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.”

Sandoval, hoping to avoid a confrontation, stood up in his wagon seat and turned on his considerable charm. “You must have better things to do than to waste your time on a worthless caravan like this.” Sandru bristled at the insult, but said nothing. “We’re not carrying any contraband – nothing of any value, really. You don’t need to bother searching us.”

The bard was very persuasive. The oni relaxed and seemed ready to turn away, but their ogre mage captain seemed conflicted. “Well, you’re probably not the ones we’re looking for … er, I mean, you probably aren’t smuggling any contraband, but I still have my orders. Just do a quick once-over,” he commanded, and his oni began shuffling forward. Sandoval began singing, and wove Fascinate into his bardsong. Two of the oni stood open-mouthed, enthralled by his song, but the leader squinted suspiciously at the bard, sure he was up to something but not sure what. The other oni obediently followed orders; one began pawing through the contents of the lead wagon, while two others headed for the wagons farther back in the train.

The party tensed. “This won’t end well,” Miyaro whispered to Ameiko, and slipped down from the wagon, skulking off to conceal herself beneath the boughs of a nearby snow-covered spruce. Bella merrily exclaimed, “Here, let me help you open up the wagons!” She dismounted her pony and headed back towards Ameiko, ready to provide cover for the princess, while Zhustin quietly cast Haste on himself, Bella, Ameiko, and Marie, then hopped down off this wagon.

Sandru’s patience was running out. He was still annoyed at Sandoval’s disparaging his precious caravan (even though he knew the bard’s words were a ruse), and now a muscle-bound oni was ripping open crates of fragile Kaijitsu glassware practically right under his feet. “We’ve just been through Minkai!” he said testily. “We’re not going there, and we’re not smuggling anything. You don’t need to search us! What are you looking for, anyway?”

The ogre mage glared at the caravan master. “I’ve you’ve just been through Minkai, then you’re going in the wrong damn direction! And what we’re looking for is none of your damn business!”

Ja Noi Oni

Sandru started to try to stammer out a correction of his explanation, but just then he heard the tinkle of glass breaking. “Oh screw this!” he growled, and brought his sword crashing down on the head of the oni searching his wagon.

With that, all hope of a peaceful way out of the encounter disappeared. The injured oni was turning to swing back at Sandru, but Sawyer was sitting in the same wagon, and drew Suishen in a flash. Before the oni knew what had happened, his entrails were around his feet, and he collapsed in a heap. Nicki had been grudgingly preparing to try out a Charm Monster spell (one he’d never considered using before), but now he smiled broadly. “Goody!” he chortled as he dropped a Fireball on the ogre mage. The two Fascinated oni around him collapsed in smoking heaps.

Ameiko fired off a crossbow bolt at one of the oni, then moved back towards Zhustin. Shinjiro leaped off his wagon, and blocked that oni from pursuing the princess, pummeling him furiously. Miyaro crouched in the underbrush and fired arrows at the ogre mage, but the oni’s leader ignored her, and instead cast a Cone of Cold that caught Sandru, Sawyer, Marie, and Sandoval in its icy blast. Bella whipped out her deadly bow, and fired off three arrows in a flash; one oni collapsed and another was feathered.

But the battle wasn’t quite as one-sided as it initially appeared. An oni stepped out of its hiding spot behind the same tree that Miyaro was crouched in front of. He swung his giant tetsubo, and the studded club sent the girl tumbling head over heels. Another appeared from behind a boulder and charged Zhustin, while a third appeared from behind a thick evergreen to the south and fired off arrows at Nicki.

Nicki was not pleased. He called up a new skill he’d just acquired, and hammered the archer with a trio of Maximized Scorching Rays, turning the oni (and the tree he’d hidden behind) into a column of roaring flame. Zhustin used his Dimensional Step to teleport out of danger, but that left nothing but open ground between the ambushing oni and Ameiko. She fired a quick bolt from her crossbow, then took advantage of the Haste spell to sprint to safety.

Suishen was singing a battle song in Old Minkaian at the pleasure of spilling oni blood, and Sawyer now charged the ogre mage. The ancestral Amatatsu blade sank deep into the creature’s gut, searing it with righteous fire, and it fell to the ground with a loud thud. Sandru flanked Shinjiro’s foe, and his sword finished it off, leaving Shinjiro free to charge the one pursuing Ameiko. He slammed it with a mighty kick, then Bella sent an arrow into its eye, and it fell.

That only left the one who had ambushed Miyaro. Marie teleported behind it, and as it turned to face her, the young Tian girl stabbed it in the back. Furious, it swung its tetsubo two-handed, and Miyaro went flying. As she skidded across the frozen ground, Bella sank another arrow into its chest as Zhustin hammered it with a volley of Magic Missiles, and the last of the oni fell.

