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.

Shortly after dawn, they were awakened by the Emisarry’s minions, and escorted back to the docks, where the same ferry that had carried them to Xielan Island took them back to Goka. There they found a hero’s welcome awaiting. As they climbed the city’s streets to the Temple of Abadar, cheering crowds lined the streets, showering them with flower petals and waving banners with their names emblazoned on them.

When they reached the temple, the High Priest of Abadar was waiting for them. After yet another flowery congratulatory speech, he led them through the temple to a small room with a heavily barred door. “Before we proceed, I must tell you that when we reach the threshold, you will have to leave all magical items and weapons behind. If this is not agreeable to any of you, you may wait here for your friends to return.”

This threw Sawyer for a loop. He was not willing to leave Suishen under any circumstances, and no amount of pleading could persuade the High Priest to waive the rule. Too stubborn to give in, Sawyer folded his arms and resolved to wait. Zhustin and Marie elected to stay behind and keep him company, but Sandoval, Bella, Nicki, and Shinjiro dutifully divested themselves of all magic and weapons (and once again, everyone marveled at just how many knives Bella had concealed on her person). Then they followed the high priest as he unbarred the door and led them on.

The door led to a broad stairway that led steeply down into the hill on which the temple was erected. Dozens of monks and clerics of Abadar lined the stairs on either side – whether as an honor guard, or as part of the Vault’s security, they weren’t sure. Far below the temple, the stairs ended in a broad room whose far wall was made of solid adamantine. A pair stone giants flanked the wall, and at a signal from the High Priest, they grasped enormous handles that were sunk into it and began pulling. With a grinding sound, a section of the wall began to slide back into the room. The adamantine wall was a good 10 feet thick, and the section sliding back was shaped like a stepped plug. When it had opened enough to allow a person to squeeze through, the Priest motioned for the party to follow him as he slipped into the next room.

They found themselves in a featureless room whose walls, ceiling, and floor were solid adamantine. The grinding sound resumed as the door they had just passed through was pushed back into place. The room appeared to be empty, but it smelled like the den of some feral animal. As they entered the room, the party members felt a rush of warm, moist air on their faces, as if something huge and unseen had just sniffed the air and didn’t like what it smelled. The High Priest was unperturbed, though, and he smiled at the party. “We will have to wait here for a bit. If you have anything else of value that you don’t wish to take into the Vault, you may leave it here. The Guardian of the Threshold is most capable, and anything you leave will be completely safe.” Bella strained her senses for any sign of an invisible guardian, but there was nothing. Still she couldn’t shake a prickling feeling on the back of her neck, like she was a mouse being watched by a hawk somewhere high above.

After perhaps half an hour, a circle of swirling mist suddenly appeared on the far wall. “Ah – It is time! Please follow me to the Vault.” Without looking back, the High Priest stepped into the mist and disappeared. Taking a deep breath, Sandoval followed him into the swirling mist, and the others followed on his heels.

When they stepped out on the other side, they were in a tropical landscape. Gentle waves of some unknown ocean lapped on the shore behind them, and the air was heavy with the scent of gardenias and night blooming jasmine. It was nighttime, and a million stars twinkled in unrecognizable constellations overhead. Everything was lit by silver and gold moonlight – silver from the moon rising above the horizon on their right, and gold from the moon just setting to their left. A moon with broad orange and white rings encircling it.

“Welcome to Wo de Xianjing,” the High Priest declared, throwing his arms wide. “It means ‘My Paradise’ in Hao Jin’s native tongue, and it is her own private demi-plane, created by her as a refuge and a repository for her beloved collection. The planar gate you just passed through only opens once every ten years, and will remain open for only three hours, so I advise that you waste no time in making your selection.”

He led them forward to a building that rose out of the gardens all around them. It was built in the Tian style, with a peaked tiled roof with overhanging eaves, and walls and sliding doors made of paper panels. The building was vast, with rooms stretching out in every direction as far as they could see. And it was filled with a dazzling array artwork and artifacts. There were statues, and ceramics, and paintings, and tapestries intermingled with jewelry, weapons, armor, and shields. Each item had a small plaque beside it with writing in Tian, but as each person looked at it, the characters rearranged themselves into that person’s native tongue, describing the item displayed.

