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Tenibri joins the others at the table. He glances over the delicacies on offer and selects some of the strangest and most unfamiliar options. "This is an exquisite opportunity; look at all this amazing food!" He starts eating, taking small bites of different items first, enjoying the exploration of new tastes and textures. As he pours himself a cup of tea, he offers and pours it to those seated immediately next to him--at least those within the reach of his short arms.
"Ando, you really are an expert; your knowledge of this history is fascinating. Don't you all agree?" He says in support of Ando's quest to keep the attention of the teachers and staff.
The suite provided for Ayo has a small writing desk, a brand new empty journal, and a well worn journal set next to it. A quill and a variety of different colors of ink sit into respective slots on this scribe's desk.
On top of the older journal is a small note that says 'For Inspiration - Mai'
The older journal is full of different poetry, woodcut prints, short stories and other art, all erotic in tone. It seems like Mai may have been collecting this 'Art' for a good while.
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Nergi decides to meandre around the gathering and mingle with the guests to provide a distraction while the rest of the party does what is necessary to acquire the silk.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nergi Khalka. I must admit I am intrigued by this establishment. You have quite the collection in these halls. Do you mind me asking how does the school acquire them? Are they all student works or do you have other sources?", she asks the first otherwise unengaged individual.
Xiao stealthily climbs up the side of the building, sticking to the walls with ease. While peeking over the edge of the second floor roof, You see Jianghong attempting to mess with the window with a set of slim metal tools in a leather roll.
At the mention of 'Collection' an older Tien man with wire rimmed spectacles perks up. "Ah! Welcome to the School of Affinities! My name is Master Li, and I am the curator of the collection here. Our pieces have been hand curated over decades of careful thought and patient examination. Were you looking to study here? Is this your Tutor?" Looking over at Ando, he smiles widely. "Perhaps I can tell you of the wonders of attending this school! I am certain we can cut you a very good deal on Tuition!"
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Ayo, taking the time to copy your poetry isn't incredibly difficult, just time consuming. As you sit at the desk, illuminating the artistic renditions in multicolored ink, you notice a yellow cloak dashing around outside, before scrambling up a wall. A moment later, you see Xiao climb up that same wall, as the colored shape sits by the second floor window, appearing to be manipulating something.
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Ando smiles at Master Li. I have certainly heard of the many marvellous wonders your school has to offer. I myself have trained with the Pei Zin masters in the mountains of Dtang Ma but I am always interested in taking on new challenges and learning more about the world we live in.
He pauses for a moment, seemingly distracted. Perhaps I could provide you with a demonstration of the Pei Zin practices?
After fiddling with the lock for a little bit, Jianghong manages to pop it open, before hopping quickly into the room. Pulling a bag from under his robes, he begins stuffing it with scrolls and books, before contemplating the large orange map. Carefully folding it, and wrapping it in a his cloak, it is the last thing to go into the bag before he makes for the window again.
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Master Li is entranced by Ando's knowledge, and gathers many of the students around for a demonstration of his techniques.
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As the mischievous student stuffs the items into his bag, Xiao prepares a net, dousing with a contact poison that would render the poor boy unconscious, but mostly unharmed.
When the man was finished stuffing the bag heads for the window, Xiao will toss the net on him.
In addition to being entangled, Jianghong must make a DC 13 Fort save or fall unconscious for 1 minute from the dusk agate extract. (Secondary effect 1 Wisdom damage.)
Jianghong attempts to jump out the window with a thief's practiced grace, but Xiao's net is waiting just outside. Between the dust that blasts him in the face, and the net tangling up his unaware jump, he lightly thuds to the shingles, in a dreamless sleep.
You can very easily recover the treasures from him, and stash him somewhere safe before he even wakes up. Inside his sleeves are all sorts of tools for picking locks, Prying windows, and climbing. Plenty of empty pockets, and baggy clothing would have provided for a challenge to catch up with him, if you hadn't caught him off guard.
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Ando notices Ayo's nod but remains focused on distracting the staff and students.
Ando lays out his various alchemical devices, needles and poultices. He will look amongst the crowd for a voluntter, ideally someone who looks a little infirm or perhaps suffering with an ailment. Assuming they agree he will demonstrate the techniques of his order, placing numerous needles at specific points across the body, applying various oils and tinctures and striking the patient at their chakra points to release their chi energy.
With the fine food and medicinal presentations, the rest of the evening passes uneventfully.
In the morning, there is a bit of commotion around the Gallery, with many of the Blue Sashed guards inspecting a climbing rope, and a set of steel tools left at the upper window. After a cursory search and questioning, they let you take your leave.
Mai comes bearing a small package in brown paper, trading it swiftly for the old notebook and Ayo's copied literature.
