The oni, clad in heavy chainmail and road-worn clothes, jabs a stick into the heart of a bed of coals a few times, the fire glowing slightly brighter with each thrust. And though his eyes and attention are focused on his task of stoking the flames, his voice, resonant and gravelly, calls out plain enough in the common tongue, "If your question is for my sake, it is not necessary, master tengu. I can understand your words well enough." His eyes still remain fixed on the fire as he goes silent for a few long moments. After several breaths, he continues, "There's room by the fire for more if you and your heavily armed friends would care to sit."
"Thank you for the invitation stranger." responds Dunja approaching to a polite speaking distance "But we are currently on the trail of another group of Oni on behalf of a nearby village. In fact, your camp here lies just off the trail. Perhaps you have seen something?"
Ling is more than pleasantly surprised that this lone oni seems to be a friendly-enough sort. The tension in the air as of late has been unbearable, and it is refreshing to see an oni that isn't firing arrows at villagers.
"Well met, stranger! And what would you have us call you?" It is not in her natural voice she says this, but rather a sort of pumped-up, overly formal tone that just kind of slips out. She looks back apologetically at the rest of the party before taking a seat.
"So, um, yeah- what Dunja said. Are you, uh, associated with the oni that were camped near here?"
Ynayeeku decides to keep his mouth shut for the moment, knowing that the sighting of an oni and the questions lingering in the air are of the utmost importance.
"Most know me simply as Avernus. And that's as suitable a name as any, though you are free to call me what you will if you prefer something else. As for these oni you mention, no; I have not seen any." His eyes and attention still remain fixed on the task of stoking the fire to life, but he does extend one hand toward the rest of group to wave them over after Lingfeng takes a seat.
"Come. Sit. Tell me of these oni and why you hunt them. Though I haven't seen them, perhaps I might be of some help nonetheless."
"I had not realized we had come to judge my honor or lack thereof so soon; I had hoped there would be time to judge my hospitality first at least." He chuckles to himself as the fire at last begins to burn in earnest. "I joke, of course. I have wandered for the better part of my life from settlement to settlement, master tengu. I am well aware of the suspicion and distrust my appearance bring." He looks up at last, his eyes flashing in the firelight and his expression seems earnest enough.
A well-kept but weathered heavy hammer hangs from a loop on his left hip and, by the flap of his tent, a finely wrought sword of considerable size lays atop a shield of equally fine craftsmanship. He brushes his hands on his heavy cloth tunic before leaning forward to set a small, iron kettle over the fire. "Can I offer any of you some tea perhaps?"
"Tea is good. We love tea." Lingfeng says this as quickly as she can, keeping an eye on Zamu and hoping his considerable pride does not lead him to decline a friendly offer. "So, Avernus... about those oni. We've been, um, having some issues with an army of oni-sorts that have been harassing a village near here. They attacked in the night and- you know, without going into any details- a lot of people got hurt, and a lot of the oni were killed in the battle. Except then they all, um... vanished? Is 'vanished' the word we're going with...?"
She wants to say "melted," but she does not wish to alarm the large man with the horns.
"So now we're looking for them. And that's our story! ...More or less. So, what brings you to these parts, then? Just wandering?"
Dunja sits as well. "Lingfeng has the jist of it; I appreciate your hospitality but we cannot afford to linger long."
Avernus frowns at the news of the attacks. "Hmmm. Vanished, you say? That is not typical for their kind." The horned man produces a small ceramic cup for each of his guests that accepts the offer of tea and continues to talk as he carefully and deliberately pours a portion into each of the vessels. "I travel from town to town, village to village, offering my services as a smith. Though both of my parents were human, few have been able to see beyond the legacy of my ancestors that so plainly manifested itself within me. Staying in one place for too long has always brought trouble for those around me, so I learned to stay on the move and ply my trade on the road." He sets the kettle back down in the dirt beside the fire then stokes the coals a few times as he continues, "Learned to defend myself on the road too."
Avernus then takes a slow draw from his tea, savoring the scent and flavor and warmth of the beverage. As it ripples through him and settles in his stomach, he sighs contentedly. "Perhaps the spirits have crossed our paths deliberately. These oni sound both strange and dangerous. I will help you deal with them, if you'll accept it. If not, then I fear the nearby village will, at best, chase me off at first sight and I'll have a great deal more walking to do before I come to another village willing to invite me in." He looks questioningly to the others and offers a soft, toothless smile before sipping his tea once more.
Dunja turns to her companions:
"Yay or nay?"
