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On the eastern continent of Tian Xia, the Pathfinder Society remains a small player in the greater political landscape, but Amara Li, head of the Lantern Lodge in the teeming city of Goka, has plans to change that. In order to secure the Pathfinder Society's place as an influential organization on the far side of the world from the Grand Lodge in Absalom, she must orchestrate an alliance with the mysterious Way of the Kirin. But the longtime rival of the Pathfinder Society, the Aspis Consortium, has plans to form an alliance of its own, and if the consortium succeeds, the Pathfinder Society's hopes of cementing their place in the Dragon Empires could be dashed forever.
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Miaka quietly braids a length of hair while awaiting the VC and contemplating the mysteries of the 'verse. She is fashionably dressed (courtier outfit and fine jewelry) with no armor or weapons other then a finely crafted long bow.
After an hour or so ... she speaks up ...
"Please to meet you all. I am Miaka-san."
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Hanzo sits in the back corner of the room, his cold, crimson eyes taking everything in. His black and red adventuring outfit is loose, and many Tian designs can be made out, if one knew what to look for. His gauntlets and boots house multiple kunai, and a kusari gama is coiled on his back.
Eventually the ifrit speaks.
I am Hanzo, infiltrator for The Crimson Fists of Minkaya. It seems they are sending me to my homeland again. It will be an honor to work with you all.
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You receive a message on where to meet the Venture Captain. Arriving there you find Venture Captain Amara Li is waiting for you in a well-maintained private garden behind a house on a quiet street in Ramparassad, the capital city of Dtang Ma, a nation in eastern Tian Xia. As you gather she fusses over her tea set making sure things are just right. She speaks once everyone has arrived and has had an opportunity to enjoy tea.
When first I arrived in Absalom several years ago, I had a simple but nuanced mission: to increase communication and sharing of resources between the Pathfinder Society and its counterpart in Tian Xia by establishing the Lantern Lodge’s position on the other side of the world.
She pauses briefly to sip her tea, before adding, More than a year ago we successfully purchased and restored the house known as Hinojai, which was once a base for the Way of the Kirin. When we acquired Hinojai, it was as much a gambit to attract the attention of the remaining agents of the Way of the Kirin as it was an opportune acquisition of real estate. And indeed, a man claiming to be an agent of the Way recently contacted me by leaving me a message here.
Although the Way of the Kirin fell into ruin with the fall of Lung Wa a century ago, its far-reaching resources remain valuable, and it still commands great respect. If the Pathfinder Society could ally itself with the Way, the relationship would be of immense benefit to both organizations.
Amara’s voice reveals her satisfaction as she says, Pathfinders, we are on the cusp of just such an alliance. In a day’s time, we shall meet with this representative from the Way of the Kirin, and you are to act as security for me and ensure that the meeting is a success. I do not expect any trouble from the Way, but after all of the betrayals and double-crosses that the Society has experienced over the past few years, I worry that this is an elaborate setup by the Aspis Consortium. I have arranged for us all to be transported to the site early tomorrow morning, so take care of any errands you have in Ramparassad this afternoon. There are no settlements near our destination, and we will be spending the night there. I expect you understand the need to be fully prepared.
Amara Li stares into the dregs of her tea as though she were attempting to discern some lost thoughts in the green leaves floating at the cups bottom, then looks up.
Ah yes—before the negotiations begin in earnest, I will host a formal tea ceremony to set the tone. I encourage you to participate, though doing so is not required. I would, however, expect you to dress appropriately for the event.
With that she stands and waits to accept any questions.
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Hanzo nods.
You will be well guarded, Venture Captain. Even though my specialization is infiltration and acquirement, I have been trained by my order to protect political officials in diplomatic settings such as the one we face.
The ifrit motions to his pack on the ground.
I already posses the appropriate attire for such an event. I also assume we will have to hide any weaponry we bring?
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Amara smiles at Hanzo, Thank you for your attention to discretion, but actually that won't be necessary as the party we are meeting with is quite fond of the martial arts and would likely find it odd if we did have our weapons about.
Amara then looks at Milythandyr, Brushing up on you Tien is always wise in this part of the world, but I don't anticipate any language barriers at this occasion.
What else can I answer for you pathfinders?
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Excellent Yoshi, typically one wears a formal court dress or formal armor. I doubt that our contact will be particular about which you choose. As for the tea ceremony, it's a meal with several course of light dishes and of course tea. Don't worry to much about the mechanics of it, just concentrate on being cordial with our guest. Amara Li nods approval.
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"I am looking most fine in silk shirt and pants" admits Yoshi who will go and secure appropriate attire. Of course What Yoshi thinks is appropriate is not necessarily what others think. He knows this.
"I am hoping that perhaps one of you fine fellows might be joining me and helping with the choosing of the clothes?" he asks.
