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.

One of the women dashed up a staircase the led out of the room. Bella, fearing she’d gone to fetch reinforcements, quickly followed. She found the woman trying to hide under a bed in an empty barracks room upstairs. There was another door from this room, and Bella opened it. It led into a large, attic-like storeroom, filled with crates and bags. Most looked like foodstuffs, but Bella was seized by the chance to perhaps grab some loot no one else knew about, so she began searching.

Meanwhile, Nicki was looking for magic on the bodies of the bandit shaman and his were-tiger concubine. He pocketed anything portable, then noticed a glow coming from around the edges of a large chest in the far side of the workroom. It was a work of beauty, made from birchwood inlaid with ivory horse figures, but was closed with a heavy padlock. Going to one of the workbenches, Nicki returned with a heavy hammer, and spent a few minutes bashing away at the lock. He couldn’t break it, but did manage to badly mar the ornate chest.

Finally deciding that the women weren’t going to attack him, Sawyer advanced into the room, followed by Sandoval. As they saw them entering the new building, Marie, Zhustin, and Shinjiro followed behind. There were two hallways leading out – one going north and another west. Both ended in drawn curtains. Sandoval took up a position watching the westward corridor, while Sawyer crept north, and peeked through the curtained doorway.

Inside was a large open room. The back half was furnished as a bedroom, with a magnificent tiger-skin rug on the floor. It, too, could be partitioned off with curtains, but they were drawn open. A heavily muscled man stood in the back of the room, pointing to a map on the wall and addressing half a dozen more bandits. This was the bandit leader, Gangasum, and he immediately spotted Sawyer’s face peeping through the curtain. With a guttural cry, he lifted a bow and fired a quick arrow through the curtain and into Sawyer’s shoulder. Sawyer, his battle-lust still not sated, gave a war cry of his own, and charged into the room, slashing the nearest bandit.

The bandits instantly surrounded the big fighter, save for two who hung back to guard their leader. Sawyer’s armor and quick reflexes deflected their blows for the moment, but he was on his own. The others could hear the sounds of battle, but the curtained doorway blocked all view of what was inside. Marie rushed forward and pulled the curtain open halfway, trying to keep herself out of sight behind half of it. This provided Nicki and Zhustin just enough visibility to see a cluster of bandits swinging at something (Sawyer?) just around the corner, with the big guy in back with a bow. They both had the same idea at the same time, and a pair of Fireballs went off in the back of the room within seconds of each other. When the smoke cleared, three of the bandits lay smoldering on the floor.

Shinjiro rushed forward and kicked one of the bandits assaulting Sawyer. Sandoval began singing, but was reluctant to leave his post, in case more enemies came from the other hallway. He did step out with his bow, and drew a bead on the leader, feathering him with an arrow. Gangasum shifted his aim, and in a heartbeat three shafts found their mark in the bard, one piercing a lung and giving his song a bubbling quality.

Sawyer was laughing as he swung Suishen. One of the bandits fell in a spray of blood, an another was nearly gutted. But the bandits were also consumed with battle rage, to the point where they were trying to bite like animals in addition to wielding their katanas. One stepped back, and threw a javelin down the hallway. As it left his hand, it transformed into a Lightning Bolt, zapping everyone lined up down the hall and in the room beyond. Bella, far upstairs, heard the crack of lightning, and realized that there was trouble below, and she dashed down the stairs at a dead run.

Zhustin and Nicki again were thinking alike, and launched simultaneous volleys of Magic Missiles against Gangasum, and Sandoval followed with another arrow. Shinjiro was battering the bandits with flurries of punches and kicks, but they were returning the favor. Marie stepped into the room to batter one with her warhammer. Gangasum dropped his bow, and drew a wicked scimitar. He charged at Marie, angling so as to be around the corner and out of line of sight of the spellcasters down the hallway. His blade cut Marie deeply, and Waves of Fatigue washed off of him, leaving Marie, Shinjiro, and Sawyer all but exhausted.

Sawyer was still cutting down bandits. The one he’d injured badly before quickly crumbled, and Suishen sliced into another with a searing burst of flame. Bella came dashing down the hallway at full speed, and skidded into the room. Unfortunately, Gangasum nearly pierced her through as she tried to skip past him, and one of the bandits opened a deep gash in her back. Badly wounded, her own blow went wide.

