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!”