DM NomadSage's Jade Regent (Inactive)

Game Master nomadicc

"What's the plan once we reach the blockade? Getting to the heart of it, we need to break the lid off this strangle hold here. Removal of the Jade Regent is imperative, but we have to also eliminate the affect the Five Storms Oni has had on the land. Can we do both of those things with this army?"

Heng's hand mashes his tattooed scalp and he looks pained at the effort he puts into thought at the questions posed by Koya and Parity. "My vision showed our band moving forward beyond the battles. I think that the army is meant to engage the Jade Regent while we slip past and directly attack him. I am fairly certain that he will keep the Oni close to protect himself."

"As Tata has wisely counseled, it may be important to conceal our actions. I, however, know little of magic or deception. I imagine that wizards have such magics, but we have no wizard and I believe Parity and Malnival's spells are oriented more to combat."

"Kiyomi, I have long admired your cleverness. Do you have any ideas?"

Jiro nods, "I believe your special talents would be wasted in the long grind of a siege. Once we have established our presence and drawn the attention of the Jade Regent's forces, it will hopefully allow you and the princess to slip through and accomplish your own mission."

Harlan's grieving for his dead brother is eased knowing that it will not be for long.

"We'll have to get Sandru back as soon as possible. If we leave it too long he might try to set up a trade route from Varisia to Pharasma."

Koya laughs despite herself at Harlan's joke. "I will see to it," she says, laying a reassuring hand on Harlan's shoulder.

When you are prepared to leave, Koya moves through the group, giving hugs and gestures of assurance, even with Parity, who have rarely interacted warmly.

She ends with Heng, hugging the tall half-orc close for a long moment. "The luck of Desna go with you. We will keep in touch through letters and messengers. Should some emergency arise, we will handle it or send word. But worry not about us -- your challenge lies ahead of you, not behind."

The others offer their farewells: Shalelu offering Ameiko a warm embrace and elven prayer, and Kelda holding Malnival tightly for several minutes. At the last, Jiro gives the signal and you and your small army depart Seinaru Heikiko.

The Road to Kasai, Week 1
Dates: 24 Desnus - 30 Desnus
Route: Seinaru Heikiko -> Lake Tsukishizuku
Distance: 150 miles
Weather: Passing storms

The first week out of Seinaru Heikiko is the slowest. Traveling at the pace of a marching army, even hustling at a good pace, is much slower than you are used to. The weather slows things also, plaguing you with passing storms of heavy rain and occasional hail and lightning. You follow the fast-moving Kosokunami River as it wends down from the mountains.

*

The Road to Kasai, Week 2
Dates: 31 Desnus - 6 Sarenith
Route: Lake Tsukishizuku
Distance: 220 miles
Weather: Clear, warm

At the beginning of the second week, you reach the northern shores of Lake Tsukishizuku. Jiro's preparations prove fruitful -- you find six long, low-draft junk ships docked and waiting at a small fishing port. Camped there, you encounter Sikutsu Itsuru and five centuries of his soldiers. In a respectful ceremony, he offers them to the command of Hirabashi Jiro for the coming campaign, as well as the use of two of his family's sailing ships.

After a day of loading, your small navy sets out across the lake, using a mixture of wind and oars to cross the cool, blue waters of the massive freshwater lake. The rainy spring weather finally gives way to clear and sunny skies as Summer officially arrives.

Short pause... if there's anything specific you want to do during the travel/downtime, please post it.

i'd like to find another potion of displacement if possible.

Koya's words of advice stay with Heng and he brings up her concerns again. " Harlan, do you have a prayer or spell that would conceal us from those that would spy on our movements? Maybe I should have kept those ninja robes."

i'd like to find another potion of displacement if possible.

That's no problem. You could pick up one from the village shop before setting out.

"I know much of spells of enchantment and little of those of scrying. But I recall a tale in which a band of heroes disguised themselves as itinerant players. In this guise they were welcomed into their master's enemy's palace to perform. Perhaps if we were to disguise ourselves in such a fashion?" Kiyomi offers, trying to be helpful.

Heng considers Kiyomi's words. "We did entertain the Prince of Hongal once. Things did not go well, however. Hmmmm."

"Yeah, that didn't quite turn out as we hoped," Ameiko rubs her eyes, shaking her head. "Harlan's cooking was spectacular, though, as always!"

After a laugh, she shrugs, looking sternly to the southern horizon. "I'm so sick of hiding, jumping at shadows. Koya's caution is valid but... I say let them know I'm coming. Let them squirm a little for once."