Everyone rushed to Miyaro’s side, afraid that their new guide was done for. But she still lived – barely. Marie quickly began administering healing, and Miyaro was soon sitting up and talking, although she still winced from the pain of her broken ribs. “I’ve never heard of patrols this far inland. We’re well away from the Spirit Road – they must be expanding their patrols in search of the princess.” The group began to send out scouts ahead and behind, and redoubled their caution, but they traveled for the next week without encountering any more threats.

As the road crested hills, they began to see a dark shadow growing on the horizon, and at last the narrow dirt path they followed disappeared into Forest of Spirits, a vast expanse of dark pines that stretched out on either side before them. The boughs of the trees hung heavy with fallen snow, and an almost preternatural silence reigned over the area. Ahead, a small stone pillar engraved with strange symbols had fallen across the path, blocking the way forward.

Bella moved forward, and nudged the fallen pillar with her foot. “What’s this thing?” she asked. The stone had clearly fallen many years ago, and was sunk deep into the earth and partly grown over with weeds. “It’s a waymarker,” Miyaro explained, tilting her head to read the barely-legible Tian characters engraved on it. “It marks the boundary of the Forest of Spirits, and warns mortals not to enter lightly.”

“Is it dangerous?” Bella asked suspiciously, and Marie cast a Detect Magic just to be sure, but Miyaro shook her head. “It’s just a marker. Although … such objects often have a guardian kami who watches over them. Showing respect for the waymarker, or making a small offering, might earn the blessing of its guardian.”

When in Rome … Bella jumped down and began clearing weeds from around the base of the marker, and when she was done, Sawyer heaved the stone back upright. Several of the party members lay a few coins at its base, and Bella added a small pile of flour. Marie completed the informal ceremony by casting Make Whole, which cleared centuries of lichen from its surface and brought the engraved characters back into sharp relief.

As they stepped back to survey their handiwork, they felt a sense of satisfaction and well-being settle over them. A small figure suddenly appeared at the base of the marker, seeming to step out of the stone itself. It was a wizened old humanoid, barely two-feet tall, clad in homespun robes, and he bowed deeply to the party. “I am Shunkichi. Thank you for righting my long-toppled ward,” he croaked in an archaic dialect of Tian, Miyaro translating quietly for those who couldn’t follow his words. “Your respect reflects well upon your honor, and you have earned my blessing, and that of the other kami of this part of the forest.” The feeling of well-being intensified. [DM Note: Everyone earned a +1 Luck bonus to all saving throws for the next week.]

Miyaro returned Shunkichi’s bow, and formally introduced the party to the kami. “These are the ones I was sent after, honored guardian. They bring the Princess Amatatsu Ameiko, to reclaim the throne of Minkai, and overthrow our ancestral enemies, the Five Storms.” Sandoval winced at Miyaro being so free with sensitive information, but held his tongue. Shunkichi nodded. “I will inform the other kami of your coming. But be careful, mortals. The Forest of Spirits is not without dangers, and not all the dangers of the Forest can be faced with swords.” With that, he disappeared back into his ward.

Not quite sure what to expect, the caravan trundled warily into the Forest of Spirits. As the hours passed, they had the unmistakable sensation of being watched, although they could see no signs of anything moving around them. The forest was unnaturally quiet – no chirping of birds or scampering of squirrels – although strange noises occasionally rang out from indeterminate locations. Bella rode her Hongali pony alongside Miyaro’s wagon. Bella had taken to braiding wildflowers into her pony’s mane and singing little songs to it as she rode, and there was something profoundly disturbing in the realization that this bloodthirsty rogue actually was still a little girl.

“What are these ‘spirits’ that little guy warned us about?” Bella asked Miyaro as they rode. “Are they undead?” The question seemed to confuse Miyaro. “The spirits are … spirits. I’m not sure what ‘undead’ are.” Bella tried to educate her. “You know – sometimes when someone dies, they don’t stay dead, but come back and try to kill you or eat you, and they smell really bad.” Miyaro shuddered. “No, the spirits aren’t like that. They don’t have bodies, and they don’t try to harm people. At least, not on purpose. I think some of them are just curious about people, or don’t realize they’re spirits, or … I’m not sure. They just are.”

The exchange left both of them more confused than when they started, and they rode in silence for awhile. “So how do you know so much about these spirits, and kami, and stuff?” Bella finally asked. Miyaro brightened. “Oh, I’ve lived in the Forest all my life. I was raised by the kami, and they taught me.”

“Did they teach you how to use that kukri so well?” Bella asked, pointing to the curved knife on Miyaro’s hip. She meant it as a compliment, but Miyaro seemed embarrassed. “I … learned what was needed.” She paused. “My skill might be inherited from my father. I’m not sure, though – I never knew my parents.”