Many items were breathtakingly beautiful and exquisitely made, but others were worn, or mundane looking. The first item that caught Sandoval’s eye was a simple undecorated amphora, clearly very old with a worn surface and chipped lip. His mouth dropped open as he read its description. ‘It was from this vessel that the god Cayden Cailean first tasted wine.’

As the party wandered among the incredible collection, they began to worry about finding what they were looking for. Part of the reason Sawyer had been adamant about bringing Suishen is that they had counted on the ancestral sword recognizing the Slate of Hiroto and pointing it out to them. They had a rudimentary description to work from, but they now realized it could take weeks to browse the entire collection. “If there’s a particular item you’re looking for, let me know and I can lead you to it if we have it,” the High Priest offered helpfully.

After a whispered conference, they decided they had no choice but to trust the priest. “We’re looking for the Slate of Hiroto,” Sandoval volunteered. At the mention of its name, the priest’s eyebrow went up. “So the rumors are true,” he said softly, then nodded. “Of course, it is in Hao Jin’s collection. Please follow me.”

As he led them into another wing, Nicki cleared his throat. “Um, what rumors would those be?” The High Priest smiled. “Why the rumors that one of the heirs to the Jade Throne still survives. I can think of no other reason that anyone would seek this particular item, other than to put it back into the hands of one who could make use of it.” As the group exchanged uneasy looks, the priest stopped before a display. “Here is the Slate of Hiroto,” he said with a wave.

The item was a small wax tablet, encased in a beautifully worked frame of jade and gold. Its back was copper, and slightly smoke stained. As he handed it over to them, the High Priest asked “Do you know how to use it?” When they shook their heads, he continued. “One simply holds the slate over a candle or other small flame to soften the wax. Then you use a stylus to write the Tian symbols for the command word into the soft wax. Of course, you must then impress one of the five royal seals of Minkai into the wax to activate the magic.”

As he led them back through the building, Bella’s eyes bulged at the riches she was passing, but the memory of the unseen guardian on the other side of the gate kept her hands in her pockets. Nicki had other concerns. “Can we trust you not to tell anyone what we took from the Valut?” The priest looked offended. “Of course not! That is part of the contract with Hao Jin. Only I know what you have selected, and no others will know save those you choose to reveal it to.” When they reached the beach and the swirling cloud of mists, the High Priest paused for a moment, eyes closed, and took several deep breaths, as though he were trying to savor every second in this place. Then he stepped through the gate and vanished.

Everyone reappeared in the threshold, and the High Priest smiled sheepishly at them. “I’m afraid we have to wait for the gate to go away before the door will open. After cooling their heels for a couple of hours, the planar gate vanished as abruptly as it had appeared, and a few minutes later they could hear the grinding of the adamantine door sliding open. They climbed the stairs back to the temple and blinked in the sunlight on its steps. They could have asked the priests to return them to Hongal immediately, but they still hadn’t resolved their problem with the Prince’s prize. And there was also the small matter of a dragon’s hoard.

They took the ferry back to Xielan Island, and made their way around the island to the area known as the Ridge of Graves. This was a narrow isthmus on the far arm of the island, and it had gotten its name not from any cemetery in the area, but from the number of islanders who had lost their lives to the dragon Huyanwo in that area. They suspected that if the dragon had its lair anywhere on the island, it would be in this area.

The ridge dropped off steeply in cliffs into the sea on either side. There was no sign of any cave or other potential dragon lair from the ridge itself, but it was difficult to see looking down on the cliffs themselves. So Sawyer and Marie both cast Air Walk, and hiked back and forth along both the bay-side and ocean-side cliffs, searching the rocky walls for any openings, but they saw nothing. Bella suggested swimming, but the others pointed to the waves crashing against the sharp rocks below.

Huyanwo had been a brine dragon, a fairly rare breed, and Zhustin racked his brain for anything he could recall reading about such beasts. It wasn’t much, but he did think that brine dragons were aquatic, being equally at home under water as above. And they did recall that when he had attacked them, Huyanwo had first emerged from under water.