With a roll of the eyes, she adds, "But taking the most prudent path was never my thing..."

The Road to Kasai, Week 3
Dates: 7 Sarenith - 13 Sarenith
Route: Lake Tsukishizuku -> Tagiryu River
Distance: 280 miles
Weather: Clear / foggy

The clear and warm weather continues for the first half of your third week out. The wide open and calm waters of the lake make for easy travel putting the sails to full use. On the 10th of Sarenith, you enter the slow, steady waters of the Tagiryu River -- the sails become less effective, but the river's current pulls you along. The air grows more humid each day, with long banks of thick fog covering the countryside. The open, untamed lands of the north give way to cultivated farms. River traffic increases as well, but they give your heavily armed ships wide berth.

*

The Road to Kasai, Week 4
Dates: 14 Sarenith - 20 Sarenith
Route: Tagiryu River
Distance: 300 miles
Weather: Windy, rain / clear

The fog and humidity break with a couple days of heavy, cool rainfall. The weather is dreary, but your convoy maintains its steady pace southward. At the end of the week, the damp weather moves on, returning to clear blue skies. It becomes steadily warmer, the further you go south and into the dog days of summer.

*

The Road to Kasai, Week 5
Dates: 21 Sarenith - 27 Sarenith
Route: Tagiryu River -> Ajo
Distance: 300 miles
Weather: Clear, warm

You begin to see signs of the mighty forest to the west. Jiro orders the convoy into tighter formation as you enter the edge of enemy controlled territory. Still, you have seen no sign of any adversaries, just a month-long parade of fishermen, farmers and river traders. On the penultimate day of the river journey, Jiro moors the ships along a deep bend. Over dinner, he lays out the strategy, weeks in preparation, to his lieutenants.

After a night's rest, half the troops set out over land, while the rest continue on the river. A couple miles along, you besiege Ajo, a market town on the edge of wide marshland, and the last major stop before the lands of Akafuto. The army takes the town without a fight and Jiro secures a peaceful surrender from the major. By mid-day, your new base of operations is set.

Retraining a Princess

Along the journey, Ameiko spends time training, with Kiyomi and Parity in particular, working on improving her magic and fighting skills, and infusing them together. "I know we're going to face some deadly enemies before this is over," she explains. "I don't want to be the "damsel in distress". I'm not going to charge in by myself, but I have to contribute in some fashion."

4 weeks work to go full bard (arcane duelist)!

Harlan ponders Heng's question.

"I don't really have anything like that. If we had a scroll or wand I could use it of course, but for myself I can mostly heal. And crush people with rocks. I don't think a mundane disguise would cut it now. How many people who look like us could there be here, right? I think I could detect if we were being scryed on but otherwise, I don't have a great solution here. Mal, Parity, what do you guys think?"

Malnival rides the days in silence, the magus seemingly withdrawn into to him self. The miles plod by and the magus falls into a routine of eating riding and sleeping when he can. Long gone is the flighty elf from Sandpoint, it seems that death still has a hold of him and his thoughts.

Malnival shrugs at Harlans attempt to make him part of the discusion. "It dozent really matter. If they find us they find us. We will either slay them or they will slay us. Either way this will be over faster."

As you wish

So she's no longer a bard/rake rogue?

"Pick up a few things watching your bodyguard, Ame? I'll help you learn to fight with magic. My mantra has always been it's not about the how, it's about the result."

Retraining a Princess

Along the journey, Ameiko spends time training, with Kiyomi and Parity in particular, working on improving her magic and fighting skills, and infusing them together. "I know we're going to face some deadly enemies before this is over," she explains. "I don't want to be the "damsel in distress". I'm not going to charge in by myself, but I have to contribute in some fashion."

4 weeks work to go full bard (arcane duelist)!

Heng frowns and shakes his head. "Ameiko-sama, you are already contributing. You are our Empress and you must prepare for your proper role. You will not rule by the sword, but by the word, I hope. There has already been too much death."

arcane duelist looks like another magus... um, why? It seems negotiator or celebrity even might be more appropriate archetypes if I may say so.

Ameiko frowns, clearly frustrated. "You're not wrong, Heng, but I'm out of ideas. What good are negotiating skills going to do with against the Jade Regent and oni we're sure to face? I'm not a front-line fighter like you, Malnival or Parity, but I can't just hide in your shadow either."

"Instead of fighting, I could focus on my music and magic, perhaps augmenting one with the other."