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Tûrak is a tall half-orc, and despite his size, he always try to pass unnoticed, maybe for self protection. He no longer has hair, and shows many scars through his entire body. His outfit have a hood, that is always used over his head, and he carries a big amount of junk with him.
The half-orc nods to the other Pathfinders in the room, when he arrives.
"Amara Li, it is a pleasure to see you...again", he pauses, briefly.
Not much time ago, Tûrak helped Amara Li with some tengus, but this is another history...
"What to dress? What do they have in mind? We are going to protect her! We have to dress armor and wear weapons!", Tûrak rolls the eyes.
"We'll provide all the aid that you need, lady Amara. And... What is exactly this 'Way of the Kirin'?", the alchemist asks the Venture-Captain.
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Turak, Amara attempts to answer the question.
Slightly more than a century ago, the Lung Wa Dynasty collapsed, plunging much of Tian Xia into chaos. During this time, a once-powerful military and trade organization known as the Way of the Kirin also crumbled and disappeared from the public eye. The Way of the Kirin is an order who's aim is to embody the virtues of the noble kirin. They seek wealth only so that all may benefit, act in the defense of those who have no defense, and take only that which they needed to combat injustice. At the height of its power, the Way of the Kirin held great wealth and had small private armies defending its interests. A century later, the Way has not entirely vanished, but the organization’s influence has waned to the extent where its very existence is kept secret for the sake of its remaining members. What remains is a shell of its former glory. The few extant members of Way of the Kirin have access to vast stores of wealth, information, and magic, but there are few they would trust to wield these resources.
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"Wealth has corrupted many over the ages. We shall do our best to ensure your tea ceremony and your safety are undisturbed during the proceedings." Milyth says to Amara Li.
Later after the group is left alone Milyth asks her companions "Even though Amara does not expect trouble should trouble arise, what is our plan to deal with it? I would like to know what each of you bring to the table since I have never worked with any of you in the past."
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To ensure the utmost secrecy, I will not reveal that until after we have left in the morning. There are too many curious ears in Ramparassad. That said I do not expect any trouble from the Way of the Kirin, and we have taken considerable measures to ensure this mission is secret. Even so, I am certain that both the Golden League and the Aspis Consortium would leverage every resource to prevent this alliance.
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Amara nods, Much as the Society has gathered rivals in the Inner Sea, the Way of the Kirin has made many enemies in Tian Xia. The Golden League is a powerful criminal organization with influence throughout Tian Xia. They are masters of subtle manipulation, bribery, thuggery, and assassination. Their enforcers are called Xun— merciless thugs who don’t hesitate to maim or kill a person for the league families they serve. They are easy enough to spot by the nearly full-body tattoos that they favor. Should you see any Xun here in Ramparassad, keep clear.
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Amara speaks to Yoshi's inquiry, I would expect many different styles both armed and unarmed from the Golden League; but the Xun are often trained in Snapping Turtle combat style.
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Turak's time gathering information bares fruit. While there is little talk of Aspis activity in the city. Golden League toughs have been more visible than usual in Ramparassad, though they have not caused much trouble. Instead members of the Golden League have been spotted
all over Ramparassad, and it looks as though they are watching for someone. A Minkai member of the Golden League visited Ramparassad recently—the local Xun all seemed afraid of him. Named Mikogu Shimazi, he is a ruthless man with a reputation for throwing away the lives of his subordinates to accomplish a goal.
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The next morning as you arrive Amara and a couple servants are busy packing items into a strange looking chest. Once they have completed there preparations, Amara walks over to a pocket door, taps a strange pattern on the door, which she then opens, she says to you Step this way.[/b. It looks as if a small closet only big enough for one person lays beyond.
As each of you steps through you are teleported.
You find yourself standing on a black stone pier which juts out from the beach, though years of pounding surf and use make it impossible to discern whether it was magic or skilled hands that constructed the pier. Igneous black sand peppered with chunks of dark gray rock makes up the beach. Further up the hill, the landscape is filled with strange shapes eroded from the charcoal-colored stone. Wild basalt beasts, bizarre pumice chimneys, igneous archways, and twisted stone snakes line the winding mile long path that crawls up the steep hillside. The black tiles of a lighthouses’s rooftop is just barely visible between two of the more serpentine stone menhirs. A light mist dampens the docks and darkens the stone to a glossy black.
Amara allows you to take it in for a moment before telling you, [b]We are now on a small volcanic island at the northern end of the Minatan Archipelago. Interesting place isn't it.
The islands unique terrain features make it very defensible, the many rocky outcroppings provide ample material for constructing deadfalls, anchoring tripwires, and so on.
You travel up the winding trail and finally arrive at a lighthouse which towers above a two-story house. Both structures are made primarily of the local soot-colored basalt. The lighthouse appears to be intact, but the manor has fared less well—its windows lack screens and its roof sags, suggesting it has suffered badly from decades of neglect. These structures perch at the edge of a cliff, with the north-facing side of the house supported by tall stilts anchored deep into the cliff.