Shinjiro delivered a furious Flurry of Blows that sent the last two bandits sprawling. But despite the deaths of his men, Gangasum was uncowed. With a bellow, he unleashed his full fury against Marie. One blow of his scimitar pierced her heart, and the next slashed her throat.

The world went silent for Marie, and her vision grew dark. By all rights she should have been dead, but somehow her faith and iron will kept her upright. She took a slow, deliberate step back. A red foam formed on her lips as she moved them in silent prayer, and blood bubbled from her slashed throat. With her last conscious act, she cast a Heal spell, and she stiffened as Desna’s holy power coursed through her body. Her wounds closed instantly, and she felt revitalized, with no lingering trace of the magical fatigue that had plagued her.

The others had seen Marie stagger back with apparently mortal wounds, and they assumed she was dead or dying. Overcome with rage, they converged on Gangasum. Suishen exploded in flame as it stabbed the bandit chief. Bella danced around him, slashing and cutting, and opening an artery in his thigh. Nicki darted around the corner and immolated him with a trio of Scorching Rays and then Shinjiro launched himself through the air. His foot caught the bandit on the chin, and with a sickening snap, his head twisted all the way around.

As Gangasum collapsed to the ground, everyone turned, expecting to see Marie’s lifeless body. Instead they found her smiling and apparently unhurt, albeit soaked in her own blood. As they marveled over her miraculous survival, she doled out more healing to the others, and they began to explore more of the fortress.

There was a beautiful silk screen against one wall, and behind it was another curtained opening. This revealed a short hallway leading to another room carved out of the rock. The walls of this room were covered in faded, abstract decorations, and riddled with cavities and cracks (probably where thieves had long ago looted gems or plaques from the walls). Stone display tables stood along the north and south walls, bare but for rusty metal shards and blackened splinters of wood. A six-foot-tall stone statue of a female samurai stood in a niche in the middle of the east wall, her elaborate armor engraved with numerous cartouches filled with inscriptions. The statue once held a two-handed sword, but the stone blade had been sheared off, and many of the statue’s features had been defaced or destroyed. Nonetheless, Zhustin was able to identify the statue as a depiction of the goddess Shizuru. She was the patron goddess of Minkai, and according to legend it was she who had anointed the five Imperial families of Minkai and created the Imperial Seals.

Hirabashi Jiro had told them that the fortress contained a hidden vault that could only be opened by a scion of one of the Imperial families. This vault supposedly contained Hiroto’s Baton of Command, as well as the Hirabashi family’s ancestral sword that Jiro was anxious to reclaim. Marie did a detect magic, and found that the statue emanated a faint aura of transmutation magic, but nothing else. She and Shinjiro began to examine the numerous cartouches covering the statue. Each was filled with a tiny inscription in Minkaian. Translating, they found that most contained a name (possibly of some samurai) followed by expressions of thanks or prayers for good luck. Shinjiro found one cartouche inscribed with the name Hirabashi Akikaza; he recalled that this was Hirabashi Jiro’s ancestor, who Suishen said was the general who had led the terra cotta army. He found another with no name, but with the inscription “Empress of Heaven, touch me with your grace!” Hmmm … perhaps it was time to summon Ameiko.

While Shinjiro and Marie poured over the tiny inscriptions on the statue, the others continued exploring. Sandoval and Zhustin investigated the hallway to the west from the common room. It led to an apartment divided into two rooms. The southern part contained a wooden bed, a desk, and shelves holding an assortment of small wooden flasks, linen pouches, and leaf-wrapped packets, while a circular, shallow pool of fresh water sat in the middle of the northern room. Wooden panels lined the walls and floors, and an artistic latticework of bright green moss decorated the ceiling. They presumed this was the shaman’s quarters, but when Zhustin found nothing magical, they left the contents untouched.

Bella headed west from Gangasum’s quarters. She shortly found a small armory with a pair of weapon racks. One held 20 lances but the other was empty (presumeably its lances were in the hands of the other half of the bandit gang, the ones hopefully being ambushed by their new ronin allies). Beyond this was a cellar. In addition to hanging bags and baskets of dried foodstuffs, the cellar contained several bamboo cages lined with rough bedding. With a snort of disgust, Bella realized that this was probably where the women thralls they’d found were forced to sleep.

She kept following the corridors around the perimeter of the fortress. The air became heavy with the odor of manure, and she wasn’t surprised to find an opening into a large stable full of horses. Another shadowy staircase led upwards ahead. She climbed quietly, and when she heard voices ahead she used her Shozoku of the Night Wind to disappear into the shadows.