Heng rubs his tattooed scalp. "You don't have to hide. You must lead. You must grow easy with command which means inspiring others. And negotiation is integral to our success. Where would we be if you had not won over Jiro and Hatsue? If we had not gained the assistance of the merchants, nobles, and ninjas? To be honest Ameiko-sama, your sword and spells mean nothing compared to your ability to inspire a thousand swords and a thousand spells to bring down the demon impostor."

Ameiko smiles ruefully, but nods. "Wise, and handsome to boot," she jokes, putting a hand to Heng's cheek. "I'll prevail to your reason, though I'll still do my best to be a help and not a hindrance."

Fast-forwarding...

*

The day after you set up headquarters in Ajo, Ameiko asks everyone to stay after Jiro's morning conference. Once his officers have dispersed, she explains. "Over the last few weeks, I've been delving into books on Minkaian royalty -- some that Maeve collected for me, a few others I picked up in Sakakabe -- and picking Kiyomi's brain to fill in the gaps." She takes a deep breath, letting it out slow. "As I've said more than a few times already, I'm not the empress yet. Not in effect, nor according to the laws of the land, or in the eyes of the gods. Like so many things in Minkai, there is a ritual and process that must first take place."

"Before the Jade Throne will accept a scion of one of the five royal families as emperor, they must first receive the blessings of the former emperors. 'To earn the future, one must honor the past.' I need a blessing from each of the five royal families, including the current emperor, Higashiyama Shigure, who is still in hiding. I don't know how we can do that when all of the others are dead, but the books mention an Imperial Shrine in Kasai where royal scions would go to speak with the spirits of past emperors."

Parity ticks things off on his fingers, "So we've got you, we need to find Emperor Sugary, and then hit this Shrine and to catch the three dead families ancestors? After that, we can go kill this guy and give you the throne?"

"Four dead family ancestors," Jiro corrects. "She will need the blessing of an Amatatsu ancestor as well."

"I believe I know someone who can help: an aristocrat in the court of Kasai, a man named Asachi Isao. He and a group of sympathizers do what they can from within the capital to temper the Jade Regent's rule, but their influence is limited. They risk certain execution if exposed."

"I would warn one to never trust a politician, but Asachi Isao is an honorable man and has earned mine implicitly. He will provide you shelter and advice on the current state of affairs in Kasai. I have been in correspondence with him for years -- he is already expecting you."

Heng nods looking concerned. "So we must go into the capital city of Kasai and secretly find Isao, who will get us into the Imperial Shrine?" He gives a curt laugh. "We may all need to hide in the shadows, Ameiko-sama. And again, we need some way to disguise ourselves and prevent magical spying."

Ameiko smiles warmly, "I took your advice and focused on magic, music and skills at court instead of fighting. I can now disguise my identity with an illusion." To demonstrate, she casts the spell and her appearance morphs into that of a short, pudgy old man. "But I can only hold it for a couple hours at a time."

"There are other magics that would be useful, but are beyond my skills presently: an illusion that lies to any would-be scrying attempts, or a mass disguise glamer that could change all of us for the better part of a day."

False vision and seeming, respectively (both level 5 bard/wizard).

Kiyomi nods. "I am certain that the ancestors will see your honor and accept you, Empress. But I will do anything I may to assist your ascension. If we may secure scrolls of these spells, I could cast them."

Heng snorts at the sudden and unlikely transformation. Regaining his composure he bows with a faint smile still upon his lips. "Ameiko-sama, you become a master of every skill you pursue."

"Perhaps as Kiyomi says, we can find scrolls for those spells. They sound very useful."

Scroll available?: 1d100 ⇒ 1
Scroll available?: 1d100 ⇒ 3

Conveniently, Ajo is a large enough town to support the services of a skilled loremaster who can prepare the desired scrolls within a couple days.

Each costs 1,125 gold. Are there any other preparations you wish to do while in town?

When you are ready, I need to know how you want to travel to Kasai (walk, ride, fly, teleport, etc), and what kind of wards/disguises you will use (if any).

Each costs 1,125 gold. Are there any other preparations you wish to do while in town?

When you are ready, I need to know how you want to travel to Kasai (walk, ride, fly, teleport, etc), and what kind of wards/disguises you will use (if any).

well that was pretty epic. I have gold for one or the following as group gear to liquidate or grab:

You can see it on the map, but Kasai is approximately 500 miles from where you are currently, as the crow flies. With wind walk, that will take a little over 8 hours. Horseback would take 15-20 days, depending on how hard you ride.

We'll need a wind walk scroll as well until we've leveled.

We'll need a wind walk scroll as well until we've leveled.