After they’d killed the dragon, Zhustin and Nicki had both collected some of its scales, knowing they could be useful and rare spell components. Now Marie decided to put them to good use. She cast Water Breathing on everyone in the party, then cast Locate Object, using the brine dragon’s scales as a focus. “Everyone hold hands,” she commanded, and the next thing they knew, they were all bobbing in the waves several hundred feet offshore.

She focused on her spell, and sure enough, she could feel a faint pull coming from the direction of a spit of land to the north. Everyone swam north, following Marie below the surface as the spell’s pull led her down. Some 20 feet below the low-tide level, there was a broad opening in the underwater cliffs. They swam through it into a tunnel that continued another 40 feet or so before emerging into a large underground pool. There was a rocky ledge on the far side of the pool, and it was heaped with treasure!

Bella was elated, until she climbed onto the ledge and realized that the vast majority of the coins piled waist-high were copper pieces. “I thought dragons loved gems,” she complained, nonetheless filling every pocket and pouch with as much as she could carry. There was a lot of silver, a good deal of gold, and even a few platinum coins mingled in with the hoard, along with a smattering of magical items the dragon had scavenged from shipwrecks (possibly ones she had caused). Taking advantage of their Handy Haversacks and with another application of Water Breathing from Marie, the group managed to empty the dragon’s lair before sundown.

With the dragon’s hoard plundered, the group had no more distractions. They finally had to come up with a plan for how to make the Prince think he’d gotten a priceless treasure from the Ruby Phoenix’s vault while still keeping the Slate of Hiroto for Ameiko. Sawyer’s first idea was just to give the Prince the Stone of Good Luck they’d won on the first day. “It’s worth quite a bit, and after all, it was a prize,” he reasoned, but the others scoffed. “There’s no way the Prince will be happy with a ‘lucky rock’,” Sandoval countered.

The debate went on and on. Nicki, flush with confidence after winning the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, was in favor of simply killing the Prince (and his army) and burning Ordu-Aganhei to the ground, but cooler heads prevailed. After they’d unsuccessfully racked their brains for some time, Zhustin spoke up. “I do have that scroll I bought from Romby.” The scroll was Phakir’s Foolproof Dweomor and it promised to allow the caster to replicate any magical aura onto another item, and to do so in a way that would stand up to scrutiny by all the normal ways of investigating magic items, such as Identify. “OK then!” Sawyer enthused. “Let’s just make a copy of the slate and give it to the Prince and be done with it.”

“NO!” It was Suishen, and the normally taciturn sword had elected to join the debate. “You heard what happened when the priest knew you were interested in the Slate. He immediately concluded it was for a royal heir. We can’t afford to give the Prince any reason to suspect Ameiko’s true identity, especially when he holds her captive!”

“OK then,” Sawyer countered, “let’s make a copy of you and give it to the Prince.” But this time Zhustin pointed out the flaw. “The spell doesn’t actually make a copy of an item. It allows you to make an item look like it has the same magical properties as something else. So you could take an ordinary sword, and make it look like it has all of Suishen’s powers – Air Walk, Flaming, etc. It would look fine to a wizard doing an Identify, but as soon as the Prince tried to use it, he’d realize it didn’t really work.”

“Just convince the Prince to test it by Air Walking off a tall cliff!” Nicki offered helpfully, but everyone ignored him. “So what are we going to do?” Sawyer asked, getting frustrated. “You say the Prince will only be satisfied with something that looks like a priceless magical artifact, but Suishen’s the most powerful thing we have and you say we can’t copy him!”

The sword spoke up again. “With all humility, I must point out that I am not the most powerful item you possess,” he said softly. All eyes turned to him. “What else is there?” Sawyer asked. There was a pause. “The Amatatsu Seal.”

The room erupted in an uproar, with everyone protesting that it was out of the question. “If we take it out of the Warding Box to copy its aura, it will be like sending up a flare to the Five Storms saying ‘Here we are!’” Nicki summarized. “What if I teleport back to Hongal, get the box, and teleport back here?” Marie offered. “Then when we open the box, it will make the Five Storms think we’re a continent away from where we really are.” That sounded like a good idea until Zhustin reminded her “The Seal can’t be teleported.”