As you enter the house, it's clear no one has been here in a very long time, a thick layer of dust is everywhere. The servants immediately open the chest and pull out clothes and brooms that look far to big for the chest they just emerged from and begin dusting and sweeping the area.
Amara says, Pathfinders explore, secure this place as best you can.
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Hanzo leaves his noble's outfit tucked away in his pack, and coils his kusari gama on his back. He then cracks his knuckles, rolls his neck, and puts on a mask that obscures everything below the crown of his nose and everything above his eyebrows. The mouth part of the mask is stylized to resemble that of the mouth of an attacking viper.
Let's explore this place, then, and make sure no threats are already waiting for us.
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A strong wooden door guards the entry to the house.
The kitchen has several large, empty chests that once served as pantry space, an oven with openings in the top for pots of various sizes, a sink, and a single wooden stool.
This large room served as the great hall once, a place to meet and socialize, as well as a library for research. Two massive bay windows with window seats topped with ruined silk cushions face north and offer a spectacular view of the ocean and a cluster of smaller islands. An immense fireplace against the southern wall.
This circular room has a simple wooden door and contains a jumble of old supplies.
This room is devoid of furniture, making its original purpose difficult to discern, the room is positioned immediately above the main door.
A large, rotting bed dominates the master bedroom along side a relatively well-preserved desk and chair. The ceiling sags from water damage and the floor in the center of the room slants alarmingly.
The lighthouse rises 30 feet and is built of the same dark basalt as the nearby house. A slightly arched covered bridge connects the second floors of the two structures.
Inside, the lighthouse contains only a small storage area and a wooden spiral staircase that winds its way up to the tower’s top. A trapdoor at the top of the stairs exits to a narrow walkway with a railing that encircles the middle of the small room that houses the lantern.
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Milyth steadies herself after the transportation of the team "I hate that...makes me a bit queezy afterwards..." and Kharam growls at anyone trying to get close to her...
After arriving at the building Milyth moves to warm herself by the fire
She also looks around as she warms up...
and engages in small talk with the other people there...
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Yoshi seals off the master bedroom and then bars the door and piling crates against the spare room door.
Narvik's search of the warehouse recovers two rusty bear traps and a 20-gallon barrel of whale oil meant to fuel the lighthouse’s fire. Also, many of the old pieces of lumber and iron fittings are actually what remains of a disassembled catapult.
Miaka analyzes the house for defense points finding a number that look promising.
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Miaka looks back the way we came ...
"It looks like any attack will probably come up the same way we did from the pier as the manor and light house are right up against the cliff here. Does anyone know how to rig deadfalls? I think that we should probably trap the path if possible. Also, it looks pretty open around the manor though. We should try to pile up some of this junk to force everybody into choke points within our field of fire from here."
"I am thnking that bear traps in the fireplaces, or maybe lighting of fires in them. I am thinking that company is likely. Perhaps if we are being able to secure those large windows too somehow?"
"We have bear traps? That is an excellent idea I think ... we can use them to trap the window areas perhaps. Then starting fires in the fireplace is not a bad idea either; though I am not sure they are large enough for a man to come down? Is there anything around here that we can use to make caltrops?"
Miaka will take 10 to search the kitchen for anything she can use for defense ...
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Turak's time gathering information bares fruit. While there is little talk of Aspis activity in the city. Golden League toughs have been more visible than usual in Ramparassad, though they have not caused much trouble. Instead members of the Golden League have been spotted all over Ramparassad, and it looks as though they are watching for someone. A Minkai member of the Golden League visited Ramparassad recently—the local Xun all seemed afraid of him. Named Mikogu Shimazi, he is a ruthless man with a reputation for throwing away the lives of his subordinates to accomplish a goal.
Before depart, Tûrak shares the information gathered with others: "there is little talk of Aspis activity in the city. Golden League toughs have been more visible than usual in Ramparassad, though they have not caused much trouble. Instead members of the Golden League have been spotted all over Ramparassad, and it looks as though they are watching for someone. A Minkai member of the Golden League visited Ramparassad recently—the local Xun all seemed afraid of him. Named Mikogu Shimazi, he is a ruthless man with a reputation for throwing away the lives of his subordinates to accomplish a goal".
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Tûrak was so perplexed by the beauty of the place, to the point of not even be able to answer the question of Amara on how interesting it was that island.
Pathfinders explore, secure this place as best you can.
"As you command, my lady", then the half-orc starts to inspect the entire building, looking for any hidden passage in all rooms, which the enemies could use to enter there.
While looks for hidden passages, Tûrak asks the other Pathfinders: "does any of you can detect magic? If can, could you try to do it in the entire place? This may help..."
Once he checked all the rooms, the alchemist asks Amara, "where will occur the reunion? In which room, exactly?"