All Hail Empress Ameiko!

The battle in the throne room was still raging. Sawyer slashed at the Jade Regent with Suishen, pounding against his ornate armor, but the Jade Regent didn’t seem to even notice. He’d just spotted Ameiko. Or rather Nicki’s pet oni Roscoe, disguised as Ameiko. The Jade Regent let out a shout of triumph. “You think you can take this from me?” he shrieked at the befuddled Roscoe. “You dare to challenge me in my own palace? This throne is mine, and this empire is mine!” With that, he flourished his sword at the faux Ameiko. A scintillating plane of force flashed from the blade, hitting Roscoe square in the face. The former Typhoon Guard had survived a lot, but this was the last straw. With a gurgle, he collapsed, and as he died, his shapeshifting expired, and he resumed his native kuwa oni form. When the Jade Regent realized the deception, he let out a roar of fury. A wave of force blasted from his armor, knocking Sawyer back and bringing him that much closer to death.

The Final Confrontation

“So do you think they know we’re here?” Everyone turned to look at Zhustin. Their ears were still ringing from the concussion of repeated Fireballs, and the aroma of scorched oni wafted up the open stairwells. “No,” Sandoval replied sarcastically, “I’m sure we’ll catch them totally by surprise.”

Theater of Death

As Marie doled out healing, Ameiko hurried to reassure the frightened servants who had taken cover behind the ovens during the battle in the dining hall. “Is there a way up from here?” she asked in Minkaian, and one of the cooks nodded. He pointed to a door in the north. “That way, Princess,” he whispered. “The stairs to the throne room are through there. But the way is guarded.” Everyone exchanged looks – were they ever going to catch a break? Ameiko looked at the cowering servants. “Can you tell us what we’re up against?”

Food for Thought

Bella was still peppering Teikono with questions as the others dragged her out of the inner vault, hoping the Imperial Dragon guardian would give them some loophole they could exploit to get at the other Imperial Seals. “Wait a minute – I just thought of something else!” she exclaimed as they were climbing the stairs, but Sawyer blocked her path back down. Sighing, she resigned herself to moving on, still confident she could have found a way around the dragon’s vow if she had just had a little more time.

Down to the Vaults

Sandoval’s ears popped as the Silence spell that had been plaguing them suddenly expired. Barely pausing for a breath, he resumed singing, even as he charged forward to attack the last surviving Iron Tempest monk, and he was pleased to feel the vibrations of his echoblade’s sonic attack working once again. Zhustin hammered the monk with a volley of Magic Missiles, throwing him off balance so his attempts to hit the elusive Bella went wide. Nicki’s oni skeletons lumbered in behind the monk, and as he turned to defend himself from them, Bella slipped behind him. He never even felt the blade that pierced his heart.

Monk-y Business

“So far, so good,” Sandoval thought as he stepped over the body of the dead guard. They’d managed to infiltrate the Imperial Palace without having to fight their way in, and so far they’d silently dispatched all the guards they’d encountered without raising any alarms. Now they were crowded into the ground floor of one of the Palace’s towers. Bella had already opened both doors, revealing passages leading north and east, each ending in closed doors. Marie passed Bella the coin on which she’d cast Silence and the rogue scurried off to the east. Sandoval felt his ears pop as the oppressive silence suddenly went away. He heard Nicki mutter some words, and then he vanished from sight, leaving only his two new bodyguards, the animated skeletons of two of the Typhoon Guards they’d killed upstairs. Sandoval shuddered; Nicki was getting more and more unpredictable, and Sandoval was worried that his necromantic fetish was getting out of hand.

Assault on the Palace

Staring up at the massive Imperial Palace from their hiding spot in Isao’s wagon, Zhustin felt his mouth go dry. “So … what’s the plan?” he finally asked, his voice cracking. There was a long silence. Then the silence broke like a dam, and everyone started talking at once.