The ideas kept flowing, getting more harebrained by the minute, but Sandoval was deep in thought. “You know, it’s not a terrible idea,” he finally said, and shushed everyone before they could repeat their arguments. “We need to give the Prince something he’ll think is really valuable, particularly something that would make it especially precious to him. But at the same time, we need to make it a power that he’s not going to be anxious to try out, which would reveal the deception. Something like, say … Resurrection.”

The room fell silent. Resurrection was one of the Amatatsu Seal’s powers. “You know, the Ruby Phoenix was famous for returning from the dead,” Nicki said thoughtfully. “We could put the aura on a ring, and tell the Prince it was the Ruby Phoenix’s own ring, the one that kept her alive over and over!” said Bella, warming to the idea. “But it would mean we’d have to open the Warding Box, and tell the Five Storms exactly where we are,” Zhustin reminded them. “Maybe that’s a chance we have to take,” Sandoval argued. “Keeping our location secret doesn’t matter if the Prince kills Ameiko.”

“That’s not our only option,” Marie interjected, and everyone turned to listen. “There are lots of other ways to get our hands on a Resurrection spell without needing the Seal. I’m sure the High Priest of Abadar is high enough level to cast that spell.” Zhustin got excited. “We don’t need him to cast the spell – all we need is to buy a scroll!”

All the pieces seemed to fall into place, and the next morning the group moved to put their plan into action. They took the ferry one last time back to Goka. They’d already pooled all their cash (including Huyanwo’s vast pile of coins), and while Marie went to the temple to purchase a Scroll of Resurrection, Bella prowled the city’s pawn shops looking for a simple gold ring with just the right patina of scratches and wear. They met back together in a private room in the back of a wine shop, and Zhustin used Romby’s scroll to transfer the scroll’s dweomer to the ring. When he’d finished, all the party’s spellcasters did their best to test it. The ring radiated a strong aura of Conjuration, and when Identified, appeared to contain Resurrection magic.

Hopeful they’d be able to fool the Prince, they returned a final time to the temple, and told the priests they were ready to return to Hongal. They stepped into the teleportation circle, the priests began chanting, and in a flash, they found themselves in the Abadaran temple in Ordu-Aganhei.

The Prince’s advisor, Chua, was waiting for them, along with a score of heavily armed guards. “Your delay in returning has been most … inconvenient. We expected you two days ago. The Prince has been most anxious to congratulate you. And your friends are growing weary of their … travels.”

“We had a little matter of a dragon that kept us busy,” Bella piped up. “But we’re fine, thanks for asking.”

Chua didn’t take the bait, but simply turned and strode out of the temple, the guard falling in behind the party to ensure they didn’t wander off. As they passed through the city, they were cheered by half-hearted crowds who were still being hastily gathered by soldiers to celebrate the party’s belated arrival. They arrived at the palace and were immediately escorted to the Prince’s courtyard. As usual, Prince Batsaikhar reclined on a large bed, surrounded by his courtiers and double the usual number of guards. “My champions!” he gushed as the party entered. “You have emerged victorious, as I always knew you would! You have brought honor to Hongal, and it shall be my fate to be remembered forever as the ruler who led his great nation to its first Ruby Phoenix Championship!” Nicki made a mental note that, while the Prince’s older brother was technically the ruler of Hongal, the Prince seemed to view himself somewhat differently.

“But there will be time for speeches later, at the Feast of the Dragon. Now – what prize did you win for me from Hao Jin’s legendary vault?” The Prince leaned forward greedily, scanning the party for any sign of his prize.