At the top of the stairs she found another guardroom, similar to the one they’d discovered when they first entered the fortress. A pair of bandits were shooting the breeze, unaware of her presence. She smiled to herself – what games should she play with her new friends? She had picked up one of the Javelins of Lightning from Gangasum’s bodyguards, and she decided to try it out. She hurled it at one of the unsuspecting bandits, but was disappointed with the feeble result; she should have just stabbed him in the back!

Now aware they had company, the guards leaped to their feet and charged, and one managed to draw blood. Bella briefly considered finishing them both off by herself, but decided to share the fun, so she made a quick stab then dashed back down the stairs with the bandits in hot pursuit. She was easily outdistancing them; one hurled a Javelin of Lightning that she easily dodged and the other shot an arrow that glanced off the ceiling. She ran past the stables, through the cellar, and encountered Sandoval in the armory. “Incoming!” she hissed, skidding to a stop and drawing her bow. She turned and waited for the first bandit to round the corner, then feathered him with an arrow. He kept coming, and slashed at her with his katana, but his mate pulled up short and fired off an arrow. Sandoval, not sure what was going on but fearing the worst, had drawn his own bow, and hit the bandit with his own arrow.

The bandit facing Bella was dead before he even realized she’d drawn her blades. Sandoval charged down the hallway and sank his echoblade into the bandit there. Just then Zhustin, who’d been in the shaman’s quarters when he’d heard the ring of steel, fired off a quick round of Magic Missiles. The bandit was thinking he should have just snuck out through the stables and let his buddy chase the damn girl, but it was too late now. With a giggle, Bella charged and impaled him on her blades.

Zhustin went back to tell the others that Bella was causing trouble again, while Bella and Sandoval went back to the guardroom. As they expected, a passage led back from the guardroom to another hidden lookout post. Bella snuck up on the bored guard, and stabbed him in the back as he looked at the stars. He managed to inflict one minor cut before she and Sandoval finished him off.

They returned to report that they’d explored all the known halls and rooms. Confident that they had secured the fortress, Marie decided it was time to fetch Ameiko and Sandru. She retraced her steps to the lookout post where they’d originally entered, then cast Fly on herself. She flew back to where they’d left the two guarding the horses, and together they rode towards the fortress gate. As they rode, Sandru told her they’d seen four men fleeing through the postern gate (thanks to Nicki) and took that as a good sign, but had decided to leave them unmolested rather than reveal their position.

The fleeing bandits had left the small gate set into the larger one standing open, and they dismounted and led the horses through. Not far inside the gate, several large piles of wood were stacked in the courtyard. When Bella had done her aerial reconnaissance she’d assumed they were just firewood, but as the three approached the nearest two woodpiles suddenly began to move. They rearranged themselves into huge humanoid creatures, looking like living trees. Sandru grabbed Ameiko by the arm and drug her back out through the postern gate. Marie followed, throwing a Thunderstone to try to alert the others before she pulled the gate shut behind them. She couldn’t lock it from the outside; she could only hope the things were too big to fit through the gate.

Inside, most of the group was still back in Gangasum’s quarters or the ancient shrine beyond it. Sawyer was stretched out on Gangasum’s surprisingly comfortable bed when he heard distant thunder from outside. “Huh. Must be going to rain,” he thought without opening his eyes. Shinjiro, back in the shrine, heard it too, but he immediately knew there was something unnatural about the sound, and began quickly moving towards the exit. Bella, too heard the sound, and she instantly recalled where she’d first heard it: when brigands had tried to rob the caravan, shortly after they’d left Brinewall Castle. She set off at a dead run. The others, seeing Shinjiro and Bella in such a hurry, decided they'd better follow, even if they didn’t know why.

Bella emerged into the courtyard. Far off, near the gate, she saw Marie flying in the air. The cleric had flown back up over the wall, partly to distract the wood spirits from pursuing Ameiko and Sandru, and partly to try to alert the others to the new danger. She was shouting and pointing at the huge wooden constructs below her. They could not reach her with their woody fists, but they both suddenly stopped, seemed to strain for a moment, and then a cloud of razor sharp splinters exploded from their bodies, engulfing the flying cleric!

The PCs earned 6,171 XP for the night, putting them at 275,776 XP with 315,000 required for level 13. We’ll be at Leo’s next week, although Rich and Joette won’t be there. The following week, Dec. 27, we won’t meet, but will resume again on Jan. 3.