Ancestral Blessings

The group woke feeling stiff and sore from the previous day’s battles, and those who had lost levels were especially grumpy. Marie reordered her spell inventory, discarded some usual spells to make room for more Restorations, and set about bringing everyone to full strength. As she worked, Bella rummaged through her pack and came out with the Wand of Dimensional Anchor they’d liberated from the oni inquisitor who was about to execute Hatsue. “I’m sick of these guys teleporting away just as we’re about to kill them,” she complained, remembering the way the Thanadaemons had escaped to regenerate. “Does anyone know how to use this thing?” she asked, waving the wand about. Nicki quickly took it away from her before she poked someone’s eye out.

A Draining Experience

“So now what?” Zhustin was looking over the bodies of the dead hydrodaemons, and staring out over the dark waters of the subterranean lake. Much of this level of the Well of Demons was still unexplored, and every new cave seemed to hold new terrors. They could see a cave mouth in the wall of the cavern opposite them, and another atop some cliffs just to their south. Far to the south, beyond another pair of islands, they could see a broad beach with a large open area beyond it, but any more detail was lost in the darkness.

Daemons!

Everyone on the strip of beach peered into the darkness of the cave warily. They’d just landed here, after defeating the ghost of Emperor Ito, and they had no idea what might be waiting for them inside. Zhustin climbed up the bank of gravel and cast a Light spell into the new cave. To their relief, nothing roared out at them. The cave was large, but with a lower ceiling than most of the other chambers they’d been through down here. The ceiling had the requisite stalactites, but the floor was mostly coarse sand. Zhustin cautiously moved farther into the cave, sending his Light spell into its far reaches, but saw nothing. Behind him, he could hear Sandru and Sandoval climbing the bank and following him.

Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law

“Well this isn’t good,” Sandru grumbled, as he eyed the wall of solid stone that now blocked their only escape from the cavern. The ghost of Emperor Ito had apparently escaped, casting a spell on his way out that left them trapped in his underground throne room. “I’ve got it,” Marie assured him, and sure enough, her Dispel Magic caused the wall to vanish. Everyone readied their weapons and spells, but the vast cavern outside was empty. Marie flew out, her Invisibility Purge still active, but she found no sign of the fleeing Ito.

The Emperor's Ghost

Bella was used to being the one who sliced through opponents, leaving them gutted before they even knew what had hit them. But now the Graveknight deep within the Well of Demons had turned the tables on her. One combination of blows had left her bloody and reeling, and she had barely managed to scratch it. The heavily-armored undead warrior drew back its katana, and unleashed another furious series of attacks. Bella’s uncanny reflexes let her dodge first one slash, then another. But the tireless enemy just wouldn’t quit, and the rusty katana slashed through her belly. The pain was unbelievable, and she dropped her weapons and clutched her abdomen, trying to hold in her entrails. As he swept the blade through Bella’s body, he whipped the blade clean, slinging a mess of blood and gore directly into Marie’s face, sickening her.

Scouring the Devils

Things were looking grim for the band of adventurers who had crossed the world to try to place one of their own on the throne of an empire. They were deep beneath an island trapped between planes, surrounded by devils. Bella, usually a sure source of death and destruction, was paralyzed by an invisible assassin. Sawyer, with the ancestral sword Suishen, was stunned and helpless. And who had stunned him? Their very own Nicki, who had apparently turned on the party and thrown in with the devils who shared his bloodline. The only positive was that the former Empress Amatatsu Maemi, now the devil’s handmaiden, lay dead on the cavern floor.

A Marriage Contract

“Follow me, master.” The horned assassin, Shiori Heikkaki, turned to lead the party deeper into the caverns, taking them to her mistress, the Empress Amatatsu Maemi. The group had dodged a bullet when Nicki had Dominated the devilish creature after it had (temporarily) killed Shinjiro. But now everyone else was a bit uneasy seeing the deadly killer acting so subservient to Nicki. For his part, Nicki was feeling pretty pleased with himself.

The Shogun's Bargain

Deep within the Well of Demons, the party was fighting their way through a seemingly endless succession of the caverns’ namesake. The Hezrous’ stench had left Sandru retching in the corner, and Zhustin was staggering around the room, hopelessly sickened by the foul secretions that had rubbed off on him when one of the demons grabbed him. Sandoval, fearing he could do little damage against the thick-skinned creatures, cast Heroism on Bella, counting on the little rogue to do enough damage for the both of them. She didn’t disappoint; her adamantine short sword sliced deep into the flesh of the nearest Hezrou, leaving it howling with pain and rage.

