Super cool.
I don't like "cool," Master.
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Each of you receive a letter from Venture-Captain Amara Li:
Pathfinders,
Very few Pathfinders have found their way to Dtang Ma, and there
remain countless ruins and mysteries within the Sikhyeu Rainforest and along the wintry slopes of the Kullan Dei mountains. The resident expert and long-time Pathfinder is known endearingly as Old Pak, in collaboration with another friend of the Society, has uncovered a very promising lead regarding a temple of Yamatsumi in the nearby Kullan Dei range that’s sure to interest your boundless curiosity. I’ve arranged for you to meet him in Dtang Ma’s capitol Ramparassad.
May your travels bring you fortune,
Venture-Captain Amara Li
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As Harrow tears into the apple biscuits, he wonders if he could ever adventure with Sir Dydimus. How the biscuits always arrived piping hot and so full of appl-y goodness, Harrow didn't know, but he wondered if Dydimus could tell him.
"Harrow never be to this part of world. Can count on Harrow," the half-orc brags as he places a full pie in his backpack.
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"Wow, that's a lot of strange words all jumbled together. I assume it means there is something interesting to investigate, eh?" Avril says and looks over at Cryxial before stroking him affectionately.
She smiles at the courier. "It was nice of you to bring food though. Do you perhaps know what kind of enemies we can expect to face?" The beautiful girl moves over to the food to taste a bit.
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Anything else you guys want to buy or changes you need to make before you meet "Old Pak" in Tien Xia?
Mareq bows politely to Sir Dydimus. "I do have a few questions, sir."
"First, what can you tell me about Dtang Ma? Current political and social situation? Will we be welcomed or suspect? Murdered on site as outsiders or given tea and biscuits?"
"Second, how cold are these Kullan Dei mountains? Venture-Captain Li refers to them as 'wintry'. Being from the City of Brass, I am unfamiliar with your multitude of synonyms for 'cold.' Will we need magic to protect ourselves from the temperatures?"
"Third, who is this 'other friend of the Society' that is working with Old Pak? Hopefully not that Grandmaster Torch character."
"Fourth, what do we know about Yamatsumi?"
"Fifth, what is our mission? Explore and report? Or something more direct and urgent?"
"And finally, how will we get there? Planar transit magic?" This last question seems to be of enormous import to Mareq. He glances out of the corner of his eyes at his efreet thrall as he asks this.
Mareq considers the answers and begins making plans to purchase requisite equipment.
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Bells tinkle and chime as the door to “Pak’s Tobacco and Spice” opens. Shelves on the walls are full of jars and pouches, and a collection of masks adorns the wall opposite to the entrance. An old Tian-Dtang man sitting behind the counter wakes up mid-snore, rubs his eyes, and exclaims in a raspy but exuberant voice.
“Yes, come in, come in! Ah, you must be the Pathfinders Ms. Amara sent! Where are my manners! I am Pak! Tea, anyone?”
Before anyone can answer, Pak flicks one end of his metal smoking pipe, snags a teakettle, and plants it atop a small brazier with smoldering coals. While Pak is serving tea and lighting his pipe with vanilla-scented tobacco, one of the masks on the wall animates and floats toward the party.
"This is Tanbaru, a spirit oni," Pak explains.
Tanbaru lazily glides from one party member to another and briefly relates his history.
Tanbaru: “Long ago, I was a kami who lived near a temple of Yamatsumi in the Kullan Dei mountains. But centuries ago, the temple and I were magically transported into an extraplanar place called the Hao Jin Tapestry. For hundreds of years, I languished in a broken temple surrounded by tyrannical conquerors who encouraged my cruelest habits, and I turned into what I am now—an oni. It wasn’t until a group of Path nders found me and showed me mercy that I was able to see past my own sel shness and spite. I have been working for the Path nder Society ever since, both in Absalom and in Tian Xia.”
Pak then runs a hand across his partly shaved head and explains the opportunity at hand.