The kitsune nods, With Kasani undone I say we need all the help we can get! Besides perhaps our master will have need of a smith once we see this mission through and you will have no more need to wander?
Avernus smirks at the offer, the expression both grateful and sardonic at the same time. "A kind and generous thought, my large-hatted friend. But you'll forgive me if I don't hold my breath." The man finishes his tea then claps his hands against his knees before rising to his feet.
Seated before the fire, it was difficult to really discern just how tall and broad he was, but now, standing at his full height, it's plain to see that this smith cut an imposing figure, with broad shoulders, thick forearms, and the ram-like horns curling back over his head make him seem even taller than he already is.
"That is one voice for and another against. What shall it be? Will I gather my things or am I to sit back down for another cup of tea?"
Lingfeng stands. "Sounds as if I should break the tie, then. Avernus, I think you and I have a lot in common. We're both carrying blood within us that makes us different. I want to trust you- so I say you should join us. I'm sure you'll prove yourself useful- and it's for your own protection, too, since this army of oni isn't going to make getting around any easier for you."
She seems quite adamant about this, and from the look on her face, she will tolerate no objections. She can be quite hard-headed when she wants; it's the dragon in her.
Avernus nods to Zamu, conceding the tengu's point. "Fair enough, my feathered friend. If these oni are the plague you all suggest, that is kinder treatment than I would be likely to find elsewhere in the region." He begins to pack up his belongings and break down his camp as the others finish their tea.
Once the last of the tea is gone and his possessions are stowed, the tall tiefling nods in readiness. "You were trailing these oni, yes? Perhaps we can recover their tracks where curiosity over me caused you to leave them."
"Hopefully. Zamu here is our scout. Zamu, can you find the trail again?"
Zamu manages to pick the trail back up again. The new group moves deeper into the mountains, out of the land of wood, and into the Oni lands bordering the lands of the dead. The mountains turn trecherous, and the going slows down. Cold camps are kept as night comes hard and fast at night.
During the second night, the group huddles in a small dead end ravine, easily defended. As they do, about midnight, the one on watch finds that they are looking up at a 40 ft tall woman with green skin and wood for armor. The woman's arrow head, which is as large as the guard's torso, aims down. Then the woman snorts in amusement, and moves off nearly silently into the dark.
WHAT WAS THAT??!?!
Avernus picks himself up off his sleeping mat at Yanyeeku's hissed shout. "Hm? What was what?" Almost without thinking, the tiefling's hand reaches for the tempered blade at his side.
Dunja wakes as well, memory immediately recalling the forest mother not two nights ago. She waits nervously for Yanyeeku to explain.
Kimiko remained quiet on the subject of whether Avernus should join or not, but did nod in assent when the decision was made.
She wakes when the party does and looks in a mix of consternation and admiration at the giant woman's shield. A large tree at least must have been cut down to make it, but the workmanship was amazing. She had to admire that at least, even though distressed over the felling of the tree it was made from.
"She was amazingly big... like the tallest of trees."
After the woman heads off again, she goes back to sleep until her watch.
"Really?" Ling asks, only half-awake. "She sounds interesting. You should've asked her if she wanted to have a chat. She might've known where the oni went. When we all get up, maybe we should see if we can track her down- I mean, if she was as big as the tallest of trees, she shouldn't be hard to track, right? Big feet, an' all..." She yawns. "That's my thought, anyway."
"She just...left?" stammers Dunja. "Are you sure you weren't just dreaming?"
Feeling less panicked, Dunja nestles back down into her blanket in the hopes of sleeping a bit more before her own shift on watch.
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Zamu rolls awake at the sound of excitement, bow coming automatically to hand and eyes scanning the gloom for signs of danger. His mind slowly acclimatizes to the conversation that is going on and he begins to relax a little, realising that whatever danger there was has already passed.
"I think he must have been dreaming. We would have heard anything that big approaching."
I...that is to say....I...well it does sound...unusual but she was big. VERY big. Very real.
In the morning, the group finds some depressions that could be feet... if feet were four feet long. However, they aren't as deep as one would expect for something so tall. It's almost as if whatever made them only left a few as it slowed down to look at the camp, and then went back to whatever it was doing before.
"Perhaps as curious as our night visitor may have been, it might be best to stay on course following the oni."
The giant has some sort of ability to pass without trace, similar to a druid or ranger...
"It seems the giantess had some special ability to move without leaving much of a trail... I suspect following her would lead to losing her path quickly... Let's definitely stay on task and follow the oni."