Demons Galore

The party was finding that the Well of Demons was aptly named. Those who had made it to the relative safety of the high ledge were beset by Babau Demons that had been summoned by the Omox Demons churning the water below. Sandru swung his scimitar and scored a solid hit on the Babau in front of him, but the weapon’s blade simply rang against the thing’s bony exoskeleton. Worse, the acidic slime that coated it hissed and bubbled on the sword’s steel, threatening to weaken the blade beyond use. Deciding he could be of no help against these Abyssal foes, Sandru ducked behind Sawyer, hoping to stay out of the way and let the big boys do their job.

The Well of Demons

It had been a long day, starting with scamming the rice shipments, being smuggled out to the hidden Imperial Shrine, fighting their way through the malevolent cemetery, and finally meeting the dead Emperor Higashiyama Shigure. Now they were told they had to go someplace called the Well of Demons, recover his body, and either make deals with all the worst former emperors of Minkai or kill them. The party decided they needed a rest.

An Emperor Found

Sawyer cringed as he saw Ameiko fall. He’d urged her to cross the bridge of light; he’d been so sure she’d be safe on the other side. Instead, she had been struck down by some eldritch power as she’d stepped under the archway leading to the bridge. He started to rush to her side, but she stopped him with a weak wave. “I’m OK,” she gasped. She was far from OK, but she was alive. Gripping Suishen tightly, he turned to protect Ameiko from the enormous Gravebound Warden that had formed itself out of the headstones and crypts of the cemetery. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the cemetery’s caretaker, Kiyomi, cowering at the edge of the moat. An area of Darkness suddenly appeared, and she disappeared into it. Sawyer snorted at her cowardice.

The Imperial Shrine

The waters of Kasai Bay lapped gently against the stone pier as old Ejigoro tied the boat to it. The party scrambled out of it onto the shore of the mysterious island known as the Imperial Shrine that had appeared out of the mists. Ejigoro looked nervously up the midnight-shrouded path that led to a shadowy cemetery. “Uh, if you don’t mind, I’ll just wait for you here,” he said nervously.

Sowing Discord

After rescuing Hatsue, the group was going through some well-earned down-time, resting up for their trip to the Imperial Shrine. As they drank tea with Isao, Bella spoke up. “I’ve been thinking about all those things Sandoval learned with that magic banjo he got from O-Sayumi”

“It’s called a ‘samisen’,” Sandoval said wearily, “and it’s an incredibly powerful …”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Bella continued, interrupting the bard’s attempt to educate her. “My point is, Isao said that the Jade Regent’s closest allies don’t necessarily like each other all that much. You said it might be helpful to ‘sow discord’ among them, right?” Isao nodded. “Well, now we know a bunch of secrets about them – I think we should use them to stir up some trouble!”

Good Deeds

The hour was well past midnight, and the group still hadn’t come up with a strategy for raiding the Imperial Granary and making off with enough food to help stop the starvation that was plaguing the people of Kasai. The problem wasn’t getting in; despite the heavy guard outside, they were confident they could teleport inside without being detected. The problem was the sheer volume of rice involved. Zhustin and Nicki had dome some quick calculations (and the others would have to trust their arcane knowledge), and figured that it would take roughly sixteen tons of rice to feed the starving populace – and that was just for one day! Getting that amount of rice out of the granary without bringing the army down on them was the real challenge.