Pak: “I’ll get straight to the point. I would appreciate your to traveling to the Kullan Dei mountains in southern Dtang Ma and exploring what is left of the temple of Yamatsumi near which Tanbaru once lived. You see, the ancient sorceress Hao Jin was able to transport only the lower, front half of the original temple into her tapestry. I know little about the broken temple other than its haunted reputation, but Tanbaru here says that the temple’s secluded location high up in the mountains may well have kept its historical secrets and hidden treasures safe from vandals and looters, relics that should be valuable to the Path nder Society. I want Tanbaru to accompany you. Although his transformation into an oni made his memories somewhat frayed, he still instinctively knows the way there. You should know that when Tanbaru was a kami, the Pilgrim’s Path—the trail that leads up to the temple—was his sacred ward. His presence may have unpredictable consequences, so please keep him safe.”
Tanbaru: "I pledge to help you to the best of my ability."
20+ The mountain range is volcanically active. In fact, Mount Pho-Yim, which looms over exudes ominous smoke. Seismic activity is common in the mountains, sometimes causing earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruptions.
25+ Many species of birds and snakes are endemic to the Kullan Dei Mountains. Some develop a spiritual attachment to important sites, defending those areas as guardians or watching over them as auspicious sentinels. Dragons, ogres, and various types of kami and oni are also relatively common in the region. Ramparassad, o en
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"What is its haunted reputation? Could you or Tanbaru elaborate on the dangers we might face there? What do you expect us to find other than a haunted and ruined temple? There must have been something that spurred this investigation other than idle curiosity?" Avril looks from the floating mask to the bald man and back again.
"My magic can sharpen your mind to help you remember, or your tongue to find the right questions." Avril says as she distributes her magical guidance to the whole party.
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"To whom is this temple dedicated? Yamatsumi? Who is that god?"
"What terrible things and people did you see, that turned you from a kami into an oni?
"And, may I ask, why are you shaped like a mask? Did somebody once wear you? I apologize if any of these ignorant questions offend."
“Yamatsumi is the Mountain Lord, a mighty but inscrutable god whose faith has spread from Minkai to many countries in Tian Xia. It is he who makes volcanoes rain re upon living things, but from the ashes, new life grows. It is his frozen breath that brings the winter, but when the ice thaws, rivers ow wild again. That is Yamatsumi!”
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Harrow eyes the mask skeptically, trying to figure out its intentions.
Harrow can sense that Tanbaru is very apprehensive about something, but it's hard to tell what.
Mareq hesitates to actually try on Tanbaru like a real mask. He thinks that might be offensive to a living being. But if he feels that Tanbaru wouldn't mind (he IS a mask, after all), Mareq will do so.
Tanbaru's fine with it. For as long as he "wears" Tanbaru, Mareq receives a +2 insight bonus on Perception checks.
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When the party leaves Ramparassad, the weather is sweltering hot. After a walk past rice fields that extend a few miles outside the city and a hike through a bamboo forest, the party finds a mountain trail that leads them south, deep into the Kullan Dei range. Up in the mountains, the weather is pleasantly cool. The air is thin, but the days you spend in the mountains are enough to become acclimated. After a week of hiking, you arrive at a set of stone pillars with inscriptions that read “The Pilgrim’s Path” in several languages. The mist-shrouded outline of the broken temple is visible in the distance, some 5 miles away.
Leave no trace!
Stay on the marked trail!
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"I have heard these stone pillars not only mark the beginning of the Pilgrim’s Path but also a transition from profane to sacred, which means that travelers should show proper reverence to tradition and the "Rules of the Trail". Look, one of these stone pillars lists these rules...and in common even." Uthred says to the others."Hmmm only three rules then..."
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The narrow trail winds along the base of a steep ridge, and large, jagged rocks have fallen from the cliff face here, blocking the path. (Looks like a landslide has caused large rocks to block the path.) At least a score of dark birds with white throats reside here, sitting atop nests built into the cliff face.