Sandoval stepped forward and unlimbered the Hongali horsehead fiddle he’d won at the feast barely a week before.. He began to play and to sing the epic song of the legend of Hao Jin, the Ruby Phoenix, of her many powers, or the many enemies and assassins who tried to kill her – and succeeded. And of her repeated returns from the dead, rising from the ashes more powerful than before. Some of it was pieces of the legendary wizard’s life that the bard had picked up, but much of it was made up out of whole cloth. Nevertheless, the entire court hung on his every word. Sandoval sang of how an assassin finally learned the secret of the Ruby Phoenix, of a magic ring that she never removed, and which returned her to life each time she was killed. The clever assassin sent a bee to sting her on the finger as she walked in her garden. Her finger began to swell, and she removed her ring to apply a soothing ointment, and that is when the assassin struck, finally slaying the Ruby Phoenix in the one moment she was unprotected.

As he sang, Sandoval wove Fascinate into his bardsong, and the Prince was totally enthralled, sitting on the edge of his seat, jaw slack. Sandoval stopped playing, and reached into his pocket. He removed a worn, gold ring, and the Prince’s eyes latched onto it with a look of intense greed. “And this is the prize we have won for you, my Prince. Of all Hao Jin’s vast hoard of treasures, this was the one she valued the most, the one that never left her finger until the day she died. The Ring of the Ruby Phoenix!”

“Give it to me!” the prince whispered, his voice cracking. He reached out a trembling hand for the ring, but Sandoval held it back. “We miss our friends so much,” the bard continued, activating the Suggestion power of his Fascination ability. “We ask that you reunite them with us now, so that we do not suffer our separation any longer.”

“Yes, yes,” the Prince nodded, scrabbling forward towards the ring in Sandoval’s hand. “They are barely an hour’s ride away. I will send for them just as soon as you give me my ring. My precious ring!” Sandoval allowed him to snatch the ring from his grasp, and he clutched it greedily in both hands, staring down at it lovingly. Chua whispered something in his ear, and he reluctantly carried the ring to a clutch of old men in long robes. The group could see them casting spells over the ring while the Prince looked on protectively. They whispered among themselves, then returned the ring to the Prince with a nod. He immediately slipped it onto his finger, then kept his hand closed in a tight fist.

The Prince motioned to one of his guards, who ran from the courtyard. “I have summoned for your friends to return from their vacation. They will be reunited with you soon. In the meantime, you have my leave to return to your rooms to rest and bathe in preparations for tonight’s festivities. Tonight, all of Ordu-Aganhei will feast!”

Without any further ceremony, he swept from the room, followed by his retinue. Their con had worked! So far, anyway. They could only hope that the Prince would keep his promise to return Ameiko and Sandru. “Let’s not stick around here any longer than we have to,” Nicki whispered as they made their way back to their rooms, and the others agreed. Most scattered to the marketplace to pick up whatever items they’d ordered to be made or left to be enhanced during their trip to the Tournament. Shinjiro stayed behind, and a couple of hours later, Ameiko and Sandru returned. Sandru was delighted to see everyone again, but Ameiko was in a foul mood. Whether she was more angry at the Prince for holding her prisoner or at the party for failing to rescue her was hard to say, but she was pissed and was willing to take it out on whoever was handy.

By the time everyone returned from their errands it was nearly sunset. Their press of dozens of fawning servants were back in force, and the party found themselves bathed and dressed almost against their will. Once again they found themselves back in the Prince’s courtyard. As usual, it was filled with the court’s hangers-on, but this time there were no feast tables laid out. The prince sat cross-legged on his featherbed, flanked as usual by dozens of women in white makeup. The party noticed that the Prince wore a pair of silk gloves, but that his fingers caressed one of his knuckles incessantly.

The Prince motioned for silence, and launched into a long speech about the glory and honor that was now Hongal’s. While he congratulated the party for their victory, his speech was more about his own wisdom in choosing the right champions; by the time he finished, you could almost be excused for thinking he’d fought the matches personally.

As his speech wound down, he looked down on the party in their place of honor below the foot of his cushioned throne. “And now, I have one final honor to bestow upon our honored guests.” His focus shifted to Bella, and she fidgeted uneasily. “Oh no,” Marie whispered to herself as she realized what was about to happen.

“Bella! You have brought such fresh life and exotic ways into our court in the few days that you have been our guest. Indeed, I cannot now imagine this palace without you walking its hallways, or my gardens without you making the beauty of my flowers dim by comparison with yours. I wish you to stay by my side forever, and so, I offer you the incomparable honor of becoming my wife!”