Back in town, Chie is selling Clever Fox branded Spring Loaded Wrist Sheathes.
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Closing up her stall, and repacking an almost excessive amount of Wrist Sheathes into a small bag at her hip, Chie bows apologetically to Nergi and Ayo.
"I will admit, this is not my proudest moment, but at the very least, we should be able to use this information from the map to further discover the location of the Summer Palace. With Mai Chun's instructions, it looks like the next part should be less... deceptive."
Pulling out a small scroll, handing it to Ignaru, Chie lowers her voice to almost a whisper. "It looks like the next bit of information is in Po Li. There is a bureaucrat by the name of Yue Xin that seems to think that he has information on the location of the Summer Palace. We can head out whenever you are ready!"
A correspondent of mine, a minor bureaucrat in Po Li named Yue Xin, implies that he has identified where to find some valuable information to locate the Summer Palace. Although he attempts to obscure the truth with his cryptic responses, I believe Yue Xin is fearful of searching out the information himself, so there may be some danger. I have written to him of your capabilities, and he is eager to meet you. Travel to Changdo, the capital of Po Li, and find Yue Xin at his habitual fishing hole outside the city gates. He will direct you from there.
– Mai Chun
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Nergi lets out a sigh of relief once the business in the academy is over.
"Honestly I'm just happy it's over. This kind of work is not up my alley."
Her mood gradually improves as the realisation settles in, and we're back to the happy-go-lucky halfling status in a few short minutes.
"So how do we find this person?", she says with an ever-present smile.
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With a light tap on the shoulder for each of you, and a reassuring smile, Chie once again leads you through the clouds to the capital city of Changdo, across the Sea of Ghosts in Po Li "There is supposedly a very large statue in the center of Changdo, dedicated to the Eternal Emperor. We should be careful as we get closer!" Only a moment after mentioning it, a colossal face looms in your view. "I didn't think it would be quite THIS tall! But I suppose this means that we are here!"
Touching down just outside of the city gates, is a busy trading yard, populated by all manner of people from across Tian Xia. To one side of the yard stands a well encircled by a low stone wall. A young Tian-Shu man wearing a broad straw hat stands beside the well, the line of his bamboo fishing pole disappearing into its depths.
"I guess that is Yue Xin? Let me know what information that you can get from him. I will once again take care of the sleeping arrangements inside the city... With the bureaucracy in Po Li, I'm certain obtaining the permits to stay inside the city's walls will take the better part of the day."
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Tenibri looks simply gleeful as they walk among the clouds to travel to Changdo. "I really could get used to this." He exclaims with wonder before they set down. Once down, the wayang looks to his companions, then approaches the man.
"How is the fishing today?" He asks simply, trying to get a read on the man's demeanor.
The man in the straw hat gives his fishing pole a brief, quizzical glance, before tossing it haphazardly into the well. The clattering echoes of the falling pole are just audible above the sounds of business, and young man approaches, hands outspread.
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Once Nergi reverts back to her fleshy form and after Tenebri's comment, she shakes her head for a short moment. "I don't know. Doesn't feel right. A necessity, I suppose."
After a short pause, she looks over to Wayang moving in the direction of the well. The Tian man tosses his pole into the well, and the realisation dawns upon Nergi. She addresses the Pathfinders quietly.
"This man was fishing in a well. And he just tossed his fishing pole into said well."
"You are sure this is our guy? Is he feinting insanity?"
The young man bows to Tenibri, and continues to speak in Tien.
Opening up a leather satchel at his side, the man fishes out a loose sheaf of papers, covered in tiny tien script, handing them to Tenibri. The notes seem to describe Letters written in Green Fire across the sky.
Just an instant later, he quickly snatches them away, shoving them haphazardly back into his satchel.
"You see here why Mai Chun was so interested in my find."
Taking a very professorial tone (In common, for the benefit of the rest of the party) Yue Xin begins a practiced and thought out speech.
“When Imperial Lung Wa controlled these lands, quick and accurate communication was of paramount concern to the Eternal Emperor and his servants. Relay stations formed a network covering much of the continent, speedily carrying imperial dictates to the farthest corners of the realm. In these dark days, those relay stations have fallen into ruin."
With a readjustment of his hat, and a slight flourish, he continues.
“But into darkness comes light, as into memory comes charitable action. My researches indicate that some of the messages that passed through these redoubts were secretly recorded. A clue to the location of the palace Mai Chun seeks is certainly to be found in a ruined communications station just half a day’s walk to the west, down that road and left at the first crossroads you reach. Directions to the palace are said to be ‘writ in letters of green fire.’ Surely heroes of your mettle will have no trouble traveling to the ruin, avoiding the soldiers who guard it by day, exploring it by night, and overcoming the ghosts said to haunt it. The restless dead offer no threat to he who sparks the tinder.”