*Cough*

Oh nuts.

"Sure, Heng ... I'll kick in some cash for one of those," Parity says, a little distracted as he considers the path forward.

"I'm not really one for foreword planning and subtlety, but I've spent a lot of time with you lot, and it's gettin' to me. Gonna take a step back because something's been bothering me. We found Suishen, and the Sugimatu family naginata (who has that, by the way?), but we never uncovered the other three as far as I know."

Parity frowns trying to remember, "We did some research on where they were, but I can't seem to recall it." (Been hunting the history posts, can't find that list)

"Don't we need them to hurt the true Five Storms oni?"

Jiro's attention perks up as Parity mentions the five families' ancestral weapons. "Need? No... advantageous, yes. Remember, you've already defeated Munasukaru and Ningankona, two of the Five Storms leaders. As I understand it, certain oni will be especially vulnerable to those ancestral weapons."

Jiro takes the fine bow from its holster on his back, handling it with respect. "This bow is one such weapon. It is the Daikyu of Commanding Presence, the ancestral weapon of the Higashiyama family. It was bequeathed to my father by Emperor Shigure's father as a token of great honor and trust. After the Jade Regent betrayed and murdered my family, I managed to secure the bow before fleeing the capital." He seems torn between shame for his cowardice and pride for keeping the weapon out of the enemy's hands.

"Right, Moonaskaro was left in the once prison, (the Blossom house was it?) where we found Kiyomi. We just whooped up on Ninja Cone during the ambush. That leaves us with the wind yai, Anna Mormon, and he may have sired a tiefling infiltrator ... but do we know of details of any of the others? One for each storm at least? What does "Five Storms" refer to any how? I don't recall that from our research"

"And what of the other two weapons, then? From the Show Me Now and Tea Cuckoo families?"

Heng looks a little lost. "So, there are other weapons like Suishen which may help us defeat the Oni and speak with the lost families? What about the Dragonmaw Nunchaku I hold. Is it one of the weapons?"

yeah, I don't recall any of this. :/ prob need an campaign page update on Royal families and 5 Storm Oni

Some helpful links to trigger memory. Read the posts and some of the questions we had following them

Meeting Miyaro

Five Storms Research

Heng looks a little embarassed after Parity's reminder. "Oh. Yes. The library. I was more focused on getting the little tree out of the House of Withered Blossoms. It was truly a terrible place."

Those links sum up what you know pretty well. I'll jot some notes on the quest log also.

"The Five Storms is just a title -- I know not the significance -- not referring to a specific number of oni. They are legion."

Jiro shakes his head to Heng's query, "No, that are not one of the ancestral weapons. Sadly, the whereabouts of the Shojinawa and Teikoku weapons are unknown. I assume they were lost or stolen when the scions of those royal houses were murdered." He frowns in shame. "If stolen by the Jade Regent's forces, it is possible they are kept in the Imperial Vault within the palace, if they were not destroyed outright. Otherwise, there's no way to know."

"Since I am not going with you, this bow would be better served in your hands." Jiro turns to Kiyomi, holding the ancestral daikyu out. "Kiyomi, you are a keen shot... it is my honor to offer the daikyu to you, for you to carry the honor of the Higashiyama family into battle against the Five Storms."

Kiyomi bows deeply to the samurai. "My lord, I would be honored to carry such a weapon. I will use it to bring honor and glory to your family!"

Oooo, what are the stats on this pretty, pretty bow?

"The glory of the Higashiyama family," Jiro corrects, handing the bow over. "If any still survive. I hope you can find out what really happened to Emperor Shigure. He was a decent man." The bow is over 6 feet long, and made of laminated bamboo, wood, and leather with a grip crafted from the hide of an imperial dragon.

"Then are we ready to go to Kasai and find Isao?" Heng asks. "Thank you, Jiro-san and good luck with the battle."

GM-could we get a list of the ruling families on the campaign site as well, please?

GM-could we get a list of the ruling families on the campaign site as well, please?

Done!

"So, we'll wind walk to Kasai. Before we go, we'll cast an illusion to make it look like we're here, preparing for war. And then we'll have magical disguises as we near the city. Does that sound about right?"

Any further inputs? Otherwise, let's get this train a'rollin'!

Giddyup!

I've done a terrible job with purchases. Do we still have time for a couple upgrades?

-Posted with Wayfinder

Yes...

I know, I know. If they're not done tonight, count me out

-Posted with Wayfinder

Choo choo let's get the pain train rolling!

I'm unclear- Did Jiro give us directions for finding Isao or is he coming as well?