, and began to chant …

A Prince of a Guy

Over six months since they set out on the Path of Aganhei, and more than nine months after leaving Magnimar, the party gazed out upon the fabled continent of Tian Xia. A vast expanse of steppes and grasslands stretched out before them, and as he led them down from the Wall of Heaven mountains, Ulf told them a little about the nation of Hongal that they were about to enter.

Katiyana's Ghost

Trying to find a way out of the Uqtaal Necropolis, the party had been ambushed by a pair of Yeti Savages as they made their way across the floor of a vast cavern that appeared to be some sort of throne room. The Yeti Savages put Ulf down before he even knew what hit him, and then another pair of Savages, accompanied by a half dozen other Yeti, began charging towards them from their hiding place in a deep chasm on the far end of the cavern. As if that wasn’t enough, the yeti chieftain, Bormurg, stepped right out of the stone wall behind Bella. It looked as if the party could be quickly overwhelmed.

A Fallen Friend

After defeating the Greater Shadow and its minion who guarded the tomb of the High Priestess, Spivey and Koya were anxious to re-sanctify the Tree of Life, once one of the holiest relics of the worship of Desna. Joined by Marie, the three clerics waded into the shallow pool surrounding the seemingly lifeless Tree. They joined hands around its slender trunk and in unison called forth the holy power of Desna. As the goddess’s power washed out of them, the violet radiance of the pool took on a darker hue, and the Tree’s branches began to thrash as if in a windstorm. With an anguished moan, a pair of Spectres emerged from the Tree!

The Shadow's Tomb

The party and their caravan had been traveling for days through the eternal night of the subterranean Path of Spirits, far below the Wall of Heaven mountains. Finally, they had reached the fabled Uqtaal Necropolis. This underground temple complex had once been consecrated to the worship of Desna, but sometime in the intervening centuries it had been desecrated by followers of the Tian god, Fumeiyoshi. At the entrance to the complex, two octagonal towers stood guard, and a party of Headless Wardens had emerged from them to challenge the party’s progress.

The Path of Spirits

The caravan descended from Ovorikheer Pass, leaving the plateau of the High Ice for the last time, and travelling down to the rolling plains below. The ground was still frozen tundra, but the sun was in the sky (at least for a handful of hours), the cliffs behind them cut off the biting wind, and the party could actually imagine that they might see spring again in their lifetimes.

Off the High Ice

Surrounded by a horde of ravenous zombies, things were looking grim for our intrepid heroes. They were battling furiously atop Dead Man’s Dome, and undead were falling left and right, but for every walking corpse that fell, five more stepped up to take its place.

Dead Man's Dome

In their trek across the arctic, the party had stumbled upon what seemed to be a Gate to the Elemental Plane of Cold. It was sucking what little heat remained in this polar climate, and making what was already a dangerous journey even more so. Koya Summoned a small earth elemental to go investigate the Gate, but as it approached, a trio of Ice Elementals rose up out of the ice pack to defend their turf. The one in the center was far larger than his kin, and stepped forward and promptly stomped Koya’s earth elemental into oblivion.

A Fungus Among Us

After their grueling battle with Katiyana and the storm gems, the group awoke bruised and sore, but grateful to be alive. The storm sphere that had hung above the tower was gone, leaving the interior dark, but through the hole in the ceiling they could catch glimpses of stars through the wisps of remaining cloud, the first time they’d been able to see the sky in weeks. They took this for a good omen, and set off to rejoin their friends in the caravan.

Katiyana's Demise

Having reached the top of the Storm Tower, the party found themselves engaged in a battle royale with Katiyana, disciple of the demon lord Sithhud. She expounded on some nefarious plot to use the power of the Storm Tower, along with the strange monoliths she had scattered across the arctic, to control the morozkos, the Hungry Storms, to send them to batter the warm lands of the south and bring glory to her demon lord. But the party couldn’t really care less about her mad schemes – they just wanted to survive the encounter.

Mistress of the Storm

Following Nicki’s unprovoked attack on the crysmals that were tending the crystalline “mainframe” of the Storm Tower, the group found themselves under psychic attack from the scorpion-like creatures. Two had already fallen to their blows, but four more still remained.

The Storm Tower

Trying to find the source of the undead infestation that was blocking their path across the Crown of the World, the party had stumbled upon a long, black road that led them to an incredibly tall hexagonal tower jutting up out of a lake of vile black slush at the foot of the Alabastrine Peaks. The tower was taller than any building they’d ever seen before, easily 300’ tall, and seemed to be made of the same black, seamless stone as the road they’d followed. Whatever lost race had constructed it must have rivaled the power of the fabled Thassilonians of yore.

The Long Black Road

The party had encountered a wide area of foul black slush oozing up through the ice pack. Not wanting to risk contact with the possibly poisonous substance, they’d devised a strategy of casting Water Walk on their yaks and all the non-flying party members in order to get across. Unfortunately, just as they’d begun crossing, they’d been ambushed by a trio of Chardas, who seemed to take no issue with the muck. One of the four-armed creatures had already put Sandru on the ground, and another was slicing up Nicki.

Black Slush

The party had been ambushed by a party of troll hunters in the polar wastelands, and they were taking serious damage. The male Troll Rippers were capable of literally tearing someone apart if they got their claws into them (as Sandru had learned, briefly), while their Troll Fury mate was using her magic to attack from a distance. Oh, and they seemed to be immune to fire and quickly regenerated, unless hit with acid.

Ice Hunters

The caravan had come across another of the strange black monoliths bearing the emblem of Sithhud planted in the bleak polar landscape. Based on past experience, they weren’t too surprised when a couple of dozen Frostfallen Zombies rose up from their burial places in the snow and attacked. Marie and Spivey had tried Channeling the power of Desna against the undead abominations, but something seemed to be inhibiting their connection to their goddess. One of the zombies seemed to be more regal somehow than the others, and when the Zombie Lord fell, the clerics felt their goddess’ presence return.

Onto The High Ice

The party’s relief at having survived their encounter with the white dragon was tempered by Zhustin’s death, and their mood was somber as they climbed out of the glacial rift, bringing the boy wizard’s body with them. They wrapped it in a shroud of furs, counting on the extreme cold to preserve the body, and began the long, cold trek back to Iqualiat.

Death in the Dragon's Lair

After defeating the Erutaki shaman, Tunuak, and his thrall, Naquun, the group discovered that Naquun had been possessed by a quasit. The tiny demon wriggled out of Naquun’s mouth, and began desperately trying to flitter away. Marie smacked it with her adamantine mace, but the blow bounced off, and Sawyer dealt a similar glancing blow with Suishen. Finally Sandoval swept his echoblade at the creature, and it fell lifeless to the ground.

Hostile Reception

Ulf had taken a detour to the village of Iqualiat, concerned about what looked like bad weather on the horizon ahead. Upon arriving at the village, they found the locals less than welcoming, although Ulf’s old friend, the hearthmistress Sonavut, took them into her home. There she gave them the bad news: the Path of Aganhei was blocked by the morozkos, the “hungry storms” that normally never came this far inland or south off the High Ice. She said that their shaman, Tunuak, blamed the storms’ presence on the villagers' lack of devotion to the wind spirits they worshipped. “He says that first the wind spirits called the dragon to punish us, and now they are bringing the morozkos to wipe us out.”