Immediately after finishing, he bows shallowly to Tenibri, before promptly turning around, and heading to a trader nearest to the well. Almost as if the trader could anticipate Yue Xin's thoughts, he takes a Bamboo Pole from behind the counter with a length of string tied to the end.
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Yue Xin has to pull quite hard to wrest the papers from Tenibri's grip, needing three hard tugs to get them free as the wayang tries to let his eyes devour as much of the manuscript as he can. Fiery letters across the sky! He looks wistfully at the satchel with the papers haphazardly stuffed and wrinkled, his eyes drifting back even as he tries to listen to the young man's story.
Tenibri awkwardly returns the bow, his mind still on the manuscript. "You mean, we don't get to keep it?" he croaks as Yue Xin walks away.
"Fine," he says as he turns to the rest of the party. "We'll figure out how to ignite the fiery letters ourselves." He looks ready to start following the western road indicated by Yue Xin.
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"Guy's a raving madman, I say.", Nergi says after the Tian man leaves.
"But we should go take a look anyway. We might find something of interest."
She sighs briefly and flexes her bow for a moment. Her head turns towards the indicated road, she stores her bow her backpack again, and puts her sword hand on the hilt of her rapier.
Before you head to the site, you could ask around the yard to see what information you can gather about the site! (If you do not speak Tien, it is a little more difficult to get information. Take a -5 penalty to Diplomacy)
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Ando will stop to chat to people in the yard as he makes his way out of town.
Once they are out of earshot he will fill people in on what he knows.
The locals guard the ancient sites related to Lung Wa jealously. Soldiers will be stationed in the area, alert by day but probably a bit sloppy at night. We might be able to sneak past them although..., he pauses and looks at the armour he is wearing, this might be a problem. Anyone got a spare mage armour spell available and I will dump the armour into my haversack.
The ruins are also said to be haunted, could be undead, outsiders or worse. Best be prepared when we do go in. Also all this talk of green fire might relate to alchemists, they were stationed at relay stations and read messages shot into the sky using rockets and pass them along the chain. Be on the lookout for any fireworks we find.
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What can be seen of Tenibri's face under his deep hood shows a clear disappointment when Ando explains the use of the fireworks for communications. "Of course it's just alchemists. I thought they were writing literal words in the sky. That would have been much more interesting."
"I have a wand with mage armor, Ando. I'll happily share with you to keep us quieter on our approach. It definitely sounds like night is our best bet for getting in, but I wouldn't be opposed to a daytime scouting mission, perhaps by Xiǎo? You can sure be quiet when you want to," he says to the grippli.
The city of Changdo is Magnificent, with many marketplaces and shops, as well as street vendors selling their wares. Chie (Accepting your Prestige as Currency for picking up the scroll) returns with a Scroll of Darkvision (5 castings) for Ando, and can help Nergi and Tenibri find a shop that can make you a great deal on a Scroll of Darkvision for the low price of 150 gp!
Many tea houses and inns can be found in the City of Changdo, as well as several Indoor Bath houses to relax and recover from your long journey.
As the sun begins to set, the path toward the Watchtower lay open ahead of you.
A number of crumbling buildings make up a compound surrounding a low stone pyramid. Lit only by the stars in the cloudless night sky above, the ruins take on an empty, haunted aspect. An eerie silence pervades the ancient buildings—even the wind has died away to nothing.
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Ando will tour the city's bath houses and tea rooms, enjoying the freedom from the weight of his armour which he carefully packs up into his handy haversack. He unlimbers his shield as well so that it doesn't encumber him, happily accepting a mage armour from Tenibri as they make their way towards the site.
If anyone else cannot see in the dark feel free to borrow my scrolls, I buy these things to use, no good them sitting in a pack.
He hands the scroll to Tenibri to activate.
As they approach the site he does his best to be quiet and avoid drawing attention.
[ooc]If you don't mind burning the spells, lets just say everyone has Darkvision and mark off the expenditures[ooc]
With your Magically Enhanced sight, you can see the worn down footpaths and crumbling buildings that have been long since empty. Off in the distance, smoke rises from a section of the forest, with the occasional outburst of laughter. It looks like these ruins have been abandoned, at least during the evening.
The site is built around a low stone pyramid, with low long steps. On the top of the syramid is a odd hearth, with a steel door and two chimneys for exhaust decoratively twisted around each other. The whole structure looks to be very well preserved.
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Ando quietly creeps up to the structure. He spends a little while poring over it and then mutters, bloody hell, these could be tubes for launching fireworks! I think we have the right place.
he then spends a moment checking around the immediate area for anything else interesting, muttering a quick detect magic spell.