Avernus nods and begins to gather up his things as he and the others break camp. Once the trail of the oni has been found once more and the group is pursuing it again, he casually asks of his new traveling companions, "So tell me of this master of yours. Does he have a name? What is he like?"
"That'd be Lord Migari. He's...dutiful, to say the least. I'm kind of at a loss of how to actually describe him."
Migari is a student of true honor. So much so that he staged an elaborate set of circumstances to forfeit his station of prestige. He now runs a sort of mercenary band, that's us, but he is a powerful figure of wisdom and skill. There will come a time, surely, where his choice will require a reckoning but until then I think he aims to do the best he can and we have chosen to aid him.
Avernus nods along with Yanyeeku's description, rubbing a bony ridge on his chin as one might stroke a beard. "He sounds shrewd and clever if he was able to devise such circumstances and emerge with his head still atop his shoulders. What lead each of you to throw in with such a man?"
"Ah, I'm afraid a great many people, my beaked friend. Noble as your lofty view of honor and your master are, not all have your same heart or view." Avernus' lips turn down in a frown as his brow wrinkles in distaste and disappointment. He shakes his head, "If only the world were different. But this is the world we have, and if the road has taught me any lesson about the world it is this: there are more in it who crave power and station above all than those like you and your master."
Something clicks in her head as Dunja listens to Avernus speaks. She draws her katana, scabbard and all, from her belt and says "You say you're a smith, Avernus? Could I trouble you, then, to examine my blade here?" and she offers it out to him.
Avernus arches one bony eyebrow at Dunja's question. He turns to her and bows respectfully as he takes the proffered weapon. Drawing the blade from its sheath, his brow wrinkles in confusion. He tests the blade's balance, scrapes one calloused thumb horizontally across its edge, then tilts the sword to various angles to see how the light plays in the metal.
"This is a curious blade you have here, an alloy I've never worked with before, though it seems very much like steel. It's also oddly proportioned for a katana - the blade is a half-hand wider than it typically would be and it's poorly balanced. Curious that a piece so finely wrought would be fashioned this way..." He hesitates then, regarding the blade for a handful of moments more, then remarks, "If I didn't know better, I'd say this was the sword of the fabled Gough. A clever replica at least. Whoever forged this had considerable skill."
"Well, you're right on that. I use to belong to a performing caravan that put on a play about Gough - that was the blade we used for the show. I think it may be the real thing, too, because his spirit...haunts the sword."
"But that's not the reason I ask. A few nights ago we had a run-in with some spirits of the forest, and they did something to the sword. I was hoping you could tell me what, though such and idea seems foolish in retrospect."
Avernus shoots Dunja a surprised look, the tall man obviously not expecting the sword saint's explanation of things. "Haunted. Hmmm. And a spirit of the wood did something to the sword? Is that why it holds this strange luster? Hmmm." He shakes horned head before offering the blade respectfully back to Dunja, "If the problem were chips in the blade, cracks in its length, or too much vibration when you strike I could be of more help. But as for this, I'm afraid what you're describing isn't something I've ever seen before, my friend." He hesitates a moment then offers, "Though, perhaps the problem is more with the spirit than it is with the blade? I know little of such things, but if the two are as intertwined as you suggest, maybe the answer to your riddle lies there?"
Dunja seems dejected at the response. "I had feared so." she says, taking the sword back and placing in it's rightful position "I commune with the spirit daily, but he has been quiet as of late. I don't know what else to try...Oh well, thank you anyways." she says trying to put on a happier face.
When Avernus touches the blade, it has a slightly oily feel to it, and it makes his skin crawl.
"Are you still able to wield the blade without complication? I confess, I thought little of it until you mentioned your strange encounter with both the wood spirits and the one residing in the sword itself, but I felt..." Avernus hesitates here for a few moments, searching for the right word. In the end, he shrugs and concedes for what he can think of that comes nearest, "I don't know how else to describe it other than that I felt a sense of dis-ease when I touched the blade itself. It was like the feeling you have in your gut when you think someone with malintent is watching you." He shakes his head and shrugs again, "I'd thought it might have been an agent of our towering nighttime visitor, watching our progress, but perhaps it was your sword after all. It's all very curious; very strange indeed."
In answer to Avernus' question about Lord Migary, Ling only has this to offer: "Hey, all you need to know about our Lord is that he's given me like eight concussions or so and I still like him, so that has to say something about his value."
"He seems an honorable man. I can't think of higher praise."