Battle at the Docks

“Shit!” Sawyer thought as the guard grabbed Ameiko by the arm. “Stay calm. She’s smart – she can talk her way out of this.” Everything had been going so well. They’d disembarked the boat that had smuggled them into Kasai, everyone disguised as Minkaian sailors. They'd gone about their business, unloading cargo, and most of the party had managed to satisfy the Typhoon Guards who were watching the docks, interrogating any newcomers. But then Zhustin’s disguise hadn’t fooled one of the guards (why they hell did he think wearing orange robes would be a good way to blend in?), and then Ameiko, under questioning, tried to bribe the guard a ridiculous amount of money. And doubled the bribe when he got suspicious. “Shit, shit SHIT!” Now the invisible oni who’d been perched on a nearby roof was flying over. Sawyer could see him thanks to Suishen’s See Invisible power, and as the oni flew, he changed to human form. He was dressed in the same green armor as the other Typhoon Guard, but with fancier rank insignia. He landed behind the guards holding the two troublemakers, and became visible.

On To Kasai!

After several weeks of preparation, the rebel army was finally ready to march south. Jiro had formed his campaign strategy, and his commanders had their troops outfitted and already on the road. However, he called Ameiko and the party together for a final war conference.

Secrets of the Jade Regent

During the party’s time building alliances in Sakakabe, O-Sayumi tutored Sandoval in the mystical powers of the Samisen of Oracular Vision. The samisen's three silken strings are magically keyed to the past, present, and future, allowing a skilled performer to use the instrument to cast Legend Lore, Scrying, and Divination. Intent on aiding Ameiko’s rebellion, Sandoval used the instrument to learn all he could about the Jade Regent and his inner circle. While there are many limitations on what he could do (not the least of which is that the Imperial Palace is warded against scrying), he was able to pry into secrets known to no other mortal.

The Seige of Seinaru Heikiko

“So if we hire the Emerald Branch and Dragonshadow clan to support Ameiko, but only pay the Black Lotus clan to stay neutral, it should only cost us 15,000 gold,” Nicki was saying. They were debating the economics of accepting the ninja clans’ offers to support the rebellion, and the cost wasn’t cheap.

“Sure, no problem,” Sandoval moaned. “Except I’ve only got 87 gold pieces left.” He remembered a time – not that long ago – when 87 gold was more wealth than he’d ever seen in one place. Now, he felt like a pauper. Although, this new Robe of Scintillating Colors was pretty snazzy.

“You worry too much, cousin!” Sandru laughed, giving the bard a hearty slap on the back. “I’ve got people selling all that stuff you took off the governor’s men. By the time we get back to Sakakabe, you’ll be rich again!”

The North Rises

“Just hold still for a minute!” Marie shouted at Sawyer. The big fighter had just finished off the last of the samurai who had come around the north end of the lodge, but another group was charging from the south, and he was anxious to join the fray. But he was still weak from the Rays of Enfeeblement that Governor Sennaka’s Typhoon Guard had hit him with, and Marie wanted him back at full strength. Reluctantly, he paused long enough to let Marie jab him with her Wand of Lesser Restoration. With a sigh of relief, he felt his muscles flex again, and he turned to charge at the enemy to the south.

Ambush!

“Trust me,” Bella was saying for the umpteenth time, “people are in their deepest sleep two or three hours after midnight. That’s when we should strike.”

“But I worry if we wait too long, the ronin will get worried and drop their barricade before we go,” Marie countered (again). “Those falling logs will make enough noise to alert both the village and the governor’s compound.”

“Can’t they just shut the fuck up???” Nicki moaned to himself as he rolled over in his bedroll and tried to stuff his fingers deeper into his ears. This group rarely had the luxury of making a plan, but when they did it usually devolved into this sort of unending debate about hypotheticals that they had no control over. Nicki had been listening to this for hours, and if he had to listen to it much longer, he’d go crazy.

The night sky was heavy with clouds, and thunder rumbled in the far distance. “And I don’t like the look of this weather,” Marie continued, looking up. “We don’t want to launch this assault in a thunderstorm. Nicki! Stop yelling!”

Assassin!

After rescuing O-Sayumi from the clutches of the necromancer, Yugureda Shosaito, the return trip was something of a celebratory parade. They took the geisha into the marsh to see her “uncle”, the Wise Kappa. He was overjoyed to find that O-Sayumi was safe, and thanked the party profusely. Then they went to the monastery where she’d been raised. The monks were overjoyed to find that O-Sayumi was safe, and thanked the party profusely. At last they returned to Sakakabe and the Kiniro Kyomai Teahouse, where O-Kahaku and the other geishas were overjoyed to find that O-Sayumi was safe, and thanked the party profusely. By the time it was all done, the party was kind of getting used to being showered with praise and thanks instead of ambushed and attacked.