This was something the two girls had in common. “Why do you think it might come from your father?” Bella asked with interest. Miyaro was quiet for a bit, but she sensed that Bella was genuinely interested, not judgmental or condescending. “My father was a bandit chief in Minkai. He and his band were being pursued by Imperial troops, and took refuge in the southern outskirts of the Forest of Spirits. But when the soldiers arrived, they found my father and all the bandits dead. When my father didn’t return, my mother took me – I was just a baby – and went looking for him. When she reached the Forest, the kami came to her, and told her my father had desecrated a sacred grove by cutting down trees to prepare to build defenses there, and the kami had killed him and his men as punishment. They told her that the stain of his dishonor extended to his entire family, and that they only way to restore the family’s honor would be to offer his only child as payment for his transgression. So my mother left me to be raised by the kami, and I never knew her.”

Bella rode in silence for a long time, trying to digest all this, but this particular concept of “honor” just didn’t make sense to her at all. But what she did know was that she’d met someone else whose father was a scoundrel and who’d been abandoned by her mother, and for the first time since before she left Magnimar, she felt like she might have found someone she could trust.

The next morning, as they travelled through the eerily silent Forest, most of the party suddenly became aware of a soft sound, like someone humming a tune to themselves. Looking around, they saw the faint outline of a female figure drifting towards Sandoval. She seemed to be oblivious to the party, and the tune she was humming didn’t have any of the characteristics of bardsong, but Sandoval immediately began a Countersong of his own, just in case. Bella politely asked her name, but the spirit ignored her and drifted on. Marie asked Helgarval if the apparition was evil, and when her helm told her it was not, she, too, tried to interact with it. This seemed to draw its attention; the figure shifted direction, and began floating towards Marie. As it reached her, it seemed to try to float right through the cleric’s body. Marie felt a sudden chill, and could almost hear the words to the Tian song the spirit was humming, but then the feeling passed and the strange figure vanished.

The odd encounter left everyone on-edge, and the party was tense for the rest of the day. The next day found them traveling through more rugged landscape. A tall ridge arose on the right side of the path, and Miyaro told them it was known as the Ridge of Chill Breezes. Indeed, a cold wind blew along the base of the ridge, and everyone drew their cloaks tighter.

Suddenly a barrel-sized boulder came hurtling out of a copse of trees ahead, just missing Sawyer’s head. An enormous stone giant stepped out from behind the trees, blocking the path. Sandru fired off a quick arrow at the giant, but it reacted as if it had been stung by a mosquito. Bella and Miyaro added arrows of their own, and Sawyer leaped off the lead wagon and charged the huge creature, Suishen flashing in the sun. Sandoval began singing, and Zhustin cast Haste on Bella, Miyaro, Ameiko, and himself.

But before anyone could take advantage of their improved speed, another giant emerged from his hiding spot behind the party, and charged Nicki, smacking him nearly senseless with a huge club. Three more appeared along the ridgeline, and began raining boulders down on the caravan.

Shinjiro spun around and launched a Ki Flurry at the stone giant who’d hit Nicki. The giant was too large a target to miss, and the monk’s final kick to the groin nearly lifted it off the ground. It collapsed like a rag doll. Sawyer and the original attacker had been trading blows, and the giant was taking the worst of it; it, too, fell.

But that still left the giants atop the cliff. Ameiko took cover behind one of the wagons, but Sandru stood in front of his, as if he could protect his precious glassware from the falling boulders. He tried shooting the giants with his shortbow, but the range and height made them almost impossible to hit.

The giants may have thought that the high ground gave them an insurmountable advantage, but Marie knew better. She cast Fly on Bella, and the rogue grabbed her new friend Miyaro by the arm. “Let’s go get ‘em!” she cried. “I’ll distract him while you sneak around behind!” Together they flew up to the nearest giant, but he saw them coming from the first, and was far from “distracted”. As soon as Miyaro touched down and tried to get behind the giant, it hit her at point-blank range with the boulder in its hand. Bleeding profusely, she nonetheless kept staggering bravely on, and the giant turned to finish her off with its club. “NOOO!” Bella screamed, and began carving the huge giant up with both her blades. A burst of Magic Missiles suddenly streamed up from below, and Bella looked down to see Zhustin with his finger pointed up. The giant fell wordlessly, and Bella rushed to the injured Miyaro’s side.

Meanwhile, Sandoval had cast a Rainbow Pattern between the other two giants on the ridge, and both now stood grinning mindlessly at the array of pretty colors. Marie sprouted her angelic wings and began flying upwards, while Shinjiro ran to the base of the cliff and began to climb. “Don’t bother!” It was Nicki. He pushed up his sleeves, waved his metamagic rod with a theatrical flourish, and unleashed an Empowered Fireball on the two remaining stone giants. They both toppled over the edge of the cliff, plummeting like flaming meteors before crashing into the ground below.

The PCs earned 6,093 XP, putting them at 163,662 XP, with 220,000 required for level 12. We’ll be at Leo’s next week. Roger will be on call again next week (and the week after), and Brian is now in Sin City. Since we’ll have four locations to bridge together, we’ll experiment with doing an all-Skype session (audio only, no video) and see how it goes.