All eyes turned expectantly to Bella, who sat frozen in place, mouth working silently. “The riches of Hongal shall shower upon you!” the Prince continued. “I shall be a most dutiful and faithful husband. Just ask any of my other wives.” Half of the women in whiteface bowed respectfully. “And I assure you, I am a most energetic and vigorous lover. Just ask any of my concubines!” The other women in white bowed, twittering. “Together, we shall create the heirs of the kingdom of Hongal!” (Nicki again noticed a slight deviation in the standard line of succession.) “So Bella … will you honor me by becoming my bride?”

The room fell silent as everyone waited for Bella’s answer. Sawyer loosened Suishen in its scabbard, expecting the worst. Bella sat speechless for once. She’d heard something about ‘the riches of Hongal’ that piqued her interest. A plan began to half-form in her head that involved a dagger in the wedding bed. But then she had a flash of the memory of the puppeteer who had disappointed the Prince, her hands hacked off at the wrist. No, this was not a man she could even pretend to love. “Umm … can I have some time to think about it?”

A shocked gasp ran through the assembled crowd, and everyone took an involuntary step back. The Prince retained the permanent smile on his face, but it was clearly strained. “Of course, my dear,” he finally said. “I am sure that this honor comes as a great shock to you, and it will take some time for you to absorb how this decision will change your life forever. You may have until morning to provide your answer.” He turned to the rest of the court. “And now, go! Tonight is the Feast of the Dragon, and the entire city of Ordu-Aganhei is commanded to celebrate our great victory!” As the Prince’s retinue left the room, everyone else hurried for the nearest exit, careful to keep their distance from Bella. “I think we ought to go check on the caravan,” Sawyer whispered as they hurried out of the palace. “I’m not sure we should wait for morning to leave.” No one disagreed.

Outside, the common citizens of Ordu-Aganhei were blissfully unaware of the great insult that had just been made to their Prince, and the celebration was in full swing. Colorful fireworks went off over the lake, while countless firecrackers exploded in the streets. Street vendors sold all manner of food and drink. (“Rat on a stick! Rat on a stick! Git yer fresh rat right here!” one called in sing-song Tian.)

And this being the Feast of the Dragon, the streets were filled with the feast’s namesake. Long, colorful silk dragons wound their way through the narrow streets and market squares, papier-mâché heads leading long bodies, all carried by men inside with long sticks.

As the party pushed their way through the crowds in the lakefront market, one of these dragons snaked its way towards them. As it moved forward, dodging firecrackers underfoot, it pushed its way through the party’s midst, separating them. Suddenly, the silk body and paper head were thrown aside, and men inside revealed themselves. They were dressed in close-fitting black outfits and masked hoods, and carried razor-sharp katanas. The party had last seen their ilk in the halls of Ravenscraeg – Five Storms ninjas!

Nearly a dozen ninja sprang to the attack; Zhustin, Sawyer, Marie, Nicki, and Shinjiro all felt the sting of their blades. Something dark and sticky coated the steel, but so far no one felt any ill effects. Nicki leaped back a step, and called up a shaft of Hellfire that blast out of the earth and scorched four of the attackers. Marie backed away from her assailants and called down a Flame Strike, and one of them found himself burned by hellfire and holy fire in quick succession. Zhustin cast Haste on his nearby allies, quickening Sawyer, Bella, Marie, and Ameiko. Bella took advantage of her speed to rush across the gap between the two halves of the party to help Shinjiro, who, as usual, found himself surrounded by enemies. Ameiko put arrow to bowstring, and her shaft sank deep into the nearest ninja. Sawyer, with a ninja in his face, drew Suishen and with three quick flicks of the wrist, put his attacker face down in the dirt.

As the battle raged, one thought kept going through their heads. Even without revealing the Amatatsu Seal, the Five Storms had somehow learned their location!

Since you didn’t complete any encounters or any story awards last night, you didn’t gain any additional XP. However, when you finish off the ninja ambush, you will have enough XP to reach Level 11, so keep looking at your next level. We’ll be at Leo’s next week.