The Deadly Necromancer

O-Sayumi and her mysterious older companion knelt motionless on the floor of the room at the end of the Shadow Maze, as everyone stood around her and wondered what their next step should be. They’d been on a mission to find the missing geisha, and technically they had, but they weren’t sure it would constitute “Mission Accomplished” to return her to the teahouse sans soul. Her samisen had been found in the next room, and Marie had confirmed that it was extremely magical. On a whim, Sandoval picked up the instrument and began to play, hoping it would have some effect on the frozen women. The bard was surprisingly proficient with the unfamiliar instrument, but the haunting tune he picked out fell on deaf ears as far as the two women were concerned.

The Shadow Maze (part 2)

Bella sat on the floor, her back against the cold wall of the subterranean maze, as Sawyer pushed the curtain aside and stepped through. She was sick and tired of being ignored, of being taken for granted. She knew she’d figured out the clues from O-Sayumi’s inro, but would they listen to her? No. She’d warned them that this was the wrong way to go, that they needed to backtrack and pass through the green jade gate they’d avoided earlier. But she was just a guttersnipe, what did she know? She wasn’t some all-holy cleric, or pimply learned wizard who could read and everything. The fact that she’d been finding and disarming traps almost since she could walk was worth shit to them. Well fine. They could just go on without her, and see just how well that worked out for them. Without her doing their dirty work for them, they’d all have been dead long ago. She was sure they were walking blindly into danger now – let’s see how long it would be before they were begging for her help again. She’d just sit here and let them beg, and listen to them scream as they died.

The Shadow Maze

While exploring Yugureda Shosaito’s island villa, the party had discovered a long tunnel beneath the house that ended with a trapdoor in the ceiling. Unfortunately, it opened into a village occupied by Yugureda’s undead pearl divers, and they took exception to the presence of uninvited visitors. The Lacedons were clawing and snapping at the party as they tried to emerge from the tiny hut over the trapdoor, as well as the large Earth Elemental that Zhustin had summoned outside to distract them. Luckily, Marie’s Freedom’s Call aura was preventing the ghouls’ bites from paralyzing anyone – for now.

Shinju-no-Ie - The House of Pearls

Marie watched in horror as the hideous flying half-women began flying away with Bella, Sandoval, and Zhustin clutched in their talons. Blood streamed from their wounds as the manananggals’ powerful wings carried them into the darkness. Moving quickly, she activated her Freedom’s Call, and rushed to the most central location she could find, praying that her friends weren’t already out of reach of her protective aura of freedom.

Turtle Soup

The party stood on the hills overlooking Namidakame Lagoon. A mile offshore, an island rose out of the mists gathering as night approached. This was Shinju-no-Ie, the purported home of the sinister pearl merchant, Yugureda Shosaito, who they suspected was holding the missing geisha, O-Sayumi. A stifling cloak of silence hung oppressively over the land and water. Perhaps it was a trick of the setting sun, but the colors of the island seemed washed out, their hues drained by an unnatural gloominess.

The Mystery of the Missing Geisha

Zhustin was having the most wonderful dream. He was floating among clouds, surrounded by brilliantly glowing beings with broad, white wings. He felt immense peace, and all-encompassing love. And he tasted dirt. And blood. And his head was pounding and now the light wasn’t nearly so bright anymore, although it was still far too bright for his pounding head. But there was still a beautiful woman bending over him, her white wings shading him from the burning sun. Her lips were moving, and he struggled to hear what message of peace and love she was trying to impart.

“Get the hell out of here and fry his ass!” Marie screamed at the newly-revived Zhustin as she cast Fly on him. Then she flapped her own wings and rose into the air, away (she hoped) from the deadly assassin’s reach. Zhustin felt himself rise an inch off the ground; not sure what was going on, he continued floating up, then turned over to see what was happening on the ground below.